Quick background on this post.
The City of Miami has held 6 workshops where focus groups discuss Visions and Strategies that could be implemented over a period of 3 yrs. They ranged from Traffic/Mobility, Public Safety, Clean Hoods, Land use, Parks and finally Economic Development.
I attended all 6 (pictures to prove it) and while all were informative & productive…. this one was the most passionate.
I caught an earful when I went “There” and so I just wanted to take a sec and apologize if my remarks about language were found offensive by the group but I truly believe that Business knows no particular language, it only knows the color “Green” and we must speak to it.
Miami has been promoted by Business & City leadership as The financial Hub for Latin America & Caribbean and as such our business “Language” has been driven in that direction; Look at City of Miami literature which is offered in Spanish & Creole.
I used Spanish as an example of how the business community has evolved in the past 50yrs, there was a time when we did not need a second language but times change and they are currently changing again. As Miami continues to evolve (and it’s what makes a great City) we will continue to become more diverse and communities will continue to become more secluded (and not just poor areas, rich ones will also).
I could use any current non English language in my financial example (I used Spanish because that is currently the largest % in our community) as I know that I am limited in my business (Real estate) because I do not speak French, Italian, Portuguese (as examples) and as such I miss out on a major share of Business in my field (which allows folks who DO speak those languages to prosper).
Tech is a language, Computer OS systems are a language, word/excel are languages, Facebook, Instagram…Tinder all are languages, Construction /Mechanic jargon is a language and we have to embrace this and teach to it (except Tinder) if we want our City to continue to prosper equally.
What was “There”?
I used an example that I have a Job that pays 50K BUT you must speak Spanish (or fill in a second language) and if you don’t speak it, chances are you are not participating in “Economic Development” in the City of Mee-am-Mi.
And to the group; sorry that I am vocal, it’s just I have been around the block a few times…
BTW; don’t get me started on Housing which was also a hot topic.
Focus groups “GottaJavMiami”