February is Black History Month, which is especially important to Tamarac as a minority-majority community. Black History Month is a time to “bring to the public’s attention important developments that merit emphasis,” according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). This year’s theme for the month focuses on black migrations.
As a City, Tamarac has benefited from this migration. We started as a sleepy retirement community for people from the northeast, and yes, most were white. But we've become a vibrant community with a diverse population that includes many people from across the United States, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. People from all over are choosing to call Tamarac home.
We’ve benefited from new businesses, restaurants and stores offering a variety of goods, foods and services from all over the globe. Our Sports Complex is busy with teams playing everything from baseball to football, basketball, lacrosse and soccer. The African American Club at Kings Point has grown to over 300 members, and at their meeting in January, they celebrated the Caribbean diaspora with a speaker who explained the financial benefit of the diaspora to the United States and their home countries.
This month we will celebrate the diversity of our community in several ways. The first will be by recognizing several Tamarac residents who have made significant contributions to our community and have made a difference. This will happen during our City Commission meeting on February 13th at 7 pm at City Hall. The State of the City address will be presented on that same night, making it a great meeting to attend. If you can’t make it, you can watch it live or on demand (starting the next day) by visiting www.tamarac.org and clicking the Commission Meetings icon.