America stands poised for a new social revolution, akin to those taking place in the 1960s. In Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, Christ Hedges and Joe Sacco reminds readers of why former social revolutions did take place and why the struggle for social justice continues. In their five separate narratives, the authors depict various aspects of American failure: the failure to ensure fairness, honesty, and other basic moral tenets. The foundations of the nation depend on the assurance of Constitutional ideals, which is why the struggle continues. Considering Liberty City, Florida within the framework of Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt draws even closer attention to the core themes Hedges and Sacco unearth. In Liberty City, issues related to race, class, gender, and social power all come under scrutiny. The city lives on the edge, as if in a perpetual race against its own self-destruction.
Liberty City, like many neighborhoods in South Florida, have a relatively lengthy history given the overall youthfulness of the Miami-Dade County area. Always African-American, and unwaveringly proud of its ethnic underpinnings, Liberty City also suffers from the complex of problems that people face in places as far and foreign as the others described in Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. Although "Days of Slavery" also takes place in Florida and alludes to modern-day slavery, the sons and daughters of slaves living in Liberty City encounter...
The farm workers in "Days of Slavery" prove how revolution in America remains not just relevant, but necessary. In Liberty City, the sons and daughters of slavery continue to live in poverty, earning minimum wage, and fearing for their lives on a daily basis. The preponderance of gang-related and other senseless deaths in Liberty City have rendered the community asunder. Yet the tremendous strength and fortitude evident in the people there offer hope that the future may witness a revival along the likes of what is taking place in Wynwood, Little Haiti, and Overtown.
Unlike areas of the United States that had a heyday and then, due to the downfall of an industry, witnessed economic depression and decay, Liberty City never had a real financial boom era. It was always a working class -- or poorer -- neighborhood. The people living in Liberty City congregated there after New Deal projects made it possible for African-Americans to pursue the American Dream. Before too long, it became a sort of Harlem of South Florida, where young blacks thrived independently of the racism that threatened to undermine their community.
Unfortunately, broad structural changes to the South Florida region gradually took their toll on Liberty City from the early 1970s onward. Infrastructure improvements to the county displaced thousands, many of them poor and black.…
