‘Journey is one of resilience.’ New HistoryMiami exhibit explores State Rep. Gwen Cherry’s life

Without Florida State Rep. Gwen Cherry, there would be no Carrie Meek. No Frederica Wilson. No Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall. And certainly no Ashley Gantt.

The first Black women to serve in the Florida legislature, Cherry blazed a path for all women – Black or white – in politics. After being elected in 1970, Cherry became a staunch advocate for civil and human rights. She sponsored a bill to ban gender discrimination. She championed the establishment of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. And she worked to create a statewide childcare program, among many other things.

“I firmly believe in the concept of Sankofa and looking back to look forward,” Gantt, Florida state representative of the 109th district, told the Miami Herald at an event hosted Thursday night to celebrate a new exhibit at HistoryMiami commemorating Cherry’s legacy. “I know I didn’t get here just because I have a great, dynamic personality – I got here because other women, specifically Gwen Cherry, put me here.”

Gantt collaborated with the Black Archives and the Research Foundation of South Florida to produce the Honorable Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry, Esq., an exhibition featuring a collection of photos, text and video that provides a snapshot of the life and enduring legacy of Cherry. The exhibit is on display at the community gallery inside HistoryMiami, an area where locals can curate their own shows, until June 30.

“In honoring Gwen Cherry, we’re not just honoring a great Black woman,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the audience in the brief reception prior to the ribbon-cutting. “We’re honoring a great woman.”

“Gwen Cherry’s journey is one of resilience, courage and empowerment,” said Kamila Pritchett, the executive director of the Black Archives.

Cherry wasn’t a career politician. Her life can be divided into three parts: Cherry, the educator; Cherry, the lawyer; and Cherry, the legislator. After graduating from Florida A&M University, Cherry taught in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools before deciding to go to law school. Even then she was a trailblazer: Cherry was the first Black woman law student at the University of Miami before later transferring to FAMU, where she eventually graduated. She subsequently returned to Miami where she became the first Black woman to practice law in the county.

Visitors can learn about her career before and after she entered the realm of politics. They can see pictures of her in the state house. They can see a picture with U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm. They can even see a condensed list of Black women like Gantt, Wilson and Bendross-Mindingall who followed in Cherry’s footsteps. Gantt specifically mentioned that in the 45 years since Cherry passed away in a car accident in Tallahassee, there has only been 43 Black women elected to the state house.

“We’re just scratching the surface to really represent Black women’s interest in the state house,” Gantt said.

That, in a sense, is what Gantt wants the little girls who walk through the exhibit to realize.

“I want them to know that even if you’re voice shakes, you can say it,” Gantt said. “I want them to know they can do hard things and that it won’t be challenging for you and you will have to encourage yourself but you won’t be the only one who had to do that and it’s for a greater purpose.”

To that end, the exhibit ends with a succinct message that reads “How Will You Blaze Your Trail?”

HistoryMiami, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami; https://historymiami.org/