Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Patrik Jonsson & Melanie Stetson Freeman
“Florida has a certain reputation around the United States. It’s a place where strip malls with gun ranges and gentlemen’s clubs might include storefront houses of worship. North of Tampa, mermaids hold government jobs as finned entertainers at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. Not too far away in Land O’ Lakes, the annual Caliente Bare Dare 5K is billed as the largest clothing-optional race in North America. Florida is also the place where 100 Miccosukee refused surrender during the Seminole Wars in the mid-19th century. Avoiding capture and the infamous Trail of Tears, these Indigenous people disappeared into the Everglades. Today there are about 600 free Miccosukee, many of whom still live in ‘chickees,’ thatched-roof houses on stilts within the Everglades. ‘The free state of Florida’ has long been a beacon of free expression, thought, and action.” (08/27/24)