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From our beautiful beaches to swimming pools and backyard canals, we are surrounded by water here in south Florida, but for children and adults who can't swim, the consequences can be deadly.

And for people of color, the risk is even greater for drownings.

We'll look back in history to see why this is the case and the generational scars left behind.

We'll look at what's being done to increase drowning awareness and the resources for communities most affected.

That and more.

Stay with us as we dive into a special one-hour edition of Your South Florida.

Hi, I'm Pam Giganti.

Welcome to Your South Florida.

We're coming to you from the new L.A. Lee YMCA Mizell Community Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Every year in the United States, there are nearly 4,000 accidental drowning deaths.

That's about 11 deaths per day.

And last year alone here in Florida, we lost nearly 100 children to drownings, more than any year before, and while no one is immune to the danger of drowning, the black community is at a far greater risk, with black children and teens drowning at rates more than 7 1/2 times higher than their white peers.

It's a serious public health issue.

One that experts say is generational, stemming from years of segregation and continued stereotypes of the black community's relationship with water.

It's also the topic of the Emmy-winning film "Wade in the Water: Drowning in Racism" by local filmmaker Cathleen Dean.

The film looks at both Broward's history with segregated beaches and African Americans' historic and spiritual connection to the water and how these connections were shattered by racism.

Here's a brief look at the film.

As time went on and water became coveted more and more by whites, they wanted to keep black and brown people away because black and brown people were seen as inferior.

So during segregation and colonization, they had to be relegated to somewhere else that was dangerous, or they had nowhere to go.

White communities, like here in Fort Lauderdale, built a pool for African Americans to use.

And there were vibrant swim teams and swim programs around these pools in black America.

[narrator] As I battled the ocean for my soul, I could have sworn I heard my grandmother telling me to wade.

Wade.

Wade in the water.

This film was the catalyst for a recent South Florida PBS town hall here at the Y. I was joined by historians, water safety experts, and members of the local community to talk about the deep scars of segregation, its impact on public health, and swim safety resources.

Cathleen, let me start with you.

First of all, an incredible film.

Congratulations again on your Emmy.

Well deserved.

Thank you.

It touches a lot of our souls I think while we were watching that.

what was the inspiration for you to make this film?

Why did you have to make this movie?

Just like you said, the story touched my soul.

when I learned about the historical and the spiritual connection people of the African diaspora had always had with the water, I think it changed me forever.

I had met Thaddeus, who you saw in the film.

When I was interested in improving my swimming, I thought I would compete in a triathlon, and Thaddeus brought me to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

And it was there that I got a tour of their gallery, and they had an amazing art exhibition that chronicled the history of Africans and swimming.

And it just, it stayed with me.

And later on, while I was researching another film, I was combing through the books and archives and I came across all of the beautiful archival footage that you see in the film.

And I just, it was a story that I had to tell.

Dr. Hobbs, as a historian, and you just heard how Cathleen saw these pictures and was really enlightened to what had happened here in South Florida during the civil rights era and even before that.

So talk about what happened here and how that has continued to affect generations going forward.

Absolutely.

You know, one of the things that we have to grapple with is the legacy of racism in this country and how it has impacted every aspect of life.

And what I really talk about very often is this desire, even though lots has improved over time, but the impulse to both control and commodify black bodies is very much built into the DNA of this country.

And as an extension of that, there has been a desire to control or limit leisure on the part of people of African descent.

We are not used to seeing black folks in a state where they're not working.

That is why they are valuable to us.

And so black leisure, black joy are things that historically have been incredibly, incredibly limited.

And so you see that manifest at so many different arenas.

And so when we talk about the beginnings of Jim Crow in the South and in this country, of course we talk about schools, many people know that story, but the fact that even leisure was segregated I think is something that people fail to appreciate.

And so I think what Miss Dean has done in this fantastic film has allowed us an opportunity to interact with that.

There are stories like the one we talk about with the Mizell and Johnson Park now, whether we talk about Virginia Key Beach, there's stories, countless stories throughout the United States of the fight for integration.

But the other side of that coin too, and I think it's very interesting, is that black folks have always been able to do for ourselves.

And so there is a very long history too, of black people creating spaces of leisure and purchasing beaches for themselves.

We're very familiar with the story of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, who was one of the first black millionaires here in the state of Florida.

He founded the Afro-American Life Insurance Company in Jacksonville and purchased a beach that he named American Beach that is now a million island.

There was a really long history there of blacks from around the country being able to come and enjoy.

There were hotels and clubs and restaurants.

Mary McLeod Bethune.

Many of us know her as the founder of Bethune-Cookman University, but she too saw fit to purchase a beach in 1945, Bethune Beach.

Many of us in Florida have heard of Silver Springs, but maybe fewer of us know that there was also a segregated component to that in Paradise Park, where people of African descent were able to go and enjoy and learn and swim.

And the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were able to go out.

So it's very a mixed and troubled history that more people I'm afraid don't know about, but perhaps through this really wonderful film, they will get to know more about.

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Morris, talk a little bit about the NAACP and the role that they have played in helping with this issue and with those segregated beaches and pools.

Well, you know, being the oldest and largest and baddest and boldest civil rights organization in this country, you know, founded February 1909, one of the goals of the people like the Beulah Johnson, the Dr. Mizell, even if we take it into Miami-Dade County, you know, Garth Reeves as well, just like the lunch counters, one of the things that the NAACP wanted to do began to challenge, you know, Lawson Thomas, who was a part of the Urban League of Greater Miami.

One of his goals was to begin to challenge this whole notion of segregation on the beaches.

And of course, you know, May 9th, 1945, Miami-Dade started this whole you know, Garth Reeves being a part of the NAACP, knowing the legacy of the organization and the rationale that white supremacy cannot stand.

And so as a result, doing his part in challenging that the beaches or going to Haulover Beach was in duty and obligation.

We're paying taxes here in South Florida.

Why can't we go to the beaches, a place that gave us serenity, calmness, places where people find their happiness, you know, going to the beaches, hearing the water.

Sometimes people say, go to the beach and just sit and just listen, how the water talks to you and calms you.

And so, as a result, you know, the NAACP became very instrumental with these leaders because when we talk about these leaders, they're people who've been involved in the NAACP, lifetime members, and so their goal was to file lawsuits against this state to say, look, we need to make sure that those who are black and brown are able to go to the beaches, even though we had black beaches.

And of course we had Virginia Key Beaches, there were issues with the currents, you know, all those beaches.

They're dangerous.

And they're dangerous.

And so as a result, you know, once again, we're fighting back.

So, you know, in 1961, when the NAACP filed their lawsuit, their goal was to begin to integrate the beaches, giving opportunity for those black and brown bodies to begin to enjoy the same services that were offered to those who were white.

Using that 14th Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, are these beaches, we're separated, but we're not equal.

And so that became important.

So NAACP has been at the forefront of this struggle for civil rights, making sure that people who are part of this community, black and brown and all people, are able to enjoy the legacies of what all men are created equal.

What does it mean for us, enjoying those freedoms?

And so they're doing that part and making sure that happens.

Of course, there's an economic consequence to all of this too.

We saw from the film that historically Africans relied on the water for many aspects of life.

Here we live in an area, as we all know, surrounded by water and an economy that relies on tourism dollars tied to the multibillion dollar marine and boating industry, or what's also known as the blue economy.

So Dr. Hobbs, talk a little bit about that in those economic opportunities that have been missed because of African Americas not being able to get into tho those industries.

Sure.

I think it's complicated depending on what period you look at that.

There is a very long history of, again, when you look at, for our time here on these shores, when you look at the uses of black bodies for labor, black people were employed in maritime trades, both as enslaved people and as free people.

And so there is a very rich and very long history there.

When we talk about the period after the end of slavery, I think some of that does continue.

You do see African Americans continuing in some of those same trades, but again, we come back to this, the impact of segregation and the fact that they were more desired as laborers, they did not really have the opportunity to enjoy and to be business owners.

The flip side of that though kind of goes back to what I said about the ownership opportunity.

There were many, famously W. E. B. Dubois in the NAACP.

It was his belief in the value, the economic value of segregation, helping African Americans to develop their own businesses that caused a historic split with the organization.

But that's really what you see when I talk about Abraham Lincoln Lewis.

When I talk about Mary McLeod Bethune and all the others, they took the opportunity to become land owners and investing in beachfront properties to create what was missing, in the same way that when we think about Abraham Lincoln Lewis part of the reason that he was able to do that is because racism meant that mainstream insurance companies would not sell policies to black folks.

There was a widespread belief based on institutional racism within the field of actuary science, that after being emancipated, black people simply would not live very long without white supervision.

And so, as a matter of fact, they would not, it was a bad business investment based on that data, which we now know was invalid and slanted, that there was no need to sell life insurance to black folks.

Abraham Lincoln Lewis, Alonzo Herndon, and other black men primarily and some women went into that field and that's how they made their money.

That's the money that he used to buy the beach.

So it's a very complicated operation.

One thing I will chime in there about the video from St. Augustine, not many people know that Florida Memorial was located in St. Augustine during that year.

They were there from 1918 to 1968, a span of about 50 years.

And it was actually students from Florida Memorial initially in March of 1960 that staged to sit-in under the leadership of Thomas White, who was a graduate of what was then Florida Normal and Industrial College for Negros.

He was the campus lead for the NAACP.

He was dismissed from his job for starting that ruckus.

The president didn't think it was wise to continue, but it was later under the leadership of Dr. Robert Haley as an independent dentist who came in and led the effort in '63 and '64.

So it very well may be that there were Florida Memorial College students who were there at that wait-in participating as they did in many of the demonstrations during the fall of 1963 and 1964.

And while they were successful in not only integrating in St. Augustine, but the scenes that played out there were being broadcast across the nation and fueled the Congress.

And ultimately president Lindon Johnson in signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

They lost the war.

And there was a hostility towards that college that ended up forcing them to move to their new home in South Florida.

So it's a very complicated history there.

And talk a little bit about that video, 'cause Cathleen, you said you found that from the Wolfson Moving Image and Archives, how powerful was that for you to kind of dive into all of that history and find that film and see what was going on?

It really struck me because, you know, I grew up in a family where water was very much a part of our lives.

Every summer was spent at a beach or a swimming pool or a lake.

And my father was born and raised in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

And it was on a summer vacation trip down here to Florida from New York where I grew up that we were at the beach and I realized that, you know, my father did not know how to swim.

And it struck me in a very deep, sad, visceral way and to connect the dots and find out about that history and that hostility in this country that denied people like my father growing up here in South Florida access to the water and what that could have meant historically for other families, because you're denied access, your family members don't feel safe with you accessing the beach.

So in black families, you know, as Thaddeus said in part of the film, the safety protocol for black families would be to tell their children to stay away from the water.

So, that very much could have been my history had I not grown up with a mother who was a swimmer, but it just struck me very deeply.

And also the fact that black people weren't allowed access to the beach unless you had this ID card.

And every time I show this film and I hear stories of people even today who are still dealing with discrimination, you know, in waterways, you know, at a hotel pool or a beach, or even a local swimming pool here in Fort Lauderdale, it just lets us know that we still have so far to go.

It hits them hard, I would imagine.

Dr. Morris, I've seen you nodding.

Talk a little bit about the economic impact and also the issue too with the card.

I mean, that was really, how do your students feel?

I mean, you teach African American history at the college.

And I think most of the students are surprised.

You know, because I think that they don't realize that America has such an ugly history.

But I think it's a history that we have to tell.

Because I think it's important to make sure that we kind of get rid of the generational curses around the water so that people can feel comfortable.

Because I think that we all enjoy the water because we want to go there to have fun, to enjoy the amount of people who come to South Florida.

When we had Will Smith said, welcome to Miami.

I mean, everyone got excited.

Everyone wants to come to South Beach.

Right.

And so when I think for our students, I think it becomes difficult because they're like, but why, why is that?

So, because when we think of South Florida now, it's definitely very diverse, you know?

And it's different races, different cultures, people from all around the world, but not realizing that I tell students that Florida was still the South.

And that, because it was still the South, there was still this issue of racism that impacted, you know, South Florida.

And so when people like Garth Reeves and Beulah Johnson and all the others risked their lives, they knew they were threatened.

They knew they were gonna be arrested for disorderly conduct, but it was their reality to say, we want to make sure that we begin to reclaim what had been taken away from our community for so long and being able to have that opportunity.

And I think the film kind of tells that story.

It gives students that context.

And why the water was so important to this community and how we could begin to reclaim that, of who we are and what we have been for so long.

Did you wanna say something?

I did, you know, just sort of tagging on with what the doctors are saying about the joy of water, you know, we are water, you know, we are made up of at least 60% water and we come from water.

So it's just, it's normal that we seek it out, you know, sooner or later we're all going to wanna access the water.

[pam] It's natural, it's natural.

It is, it's natural.

And to piggyback on what the Emmy-award-winning filmmaker has said, you said something that resonated with me around water and danger, because that was my association with water.

I think for many people, I think when you go to these pools, when you go to the beaches, it was perhaps an opportunity to have what could be a dangerous interaction with a white person.

And so those became spaces that were very difficult to negotiate.

In my own research on lynching and racial violence, I write about the lynching of Willie James Howard, who was a 15-year-old boy who, for the alleged crime of writing a love note to a white girl was forced to jump to his death in front of his father, into the Suwannee river.

That changed the relationship of black people to that water.

I talked to a relative of his that told the story of the opening of the pool for white people in Live Oak, and Willie James Howard and his lynching became a cautionary tale to young black men in that community.

They would not even walk down the street where the pool was for fear that they would be accused of ogling a white girl in her swimsuit.

They avoided the area completely.

And so I was reminded of that.

And then the other side of that, when we talk about water avoidance is for black women attempting to maintain European standards of beauty as best as we can achieve, and water and black hair don't mix.

So I think for black women and perhaps that's something that the Public Health Panel will get into.

That has been a barrier to that outlet for enjoyment and for our physical exercise.

And for black women.

Well, we have a special guest with us in the audience tonight, who I wanna bring into the conversation.

Derek Davis is a local historian and retired curator for the Old Dillard Museum.

Thank you so much for being here.

Come on up.

So tell us why it's so important for us to have this conversation, to look back at our history, and to educate everyone here in South Florida about what happened with African Americans and swimming.

Well, history is important.

Africans have this concept they call Sankofa, and Sankofa means to go back and fix it, and what it means is, go back in the past and get the information you need to make the future better.

And history has a way of letting us look at some, because some of our problems are common.

They just keep recurring in different ways.

And sometimes it's actually easier, as bad as some the history is, it's actually easier to look at some of the problems when you look at 'em from a historical perspective and then comparing them to now, because with anything you do, you want to compare it to something.

And if you don't have the history to compare it to, you can't make valid decisions about what's happening now.

So it's very important to have those historical perspectives of things, if you actually want to solve problems now.

And that's what society is about, is, how do you solve problems?

How do you get to answers that are good for the overall growth of every, you know, of the whole community?

I know there's a scholar, and one of the one things he talks about when he talks about society, going back to the family unit, to the clan, to the city, to the state, he said, all these things were formed to help to solve problems.

That's what they're for.

And when you look at those problems, that's how history can help you to say, we want to come up with the best society, the best families, the best nations, the best world, and history can help us by looking at it.

'Cause you know, when you are in the now, you really don't look at all of the ramifications of what's going on.

When you get a historical thing, you get to see like a 360 view of it and then you compare it to where you are now, and you're saying, are we really better?

And can we improve it?

So history is very, very important, I think.

Indeed it is.

Thank you so much for being here.

We really appreciate your perspective.

I'm glad to be here.

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Dr. Morris, you teach students, you know, you have these kids in your classroom who we hope are watching us right now on Facebook or on YouTube, and you can question them, you know, when you go back to class, right?

Talk a little bit about young people now.

And what are they saying to you?

What is the impact of the history they're learning on them and what kinds of solutions or things do they talk about with you?

One of the things I tell my students all the time is that you have to learn from the past, live in the present, and plan for the future.

And I think the good doctor said it correctly.

You know, history is so important to our students.

And it's a great opportunity for students to kind of find themselves in this fabric.

Whatever it may mean for you.

And what students are saying is that, you know, why did things occur like that?

Because for them, they can't begin to wrap their minds around such a disdain history of America.

And I say that, you know, it's important to look at it because you need to know that what has happened in the past is your responsibility to begin to make sure it doesn't happen in the future.

You know, I call it, it's called a call to action.

You know, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Johnsons and the Mizells and the Reeves and all the others who have given their lives for us who are living here today.

And it becomes their responsibly because when we look at a lot of these movements that have happened for changes have been students and they can be the ones that could begin to make the future a better place for others.

And so I think they're ready, you know, and I think it's very important for us as historians and as people who are part of this community to continue to educate our students about what has occurred, you know, not a shame.

And I think for a long time, when we think about this whole notion of water safety and about water, you know, especially as being from black families, you know, it was one of those things that, you know, don't go over there because if you go there, this may happen to you.

You know, it's such a fear.

And I think that that fear plays a big part in how we begin that mental psyche and it begins to become internalized.

And then we pass it on to generations.

And so this is the point, I think that's what the film starts.

The buck stops here now.

We're gonna address it.

We're gonna embrace it.

And we're gonna kind of move forward.

And how can we help our students realize that this history, even though it may seem odd, may seem oftentimes scary, and the future may seem scary, but holding each other's hand, each of us, we can make this world a better place.

And I think that that becomes our goal and our responsibility, to help liberate our students to the next level.

And I think that's what this film did.

It liberated people who have been sometimes felt in shackles or in chains for so long.

Wow.

Dr. Hobbs, do you hear that from students as well?

Yeah, something that I actively try to do, especially as I have become more active in the social justice space at historically black colleges is to remind our students of their long legacy, the long legacy of historically black colleges and universities, and more specifically their students, also their faculty members, and leading the path forward.

As I mentioned, it was the students at Florida Memorial College in 1960 who kind of sparked the things that we saw that came a few years later, we can talk about Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson at Florida A&M University, from which I graduated, and sparking the bus boycotts that took place there in 1957.

That list goes on and on.

So helping them to understand number one, their role as young people, the birthright that they've inherited for that.

And for them to, with that knowledge and history, number one, to position themselves, to understand where they stand, and to mind the line in making sure that things are moving forward in progress, that we have the past as a measure.

And, I think that's something that if we're paying attention to that history, it really does help us to know and to mark where we're making progress and where we may be moving in the wrong direction.

And that's why it's so important for us to have these conversations about the past.

And then the film is such a jumping off point, is it not?

It is.

What has the reaction of people been, black and white people?

Anybody who's seen the film?

What have they said to you?

Some people have been moved to tears.

I tried hard to make a film that wasn't going to re-traumatize anyone.

So I hope they were tears of joy because we as people of African descent have that history.

So there's the Sankofa.

We can go back and we can reclaim that.

And it's so important for us to connect with the water for so many reasons, for health and wealth and wellness.

So people have embraced it.

It's been a joy.

And as I show it, you know, around the country and I get to talk to people and we're able to dispel the negative myths and the stereotypes that black people don't swim by showing that yes, we have a rich history and a culture of swimming in our community.

And we need to reclaim that culture and history.

Very well said.

Thank you so much.

Yes.

I would just add that... You did a very good job in not retraumatizing.

As a matter of fact, high marks for the soundtrack, the music I found to be very relaxing along with the visuals, the integration of the poetry, I think has that effect.

And I'm reminded in these moments now, after what we've just lived through in Buffalo, New York, of the need for black people to rest and to heal, and that sites near the water can be those places of calm, where we can go to relax, to replenish our spirits as we continue to deal with this trauma.

So I think that you've given us all a really beautiful gift and the opportunity to reflect and reclaim.

Very well said.

Thank you so much.

Loved having this panel.

This was great.

Thank you so much for your insight, and coming up next, we're gonna hear from our panel of swim safety experts, but first let's see how one local nonprofit is introducing kids to the water and a world of opportunity.

Take a look.

I started StreetWaves this year.

I've been getting a lot of first experiences.

I got to help fix a boat and I got to drive a boat.

I got to go on water.

I got to swim and meet a lot of new people.

I've been looking at like how to swim and stuff and fixing the boat and stuff.

Working with the team like we're all friends and we all can communicate with each other, I like that a lot.

The fact that we're all working on a boat together, it's really good.

My name is Maui Goodbeer.

I'm the founder and executive director of StreetWaves.

We've been around since 2008.

We started off as a swimming and surfing organization, and we've just kind of grown.

Over the past couple of years we've gotten more into maritime career training, maritime opportunities, offshore fishing.

And so we're here today at Murrelle Marine, where they have been super, super, super kind, to donate some of their space for us to work on our boat.

So for the last month and a half, two months, we've been in the boatyard, working on the boat and our boat is called MOBY.

MOBY stands for Maritime Opportunities for Black Youth.

It's our gift to them to give them an opportunity to explore the ocean, to learn about maritime careers, and understand the opportunities that take place in the blue economy.

And the kids learn so much during that process of how the engine works, how the fluids go through the engine.

The engine is cooled by saltwater and freshwater coolant.

And we just learned a ton working on the boat every day for that period of time.

Since that time, we have installed a tuna tower that will assist in going offshore.

We have a program that takes kids and cops offshore fishing through a partnership with FPL in the United Way.

And that's been going really, really great and I'm really excited to invite law enforcement onboard our vessel to fish with us.

Being in the yard, we've met some amazing boat painters and fiberglass workers and engine mechanics and all of these various different careers that are extremely lucrative.

And the blue economy worldwide is a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

And these children who live in a coastal community should know as much as possible about it.

And it really boils down to being exposed to it.

And so that's our goal is to expose the children to it.

It's our motto that the water will do the work.

And so we just get 'em in the water safely, and we let that relationship between themselves and the ocean develop on its own.

It really all starts with swimming.

I mean, swimming opens a world of opportunity, like nothing else.

And it's so simple.

In a nine-week program, these children go from non-swimmers to good swimmers.

They continue to swim and they become great swimmers.

We bus 'em to the ocean.

We bus 'em to the pool.

We bring 'em to the boat yard when we need to repair, we bring 'em to our boat, and we get in the ocean.

We stay wet at StreetWaves, for sure.

Marina is my life now.

I mean, it all started off with swimming.

I didn't know how to swim before, but now that I know how to swim, now I'm a lifeguard.

And now I have the entire whole bunch of doors open for me.

And I'm so proud of that.

So at first I was a participant and then slowly, I began helping out more and then I became a lifeguard and I was able to help teach at the camp and become a coach.

And I got another certification.

So now I can work anywhere as a lifeguard in Broward County.

It's real important for us to reach out to children from underserved communities, because oftentimes for cultural reasons, for social reasons, they're missing out on something that we feel is their birthright, being born in this environment.

If we looked along the coast and other parts of the world, we see that the people that live in coastal communities are connected to the ocean.

It's their life source.

And it really is ours as well.

I want to get into marine biology and hopefully like taking pictures of like creatures, like deep in the water.

So we really want to focus on continuing for kids to learn to swim, growing our organization along the coast so that kids are surfing along the coast that wouldn't normally be seen in the water.

Kids are swimming along the coast that normally wouldn't have learned how to swim, which is such an important life skill.

And being able to have them exposed to the ocean by boat.

It's a life-changing experience.

And we want them to have it.

Such an incredible organization.

As you just heard, swimming can open the door to endless opportunities, especially here in South Florida.

But more than that, learning to swim is an essential skill that can save your life.

As we begin our focus on water safety, let's take a look at one mother's cautionary tale, and I wanna warn you, it might be difficult to watch.

Soraya Morgyyn Stephens.

She was born August 8th, 2016.

She was my little firecracker.

It was a normal day, Sunday afternoon.

Everyone was at my mom's house.

You know, friends, family gathered.

She and I were in the room and my mom came into the room and said, "You always have her cooped up in here.

"Let me take her out to go get something to eat."

So they, you know, left to go eat her mashed potatoes.

Yeah, I remember her closing the door behind her.

Then I heard this gut-wrenching scream.

It was really loud.

I see my cousin running with Soraya in her arms, and my cousin, she's a nurse.

So she was in my street, CPR on Soraya, her little body and ambulance came and they got her.

We went to the hospital.

When we got there I just remember someone saying, "We're sorry.

"Your daughter didn't make it."

She was 23 months old.

By sharing my story, I know it helps at least one family not to go through what me and my family are going through.

My Sorayaslovebugs.

I started that just to honor her and to bring awareness to drowning.

It's a Instagram and Facebook page that I have.

Drowning is 100% preventable.

Just be aware of your surroundings because kids are quick.

They're fast.

They can be here one minute.

And you're like, where'd they go?

If you're around water to have someone be your water watcher at all times, you know, like, hey, you're gonna be the water watcher for an hour, switch up, 'cause a kid can be literally drowning in front of you.

And you won't know because drowning is not like the movies.

It's quick and silent.

It can happen under 30 seconds.

Dr. Johnson, I wanna start with you.

Just watching that mom's story.

It's so heartbreaking.

As a physician, talk about, you've seen this scenario before, unfortunately, what do parents need to do to keep their children safe?

Yeah.

You know, that's not an uncommon story.

Unfortunately, the Sorayas of the world, drowning is the leading cause of death for children one to four.

So it really is a common story and a very sad story.

And you know, I think Soraya's mother really gave excellent advice as to what you need to do, is your eyes have to be on your children.

You have to be thinking all the time about the water.

And I think about my own experience as a parent, when I had young children, the first place I always went to look, if I couldn't lay eyes on them was let me check in the pool if I haven't found them because that was, and then I would go from there.

So you have to be aware.

The advice that she said about somebody always looking at the children, if they are playing near the water, that you have somebody that's designated, that is your job until you give that job to somebody else, to look at the water.

And another point that she made that I really want to emphasize is that drowning is often a silent event.

We think about it like the movies where, you know, people are splashing and yelling, help.

And particularly with children, when they're drowning, they just go under and there are other kids playing around.

Sometimes adults are standing in the water with them and nobody notices.

So you really have to have people who are designated to do that.

And then I'm sure we'll talk some more about other things that we can do to make our children safe.

If they do inadvertently get into the water or have trouble.

Because most of the time when children drown it's when they're get involved in water and that was not the intention.

So they inadvertently get into the water.

Right, they're there for another reason.

It's not swimming.

Or they're around.

Right.

They just happen to fall into a body of water.

And that wasn't the intent, for them to go swimming.

Tara, I wanna bring you into this.

I mean, you were in charge of the swimming programs at the YMCA.

We heard in the piece about having a water watcher.

I know that there are layers of protection or things that you discuss at the Y in keeping kids safe.

What are some of those?

And what do you tell parents, and how young can you start a child in learning how to swim?

All great questions, 100%.

We teach three layers of drowning prevention from barriers in the fact that you have to have the pool protected with the gate and that it's a safety measure, or there's some form of alarm that sounds, that says someone has entered the water, into the concept of supervision and what a water watcher is.

And that is a commitment to someone that has zero distractions, no cell phones, no alcoholic beverages, no conversations.

You know, we have a full campaign where we give out a water watcher.

It has a water watcher pledge on the back where you make a commitment that you're dedicated to that.

And that stands for any body of water.

People will say that and instantly assume it's just a pool, but you know, Florida does lead the nation in drownings because we have so many bodies of water between our lakes, our pools, our beaches and canals, children can drown in a bathtub.

If you are in a space that there is water around, someone has to be committed to being the water watcher, and on our final and last, you know, drowning prevention piece is obviously swim lessons.

And it is critical.

We teach as young as six months and all the way up through adults.

We truly believe that swim lessons, it is a life skill.

Yes, it's a leisure activity.

Yes, it's a sport, but it is a life skill that every single person should have the opportunity to learn because it is, drowning is preventable.

It can happen in a matter of a second.

It can happen anywhere.

And it is a mission of ours to change that statistic and to drive the fact that it's 100% preventable.

And we all are a part of that mission.

Mr. Pitts, you have been teaching swimming for over 30 years.

Talk about how important it is to do this.

And how do you teach the children?

How do you engage them in swimming?

That it's fun.

They're having a good time, but they also are learning a skill that's gonna possibly save their lives.

Well, I've been actually teaching swimming over 50 years.

Okay.

People might find-- You just look so young.

Despite my youthfulness.

Interesting story though, I actually started teaching swimming when I was 10.

So that's how it works out.

I was fortunate enough growing up in the inner city, mom raising seven kids by herself, housing projects, the whole works, but we luckily we had a swimming pool up the street that was left over from white flight.

Some of these people here know about white flight.

And so I was introduced to swimming and I learned to swim at a really early age.

I couldn't afford to go swimming.

So I paid for my own swim lesson by hustling soda bottles in the community where I had to get 10 soda bottles to go swimming each day.

It was 50 cents.

So financially it was a barrier, but I got past that.

And then I got discovered and they put me in the Learn to Swim Program, put on by the Boys & Girls Club, Red Cross, and all that.

So I went, okay.

And then they started letting me help assist.

Once I got accomplished by 10 years old, I was pretty on the swim team.

When I was at advanced, then they started letting me help them teach other black kids how to swim.

So I started, I was around it at a young age.

Now, one of the great things about swimming is as it relates to children, it's not like piano lessons or anything that you have to drag the kid to.

It's not a math class.

Kids love swimming.

That's why I ended up going swimming before all the fancy conversations and the future that I'm sitting in now happened.

I just wanted to go swimming for fun.

Okay, and luckily I got formal swimming lessons.

So I would say one is that it is a necessity and it should be made a high priority by parents.

And that access to opportunities, swimming programs in communities, learn to swim programs, moving from the segregated history and all the barriers that were put up in the past.

Of course they existed.

But what about right now?

Okay.

So taking responsibility right now, like the good doctor said, to getting kids into swimming programs.

Now, one may say that's easier said than done.

Financially it could be an issue.

Culturally, it's an issue.

Access to water, pools.

I keep saying pools.

I'm not saying learn how to swim in a beach.

I'm saying, learn how to swim in a controlled environment, quality swimming instructors.

The whole genesis of what we're talking about here right now is specifically as it relates to African American people.

Okay, so as it relates to African Americans, lack of swimming instructors in black community, bingo, for example, you will have afterschool programs in African American communities, teaching basketball, football, all the gambit of things that kids may one day sign a $250,000,000 five-year deal.

That's not gonna happen in swimming.

So there's a lack of interest there in terms of seeing swimming at the sports, that's gonna pay off in the future.

So parents take a vested interest and make sure their children learn how to swim an early age.

We as a society, having more swimming instructors in inner cities and in disadvantaged community, low-income communities, all of that is a big machine that has to take place, competent swimming instructors.

Now, where are you gonna get this army of swimming instructors in the hood?

You gotta make them.

They're walking around, skilled swimming instructors, handing down the trade from generation to generation, just like everything else is handed down from generation to generation.

And still to this day, there's still a lack of swimming instructors in the inner cities, in the African American community to pass that tradition down.

Tara, I wanna bring you in.

The YMCA has for years and years served many communities, including underserved communities.

So talk about how you get the word out and bring these children in, particularly black youth, to come in and learn how to swim.

Several ways.

I mean, obviously we in Broward County specifically, we have a whole program with SWIM Central that allows them to bus children from our public schools.

And we are a provider of that and bring them to all of our Ys and get them in with our summer camp programs.

We have a full mobile concept where we can take our team to local apartment complexes or housing communities or HOAs.

And we take what that provides to the community so that that's not a barrier because maybe you can't get to that location.

You can't afford it.

Your family doesn't have a car.

You can't get there based on time.

So we meet the needs of the community and can deploy an entire team out to that.

And, you know, like I said, with SWIM Central, it's a very unique concept, 'cause that's all funded and it allows us to serve so many kids in public schools and ensure that that's part of their educational piece and not just the leisure activity to drive that.

So it's a great concept to be able to get them, everybody in there and providing that access to all.

Dr. Johnson, let's talk about, do you think that this is a public health issue?

It's absolutely a public health issue.

And, how can we educate parents about the need for their children to learn how to?

It's just as important as feeding your children, especially living here in South Florida, we're surrounded by water.

We're surrounded by water.

So many places there are pools.

Children have access so they need to have the skills to save themselves.

That is a public health issue and particularly, you know, within the African American community.

Again, we heard from the last panel about some of the historical reasons that a lot of black parents and grandparents don't have a legacy of swimming to pass down as Mr. Pitts was saying, you know, is traditional.

And so black teenagers and young people are five times more likely to drown in pools than their white counterparts.

And that's because they don't have that skill.

So it absolutely is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that we give our children that skill so that they can save themselves.

You know, as babies we're teaching them how to stay alive until somebody notices that they're there in the water, you know, to flip themselves on their backs or, you know, I taught my children to swim to the steps where they could hold on to the steps.

And hold on, to then choo choo.

It's choo choo to the steps, right?

Hold onto the wall.

Exactly, you swim to the steps.

As they get older, then they should be learning skills to not only save themselves, but to really have fun in the water.

You know, I love the film that you showed just before we started this panel because it showed those children that they were having a ball on the water and they were able to have a ball on the water because they had the confidence that came with knowing how to swim.

Mr. Pitts, do you think that there's a more systemic, bigger way that we could get the word out to the African American community, be out making sure that not just our children, but there are a lot of adults who can't swim.

Right, I mean, this forum right here is a point.

And they're just, it's just an ongoing process.

It's a lifetime thing.

It's not a one moment in time.

It's ongoing.

More people are being born every day.

More children are coming into the world every day who will need to know how to swim.

So I keep mentioning children because if you capture that large body of children at a young age, then you start having a real change.

Take for example, the might of America, when wanting to get everybody vaccinated for COVID and get tested.

The might of this country came to bear, went into the ghettos of America, throughout the inner cities and set up triage.

And people started getting vaccinated right there conveniently.

So I know that's in the future.

That would be a great thing there to have the might of America to move towards exposing people to swimming and water safety in the inner cities, with modular pools and so on and so forth.

But the process of education like you're doing right now.

And I keep saying parents seeing swimming as a high priority, even though they don't know how to swim, they may not know how to swim.

My parents, I don't know if I said that early on, because I've done so many of these types of interviews, but my parents do not know how to swim, but they did not stop me from having access to swimming.

Now, over the years, I've seen so many parents take their kids out of swimming lessons because you know, they may get too dark and this is a black thing.

They get ashy, their hair starts falling out, and all that chlorine, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Right?

So, but if they could get a natural hairdo, talking about the females, you get a natural hairdo.

That's popular now.

I think we see here, and...

So you get a natural hairdo, get your kids swimming.

Now, once your kids learn how to swim, they don't have to go swimming every day.

They don't have to be a competitive swimmer.

It's like riding a bicycle, but you learn those fundamentals.

You get into learn to swim programs and you have genuinely concerned swimming instructors.

And then you have to be able to talk to those parents, like really talk to those parents and let them understand the importance of the sacrifice.

If cost is an issue of, you know, some Air Jordans as opposed to spending that money this summer on my kid, getting in a swimming program, say with the Ken Rolling, one of the most accomplished swimming instructors here, Raise your hand, Ken.

Let me get you famous.

Right here.

Those types of things.

Yeah.

So, it's all about how, where your priorities are.

'Cause I kept saying, currently right now, action has to take action.

And I don't think that anybody right now in modern society is trying to keep people from learning how to swim.

I go swimming in LA Fitness.

I swim my little 40 laps.

People, I still can swim 40 laps, and you know, white people ask me all the time, "Hey, how'd you learn how to swim like that?"

And then I say, "Well, I was taught how to swim."

Because it is in their mind.

And I never seen a black person swimming like that.

And it's 'cause they hadn't been exposed.

So it's just a matter of teaching.

And like I said, you get a captive audience, you get the schools involved, you get that type of concept, a captive audience of children where they learn reading, writing and arithmetic.

They learn the necessity that she just talked about of learning how to swim.

It's right there at the schools.

That's the big kahuna, the school systems in the country.

So Tara, we're embarking on the summer here and your summer programs are about to start.

We're here at this beautiful new Y.

Tell us a little bit about these programs and what we might expect to see at this Y when things get going.

Oh, absolutely.

So everything from summer camp to sports, to leagues, to everything aquatics from Group X, Aqua Fitness, swim lessons of all ages.

And a really cool concept we rolled out a couple years ago is every single child that attends our summer camp program gets swim lessons.

It is a part of our curriculum, happens at all of our Ys.

And so that's something that we're really excited to have, the community here particularly asked for a swimming pool, understands the importance of wanting it.

And we are 100% ready and excited to serve.

So I'm really excited to have the pool open and have summer be great.

And this coming 2023 will be our first year.

We'll get to do our Swim For Jenny Week, which is where we actually give back to the community and open our pools to everyone of all ages and provide swim lessons at 100% no cost to anyone.

And along during that time, we take the time to teach the water safety talks and education classes and all the stuff that the doctors shared earlier about educating our parents and making sure that they understand that.

So that will be a very cool journey for this Y to experience as we go into summer and seeing all of those programs roll out.

Dr. Johnson, you have the final word as we kind of get ready to wrap up the evening.

Talk a little bit about the health aspect, drowning prevention, and then just the spirituality that we've all come to talk about with our connection with the water.

Yeah.

Well the spirituality, I absolutely felt when I watched Cathleen Dean's film because that really speaks to me.

That is my spiritual place is going to the ocean and it's calming.

It's where I renew.

And so that, and I think I'm not alone there, except if fear comes in, then it can't be your spiritual place.

And I think that's where learning to swim helps us to expand what places could be our spiritual place and allows the ocean to be that spiritual place.

If you have that skillset.

But one point that I did want to not leave here without mentioning is part of swim safety is also learning CPR.

So if you are going to teach your children to swim, which I believe we all should, you also need to learn CPR so that if they do get in trouble, that you have the next step, you're gonna call 911.

But in the meantime, someone should be doing CPR in a way that is skilled because they have taken and had that skillset as well.

And that makes a difference between, you know, whether you're Soraya and somebody like me comes and says, "I'm so sorry."

Or whether, you know, we're able to restore that child.

And I have a story of a child whose mother came running in, which is kind of my nightmare in the emergency department.

And she had pulled him out of the pool because she had left him there just for a second, which is all our intent is just for a second, but that's all it takes for a child to drown.

She pulled him out.

She did CPR 'cause she had that skillset.

She couldn't call 911 'cause she went in the pool to get him out with her phone in her pocket.

So she came driving in, but because she had done CPR, he was breathing on his own.

He wasn't awake, but he was breathing on his own.

And probably about a week later I got one of the most beautiful pictures sent to me on my phone, which was her bringing her son back, pulling a wagon to say, thank you.

This is probably 15 or 20 years ago, and I still remember it like yesterday because that mother knew CPR and she did CPR on that baby, as she pulled him out, he was pulling his wagon a few days later and that can make a huge difference.

So, you know, that is to me as big a part of water safety as learning to swim.

You can watch the full town hall on our social media.

There you'll also find South Florida swim [announcer] Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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