Wilkine Brutus

'We welcome billionaires': Palm Beach County looks to capitalize on Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York Palm Beach County leaders are using Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s NY rise to lure NYC businesses, and to help fuel new investment in South Florida.

NEW from me: After New York state legislator Zohran Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist — won the New York mayoral primary in June, Palm Beach County business and government leaders began positioning the area to capitalize on his rise. #mamdani #palmbeach

www.wlrn.org/government-p...

🎤 A Boat, A Voyage: 5 ways to interview loved ones
📅 Sept. 3 | 6:30 PM sharp
📍 Mandel Public Library, West Palm Beach
Join Wilkine Brutus for a fun, FREE, hands-on 1-hour workshop and learn how to capture your family history for generations to come.

💬 Comment “preserve voices” to save your spot!

In every aspect of life, both personal and professional, I’ve tried to embody the resilience of the Lotus flower: learning to accept when the body and mind crave transformation, when the spirit calls for movement I wasn’t ready to take but was willing to explore, ascending step by step. #film

Larenz Tate and journalist Wilkine Brutus discuss the cultural power of Love Jones, the iconic 1997 romantic dramedy starring Tate and Nia Long, and its enduring soundtrack.

#lovejones was celebrated at the 29th American Black Film Festival this year in Miami. Have you seen the film Love Jones?

SPECIAL🇭🇹 ANNOUNCEMENT: My “A Boat A Voyage: Haitian Refugee Story” podcast is on tour! Join me for my speech and Q&A at three libraries across Palm Beach County:

Wellington Branch: Mon, May 05, 6:30 pm
Lantana Branch: Sat, May 10, 2:00 pm
West Boca Branch: Fri, May 23, 2:00pm

#haitian #podcast

Creole Pig: Haiti’s Great Loss 🐖 This WLRN and PBS doc, directed by Haitian-born filmmaker Dudley Alexis, uncovers the story of the Creole pig — a cornerstone of rural Haitian life and economy. In this clip, Haitian artist Edouard Duval Carrie gives his perspective. Full film is on YouTube

I explore the power of Black art and fashion at FLAVARS’s LOGIN event in the Norton Museum of Art, April 18th at 5pm:

Looking forward to interviewing designers David Castro of Dungeon Forward and wardobe stylist Countess Brown #palmbeachcounty #westpalmbeach #blackart #blackfashion #art #fashion

Florida's Haitian population reckons with losing temporary legal status Miami's Haitian community is hoping a lawsuit can postpone the return of many in the community to a country still roiling from violence.

My national story on NPR: Miami's Haitian community is hoping a lawsuit can postpone the return of many in the community to a country still roiling from violence.

Florida's Haitian population reckons with losing temporary legal status. #immigration

www.npr.org/2025/03/29/n...

Florida leads nation with nearly 100 police partnerships with ICE to deport undocumented Florida has the majority of police departments supporting the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, WLRN has found. But, as fear spreads among immigrants of various legal statuses, many wor...

NEW investigation from Wilkine Brutus and Danny Rivero

With local, state, and federal powers aligned in Florida, many worry that closer ties between local officials and ICE could erode trust in law enforcement: keeping communities safe could become more difficult.

www.wlrn.org/government-p...

“Art can save your life, but entertainment will never be your salvation. Entertainment, by and large, is escapism And no one has ever escaped their chains by forgetting they were shackled.” -Josh Johnson #Thoughts

'A dictatorship of indifference': Haitian priest outraged over treatment of immigrants Father Reginald Jean-Mary has been a priest and pastor at Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti, Miami, for 25 years. He says his many immigrant parishioners are in fear of President Trum...

NEW from me: Father Reggie, a prominent Haitian priest, notes that the church pews for service were nearly empty — immigrants are hiding in fear of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation plan.

LISTEN/READ via WLRN, South Florida’s NPR station. #immigration

www.wlrn.org/government-p...

Say It Loud event in Boynton Beach will feature art, live music, and an engaging panel discussion moderated by Wilkine Brutus. Produced and Hosted by @flavar.co

www.eventbrite.com/e/say-it-lou...

#blackhistorymonth #fy #wilkinebrutus #art #boyntonbeach

Say It Loud event in Boynton Beach on February 16th will feature an art exhibition, live music, and powerful panel. Come kick it with us!
#blackhistorymonth #art #fy

Say It Loud event in Boynton Beach on February 16th will feature an art exhibition, live music, and powerful panel. Come kick it with us!
#blackhistorymonth #art #fy

How people are responding to the Luka trade to the Lakers is how I’m responding to the U.S. tariffs: Shocked and confused.

It’s a beautiful location.

New art-wrapped $30 million library in Boynton Beach can be a 'pillar of the community' The 33,000-square foot Canyon Branch Library will bring meeting spaces, a podcast studio, a creative lab, Palm Beach County's first drive-up service window, a $370,000 art installation — along with 13...

NEW from me: A new $31 million, art-wrapped library is opening in Boynton Beach — serving as a cultural and meeting hub in one of the county’s fastest growing communities.

#florida #books

www.wlrn.org/development/...

‘Essential’: nearly 800 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires The firefighters earn $5.80-$10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCR

Hundreds of incarcerated firefighters are fighting the wildfires raging across southern California for $5.80-$10.24 per day

When responding to disasters, they may earn $26.90 over a 24-hour shift

If you’re Haitian, you know that New Year, 2025, doesn’t officially begin without #soupjoumou 😂🇭🇹

'We were happy': Young owner is among those forced to sell as South Florida condo crisis bites As owners across South Florida feel the squeeze with the looming Dec. 31 deadline for reserves, a young Palm Beach County firefighter says he faces a tough decision: to stay in his unit or or sell it ...

NEW from me: Florida’s condo crisis is not only affecting older residents on fixed incomes, but also young professionals in Palm Beach County who are feeling financial strain, weighing up whether they can afford to stay in their units or forced to sell.

#housing

www.wlrn.org/development/...

Random reminder:

Uncommunicated expectations leads to unmet expectations that can result in unresolved resentment.

Brutus: On the evolution as an artist:

Giovanni: "I am a writer so I never tried to sell my youth or my good looks or any of the superficial things that happen to people. I am not as famous as some although perhaps more so than others but nonetheless I am just me...

Brutus: On handling book feedback:

Giovanni: "Take it to the people. And since we know there is no such thing as the perfect any kind of writing: song, play, poem, novel, essay whatever we should always be extremely careful about work shopping our work to death."

Brutus: Anything you’ve written that can be used to encourage our readers?

Giovanni: "No. But I must say if you need encouragement you should go into business not art or science."

Brutus: How easy is it to lose faith in your work? Are there greater challenges at sustaining your level of mastery?

Giovanni: "I don’t think I understand. How can one lose faith in one’s heart?"

Brutus: What is the main thing you’ve tried to avoid in your work?

Giovanni: "I do not talk down to anyone: not the children who read my children’s books; not the adults who read my poetry."

THREAD: The late Nikki Giovanni was my first big interview. In 2010, as an English professor at Virginia Tech, Giovanni took a chance on me — a Black YouTuber and amateur blogger living in South Korea.

She was nice, authentic & straight-forward. Her answers to some questions:

$500,000 grant boosts Black history museum project, revitalization in West Palm Beach community New investment is flowing toward a new Black history museum in the historic Coleman Park neighborhood in West Palm Beach — part of an effort to revitalize the community.

NEW from me: A $500,000 investment is boosting the momentum for a Black history museum and research center in West Palm Beach’s historic Coleman Park neighborhood. #westpalmbeach #education

www.wlrn.org/development/...

My story about fusing art with tech, sports and Black history, also hyperlinks to a 2013 report by journalist Nadege Green, exploring how policies like urban renewal + construction of I-95 through heart of Overtown destroyed Black economic mobility, displacing thousands of Black Miamians.

Outside of icons Crystal Dunn and Kylian Mbappé, artist Stefan Smith said he also drew inspiration from the Miami Edison girls varsity soccer team, made up entirely of #Haitian players, who overcame homelessness and lack of proper equipment to win a championship this year.