Tag: MLK

Growing up in Carol City, now known as Miami Gardens, rapper Flo Rida couldn’t have imagined where life, and his eventual music career, would take him — that at 46, he’d be standing on a stage being honored for his philanthropic work throughout South Florida.

Flo Rida, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, was honored Monday by the 5000 Role Models of Excellence at the nonprofit’s 33rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast at the Miami Beach Convention Center, along with Miami rap legends Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, Uncle Luke and DJ Khaled.

“To all the little kids out here, man, for me to be up here today, I still feel like I’m dreaming,” Dillard told the audience.

5000 Role Models, a civic and educational nonprofit that started as a dropout prevention program, was founded in 1993 by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson when she was a Miami-Dade County School Board member, out of a desire to decrease the school-to-prison pipeline among young Black and brown boys.

The program provides educational opportunities and mentorship to students in South Florida and other areas in the U.S. and also has a chapter in the Bahamas. Fifty college scholarships were awarded to this year’s graduating class in South Florida, and the organization also received a check for $250,000 from CareerSource South Florida that will go toward scholarships.

Dillard, Khaled and Trick Daddy, whose real name is Maurice Samuel Young, thanked Wilson and acknowledged how far they’ve come.

“I would not have imagined that I would have been surrounded by these important people that’s representing the 305,” Young said.

Dillard said he was honored to be included in the ceremonies and still felt that being able to live his dreams is surreal.

“This is just a testament that when you put the synergy of purpose and unite [it] with something that’s inspirational, we can move mountains,” he said. “We can change the world. We can change the trajectory of where our kids will end up in the future.”

Ahead of the event, held annually on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Wilson said she chose to honor the men because of their service work in Miami-Dade County and because they come from the same communities as many of the boys in 5000 Role Models.

“They’ve hosted food drives, run youth football leagues, built music labs, provided mentorship, and so much more,” she said in a statement. “These are people who, no matter how successful they’ve become, have always made sure to give back to the community that raised them and invest in the future.”

The mentorship they’ve provided is what renowned Bahamian Bishop Neil C. Ellis spoke of during his keynote speech at the breakfast. Ellis focused largely on King’s legacy, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and embodying the attributes King had when working to improve conditions for Black people and to enact civil rights protections.

“His life emphasized purpose beyond self, love over hate, service over status, and action over indifference,” Ellis said. “He was not driven by applause, but by assignment, not by popularity, but by principle. He understood that real leadership is costly. Truth invites resistance. Justice demands sacrifice, and progress never comes without pressure.”

Ellis, who was also honored by the program, said people are “living in a time of extraordinary contradiction” where they have great access to information but are uncertain about their identity, purpose and direction.

“Our communities are not lacking talent, intelligence or potential,” Ellis said. “What is often missing are visible, credible mortals of character, men and women whose lives over time consistently demonstrate discipline, integrity, courage and responsibility. These are not abstract values and virtues. They are defined qualities embodied by Dr. King that remain essential for the work of leadership in every generation.”

He touted the 5000 Role Models program as a way to develop future leaders and urged current role models to continue their mentorship beyond the program.

“Through your work, you do not simply remove boys from danger,” he said. “You redirect them toward destiny. You do not just warn them about prison. You expose them to possibility. You do not merely speak at them, you work with them. That is freedom in motion, that is justice in action.”

Other honorees Monday included newly minted Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, the first woman mayor in the city’s nearly 130-year history; Broward and Miami-Dade school Superintendents Howard Hepburn and Jose Dotres; attorneys Marlon Hill, H.T. Smith and Reggie “Strong Arm” Mathis; and businessman Lee “Freezy” Prince.

Attorney Larry Handfield was given a congressional honor and, along with Ellis and Rick Ross, whose real name is William Leonard Roberts II, was also honored with the 2026 5000 Role Models of Excellence, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom & Justice Award.