Marvin Dunn

Founder and president, Miami Center for Racial Justice
Palmetto Bay, Florida

Marvin Dunn has taken a clear stand against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his Stop WOKE law, which restricts how workplaces, public schools, colleges and universities teach courses on race, diversity and inclusion.

Dunn, 83, a Black historian and professor emeritus at Florida International University, established the “Teach the Truth” tours in 2022 for high school and university students, spotlighting the state’s history of racial violence.

He has guided students and their families to the Suwanee River, where 15-year-old Willie James Howard was killed in 1944 by three white men who accused the Black teen of sending a love note to one of the men’s daughters. Dunn has put a spotlight on the Newberry Six tragedy, where a Black pastor and five others from a small Black enclave were lynched by a white mob in 1916. Dunn also makes a stop in Rosewood, a town built by Blacks that was set on fire by a white mob in 1923. The town was the subject of a 1997 film by John Singleton.

“We’re going to keep on teaching our history,” Dunn said. Since its inception, he has guided hundreds on these tours, which are sponsored through his nonprofit, the Miami Center for Racial Justice.

The former U.S. Naval officer didn’t stop there in his fight. He was one of eight plaintiffs in the case against DeSantis. In March, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that blocked Florida from enforcing the STOP WOKE law.

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