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  • Letters to the Editor
  • Interviews of, and Articles about, Sonia

 

  • In its June 27, 2020, issue, the Sarasota Herald Tribune contained a letter from Sonia about the desegregation of Sarasota's beaches resulting from many years of struggle by Sarasota's black community. Read the letter.
  • Sonia's Letter to the Editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune appeared on Feb. 28, 2019. In it, she complains about the fact that schools in Sarasota County don't teach women's history. Read the letter.
  • Sonia's Letter to the Editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune appeared on Mar. 31, 2018. In it, she complains about finding a 2-inch stick in a can of sauerkraut and of the lack of action by the supermarket involved and the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Read the letter.
  • Sonia's letter to the editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune appeared on Oct. 9, 2017. In it, she discusses the fact that President Trump's attacks against football players who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem goes against the spirit of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. Read the letter.
  • Sonia's letter was the lead-off letter in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's "Letters From Our Readers" section on Dec. 15, 2016. This letter congratulated the newspaper for its four-part series called "Bias on the Bench." The paper did a one-year investigative research project that revealed that judges' decisions in Florida were influenced by race, gender and politics. Read the letter.
  • Sonia’s Letter to the Editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune complaining about its publication of a sexist and ageist column by columnist Frank Cerabino, April 26, 2014. Read the letter.
  • Sonia writes in response to the "We Have What It Takes" column in the Aug. 24 edition of SRQ Daily. Read the letter.
  • Sonia’s comments to Rita Henley Jensen, editor in chief of the online Women’s eNews, critical of the July 25, 2013, laudatory and false article about the late journalist and anti-Semite, Helen Thomas. These comments were published in the Women’s eNews on Aug. 6, 2013. Read the letter.
  • Sonia’s letter to the editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune seeking a solution to the low income of Sarasota’s young artists was published on July 9, 2013. Read the letter.
  • In its Sept./Oct. 2012 issue, the Cornell Alumni Magazine contained a letter from Sonia about the need for people to eat a predominantly-vegetarian diet. Read the letter.
  • On July 12, 2012, Sonia wrote a letter to editor Myra Kovary that she published on her Occupied New York Times blog on July 12, 2012. Read the letter.
  • On March 3, 2011, Sonia’s letter to the editor concerning the lack of secular options in substance abuse programs at the Sarasota County Jail appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Read the letter.
  • On Sunday, August 1, 2010, Sonia wrote a letter to the editor to The Washington Post about the July 28 front-page article "After son's birth, a 'horrid' discovery," about an incident at a Virginia hospital. Read the letter.
  • On May 18, 2010, HeraldTribune.com published Sonia's letter to the editor about Kathleen Parker's column, "Gender and Geography". Read the letter.
  • On October 9, 2009, The Forward published Sonia's letter to the editor about paid maternity leave. Read the letter.
  • On August 27, 2009, The New Canaan [CT] Advertiser, published Sonia’s letter to the editor about her dear friend and mentor, the late Dr. Ida Davidoff.  Read the letter.
  • On November 16, 2008, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune published Sonia's letter to the editor about holding president-elect, Barack Obama, to his promises on paid family leave. Read the letter.
  • In its December 3, 2006, issue, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune contained a letter from Sonia about the four months in 1988 she spent working for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Read the letter.

Interviews of, Articles about, and Books that Include Sonia

Articles about Sonia are also contained in the section on Belgium.

Sonia Pressman Fuentes

Letters To The Editor

In its June 27, 2020, issue, the Sarasota Herald Tribune contained a letter from Sonia about the desegregation of Sarasota's beaches resulting from many years of struggle by Sarasota's black community.

Black residents fought to integrate beaches

In a column June 14 by Jeff LaHurd, “Sarasota’s history replete with racial injustice,” I was stunned to see the short shrift given to the yearslong struggle of Sarasota’s Black citizens to integrate local beaches.

LaHurd, a recognized authority on Sarasota’s history, mentions that the struggle to desegregate the beaches began in 1955 and concludes his discussion as follows: “To defuse the situation, Sarasota government built a new recreation center for the Newtown community with a swimming pool, and the issue seemed to die down, at least temporarily.”

That is far from the whole story. Sarasota’s Black community was engaged in struggles for many years to integrate the beaches. This included caravans of cars driving to the beaches every week.

In addition, led by Neil Humphrey, president of the local NAACP, residents of Newtown carpooled to the beach and went swimming, walked and sat on the sand. Eventually, Sarasota County beaches were desegregated. In 2012, a historic marker commemorating this struggle was placed at Lido Pool.

By 1964, Sarasota County beaches were fully integrated.

 

Sonia Pressman Fuentes, Sarasota

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