SHIRLEY GIBSON: "She was just a legend and a trailblazer." PHOTO BY DAVID SNELLING FOR SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – When Miami-Dade County officials told Miami Gardens founding mayor Shirley Gibson that Florida’s largest Black city wouldn’t generate enough revenue to survive and may go bankrupt, she proved them wrong.

By the time term limits required Gibson to leave political office in 2012, Miami Gardens had seen a rash of new development, new business, a booming local economy, and been named an All-America City. Meanwhile Jazz in the Gardens, Gibson’s brainchild, had become one of the most popular annual music festivals in the country.

Gibson left her mark on the city in which she was born and raised, and loved it like it was her own child.

Gibson led the incorporation movement for Miami Gardens, and became the city’s first mayor in 2003.

She was laid to rest on Tuesday, Oct. 24 as the community paid tribute to a woman who dedicated her life to public service, and who after an illness died Oct. 16 at the age of 79.

New Way Fellowship Praise and Worship Center in Miami Gardens was filled as family, friends, local dignitaries, and those whose lives Gibson touched said their final goodbyes in the church of which she was a member for more than 40 years.

The morning was filled with prayers, singing, emotional tributes, poems, and a video of Gibson as a guest on a local talk show, encouraging women to be themselves and support one another.

Pastor Arthur A. Jackson said Gibson’s celebration of life wasn’t a sad occasion because she wouldn’t want people crying over her. He even cracked a joke: "Welcome to Jazz in the Gardens."

Jackson said the community won’t be the same without Gibson. "She was everything to Miami Gardens," he said. "Another soldier has gone home."

Gibson’s public service started when she became a police officer for more than 16 years.

After she retired from law enforcement, Gibson joined the North Dade Community Council, which handled neighborhood zoning issues for the county, in 1996.

She said Miami Gardens was being ignored by the county which provided inadequate services such as taking too long to fix a streetlight or pothole.

Gibson led the incorporation movement in the 1990s to bring government closer to home but suffered a setback when then-Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga led a campaign to derail the cityhood plan.

He told residents the city would raise their taxes, and they subsequently voted down the incorporation referendum.

Several years later, Gibson and other Miami Gardens residents again proposed incorporation, and despite Huizenga’s efforts to try to squash it, voters approved.

In 2023 when the city celebrated its 20th anniversary, Gibson told the Miami Herald that critics had said the city wouldn’t survive its infant years.

“You know, a lot of people were concerned that we would not be successful, because the county said we were too poor to be our own city,” she said. “So when your government tells you that it resonates, and so we had to try to overcome that.”

Hans Ottinot, former Miami Gardens City attorney when it incorporated, said Gibson was a modern-day Harriet Tubman who fought for the quality of life for Blacks living in Miami Gardens even before incorporation.

"When the county said Miami Gardens wouldn’t make it, Shirley Gibson told them ‘let Black people go and we can provide for ourselves,’" Ottinot said. "They said Miami Gardens was too poor to provide services but Shirley Gibson gave us our freedom and we won’t be poor anymore. She sacrificed a lot to give residents a better life."

North Miami Mayor Alix Deslme, who knew Gibson when she was mayor, said she inspired him to run for political office. He said his city honored Gibson in February during Black History Month.

"She was just a legend and a trailblazer," he said. "She created the largest Black city in the state and we are supportive of Gibson and everything she has done for the community."

Vocalist Shenita Hunt paid tribute to Gibson with several songs.

Hunt said Gibson on many occasions asked her and her band to perform at events in Miami Gardens, and she was honored Gibson asked her to sing at the Florida League of Mayors Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

"She was down to earth and respected my work. She always asked us to play at events because she knew everyone would be on the dance floor."

Mary Garrison, a Miami Gardens resident for more than 30 years, said Gibson was always listening to people’s concerns and taking action to improve their lives.

"She was one of a kind," Garrison said. "She wasn’t a politician … she was a person helping everyone and she will be missed."

Gibson also was an advocate for women empowerment.

In the tribute video, Gibson encouraged women and girls with a message of self-love: to always be themselves and support each other during good and difficult times.

"Know who you are, and if you don’t know, find out who you are," Gibson said. "I didn’t want to be anyone else. I always wanted to be Shirley Gibson. What I’ve accomplished, I love me and I know I can do anything I want. Ladies, you must love yourselves and love your other lady friends, and you must love them at all times."