by Melanie Feliciano

Two years ago I walked into Lion Video at its old location on Biscayne Boulevard at N.E. 62nd Street and picked up a ratty little community newspaper, thinking it could help me get to know my new neighborhood better. I had just arrived from San Francisco, an unemployed journalist searching desperately for work. I didn’t have enough experience for the New Times, the now defunct Street Weekly had no budget for another reporter and the Herald online needed someone who could write in Spanish. I was starting to get frazzled when that ratty little newspaper caught my eye at the video store.

I went home and read it – cover to cover – and was inspired. Overpowering the misspellings and grammatical mistakes, was a voice so strong I couldn’t help but get excited. Here was a publication that put its people and their stories before the bottom line. Here was a publication whose mission was clear. Here was a publication that was using the First Amendment to change Miami.

The BBT was no rag; it was the diamond in the rough of glossy toilet paper. It was a record of the real people and showed an outsider like me that the Miami experience isn’t page after page of perfect white smiles and trendy outfits. Coming from San Francisco, I connected with its honesty, its grassroots feel, its dedication to civic journalism. I had to get involved.

So, I submitted a snarky article about some FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) activists who had set up camp in a Wynwood warehouse (that is now the posh gallery for a local artist). Five minutes later, my phone rang.

“Hi, this is Skip. I’m the publisher of the Biscayne Boulevard Times. I’d like to use your story.”

It was a perfect fit. He was looking for a managing editor and I was looking for an outlet for my San Francisco idealism. For the last two years I have had the honor of collecting, reporting and writing the news of Biscayne Boulevard, first as managing editor, then as editor.

We tackled issues from historic and tree preservation, to unsheltered bus benches, to resident vs. developer battles. We encouraged people to keep writing letters to the editor and opinion articles about things they cared about; not what our advertisers cared about. I started writing a column called “The Devil’s Advocate” to offer Miami alternatives to its often tunnel-vision mentality. We initiated community forums to help people realize it’s the local issues that affect us most; not the crap the corporate media shows us on TV.

In return, the BBT helped me better myself. I took the advice of financial columnist Gilda Iriarte and consequently became a homeowner, something I never thought was possible for a writer in Miami. I had the honor of working with Andy Golan, a seasoned reporter, who knew much more about journalism than I. And, the BBT helped me start my own business.

But probably my most memorable journalistic moment at the BBT was traipsing down Biscayne Boulevard with former staff reporter Jacky Miqueo in search of prostitutes to interview for an in-depth article to tell “their side” of the story. Thank you, Jacky, for helping me become a better editor, and for helping me understand that not everything should be my way or no way.

I want to thank Corey Kingsbury, who is the most patient and kind graphics designer on deadline. I want to thank Leslie Johnson-Mosley, for being the one-woman advertising power house on stilettos, bearing babies and collecting checks in a single bound. I want to thank K. Lee Sohn for wandering around Wynwood on the first Second Saturday artwalk, bumping into me and turning out to be the most talented journalist without a journalism degree. She confirms to me everyday that journalism school is a waste of time where students are more worried about getting an internship than telling a good story.

And lastly, I want to thank Skip Van Cel for taking a chance on a little Puerto Rican girl with stars in her eyes. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the most significant years of Biscayne Boulevard’s transformation. In the last two years I have grown up alongside the newspaper. I turned 30 this year, and suddenly responsibility is now overshadowing idealism; paying the bills is becoming more important than changing the world. I finally understand why they say, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”

I have confidence that the newspaper will not succumb to the monetary pressures of Miami the way I did, as I pass the torch to the capable, eager and motivated new editor, Christian Cipriani. He has the passion, the wit and the intelligence to not only keep the BBT real, but to take it to the next level. Call him up and welcome him to our neighborhood. And tell him what you’d like to change about Miami.

Good Luck!