Florida Voting Rights Activist Desmond Meade Honored With Street Naming in Miami-Dade

On December 6th, a section of Southwest 268th Street in Naranja was officially co-designated as “Desmond Meade Street” in honor of Dr. Desmond Meade’s lifetime contributions to the community.

After graduating high school, Dr. Meade joined the United States Army where he served as a helicopter mechanic. After enduring and overcoming multiple personal obstacles, Dr. Meade enrolled in Miami-Dade College while living in a homeless shelter. He graduated in 2010 with the school’s highest honors. He then enrolled in the Florida International University College of Law, where he graduated in 2013.

Photo courtesy of @kionnemcghee on Instagram

Dr. Meade serves as president and executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), a grassroots membership organization run by Returning Citizens (Formerly Convicted Persons). This organization is dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with convictions and creating a more comprehensive and humane reentry system that will enhance successful reentry, reduce recidivism, and increase public safety.

In 2018, Dr. Meade led the effort to pass Amendment 4, which restored the ability for Floridians with a past conviction to vote. Amendment 4 ended the lifetime ban on voting for more than 1.4 million people and represented the largest expansion of American democracy in a generation.

Dr. Meade’s work earned him a place on TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019 and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2023. He was named as Floridian and Central Floridian of the Year in 2019, a Ford Foundation Global Fellow in 2020, and a 2021 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow.

“This isn’t just a celebration of me; it’s a celebration of every person who believed in change, every step we’ve taken toward second chances, and the power of redemption,” wrote Dr. Meade in an Instagram post announcing the street renaming. “To everyone who has walked this road with me—thank you. This moment is ours. It’s a reminder of the power of second chances, and a testament that love and service can lead you to places you never dreamed possible.”