Motorcycle Queen Immortalized With Street Designation

Miami FL

26 August, 2021

9:56 AM

Description

By Johania Charles, the Miami Times Aug 24, 2021 A sea of women in blue flooded the streets of I-95 on their motorcycles over the weekend for "The Last Ride," the 8th annual and final Bessie Stringfield All Female Ride event in honor of Miami's motorcycle queen. Alysia Perkins, one of more than 200 Black women who participated in the South Florida event, made the trip down from Texas sporting her biker gear and pigtails. "We're here [celebrating] Bessie Stringfield. She was the first African American woman to ride across the country on her Harley Davidson Iron Horse motorcycle," said Perkins, a first-time participant and business counselor for the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce. "So this is empowering for women. Normally only 20% of riders are women and we're just trying to grow the women riders community. Unfortunately, this will be my first and last time in the Bessie Stringfield Ride, but I believe that there will be some other things coming through the pipeline because there are a lot of other lady rider events." Stringfield, who lived by the "toss a penny and ride" motto, broke barriers for Black women riders. Born to an interracial couple who later died of smallpox in North Carolina, she was orphaned at the age of 5 and sent to live with an adoptive mother. By age 16, she had already mastered motorcycle riding. Soon, she embarked on one of eight solo cross country trips on her 1928 Indian Scout. Stringfield's only guides were God and a penny she tossed on a map to determine the location of her next adventure. Often, she used "The Negro Motorist Green-Book" by Victor Hugo Green to navigate safe resting locations and eateries while passing through states during the Jim Crow era. Even so, while riding through the contiguous 48 states she was often denied accommodations because of her skin color and was forced to sleep on her motorcycle at times. During WWII, Stringfield served as the only civilian female dispatch rider in her unit, delivering classified documents to military bases. She settled in Miami in the 1950s, where local police told her Black women were not allowed to ride. Her persistence led to her founding the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club in Opa-locka and being inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Stringfield continued to ride until her death at age 82. She owned 27 Harley motorcycles throughout her lifetime. Her legacy has been upheld by the hundreds of women who set out to ride through the country over the course of several days. A previous trip led them through 48 states in just eight days. For this final ride, the women wore Stringfield's favorite color to travel from Daytona Beach to Fort Lauderdale, then Miami to Key West. In Miami, they stopped to announce a street and day designation at Stringfield's last known residence. Lynn Wigfall, historian for the Bessie Stringfield Last Ride Committee, Florida Rep. James Bush, Brandyss Howard and former Miami Herald journalist Bea Hines stand in front of Stringfield's residence after an honorary marker was placed there. (Johania Charles for The Miami Times) "Although Bessie Stringfield was a fierce motorcycle rider, she endured racist attacks and harassment that only made her stronger and more determined to pursue her passion for riding," said District 102 Rep. Felicia Robinson, who presented a proclamation on Friday in Stringfield's name, marking Aug. 20 as Bessie Stringfield Day. Members of Miami Gardens' City Council confirmed that the street sign on the corner of 152nd Terrace and 24th Avenue will be renamed after Stringfield. The sign unveiling will take place next year. "Her legacy will never be lost, we will carry her in our hearts," said Lynn 'Tabu' Wigfall, co-organizer for the event and historian for the Bessie Stringfield Last Ride Committee. A documentary by Diane Fredel-Weis, a Los Angeles-based producer and Miami native, also will be created in Stringfield's honor. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.