[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 261-262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING JUMBO'S RESTAURANT IN MIAMI, FLORIDA ON ITS 50TH 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 6, 2005

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly to pay this tribute 
to Jumbo's Restaurant, a legendary business establishment in Miami's 
Liberty City community. On Saturday, January 8, 2005, it will celebrate 
its Golden Anniversary.
  This place is more than just a restaurant located along the corridor 
of Seventh Avenue by 75th St. in Miami. It has been and continues to be 
the ``gathering place'' where both celebrities and ordinary folks come 
and congregate--and partake of the sumptuous meals that this storied 
establishment serves its faithful clientele. Since its inception 50 
years ago, Jumbo's Restaurant has provided the magnificent backdrop of 
the struggles and triumphs of an inner-city trying to rise from the 
ashes of near despondency on one hand and the elusive promise of 
prosperity on the other, as envisioned by its original owner, Mr. 
Isadore Flam, who bought it five decades ago.

[[Page 262]]

  Amidst the riots, white flight and economic turmoil, its management, 
cooks and waiters have continued to serve mouth-watering breaded fried 
shrimp, fried chicken and other familiar Afrocentric and Caribbean 
menus. The ambiance has virtually remained the same after all those 
years of socio-economic upturn and downturn. Current owner, 59-year-old 
Robert ``Bobby'' Flam, is gutsy enough to hold the line and continues 
to work hard to keep up the tradition that is uniquely Jumbo's.
  To talk about Jumbo's really is to talk about the struggles of 
Miami's Black community as it faced the challenges of the civil rights 
era of segregation and disenfranchisement. Its story is as graphic as 
downright nostalgic, for it defined the character of a people in search 
of its identity as the promise of equality of opportunity and equal 
treatment under the law flickered--only to stumble and rise yet again 
amidst the changing of the times. Even to this very day, it is at 
Jumbo's that normal folk would forge a community of interest where the 
dignity of our fellow human beings was animatedly discussed.
  Indeed, I am fascinated by the longevity of Jumbo's Restaurant 
because it tells our story of dogged determination. As we internalize 
the meaning of its Golden Anniversary this Saturday, we should be 
enthralled by its perseverance for it is symbolic of our own character 
of resilience and optimism. This establishment has certainly made us 
proud, and I want to express the utmost appreciation of a grateful 
people. Its presence among us evokes yet one more genuine measure of 
the Flam family's enduring legacy to a community that became the 
beneficiary of their love and caring.

                          ____________________