Introducing ESTEBANA: Florida’s Black Arts, Culture, And Heritage Magazine
ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida (September 10, 2025) – Florida has long been the setting for pivotal moments in Black American history, from the first free Black settlement of Fort Mose in St. Augustine in 1738 to the wade-ins at all-white beaches led by Eula Johnson and the NAACP in Broward County in 1961. These stories, which have significantly shaped the United States, have long been overshadowed or completely left out of American history. ESTEBANA: Florida’s Black Arts, Culture, and Heritage Magazine was created to share the many untold stories.
“It is so important for people to see themselves and their families represented in the stories of our nation and our State,” says Howard Holley, Publisher of ESTEBANA and Founder and CEO of EVOLVE Communications Group. “When entire groups of people are omitted, it creates a missing link between history and the present. All aspects of our rich, multicultural heritage in Florida and the United States must be shared. That’s our purpose with ESTEBANA: to shine a light on the untold stories that everyone deserves to hear.”
ESTEBANA: Florida’s Black Arts, Culture, and Heritage Magazine is a quarterly publication, released in digital and limited-print formats. Its inaugural issue, released digitally in July and in print in September, included stories on the completion of the fort structure at Fort Mose Historic State Park, the artistry of Florida Highwaymen Curtis Arnett, and the story of ESTEBANA, the namesake of the magazine. Born in St. Augustine on January 5, 1595, to her mother, Gracia, an enslaved Black woman, she was the first known recorded Black child to be born and baptized in the New World. The magazine also highlighted the creation of the Foundation for the Museum of Black History, a non-profit organization formed to support the construction of the Florida Museum of Black History. The museum is the product of the Florida Museum of Black History Task Force, an executive committee established by Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2023. ESTEBANA’s Howard Holley was an appointed member of the task force. The museum will be located in St. Augustine, on the former site of Florida Memorial University, previously known as the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).
“We are at an incredibly exciting moment right now,” says Alesia Wilbekin, Editor of ESTEBANA and Executive Director of the Foundation for the Museum of Black History. “St. Augustine will soon be home to the Florida Museum of Black History, a space where the diverse, important, and often overlooked contributions of Black people to Florida’s history will be preserved and celebrated, a place to inspire future generations of Floridians. Our goal with ESTEBANA is to amplify the voices telling those stories, create support for the Florida Museum of Black History, and spread the message that Black history is American history.”
ABOUT ESTEBANA: FLORIDA’S BLACK ARTS, CULTURE, AND HERITAGE MAGAZINE: ESTEBANA: Florida’s Black Arts, Culture, and Heritage Magazine is a quarterly magazine that uncovers the hidden history and rich culture of Black individuals in Florida, through visual storytelling, thought-provoking content, and in-depth profiles. It is produced by Publisher Howard Holley, Editor Alesia Wilbekin, and EVOLVE Communications. Photos to accompany this release may be found here. Read the magazine: ESTEBANA: Florida’s Black Arts, Culture, and Heritage Magazine
