Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - December 23, 2004
Monica Hatcher, mhatcher@herald.com
Variety, the former community outreach director for Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, spearheaded several city-sponsored AIDS events, including the Tree Lighting Ceremony commemorating World AIDS Day and the Youth March for Life, which brought thousands of school-age children marching through downtown last year to raise AIDS awareness.
"Her passion for HIV education may have had a great deal to do with the amount of HIV we see in the black community here," said Alex Paulmer, who worked with Variety on AIDS-related projects.
Variety was born in San Francisco and studied psychology and social science at Fort Valley State University. After college, she met Lee Variety. The couple married and moved to Miami in the mid-1970s.
The couple worked as entertainers and owned Boo-key Productions, which booked and promoted acts.
"She had a gift for singing, dancing and acting, but God also gave her a gift for helping people," recalled her mother, Annie Lacy.
In the late 1980s, Variety used her talents and her own money to host a Saturday radio youth talk show on 1490 WMBM called "What's on Your Mind." The call-in program, aimed at teenagers, tackled such issues as pregnancy and child abuse.
Samaki and Lee Variety had two children together, Leronce and Dom'Unique. The couple later divorced.
"She had a high spirit and was a positive thinker," said Dom'Unique, 14. "She was dedicated to her job and loved to help people and she pushed people to be the best they can be."
Variety worked in the public sector as an aide to Congresswoman Carrie Meek for five years.
"She was a rare combination of talent, intelligence and ability," said U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who knew Samaki when she worked with his mother.
Variety worked for a time in the Miami-Dade County School System and with former County Commissioner Charles Dusseau.
In 2002, she joined Diaz's office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Outreach.
"Samaki will be deeply missed by all of the people she encountered and the many, many lives she touched," Diaz said in a statement.
Variety left the mayor's office in October to care for her mother in Georgia.
In addition to her mother and children, Variety is surved by a grandmother, Nazaree Foster; brothers, Roland and Wayman Hindsman; and sisters Jaqueline Shire, Jakki Kidd and Betty Wallace, as well as three grandchildren.
A viewing will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday at Grace Funeral Home, 770 NW 119th St.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at New Birth Cathedral of Faith International, 2200 NW 135th St.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to assist the family with transition-related expenses. Make checks payable to Ronda A. Vangates, esq., Donation Fund Account No. 284-307-06. Checks can be mailed to Total Bank, 2720 Coral Way, Miami, FL 33127 or delivered to Grace Funeral Home.
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