MONTGOMERY – Mayor Steven L. Reed on Tuesday – the day after Juneteenth – urged the Montgomery City Council to take action on his proposal to rename streets for Civil Rights icons and other honorable heroes instead of Confederate leaders and figures the city should no longer commemorate due to their actions and place in history.
“We are working to shift the narrative surrounding Montgomery to celebrate our real heroes and not those that have long stymied Montgomery’s progress,” Mayor Reed said. “Symbols matter in this community, especially those that need to be changed to fit where we are now and where we want to go. As our nation examines our shared history in an unflinching and honest way, there is no better statement for the Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement to make than naming streets for the heroes and torchbearers of justice, freedom and equity.”
LINK TO VIDEO OF MAYOR REED’S COMMENTS: https://www.youtube.com/live/Hp-c1mKG6fw?feature=share&t=1505.
Mayor Reed’s proposal was originally introduced in March 2022 following the completion of a report by a committee of historians, professors and community advocates the mayor tasked to consider potential streets, parks, and other public venues that merit a name change. The committee’s report indicated the City should honor Ralph David Abernathy, Johnnie Carr, Nat King Cole, Clifford and Virginia Durr, Solomon Seay, Mary Ann Neeley, Vernon Johns, Percy Lavon Julian, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Jo Ann Robinson and Fred Gray. Names to consider for removal included Calhoun Road, Clanton Avenue, Cortez Street, De Soto Street, Early Avenue, Jackson Street and Jefferson Davis Avenue.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: Renaming Recommendations | Street Names | Montgomery Street Naming Comittee Letter
There is progress. In October 2021, the City renamed Jefferson Davis Avenue for famed Civil Rights lawyer and Montgomery native, Attorney Fred Gray. Originally named for Confederate president Jefferson Davis, Mayor Reed initiated the formal process of renaming W. Jeff Davis Avenue as Fred D. Gray Avenue in December 2020. The street intersects with Rosa L. Parks Avenue (one of Gray’s clients) and is also the location of Attorney Gray’s childhood home. Several obstacles, like an outdated process to rename streets in Montgomery, slowed the City’s progress. However, the Montgomery City Council adopted a more efficient process, which expedited the renaming timeline. On October 5, 2021, the Montgomery City Council unanimously approved Mayor Reed’s resolution to change the name of the street.
Timing for all of the proposed changes is important to Mayor Reed. Montgomery is known globally as The Birthplace of the American Civil Rights Movement. It is also the second most visited destination in the state of Alabama, and tourism tied to the Civil Rights Movement and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and Legacy Museum is a core driver of Montgomery’s economy.
“We cannot just profit off of the history, and then not practice what the history has taught us,” Mayor Reed said.
The City Council seemed open to Mayor Reed’s remarks. It will hopefully revisit the reports and proposal in coming weeks.
Original source can be found here
