The PDC Wants to Turn Off the Light of Ida B. Wells
It’s not surprising that there is an anti-CRT anti-Ida B. Wells movement in this country. Ida B. Wells writing was uncomfortable since she gave the specifics of gruesome lynchings. She shone the light on terror in this country, and people who think racism has been solved openly oppose CRT for ideological reasons.
Don’t have time to read? Ready for action? Write this email!!
Example:
To: KButler@cityhall.nyc.gov; snielsen@mnlandscape.com
Subject: Testimony at Public Design Commission
Dear Public Design Commission,
I would like to offer testimony on item 27861 re: Abolitionist Place Park. Please place it on the public agenda.
And please read, sign and share the Sisters In Freedom petition.
The anti-Ida B. Wells tendency of the Public Design Commission is devoid of this ideology, but the impact is the same. On the street where Ida B. Wells lived, on the street where Black suffragists met, on the street where Abolitionists and all sorts of activists worked to name the names of injustice, the PDC thinks there should be no discussion.
Back in 2007, the NYC Economic Development Corporation spent $500,000 to deny the historical importance of Duffield Street, which has since been renamed Abolitionist Place. In a huge victory for Brooklyn, in February 2021, Landmarks Preservation Commission finally decided to give landmark designation to 227 Abolitionist Place because of its connection to the Underground Railroad. What people don’t remember is that back in 2008, NYC tried to avoid the embarrassment of their attempt an Abolitionist home by signing a contract for $1 million to build a monument to Abolitionist History at Abolitionist Place Park (formerly Willoughby Square Park and sometimes called “Abolitionist Place).
The publicly revealed proposal has zero reference to either “Brooklyn” or “Abolitionism.” Apparently, the proposal has been revised, but in an act of bureaucratic obfuscation, the EDC has not revealed what revisions they have made.
What they have revealed is disgust at Underground Railroad history. Am I being too harsh? I don’t think so. The current plan puts a dog run right next to 227 Abolitionist Place, right on top of the tunnels that used to connect it to 223 and 225 Duffield, which were demolished by the EDC. At the exact site of where African-Americans might have found freedom, the EDC plans to let dogs urinate and defecate. If that isn’t disgust, I don’t know what is.
The EDC does not show its disdain for history by yelling at school board meetings, like the anti-CRT crowd. They use the tools of the powerful. Monday’s meeting is an example of that. We have gotten letters of support from every relevant elected official, from school kids, from scholars and from family members of the Ida B. Wells and other suffragists. None of that matters. They will put their proposal before the Public Design Commission on the “consent agenda.” This assumes that their proposal is so uncontroversial that it’s not worth it to put on the public agenda. It’s not worth debating because everyone agrees, while in fact we have a stunning alliance of people who support Sisters In Freedom.
The EDC publishes corporate happy-talk press releases about how they love history. But their proposal is completely vague, has no reference to the actual people who made Downtown Brooklyn so important, and fails to educate visitors.
It’s time to change the narrative. Downtown Brooklyn is as important as the Harlem Renaissance. It was the center of African-American cultural, intellectual, business, religious and political life during the late 19th Century. It was the birthplace of the NAACP, of the women’s club movement, of Black Suffrage, as well as Abolitionism. We have a chance to celebrate that with Sisters In Freedom. We have a chance to throw it all away, as well. Inaction will mean we will fail to honor the great Civil Rights leaders that walked on Duffield Street. Please contact the Public Design Commission TODAY.
