I discovered a blog post from 2008 that caught my attention. Where I live the street names are pretty obvious, often political players well known to many high school history grads but around the United States, how many residents know what it means to live on the street that they call home?
Here is an excerpt from the blog I was reading and a link to the full post. It inspires me to keep asking questions and can serve as a good reminder to us all that learning more about our world can begin just outside our doorsteps.
From: BrooklynRon.Com
"Councilman Vann's office has put together a list of Bed-Stuy's byways, with accompanying brief bios of the historical figures whose names now grace the street signs.
The irony here is that many of the figures were slave holder and slave traders.
Vann acknolwedges having a political as well as historical motive in putting this list together. He still is piqued that the City Council thwarted the wishes of himself and Councilman Charles Barron to have a section of Gates Avenue named after the late black activist Sonny Carson.
And so in making the case that many of Bed-Stuy's street names have, let's say, sullied backgrounds, he's also making the argument that the names should be, in many cases, changed...."
Read more here http://www.brooklynron.com/2008/03/al-vann-says-ch.html
Here is an excerpt from the blog I was reading and a link to the full post. It inspires me to keep asking questions and can serve as a good reminder to us all that learning more about our world can begin just outside our doorsteps.
From: BrooklynRon.Com
"Councilman Vann's office has put together a list of Bed-Stuy's byways, with accompanying brief bios of the historical figures whose names now grace the street signs.
The irony here is that many of the figures were slave holder and slave traders.
Vann acknolwedges having a political as well as historical motive in putting this list together. He still is piqued that the City Council thwarted the wishes of himself and Councilman Charles Barron to have a section of Gates Avenue named after the late black activist Sonny Carson.
And so in making the case that many of Bed-Stuy's street names have, let's say, sullied backgrounds, he's also making the argument that the names should be, in many cases, changed...."
Read more here http://www.brooklynron.com/2008/03/al-vann-says-ch.html
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