by Mary Loehr and Caleb Thomas

1 - This idea came from Ithaca High School youth of color that are black, white, Asian, Latino, and Native American. The voices of youth and people of color are often unheard.  This initiative gives a voice to the voiceless.

2 - Let's embrace a culturally diverse landscape that reflects a history & culture of all people. In Ithaca, well over 51 "name" streets (i.e. Monroe) are named for white people. Only 2 very small streets are named for individuals of color. Martin Luther King Jr. St., as a main street in our community, will bring our cultural landscape closer into balance.

3- To demonstrate Ithaca's dedication to racial and economic justice and to represent Ithaca's commitment to a plan of inclusion & street revitalization.

4- Racial & economic justice is priceless. People of color and low-income people are consistently inconvenienced by those of us in power. Hesitation to invest in MLK Street is another example of a hesitation to invest in black people, places, and ideas.

5- To honor a man killed at age 39 for standing up for change and the rights of all human beings at home and abroad.

We, along with the 1,500 people who signed on to the petition, desire to create Martin Luther King Jr. Street at the heart of our community. We recognize that this is only a step toward economic and racial justice. There are many pieces to the puzzle of liberation. How can we as a community further recognize the universal need for all human beings for respect, acceptance, appreciation, compassion, inclusion, trust and equality?

Are awards and the renaming of streets to Martin Luther King Street superficial? We believe that in building a movement for social change, every step counts. Every letter to the editor, every discussion, every community event, every bit of new information, can work on changing hearts and minds, until a critical mass, or a tipping point, is reached, and suddenly we're all in this together.
 
Is the street renaming debate divided along racial lines? As members of the street renaming committee, we have asked thousands of people how they feel about the street name changing. When we ask black people, the vast majority are excited about it. When we ask white people, many say "bad idea" - mostly for reasons of cost and inconvenience.
 
Understanding the cost issue, one proposal is to have a period of time - several years, perhaps - in which there will be a dual designation, that is, both street names will be recognized. This will give businesses and property owners time to go through their existing supply of stationary and checks before ordering again, notify vendors and friends, redesign websites, etc. Regarding any other costs, we are confident that the
community can come forward with creative solutions. One business owner has committed to donating 100 hours of her time to help other business owners, for example, and if we put a call out, we're sure that other citizens would gladly come forward to help.

We encourage white people to look past this hesitation and find out more about the experiences of all of Ithaca's residents. Perhaps with new eyes, we will begin to see what a simple yet profound and meaningful change this could be. White people listening to people of color, taking a step back from the historic and current imbalance of power in our community, researching racism, and taking action to undo it, are healing practices for our community.

Mary Loehr and Caleb Thomas are local grassroots historians
256-9733 and 277-1799