[Lincolnparkdc] NextDoor--petition and debate about Lincoln Park statue

[Mark]

>From the Folger:
Mary McLeod Bethune words.
Note: They repositioned the Lincoln statue so they seem to speak to one
another, hopefully not shoulting each other out.

- Teaching Colleagues,

"Today—Friday, June 19, 2020--we join many across the nation and around the
world in honoring Freedom Day or Juneteenth. We commemorate the day in 1865
when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the
Civil War had ended and the last remaining enslaved persons in the
Confederacy were now free. This was more than two years after Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth got the FolgerED team thinking about the fact that Emancipation
Day is celebrated in our own city of Washington, DC on April 16th . .
. because President Lincoln freed enslaved people in the District of
Columbia on that date in 1862.

And *that* got us thinking about a couple of related stories in the
Folger’s own neighborhood.

So . . . come with us on a little tour:  We're walking from the
Folger eight blocks up East Capitol Street to Lincoln Park.  It’s a regular
city park named for President Lincoln, and for years, President Lincoln
presided alone over the kids and dogs, runners and
cyclists.  The statue--called the Emancipation Memorial--was installed and
dedicated in 1876. A seated Lincoln has his hand on the head of an
emancipated man.  Frederick Douglass attended the dedication as did
President Grant.  In his speech, Douglass praised emancipation but rightly
criticized the statue's defeated depiction of the emancipated man.

Nearly 100 years later in 1974, Mr. Lincoln was joined in the
park by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune (1879-1955), an African American educator
and civil rights activist. She is an energized woman handing off a scroll
to two lively children; the scroll is labeled My Last Will and
Testament.  The power of her sculpture is such that when it was installed,
the direction of Lincoln's statue was reversed so that he and Dr. Bethune
would face each other from opposite ends of the park.  We like to think
that they have been in dialogue ever since.

In this week of Juneteenth 2020, as the nation presses forward to confront
our history of racial injustice, it is Mary McLeod Bethune who speaks to
us so powerfully.  Her Last Will and Testament is mighty, and—though it was
written 65 years ago and some elements feel dated—much of it feels right on
time*.* It is l-o-n-g. Her voice was meant to be heard, however, so you
will find it below in its entirely, starting with a section of
her preamble.

We know we need to do the work. We are honored to do the work.  Together.
With you.  "Knowledge is the prime need of the hour," said Dr. Bethune, and
we say, “Amen.”

Black Lives Matter.

Love from the FolgerED Team: Peggy O’Brien, Corinne Viglietta, Katie
Dvorak, Maryam Trowell, and Shanta Bryant


*MY LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT*

*Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune*

“. . . Sometimes I ask myself if I have any other legacy to leave. Truly,
my worldly possessions are few.  Yet, my experiences have been rich. From
them, I have distilled principles and policies in which I believe firmly,
for they represent the meaning of my life's work. They are the products of
much sweat and sorrow.

Perhaps in them there is something of value. So, as my life draws to a
close, I will pass them on to Negroes everywhere in the hope that an old
woman's philosophy may give them inspiration. Here, then is my legacy.

*I LEAVE YOU LOVE.* Love builds. It is positive and helpful. It is more
beneficial than hate. Injuries quickly forgotten quickly pass
away. Personally and racially, our enemies must be forgiven. Our aim must
be to create a world of fellowship and justice where no man's skin, color
or religion, is held against him. "Love thy neighbor" is a precept which
could transform the world if it were universally practiced. It connotes
brotherhood and, to me, brotherhood of man is the noblest concept in all
human relations. Loving your neighbor means being interracial,
interreligious and international.

*I LEAVE YOU THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE IN ONE ANOTHER*. As
long as Negroes are hemmed into racial blocks by prejudice and pressure, it
will be necessary for them to band together for economic betterment. Negro
banks, insurance companies and other businesses are examples of successful,
racial economic enterprises. These institutions were made possible by
vision and mutual aid. Confidence was vital in getting them started and
keeping them going. Negroes have got to demonstrate still more confidence
in each other in business. This kind of confidence will aid the economic
rise of the race by bringing together the pennies and dollars of our people
and ploughing them into useful channels. Economic separatism cannot be
tolerated in this enlightened age, and it is not practicable. We must
spread out as far and as fast as we can, but we must also help each other
as we go.

*I LEAVE YOU A THIRST FOR EDUCATION.* Knowledge is the prime need of the
hour. More and more, Negroes are taking full advantage of hard-won
opportunities for learning, and the educational level of the Negro
population is at its highest point in history. We are making greater use of
the privileges inherent in living in a democracy.   If we continue in this
trend, we will be able to rear increasing numbers of strong, purposeful men
and women, equipped with vision, mental clarity, health and education.

*I LEAVE YOU RESPECT FOR THE USES OF POWER.* We live in a world which
respects power above all things. Power, intelligently directed, can lead to
more freedom. Unwisely directed, it can be a dreadful, destructive force.
During my lifetime I have seen the power of the Negro grow enormously. It
has always been my first concern that this power should be placed on the
side of human justice.

Now that the barriers are crumbling everywhere, the Negro in America must
be ever vigilant lest his forces be marshalled behind wrong causes and
undemocratic movements. He must not lend his support to any group that
seeks to subvert democracy. That is why we must select leaders who are
wise, courageous, and of great moral stature and ability. We have great
leaders among us today: Ralph Bunche, Channing Tobias, Mordecai Johnson,
Walter White, and Mary Church Terrell. [The latter now deceased]. We have
had other great men and women in the past: Frederick Douglass, Booker T.
Washington, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. We must produce more
qualified people like them, who will work not for themselves, but for
others.

*I LEAVE YOU FAITH.* Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to
service. Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is
impossible. Faith in God is the greatest power, but great, too, is faith in
oneself.  In 50 years the faith of the American Negro in himself has grown
immensely and is still increasing. The measure of our progress as a race is
in precise relation to the depth of the faith in our people held by our
leaders. Frederick Douglass, genius though he was, was spurred by a deep
conviction that his people would heed his counsel and follow him to
freedom. Our greatest Negro figures have been imbued with faith. Our
forefathers struggled for liberty in conditions far more onerous than those
we now face, but they never lost the faith. Their perseverance paid rich
dividends. We must never forget their sufferings and their sacrifices, for
they were the foundations of the progress of our people.

*I LEAVE YOU RACIAL DIGNITY. * I want Negroes to maintain their human
dignity at all costs. We, as Negroes, must recognize that we are the
custodians as well as the heirs of a great civilization. We have given
something to the world as a race and for this we are proud and fully
conscious of our place in the total picture of mankind's development. We
must learn also to share and mix with all men. We must make an effort to be
less race conscious and more conscious of individual and human values. I
have never been sensitive about my complexion.  My color has never
destroyed my self-respect nor has it ever caused me to conduct myself in
such a manner as to merit the disrespect of any person. I have not let my
color handicap me. Despite many crushing burdens and handicaps, I have
risen from the cotton fields of South Carolina to found a college,
administer it during its years of growth, become a public servant in the
government of our country and a leader of women. I would not exchange my
color for all the wealth in the world, for had I been born white I might
not have been able to do all that I have done or yet hope to do.

*I LEAVE YOU A DESIRE TO LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEN.* The
problem of color is worldwide. It is found in Africa and Asia, Europe and
South America. I appeal to American Negroes -- North, South, East and West
-- to recognize their common problems and unite to solve them.

I pray that we will learn to live harmoniously with the white race. So
often, our difficulties have made us hypersensitive and truculent. I want
to see my people conduct themselves naturally in all relationships -- fully
conscious of their manly responsibilities and deeply aware of their
heritage. I want them to learn to understand whites and influence them for
good, for it is advisable and sensible for us to do so. We are a minority
of 15 million living side by side with a white majority. We must learn to
deal with these people positively and on an individual basis.

*I LEAVE YOU FINALLY A RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.* The world
around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future
management. Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better
world. They must not be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness, for
they are to be the leaders of tomorrow. Nor must they forget that the
masses of our people are still underprivileged, ill-housed, impoverished
and victimized by discrimination.  We have a powerful potential in our
youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so
that we may direct their power toward good ends.
Faith, courage, brotherhood, dignity, ambition, responsibility -- these are
needed today as never before. We must cultivate them and use them as tools
for our task of completing the establishment of equality for the Negro. We
must sharpen these tools in the struggle that faces us and find new ways of
using them. The Freedom Gates are half-ajar. We must pry them fully open.

If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and
serving. As I face tomorrow, I am content, for I think I have spent my life
well. I pray now that my philosophy may be helpful to those who share my
vision of a world of Peace, Progress, Brotherhood, and Love.”

 *I LEAVE YOU HOPE.* The Negro's growth will be great in the years to come.
Yesterday, our ancestors endured the degradation of slavery, yet they
retained their dignity. Today, we direct our economic and political
strength toward winning a more abundant and secure life. Tomorrow, a new
Negro, unhindered by race taboos and shackles, will benefit from more than
330 years of ceaseless striving and struggle. Theirs will be a better
world.  This I believe with all my heart.

------------------------------

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On Sat, Jun 20, 2020, 7:36 PM jobyl boone <jobyl01 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> FYI, there is now an ongoing debate and petition to remove the statue from
> Lincoln Park on NextDoor.
> https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=152195306
>
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