[Lincolnparkdc] The revolution has been postponed

[James Grimaldi]

The revolution has been postponed.

The tearing down of the historic but controversial Emancipation statue
apparently is now scheduled for Friday. The postponement is "to ensure we
are in the clear legally."

(Where do you go to get a permit to tear down a statue of Abraham Lincoln
on federal land?)

"As with every revolution things change on the fly,” organizer Glenn Foster
wrote on Instagram. “[S]o after much feedback from the community, and to
ensure we are in the clear legally, we are putting on a rally for Friday at
6 p.m."

Just so hard to get our schedules synced up for the revolution. Can we do a
Doodle?

The Hill Rag reports
<https://www.hillrag.com/2020/06/24/rally-at-emancipation-monument-rescheduled-for-friday/>
he
is working with D.C. at large council candidate, Marcus Goodwin, a real
estate developer.

A little more on Mr. Foster from Harvard Magazine:

“Glenn Foster ’22, who lives in Maryland and is pursuing a joint
concentration in government and African and African American studies, is a
culture critic and longtime advocate for communities of color. He had been
sharing his views on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media long before
last week, but his recent posts relating to the Movement for Black Lives—a
coalition of activist groups across the country that includes Black Lives
Matter—have seen heightened engagement.

"'It is important to use your platform because you have the power to
influence—regardless of having a million followers, regardless of being on
the news—you have the power to influence your community, your family, your
friends,' he said. 'And it’s your duty to use that for this community that
is marginalized.'

"He hopes this social-media engagement will turn into sustained donations,
political canvassing, and increased voter turnout. He has also been
attending protests in Washington, D.C."

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/06/protesting-at-home-and-on-the-streets

Subscribe to his Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmhPWjQlQg4DdXXbcvpyUog

His choice for vice president: He wants Biden to pick Stacey Abrams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXWR_8Y5yt4

His Twitter
https://twitter.com/imglennfoster

His personal Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/glennnfoster/

His organization's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thefreedomneighborhood/

His organization's Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/thefreedomneighborhood/

If you want to join his “revolution," sign up here.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpmd6KM9ApFCZIHLXyaGE4uiET2HbYizHxSohmeWox8NCv0g/viewform

His web page appears to have been taken down
https://wearetheneighborhood.carrd.co/

On Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 8:53 AM SHANNA SMITH <shanna1016 at aol.com> wrote:

> I read this years ago along with many, many speeches and books written by
> Mr. Douglass. His praise and critique is about Lincoln accurately represent
> the President and the comment on the total statue is the word “
> interesting.”  Used a couple of times. I’ve always read that as the
> southern euphemism, “bless your heart.”
>
> I moved here in 1990 when my Black children were 8 and 11 years old. Upon
> seeing this statue -what they saw was a depiction of a Black man, almost
> naked lifting his arms to a white man. They knew this was Lincoln.
>
> Their dad, my late husband, a Black man, had a small monument dedicated to
> him in Toledo, OH at a large park—Ottawa Park. The only monument on public
> land recognizing a Black person.
>
> So to they saw this in contrast to the respect and depiction of their
> father.
>
> I think this statue needs to be placed in a museum along with Mr.
> Douglass’S speech, recognizing the imperfect nature of Lincoln’s actions as
> well as his final decision to work with Abolitionists, use 200,000 Black
> soldiers, stop the rebellion, and emancipate enslaved people.
>
> But it is not insignificant how the depiction of a Black man on this
> statue makes Black children feel.
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone Shanna Smith
>
> On Jun 24, 2020, at 8:34 PM, Dean Rosen <drosen at mc-dc.com> wrote:
>
> 
>
> I really shouldn’t respond. In large part because we moved to the other
> side of the park a few years ago and the only REAL reason I stay on the
> listserv is because of the recommendations for rat removal, floor
> refinishing, and the like.
>
>
>
> But.. Ive been watching the emails back and forth over the past few weeks
> and wanted to make three points.
>
>
>
>    - First, I agree with a lot of what has been said by neighbors on BOTH
>    sides of this debate, substantively. I have been disappointed by the tone
>    and tenor. Which I think reflects the broader coarsening of discourse
>    across our society. Imagine if this were a national debate, and not one
>    taking place in the relatively homogenous enclave a gentrified corner of
>    the nation’s capital among predominately white people. But, on substance,
>    there is a lot to agree with on both sides. It is a discussion worth
>    having, and a debate worth engaging in.
>    - Second, I do think there is a fundamental difference between statues
>    that honor those who fought to defend slavery and segregation and racism,
>    and those who fought to eradicate it. No matter how imperfect, Lincoln was
>    on the right side of history. This is not someone who had a privileged
>    upbringing. Or was acting, as many of us are, in response to the popular
>    tide of public opinion. This was a courageous man who risked the unity of
>    the nation to save it. And defended the very fabric and helped secure the
>    very foundation of freedom and liberty which many of us take for granted.
>    - Third, what troubles me most about the effort to remove the statue
>    erected nearly 150 years ago, and that I have not seen written about in
>    this listserve, is the lack of civil discourse and public engagement and
>    Due Process. This has not been a long struggle waged for decades by
>    citizens offended by the statue. Yes, there has been criticism. But, the
>    bill that the Honorable Delegate filed was done this year, a few days ago.
>    I may be rusty in my legislative research. But I don’t think there has been
>    another bill filed by Ms. Holmes-Norton, or any member of Congress, prior
>    to the 116th Congress. I’m glad her office is copied here. I welcome
>    them to correct the record if I’m wrong. But, if I am right, with all due
>    respect, I don’t see any evidence that this has been a cause that our
>    Delegate—a resident of Capitol Hill who has passed by the statue for years
>    on her walks in the neighborhood over the decades—has ever taken up
>    before—until the last few weeks. This is not to criticize her political
>    expediency, but even looking more broadly, I’m not able to find another
>    example of any organized group or individual citizen petitioning the
>    National Park Service to remove the statue. Nor any debate on the floor of
>    the US House, or Senate. Or in our city council. Or in our ANC.  So the
>    point is there has not been ANY opportunity for democratic, civic debate
>    and engagement on the issue. The very discourse that Lincoln believed in so
>    strongly, and that Americans—black and white and brown and yellow, and over
>    every race and creed—have bled, and fought, and died for throughout
>    history. I am happy to have her bill debated by all of our elected
>    representatives. But, WHY, should a band of self-appointed, self-righteous
>    individuals tear down a memorial that has stood for more than 150 years
>    with no debate and no political discourse. Just because they think it’s
>    right? Because they have ropes and rigor? Shouldn’t the citizens who have
>    lived in this neighborhood and, more importantly, the black citizens of
>    this country whose ancestors raised funds to erect it and those also who
>    find it deeply offensive have some say? So, I would only say to those who
>    may tear it down: My rights are not any greater than yours. But they are
>    equal. The fundamental promise and premise of America is that we are equal.
>    And there is no formal democratic opportunity for my views to be heard or
>    considered. You can disagree with the removal of the Teddy Roosevelt
>    statute in New York. But at least that was done by a legal, democratic
>    process.
>    - Finally, context. As Douglass’ wonderfully complex and nuanced
>    speech at the dedication captures better than anything, this was a statue
>    of its time and that gives us the opportunity to celebrate what Lincoln and
>    so many others including African Americans of the time fought for. And what
>    we are still fighting for—as the killing of George Floyd show us. I have
>    not lived in the neighborhood as long as all of you, but I have lived in
>    the neighborhood longer than many of you on this. I walked with my children
>    past this statue on many beautiful summer evenings for well more than a
>    decade. And we have discussed as a result how the statue is imperfect. How
>    Lincoln was imperfect. But how the fundamental act that it celebrates is
>    morally just and right. The opportunities for those discussion, families
>    and friends walking in the park, will be lost forever if this is torn
>    down—even if it is not damaged and stuffed in a museum somewhere.
>
>
>
> Finally, let’s engage in a brief thought experiment. Let’s imagine that
> victims of police violence and injustice in my hometown of Minneaplis-St.
> Paul erect a memorial to George Floyd this year. It’s a bronze statue
> outside of police headquarters in downtown Minneapolis. It shows a white
> officer with his knee on the neck of a black citizen, lying on the ground,
> about to take his last breath. The monument is inscribed with the words “I
> can’t breathe.” And, in the year 2164, we still have not achieved equality
> and racial justice in America. God Help us. But, some in Minnesota and
> elsewhere in the country believe that the statue should come down. Yeah, it
> once spoke to the times. But this is 2164.  This is an appaling and
> offensive image. It shows a black man subservient to a dominant white
> government official. Not lifting him up, like Lincoln. Not just holding him
> down, but about to kill him.  Would we be comfortable allowing that statue
> to be torn down without any formal debate, on evening, by a group of
> several dozen citizens in the Twin Cities in 2164? Or, should Congress not
> have a say? Should our historians speak? The city of Minneapolis? The
> Governor of Minnesota? The descendants of Mr. Floyd? The countless others
> who suffered police brutality and injustice?
>
>
>
> Thanks to those who read this, and if some of it resonates. And to those
> who disagree, that is cool too. Only thing I ask is that there aren’t any
> replies.
>
>
>
> Good luck to those tomorrow on both sides.
>
>
>
>
> *Dean A. Rosen *Partner
>
> Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas
>
> 202.812.9650
>
> drosen at mc-dc.com
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *<neighbors-ch at googlegroups.com> on behalf of Monica Mills <
> monicam.20003 at gmail.com>
> *Reply-To: *"monicam.20003 at gmail.com" <monicam.20003 at gmail.com>
> *Date: *Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 4:00 PM
> *To: *Mark Ugoretz <mugoretz at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *Neighbors Email List <neighbors-ch at googlegroups.com>, Congresswoman
> Eleanor Holmes Norton <norton.updates at mail.house.gov>, Charles Allen <
> charles at charlesallenward6.com>, Mary Farran <mary.farran at verizon.net>,
> "Jason A. Smith" <jasonarthursmith at gmail.com>, Claire Southerlin <
> thevillage at mindspring.com>, James Grimaldi <jamesvgrimaldi at gmail.com>,
> Sarah Cochran <sarah at sarah-cochran.com>, Tiffany Arthur <
> Tiffanybeau at gmail.com>, Peter Rothschild <Peter at peter-rothschild.com>,
> Shanna Smith <shanna1016 at aol.com>, Margaret Holwill <mgholwill at gmail.com>,
> Martha Jo Wagner <mwagner at cohenlaw.com>
> *Subject: *[neighbors-ch] Re: Frederick Douglass Speech [Correction PDF
> Attached]
>
>
>
> Here's an essay on the sculpture that I think is helpful for additional
> context of the sculpture--not necessarily helpful to keeping the statue,
> however.
>
>
>
> An interesting side note I learned this morning:  I have a close friend
> whose great, great, great grandfather helped raise funds for the statue
> working with the Western Sanitary Commission after the fundraising efforts
> of the freed slaves fell far short and President Johnson wasn't really
> interested in having Treasury funds pay for it.  William Greenleaf Eliot
> (the fundraiser) has his name engraved on the monument.  However, the model
> for the freed slave is Arthur Alexander, who is not even mentioned.  Eliot
> was a minister in St. Louis, MO and an abolitionist who preached one Sunday
> about teaching people to be good Christians so they would do the right
> thing and work to end slavery.  They didn't so he told them explicitly they
> needed to do so from the pulpit.  Half the congregation walked out.
>
>
>
> Eliot wrote a book about purchasing the marble statue from Thomas Bell in
> Florence, Italy.  He worked with Bell to have him cast it in bronze which
> now stands in our own Lincoln Park. [See William Greenleaf Eliot’s
> account of the commission process in Eliot, *The Story of Archer
> Alexander; From Slavery to Freedom* (Boston: Cupples, Upham and Co.,
> 1885; Westport, CT: Negro Universities Press, 1970), 14. Citation refers to
> the Negro Universities edition. For more on these changes and their
> interpretive ramifications, see Savage, *Standing Soldiers*, 114–15.]
>
>
>
> https://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/node/11236
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 24, 2020 at 3:25 PM Mark Ugoretz <mugoretz at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Attached is a PDF of Frederick Douglass’ speech at the dedication of the
> Freedman’s Memorial.  I copied the speech into a word processor and
> converted it to a PDF file in order that it is readable.  No changes were
> made to the text of the speech except that I have highlighted in
> * underscored* *boldface* those passages that reflect Douglass’ reference
> to the statue itself.
>
>
>
> *Note that nowhere in the speech, contrary to the intentionally
> misapprehended contention of those who would displace or tear down the
> statue, does Douglass criticize the statue in any way.   Indeed, to have
> done so would have been discourteous to the freedmen themselves as well as
> the 25,000 attendees in what is now Lincoln Park.  And Douglass in all
> respects was a courteous man.   Instead, he urges that all Americans for
> all time treat the statue with reverence and affection.*
>
>
>
> Mark Ugoretz
>
>
>
> *________________________*
>
>
>
> *Mark J. Ugoretz 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002*
>
>
> * mugoretz at gmail.com <mugoretz at gmail.com>*
>
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