We should give thanks to Councilman
Al Vann for again raising the issue of the naming of
Bedford-Stuyvesant's streets and avenues.
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.
In the newsletter that the
Councilman sent out to his constituents, listing the streets names and
their origins, he also included a list of black "heroes" and "sheroes"
who would make honorable replacements.
We took it upon ourselves
to add to that latter list the name of the late Bertram L. Baker, who
was the first black elected official in Brooklyn (having won a seat to
the State Assembly in 1948) and who lived for half a century on
Jefferson Avenue and died right in his house there, a house which (in
the words of Councilman Barron) is named after "a slave-holding
pedophile."
We should also disclose here that Bert Baker was an honored ancestor of ours.
But more on all this later.
For now, those who care about Bed-Stuy should go through the following
list of names and bio sketches that we put into a Web format, and find
out which historical figures were slave holders, slave traders,
anti-slavery heroes, or mere innocent bystanders.
Note: Keep in mind that in recent years the names of some Bed-Stuy
streets - and parts of some other streets - have been renamed.
For example, Sumner Avenue was renamed Marcus Garvey Blvd.
We
think this was a strange re-naming because Charles Sumner, the 19th
century figure after whom the street was originally named, was one of
the strongest anti-slavery politicians of his day. Go figure.
Be that as it may, enjoy the research.
Simply click the link just under this sentence, and then find and click the street name you want to investigate.
