The steps of City Hall were hot in more ways than one. Under a blazing midday sun, about a hundred community activists joined City Council Members Al Vann (right), Charles Barron (left) and Darlene Mealy (below left), along with members of the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Coalition and a host of other community organizations, in expressing outrage over Speaker Christine Quinn's denial of Community Board #3’s request to "co-name" several blocks in its Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn district "Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue."

An Omnibus Bill designed to rename 52 streets in all five boroughs was originally introduced on April 12^th. At the request of the Speaker, Sonny Carson's name, which had been submitted by Council Member Al Vann on behalf of the Community Board, was deleted from the bill, the only one to be removed.

Vann began the press conference by stating that it wasn’t his purpose to extol Sonny Carson’s virtues or magnify his immorality. Carson defined himself as a Black Nationalist as he evolved during the Black Power Movement of the late 50’s and early 60’s. "Prior to the Black Power Movement," Vann said, "‘Negroes,’ as Blacks were then called, were treated with the utmost disrespect and were accorded precious few of the rights and freedoms that are so eloquently stated in the Constitution of the United States. I, for one," he continued, "am not acquainted with the standards of behavior required of oppressed people who are struggling for their God-given and Constitutional rights."

Vann went on to say that he will attest to the fact that some of Carson’s rhetoric was offensive and that his uncompromising attitude and confrontational style created fear in some whites and Blacks alike. "I will also attest to the fact that Sonny Carson demonstrated complete loyalty to the liberation of Black people in Bedford-Stuyvesant and throughout the world," Vann declared. "Sonny Abubadika Carson was a community activist, and the community in which he was most active wishes to co-name four blocks of Gates Avenue in his memory."

Vann concluded by pointing out that it has been the custom of the Council to respect each community's request for whomever they wish to co-name streets, and, "It is my hope and expectation that the Council will not change its tradition because Community Board #3's choice is considered a controversial figure to some. He is also considered a hero to others."

"We are drawing a line in the sand on this fight," asserted Council Member Charles Barron. "If you can have streets named for slaveholders and Al Jolson – a racist who demeaned Blacks by performing in blackface – then we have a right to choose our heroes. This is not about the co-naming of a street," Barron continued. "It's about the rules and laws that government has set up being changed to fit their own likes and dislikes."

"We are urging Speaker Quinn to let the voices of the Community be heard," remarked Council Member Darlene Mealy. "The Community has said ‘yes’ so that means ‘yes.’ We are their elected officials, and we are obliged to carry out their wishes. That is what they appointed us to do."

Dr. Dexter McKenzie (right), Executive Board Member of the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Coalition, commented that they were not there to speak against any individual in the City Council but to speak up for the right of a community to self-determination in a society where government is supposed to be "by the people and for the people." "We appeal to the Speaker to reconsider recent actions that contradict this cherished creed," he said. "The actions of the Speaker, in this instance, run countercurrent to that sentiment as well as to the democratically expressed desire of the community."

And the issue did not cool down in the City Council meeting. Council Member Helen Foster (left), Chair of the Parks Committee which approves street renamings, revealed that as long as she’s headed the committee, this is the first time they’ve changed procedures, which shows a different standard when it came to Sonny Carson. All over the city, she noted, there are such things as the Tweed Courthouse, named for one of the most corrupt political bosses in the New York’s history, and countless things named for people like Thomas Jefferson who sold his own children into slavery. "We as a Council cannot pick and choose who we’ll honor," Foster declared. "Especially, it is not up to the white members of the Council to decide who Blacks will honor."

Foster promised that as Chair of the Parks Committee, "I'm going to look into every single name that we’ve passed and make sure that everybody is clean because if we’re going to pick and choose when it comes to Sonny Carson, then we’re going to pick and choose when it comes to everyone else."

Read more of Donna's articles at http://www.donnalamb.com/