Besides creating a little extra work for the good people at Mapquest, renaming a street in North Portland after civil rights heroine Rosa Parks might seem relatively innocuous – and the last place in town to stage a protest.
But at a ceremony today where City Commissioner Dan Saltzman unveiled new street signs officially changing N. Portland Blvd.’s name to “Rosa Parks Way,” a small handful of folks came out in the rain to protest against what they call a token gesture to mark Ms. Parks’ role in the civil rights movement. (For those not up on their history — and shame on you if you aren’t — Parks sparked the pivotal Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama when she refused in 1955 to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger.)
“We’re very much in support of commemorating Rosa Parks this way, but we could have done much, much more,” said Brian Borrello, a board member of the Piedmont Neighborhood Association. “Just renaming a street was the path of least resistance. Portland Blvd. is a small street. Ironically, there isn’t even a bus stop on this corner. And who really loved Portland Blvd. as a name anyways?”
“The neighborhood community wanted something grander, and instead, we were put in the back of the bus.”
Other suggestions included changing the name of a thoroughfare that has more traffic, like NE Lombard St – or more significantly changing the name of the downtown transit center to “Rosa Parks Transit Mall.” The thought behind that idea: Since she vaulted into history by her bravery on a bus, why not draw the local link by naming Portland’s most visible bus and transportation hub after her?
“We looked at other places and other streets, but we didn’t want to choose a location that was already named after a historical figure,” Saltzman said. Turns out, Portland’s transit mall is already named “The Bill Roberts Transit Mall,” in honor of the former Tri-Met board member. But most Portlanders probably knew that already. Uh, right.
Saltzman says Rosa Parks Way will now “symbolically” intersect with Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in NE Portland, at a crossroads that should serve as a reminder to Portlanders “that all human beings deserve to be treated equally.”
The ceremony included tribute speeches to Ms. Parks by local civic and religious leaders in the African American community, along with the announcement that Oregon will now officially commemorate December 1 as Rosa Parks Day.
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The writer of this article, ‘lkramer’, is incorrect in his statement that ‘ a small handful of folks came out in the rain to protest against what they call a token gesture to mark Ms. Parks’ role in the civil rights movement.’. I was there and no one came to protest the change, but to honor Rosa Parks. I was a person there that confronted commissioner Saltzman with the facts that myself and Reverend Willie banks had originally petitioned to change Sandy Boulevard to Rosa Parks Way and then to change Portland Boulevard. We also wrote letters to the city to get the Bus Mall changed. When I called out to Mr Saltzman three of four times he said that there would be an open microphone afterward for me to comment. That was never provided. Also, Mr. Saltzman did not give Reverend Willie Banks or myself recognition for all of our hard work in this. Mr. Saltzman left without answering any of my questions. Mr. Saltzman was playing politics and shaking hands and getting pictures taken by community individuals with money and power rather than answer a question from an unknown person as myself. A person representing the city should be humble and caring enough to answer questions from anyone and care more about others than he does about his own image and confort. The writer of this article was there and heard all of what was said and saw what had occured, but failed to write anything about it. Maybe the author of this article cares more about his comfort and more about writing a nice article than telling the truth.
David Meier
(503) 754-3770
This is not the first honoring of Ms. Parks’ legacy to ur country. Portland Public Schools named it’s new school, located in North Portland in the New Columbia development, Rosa Parks School in honor of this wonderful woman.