{"id":26,"date":"2021-11-03T18:52:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T18:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rochesterheritagesite.org\/?page_id=26"},"modified":"2021-11-03T19:23:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T19:23:06","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rochesterheritagesite.org\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting our past\u2026 Creating a better future!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The idea of a local Civil Rights Heritage Site was inspired by a visit to the Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama during our<\/span> Race Convoy in April, 2017<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Our own Civil Rights Park, commemorating the lives of local civil rights activists, will allow the Black community to find its own voice, in the telling of its own story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The Baden Park will be the site of the Rochester Heritage Site. A location within the 14605 community was chosen, Rev. Myra Brown of the Spiritus Christi Anti-Racism Coalition said, because \u201cso much history and struggle for freedom and equity happened here.\u201d\u00a0 This area, also known as Upper Falls and Marketview Heights, is \u201cwhere grassroots organizing helped Black families coming up from the South,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The 14605 neighborhood, furthermore, has historical significance because it is where the riots of 1964 began. This three-day uprising arose out of frustration over horrific housing conditions, high unemployment, and structural barriers to progress.\u00a0 There would be much work to do after the uprising — and much work remains today.<\/span>1<\/span><\/span><\/p>

It is especially fitting that this work was being initiated in 2018, the year that Rochester celebrates the 200<\/span>th<\/span><\/span> anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, <\/span>renowned abolitionist, human rights advocate, writer, orator, and statesman.<\/span> \u201cA Heritage Site,\u201d Rev. Brown says, “gives voice and visibility to the story of the Rochester Black community\u2019s struggle for liberation and equity on this soil, from the historically significant work of Frederick Douglass, to the groundbreaking initiatives of FIGHT [Freedom, Independence, God, Honor, Today], the activist group begun here after the uprising and led by Minister Franklin Florence, to the current Black Lives Matter movement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Part of our job as a community, she suggests, is to \u201cquestion injustice, to explore the links to historical racism, and to work collaboratively to heal past mistakes that have locked us into generational disparities and silencing.\u201d \u00a0 The Rochester Heritage Site could give rise to \u201cmeaningful conversations,\u201d conversations that would help us, as a community, \u201calign ourselves in a way that can provide more compassionate social justice and equity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Local leaders will be making the decisions about the specifics of a Civil Rights Heritage Site that will have a home in the 14605 neighborhood.<\/span><\/p>

1<\/span><\/span> Mark Hare, <\/span>City Newspaper<\/span>, \u201cRiots still haunt Rochester:\u00a0 50 years later, fear still shapes our community,\u201d July 16, 2014; James Goodman, Brian Sharp, <\/span>Democrat and Chronicle<\/span>, \u201cRiots spawned FIGHT, other community efforts,\u201d July 20, 2014; Carvin Eison, July \u201964, documentary, 2006.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Jul 9, 2019<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t