IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 1, 2019 CONTACT: BARRY LAWTON - 617 794 9855PUBLIC STATEMENT REGARDING BOSTON CITY COUNCILAND THE PRACTICE OF DEMOCRACYTuesday, February 27, 2019, was a day that will literally go down as one of the Boston City Council’s darkest hours, second only to the illegal removal of former Boston City Councillor Chuck Turner, went unnoticed, uncovered and undervalued by Boston’s vibrant media market.
The group of Bostonians, led by the the New Democracy Coalition, interrupted the Council’s weekly legislative session to demand a response to their request to hold a public hearing on the removal of slave owner and trafficker Peter Faneuil’ s name from the face of one of Boston’s most historic public structures.
The Council’s response can be viewed on social media. We believe the action was warranted after multiple formal, informal, public, and private requests to the Council were made throughout Spring, Summer and Fall of 2018, and Winter 2019. City Council President Andrea Campbell's suggestion to the group to take this conversation offline is a clear and unequivocal affront to and infringement on the public hearing process, a vital component of democracy.
Council President Campbell, exercising her authority, walked out of the hearing and was followed by her dozen colleagues. No one knows who called the police on the protesters, nor who turned off the lights while the protesters were still in the chamber. Whoever it was, seems to have forgotten; We pay for these lights ! We pay their salaries, their staff’s salaries, for the junkets they take, and every public perk that’s legal. It is not to much to ask in “ Belichickian” terms, to just “do your job.”
Attacking, questioning or belittling the integrity of our movement and leadership will only grow our numbers and elicit opposition to their re-election campaigns.
We call on the Boston City Council to set a date for a public hearing on the Faneuil Hall issue before our next action on March 5th, the 249th Anniversary of the Boston Massacre. We will commemorate revolution martyrs; Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Samuel Gray, Patrick Carr, and the other martyrs of the American Revolution who have fallen off the pages of history. Additionally, we hold a funeral procession signifying the death of democracy in Boston and recognize Bostonians of all ilks that are more worthy of recognition and admiration than Peter Faneuil. See video https://youtu.be/dpCCdUGiPyg
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