Now this is leadership! From the Mayor of Somerville, MA

Joe Curtatone. Mayor, Somerville MA







Somerville, I love you.
Yesterday we had a bunch of protests, two in favor of ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ and one against it. The numbers were overwhelming in favor of the "for" side, just like our local response has been overwhelming in favor of the for side. For all of you out-of-towners rolling in here trying to stoke a fire, allow me to give you the headline: we don't have a fire.

It was a small number of police officers who showed up to protest the BLM banner hanging at City Hall and most of them were from other cities and towns. At the end of their protest, pro-BLM folks came up to them, shook their hands and then everybody talked. Nobody was yelling at each other, just civil discussion taking place.
Down in Union Square, we had hundreds of BLM protesters show up and pack the Square for hours. They spoke, they sang, they read some poetry. Our police at the site handled the event like the pros they are. Everybody was safe and it went off without a hitch. Once again, protesters and police spent time talking with one another, respectfully and amicably.
So if you want to have a food fight, if you want to find a city where everybody's going to tear at each other's throats, you're going to have find someplace else. ‪#‎Somerville‬isn't going to come apart at the seams for your entertainment. We have a BLM banner at City Hall and an "In Remembrance" banner for the fallen officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge hanging at our police headquarters and we're cool with that.
It was one officer who touched this off while the city and patrolmen's union are in the middle of contract arbitration. I can't speak to what he hoped it would accomplish, but I can tell you where Somerville stands on this - we're not getting sucked into this blue vs. black fight that some of you seem to want to have. We're going to treat minorities and police with the respect they deserve.
The result of all of this in Somerville is people came together and had the conversation we need to have in every community across our nation. To the surprise of no one who actually knows our city Somerville handled this with civility and dignity. I invite people to learn from our example.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not remember the words “ar
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were able to get together a few
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur
Read more