Ottaviani & Leombruno Submit Proclamation To Declare August Black Lives Matter Month

[broadstreet zone=”80100″]

FRAMINGHAM – At-large City Councilor Janet Leombruno and District 6 City Councilor Phil Ottaviani Jr. have submitted a proclamation to the 11-member Framingham City Council to proclaim August 2020 as Black Lives Matter month.

Ottaviani said Dhruba Sen, who lives in his district, approached him to do something. Ottaviani represents District 6.

The City Council is expected to take action on it at its meeting tonight, August 4, which starts at 7 p.m.

There is a Black Lives Matter protest scheduled for Saturday, August 8 in Framingham. It is organized by the Black Student Union at Framingham High School.

There is also an event to honor the memory of Eurie Stamps Sr. in Framingham on August 15 at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Building. Stamps was a a retired MBTA maintenance worker who was shot and killed in his home by Framingham police in 2011, during a SWAT raid.

[broadstreet zone=”70106″][broadstreet zone=”70107″]

***

The proclamation reads:

Whereas The City of Framingham celebrates the diversity of its community and proudly stands with its communities of color; and

Whereas The people of Framingham have a proud legacy of using their voices to speak against racism and oppression, dating back to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society rallies of the early 1800s at Harmony Grove. At their 1854 rally, Framingham and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society made headlines when William Lloyd Garrison, founder of abolitionist newspaper “The Liberator”, burned copies of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the U.S. Constitution; and Whereas Citizens of Framingham continue this legacy by holding protests and marches supporting the Black Lives Matter movement throughout our community; and

Whereas Citizens of Framingham gather every Friday at 5 p.m. in Downtown Framingham at the intersection of Routes 135 and 126 to stand up for Black Lives Matter; and

Whereas The Framingham City Council denounces racist acts of oppression, including systemic racism which has targeted Black and brown communities; and

Whereas The Framingham City Council is committed to fighting racism, standing up as allies for our communities of color and celebrating the diversity of Framingham. We reaffirm our commitment to protect and serve everyone who resides in, works in, or visits, without discrimination, as well as its belief in the dignity, equality and constitutional and civil rights of all people, Now, Therefore be it proclaimed, that the Framingham City Council, declare August 2020 to be Black Lives Matter Month in the City of Framingham, and that all residents are encouraged to pay fitting observance thereof.