Framingham City Council Unanimously Supports Black Lives Matter Proclamation

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FRAMINGHAM – With some tweaking of the resolution by District 6 City Council Phil Ottaviani Jr., Distict 9 City Councilor Tracey Bryant, and at-large City-Councilor Janet Leombruno, the Framingham City Council voted 11-0 to support a Black Lives Matter proclamation Tuesday night.

The proclamation was originally presented to Leombruno & Ottaviani by District 6 resident Dhruba Sen. It was revised and re-submitted last night and unanimously approved.

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It reads:

Whereas The City of Framingham asserts that Black Lives Matter and always have; 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; and

Whereas 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 This legacy continues today with Black Lives Matter protests and marches in Framingham; and

Whereas Black Lives Matter is a movement advocating for non-violent protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence and abuse against African Americans throughout the country in the form of institutional, structural and systemic racism; and Where Black Lives Matter also advocates for the entire community of Color, and other oppressed groups; and

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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 affirms both our commitment to protect and serve, without discrimination, everyone who resides in, works in, or visits Framingham, and our belief in the dignity, equality and constitutional and civil rights of all people;
Now, therefore, in accordance with the City of Framingham’s Joint Order Declaring Racism An Emergency and Public Health Crisis (EO 2020-004), the Council:

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1. Commits to the development of equitable policies and practices that work to dismantle
   systemic racism in the City of Framingham;
2. Supports the engagement of historically marginalized communities in identifying problems
   and solutions and supporting community-driven responses;
3. Supports the development of direct service programs and services to address the negative
   impact that inequalities have had on specific populations, as well as programs that empower
   communities to tackle these systemic barriers;
4. Will encourage our legislators to advocate at the state and federal level for the policies and
   funding opportunities that directly combat systemic racism.
   Now, Therefore be it proclaimed that the Framingham City Council declares henceforth that the
   month of August is Black Lives Matter Month in the City of Framingham, and that all residents
   shall have a patriotic responsibility to strive to challenge racism, until it is no more.

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