![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/picLockeFaneuilHallSlaveryMemorial.jpeg\")
<\/a>Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 by Peter Faneuil, one of the wealthiest merchants in 18th century Boston, to give it to the city. His money came from a large inheritance from an uncle as well as trade in fish, tobacco, produce, rum, molasses, and enslaved people<\/a>. The building, which was donated to the city upon Faneuil\u2019s death<\/a>, became both a public marketplace and a meeting hall where the American Revolution sparked.<\/p>\n Locke hoped to install a 10-foot by 16-foot bronze plate at ground level at Faneuil Hall with \u201craised text and image of the routes and supplies of the Triangular Trade\u201d that built Faneuil\u2019s wealth. Locke planed to keep the bronze heated at 98.6 degrees \u201cto evoke the presence of those Africans and African-Americans who came into chattel slavery through Boston. \u2026 This will make touching the work an intimate and reverent experience as if you are touching a living person.\u201d<\/p>\n On July 16 on Kickstarter, where Locke has raised more than $46,000 since June 19, he wrote<\/a>: \u201cYesterday I received notice from the NAACP that, \u2018the Boston Branch stands in staunch opposition to the Slave Auction block installation proposed by Steve Locke and the Mayor\u2019s Office. We will be vocal on this over the coming weeks.\u2019 \u2026 This stance by the Boston Branch of the NAACP puts the mayor in an untenable position as he cannot discount their opposition. Placing his support in jeopardy destabilizes the entire project, and without the support of the mayor\u2019s office, the project will not have access to the site in front of Faneuil Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe NAACP Boston Branch wholeheartedly supports honoring our enslaved ancestors,\u201d NAACP Boston Branch President Tanisha M. Sullivan told me via email today. \u201cRecognizing the shared history that Bostonians have with the slave trade is critically important, from those enslaved to those who enabled slavery to those who remained silent during that painful part of our history. For the City of Boston to lean into that history is an opportunity we should not run away from. The NAACP Boston Branch seeks a more inclusive discussion about the opportunity to memorialize these men, women, and children\u2014where a memorial should be located, and how its design should be selected. For example, the King Boston memorial process reflected a wonderfully inclusive community dialogue. If we are to own our past and commit to moving forward, we must do so together. I am hopeful that we will continue to explore ways to have that discussion in the city, and that we will be intentional about engaging all of Boston, with a focus on the Black American community whose history of enslavement we seek to memorialize.”<\/p>\n Mayor Walsh said in a statement sent via his press office Thursday: “I thought Steve’s proposal was thoughtful and an important telling of a history that must have more visibility. I was hopeful that a public process would have allowed Steve to provide that context.”<\/p>\n The NAACP\u2019s move comes after Boston City Councilor Frank Baker called on June 26 for a subcommittee of the council to hold a public hearing on Locke\u2019s proposal. (A City Council Committee on Arts, Culture and Special Events hearing<\/a> scheduled for July 23 on the proposal has now been cancelled.)<\/p>\n Then on July 5, Kevin C. Peterson, founder of Boston\u2019s New Democracy Coalition, published an essay on Medium saying, <\/a>\u201cthe proposed slave auction block memorial should not be installed at Boston\u2019s Faneuil Hall\u201d because it would be \u201csited in the wrong place,\u201d there\u2019s been \u201clittle public involvement,\u201d and he sees the project as \u201cthe brainchild of Boston\u2019s Mayor Martin Walsh\u201d to avoid renaming Faneuil Hall. (Locke writes: \u201cThis was my idea-not the Mayor\u2019s idea, or anyone else\u2019s.\u201d)<\/p>\n The New Democracy Coalition has been pushing for Faneuil Hall to be renamed. Their efforts have included a reenactment of slave auction outside the building as part of their \u201cIt Is What It Was Speak Out\u201d last Nov. 10 (start watching the video below at 56 minutes). \u201cWe will not tolerate that name of Faneuil Hall any longer. It represents the insult made upon black Americans for centuries,\u201d Peterson wrote in advance of that event<\/a>. \u201cWe have to change the name.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>