‘Say Their Names’
OK’d In Village, Too
Mayor Questions Doubleday Field Locale
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – A memorial to black lives lost to racial injustice and police brutality was approved for display in Cooperstown by the Village Board during its meeting this evening.
“It’s a great idea,” said Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch.
The memorial, spearheaded by Jennifer Dibble, Hartwick, would include laminated photos of black men and women from the “Say Their Names” memorial database, affixed to the fence with zip-ties, and decorated with flowers. A dedication, including blessings from Jonathan Brown and Rev. LaDana Clark, is also planned.
A similar memorial was erected in Oneonta earlier in the month, along the fence above the Westcott Lot.
“I would like to stress that this is not an anti-police memorial,” Dibble wrote in her proposal. “There are actual police members who are part of the names and photos that are listed in the memorial.”
She said she is also researching local lives lost, as well as those involved with Negro League Baseball.
Though Dibble proposed the memorial to be placed along the stretch fencing of Doubleday Field, Tillapaugh said the area she highlighted was owned by the Baseball Hall of Fame, and that Dibble,a retail buyer for the Hall, would need to get their approval for use of the space, or relocate it to Village-owned property.
Trustee MacGuire Benton asked that an end date be added, “for procedural purposes.”
“We don’t want to undercut or take anything away,” he said. “But in any permit, there’s a sunset clause.”
The permit, though approved, was contingent on several additional changes, including taking the memorial down by Dec. 1 or whenever the weather makes maintenance problematic, getting approval from the owner of the property and limiting the gathering during the opening ceremony to no more than 50 people, per state COVID guidelines.
Assuming there will be no memorializing of those who resisted arrest, committed a crime or ran from the police….fine
Steve, committed a crime? Do you mean the right wing agitators too?
I agree with Steve O’Neill – I hope none of those “memorialized” on this fence will be persons who were in the act of committing a crime, or assaulting a police officer when justifiable deadly force was used. I further hope the full and true story of every “Say My Name” person is told with transparency so that the entire police encounter is understood. The use of deadly physical force by police is not a trivial topic, and glossing over the back round and full story of a police/citizen encounter does justice to no one.
^ I agree with what the person above me said. Get the full story or it does no justice to anyone. As my old Italian grandmother used to say: “justice cannot be served if we fail to see both sides.”
Having visited Cooperstown and the surrounding area annually since 1998, I wouldn’t be surprised if this memorial is vandalized before it’s removed.