 official good afternoon everyone I was advised to keep it brief as we want to miss terrain before the amen over there the preacher preachers over there the bootleg preachers over here and back and back and back there shade tree preacher back there so I'm what a wonderful exercise this has been in and in democracy in telling the story of the African seed and the American son in the way it's edifying and brings people together this has been the work of so many I know mr. Simons is gonna make sure we do all the proper recognitions of the folks who pull this together many of them you see up here behind me today I do want to thank Henry for his leadership and I know the city manager feels the very same way the importance that he's playing I think Henry's had had some connection almost every mirror we've done by the way some personal connection I think it says a lot about him and his family what they mean to to this city I want to give my thanks to the members of city council obviously we're in district ones and mr. Davis gets the first nod council woman divine council and men McDowell and the others who I think are not here but but this is the manifestation of a unanimous action of city council and I think that's so important to know that we have positive tensions we disagree sometimes we always disagree agreeably but on on this on taking the time to recognize the service of men and women who help make the city what it is and indeed push this city to become what it could be was so important my personal feelings about obviously about about Benjamin Mack mother September Clark and it's because it's always great when we when we have chances to see these murals and to think back on history and I love this mural in particular because of the role that Listerville Middleton played and in my development as a young man as a young man trying to understand his his place in space in the world he's a contemporary he was a leader and educator he's a strong man who who made sure that we all understood the internal power that we all had following men like Listerville Middleton A. C. Hilliard and all Shin hosts and others it helped me develop my sense of place and being able to become close to his family and serve as a as a as a brother to his son Bakari and others it's it's just been special and this one is especially special to me and I want to thank everyone for making this happen I'm going to take my seat and come back up when we are going to cut the ribbon I'm going to yield a microphone to my friend the man who's led this this district proudly without regard for form of function boldly aggressively always advocating for district one for the last 20 years my friend Sam Davis this is a special occasion and I had the opportunity to kind of go back and do some reading and to try and get a feel of whether or not my perceptions of the people that we give thanks to and honor were correct and just want you to know that I also have a kinship feeling with Listerville I found out that he spent his summers he grew up in St. Stephens and I spent my summers in St. Stephens and for all of you who do not know where St. Stephen South Carolina is it's way down there near Boogers woods as we call it in Berkeley County but I had some very good experiences there experience in the rural parts of South Carolina and got to pick cotton not I'm sorry pick watermelons and plant sweet potatoes and that sort of thing but the the main thing that caused me to focus on Roosevelt was that Listerville was that he had a saying that you know we should all look out for what's for what information is going into children's minds and heads we have a responsibility to be mindful of that because there's a battle going on for the minds of our young people that was then that argument is today and so that's part of the that's one of the benefits of native neighborhood not neighborhood redevelopment but the kinds of activities and the kinds of things that we support and the you support in these neighborhoods in the city of Columbia and that is taking care of one another making sure that people don't trash our neighborhoods and those kinds of things and so they were ahead of their time I had the opportunity of just passing the grand lady on the College of Charleston campus one day very humble as her biography says but so magnificent in her impact on the lives of so many people not just South Carolina not just Charleston not Georgia but all over this country again dealing with the minds and the education and the direction of people who become leaders in their own right over a period of time and the right Reverend impact around the country but most importantly again in this area in this community the Ridgewood Baptist Church children's programs they care again impacting the minds of young people who become future leaders that I think is the best gift the best outcome of all we've done in this venture and hope that you like I give thanks and appreciation for the people that we're celebrating today they prove their point they paved the way they planted the seeds and it's up to you and you and you to mix that all together into a nice southern brew called commitment friendship dedication and gratitude thank you of course my name is Henry Simons and I'm the assistant city manager for operations for the city of Columbia and as I have done at all three dedications I want to thank our mayor Steve Benjamin for his vision to see this work become a true reality throughout throughout the entire city it's amazing amazing work amazing experience so thank him so much for his continued leadership we are grateful to our entire council for endorsing and supporting this public art initiative many thanks to miss Teresa Wilson who's also here with us today sitting behind me for her leadership her support her guidance on this on this project thank you so much to our city manager today is the fourth and final public art dedication even though the formal dedications in after today these stories will be told to many in the immediate future and for years to come every time one of our citizens decide to spend time here at Hyde Park especially this generation there will be an opportunity to educate there will be an opportunity to honor and to recognize educators and civil rights leaders who are eloquently displayed behind me Benjamin Mack September Clark and Listerville Middleton today we recognize the pursuit of citizenship today we tell their stories today we recognize them as strong African-American leaders that were connected historically to their communities how they influence culture and impact society in such a profound way we celebrate their passion we celebrate their courage their commitment and their resilience during the civil rights movement this process could not be possible without the work and the partnership through the parks and recreation foundation we also partnered with dr. Bobby Donaldson who is the director of the civil center for civil rights history and research for the University of South Carolina and has worked as a professor there for over 20 years he will bring some remarks here in just a moment he is also the lead scholar for Columbia S63 our story matters which is a history initiative that chronicles the struggle for civil rights and social justice here in Columbia we have also partnered with Lou Snellgrove the executive director of one Columbia for arts and culture and Lee is also a member of the parks and rec foundation board in which he is helping us or has helped us with this project in that capacity we are very proud of this work that has been accomplished and more proud of the why and deciding to do this across our city want to acknowledge parks and recreation foundation board chair mr. Fred month who is with us today thank you so much for being here Fred also want to recognize mr. Jerry Selman who is also a parks and rec foundation board member for her presence on today as well I want to acknowledge our parks and recreation leadership team they are gathered throughout this park our high park leadership team all of those who help facilitate this work we're forever grateful for your commitment and dedication I want to say to you if you are connected to the Middleton Clark or Mac family in any way whether you experience going to church with them you are a relative please stand and be acknowledged by the community at this time if you're connected in any way thank you so much we honor you today through your families we appreciate your your presence today we did have an opportunity to meet miss Middleton listen to Middleton's wife on yesterday she cannot be here today but we're grateful for our interaction with her on yesterday she took time to come out here we took some pictures she did an interview for us and she is very thankful for the recognition of her husband so we're grateful for that interaction special thanks to Charmaine Mini Field our featured artists for capturing the very essence of what we asked for thank you so much for for your work on this project again thank you for your presence today now this time the true historian himself will come and bring some remarks please help me welcome Dr. Bobby Donaldson thank you very much Henry good afternoon everyone welcome to the reconstructed Hyatt Park Councilman Davis it is work in progress as we gather here today I want to thank Henry Lee Snow Grove the City Council Mayor Benjamin and the Parks and Recreation Foundation for this extraordinary initiative Columbia SC 63 was established in 2013 at that time we assumed that this project would be one year in the making and we would conclude but today is a reminder of why this work is so incredibly needed I would like to preface my remarks by taking you to a moment in 1937 it was a meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life in History established by Dr. Carter G. Woodson the president of that organization was a woman from the small community of Mazeville South Carolina her name was Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Dr. Bethune said the following words during the midst of the Great Depression if our people are to fight their way out of bondage we must arm them with the sword and the shield belief in themselves and their possibilities based upon assured knowledge of the achievements of the past we must tell our story from the cradle to the grave from kindergarten to college we must do so at whatever cost even if it breaks the very back of the kingdom this public art initiative joins in the tradition of Carter G. Woodson and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune in telling the story to new generations today we gather in this space to tell the story of a woman who was regarded as the mother of a civil rights movement septima poinsett Clark born in Charleston in 1898 between 1929 and 1947 many do not know that Ms. Clark spent those years in Columbia South Carolina where she taught at the fame Booker T. Washington High School the Celia Dow Saxon Elementary School and the old Howard School and there are men and women today in their 80s and 90s who remember her vividly as a teacher. Ms. Clark when she was fired from her job for being a member of the NACP continued to teach. She established a program called the Citizenship Schools through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. One of her students at the Highlander Folk School in the early 1950s was a woman named Rosa Parks. Ms. Clark was also a very proud graduate of Benedict College and in 1975 she delivers the commencement address at Benedict and the title of her address was quote beyond chaos a new history for a new generation. Among the individuals who came under the influence of Mrs. September Clark was a gentleman who was a strong anchor here in this community. His name was Benjamin J. Mack who also is a graduate of the Booker T. Washington High School. Deacon Mack or Professor Mack was a prominent member of the Ridgwood Church. At one point he lived on Dixie Avenue and another point he lived on Monticello Road and then his final home on Ridgway Street just doors away from its church. Through the work of Ms. Glenys Pearson and the Richland County Conservation Commission a few years ago we were able to install a historical marker at the doorsteps of Deacon Mack's home. Deacon Mack was also very active in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was very active in voter registration and voter participation and outreach. He helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington. He helped to organize the Poor People's Campaign of 1968 but he was also extremely passionate about the need to teach history. Deacon Mack saw no separation between citizenship and history. These are his words that he wrote in the late 1960s. He said I am disgusted with the history in our public schools. He said we need to do something about it. If we organize good political power we can start dealing with the school boards. We can control our own education. We can learn Negro history in the schools. We can teach the great spirit of the civil rights movement and create a desire to learn more about ourselves and prepare our children for a good life. So those children who come to Hyatt Park will look on a wall and they will know the story of Septima Clark and they will know the story of the man on the far end, Benjamin Mack. But they'll also know the story of another passionate champion of history. Born in Berkeley County, South Carolina in 1952. Most people never imagined that young boy who grew up on the farm would become a phenomenal journalist known around the country. In 1977, Listevelt Middleton began the popular program for the people, which exposed viewers to the history of African American life and culture and the history of Africa itself. He published a number of books, including one famously named Fatback and Caviar. Mr. Middleton's life came to an end far too soon. He died at the age of 45 years old in 1996. But prior to moving to Blythewood, Mr. Middleton lived only a few blocks from where we are today on Lark Avenue near the Hyatt Park Elementary School. And there in that home, which is still standing, he taught regularly African and African American history. As Mr. Simon's mentioned on yesterday, we gathered here with Mrs. Ernestine Middleton to reflect on this mural. And while we were here, some members of the parks and recreation staff, they were watching and looking at the mural. And they kept saying, who is that? Who is that? Could this be so and so? Well, soon we will have a marker here to tell you exactly who these people are. But as I listen to them, I thought about, and Mayor Benjamin just called me a shade tree preacher, so let me go down that road right now. I thought about a passage from the Book of Revelation. There's a moment there where John the Revelator is sent off to the Isle of Patmos, and he sees visions of people of every tribe, nation, and language. And here comes the rain. And John looks and says, who are these people? Who are these people? And the elder says, you know, you know precisely who they are. And John said, these are they who've come out of great tribulation. These are they who've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Today we come to honor and to celebrate those who endured great tribulation and left a lasting imprint in the city of Columbia. Thank you very much. Since we are getting the rain, I'll be very quick, which was my intent anyway, because it's always hard to follow Dr. Donaldson. So before we started this project, I knew very little of the Midjim and Mack or Lesterville, Middleton, and only some about Ms. Septima Clark. But thanks to this project and this mural, I've obviously learned those stories. And that's what public art does, is it allows us to tell the stories we want to tell about ourselves and who we are as Colombians and why what these stories are important. And we focus on these people so it can teach us and it can honor people for doing good work and it can be beautiful and it can enhance the built environment of our city. Public art in our neighborhoods can tell important stories about who we are, what we care about, and what we want others to know about us. And public art displays how people come together. We all came together as a team to accomplish this and create this project. So I want to thank the mayor, council, the city administrator, certainly thanks to Dr. Donaldson and Mr. Simons. Thanks to the Hyatt Park community for their involvement in this and other North Columbia communities that all work together. Thank you to Todd Martin and Ebony Kelly, staff members that really helped me coordinate all these projects together. And certainly thanks to individual park staff members for the resources and time they dedicated to making this installation go smoothly, particularly Mr. Todd Jackson who operated the Lyft for the artists and spent many hours out here with them working. So I'll say special thanks to Charmaine Minnefield, Sienna Minnefield, and Ariel Flowers of the New Freedom Project for their work on this mural and I'll introduce them so they can come up and say a few words before we have to scatter. Okay, I am only going to say how awesome it is to return back to Hyatt Park to do another wall with you all. And this time with my next generation, I only came and put the details on. They had put all of this paint and all of this color on before I came and this was my chance to pass the baton to them in their career just like these educators did for the next generation. This, I want to at least also introduce my organization, The New Freedom Project. The theme of this wall and this project and in terms of a public art initiative for a community is right in keeping with the mission of our organization. The New Freedom Project preserves black narratives in changing communities. So what we do is we, we erect monuments like these or create programming, cultural programming that allows us to celebrate the history of African-American people in this country. So we have walls, a lot of our walls are in Atlanta, but we also have a wall in Brooklyn where we were featured in the census commercial of 2020 and our other wall here in Hyatt Park is next to the community garden as you approach. So that's the New Freedom Project. Also about the design, the the fabric that you're seeing is Ankara African fabric, West African fabric, and that's an ode to African or African origins as in terms of black history, but also it's it's it's inspired by a freedom quilt and I know some of my elders know about freedom quilts. The design itself with the diagonal lines is a gesture of the bowtie design in freedom quilts which was an indication of you should dress nicely or you should you should prepare for the journey in a certain way. And so I feel like in order to reference the the history of education and passing the baton of leadership in terms of civil rights and and civic duty that we want to pass to the young people we we are messaging to them to prepare for the journey. So that's what this is. It's actually is a a painting of a freedom quilt and the portraits were actually done by one of our artists Ashley Dobson who is an an Atlanta artist was a who wasn't able to be with us today and a little bit more about our presence here in Colombia. We've been hosted by the arts community here and in true fashion of how the artists function in community we we work together we worked right on the ground together. Where are we going to stay? We stayed with artists. Where are we going to eat? We ate with artists. We were we were supported by the the the vibrant arts community that is Colombia and that was the same with the Hyatt Park Mirror before. We were part of Indie Grits Festival but this time we were hosted by a Ronnie Nicole Henderson who is an amazing renowned filmmaker. I'm not sure if you know of Ronnie Nicole. She's a Colombia artist and my my project manager for this project is also Ariel Flowers her daughter so raise your hand raise your hand yes yes yes and again my my next generation Sienna really put the paint on this wall this is really their wall so I want you to both to stand up and just if y'all can just give them some love. I have been in Africa for a year I was quarantined I was there visiting and my flight was due back March 16th and my flight was canceled and I was there for a year as a result and when I got off the plane I came straight to Colombia and I painted that wall with my with my baby who I had been missing all that time so this wall means a lot to all of us thank you so much. Thank you thank you so much for your for your remarks we're going to have our mayor come and give us our closing remarks but before he does I do want to acknowledge Mr. Ty Ziegler the neighborhood association president I think he was with us earlier there is Ty thank you so much for you all your presence on today and your support as well. I do apologize for I couldn't control the weather so I'm sorry that some of you all got your hair wet I apologize for that but thankfully we're all set up on the inside so without further ado I'm going to turn it over back over to Mayor Benjamin. My hair is destroyed my one good suit but all worth it just as I know Deacon Mack, mother September Clark and Lissabelle Millerton work to teach young people every single day is that God gives us all very special gifts and science and the arts and religion and leadership whatever it happens to be once we find that gift it's it's it's our duty to use that gift to benefit all of us and I just really want to thank Charmaine and your wonderful team of leaders for sharing your gift with the people of Columbia it will pay dividends for generations yet to come.