LYNN — A plan to create a “Diversity Square” in Central Square, which would incorporate the proposed “Black Lives Matter” street mural that its supporters want to put in front of Lynn City Hall, will be discussed at Tuesday’s Public Property and Parks meeting.
Council President Darren Cyr said Sunday that the “Diversity Square” proposal would allow a wider range of groups to express their views.
“It’s just to discuss the idea of creating a location in the city to display not just that Black Lives Matter, but any other message that you want to put out there,” said Cyr.
Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard presented the idea for the diversity display to the “One Lynn-One Love” organization that has spearheaded the BLM mural by last Friday, but the group did not react favorably to the proposal.
(Editor’s note: One Lynn-One Love members Carlos Prudencio, Damianny Garrido, and attorney Bob Goldman, state their case in a commentary on the Opinion page, A4.)
“This was a stunner,” said Goldman, who has provided pro-bono support for the group. “As soon as we hung up, people on the committee were livid.”
This backlash was largely related to Starbard’s proposed relocation of the BLM mural from Essex Street to Exchange Street Goldman said.
“Immediately Carlos and I knew that we didn’t want it (in Central Square),” said Garrido, one of the high schoolers who, along with fellow high schooler Prudencio have spearheaded the push for a BLM mural. “There’s a purpose for it to be in front of City Hall. It’s near the courthouse, city hall and the police station, and this all has to do with the government.”
Garrido also said that the Essex Street location was more visible and would reach more people with the message. She said that she was frustrated, that after months of not being able to get the mural on a City Council agenda, that this new proposal had been immediately docketed.
The mural requires the approval of the Lynn City Council Public Property subcommittee and then subsequent approval by the entire Lynn City Council to be installed.
Cyr did not commit to supporting a mural on Essex Street, expressing instead support for a project more along the lines of the “Diversity Square” plan Starbard proposed.
“We’re trying to be fair to everybody,” said Cyr. “To me, and to the City Council, Black lives absolutely do matter. But we’re trying to represent everybody in the community, so we’re trying to come up with a fair solution to help everyone in the community.
“I’m learning every day, more and more, about the plight of Black people in America,” he said.; “But I’m also learning about the plight of other nationalities. Look what’s going on in the Asian community.”
However, said Garrido, it is crucial that the Black Lives Matter message is given it’s due.
“Right now we’re talking about a pretty huge group that’s been oppressed for a very long time, especially this past year with everything that happened with George Floyd,” said Garrido.
The mural, originally proposed last summer, has been stymied by legal concerns that if one group is allowed to put up a political statement in a public space, then the city might be obligated to let everyone make statements there.
But a recent memo from City Solicitor George S. Markopoulos to Mayor Thomas McGee earlier this spring stated that “based upon the most recent reported decisions by the United States Supreme Court, the City of Lynn possesses the legal authority to approve and adopt government messaging and speech upon public property without a concern that the City could not deny similar requests from members of the public in the future.”
McGee has said he endorsed the project “wholeheartedly.” It has also been approved unanimously by the city’s Public Arts Commission. And a Change.org petition in favor of the mural has garnered more than 2,000 signatures.
The City Council Public Property and Parks Committee is set to discuss the “Diversity Square” idea Tuesday at a meeting beginning at 4:45. It will be publicized on the Lynn Community Television Government channel and will be available on the LCTV Facebook page.
While Cyr stated that Tuesday’s meeting would not feature a public forum, there would be a public forum on the project before it was approved.
