By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, January 26 at 9:27 AM
Jamilah Nasheed, candidate for state representative in the 60th district (through which the Annie Malone parade has long passed), sent us the following letter today:
Dear Editor:
It’s troubling to see north St. Louis continue to lose another piece of its heritage and tradition. Last Friday, Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center officials proudly announced a change that they apparently felt would be well received by our community.
Since the inception of the May Day parade some 96 years ago, most black St. Louisans look forward to seeing friends and family participating in and attending the event. Many of us can remember or at least have heard a history lesson on the old days when the parade went through the historic Ville neighborhood. It is a wonderful tradition that generates large crowds and proudly reflects black St. Louis.
Moving it to downtown St. Louis is an insult to the families that use it as a touchstone and to the black owned, neighborhood based businesses, many of which have supported the parade for years.
In a press release, Annie Malone’s new CEO Richard King said, “We’re growing and want to position ourselves as a community-wide celebration, open to ALL who want to support children and families. We hope moving the parade to a larger, more centralized location will attract the interest and enthusiasm of everyone.”
Downtown’s emptied out streets and tall buildings provide no sense of community. It’s harder to park and much, much farther from home. Many of the elderly and young children without transportation who routinely attend the parade will have this tradition taken away from them.
As we enter black history month, we should pride ourselves on preserving our history, not wiping it away. I ask concerned citizens to call Annie Malone and strongly urge them to keep the parade where it belongs in the heart of North St. Louis. The number to reach Annie Malone’s CEO, Richard King, is 314-531-0120. Let him know how you feel.
Respectfully yours,
Jamilah Nasheed
1 Comments:
Lets be honest!
Annie malone needs the advertising funds from this parade to survive, downtown will provide more money than the northside. Also parking is free on sunday downtown on the streets and the north side isnt 5 miles from downtown. Now the otherside is it is messed up, I grew up over there and remember being a kid going to the event, So yes it is tearing away at the heart of the community and that is very messed up but who's going to foot the annie malone bill, surely we want those kids in the childrens home to have the best. Its being in a very tight spot! Needing money the community doesnt have and trying to stay open by generating money from an unfavorable source, So you tell me if that was a bad choice, I'll miss it, you'll miss it, but time will keep moving and our pain will never be known by this new generation who never knew it like we did.
10:19 PM, January 26, 2006
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