Photo: WBZ NewsRadio \ Madison Rogers
BOSTON (WBZ News Radio) — Boston activists and faith leaders wearing shirts saying "change the name slave traders hall" gathered at Boston City Hall on Friday to push for the name of an iconic Boston building to be changed.
Activists renewed their call to change the name of Faneuil Hall on Malcolm X's birthday by delivering 3,000 petition signatures to the city council. The signatures were collected over two years with people from across the nation weighing in.
"If you are the creator of liberty live up to that name, let us be the cradle of liberty for all," Dorchester Pastor Valerie Copeland said while leading a prayer inside City Council President Ed Flynn's office.
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Some of the attending group members were arrested back in January after staging a City Hall sit-in and others chained themselves to Faneuil Hall in October to demand the name be changed. The famous Boston landmark is named after Peter Faneuil, a former slave owner.
"We must break those chains by telling the truth," said Back Bay Minister John Gibbons. "Already the city council has recognized Boston's legacy of slavery, apologized, and vowed to eliminate anti-black symbols in our city. It is time to make that vow tangible."
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