Canton Anti-Racism Alliance
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The Canton Anti-Racism Alliance is a coalition of volunteers dedicated to affecting long-term, impactful changes to foster a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming community. The Alliance may be most known for its successful effort to remove the statue of Captain John O’Donnell, an enslaver, from O’Donnell Square Park in 2021, however, their efforts did not stop there. Here’s an update on their goals and accomplishments.
2023 Accomplishments
- The Canton Anti-Racism Alliance gathered like-minded community volunteers dedicated to affecting long-term, impactful changes to foster a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming community
- Researched and revised the Canton History timeline (led by John Ford) to reflect the role of Indigenous people and people of African descent more accurately in the story of our neighborhood's development and extend the timeline past 2000 to the present day
- Continued reviewing the process of how to rename O’Donnell Square Park, removing the name of an enslaver
- Created guidelines for addressing actions in our community that might be racist or unwelcoming, and submitted those guidelines to the CCA
- Hosted a symbolic Juneteenth Freedom Walk to the sites of the Frederick Douglass History Panels
- CCA Board Member Sheila Anderson formed a working relationship with sister neighborhood O’Donnell Heights
2024 Goals
- Host bi-monthly meetings to brainstorm ideas and share progress reports
- Facilitate more “Conversations With” local authors to provide expert-led educational virtual forums
- Spotlight legislation and policies that support anti-racism, equity, and equality
- Frame the proposed process for renaming O’Donnell Square Park and make it accessible to Canton residents
- Install a new Historic Marker memorializing people enslaved when Canton was a plantation
- Continue outreach to engage new members and the community
- Host 2nd Annual Freedom Walk or other Juneteenth-related event
- Update the CCA website to include a dedicated page for Alliance information
The Canton Anti-Racism Alliance hosts a bi-monthly virtual meeting. All are invited to join. To learn more, email President@CantonCommunity.org.