Names Matter: Regional & National Initiatives to Address Racist Place Names

Place Justice is a statewide truth-seeking and historical recovery initiative of thePermanent Commissionon the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations that seeks to engage Wabanaki and Maine communities in examining a wide range of commemorative practices to better understand and respond to the ways in which racialized and Indigenous populations are represented in or absent from the narratives inscribed on our natural and built environment.

Place Justice

Place Justice online panel discussion that brings together national leaders in the struggle to remove racially offensive place names

Place Justice Event Series

A free series of panel discussions and film screenings to engage the public in considering the often complex and contentious issues related to offensive place names and other problematic commemorative practices in the place now known as Maine.

<h2>A Place Justice event hosted by Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations</h2><h3><strong>This online panel discussion brings together national leaders in the struggle to remove racially offensive place names across the U.S. </strong></h3><p>From islands to streams to summits, there are currently 11 geographic features in Maine whose names contain the word “Negro.” It was on encountering a similar place name while hiking in Shenandoah National Park that Public Interest Technologist <strong>Maurice Turner</strong> decided to embark on a journey to aid in the removal of racist names across the country. </p><p>Other changemakers have sought to effect similar results by passing laws at the state level. That is the case of <strong>Commissioner Rodney Ellis</strong> of Harris County, a former Texas state Senator who in 1991 co-sponsored legislation to change the names of 19 geographical sites in the state with racially offensive names. Though that legislation passed, it was only in 2021 that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved replacement names for those sites. Commissioner Ellis will be joined by Janae Ladet, Deputy Director of Policy for Harris County Precinct 1.</p><p>In her role as Executive Secretary of the Council of Geographic Names Authorities, <strong>Christine Johnson</strong> will shed light on the challenges and opportunities that exist as federal and state agencies cooperate to remove derogatory terms from geographic features and cultural entities across the country.</p>

<h3>COMMISSIONER RODNEY ELLIS</h3><p>Commissioner Rodney Ellis is Harris County Commissioner from Precinct 1, serving the Houston metro area. From 1970-1997, Commissioner Ellis represented a Houston district in the Texas Senate. It was during that time that he co-sponsored legislation calling to change the names of 19 geographical sites in the state with racially offensive names. It was only in 2021, however, that the names of 16 of the original sites still bearing those derogatory terms were finally changed. Alongside U.S. Representative Al Green, State Senator Borris Miles and State Representative Ron Reynolds, Commissioner Ellis has been advocating for bold federal leadership to address racist place names.</p><h3></h3><h3>JANAE LADET</h3><p>Janae Ladet is the Deputy Director of Policy for Harris County Precinct 1 and works on affordable housing and community and economic development. Previously, she served as Professional Staff on the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services chaired by Representative Maxine Water in which her portfolio focused on federal community development programs and homelessness policy. Before joining the Committee, she was a Policy Analyst at the Urban Institute’s Policy Advisory Group. Prior to joining the Urban Institute, Janae worked as Policy Fellow for the City of Philadelphia on the Creative Finance and Affordable Housing Workgroup. She has also worked at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Houston office.</p><p></p><h3>MAURICE TURNER</h3><p>Maurice Turner is a Public Interest Technologist and Cybersecurity Policy Expert committed to cleaning up the remnants of systematic discrimination in the tech and analog worlds. In 2015, Maurice discovered a racist place name as he was hiking Shenandoah National Park. This led him to take action, eventually getting the name changed officially by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. In the process, he discovered more than 1400 other federally recognized offensive place names and is advocating for their replacement.</p><p></p><h3>CHRISTINE JOHNSON</h3><p>Christine Johnson is Executive Secretary of the Council of Geographic Names Authorities (CoGNA), an association of state and federal government agencies representing the official and recognized geographic names authorities in the United States who work to promote national standardization of the names of geographic features for official use throughout the country. She also serves as Executive Secretary of the Nevada State Board on Geographic Names.</p><p></p><h3>BOB GREENE</h3><p>Bob Greene is a member of the Place Justice Advisory Council of Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations. A native of Portland, Maine, Bob Greene is the eighth generation of his family to be born in Cumberland County and his roots in this state stretch back into the 1700s. As a descendant of the Ruby family, he is related to George Thompson Ruby (1841-1882) whose name now honors a site in Liberty County, Texas that formerly bore the name “Negro Bend.” Bob was a journalist with the Associated Press. After retiring, he returned home to Maine where his genealogical research has led to his deep knowledge about Maine’s Black history.</p>

<h3></h3><h3>PLACE JUSTICE EVENT SERIES</h3><p>This is the third event in the <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/place-justice-event-series-1620769">Place Justice Event Series.</a> The series features free, virtual and in-person panel discussions and film screenings to engage the public in considering the often complex and contentious issues related to offensive place names and other problematic commemorative practices in the place now known as Maine. Read more about <a href="https://www.wabanakireach.org/the_permanent_commission_s_place_justice_initiative_seeks_to_redress_historical_harms" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Permanent Commission’s Place Justice Initiative here.</a></p><p></p>

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Names Matter: Regional & National Initiatives to Address Racist Place Names

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Names Matter: Regional & National Initiatives to Address Racist Place Names

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