►
Description
Justice Edward O. Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park, located in the heart of Nubian Square, will now be home to a memorial plaza dedicated to Justice Gourdin and all African-American veterans of Massachusetts. This project is the result of the steadfast, multi-year efforts of the Veterans and Friends of Gourdin Memorial Park community group. Mayor Janey, along with Parks Commissoner Ryan Woods, Veterans Affairs Commissioner Robert Santiago, and members of the Roxbury community join the group in celebration of the groudbreaking for this new memorial.
A
A
A
He
served
roxbury
district
court
from
1951
to
1958
and
was
appointed
to
the
massachusetts
superior
court,
a
post
he
held
until
he
passed
in
1966.,
we're
very
proud
to
celebrate
him
today.
All
the
hard
work
of
those
involved
with
the
friends
group
and
the
community
that
came
together
and
to
start
this
program,
I
want
to
introduce
the
commissioner
of
veterans
affairs
for
the
city
of
boston,
rob
santiago.
B
C
C
C
C
C
A
We're
officially
going
to
start
our
ceremonies,
be
seated
sorry
we're
officially
going
to
start
our
ceremony
off
with
a
blessing,
we're
very
excited
today
to
have
a
real
community
leader,
an
advocate
in
the
roxbury
community,
representing
the
pleasant
hill
missionary
baptist
in
roxbury.
It's
now
my
pleasure
to
introduce
reverend
minyard
culpepper.
D
Thank
you,
commissioner,
mayor
janey.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
tell
you
how
excited
I
was
just
taking
the
walk
from
my
car
over
here
to
this
corner.
Today
I
was
a
little
nervous
because
I
wasn't
sure
where
it
was
and
as
I
was
walking
over,
I
said
I
just
hope
it's
a
corner
where
they
said
it
would
be,
and
I
was
excited
because
of
how
this
came
together.
This
is
not
a
yesterday
kind
of
project
where
the
millennials
came
together.
D
Now
y'all
know
I'm
a
preacher,
so
you
knew
I
was
going
to
mention
the
bible,
but
in
nehemiah
4
it
says
so.
We
built
the
wall,
for
the
people
had
a
mind
to
work
and
when
I
think
about
ralph
brown
and
I
think
about
the
ones
that
came
together
years
ago,
senator
ed
brooke
was
part
of
making
sure
this
happened
flash
widely
and
when
I
look
at
those
that
help
bring
us
to
where
we
are
today.
D
D
He
saw
us
running
around
acting
up
at
english
high
and
he
took
us
under
his
wing,
but
I
really
wanted
to
acknowledge
all
of
the
work
that
went
into
this.
Those
names
that
you
don't
see
in
the
program,
those
names
that
won't
be
speaking,
those
that
have
led
this.
This
far
sister
vicki
brown,
who
made
sure
my
name,
was
on
everything,
even
though
I
wasn't
present
and
that
I
was
supportive
of
it,
and
so,
when
I
think
about
the
excitement
of
this,
for
the
people
had
a
mind
to
work.
D
We've
come
to
the
point
where
the
people
have
come
together
and
it
was
the
mind
to
work
of
a
brother,
ralph
and
senator
brooke
and
flash
wiley
and
benny
and
everybody
else
that
helped
make
this
project
come
to
fruition.
They
didn't
stop.
If
you
remember,
nehemiah
had
some
real
challenges,
tobias
and
the
rest
of
them
tried
to
stop
me.
I'm
gonna
be
fishing
them
in
the
middle.
D
D
D
Let
me
just
pray,
that's
what
they
asked
me
to
do,
but
I
had
to
get
that
in
about
brother
brother
ron,
brown,
being
the
visionary
being
the
one
who
saw
what
we
didn't
see
being
the
one
who
went
to
senator
brooke
and
I
know
flash
riley
was
always
the
money
man,
and
so
I
just
thank
god
for
this
day
man,
what
a
great
day
it
is
don.
I
remember
back
in
the
day
I
was
jamanna.
D
D
We
thank
you
for
giving
brother
ralph
the
mindset
to
work
and
those
that
gathered
with
him.
I
pray,
oh
god,
that
you
would
bless
all
those
that
are
here
today
that
all
that
is
said
or
done.
Lord
will
manifest
the
memories
of
those
that
had
the
foresight
and
the
hindsight
to
see
this
come
to
fruition.
C
D
Those
hands
that
came
together-
oh
god,
to
put
this
event
together,
bless
the
minds
that
went
into
the
work.
To
put
this
event
together-
and
I
pray
lord
that,
as
this
statute
is
built
and,
as
we
remember,
judge
gordeen-
that
we
would
continue
to
move
forward
for
the
battle
is
not
over
yet,
but
we
still
fight
the
good
fight,
knowing
that
in
the
end,
victory
will
be
won.
I
thank
god
for
today
that
this
is
a
sign
of
the
victories
to
come,
and
this
is
just
one
of
the
many
victories
that
come.
C
A
Thank
you
very
much.
Reverend
we've
been
so
fortunate
to
have
a
mayor
that
was
born
and
raised
here
in
roxbury,
a
true
champion
here
in
district
7.,
somebody
that
grew
up
in
parks
raised
her
family
throughout
through
parks
and
is
a
real
lover
of
parks.
Please
welcome
the
mayor
of
the
city
of
boston,
mayor
kim,
jane.
E
E
I
also
want
to
acknowledge
boston
city
councilor,
michelle
wu,
who
is
here.
She
has
been
a
tremendous
friend
to
this
community,
a
strong
advocate,
and
I
think
we
should
all
give
her
a
big
round
of
applause.
Thank
you.
So
much
for
being
here.
Thank
you
for
your
partnership,
michelle.
It
is
great
to
see
you.
E
You
guys
have
been
incredible
and
now
to
be
here
toward
the
end
of
my
term
as
mayor
to
to
end
where
we
began
to
see
this.
Come
to
fruition
is
just
a
really
great
day
and
I'm
so
grateful
for
your
advocacy
and
all
that
you
have
done
to
carry
this
vision
forward
to
make
sure
that
we
could
get
here
today.
As
was
said,
we
honor
justice,
edward
gordin,
and
I
want
to
recognize
his
family.
E
Justice
bourdain
was
a
jurist.
He
was
an
olympic
athlete.
He
was
a
civil
rights
activist,
a
veteran
and
a
fellow
member
of
our
boston
community.
He
was
appointed
a
superior
court
judge
becoming
the
first
black
person
and
the
first
indigenous
person
to
receive
such
a
calling
as
a
veteran.
He
served
our
country
in
world
war
ii.
As
a
colonel
of
the
372nd
infantry
regiment,
this
park
is
a
memorial
to
a
great
great
man.
There
will
be
a
sculpture
here
to
honor
justice,
cordin
and
his
legacy.
E
E
E
This
park
and
these
sculptures
are
opportunities
to
reflect
on
our
veterans.
It
will
stand
as
a
daily
reminder
of
the
extraordinary
bravery
of
our
black
and
indigenous
soldiers
residents,
such
as
christmas
addicts,
who
was
black
and
indigenous
man,
who
fell
and
led
to
the
american
revolution,
which
is
obviously
the
birthplace
of
or
the
way
this
country
was
founded.
His
death
sparked
and
ignited
the
long
revolutionary
building
spirit
here
in
our
city,
and
that
spirit
continues
to
this
day.
E
I
am
just
grateful
as
I
close
to
be
able
to
see
this
come
to
fruition
as
the
first
black
mayor
as
a
first
woman
mayor
in
recognition
of
all
the
work
that
the
advocates
have
done
to
get
us
to
this
point.
I
I
wanna
take
a
moment
to
acknowledge
boston
city
councilor,
michael
flaherty,
who
I
see
has
joined
us.
He
has
been
a
great
friend
to
vet
veterans
as
well.
Please
give
it
up
to
him.
E
I
am
just
grateful
to
be
here
to
celebrate
our
artist
to
celebrate
our
veterans
to
celebrate
the
amazing
legacy
of
justice
cordin
as
we
close
the
ceremony.
So
thank
you
so
much
for
all
that
you
have
done
to
get
us
to
this
point.
This
is
an
amazing
day
in
our
city
an
amazing
day
in
roxbury,
and
I
am
truly
truly
grateful.
Thank
you.
So
much.
A
Thank
you
very
much
mayor
and
before
we
have
another
speaker,
I
just
want
to
acknowledge
in
the
crowd.
Today
we
have
some
employees
from
the
city
that
have
been
working
on
this
project,
both
from
the
parks
department
and
from
the
office
of
arts
and
culture,
so
chief
cara,
elliot
ortega,
karen
goodfellow,
sarah
rodrigo
and
liza
meyer.
Thanks
for
your
efforts
and
work
on
this
throughout
the
many
years
that
you've
been
working
on
this
project,.
A
F
Good
afternoon,
everyone
I'm
so
grateful
to
be
here,
and
I
hope
everyone
is
healthy
and
well,
if
not
on
the
way
to
be
healthy
and
well
again,
I
am
representative
china
tyler.
I
represent
this
district,
the
seventh
suffolk
district
on
beacon
hill
at
the
massachusetts
statehouse,
and
I
also
happen
to
be
the
chairwoman
of
the
massachusetts
black
and
latino
caucus,
and
I'm
here
for
a
few
reasons.
One
is
to
pay
homage
to
those
who
served
on
our
behalf
in
a
civil
war.
F
The
54th
did
something
that
was
very
monumental
and
we
weren't
we
wouldn't
be
where
we
are
today,
if
it
weren't
for
the
efforts,
and
so
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
families
and
to
the
people
who
are
here
today,
representing
the
54th
regiment.
First
and
foremost,
second
I'd
like
to
say
to
the
friends
group.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
continued
commitment
to
this
community.
F
I
remember
again
one
of
my
first
events.
Talking
about
mayor
janie
on
one
of
my
first
events
was
going
over
to
simmons
college
and
participating
in
a
fundraiser.
The
friends
group
had
a
goal
to
be
able
to
make
sure
that
they
reached
a
financial
goal
to
be
able
to
erect
these
statutes,
and
I
was
brand
new.
F
It
was
2016
and
I
said
what
can
I
do
to
be
helpful,
and
so
I
want
to
say
thank
you
so
much
for
marching
and
in
the
statehouse
with
me
to
ensure
that
we
were
able
to
make
a
financial
contribution
to
make
sure
that
we
are
all
that
we
are
made
it
to
where
we
are
today.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you
so
much
for
your
continued
commitment,
and
I
appreciate
you
and
one
last
thing
for
all
of
you
here.
F
This
is
this
relates
to
actual
the
justice
gorden
and
the
54th
regiment
as
a
whole.
Too
often,
black
leaders
are
not
recognized,
and
that
is
very
unacceptable
for
me,
and
so
again
I
really
appreciate
being
here
and
be
a
part
of
being
a
part
of
this
effort,
because
today
we
get
to
change
that
narrative
to
make
sure
that,
right
here
in
nubian
station,
our
ancestors
and
people
that
served
on
our
behalf
are
recognizing.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you.
F
So
much
thank
you
to
someone
who
served
before
me
also
in
this
semi-subject
role
as
an
aide
mary
to
it,
who
is
the
flag,
is,
is
blocking
you,
but
I
see
you
over
there.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
service
and
for
all
you've
done,
and
I
appreciate
being
here
and
looking
forward
to
breaking
the
ground.
Thank
you.
So
much
have
a
great
day.
A
Thank
you
rep.
We
have
not
only
great
leadership
of
the
state,
but
we
have
great
female
leadership.
It's
now
my
pleasure
to
introduce
my
boss,
the
one
who
the
mayor
always
says
is
the
chief
of
all
things
green.
She
is
the
cabinet
chief
of
environment,
energy
and
open
space
for
the
city
of
boston.
Please
welcome
reverend
mariama
whitehammond.
G
So
I'm
sure
that
some
of
you
are
concerned
about
having
two
reverends
on
the
schedule
that
this
might
have
made.
This
event
go
a
little
long,
but
I
will
keep
my
my
remarks
brief.
I
do
want
to
say
that
this
park
and
this
commemoration
is
already
doing
some
of
the
work
it
was
intended
to,
because
the
truth
is
before
I
heard
about
this
event.
G
That
has
been
the
history
and
legacy
of
so
many
black
veterans,
but
there's
nothing
more
honorable
than
fighting
for
something
that
you
believe
in.
Even
when
the
people
who
spout
those
things
are
not
willing
always
to
extend
that
same
dignity
to
you,
and
so
I
hope
that
we
will
not
just
remember
this
story
and
that
this
park
will
not
just
be
a
monument,
but
it
will
be
a
place
for
conversations.
G
So
I'm
grateful
to
be
here.
I'm
grateful
to
be
able
to
celebrate
and
I'm
grateful
that
we
will
have
an
offering
from
our
own
sister
fern,
who
I
had
the
opportunity
to
meet
and
talk
with
on
a
number
of
occasions
in
the
past
and
that
as
our
young
people
walk
by,
that
they
will
not
be
distant
stories
to
them.
But
they
will
be
living
monuments,
yes
to
the
rich,
deep
legacy
of
our
people
and
our
contributions
to
this
neighbor,
this
nation,
which
are
far
too
often
overlooked.
G
I
ever
thought
I
would
be
a
government
official,
but
when
mayor
janey
asked
me
to
consider
it,
I
said
well
I'll
give
it
a
try
and
it's
been
an
honor,
and
so
I'm
thankful
and
I
look
forward
to
somewhere
down
the
line
being
able
to
come
and
sit
in
this
park,
to
bring
my
own
god
children
here
and
to
make
sure
that
they
know
the
story,
so
they
can
be
proud
of
our
rich
and
powerful
legacy.
Thank
you.
B
Thank
you
all,
first
and
foremost
before
I
introduce
our
next
speaker,
I
just
got
to
say
what
a
beautiful
day
it
is
today
for
this
historic,
groundbreaking,
yeah,
and
I
do
gotta
say
it
seems
like
every
time,
I'm
at
an
event
an
outdoor
event
with
mayor
jane,
it
seems
like
it's
always
been
a
beautiful
day
at
all.
The
events,
and
this
one
is
a
it's
no
different
right
now.
It
is
now
my
pleasure
to
introduce
our
next
speaker
she's,
very
active
in
the
community.
B
H
Good
afternoon,
oh,
we
must
be
sleeping
good
afternoon
good
afternoon.
There
you
go
there,
you
go.
Many
of
you
know
me
and
many
of
you
don't.
My
name
is
meredith
tuitt.
Some
know
me
as
married
to
it
back
in
the
day
when
I
used
to
be
in
representative
gloria
fox's
office.
So
I'm
excited
and
proud
to
stand
here
today
because
we
began
on
this
project.
H
Many
years
ago,
ralph
brown
came
in
and
spoke
to
representative
fox
and
got
it
running,
got
it
going
created.
The
african-american
organization
of
african-american
veterans
pulled
us
all
together
and
we
started
on
this
mission.
I
don't
want
to
say
how
many
years
ago,
because
I
was
a
wee
girl,
then
right
so,
but
I
want
to
say
thank
you
because
we
have
to
watch
the
clock.
We
don't
want
to
lose
the
mirror
with
this
groundbreaking,
but
I
want
to
say
something:
african-american
veterans.
H
H
Well,
really,
let's
talk
about
kathy
william,
because
she
was
powerful
right,
okay,
but
we
have
to
say
that
being
a
veteran
of
color
and
being
unrecognized,
we
are
not
invisible
and
this
park
is
going
to
make
us
visible
not
only
in
the
city
of
boston,
not
only
in
the
commonwealth
of
massachusetts
but
across
the
nation,
because
we're
going
to
share
it
out
and
out
and
out
on
social
media,
because
we
have
to
talk
up,
we
have
so
much
more.
We
need
to
do
for
veterans
of
color,
but
I'm
so
excited
about
doing
this
groundbreaking.
Today.
H
I'm
excited
to
see
so
many
people
out
here
supporting
us.
So
I'm
gonna
be
short
today.
You
guys
know,
that's
not
something
I
usually
do,
but
we
don't
want
to
miss
the
mirror
and
the
groundbreaking
piece,
because
she
has
things
she
has
to
go
and
do
so.
What
I'm
going
to
say
to
you
guys
is
don't
forget.
H
We
just
came
out
of
recovery
month
and
talking
about
substance
and
recovery,
for
our
veterans,
we're
going
in
to
a
month
of
health
and
wellness
for
veterans
and
then
of
course,
november
is
veterans
month,
not
just
one
day
but
all
day
every
day.
Right
so
remember
that
we're
always
going
to
be
reaching
out
to
you
for
support.
Don't
forget
us
because
a
lot
of
times
we
get
overlooked
and
misplaced
and
spit
at,
but
we
know
this
is
going
to
change
because
gordeen
statue,
he
has
come
a
long
way.
H
A
I
Thank
you
all
right.
When
I
say
roxbury,
you
say:
love,
roxbury,
roxbury,
all
right!
That's
why
we're
all
here
today
we're
here,
because
we
love
this
place,
this
place
that
nurtures
us
this
place.
That
gives
us
this
home
to
share
our
black
love
our
brown
love.
This
is
the
diaspora
district.
This
is
what
we're
doing
here
today,
because
those
before
us
who
we
honor
with
this
park,
fought.
So
we
could
be
here,
and
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
who
are
from
the
generation
before
I.
I
Thank
you
very
much
for
fighting
for
our
respect
for
our
joy
for
having
this
place
and
keeping
us
here.
So
on
behalf
of
the
businesses
and
the
residents,
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
mayor
to
the
city,
to
the
state
for
putting
their
resources
here
and
also
I
want
you
to
remember
in
roxbury,
we've
had
to
fight
for
a
very
long
time,
but
today
and
moving
forward.
We
work
with
those
who
work
with
us
and
that
is
present
today.
I
A
J
Thank
you
and
good
afternoon
everyone.
I
first
I'm
going
to
be
brief,
but
I
first
want
to
acknowledge
our
elders
and
our
children,
so
I
want
to
take
a
brief
moment
to
ask
if
the
eldest
in
the
crowd
will
acknowledge
our
efforts
and
for
the
younger
in
the
crowd,
remember
our
history
and
past,
because
we
build
this
for
you.
J
I
want
to
thank
the
city,
our
mayor,
janie,
the
state
mayor,
sorry,
representative,
china,
tyler
folks
at
city
hall,
who
have
done
herculean
work
along
with
us,
the
veterans
and
friends
of
gordeen
park.
This
would
not
have
happened
with
long
and
arduous
work,
with
the
cohort
that
it
just
named
again.
I
look
forward
to
the
we
start
with
the
groundbreaking,
but
I
look
forward
to
the
ribbon
cutting.
So
all
of
you
all,
hang
with
us
stay
with
us
support
us
as
we
can,
because
it's
not
just
the
veterans
and
friends.