I was dismayed to learn that the School Committee voted, without community input, to name the middle school building after Ellen Garrison. I think naming steel, brick and/or concrete after Ms. Garrison is insensitive and disrespectful. Black people have been sidelined and granted leftovers for 400 years. Although I would prefer the middle school name be the Ellen Garrison Middle School, I would support naming the middle school library after her as a suitable compromise, given her literacy activism. That would be a full honor, rather than a tacked on acknowledgement of her educational and social justice contributions.
Leslie Fisher
Middle Street
