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‘Other Washingtons’ Obscures Monument To George With Black Icons Who Share His Name
['Maxwell Evans', 'More Maxwell Evans']
Block Club Chicago
WASHINGTON PARK — Think about how many Chicagoans lived through Harold’s historic administration, learned about Booker T. in school or — like Ald.
On one banner, high school junior and artist Laila Jean-Baptiste gives her lifelong friendship with fellow high-schooler Kennedy Washington equal standing to George Washington’s military and political achievements.
But seeing her name alongside fellow Washingtons like George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass — born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey — provides comfort and inspiration, she said.
Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club ChicagoGeorge Washington’s monument has had little impact on Williams’ relationship to Washington Park.
That reverence typically isn’t for George Washington himself, but for his monument as a shaded respite, a place to play dominoes or a walking path to school, she said.