DENVER — In a neighborhood where Saturday’s are usually filled with quiet streets, the sound of change echoed through a part of town that will likely soon have a new name.
Hundreds gathered in the Stapleton neighborhood in Denver Saturday to celebrate that their neighborhood likely won’t be named Stapleton for much longer.
The neighborhood is named for former Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton, who was a member of the KKK. Denver School Board Member and activist Tay Anderson says after years of trying to change the name, the time has finally come.
"We are excited about the change that is coming, but we are upset that it’s come so late," said Anderson. "George Floyd’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now we are seeing that this has come to fruition and now we have to be able to make sure that we move this forward."
The neighborhood association is still putting together a list of names that they will then allow the public to vote on. That might come in the way of a bracket-style vote with people who live in the area deciding the new name for their neighborhood.
In the midst of rally signs and chants, John-Claude Futrell is asking people to support renaming the neighborhood after his grandparents. He says his grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman and his grandmother was the first woman of color elected to Aurora City Council.
"In this time that we’re talking about civil rights and social justice and the dismantling of systemic oppression and racism, I think that symbols mean something," said Futrell. "We’re running a campaign right now for the Stapleton neighborhood to change its name to Mosely or Mosely Park."
There’s a long list of potential names of what these streets may soon be called. It'll be up to the people in the neighborhood to decide what the new name will be.
RELATED: Graphic designer offers free redesigns for Stapleton businesses that want to change their name
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Protests in Denver