Ninian Edwards’ History Laid Out, Collective Voices Raised

EDWARDSVILLE – Over 60 Edwardsville area community members gathered together at the Ninian Edwards plaza for a rally on Saturday, October 31 to proclaim their commitment to the City of Edwardsville removing the Ninian Edwards statue and raise their collective voices in support of racial justice.

Our Edwardsville group's co-leader Dr. Ezra Temko started off the event by connecting the group’s name to the group’s position on the statue, sharing that, “Our Edwardsville is a city that practices the values professed by our institutions. Our Edwardsville is committed to inclusion and equity. Our Edwardsville is a better Edwardsville.” Temko then led the chant, “Whose Edwardsville? Our Edwardsville.”

Our Edwardsville co-leader Asher Denkyirah led the crowd in a multitude of chants, such as “You put him on a pedestal / That’s unacceptable,” “Honor / Freedom!” and “Black rights / are human rights! Indigenous rights / are human rights!” SIUE senior Romeo Spells led the group in song, including Which side are you on?, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around, This Little Light of Mine, and Circle Round for Freedom.

Dr. J.T. Snipes, president of SIUE’s Black Faculty & Staff Association, began the more formal aspects of the rally with an Invocation on the Sanctity of Black Lives, declaring that “We will do the work to bind up the wounds, to heal the shattered hearts, to break the yoke of oppression.” Other readings included Maya Angelou’s Equality and Caged Bird and a poem authored and shared by SIUE student Mahdi Gourdine. Gourdine pushed back on people defending monuments that remember racists like Edwards “as valiant heroes… because that’s just your American heritage. My ancestors were shackled, raped, tortured – that’s my American heritage!”

Our Edwardsville co-leaders Eryn Coppersmith and Emily Klingensmith explained why the statue must be moved, educating attendees about Edwards’ history and common misconceptions about the campaign. Coppersmith shared how Edwards’ veto of legislation to repeal Illinois’ indenture laws ensured continued slavery in the state. Klingensmith explained how the statue as it stands distorts history. Our Edwardsville Co-leader Eden Vitoff told the story of our campaign, explaining that after a group of Edwardsville citizens learned about Edwards’ history this summer, they realized they had to act. He thanked Aldermen S.J. Morrison and Craig Louer for their support of relocation.

Dr. Tanya Patton, founder of One Collective Voice, spoke about how “If we truly want to change what we see, if we truly want to change what is happening, we have to continue to speak in one collective voice. White America has to be as outraged as Black America is.” Patton is a retired elementary school principal. She said, “I’m an educator, and I love history. This [pointing to the statue] has a place in history. But just not here!”

Dr. Jennifer Hernandez, board member for the DREAM (Dismantling Racism through Education, Advocacy, and Mobilization) Collective, stated that “Walking past statues [like this one] and ignoring their impact, disregarding it as a relic from a different time, may not classify you as racist. However, if you want to be explicitly anti-racist, this… must come down.”

Deb Lovekamp, on behalf of FOURward, called for the statue’s removal, pointing to the statue and explaining, “That’s not equity. There’s nothing neutral about that.” Lovekamp explained that their organization supports removing the statue because “nothing about this statue stands for human rights.… I don't know how he's got a place of honor, and he held up 40 years of slavery.”

Attendees also took action. Over 50 citizens signed a petition to the city council asking for the statue to be removed; the petition will be delivered at Tuesday’s council meeting, at which the city will have the first reading of an ordinance to rename the plaza.

The rally ended with a commemoration ceremony. Denkyirah read the names of the persons Edwards enslaved, with a bell rang for each name – Rose, Joseph, Maria, Anthony, Strap, Jesse, Charles, Charlotte, William, Milley, Gracey. The group also held a moment of silence for all the enslaved persons impacted by Edwards’ veto of abolitionist legislation and a moment of silence to honor the people of the Potawatomi tribe that Edwards killed and forced from their land.

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