Jackson Park Officially Renamed to Chochenyo Park
On January 19, 2021, the City Council voted to change the Jackson Park name to Chochenyo Park. This is the culmination of a community-led effort to rename the park to recognize the atrocities committed by President Andrew Jackson and bring justice and healing. Parks are important public spaces, their names have impacts and should represent the values of our community. The East Bay was first and continues to be the land of the Lisjan Ohlone people. Chochenyo is the language spoken by the Lisjan Ohlone. To learn more, please visit www.sogoreate-landtrust.org
Alameda’s first park was named after President Andrew Jackson in 1909. It is being renamed because Jackson personally enslaved hundreds of Africans and was the architect of the Indian Removal Act. Under Jackson’s Removal policy (now known as the Trail of Tears), Federal troops evicted indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands in the southwest U.S. and marched them to new reservations in Oklahoma, resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation and exposure.
The Recreation and Parks Commission and City Council both voted to dename Jackson Park and asked staff to create a committee to recommend a new name. Thirteen residents were appointed to the Park Renaming Committee. Most people submitted an application based on specific questions and a few members were directly appointed in an effort to represent a wide range of interests in the park renaming process. The Committee began by establishing its process, goals and naming criteria as detailed in their meeting minutes(PDF, 352KB). Additional key documents from the Committee are also available. The docs include: Renaming processes(PDF, 696KB), Vetting Summary(PDF, 50KB) and Organizational list for Outreach(PDF, 107KB)
Park Renaming Committee Members (PDF, 94KB)
Naming Criteria: We are seeking a park name that reflects inclusion, diversity, and equity of the entire community of Alameda, and which represents social justice, human rights, and/or anti-racism. If a person’s name is submitted, they must be deceased. Submitted park names should be related to Alameda and/or the greater SF Bay Area.
The Committee solicited name ideas by outreaching to over 100 organizations and social media groups and emailing more than 10,000 people. Significant effort was put into diverse and inclusive outreach to invite people into the conversation who may not traditionally engage in city-led meetings and activities. Unvetted Park Name List from 10/2020 Outreach(PDF, 82KB)
The park names were vetted by the Committee based on the established criteria and a list of top ten names was presented at a Community Forum on 11/23/2020 to provide information about each of the top ten names, solicit feedback on those names and to educate the community on why the park is being renamed. Community Forum Video, Chat, Top 10 Names and RJP Presentation(PDF, 4MB) Out of respect, the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Ohlone was consulted on the names, Ohlone and Chochenyo. Their preference is Chochenyo because it is more specific to this area as it is the language spoken by the Ohlone people here.
The Committee posted an online survey to solicit community input on the top 10 names. The survey was posted for a limited time and asked for people to mark their top 5 name choices. This survey was considered as one of multiple data points that the Committee used to determine its final recommendation. Community Survey Results of top 10 park names and Survey Results from 11/23/2020 Community Forum Link
The Committee recommended three final names to the Commission: Chochenyo, Justice, and Mabel Tatum. The Recreation and Parks Commission recommended the name Chochenyo Park to City Council who will discuss at the January 19, 2021 meeting.
Rename Jackson Park Petition(PDF, 584KB)
Creating Our Future – A public art display celebrating the renaming of the park formerly known as Jackson Park from November14, 2020 – April 30, 2
Check out the link for artist biographies, video of the online gallery reception and an online gallery.
Presentation and Dialogue with the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Ohlone
Full video: https://youtu.be/MXZQfoy_h3U
Partial Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/112989737126421/videos/147681016990876/Youtube
Credit: Confederated Villages of Lisjan and Rename Jackson Park