[splat]

I may be in this state, it may not carry as much weight with you people from other states , but what the hell! Lets help this cause. I called and left a message!
Hit 1 to leave a message !

The Mass. Legislature passed a bill June 15 containing $205,000 for the planned MAJOR TAYLOR statue in Worcester -- enough to get this project to the finish line. It's part of a gazillion-dollar supplemental state budget.

HOWEVER, Gov. Mitt Romney can veto the line item. The governor's office needs to hear from Major Taylor fans THIS WEEK. Even those who don't live in Massachusetts. 617-725-4000.

Massachusetts can take great pride in Major Taylor's story, as this was the state that allowed his talent to flourish while others drew "the color line."

PLEASE, please, please make the call for the Major Taylor statue. The state funding, on top of the $70,000+ we've raised from the private sector, would let us put the selected scupltor right to work. We've been working since 1999 to get this memorial to the 1899 world cycling champ, and this is our best chance to GET IT DONE.

A governor's line-item veto is a very real possibility. Let's make the push now -- while there's just one person to lobby, the governor -- so we don't have to lobby every single senator and representative in an effort to get a
veto override.

Every phone call counts, even those from out of state, given Mitt Romney's presidential ambitions. It's a two-minute call -- just say you're in favor of the Major Taylor memorial and give your name & address.
E-mails are given less weight. But old-fashioned letters are good: Gov. Mitt Romney, Room 360, State House, Boston, MA 02133.

You don't have to make a big speech when you call, 617-725-4000. Just say you support the appropriation for the MAJOR TAYLOR MEMORIAL
in Line 7004-0097. If you want you can say any or all of the following:

that recognition is overdue for the 1899 world champ,
a forgotten Massachusetts hero
who overcame racial prejudice
half a century before Jackie Robinson ...
... and it will be Worcester's first public monument to an African-American.

P.S. After you've made the call, please let us know at info@majortaylorassociation.org. We're trying to keep count.

 

[splat]

Bump for a good cause

 

[MMcG]

Who is Major Taylor? That would help.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Who is Major Taylor? That would help.

It says it right in the article he posted

 

[stosh]

Don't worry MMCG I found a pic for you.








I hope this rings a bell
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[splat]

Who is Major Taylor? That would help.

So sad , this is even more reason why we need this !!

http://www.majortaylorassociation.org/who.htm

 

[splat]

**** UPDATE ******

MAJOR TAYLOR STATUE FUNDING APPROVED

WORCESTER, Mass. (June 29, 2006) -- The Major Taylor Association, Inc., is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Legislature has approved $205,000 for the Major Taylor statue to be built outside the Worcester Public Library. Gov. Mitt Romney signed the legislation into law June 24.

Combined with more than $70,000 raised from the private sector, the state appropriation essentially completes the fund drive for the project and will allow the selected sculptor, Antonio Tobias Mendez, to begin work on the monument honoring 1899 world cycling champion Marshall W. "Major" Taylor, also known as the "Worcester Whirlwind."

State Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, Rep. John J. Binienda, D-Worcester, Rep. James B. Leary, D-Worcester, and Rep. Byron Rushing, D-Boston, were instrumental in securing the legislation containing the Major Taylor statue funding.

Rep. Binienda said, "This memorial to a great African-American athlete is long overdue. Had Major Taylor been cycling in 2006, he would have been as well recognized and much-admired as Lance Armstrong."

"I am thrilled we were able to secure this funding. This is a huge step forward in building Worcester's first monument honoring an African-American, a true American hero, Major Taylor," Sen. Chandler said.

"This is a great victory for telling a complete history of the city of Worcester and of the Commonwealth. The Major Taylor statue will pay tribute to an Afro American athlete who overcame many obstacles to become a world champion in bicycling. This memorial will help educate many more people about this extraordinary man's contribution," said Rep. Rushing, who directed the Museum of Afro American History before he entered the Legislature.

"Massachusetts can take great pride in Major Taylor's story, and we're grateful to the community leaders who recognized that a monument here is fitting," said Lynne Tolman, a board member of the nonprofit Major Taylor Association. "This state played an exemplary role in allowing Major Taylor's talent to flourish when others drew 'the color line.' "

Major Taylor, an Indiana native who lived in Worcester, Mass., most of his life, overcame prejudice on and off his bike to become the first internationally acclaimed African-American sports superstar. He met closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity, earning admiration not only for his athletic achievements but also for his strength of character. He was the second black world champion athlete in any sport (the first was bantamweight boxer George Dixon in 1891). Taylor held seven world records
in 1898, won the world 1-mile bicycling championship in 1899, and was American sprint champion in 1900.

For more information about Major Taylor and the statue, visit
http://www.majortaylorassociation.org

 

[BurlyShirley]

drats!