Grand Rapids Adds Honorary Breonna Taylor Way to Downtown Street
On Friday, Grand Rapids City officials held an honorary name change ceremony in downtown Grand Rapids.
WOODTV reports that they officially honorarily named Monroe Center, which runs for a few blocks downtown, Breonna Taylor Way, in memory of Grand Rapids Native Breonna Taylor. Friday’s ceremony was the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Breonna Taylor’s family was in attendance. Breonna’s cousin, Tawanna Gordon told WOODTV,“Hopefully when they walk down Breonna Taylor Way, you feel her spirit. When you walk this street, be kind to people.”<
Breonna Taylor Way is the 10th special designation in Grand Rapids, the others, as reported by WOOD-TV, are,
Roberta Hunter Memorial Way, Museum Row, Historic Cobblestone Hill, Dirk Vlug Way, Cesar Chavez Way, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Veterans Memorial Bridge, Officer Bob Kozminski Way, and Medical Mile.
While the honorary name of the downtown street is Breonna Taylor Way, it doesn’t change the official name of the roadway, which still remains Monroe Center Ave.
Although Breonna Taylor was living in Louisville Kentucky when she was killed, she was originally from Grand Rapids and has family still in the area. The petition to add the honorary designation to Monroe Center Ave was filed by Justice for Black Lives, a local nonprofit, and was voted on by the Grand Rapids City Commission in October.