Over the weekend, the Indianapolis Recorder family was happy to join other appreciative central Indiana residents in celebrating the life and legacy of our own Amos Brown.
During a special dedication ceremony downtown, a section of St. Joseph Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania streets was renamed Amos Brown Way. The section of road is located right in front of Radio One, where Amos fought for justice and growth in our community as host of the popular radio program Afternoons With Amos.
Although we don’t like to boast and brag at the Recorder, we are proud to say that Amos blessed us as a columnist in this newspaper for two decades. Many of our readers over the years have shared how they would get the paper, check out the front page and then immediately flip to Amos’ column to see what he had to say about the week’s current events.
We knew that whatever he wrote on this page would be powerful and informative, with a touch of humor and hard-hitting analysis that reminded us how a particular issue impacted everyone, but especially our African-American community.
As an example of the great regard and broad respect Amos had, the Indianapolis City-County Council unanimously approved the resolution to name the street in his memory, and the idea received a wide range of support. It is a fitting tribute to a man who cared deeply about this city and devoted 40 years — the bulk of his career — to it as his adopted hometown.
Amos joins a special group of African-Americans from Indianapolis who have been honored by having significant sections of streets or highways named after them. Among those who have been recognized are such highly regarded people as Rev. Andrew J. Brown, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Rev. Mozel Sanders, Bishop Garfield T. Haywood and Roosevelt Williamson.
Amos was simply irreplaceable, both as a person and as a voice for justice in this community. Personally, I will miss him as a colleague and mentor. Like many people, I will also miss his razor-sharp intellect and wit, as well as his passion for helping people solve problems and holding those in positions of power accountable.
Arming the community with knowledge was one of the ways Amos helped address the critical issues of our time. As a man of faith, he heeded the warning of Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge.”
Naming the street after Amos was an amazing tribute. However, perhaps the greatest monument to his legacy is a more informed citizenry. Thanks to Amos and his hard work, thousands of people know where to go, whom to call and what to do to address a wide variety of challenges in this community.
It would have been interesting to see Amos’ coverage of America and Indy in the Trump era. One of the things he would have probably spoken out about is the increase in violence and hate crimes and the double standard used in discussing them in our society.
Take for example the fatal shootings that took place last week in Fresno, California. Kori Ali Muhammad killed a security guard whom he said “disrespected” him. Then he decided he wanted to kill white people and killed three random white men. Authorities immediately classified the incident as a hate crime.
However, they, along with the Trump Administration, seem to drag their feet on using the term “hate crime” in attacks on African-Americans in which the perpetrators themselves admitted racial hatred was a motivating factor. Such incidents include last month’s murder of an elderly Black man by a white supremacist in New York City, and the 2015 mass shooting of nine African-Americans at a church by Dylan Roof, who has just been transferred to death row at the federal correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Violence motivated by hatred, regardless of who the target is, should be called exactly what is: a hate crime.
Also, our Black community can strengthen the cause for justice and nonviolence by speaking out against violent discrimination, whether it takes place against Blacks, whites or people of other races.
As Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
