More than 200 community members gathered in downtown San Jose on Saturday morning to celebrate the city’s newly-named Barack Obama Boulevard in front of the SAP Center, located on Santa Clara Street.
This comes four years after a local leader launched a petition with 2,486 signatures to rename the formerly known South Autumn Street, to Barack Obama Boulevard after the former president.
Former President Barack Obama became the first Black man elected to hold presidential office in 2008 and was reelected for a second term in 2012.
Alex Shoor, founder of the Barack Obama Boulevard Committee, was responsible for authoring the petition in 2017.
The Barack Obama Boulevard Committee is a coalition of community members who petitioned, raised funds and received unanimous approval from San Jose City Council to rename the street, according to a Jan. 6 City of San Jose news release.
Shoor’s petition raised over $9,000 to cover the costs for the city to rename the street, according to a January 2019 update on the petition.
Shoor, who is also the executive director of nonprofit organization Catalyze SV, called on local leaders in the petition’s description to rename the street because of Barack Obama’s “historic presidency.”
Catalyze SV is a group of community members, city leaders and developers that aim to create “vibrant, equitable and sustainable locations” for people in Silicon Valley, according to its website.
“In these times that again feel dark with uncertainty, many people could use a small, symbolic step forward that honors our nation’s history and its first African-American president,” Shoor wrote in the petition’s description.
Saturday’s ceremony, led by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, featured speeches from San Jose’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and other city councilmembers.
Several keynote speakers and attendees expressed gratitude for the street’s renaming.
“San Jose has stepped up and created the change that we can believe in, Barack Obama Boulevard,” said Helen Sims, Barack Obama Boulevard Committee’s vice president, during the ceremony.
Vice Mayor Jones voiced recognition for the committee’s work.
“After many setbacks, numerous conversations, here we are today watching Barack Obama Boulevard become part of our city,” Jones said during his ceremony speech.
He said the boulevard will revitalize the downtown area and welcome visitors.
Raul Peralez, San Jose District 3 councilmember, said the street’s location is significant because “the heart of San Jose serves as a major gateway into downtown.”
“I am proud that this highly trafficked street, which has many practical transportation purposes for our local residents and for tourists, will now have such a significant symbolic purpose,” Peralez said during the ceremony. “May this street represent hope and progress and serve as a firm reminder to our Black, Latinx, Asian locals that they belong in elected positions in all levels of government as well.”
Several attendees of the boulevard’s unveiling wore buttons pinned to their clothes with Obama’s first presidential election slogan in 2008, “Yes we can.”
According to an October 2009 Gallup survey, 20% of national adults and 44% of Black adults believed Obama’s presidency was the most important advancement for Black people.
“Obama’s success gave all people, particularly African Americans, a sheer joy to watch American history take place,” said Alicia Carvajal, 42-year-old San Jose community member, in an interview after the ceremony.
