JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Residents of Wood Street plan to attend Tuesday’s city council meeting to oppose a proposal to rename their neighborhood street.
Councilman Kenneth Stokes wants to change the street’s name to honor Dr. Roderick Little, Jackson State University’s band director.
The street would be named Dr. Roderick Little Drive.
Stokes said naming it after Little, who grew up in the area and served as band director at Lanier High School, will breathe new life into the neighborhood.
Some residents disagree, saying the councilman never got their input on the decision.
“The majority of the residents are not in support of the name change. They want to keep it as is,” said Debra Brent.
Brent has lived on Wood Street for more than three decades and said she is in shock over the proposed name change. She and others are collecting signatures from residents who are pushing back against it.
“We have done so many things for Wood Street. Wood Street to me is historical now, because in the past, they said this was the ‘Wood Street Gang’ or whatever. We have overcome all of that. We’ve come together now. We are (standing in) our unity, so changing it to another name, I’m not satisfied with it at all,” Brent said.
Stokes said he respects the opinions of each resident on the matter.
However, he still plans to move forward with changing the street name.
“We want someone who is going to give a positive image to this community,” Stokes said. “It’s a good neighborhood, two of the better churches in this city, and this whole area is good. It deserves not to have that negative image, and we are going to change that image.”
Stokes said he has spoken with residents, and the majority tell him they are in favor of the change.
“People respect Dr. Little,” Stokes said. “They respect what he has done, what he has accomplished, and he’s a role model. We don’t want people to think the only thing that comes out of Wood Street are dope dealers, gang bangers, negative things, negative people.”
He also disputed claims that he hadn’t spoken with residents about the proposal.
“We talked to some, and we scheduled a meet at one of the churches, I think this Thursday,” he said. “You can’t talk to everyone. The law requires that you send a notice, so they had a notice, everybody got a notice, otherwise how did they know?”
Even though Brent is against the name change altogether, she said she is open to a compromise.
“One young man we spoke to said he was told he (Little) lived on Myles Alley. If that’s the case, why can’t they take Cohea (Street) to Myles Alley and name that after him and leave the rest of this alone?” Brent said.
Although residents plan to speak out on this issue during Tuesday’s city council meeting, Councilman Stokes said he doesn’t plan to bring this item up for a vote until one of the council meetings in May.
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