A campaign by black activists to change the name of the city of East Palo Alto California to “Nairobi” almost succeeded in 1968.
The activists had also proposed Kenyatta and Uhuru as alternative names.
Donald Reid who led the campaign which was mostly supported by young black Americans argued that the name “Nairobi” was the best way to honour black Americans of East Palo Alto.
The prospective renaming did not only split the town along social class ,but also along racial and age lines.
Older black residents and the white minority saw the proposal as subversive and an act of militancy while the middle class saw it as a threat to their association with the posh PALO ALTO the home of Stanford university.
On the other hand proponents of the name “Nairobi” felt that the Name East Palo Alto sidelined black Americans in favour of the whites. “Nairobi” to them signalled a centre of black Autonomy.
As the November 1968 referendum approached the debate over the name change intensified. " yes on Nairobi" stickers ,banners and billboards sprung up through out the city,the post office also began recieving mails marked “Nairobi ,CA”.
Although the question of “yes Nairobi” was defeated at the referendum the black activists never gave up .They succeeded in changing University village to Nairobi village shopping centre with a huge sign reading Uhuru na Umoja at the entrance ,they also established Nairobi High School and Nairobi Primary school .
According to a survey done after the referendum, “yes Nairobi” was supported by young black Americans while older residents rejected it by a larger margin than the white residents.
One elderly black resident said that he opposed the renaming because the name Nairobi was more of a ghetto name while another one told the New York Times,“with a name like Nairobi,everyone will know we are black.”
Some analysts observed that if the voting age had been reduced to 18 then “yes Nairobi” could have sailed through.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/opiyo.levin/posts/10211685314189699