Codman Square in Dorchester is named for Rev. John Codman IV (1782 - 1847). His grandfather (John Codman II), a slave master and landowner in Charlestown, was famously poisoned by his slaves in 1755. Two slaves, Mark and Phillis, were convicted and sentenced to die. Phillis was burned to death at the stake while "Mark Codman was hanged, tarred, and then suspended in a metal gibbet on the main road to town, where his body remained for more than 20 years."
That story, which I was unfamiliar with, was told at the MLK March for Justice on Monday, January 16, 2017. The march, organized by Mass Action Against Police Brutality, started with speakers at Codman Square and concluded in Fields Corner. Terrance Coleman's mother, Hope Coleman, recounted how the police shot and killed her son after she called for emergency medical care.
Hope Coleman, wearing her son's hat
