Earlier this week, the San Francisco Unified School District voted to rename 44 schools named after controversial public figures, and among the new namesakes in consideration for the city-wide rebranding is Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that at the recommendation of students and school board members, Garcia's name is in consideration alongside figures including Maya Angelou, W.E.B. Du Bois, Barack Obama, newly minted U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to become the namesake of a school in the city.
Text of the resolution [via CNN] reads, in part, that the schools named after historical figures linked to "the subjugation and enslavement of human beings; or who oppressed women, inhibiting societal progress; or whose actions led to genocide; or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" will undergo a renaming.
Garcia's decades of music-making have earned him places in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Ben & Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" flavour marked the first ice cream named after a musician.
Of course, the artist's rendering above is only part of how we would imagine a trip to "Jerry Garcia Secondary" to go.
The Chronicle notes that the 44 school communities will have until mid-April to dream up a new suggested name. Upon review by a renaming committee, the 44 recommended names will then head to the school board for a final vote.
Garcia died of a heart attack on August 9, 1995, at the age of 53. In 2019, the Grateful Dead unearthed previously unreleased live recordings, and released a shoe with Nike last year.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that at the recommendation of students and school board members, Garcia's name is in consideration alongside figures including Maya Angelou, W.E.B. Du Bois, Barack Obama, newly minted U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to become the namesake of a school in the city.
Text of the resolution [via CNN] reads, in part, that the schools named after historical figures linked to "the subjugation and enslavement of human beings; or who oppressed women, inhibiting societal progress; or whose actions led to genocide; or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" will undergo a renaming.
Garcia's decades of music-making have earned him places in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Ben & Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" flavour marked the first ice cream named after a musician.
Of course, the artist's rendering above is only part of how we would imagine a trip to "Jerry Garcia Secondary" to go.
The Chronicle notes that the 44 school communities will have until mid-April to dream up a new suggested name. Upon review by a renaming committee, the 44 recommended names will then head to the school board for a final vote.
Garcia died of a heart attack on August 9, 1995, at the age of 53. In 2019, the Grateful Dead unearthed previously unreleased live recordings, and released a shoe with Nike last year.
