Montiero, 83, who lives in Florida, was named a “Historian” Thursday night by the Rhode Island Historical Society. He recognized him for “decades of standing in Rhode Island and working tirelessly to improve access, opportunity and equality. The presentation was part of a virtual fundraiser called “Come Together: Taking a Stand in Rhode Island in the 1960s”.
Clifford R. Montiero, center, listens to then Providence Mayor Joseph A. Doorley Jr. speaks in the 1960s when Montiero chaired the old Congress on Racial EqualityCourtesy Clifford R. Montiero
“Cliff is a living legend,” said Keith Stokes, vice president of the 1696 Heritage Group in Newport, who speaks across the country on early African American heritage and history. “Thank you for making Rhode Island a better place for all of us.”
Montiero presided over the Rhode Island chapter of the old Congress on Racial Equality and was president of the NAACP Providence branch. In 2015 he returned to Selma, Ala., To cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years after his march with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Thursday’s Zoom event included comments from senior officials such as Democratic US Senator Jack Reed.
“Cliff Montiero helped build history in the direction of justice here in Rhode Island and across the country,” Reed said. “From staying at the State House for Fair Housing, to the Washington and Selma marches, to the daily efforts required to keep a movement going, Cliff has been at the forefront of the fight for equality, justice, and opportunity. “
Democratic US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said citizens often think the civil rights movement is in the south, but he said they are active Rhode Islanders like Montiero.
“He was down in the south registering voters. He marched with Martin Luther King in Selma. Here in Rhode Island, he slept in the State House to live fairly, ”said Whitehouse. “He has always been at the forefront of change.”
“Mr. Montiero, you have made the world an inspiring legacy,” said Blake A. Filippi, a Republican from Block Island. “You have sparked positive change and created waves that can be felt today and in the future. If only everyone would make the same contributions from us, our communities and our world would be all the better. “
The video homage also included the historical context of historians, archive material and a recent interview with Montiero.
In the 1968 WTEV-TV / Channel 6 news interview, Montiero called for the education on black history to be expanded.
“I would say the first thing I would do is reevaluate our history courses,” he said. “I think it is very important that the black community make their contributions to America and the white community make the contributions of black people so that we develop an inner pride and respect.”
These comments are in line with those made Tuesday when the House of Representatives passed law requiring that African American history be taught in schools in Rhode Island. The sponsor of the law, Representative Anastasia P. Williams, a Providence Democrat, spoke about the need to educate not only about Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade, but the inventions and contributions that black Americans have made over the years have done.
During the 1968 interview, Montiero said, “The second would be to have job opportunities, programs focused with industry.”
He said he worked closely with former US Senators Claiborne Pell and John O. Pastore on a “manpower program” called the Opportunities Industrialization Center. In 1990, the Rhode Island Community College acquired the OIC building in South Providence to serve as the Providence campus.
And he said he spoke with Pell about the need to give blacks the opportunity to go to college before the Rhode Island Senator started the federal Pell Grant program.
Montiero told the television reporter the third thing he would do is to provide adequate and decent housing immediately. And he was a leading advocate of the Fair Housing Practices Act, which then Governor John H. Chafee signed in 1965 to prevent racial housing discrimination.
On the television news of the 1965 law being signed, Montiero looks straight into the camera and says, “All men are created equal, and we want these words to really mean something. We believe in the American dream and you are part of that American dream. “
Montiero, a former Providence police officer and retired deputy sheriff, has long advocated greater diversity in law enforcement and the courts. And in an interview on Friday, Montiero hailed the news that State Police Major Darnell Weaver will take over as Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Superintendent, becoming the most senior black person in the 96-year history of the Rhode Island State Police.
The executive director of the Rhode Island Historical Society, C. Morgan Grefe, said the society wanted to honor Montiero for “making history at every turn”.
Other Rhode Island civil rights activists, such as Michael S. Van Leesten and Alton W. Wiley, Rhode Island’s first black judge, have died in recent years. But she said, “We still have an opportunity to hear and learn from the people who risked so much to fight for Rhode Island equality and get America to live up to its founding ideals. “
Grefe said when she saw Montiero news footage from the 1960s, “I was just thinking about how what he says resonates so strongly with our world today and Rhode Island today.”
Grefe also said she appreciated that Montiero is just as passionate about these issues today as he was as a young man. “I think he wants us to learn about the past, learn from the past, but act in the present,” she said.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @FitzProv.
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