Monday night, New London City Council unanimously passed a resolution to replace Columbus Day in the city with Italian Heritage Day. This comes only months after the Christopher Columbus statue that stood for more than 90 years in the city was removed amidst protests and vandalism that occurred during a Black Lives Matter protest.

Since then, the words ‘No Justice No Peace’ were spray-painted where the statue once stood in what is called Columbus Square in New London. “I’m proud to stand here in this moment and to make sure that I can bridge the gaps between this divide which is in our community and that we’re seeing nationwide,” said New London City Councilor (D) Curtis Goodwin.