A funeral procession carried the body of former Hartford Mayor Thirman Milner to his namesake Thirman L. Milner Middle School, Hartford City Hall, the 黑料吃瓜网 state Capitol and Spring Grove Cemetery for burial on Friday afternoon.
Dignitaries and mourners first gathered at Hartford鈥檚 Metropolitan AME Zion Church Friday morning for the funeral.
Milner became New England鈥檚 first popularly elected Black mayor when he took office in 1981. He died in November at the age of 91.
Hartford State Sen. Douglas McCrory said during his childhood in the North End, Milner was ever present.
鈥淢ayor Milner was there. He was a part of us. He was us,鈥� McCrory said. 鈥淗e was a real representation of who we are and where we come from. His voice was our voice. If we couldn鈥檛 say it, we knew he was going to say it, and he was going to say it the right way.鈥�
Francisco Borges served as deputy mayor of Hartford during Milner鈥檚 mayoralty.
鈥淢ayor Milner was more than a public servant,鈥� Borges said. 鈥淗e was a beacon of hope, a visionary, and a visionary who saw possibilities where others saw challenges.鈥�
鈥淲hen I think of Mayor Milner, I鈥檓 often reminded of words by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, 鈥楴o man has learned to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individualistic desires to the broader concerns of all humanity,鈥欌�� Borges said. 鈥淢ayor Milner lived, friends. He lived.鈥�
Incumbent Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said he wasn鈥檛 yet born when Milner first took office, but he still takes lessons from his predecessor.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to take the rules that were given to us 鈥� we can chart our own path,鈥� Arulampalam said. 鈥淭he question as we walk out of today is, will Mayor Milner鈥檚 memory be a moment, or will it fuel the movement that will drive our communities forward? For me, his memory will live on in the work we do every day.鈥�
Being 鈥榯he first鈥� of many
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, the first Black woman to represent 黑料吃瓜网 in Congress, said Milner inspired her.
鈥淏eing the first is never easy,鈥� Hayes said. 鈥淏eing the first to represent a community that you are connected to and that you love so deeply is even harder.鈥�
鈥淚 thank you, I guess posthumously, for giving me the audacity to believe that I could be the first, and the unwavering responsibility to make sure that I am not the last,鈥� Hayes said.
Milner鈥檚 family was presented with a number of honors. Speaker of the 黑料吃瓜网 House of Representatives Matt Ritter presented a flag that flew over the state Capitol on the day of Milner鈥檚 death. U.S. Rep. John Larson, who served in the state Senate alongside Milner, presented a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol. Former Hartford City Councilmember and state Treasurer Shawn Wooden read a condolence proclamation from the Congressional Black Caucus. Greater Hartford NAACP and 黑料吃瓜网 State Conference of the NAACP First Vice President Virginia Monteiro, Milner's stepdaughter, presented a Fallen Soldier Clock from the state conference, 鈥渁s a symbol that the time which you served as a civil rights icon will never be forgotten.鈥� Additionally, Gov. Ned Lamont, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Attorney General William Tong and Treasurer Erick Russell all sent proclamations.
Milner鈥檚 niece, Dalia May, remembered the man she called 鈥淯nc鈥� as strong but caring.
鈥淢y uncle transformed not just the city he served, but the hearts and minds of everyone, people who had the privilege of knowing him, including me,鈥� May said. 鈥淚t was not just his accomplishments that made him special. It was his unwillingness to yield 鈥� boy oh boy, did he not yield his quiet strength and his unwavering dedication to the people.鈥�
In a rousing eulogy, the Rev. Samuel Blanks compared Milner to the Biblical prophet Elijah and said the world could use more people like the former mayor.
鈥淗e was a man of progress,鈥� Blanks said. 鈥淚 mean, think of the projects that he was able to accomplish, speak of the many doors that he was able to open, by the progress. And I just wish that we just really had more people that were about their own business and about making progress. Not taking us backwards, but making progress!鈥�
Laid in state at City Hall
Milner laid in state at City Hall on Thursday, the first former leader of the city to receive such an honor.
A steady stream of mourners paid their respects Thursday to a man who paved a trail for increased Black representation in 黑料吃瓜网 politics.
AJ Johnson, the senior pastor at the Urban Hope Refuge Church in Hartford鈥檚 North End, said he was inspired by Milner.
鈥淏ecoming the first black mayor of New England is not an easy feat, but he had the faith and the strength and the ability to do it,鈥� Johnson said.
But John Murphy, who worked in the state senate during Milner鈥檚 term as a state senator, said Milner was more than just a trailblazer, he was also a decent man.
鈥淗e was a really good guy," Murphy said. He had his priorities straight. He worked for the people.鈥�
Milner鈥檚 nephew, Ted Milner, said his uncle was an advocate for people of color.
鈥淯ncle Thirman was a man who loved everyone," he said. "He wasn't anti-white, but he was pro-Black. And so in many ways, he was always fighting for Blacks and for Latinos and for minorities as a whole."
Reflecting on Milner鈥檚 legacy
Family members shared their memories with 黑料吃瓜网 soon after news of Milner鈥檚 death.
Virginia Monteiro, first vice president of the 黑料吃瓜网 State Conference of the NAACP and its Greater Hartford branch, is Milner鈥檚 stepdaughter. She remembers the man she called 鈥淧ops鈥� as a champion of civil rights, with a particular eye toward equity in education.
鈥淗e wanted to make sure that whether you lived in the North End, South End or West End, that education, the same thing that was going on in one side of town, that it was equitable,鈥� Monteiro said. 鈥淚 think the biggest thing with Pops is it鈥檚 important that everyone has the opportunity to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everyone, he felt, had that right, that civil right.鈥�
Monteiro remembered the elation she and her family felt when her stepfather became Hartford鈥檚 first Black mayor.
鈥淲e were literally dancing in the street,鈥� Monteiro said. 鈥淲e were crying. We were dumbfounded. We couldn鈥檛 believe that this could even be possible. The impossible became the possible.鈥�
Milner also served in the 黑料吃瓜网 Senate and House of Representatives, and was president of the Greater Hartford NAACP. In his 2014 autobiography, 鈥淯p from Slavery: A History from Slavery to City Hall in New England,鈥� Milner wrote about his time marching with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights Movement.
鈥淚n order to force change, you鈥檝e got to be willing to stand in the fire,鈥� Monteiro said. 鈥淎nd he really did do that.鈥�
