In the Summer of 2019, River Crossing: I want to communicate with you invited people to nominate someone to be commemorated by having the public dock in Sacramento or West Sacramento named in their honor. Beyond a 250-word limit for nominations, no criteria were set. We invited stories of personal loved ones as well as those of national significance. In fact, we were especially interested to discover the stories of everyday kindness and affection. 

During the nomination process, we distributed thousands of brochures, set up booths at public events, hosted workshops, gave press interviews, and tried our best to get people thinking about who they might nominate. It’s a big ask. To take time out, to try to find the right words, to put your heart on the line, to publicly proclaim the story of someone that is important to you next to many others, is not easy. We had 652 nominations, which form an amazing collection. Some tell the stories of civic champions, others of family relationships. Some stories are one-offs, others stand for every person. Some stories tell of the great triumphs and tragedies of the nation, others of small acts of kindness.

After a thoughtful and rigorous meeting of the River Crossing judges panel, two names were selected, one for Sacramento and one for West Sacramento, which have become the names of the docks in each city. The project’s judges chose entries by two women, Selam Bekele and Krystal R. Moreno, who nominated their grandmothers. These personal accounts demonstrate the importance of intergenerational role models. At the heart of both of these nominations is the Sacramento River, which marks the boundary between Sacramento and West Sacramento, and also binds the two cities together. The Sacramento River has played a vital role in the lives of the people of both cities, as a navigable route, water source, and gathering place. The judges hope that in naming the docks after these two inspirational women, people will find renewed meaning at this point where the two cities meet.

As the culmination of the River Crossing project, two large-scale light box installations spelling out the new names of the docks in the international language of maritime signals have been installed at each waterfront. Isabel S. Naranjo is the new name of the Sacramento dock and Etenesh Zeleke is the new name of the West Sacramento dock. The names of two women who immigrated to this region will face each other as they shine across the Sacramento River. These names represent all of the people in our communities and symbolize our connectedness across the river. 

This website includes the stories of Isabel and Etenesh, as told by their granddaughters, and also of some of the other nominations that we received. How do you judge between these nominations? How do you select one story over another? Is a mother’s love worth less than a hero’s courage? Does a symbol of the struggle mean more than an act of neighborly care? Of course, it is impossible. We can only ever enter a dialogue. And that has really been what River Crossing: I want to communicate with you has been about. These light box installations signal across the river between two cities and represent our collective need to honor the people who are most meaningful to us.