Black Genocide in Chicago - February 28, 2018 Edition of Chicago Street Journal.

CSJ Photo by Parthenia Luke 

T HE I L L I N O I S B L A C K 

C H A M B E R OF C O M M E R C E 

(Continued on page 8) 

Obama 

Library 

Page 3 

“The 

Chamber 

Report”, 

Page 12 

$1 Donation Requested 

February 28 - March 13, 2018 

Vol. 25 No 2 

Page 6 

By Frank Otton 

A major unspoken history during 

Black History has been ‘Black Genocide’. 

Most aspects of Black History 

have focus on individual achievements 

than the cause and effect that 

structured the impact of its people. 

Issues such as Re-gentrification 

and ‘Genocide’ has not been openly 

focus on nor addressed officially by 

government or resulted in policy 

itself. 

Justified before Black History 

Month Governor candidate Chris 

Kennedy charged the Chicago Mayor 

Rham Emmanuel of re-gentrification 

of the Black community. saying he 

believes Mayor Emmanuel is gradually 

pushing Black residents out in 

mass numbers through the use of an 

underhanded gentrification strategy 

plan that's aiming to make the city 

"whiter and wealthier." Although 

many question his remarks as politically 

motivate. 

“Now that the White Man 

(Kennedy) said it, it must have some 

ligament base.” Said Mark Carter, a 

west-side community activist. 

The Plan 

However, long before Mayor Emmanuel, 

the plan, debatable of racial 

intentions officially started in 1974. 

But as far back in 1967, Chicago 

real estate developer Arthur Rubloff 

was quoted by the then Chicago 

Daily News as saying that "I'll tell 

you what's wrong with the Loop. It's 

people's perception of it. And the 

perception they have about it is one 

word - B-L-A-C-K. 

From there three of Chicago's most 

influential business leaders, Gordon 

M. Metcalf, then CEO of Sears, Roebuck 

and Co., Donald M. Graham, 

CEO of Continental Illinois National 

Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago (then 

the biggest employer in the downtown 

area) and Thomas G. Ayers, 

President of Commonwealth Edison 

Company, began the brain trust behind 

the old Dearborn Station on 

Polk Street into a mixed-income 

community of 120,000 people. 

The focus was if the CCAC could 

develop this land and populate it with 

the right people, it could essentially 

"protect" the Loop from the lowincome 

African-American Communities 

along State St. 

To date it has been accomplished 

with the results what the Black Wall 

Street Chicago says, the new ‘White 

Wall Streets.’ 


Comic book 

expert calls 

‘Black Panther’ a 

‘cultural milestone’ 

for genre 


Re-Opening of The Carter 

Woodson Regional Library 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel 

joined Chicago Public Library 

Commissioner Brian 

Bannon, Secretary of State 

Jesse White, local leaders 

and south side community 

members to cut the ribbon 

at the grand re-opening of 

Carter G. Woodson Regional 

Library, known as 

the 'Father of Black History.' 

He penned the influential 

book 'The Mis- 

Education of the Negro.' 

who was an African- 

American writer and historian. 

The nearly $9 million 

investment will serve as a 

community anchor for south 

side residents, housing the 

largest collection of African 

American history and literature 

in the Midwest. 

the Woodson Regional 

Library. The newly renovated 

65,000 square-foot 

two-floor regional library 


Monica Moss, wife of Rev. Otis Moss 

of Trinity United Church address the 

body in the reopening of the Carter G. 

Woodson Regional Library 

CSJ Photo by John Alexander 

By Donnell Robinson 

Illinois Governor Candidate JB 

Pritzker’s remark on the “Black 

Thing” to former Governor Rod Bolgicha 

continued toying with the African 

American voters by the Democrat 

Party it is known to support. 

Percy Coleman, a Republican 

committeeman of the 34th ward for 

over 30 years, pointed out “Black 

Republicans are still Chicagoans only 

fair hope for politicial justice.” 

He argues that the Democratic 

Party’s leaders have taken the Black 

vote for granted, and that Chicago's 

African-Americans have suffered as 

a result. "It's like, 'Well, we got your 

vote anyway.'" 

However, it has not always been 

that way. Samuel B. Fuller, founder 

(Continued on page 4)

2 February 28 - March 13, 2018 

Chicago Street Journal 

What do actress Danai Gurira and film producer Sidra Smith have in common? 

Besides the fact that they're both beautiful Black women, these trailblazers 

also traded in long locks for a bald head. Gurira's big chop was for 

the upcoming Black Panther movie while Sidra's signature look happened 

after a years-long obsession with hair extensions. So are Beauty Salons 

about to have Bald Head blues? 

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson testified in Springfield in favor of new gun legislation, 

part of which is written and named in honor of slain 18th District Commander Paul Bauer. Many expressed 

who Chicagoans are heavy in mourn with the loss Commander Paul Bauer. Commander Bauer 

stood for the highest ideals of the police department and the city. Mayor Rham Emmanuel said his death 

is a tragic reminder of the dangerous duty the men and women of our police department accept to ensure 

the safety of us all. I ask every Chicagoan to keep Commander Bauer, his family, his friends and the 

entire Chicago Police Department in their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time”. 

Rep. Ford Urging 

Governor to Reopen 

Vehicle Emission Sites Illinois 

State Representative La Shawn K. Ford is questioning 

if the Illinois emission program is still useful. 

On November 1, 2016, several vehicle emissions 

facilities closed in Chicago to reduce costs and streamline 

operations. Currently, this leaves Chicago residents 

driving to suburban cities defeating the purpose of cutting 

emissions. 

“This is absolutely a step backward in reducing the 

city's air pollution problem,” said Ford. “Many concerned 

citizens, including myself, wonder if the goal to 

reduce costs turned into a costlier toll on our environment. 

Emission testing is designed 

to protect the environment and not 

contribute to the problem.” 

The Federal Clean Air Act Amendments 

of 1990 requires emissions 

testing programs in large, metropolitan 

areas which do not meet 

specific federal air quality standards. 

In Illinois significant progress 

has been made, levels of air 

pollution in Chicago and Metro- 

East St. Louis areas still exceed 

these standards. 

“The closures of all sites in Chicago 

defeats the purpose of reducing 

emission, “said Ford. “Illinois' 

emission program seems to contribute to the carbon 

emissions that we are trying to prevent by having Chicago 

residents drive farther to get tests done.” 

According to the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law 

of 1995, The agency shall establish a program to begin 

February 1, 2007, to reduce the emission of pollutants by 

motor vehicles. The Illinois EPA’s study concluded that 

for residents of Chicago, many would drive on average 

an additional four miles. This is a significant change that 

will add to vehicle emissions, in direct contrast to the 

purpose of the Agency’s directive. 

Ald. Sophia King hosted a 

town hall to discuss the 

Michael Reese Development of Amazon 

Corporation. The town hall will featured a presentation 

with the latest updates on the development. 

The Alderman’s Advisory Council and presented what 

they have to say about the project moving forward and 

Community input. 

The benefit is the 50,000 jobs that Amazon has 

said it will bring to any city and employment and 

contracting opportunities directly with Amazon, 

and its the ripple effect to the Bronzeville community. 

Now accepting 

applications 

The Facebook Community 

Leadership Program: Applications 

are now open for our residency 

and fellowship. Facebook is looking for community 

leaders across the Facebook family of apps 

and services with a proven track record of leading 

communities that have positive impact, build common 

ground and foster in-person connections. 

The Facebook Community Leadership Program 

exists to empower and support leaders from around 

the world who have built meaningful communities 

through the Facebook family of apps and services. 

Both the residency and the fellowship come with 

training, support and funding. Up to five community 

leaders with the boldest, highest impact ideas will be 

selected from around the world as community leaders 

in residence with a grant of up to $1,000,000 USD 

each to fund their proposal. Up to 100 people will be 

selected as community leadership fellows and will 

receive a grant of up to $50,000 USD each to be used 

for a specific community initiative. 

Drug testing or 

screening for public 

assistance applicants 

At least 15 states have passed legislation regarding 

drug testing or screening for public assistance applicants 

or recipients (Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, 

Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, 

Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, 

Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.) at 

least 20 states have proposed legislation. 

Some apply to all applicants; others include specific 

language that there is a reason to believe the 


Continuing on hair: Jesse Jackson Jr. congratulations 

to Oprah Winfrey on her accomplishments 

and receiving the Cecile B DeMille award at the 

Golden Globes. Winfrey Midas touch, she want to 

keep. And not Gray touch up being President after 

four years. Could be the reason why she will not 

run. 

A journalist who theorized that many people in 

the United States are 

now in a state of 

"outrage fatigue." The 

scandalous behavior of 

the White House, the 

destructive policies and 

the torrent of tweets by 

Donald Trump are 

numbing many people. 

After all, the deluge of 

dishonor, hypocrisy 

and pernicious public 

policies can feel overwhelming. 

Emil Jones Jr. sadi J.B. Pritzker has shown “what he 

really thinks about black folks” Saying “He called me 

"crass," and referred to Secretary of 

State Jesse White as the "least offensive" 

candidate to replace 

Barack Obama. You see, he still 

thinks that Jesse White is offensive, 

but if he is forced to choose an 

African-American, Jesse White is 

least offensive to him. JB showed his true colors again 

four years later, when he called President Obama 

“mediocre”. Voters want an alternative to candidates 

who talk about African-American leaders as if we were pawns in their political 

insider enterprise. 

The 

P&E of CSJ is an artist, 

his work can be seen at 

the BOP Business Center 

on 79th Street. and 

the Center of 69tha 

and Emerald 

Real Deep, Hood Hip or Brother Hood 

was hooping around the business of Willie 

Wilson, that he is doing the right in the 

community and/or is he getting ready to run 

for Mayor of Chicago again. However, the 

is talk to drive a Westside 2019 Ford drive 

east on Madison Street to LaSalle Street. 

Syron Smith of the non-profit University 

Block Club organizations in in Atlanta, looks 

like they are in the money now-a– days. However, 

word is their block members from 

around the county has been giving $1 a month 

for its operations. In that last year they gave a 

young man of New Orleans a major Christmas 

donation. 

Vincent Gilbert Regional vice president of the Illinois 

Black Chamber of Commerce has started communications 

with Black Wall Street Chicago in some operations 

for Black businesses. has been It is really true CSJ publisher 

and editor is really an artist as well. Oh was. 

Publisher and Editor: Ron Carter Associate 

Publisher Digital 

Sonja Cassandra Perdue 

General Manger John Alexander, 

Writers: Donnell Robinson, Frank Ottman, 

Sonja Cassandra Perdue 

Circulation: Clifton Edgeson, and Roosevelt 

Martin 

Photographers: Parthenia Luke, 

John Alexander 


815 West 63rd Street Chicago, IL 60637. 

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Columbia University South Street Journal archive: 

http://southside.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/ 

Archived by Columbia University’s Urban Research 

Workshop (URW) , back issues from 1993 to 2006 of 

Chicago Street Journal’s predecessor, the South Street 

Journal, were donated to provide material for URW 

students to collaboratively research themes such as 

gentrification, racism, political affairs, and youth 

development.

CSJ Photo Parthenia Luke 

Wednesday, February 28, 

Citibank's Global Consumer 

Group George S. Wright Director 

of Community Relations for . 

Topic: The Economic Siege of 

Black America, 12:00 noon, The 

Black Star Project, 

3509 South King 

Drive. Luncheon 

Includes: A presentation 

by Mr. 

Wright, Lunch provided 

by a Blackowned 

restaurant 

or caterer firm, 

Free admission to two college 

students. Members - $35.00, 

General Public - $45.00. RSVP 

to 773.285.9600 by 2/25/2018. 

March 3, Cool: On Gwendolyn 

Brooks, A Fundraiser Hosted 

by Willalyn Fox and Stanley B. 

Stallworth 3:00-6:00 p.m. 3352 

S. Calumet, Award Winning 

Bronzeville filmmaker, Shahari 

Moore, is raising funds to make 

her short film, "Brooks People" 

into a feature 

length documentary 

on 

G w e n d o l y n 

Brooks, titled, 

"Cool". Patrons 

will be treated 

to a private 

screening, food, 

drinks and a 

conversation with the director. 

Suggested Donation: $100.00 

ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE! RSVP 

to Willalyn@yahoo.com by 

Monday, February 26, 2018. To 

D o n a t e O n l i n e h t t p s : / / 

www.ifpchicago.org/cool IFP 

Chicago, 2558 W 16th Street, 

STAGE 18, Chicago, 

Saturday, March 3. The Woodlawn 

Community Summit and 

South East Chicago Commission 

(SECC) host the 9 Annual Woodlawn 

Community Summit, with a 

community-driven theme A New 

Urban Mosaic, on from 8 a.m. - 

12:30 p.m., at 

the University 

of Chicago 

School of Social 

Service 

Ad mi n i st r a - 

tion, 969 East 

60th Street. 

This year’s keynote 

speaker is Melody 

Spann Cooper, chair 

of Midway Broadcasting 

Corporation 

a n d W V O N 

1690 AM. Oth er 

speakers include representatives 

from the Jewel-Osco, Cook County 

Land Bank, World Business Chicago, 

local stakeholders, and business 

owners. Mattie Butler, Executive 

Director of WECAN 

(Woodlawn East Community and 

Neighbors), will receive the Annual 

Community Service Award for her 

dedication to the community. 

Saturday, March 10; Black 

Women in Business & Super 

Ujamaa Market· Hosted by Ujamaa 

Market and The Black Mall Holy 

Angels Catholic School, 750 E 

40th St, Chicago at 11 AM - 3 PM 

March 10, CTC: Continuing the 

Conversation of Racial Healing in 

Northern Illinois. Racial Taboo: 

Film and Discussion 6 PM · 

McHenry County College · Crystal 

Lake 

March 10, Robotic & Veterans 

Resource Job Fair, Choice 

Career College 2250 E. Devon 

Ave. Suite 100 (lower level) Des 

Plaines, IL. 60018. This event is 

open to the public, but caters to 

Vets. For more information 

(including time) contact: Albert 

Alexander 773-407-8011. 

Saturday, March 10, Congresswoman 

Kelly To Host 5 th 

Annual Housing Expo Cong. 

Robin Kelly Housing Expo on 

from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, at Prairie 

State College, 202 S. Halsted St., 

Chicago Heights. Participants will 

learn about the Hardest Hit Program, 

the process of obtaining a 

loan, and improving your credit. 

First-time homebuyers will receive 

guidance and learn more about 

property taxes and tax cuts associated 

with homebuying. Agencies 

on hand to assist homeowners include 

Neighborhood Housing Services 

(NHS), the South Suburban 

Housing Center, the Illinois Housing 

Development Authority 

(IHDA), BMO Harris and more. 

R e g i s t e r h t t p : / / 

reprobinkelly.eventbrite.com. 

For info, Alan Banks at (708) 

6 7 9 - 0 0 7 8 o r a t 

Alan.Banks@mail.house.gov. 

March 14, Salsa at The Promontory 

Hosted by El Caobo Internacional 

The Promontory Chicago, 

5311 S. Lake Park Avenue,t Mar 14 

at 7 PM to Mar 15 at 12 AM, 

FREE EVENT! NO COVER! 

Chicago Street Journal February 28 - March 13, 2018 2 

Obama Center's/Construction Team 

Hyde Park Herald: 

Formal president Barack Obama 

surprised many at the public meeting 

to discuss the plans and zoning application 

for the Obama Center at the 

McCormick Center 

In the pack room of many, outside 

of the meeting others still address the 

need for a Community Beneifit 

Agreement, that wanted assurance for 

no residents displancement and more 

than 51% of the contracts to build the 

center. 

Obama discussed the plans for the 

$300 million museum and center 

that will be built in Jackson Park, 

with private donations. 

Obama admitted still community 

inclusion is in the works with zoning 

application for the future Obama 

Presidential Center that will be 

housed in Jackson Park. 

Design elements for the Obama 

Center as well as the foundation's 

initiatives and programs was also 

discussed at the meeting. The gathering 

also served as an opportunity for 

the foundation to gather feedback 

from the public. 

The public meeting included an 

overview of current plans for the 

Obama Center with breakout discussions 

around topics including: 

Designing the Obama Presidential 

Campus: Buildings & Landscape. 

Inside the Obama Presidential 

Center: the Visitor Experience and 

P r o g r a m m i n g 

* E c o n o m i c I m p a c t 

* Chicago Park District's Plans for 

New Track and Turf Field 

* Chicago Department of Transportation 

Proposed Transportation 

Changes and improvements for Pedestrians, 

Bicyclists, and Drivers". 

The Obama Foundations announced 

the team of diverse, local 

firms that will be partnering to help 

build the Obama Presidential Center. 

With this decision, their top priority 

was making sure to creating opportunities 

for local businesses and 

building pathways toward meaningful 

jobs for minorities and other underrepresented 

populations in the Chicago 

area. 

The Construction Manager for the 

Center will be Lakeside Alliance -- 

comprised of Turner Construction, 

and the Presidential Partners consortium 

of Powers & Sons Construction, 

UJAMAA Construction, Brown & 

Momen, and Safeway Construction. 

Powers & Sons, UJAMAA, Brown & 

Momen, and Safeway are some of the 

most established and well-respected 

African-American owned construction 

firms in Chicago. 

Jimmy Akintonde, President and 

Founder of UJAMAA Construction: 

"We've been around for 16 

years in the South Side. We've been a 

growing business all the way 

t h r o u g h . " 

John W. Bonds, Jr., CEO of 

Safeway Construction Company: 

Ernest Brown, 

President of Brown 

& Momen 

Pamyla Brown, 

Director of Community 

and Citizenship 

of Turner 

Construction 

"We are right at the very front of the 

decision-making side of the process, 

of how the decisions are going to be 

made. That's not always normal. 

That's not something we're used to 

seeing, especially when you have 

grown up a medium-sized business. 

These are the opportunities you need 

to take your business to the next 

level." 

Pamyla Brown, Director of Community 

and Citizenship of Turner 

Construction: "To have this kind of 

project happen in such a great city, it 

magnifies the pride that people in this 

Jimmy Akintonde, President and 

Founder of UJAMAA Construction 

city already have." 

"Having this particular project 

come to this community will show 

the rest of the city: We do exist. This 

is who we are. This is who we have 

always been. We just wanted a 

chance... This project will bring some 

much needed positive attention to this 

p a r t o f t h e c i t y . " 

"This is our opportunity to see what 

hope really looks like. This is hope 

personified." 

John W. Bonds, Jr., CEO of 

Safeway Construction Company: 




(Continued from page 1) 

and president of the Fuller Products 

Company, publisher of the 

New York Age and Pittsburgh 

Courier, head of the South Side 

Chicago NAACP and president of 

the National Negro Business 

League, was a prominent black 

Republican. 

Fuller was a leading Black Republican 

although he always had an 

independent streak. During the 

1950s, Fuller was probably the richest 

African American man in the 

United States. 

In addition, the ‘Godfather’ of 

Black politics, the late Lu Palmer 

who led the charge to elect Harold 

Washington, switched to campaign 

for former Republican Governor 

George Ryan. And a host of Black 

leaders supported present Governor 

Bruce Rauner. 

However, Democrats have enjoyed 

the Black voting base since 

President Lyndon B. Johnson. Mack 

Glover activist and historian said, 

‘The Dixiecrats passed the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964 Bill which he 

also called “The Black Thing Bill”, 

just to give our people hope that 

they were going to do the right 

thing. But what our people never 

realized is that these people weren’t 

created to do the right thing. They 

never have and they never will enforce 

it.” 

The Civil Rights Act, did indeed, 

made blacks more beholden to the 

Democratic Party, and GOP standard-bearer 

Barry Goldwater's opposition 

to the Civil Rights Act opened 

the exits. In addition, Johnson/s 

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appointment of Thurgood Marshall 

to the Supreme Court helped foster 

allegiance to the Democratic Party. 

Former President Richard Nixon's 

play for Southern white voters, pandering 

to their racial hostility and 

fears (the "Southern strategy"), told 

blacks voters that the Republican 

base would wear a white face. 

Glover said, “This locked us in as 

Loyal Democrats. Johnson statement 

was made and I quote,: ‘This 

will have these Black people voting 

Democrat for the next 200 years.’ 

Blacks go into the voting booth 

hitting democratic down the line, of 

the most racist people in office not 

even aware of it.” 

CSJ interview of the Chicago 

Tribune in the 2000 presidential 

election endorsing George Bush, 

lead to its Editor saying, ‘African 

Americans used to be Republican. 

We are as republicans has been 

consistent Blacks have not. It is our 

turn.’ 

Pritzker pitched the idea of picking 

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse 

White, in part, because “Tt covers 

you on the African-American 

thing,” with former Governor 

Blovegecgic wiretaps on selecting 

Black replacements of former President 

Barrack Obama’s Senate seat. 

Pritzker apologized on his statement 

which still secured his Democratic 

strong hold of two-thirds of 

Black aldermen in Chicago and 

nearly half of African-American 

State lawmakers, with a host of 

black ministers. 

Historically, for Chicago in 1990, 

former Mayor Richard Daley lead 

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First African American Senator and Representatives were all republicans: 

Sen. Hiram Revels (R-MS), Rep. Benjamin S. Turner (R-AL), 

Robert DeLarge (R-SC), Josiah Walls (R-FL), Jefferson Long (R-GA), 

Joseph Rainey and Robert B. Elliott (R-SC), 1872 

Percy Coleman, 34th 

ward Republican Committeeman 

Joshua “J.C.” Griffin, Republican organizer 

There is no political party for the 

municipal elections. However, still 

for Chicago elections, the voters are 

reminded by candidates they are 

Democratic when there is no primary 

of political parties. 

Coleman said, “Nobody needs to 

tell African-Americans in this country 

that the Old New Deal from the 

Democratic Party isn’t working for 

them. In election after election, Democratic 

Party leaders take African- 

American voters for granted and 

year after year the condition of 

Black America gets worse. The 

conditions in our inner cities today 

are unacceptable. Too many African 

-Americans have been left behind. 

Coleman says he'd always considered 

himself a Republican and an 

independent voter, although he has 

voted Democratic. 

A Wall Street Journal-NBC News 

poll conducted in 1996 found that 

15 percent of African-Americans 

sided with the GOP. 

The poll, this past July found just 

7 percent of Blacks called themselves 

Republicans, marking a more 

than 50 percent plunge in Black 

support in two decades. Trump won 

less of 8% of the Black vote, according 

to exit polls. 

Chicago Republicans represent 

about 10% of the voters. African- 

Americans made up 28 percent of 

the Democratic vote in Illinois. 

Nat Thompson, writer and historian 

said, “Whether you are a Democrat, 

Republican, Libertarian, 

Green, or some other political 

“Independent” of any extraction; 

even if you have no interest in politics, 

every Illinois resident knows 

that the lion’s share of negative 

issues impacting the Black community 

have occurred under the direction 

of Democrats.” 

He continued to say “One path 

out of that abyss may very well be a 

Progressive Republican agenda. A 

‘Progressive Republican” is a 

“RepubliCrat;’ part ‘Conservative 

Democrat,’ part ‘Liberal Republican.’ 

Democratic Alderman Howard 

Brookins (21) said he has no issue 

with Blacks being republicans. “We 

need Black folks on both sides of 

the aisle — Democrat and Republican. 

However, being a Republican 

in the age of Trump is a whole other 

level of Republican-ism.” 

On one hand, there is the clearly 

defined, anti-Black section of the 

party. The slogan “Make America 

Mack A. Glover, 

Independent political 

organizer 

Great Again” comes off as a battle 

call for the anti-black crowd. 

The roots of the Trump election 

goes as far back to slavery in the 

United States, right after the Civil 

war. Most of the Democratics were 

slave owners. Trump did not win 

the popular vote. Not even close, 

he lost by 2.5 million votes. He 

won the Electoral College – a voting 

system set up in 1887 to protect 

slave owners to maintain their 

representation and profit shares 

in slavery, given the population of 

the U.S. was controlled by the 

Union (Republicans) and the 

Southern states needed fair representation. 

Trump has incited fear and distress 

to all who are “different” – 

nationalities, religions, or gender, 

and non European people including 

viciously attacking and demeaning 

Mexicans and Muslims, and degraded 

women, openly, yet he won 

the election. 

When the cities and states accelerated 

their plans to remove Confederate 

monuments from public property, 

the President’s remarks regarding 

race he tweeted that statues of 

Confederate leaders should be left 

standing across the South. not challenging 

history and remaining Old 

South imagery. 

Coleman maintains, “Progressive 

Black Republicans are still Chicagoans 

only fair hope for political 

justice. But at this point it’s about re 

-defining the Republican Party. It’s 

about time that racist, disconnected 

Republicans learn that the Party 

does not belong to them; they’ve 

just enjoyed not having anyone from 

the other side of town show up. 

Those days are coming to a close. 

Chicago’s next Black mayor, or 

Illinois’ first Black governor might 

be a Progressive Republican. 

Joshua “J.C.” Griffin was about to 

be a sign of that. In the spring of 

2017, J.C. began touring the state of 

Illinois in an effort to advance interest 

in his candidacy for the office of 

the Illinois Secretary of State 

(against incumbent Jessie White of 

40 years in the seat). As a Republican 

Griffin cited the need for fresh 

ideas, renewed leadership and a new 

approach toward how Illinois executes 

its responsibilities in governing. 

Griffin did not get his candidacy 

on the ballot in December of 2017. 

Republican candidates face a 

practical problem in the Black 

wards. In many precincts, even the 

Republican election judges are often 

Democrats who are just doing the 

job for the pay. 

"The judges automatically give 

you a Democratic ballot," Griffin 

said. "You have to ask for a Republican 

ballot." He thinks some potential 

Republican voters are too embarrassed 

to make the public declaration. 

The issue with Black Americans 

identifying with Republicans is 

two-fold: 

In the city's African-American 

wards, a Republican vote is even 

more extraordinary. In 2010, for 

example, 5,700 Democratic ballots 

were cast in the 28th Ward on the 

west side—and just 50 Republican 

ballots. In the south-side 17th Ward, 

7,193 voted Democratic and 58 

voted Republican. 

Consequently, the face of Black 

Republicans has been defined 

largely, in the public mind. In 2013 

Bruce Rauner opened his campaign 

office in the Chatham community. 

The established Black Republican 

base there was never consulted. 

Bruce Carter, who created Black 

Men For Bernie, decided Hillary 

Clinton and the Democratic party is 

not the future of the Black 

community. He feels responsible for 

alerting as many voters as possible 

that it was time to make a switch. 

“Truth hurts!” Said Carter, Democrats 

have always kept Blacks “in 

line”! Look at Planned Parenthood; 

its racist founder and where, strategically, 

these are located! You don’t 

think it is coincidence that the majority 

of these facilities are located 

in the poorer Black communities, do 

you?” 

Carter went on to say "Barack 

Obama/Clinton have failed all 

minorities. By marshaling the votes 

of all Americans – White, black, 

Hispanic citizens – we can reclaim 

our country and preserve its 

economic and safe future." 

Glover said, “We’re just caught in 

the middle. And as quiet as it’s kept 

and for those that don’t know, 

U.S.A. really stands for ‘Under 

Satan’s Authority.’ But that’s my 

opinion. 

Political activist Linda Hudson 

commenting on Pritzker remarks 

and the accountability of Black Democratics, 

“The Black politicians 

who stand by him as he tries to court 

votes in their communities, are 

problematic, too. His supporters 

insist the man who spoke on that 

November 2008 wiretap doesn’t 

speak for the man courting the 

Black vote today. That kind of blind 

party loyalty is further proof of the 

political disconnect between the Old 

Guard and today’s Black Millennial. 

If the third of Democratic voters 

in Illinois who are Black want to 

really see a Democratic Party that 

works for them, and especially 

young folk, they need to oust power 

brokers who look the other way at 

transgressions from White allies. 

We need more of those African- 

American leaders who make people 

like Pritzker and Blago uncomfortable.



From 1970 to 1973, the CCAC 

convinced numerous investors to 

support their plan and together, 

they created the Chicago 21 

Corporation and drafted the 

Chicago 21 Plan, a 125-page 

document made public in 1973, 

"A Plan for the Central Area 

Communities" 

Professor and politician historic 

Bob Starks and other, has 

been making the charge of genocide 

and re-gentrification that 

contributed to the demolition of 

public housing and displacement 

of Blacks in Chicago and even to 

the closing of over 60 schools, 

incarnation and crime injustice 

in Black communities today. 

Presently a similar plan is led 

by The Chicago Metropolitan 

Area Plan (CMAP) creator of the 

Chicago 2020 Plan, the Chicago 

2040 plan and now updated to Chicago 2050 

Plan. 

In 2009 Black Wall Street Chicago charged 

the CMAP of business genocide for not including 

a plan for black commercial and business 

development. Citing it would not give 

Black businesses a chance to prosper in their 

own communities. Black Wall Street programs 

called it outright racism or institutional racism. 

Since then CMAP has had a more outreach 

to the Black community. 

A past warning sign by noble leaders such 

as Marcus Gravey and addressed often by 

Malcolm X, “develop your own businesses 

before it is too late.’ Malcolm X talked about 

"black genocide" in the early 1960s, citing 

long term injustice and cruelty by whites 

against blacks. 

“We have not founded away to this date to 

act on it. And make the mayor stand up for 

what the city has done and is doing to Black 

People. Said Community activist Pereston 

Shanks 

Charges of GENOCIDE 

The charge of black genocide is not new. 

Before Kennedy made his remarks, Cook 

County Commissioner Richard Boykin, who 

flew to New York to discuss what he described 

as a “quiet genocide” in Chicago’s 

black community with the U.N.’s assistant 

secretary-general for peace building support, 

Oscar Fernandez-Taranco. 

Many attempts have been done to address 

Genocide. In Dec. 17, 1951, “We Charge 

Genocide: The Crime of Government Against 

the Negro People.”, led by Paul Robeson and 

William L. Patterson, two giants of the struggle 

for African-American equality, delivered 

to the United Nations a petition presented to a 

UN official in New York. 

The petition listed 10,000 unjust deaths of 

African Americans in the nine decades since 

the American Civil War. It described lynching, 

mistreatment, murder and oppression by 

whites against blacks to conclude that the US 

government was conducting genocide of African 

Americans, by refusing to address "the 

persistent, widespread, institutionalized commission 

of the crime of genocide". 

Genocide was charge by Marcus Gravey in 

1930’s where he declared the only address is 

form ‘Our Own’ and returned back to Africa. 

Malcolm X made the charge where he issue 

to bring the charge to the United Nations right 

before his death. 

Dr. Conrad Worrill traveled to Geneva, 

Switzerland, in 1997 with a delegation to formally 

charge the U.S. Government with genocide 

and human right violations before the 

Commission on Human Rights. The delegation 

presented the commission with a 

"Declaration of Genocide by the United States 

Government against the Black Population in 

the United States" with 157,000 signatures. 

The Case of Political Genocide 

However, to proven it has been difficult to 

do. Black genocide has been referred to the 

both in the past and in the present. 

Kennedy said, according to a Chicago Tribune 

news report several areas in which the 

predominantly Black communities of the city 

are struggling with funding, education, and 

healthcare and law enforcement. He suggested 

Emmanuel and his administration are intentionally 

neglecting these communities, leaving 

the Black residents choice but to leave. 

"This is involuntary. That we’re cutting off 

funding for schools, cutting off funding for 

police, allowing people to be forced to live in 

food deserts, closing hospitals, closing access 

to mental health facilities," he added. "What 

William L. Patterson, 

delivered to the 

United Nations a petition 

presented to a 

UN official in New 

York in 1951 addressing 

Genocide of African 

Americans 

choice do people have but to move, to leave? 

And I think that’s part of a strategic gentrification 

plan being implemented by the city of 

Chicago to push people of color out of the 

city. The city is becoming smaller, and as it 

becomes smaller, it’s become whiter." 

Kennedy accusing Emanuel of leading a 

“strategic gentrification plan” to rid Chicago 

of blacks to make the city whiter and wealthier 

— something the mayor sharply criticized and 

denied, and opinion writers derided. 

Kennedy’s also criticized the Democratic 

establishment by contending homes in poorer 

neighborhoods are over-assessed while 

wealthy commercial properties get property 

tax breaks, spurred by “The Tax Divide” series 

by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica 

Illinois. 

“This re-segregation, it’s not accidental.” 

Kennedy said at the Bronzeville church event 

in December. “It’s occurring because of governmental 

decisions. We’re resegregating our 

schools. We’re segregating our communities, 

not just on race but economically as well.” 

Emmanuel's office, as well as Chicago PD 

Superintendent Eddie Johnson responded to 

Kennedy's accusations, as nothing more than 

an attempt to get ahead at the polls. Emmanuel's 

spokesperson Matt McGrath also 

called Kennedy's accusations "divisive" and 

said he was "ignoring work being done in 

neighborhoods across the city." 

In Chicago where government has not address 

genocide, yet the Chicago city Council 

has voted in symbolic terms of Reparations for 

Black once to businesses ownership of slaves 

i.e. Morgan/Chase Bank, and under former 

Mayor Richard Daley apologized for slavery. 

But have no official position to the city wrong 

doing related to genenfication or genocide.” 

Emanuel has previously face criticism for 

his questionable decision during his time in 

office and poor handling of several high profile 

matters, most notably the Chicago PD 

cover up of the LaQuan McDonald not wanting 

to lose his Black votes. 

The South and West side is under the biggest 

land grab since the end of the civil war, 

largely driven by what many would say due to 

the University of Chicago. 

This land grab, which will establish depopulation 

then re-population, is gentrification 

on steroids and will affect every orifice of the 

Southside. Federal census reports show Chicago 

saw a significant decline in 

Black residents from 2000 to 2010, 

with over 175,000 Black residents 

lost before Emmanuel took office in 

2011. The percentage of African- 

American residents was roughly.2 

percent in 2010 and was reported at 

29.2 percent last year, representing a 

decrease of 

roughly 100,000 

Black residents. 

Boykin said 

there is a direct 

correlation between 

poverty 

and 

cri me, 

which must be 

addressed. He said the Austin community 

is 43 percent below the poverty 

line and that for the City of Chicago 

that’s 80 percent of people making 

less than $20,000. 

Political Genocide 

Starting in the 1950s, Chicago politicians 

steadfastly believed that the key 

to the city's economic survival was in revitalizing 

the central areas surrounding the Loop 

by luring white, middle- and upper-class professionals 

into renovated lofts and re-built 

neighborhoods. A case in the graph above 

shows the decrease of Blacks and the increase 

in Whites in area once known as Black communities. 

Harold L. Lucas Population loss drives the 

remap process and voting power. 

And the Gerrymaning of the Black majority 

wards of the city, such as the 2nd ward once 

98% Black is now 65% White. The Black 

community has lost two aldermanic seats the 

2nd ward and 15th ward. 

After the passing of Harold Washington, the 

Black political base in Chicago has been organized 

to be disorganized since that time. 

Local community organizations have fought 

these plans since their inception. As developers 

and planners vow they have the city's best 

interest at heart, those residents in the central 

areas charge that they are being driven out of 

their neighborhoods by new construction and 

rising property taxes. 

The developers continue to work with City 

Hall in planning for the future of Chicago's 

downtown area. Meanwhile, Black residents 

and many other neighborhoods fight to keep 

the dwindling number of housing units available 

to those that need them, and local business 

displacement. 

Shanks said, “It's all designed chaos. Englewood 

is dead. Once Rahm closes those high 

schools for a year it is a wrap. The new school 

will ONLY be accepting freshmen.” 

“How leaders are portrayed in history 

books, film, the news and media the charge of 

genocide has been on death ear during Black 

History Month.” 

WITHOUT THE HIGH, COST OF CABLE AND SATELLITE. 

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to view! 

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Let's Talk Purity 

By: The Pure Prophet 

(Prophetess Stefaniq’ue Tillis) 

B 

lack history dictates that slaves stood in 

droves peering at the horrendous beatings 

of other slaves considered to have 

misbehaved. Slaves didn't necessarily care to 

observe what was happening, but were commanded 

to look at what has now become a 

damning chapter in American’s treatment of 

humans! 

Though those considered sub-servants had 

numerous opportunities to flee the plantation, 

they could have by reason of their numbers, 

forcibly intervened to halt the historical lynching's 

and beating! However, fear would grip 

their hearts and no stop-gap measures ever happened! 

Some slaves 

thought of fleeing the 

disasters they knew 

would eventually come, 

but opt-out for fear of 

direr consequences. 

Even with the Slavery 

Abolition Act of 

1833, some in white 

America continues to 

repeat horfying events of 

America’s past failures. 

According to Walter 

Hawkins, slaves constantly 

talked about the 

possibility of escape: 

"There arose in some an 

irrepressible desire for 

freedom which no danger 

or power could restrain, 

no hardship deterred, and 

no bloodhound could 

alarm. This desire 

haunted them night and 

day; they talked about it to each other in confidence; 

they knew that the system which bound 

them was as unjust as it was cruel, and that they 

ought to strive, as a duty to themselves and their 

children, to escape from it". 

Slave-overseers, often would quote the scripture: 

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit 

to their authority, because they keep watch 

over you as those who must give an account. Do 

this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, 

for that would be of no benefit to you.” Hebrews 

13:17. 

Some political hypocrisy, yesterday and today 

are truly non-believers, bible toting individuals, 

who with long prayer and quoting portions 

of scripture tongue-in-cheek, is only to benefit 

their own hidden purpose! These mimic ’blacked 

-face’ politicians represent 21-Century Slaves 

with an agenda that they themselves are not fully 

aware! Foolishly, they are recklessly obstructing 

and doing the bidding of those ‘masters’ who for 

the love of filthy money seek only to accomplish 

the demise of the underprivileged. 

ts important to note that the 13th Amendment 

stated: "Neither slavery nor involuntary 

servitude, except as a punishment for crime 

whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 

shall exist within the United States, or 

any place subject to their jurisdiction." However, 

to date even the law of the land has not prevented 

evil hearts to discriminate in the United 

States of America. 

Many of the despicable events of days we 

would like to honestly forget, we are reminded 

of those critical sounds coming from the various 

Chicago communities … voices of the hopeless 

crying because of the needless hunger along with 

various matters that are unheard by the powersthat-be. 

Enslaved Chicagoans are suffering at the 

hands of those field-auctioneers that sit in seats 

of authority on the Chicago’s 5th floor. 

Education: Its terrible to utter the closing of 

50 public schools in the city of Chicago, where 

crime is rampant. This proves without any doubt 

that education is not a priority 

in a city where youth 

have to now cross gang-turf 

to get an education! Why? 

Let me tell you why: Education 

brings about an awareness. 

Awareness brings on 

the ability to think. When 

youth can think...they then 

can prayerfully make rational 

decisions. Who wants 

youth to an ability to think, 

especially when its more 

lucrative for them to remain 

stupid! Who will be the 

benefactor of the lack of 

knowledge: Jails and Prisons 

are a multi-billion dollar 

industry! The proven fact is: 

It cost less to educate than to 

incarcerate. 

If Chicago would educate 

well, it wouldn’t have to 

incarcerate. 

Black History ought to have taught the 

massive of blacks to the point of understanding… 

we can’t get stuck on stupid! We can’t go 

back to the original theory of which the plantation 

was created! Ah, but many are trying to do 

just that! Revisit the stats concerning the justice 

system and therewith to find that it is: The 

Criminal Just Us System. 

What could happen if the black tax payer 

decided to flee from the oppressors? 

Without question, people of voting age are 

capable of shifting a misguided political administration 

from its wrong ways to mastering rightfully! 

I beg of the youth that were educated under 

the sound of my voice… don’t be as slaves in 

the historical yesterdays who stood idly by allowing 

other humans to be slaughtered… they 

could have escaped… and so can you! Escape 

the perils and detriments that lie in wait for all 

deprived humans. Denounce the theory that I’ve 

got mine—you get yours, which is an attitude 

carried from century to century by the have and 

the have-nots. And I think we know who had the 

upper hand! VOTE! 

by Rev. Harold E. Bailey, President of Probation 

Challenge 

WWW.ProbationChallenge.org—The Truth 

Network 

Prophetess Stefaniq'ue Tillis is the founder of Purity Reigns International Ministries 

which operates in Houston, TX. She is a 25 year old virgin 

that is waiting to meet Her ordained mate that she can serve GOD with. 

O 

ften times in the Christian 

faith when the word Purity is 

spoken we think sexual Purity, 

however during my walk 

of Purity I always say we must be Pure in 

mind, body, and spirit. And I assure you 

that statement will reign True daily. 

I began my journey of Purity before I 

truly understood 

what 

sexual Purity 

was. That journey 

began with 

a discovery 

that birth a 

depth of hunger 

and desire 

to live according 

to the word 

of GOD. At a 

very youthful 

age (age 5) I 

discovered 

many different 

living circumstances 

concerning 

parents 

and children. I 

realized there 

were homes 

with single 

parents 

(mostly mothers), 

step parents 

(where the 

step parent(s) 

helped care for 

children that 

were parented 

by both parents 

and any children that were parented 

previously by either parent), there were 

also children that were parented outside of 

the home. After discussing this with my 

siblings, I told my Mom that I was having 

all of my children by one man. I also began 

declaring that that man would first be 

my husband. 

Today this is still my daily declaration. 

A declaration is a statement or proclamation 

that you make; normally in accordance 

with the word of GOD in the Christian 

faith. I encourage you to begin making 

declarations over your life, your family, 

your health, your finances and etc.; 

even now whether you are single, married, 

a parent, an expectant parent, working, in 

between jobs, or in the job or career field 

that you like. 

I also continuously make declarations 

over my mind and 

my spirit to stay 

guarded. Though I 

still live a fun and 

balanced life, I'm 

careful of what 

events, conversations 

and relationships 

I partake in. 

Being careful of my 

words, surroundings, 

and friends helps to 

shape an atmosphere 

that is conducive to 

GOD's favor and 

blessings. 

Keeping my body 

pure has come with 

a Grace from GOD 

that I value and respect. 

As an African 

American female 

I believe it's 

important to your 

confidence to like 

what you wear, 

however you 

should look graceful 

and polished 

throughout. 

I encourage you to 

begin reading the word of GOD and find 

scriptures that will help your current situation 

and begin declaring that over you to 

begin your steps of Purity. Though we 

may all have a ways to go in our journeys 

we must remember every journey begins 

with a step. 

Contact her via e-mail 

prreigns@outlook.com 

if you have any questions. 

No Matter What 

The Test May Be 

God Will Take 

Care of You 

Join 

Bishop Lucius 

Hall, Pastor 

First Church 

Of Love and Faith 

Schedule of Services: 

Sunday Morning Worship - 

11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening 

Live Taping and Broadcast on 

WGCI -AM 1390 - 5:00 p.m. 

Tuesday Worship Service - 

7:30 p.m. 

Saturday Channel 25 

(Comcast) 7:00 p.m. 

“God can do anything, but 

Fall”. 

Leon Daniels, 

Pastor 

821 West 69th Street 

Bible Study Tuesday 7 pm 

Wed 6 pm 

Fri. Service 7 pm 

Sunday School 9:30 

am 

Sunday Service 11 

am 

773-487-9062 

unityatcogic@gmail.com 

Liberation 

Christian 

Center 

7400 S Michigan Ave 

Chicago, IL 60619 

773-783-1885 

Bishop J. 

Edward 

Dukes 

Pastor




Re-Opening of The Woodson Library 


Obama Library 

Mayor Rham Emmanuel join others in cutting the ribbion of theCarter G. Woodson Regional 

Library on 95th and Halsted, during African American History Month. 


will serve as a cultural and information 

center for Washington 

Heights and all Chicago residents. 

“The renovation of the historic 

Woodson Regional Library in 

Washington Heights is a major step 

towards its future and a brighter 

future for the city of Chicago,” said 

Mayor Emanuel. “With passionate 

community engagement, this 

neighborhood anchor will maintain 

its history and legacy while offering 

patrons 21st century learning 

opportunities, services and technology 

that will benefit Chicagoans for 

generations to come.” 

The Woodson Regional Library 

will now offer programs and services 

that meet the needs of the 

residents they serve. Interior renovations 

included the construction of 

two study rooms to conduct small 

meetings and engage in workforce 

development or for community 

collaboration, and the reading areas 

were reconfigured in areas with 

natural light. Children and families 

will have access a built-out Early 

Learning Play Space, the Teacher 

in the Library program and the 

YOUmedia program, which provides 

teens with access to technology, 

resources, and classes that 

inspire exploration, creativity and 

learning. Traditional library programs, 

such as book clubs for seniors, 

intergenerational educational 

and cultural programming and story 

times and other programming for 

kids and tweens will also be available. 

“These renovations, thanks to the 

support of our city and Secretary of 

State Jesse White, ensure this community 

has a dynamic, 21st century 

library,” said Commissioner Brian 

Bannon. “I’d also like to thank 

Woodson Director Lynda Schoop 

and the entire Woodson and Harsh 

staff for their dedication to the 

branch and community.” 

Extensive renovations were 

made to the interior and exterior 

façade of the Woodson Regional 

Library. Building improvements 

include a renovated 180-seat auditorium 

with new upholstery; new 

energy-efficient and insulated roof, 

exterior walls and windows; updated 

guardrails and handrails on 

the monumental stairway; additional 

parking for people with disabilities; 

and upgrades to flooring, 

CSJ Photo by John Alexander 

lighting and paint in lobby and the 

Harsh Collection Reading Room. 

“I have long envisioned what 

Woodson Regional Library could 

be for the community, and I am 

proud that this vision has become a 

reality,” said Illinois Secretary of 

State Jesse White. “This was built 

out of a resilient partnership between 

the City of Chicago, the 

Chicago Public Library and the 

state, and will be well-served by the 

community for many years.” 

The branch was closed to the 

public in November 2016, and was 

renovated with capital grant funding 

through Secretary of State Jesse 

White and through city funds. The 

Architect of Record is EXP and the 

contractor for the façade replacement 

is Ujaama. 

The revitalization of a critical 

neighborhood anchors like 

Woodson is paramount for residents 

on the south side of Chicago,” 

said Alderman Howard B. 

Brookins Jr., 21st Ward. “This is a 

proud example of how city officials 

come together with residents and 

partners to work together toward a 


Lakeside Alliance team. John 

W. Bonds, Jr. "I was born in Chicago, 

in Englewood... I've been in 

business for 31 years, but it's good 

to see opportunity in the community 

of this magnitude." 

"What inspires me about the 

South Side] is the change... What's 

being built is going to impact the 

community, and property values, 

and those kind of things." 

Ernest Brown, President of 

Brown & Momen:"I live about 

five blocks from the project site. 

Within ¾ of a mile." 

"Very rarely do you have an 

owner that has the kind of goals 

and focus that the Foundation has 

for this project, so it makes it easy 

for us to do our job." 

"I'm exceptionally excited. 

We've worked on large projects 

before...but this is a whole different 

approach... Being part of 44's legacy, 

and building on his legacy is 

unbelievable." 

Although the Obama Foundation 

has signed a private 

agreement with its contractors 

that guarantees minority hiring, 

local activists say it doesn’t 

provide enough public oversight 

of the project or address the 

issue of gentrification. It’s an 

ongoing battle that activists 

have taken all the way to Mayor 

Rahm Emanuel’s office, and 

that may have implications for 

next year’s aldermanic elections. 

The Obama Foundation 

will donate up to $3.5 million to 

the Chicago Park District to 

cover the construction of the 

field, the park district said in a 

statement, adding that the park 

district will be responsible for 

design, construction, and maintenance. 

The project is expected to be 

completed by Fall 2018. 

OPEN 

NOW 

Today: 

8:00 am - 8:00 

pm 

334 E 95th St, 

Chicago, IL 60619 

(773) 995- 

9859 

Phil V. 

Smith, 

Owner/ 

Master 

Stylist 

www.perf 

ecttouchs 

alon.us



The City of Chicago held month-long celebration of Black 

History Month with a myriad of events in 

neighborhoods across the city for residents to 

gather, learn and reflect on the accomplishments, 

history, culture and contributions of 

black Americans in Chicago and throughout our 

nation’s history. 

“From our city's founding by Jean Baptiste 

Point du Sable to today, black history has been 

inseparable from Chicago’s history. The lasting 

contributions of Chicago's African American 

community have defined its past and continue to 

shape Chicago's future,” said Mayor Rahm 

Emanuel. 

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), the great 

Carter G. 

Woodson: 

Who was the 

'Father of Black 

History' and how 

did he change attitudes 

to race in 

America? 


African American scholar commonly regarded 

as "the Father of Black History". grew up in 

rural New Canton, Virginia, in the aftermath of 

the American Civil War, the son of freed slaves 

James and Eliza Riddle Woodson. 

James Woodson, a Union veteran, relocated 

his young family to Huntington, West Virginia, 

so that his son could attend a new high school 

for black students then under construction, 

hoping to give Carter the best possible 

chance of achieving the education he and his 

wife had been denied. 

The financial realities of their situation however 

meant that Carter frequently had to miss 

school to help out on the family farm. Undeterred, 

the young student taught himself the 

fundamentals of English, maths and science and 

became accomplished in those subjects by the 

age of 17. He was forced to begin work in the 

coal mines of Fayette County at this point, temporarily 

frustrating what had been astonishing 

academic progress. 

In 1895, aged 20, he was able to resume his 

studies at Douglass High School in Huntington 

and received his diploma in under two years. After three 

years of teaching, he returned to Douglass as principal before 

relocating to the Philippines between 1903 and 1907 to serve as 

a school supervisor. 

Woodson's ongoing quest for self-improvement through 

study saw him earn a Bachelor of Literature degree from Berea 

College, Kentucky, receive honours from the University of 

Chicago and complete a history PhD at Harvard in 1912, indicating 

a truly voracious appetite for learning. He was only the 

second African American to win a doctorate, following in the 

formidable footsteps of W.E.B. DuBois. 

It was while serving as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Howard 

University in Washington, DC, in 1915 that Woodson and his 

colleague Alexander L. Jackson published The Education of the 

Negro Prior to 1861, a pivotal work addressing African American 

history, a subject he felt had been badly neglected and 

crudely misrepresented by white academia. 

Woodson would write over a dozen more books on 

black subjects over the course of his 

career as he began to turn his thoughts 

away from simply researching US history 

himself to raising awareness and 

making it accessible to others. 

His next venture was founding the Association 

for the Study of African American 

Life and History, inspired by his time 

in Chicago, a collective whose goal was 

to formalise the education of adults and 

young children on their nation's past. The 

association duly produced a periodical to 

support their work, The Journal of Negro 

History. Woodson hoped such public 

outreach projects - as opposed to studies 

undertaken within the insular, cloistered 

world of universities - held the key to 

bringing about more enlightened relations 

between black and white citizens. 

Woodson believed that racism could be 

overcome and was "merely the logical 

result of tradition, the inevitable outcome 

of thorough instruction to the effect 

that the Negro has never contributed 

anything to the progress of mankind." 

In 1926, he was involved in promoting 

Negro History Week in Washington, 

DC, the forerunner to Black History 

Month. Intended to coincide with the 

birthdays of abolitionist Frederick 

Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln, 

the celebration promoted the organised 

study of African America, 

which Woodson felt had been 

"overlooked, ignored and even suppressed 

by writers of history textbooks 

and the teachers who use them". 

Students at Kent State University, Ohio, 

would pick up his baton when they 

founded the first Black History Month 

on 1 February 1970, with President Gerald 

Ford recognizing their project nationwide 

six years later. 

Woodson continued to promote black 

American scholarship throughout his 

career as an educator, writing a widelyread 

regular column for Negro World, a 

weekly publication founded by Jamaican 

activist Marcus Garvey. 

Carter G. Woodson died of a heart attack 

in Washington in 1950, aged 74. 

His proud example set the stage for the 

heroes of the Civil Rights Movement 

and he is rightly remembered to this day 

as a remarkable man and a true pioneer. 

His insights into racial prejudice and the 

political machinery of oppression, incidentally, 

are as timely today as they ever 

were: 

"If you can control a man’s thinking, 

you don’t have to worry about his actions. 

Letters to the Editor 

Dear Editor; 

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman / 

woman collects a salary while in office and 

receives no pay when they're out of office. 

2. Congress (past, present, & future) participates 

in Social Security. 

All funds in the Congressional retirement 

fund move to the Social Security system 

immediately. All future funds flow into the 

Social Security system, and Congress participates 

with the American people. It may not 

be used for any other purpose. 

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement 

plan, just as all Americans do. 

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a 

pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the 

lower of CPI or 3%. 

5. Congress loses their current health care 

system and participates in the same health 

care system as the American people. 

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws 

they impose on the American people. 

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women 

are void effective 3/1/17. 

The American people did not make this contract 

with Congressmen/women. 

Congress made all these contracts for themselves. 

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a 

career. The Founding Fathers envisioned 

citizen legislators, so ours should serve their 

term(s), then go home and go back to work. 

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty 

people, then it will only take three days for 

most people in the U.S. to receive the message. 

It's time! 

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS! 

Term limits: 

Changing the culture back to public service, not personal 

gain, forcing the lifetime politicians to find new 

jobs 

Dear Editor 

Over the past two years, the people of Illinois, 

Democrats and Republicans alike, have demanded 

reform. In 2014 the entrenched politicians 

holding power in Springfield ignored those 

demands. They used the Illinois court system to 

stop proposals for term limits and fair maps that 

could have led to the reforms the people want. 

Term limits and fair maps would give the 

people of Illinois more control over our broken 

political system. 

But the politicians holding power said no. 

Last week they said no again. A lower court 

threw out this year's Fair Maps proposal that has 

the support of nearly 600,000 Illinois citizens, 

support from both Democrats and Republicans. 

We cannot let this stand. The only way to 

overcome entrenched political power is for the 

people of Illinois to never give up, to keep pushing 

forward for reform. That's why we're here 

today. 

Term limits is an issue I believe in deeply. 

And so do the people of Illinois. Term limits is 

supported by 

80% of the people I talk to, and it seems like 

80% of the politicians are opposed. Our people 

want term limits now more than ever, and that's 

why I'm so committed to continue the fight to 

make it happen. 

You know, I've been Governor of Illinois for a 

year and a half now. We've gotten some important 

things done. But I'm as frustrated as everyone 

else that we haven't been able to tackle the 

biggest challenges facing our state. These past 

18 months have been a humbling experience - 

I've learned just how entrenched the politicians 

holding power are. They don't want to change. 

They are focused on their own power, rather than 

empowering people. But I have also learned that 

you want me to keep working to fix our broken 

political system. That is just what I plan to do. 

But I need your help to get it done. 

As I've travelled the state, I've learned the 

most from talking to people, not politicians. I've 

talked to people in factory break rooms, in coffee 



Commentary: 

By: Lionel B. Nixon 

"I Don’t Hate The 

Player. 

I Hate the 

Game!" 

A political analysis of politics 

in Chicago in 2017 Barack Obama 

of whom most of us for the most 

part all have liked has been backing 

and endorsing Rahm Emmanuel 

of whom is just the water carrier for some 

much bigger players. In this scenario former Daley 

operatives like David Axelrod and others of whom I 

won't name here are to be found all over the place in 

this political equation I'm just describing here. 

Many voters don't like what the mayor is doing but 

don't want to go against Obama's endorsement and 

therefore simply take themselves out of the game 

totally by not voting which reduces the voter turnout. 

The overwhelming majority of voters in the mayoral, 

and in a recent state representative and Aldermanic 

election with Obama selectively making endorsements 

allows a very small number of mustered up by 

the well-oiled and financed New Democratic Machine 

to outnumber a very smaller number who vote 

in opposition. In the old days you didn't have such a 

powerfully charismatic figure like Barack to come in 

at the calling of the New Democratic Machine and 

endorse their candidate. Back in the day we just went 

toe-to-toe and head to head in the streets during the 

course of a political campaign and on Election Day. 

What is interesting about all of this is that there is a 

completely new city that has been built in the South 

Loop with thousands of resident newcomers many of 

foreign origin and Whites from the southwest side 

like 12th Ward and others who were able to sell their 

houses to Latinos instead of having them demolished 

for code violations with accelerated demolition which 

has happened to many black homeowners. 

Is gigantic development around McCormick Place 

and the old Mercy Hospital site along with the proposed 

Barack Obama Presidential Library and the 

Tiger Woods Golf Course all taking place in close 

proximity to the south lakefront. 

According to the preliminary 2015 United States 

Census Bureau data there are only 871,000 Black 

people left in Chicago and probably as of now 2018 

there is less. Now some people are looking at me like 

I'm crazy; a person who gave his heart and soul every 

single day during both Obama's election campaign to 

become President who now is saying ""I don't like his 

support of Rahm Emmanuel." But I don't think that 

he even had a choice in the matter. For the record I 

am far from crazy just very informed. I do the research 

and a Chicago Native Son on behalf of the 

city that I was born and raised in and its people, I'd 

rather lose on the right side of History than win on 

the wrong side. 

Now don't get it twisted. Barack Obama is a 

man I have a great deal of respect for many of the 

good things that he was able get done while he was 

President. 

I don't hate the player. 

I hate the game! 

In the upcoming issue of Chicago Street 

Journal candidates seeking our endorsement 

should answer the following questions. 

Supporters are welcome to comment 

for them as well for publication. However, 

no endorsement without candidate 

response. 

2018 Candidates Questioner 

Chicago is a diverse city with a rich 

history we thrive to represent the city as a 

whole. Although African American interest 

is still at the core of what we cover, 

1. What Is One Capacity of You Makes You the 

Most Qualified Candidate for This Elected Office? 

CANDIDATE 

QUESTIONNAIRE 

2. Do you agree with Governor Candidate Chris Kennedy that there has 

been Strategic moving of African Americans in the City of Chicago to 

any extend? If so example, if not can you explain the disenfranchisement 

of African Americans in Chicago? 

3. Would you support legislation of the Black Wall Street platform as in 

HB bill 27 [October 14, 2009] SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 432? 

4. A How Would You Describe Your Own Working Style with the Political 

Party you represent and with the opposite Party? 

4. B What is the difference between a Conservative and Liberal? 

5. If Any What one item does you agree with President Donald Trump 

agenda and what one do you disagree on? 

6. If (Re) Elected, What Is the First Thing You Would NOT Tackle in 

This Office? 

7. What is the logic of a candidate use of the theme ‘representing the middle' 

class oppose to the lower or upper income persons/family? 

8. Are you in favor of Parity based on geographical racial area in contract 

procurement and how would you address parity? 

9. Are you in favor of Term Limits or not for which office? 

Letters to the Editor 

10. Do you believe that the Obama Foundation 

should present a signed Community Benefit Agreement? 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. 

Ron Carter, Publisher and Editor and 

the Endorsement Committee of 



shops, in milking barns, in office buildings and 

at kitchen tables. After you spend enough time 

in Springfield, it's inspiring to talk with people 

facing real challenges every day and seeing 

how hard they work to get ahead. It makes me 

want to work that much harder for all the people 

of Illinois. 

Our people want action on the challenges we 

face. People want us to fix the broken system 

that has put our state deep in the hole. But in 

Springfield, too many career politicians holding 

power have been happy to kick the can down 

the road and do nothing about our biggest problems. 

That is how we ended up with a $100 billion 

unfunded pension liability. Even with our massive 

tax bills, our government spends a dollarthirty 

for every dollar it takes in. It simply defies 

common sense. The people I talk to every 

day balance their budgets, and they expect us to 

balance the State's. To do that, we need new 

people with their new ideas in Springfield. 

People in business are successful by making 

things happen. In politics, career politicians 

don't have to make anything happen to get reelected. 

If they play their cards right, they've 

got a lifetime job. We've got politicians in 

Springfield who've been there for twenty, 

thirty, forty years! And look what's happened to 

our state in that time. 

It's time for change. Two years ago, 600,000 

thousand people in Illinois signed 

petitions calling for term limits on 

elected officials. The politicians 

long in power ignored the petitions. 

They won't even debate the issue. 

That's crazy! 

We desperately need new faces 

and new ideas in Illinois politics. 

We need to make serving in government 

more about public service, and 

less about power and a government 

pension. That should be obvious! 

We need it in the Republican 

Party, in the Democratic Party, and 

throughout the political spectrum. 

New faces need to believe they have 

an even chance of winning in a truly 

democratic election. 

Look at the numbers: 

This year over 88% of candidates 

for our legislature faced no opposition 

in their primary. 

Even more amazing, two-thirds have no opposition 

in the general election. That's not democracy. 

That's a rigged system. 

The system has given so many advantages to 

incumbents in the legislature that it's very hard 

to vote them out -- even if they're not doing a 

good job. 

That's just wrong. 

But we can change that. And we must change 

that. 

That's why I'm calling on 

the General Assembly to 

vote on a term limits 

constitutional amendment 

when members 

return for the fall veto 

session. 

It's certainly true that 

getting term limits won't 

fix every problem we 

face. We've still got to 

wipe out corruption, 

conflicts of interest, and 

repair our broken pension 

system. We've got to 

balance our budget without 

balancing it on the 

backs of the most needy. 

We've got to get our 

property taxes moving 

down, not up. All of this 

will help create the environment 

we need to attract good jobs back to 

Illinois. 

We can overcome our challenges. We can do 

it together. First, we've got to fix Illinois' broken 

political system. And when we fix the system, 

we can take on any challenge Illinois 

faces. 

Term limits will go a long way toward fixing 

the system by changing the culture back to 

public service, not personal gain, by forcing the 

lifetime politicians to find new jobs, and by 

bringing new faces and new ideas to Springfield. 

All of the changes we need won't happen 

right away. This will take time. But now we'll 

be moving in the right direction. 

Instead of gridlock and inaction, we'll be 

moving forward. 

And every day we'll get closer to the future 

we, our kids and our grandkids deserve. Illinois 

can be the economic engine of the Midwest 

again. We can be a magnet for the best companies 

from all over the world and the best jobs, 

just as it used to be. From our rich farmland to 

busy factory floors to tech start-ups, Illinois 

will be going and growing again. 

Now, cynics will say this is an impossible 

dream to get term limits voted on by this legislature. 

But that dream can become a reality if 

the people of Illinois demand it. 

And we are not stopping with term limits. 

We'll keep pressing every day to lower our 

property taxes, to protect all our taxpayers, to 

protect and grow our jobs, and to ensure every 

child has a chance at a great education. We can 

do this – if we work together for the reforms 

our state needs. 

We're facing tough challenges, but we can 

meet those challenges if we work together for 

reform. One step at a time. Starting right now. 

It starts with term limits. 

Thank you. Governor Bruce Rauner



Joins the Ancestors 

Lerone Bennett, Jr. 

1928 to 2018 

Writer and social historian Lerone 

Bennett, Jr. served as the executive 

editor of Ebony for almost forty 

years. His written work deftly explores 

the history of race relations in 

the United States as well as the current 

environment in which African 

Americans strive for equality. Bennett 

was born on October 17, 1928, 

in Clarksdale, Mississippi, to Lerone 

and Alma (Reed) Bennett. When 

Bennett was young, his family 

moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and it 

was here, while attending Jackson's 

public schools, that Bennett's interest 

in journalism was initiated. 

Bennett attended Morehouse College, earning 

a B.A. in 1949. He has always considered Morehouse 

as the center of his academic development. 

After graduating, Bennett formally entered 

the world of journalism as a reporter for the now 

defunct Atlanta Daily World. He became the 

city editor for the magazine and worked there 

until 1953, when he began his work as an associate 

editor at Jet magazine in Chicago, Illinois. In 

1954, Bennett became an associate editor 

at Ebony and he was promoted to senior editor 

of the magazine in 1958. Since then, his comprehensive 

articles have become one of the magazine's 

literary hallmarks. 

A series of articles originally published 

in Ebony resulted in Bennett's first book, a seminal 

piece of work, Before the Mayflower: A 

History of Black America, 1619-1962. The 

book, with its comprehensive examination of the 

history of African Americans in the United 

States, gave Bennett the reputation of a firstclass 

popular historian. In his eight subsequent 

books, Bennett has continued to document the 

historical forces shaping the Black experience in 

the United States. His other works include: What 

Manner of Man?, Pioneers In Protest and The 

Shaping of Black America. 

Bennett has received numerous awards such 

as the Literature Award of the Academy of Arts 

and Letters, Book of the Year Award from Capital 

Press Club and the Patron Saints Award from 

the Society of Midland Authors. He has served 

as advisor and consultant to several national 

organizations and commissions, including the 

National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. 

Bennett's articles, short stories and poems 

have been translated into five languages. 

Culver’s opens up at Lake Meadows shopping Center on 35th and King Drive, the 

ever-expanding franchise now number nearly 650 in 24 states. It signature items 

include their ButterBurger. The restaurant owner is Guy Hollis, center of photo 

waving. 


person is engaging in illegal drug activity 

or has a substance use disorder; others require 

a specific screening process. The 

states include: Illinois have proposals to 

drug test those applicants who have been 

convicted of drug-related offenses. 

The federal rules permit drug testing as 

part of the Temporary Assistance for 

Needy Families block grant. In recent 

years, nearly all states have proposed some 

form of drug testing or screening for applicants. 

TBTNEWS UPDATE 

Harper Opposes 

School Closing in 

Englewood 

State Representative Sonya Harper (D- 

6th) released the following statement after 

CPS announced the proposal to close all of 

the public high schools in West Englewood 

and Englewood this school year, in June of 

2018. 

“This is more than an attack on the education 

for our most vulnerable children in 

the city, it is a direct attack 

on the livelihood of our 

black communities across 

the city of Chicago. Four 

high school closing at one 

time will only add to the 

instability of a community 

that is already struggling 

with the highest rates of 

unemployment, crime, food 

insecurity and a lack of 

housing for families. 

"In Englewood and West Englewood we 

have already experienced six elementary 

school closings at once which took a devastating 

toll on residents and now those buildings 

are just sitting empty. 

Harper District includes all or portions of 

Armour Square, Bridgeport, Chicago Lawn, 

Englewood, Gage Park, Back of the Yards, 

Canaryville, New City, West Englewood, 

and Marquette Park. 

Momentum Across the 

South to End Money Bail 

for Black Woman 

Last year, Southerners on New Ground 

(SONG) -- the region's largest queer liberation 

group -- initiated their Black Mama's Bail Out 

campaign to raise money to free poor Black 

women from jail while awaiting trial and to 

draw attention to what it calls "the immoral 

system" of cash bail that affects people of color 

disproportionately. Centered around Mother's 

Day, the campaign sought to honor the contributions 

that Black women make to the community 

and recognize the harm inflicted when 

they're separated from their loved ones.

Christine 

Houston 

is a native Chicagoan, who went on to become 

a staff writer on the Punky Brewster 

TV series and, in 1985, her play, Two 

Twenty-Seven was adapted to television 

and became NBC’s hit television series 

227. She won several awards for her playwriting, 

which lead her to Los Angeles 

where she wrote a teleplay for the TV series 

The Jeffersons. 

CSJ loves interviewing folks 

from Chicago. We’re sure that 

your Parker High School classmates 

are still excited about your 

success. Did any of this take your 

by surprise? Did you even imagine 

the success of Two Twenty- 

Seven, as your worked on the 

play, while still a student at Kennedy-King 

College? 

Christine: I wrote the play Two 

Twenty-Seven on a challenge by my 

fellow classmates. They were going 

to attend a spring conference, representing 

Kennedy-King College 

(KKC), that was being held at a 

university in Texas. Having won 

awards in every theater category 

except playwriting, they were desperate to win 

that award. 

CSJ: What was your major? 

Christine: When asked what my major was, 

I lied and told them Journalism. After all, I was 

a 42-year-old wife and 

mother of three teenage 

boys and couldn’t bring 

myself to the point of 

telling them I was there 

because of my secret 

ambition to acquire the 

lead role in a theater production. 

At that time, 

KKC had a reputation for 

having the best theater 

program in Illinois. 

CSJ: So how did Play 

writing come in? 

Christine: After several 

days of being pressured, 

I decided to accept 

the challenge, thinking 

the play wouldn’t win 

anyway since I had no 

idea how to write a play, 

despite all the English 

and writing classes I had 

taken. To my surprise, the play took first place 

in the contest. I titled the play, Two Twenty- 

Seven, my address growing up in Chicago. Several 

months later, the play was entered (by the 

college) into the Norman Lear and the Lorraine 

Hansberry playwriting contests, where it won 

first place in the Norman Lear and second place 

in the Lorraine Hansberry. The committee 

agreed that Two Twenty-Seven really should get 

first place in the 


The Writer from Chicago 

Lorraine Hansberry, too, but decided that since 

the contests were sponsored by the American 

College Festival, another student should be 

encouraged. That same year, I graduated, receiving 

an AA in Theater Technology and was 

off to Hollywood. 

CSJ: As you well know, opportunities to 

work in the entertainment 

industry is growing 

phenomenally in 

Chi-Town, so your latest 

book is indeed very 

timely. Tell us a little bit 

about The Screenwriter’s 

Guidebook: 

Inspiring Lessons for 

Film and Television 

Writers. 

Christine: After several 

years of writing on 

various television shows 

produced by Norman 

Lear and finally seeing 

my play become NBC’s 

hit series titled 227, I 

returned to Chicago to 

care for my ailing 

mother. I soon realized it would be a while 

before I could return to LA and continue 

launching a career writing for television. 

After eight years, my mother made her transition 

and I prepared to return to Hollywood, only 

to learn that my husband of 35 years had dementia. 

While caring for him, I returned to 

school, enrolling at Chicago State University 

and in 2006, at the age of 70, I received 

a BA in Communications. Two years 

later, I was asked to teach Writing For 

Television and collaborated with Dr. 

Christine List to pen The Screenwriter’s 

Guidebook: Inspiring Lessons for Film 

and Television Writers. 

CSJ: Being a successful writer, would you 

share with us, what we should say to our 

young people regarding the importance of 

reading and how it affects their success in 

TV and movies? 

Christine: Despite its popularity and the fact 

that many people think math is the most important 

subject, I can’t recall engaging in any other 

field of learning without the ability to read and 

write. It has been proven; when the ability to 

communicate through speech is almost impossible, 

writing serves as a viable alternative. 

CSJ: Can you give us a little inside scoop on 

what it is like to be a staff writer for a TV 

series? 

Christine: The job of a staff writer is viewed 

as OBJ (on the job training) that can lead to the 

top position, executive producer or showrunner. 

The showrunner is responsible for hiring and 

overseeing every aspect of producing a weekly 

television series. The staff writer assists in the 

revisions of every page of every script written 

by the collective writers of the show. Although 

rare during the first season of tenure, the staff 

writer may also pitch an idea and after acceptance, 

write and receive credit for that episode. 

CSJ: You’re working on a screenplay based 

on your first novel, Laughing Through The 

Tears. Would you tell us a little bit about the 

book? 

Christine: After graduating from Chicago 

State, I documented my experiences caring for 

my husband who had been diagnosed with dementia. 

Laughing Through The Tears is a culmination 

of my personal experiences. It was 

published in 2013. AARP sponsored a book 

signing and purchased 350 books and gave 

them away to all who attended the signing. I am 

now working on a television pilot based on the 

book. 

CSJ: “It isn’t over ‘til it’s over.” 

Those are your words. Share the 

meaning with our readers. 

Christine: It is a well-known cliché 

that I believe in. Your purpose here on 

this planet has not been fulfilled until 

you take your last breath, hence, “It 

isn’t over ‘til it’s over.” 

 

Interviewer 

Ms. Sonja Cassandra Perdue 

AGRICULTURE 

MEN'S CLOTHING 

532 E 43rd St, Chicago, IL 

60653 

733) 538-5500


W 

e’re digging into the 

first quarter of 2018 

& the Illinois Black Chamber 

of Commerce is in full swing & 

maximizing our relevancy! The 

landscape of pro-Black business 

advocacy in Illinois has 

growing &we welcome all of 

the potential agents of change 

to the playing field. We trust 

that discerning professionals 

recognize the genuine article & 

will continue to trust us to 

strengthen the Black business community & 

move their agenda’s in realtime. 

We’re proud to be regarded as the archetype 

for state structured chambers & here’s 

how we’re going beyond the rhetoric to move 

the pro-Black business agenda: 

Leadership from our Banking & Financing 

Industry Group recently hosted a summit 

with Executive Directors & leadership from 

major banking institutions as well as microlenders, 

the Federal Reserve & the FDIC to 

lay the groundwork for a more enhanced 

pathway for Black businesses to access capital. 

In that session, we shared & received 

some critical data that clearly points to “lack 

of capacity” as the true bane of the Black 

business community & Black communities in 

general. The vast majority of the 145k Black 

business in Illinois don’t have the capacity to 

employ more than 1 or 2 employees! Put that 

into perspective as pundits celebrate the 

“record low unemployment rate” for Blacks 

& may turn into a farewell toast. Unfortunately 

& as usual, the numbers are alarming 

but it’s critical that we understand what this 

really means for the future of Black communities. 

Advocacy is job #1 for the ILBCC & this 

is a big year for Illinois politics, as the gubernatorial 

race heats up culminates this November. 

It’s critical that we understand 

where that candidates & our align or intersect. 

This year’s annual Lobby Day in April 

promises to be a prime day for affirming our 

agenda with all of our legislative counterparts. 

We typically bring a couple hundred 

supporters, but this year we plan to bring 300 

or more strong, sharp Black businesses & 

entrepreneurs along with us to the Capitol in 

Springfield. Afterwards, we’ll share in great 

food & even greater networking at our reception 

gala. 

Our Banking & Financing team is making 

realtime impact & so are the rest of the Industry 

Groups. The newly formed Sports & 

Entertainment group, chaired by acclaimed 

film, television, and stage actor Harry Lennix 

(The Blacklist, The Five Heartbeats, 24), is 

Mr. Larry D. Ivory 

Founder, President/CEO 

“The Chamber Report”, 

quickly positioning to become 

a major force in their space. 

Our Healthcare Group is busy 

laying out the rich tapestry of 

opportunities in that space & 

all of our industry groups are 

fine tuning their cross pollination 

platforms to heighten continuity 

& deliver unparalleled 

service to our base & constituency. 

We continue to strengthen our 

affiliate chambers throughout 

the state with “top down” 

agenda & grassroots initiative energy. We’re 

consistently engaging, informing & educating 

our base on all of the relevant aspects of 

the pro Black business agenda. Academic 

initiatives such as the “Move to the Center” 

campaign, the “Crystallizing Our Agenda” 

lecture series & our community accountability 

programming help to further adjust the 

frame of reference and our “Business Afterhours” 

offer powerful networking with premier 

firms & individuals with every session 

so we look forward getting you & your business 

connected to those opportunities. We 

don’t stop there though. 

The Chamber’s partnership with the Illinois 

Tollway is stronger than ever with the 

newly established Technical Assistance 

Program (TAP) kicking off in Rockford last 

fall & we continue to impact Chicago & 

Waukegan. The purpose of the program is to 

assist minority owned road building companies 

and vertical construction contractors in 

becoming Tollway Bid ready. We help them 

begin to bid and win Tollway work and successfully 

navigate Tollway projects from bid 

to completion. If you’re in either of those 

locations, don’t hesitate to utilize our service 

& take advantage of the opportunities. We 

also have great corporate partners, like 

Ameren-Cilco, Illinois American Water & 

many others who are serious about diversity 

& deliberate about inclusion so it’s our pleasure 

to get you connected. 

That’s only the tip of the iceberg cutting 

through the surface. As we dive deeper, we 

can see that civic leaders are beginning to 

pitch state economic development officials 

on designating tracts of their communities as 

Opportunity Zones. A little-noticed section 

in the $1.5 trillion tax cut that President 

Trump signed into law late last month is 

drawing attention from venture capitalists, 

state government officials and mayors across 

America. The provision, on Page 130 of the 

tax overhaul, is an attempt to grapple with a 

gaping hole in the recovery from the Great 

Recession and the fact that, in huge swaths of 

the country, the economic recovery has yet to 


T HE I L L I N O I S B L A C K C H A M B E R OF C O M M E R C E 

arrive. 

The law creates “Opportunity Zones,” 

which will use tax incentives to draw longterm 

investment to parts of America that 

continue to struggle with high poverty and 

sluggish job and business growth. The provision 

is the first new substantial federal attempt 

to aid those communities in more than 

a decade. If the zones succeed, they could 

help revitalize neighborhoods and towns that 

are starved for investment. 

In regard to net neutrality, it’s widely accepted 

that the internet must be free and 

open, that all data and traffic must be treated 

equally, and that internet companies shouldn’t 

be able to censor or unfairly restrict what 

we do online. While the FCC’s order changes 

how these principles will be enforced, it’s 

becoming clear that the internet will remain 

free and open and not become the dystopian 

Wild West some advocates have claimed. 

The ILBCC recognizes that a free and 

open internet is vital for small businesses, 

and is not threatened by the FCC plan to 

modernize broadband regulation. At its core, 

the FCC action simply restores the same proinvestment, 

pro-innovation policies that governed 

the internet in its early years, when 

revolutionary services like eBay, Facebook, 

and Google first got off the ground. Critics 

Actor Harry Lennix Chairs 

IlBCC Sports and 

Entertainment committee 

On October 4 , 2017, the Illinois Black Chamber of 

Commerce publicly announced the formation of a 

newly developed Sports and Entertainment Committee. 

The Committee was formulated to create an avenue 

by which celebrities and those close to the entertainment 

and sports industry could help promote the 

message of the chamber, while simultaneously utilizing 

the chamber’s network to grow their own personal 

projects and promote their brands. 

The board currently consist of Chair Harry Lennix, 

actor NBC’s blacklist, co-chair, Chama St. Louis, 

public relations specialist, J. Alexander Martin, cofounder 

of FUBU and creator of AFashionMind, the 

Voice Competitor, Tony-Boyd Cannon and singer, 

Acot Bryce Wilson have both been invited to be apart of this committee. 

Continue on page 13 

From the Streets 

to the Suites 

The 

Federation of 

Black 

Organizations 

A Federation that has over 50 

members, including; but not 

limited to; Allied American 

Workers Laborers International 

Union. 

Founding members ( Pictured l 

to r), President Tom Harris; 

Illinois Black Chamber of 

Commerce, President, Larry 

Ivory; Regional Vice President, 

Illinois Black Chamber 

of Commerce, Vincent Gilbert. 

This Team defeated, 

AFL- CIO Legislation that 

would have harmed Black 

Construction Workers, and 

Black Construction Contractors 

. 

I L B C C 4 1 1 H a m i l t o n B l v d . S u i t e 1 4 0 4 P e o r i a , I L 6 1 6 0 2 P h o n e : 3 0 9 - 7 4 0 - 4 4 3 0


Chicago has seen several bank closing in 

the last decade. Three Black owned banking 

institutions have closed since 2007, including 

Seaway Bank (2017); Highland Community 

Bank (2015); and Covenant Bank (2013). 

Twenty years ago the Chicago had ten 

black owned banks. There’s a saying that 

goes, ‘you won’t miss the well ‘til the water 

runs dry.’ That saying still rings true with the 

closing of Seaway Bank and Trust. For five 

decades, it was one of Chicago's two remaining 

African-American-owned banks. 

Other local black-owned banks—Covenant 

Bank on the West Side and Highland Community 

Bank on the South Side, for example— 

have failed to plug capital holes and failed. 

With $101 million in assets, Illinois Service 

Federal Savings & Loan founded in Chicago 

in 1934 to serve communities that have historically 

been underserved by traditional financial 

institutions. It has struggled to stay 

afloat, and was fortunate to find a rescuer. 

The failure of Illinois Service would have left 

the African American community with no 

black owned financial institution due to the 

closing of Seaway Bank. 

Longtime CEO Norman Williams, who first 

was introduced to the elder Nduom in 2013 as 

he was searching for new bank investors, has 

retired from Illinois Service. The CEO now is 

Robert Klamp, a veteran Chicago-area community 

banker who's run lenders focusing on 

minority neighborhoods like International 

Bank of Chicago and Pan American Bank. 

As Illinois Service, tracing its Bronzeville 

roots to the Great Migration, Earlier this year 

the financial institution completed a sale to a 

Ghanaian-American family. It has been saved 

from failure with a $9 million equity infusion 

that will keep it under black ownership. 

ISF has made mortgages and small-business 

loans for decades founded in 1934 by 13 

Bronzeville business leaders who saw the 

need for a bank to provide credit to African- 

American migrants from the South. 

The new owners are members of the 

Nduom family whose patriarch, Paa Kwesi 

Nduom, 63, was one of the first African- 

American partners of Deloitte & Touche, 

working in Milwaukee, before relocating to 

Ghana in West Africa in the 1990s. There he 

invested in hotels and other enterprises, eventually 

turning the family's disparate holdings 

into Groupe Nduom. 

Groupe Nduom employs more than 3,000 in 

Africa, Europe and North America and has 

investments in industries including financial 

services, media and entertainment, sports and 

real estate. 

His sons, P.W. Chiefy Nduom, managing 

the family's investment in Illinois Service. 

Their father is the bank's chairman. 

“We think (keeping ISF black-owned) is a 

“The Chamber 

Report”, 

BOP members, Dr. Murphy, with Greg Brown president of 

Southside Community Federal Credit Union, Ro Davis and 

Revin Fellows have committed to being a major strategic 

partner to strengthen SSCFCU 

critical point,” said Chiefy Nduom, 34, who 

serves as vice president and general counsel of 

Groupe Nduom. “We all know race matters in 

America. It's not a colorblind society. Everyone 

is impacted by race in one way or another.” 

“A concerted effort must be undertaken to 

improve the environment for all banks, but 

specific steps must be taken to help African- 

American Banks. We must look at successful 

banks to find what works. 

The Nduom brothers say no big changes are 

expected for 12 to 18 months as they look to 

cure the lending ills cited by the regulatory 

order. 

Illinois Service Federal 

Savings & Loan, outgoing 

CEO Norman Williams, 

left, with new 

chairman Paa Kwesi 

Nduom. 

Treasurer Summers announced 

a $20 million 

deposit into ISF. 

Contribution to Black History since 1933 

The brothers hope soon to upgrade the 

bank's technology to allow for more mobile 

banking and make the institution more attractive 

to younger customers. 

Seaway was a financial oasis, a proud historical 

banking institution that the south side 

community supported. Recently, its operations 

permanently shut down. 

Seaway was initially taken over by the Illinois 

Department of Financial and Professional 

Regulation Division of Banking and the 

FDIC, the bank’s 10 branches were officially 

owned by the State Bank of Texas. 

The Federal Deposit of Insurer Corporation 

(FDIC), noted that in September 2016, Seaway 

Bank had more than $301 million in total 

deposits and more than $341 million in total 

assets. Seaway opened in 1965 and it was the 

largest Black-owned bank in the U.S. According 

to an ABC news report, it was the last 

Black-owned bank in Chicago. 

President of State Bank of Texas, Sushil 

Patel, confirmed ownership of Seaway Bank. 

He said, “This is our third acquisition, so our 

team is experienced in working closely with 

customers through their transition. Plus, one 

of our earlier acquisitions was in the Chicago 

market, so we already have a presence here. 

As a minority and family-owned bank, we 

have similar roots as Seaway. We look forward 

to a prosperous future.” 

City Treasurer Kirk Summers announced 

a $20 million deposit into ISF, Treasurer 

Summers made this announcement at ISF’s 

main office King Drive and 47th Street, just 

blocks from where Treasurer Summers was 

raised. He was joined by community leaders, 

small business owners, and elected officials, 

i n c l u d i n g C o n g r e s s m a n B o b b y 

Rush, Alderman Roderick Sawyer, and Alderman 

Pat Dowell. 

In his remarks, Treasurer Summers underscored 

the importance of keeping local dollars 

in local communities, driving a positive cycle 

of economic development that leads to more 

jobs, more amenities, improved services, and 

better lives for ourselves and for our children. 

However, ISF is not the only Black operated 

financial institution in Chicago. On 54th 

and Wentworth far north of the corner of 

Washington Plaza sit Southside Community 

Federal Credit Union (SSCFCU). 

SSCFCU) is a not-for-profit, Federally 

chartered, low-income designated, community 

development credit union CDCU). 

SSCFCU serves a membership base of 

2,000 with $3.5 million in assets after opening 

its doors in November, 2003. 

SSCFCU was created to economically empower 

the community by providing an alternative 

to currency exchanges, payday/predatory 

lenders and banks that charge high fees. Greg 

Brown president of SSCFCU said, “When you 

join the credit union, you become am ember 

owner, not just a customer. Your account is an 

investment in the community.” 

Ro Davis of BOP indicated his organization 

BOP Project 5000 goal is to strengthen and 

build SSCFCU “Our vision must be bigger 

than our frustrations! We've already lost Seaway 

Bank...we can't afford to lose this one. 

BopProject5000 is committed to being a major 

strategic partner to this institution. Gregg 

Brown we appreciate your commitment to our 

community.” 

Safiyyah Muhammad major contributor 

to the story 


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Black Owned 

Ride-Sharing 

App 

With the immense success 

of companies like Uber and Lyft, 

r i d e - s h a r i n g t e c h n o l - 

ogy has boomed into a multibillion 

dollar industry 

within the past decade. 

Now a new platform 

is looking to stake 

its claim in the marketplace. 

Moovn is a ridehailing 

mobile application 

founded by 

Godwin Gabriel. The 

app currently operates 

in 7 U.S. cities 

(Washington, DC, Chicago, 

IL, Boston, MA, 

Portland, OR, Seattle, 

WA, San Francisco, 

CA, New York, NY) 

and 1 city in Africa 

(Dar-Es-Salaam, TZ), with plans 

to rapidly expand in both Western 

and emerging markets. 

In a recent interview with UrbanGeekz, 

Gabriel explains how 

he taught himself how to code, in 

Derrick A. Riley, CEO 

order to launch the beta version of 

his app. Saying his beta launch 

was “amateurish at best,” he goes 

on to explain how the platform 

transformed into what it is today: 

“It wasn’t until we received 

investor backing that I was able to 

hire and collaborate with a team 

of seasoned developers to transform 

the platform into what we 

have today.” 

When asked what his biggest 

challenges are, he says, 

“The market, for the 

most part, is currently 

being dominated by 

Uber and Lyft with 

these companies enjoying 

the benefits of 

having first mover 

advantage with the 

transportation technology 

space. However, 

we’re confident that 

the global market remains 

sizable enough 

for all of us to fit in 

and play.” 

Considering the rise of 

smartphone usage 

across the continent of Africa, 

operating there seems to be a good 

business strategy. It’s also a market 

that hasn’t been explored by 

the big brands in the industry. 


The City will be partnering with 

the Center for Economic Progress, 

Ladder Up and City Treasurer’s 

Office again this year to provide 

the free service for eligible residents. 

Tax Prep Chicago with the 

City of Chicago are marking 

Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness 

Day and the official start of 

tax season by reminding residents 

to take advantage of the City of 

Chicago’s free tax assistance program. 

The Earned Income Tax Credit 

(EITC) is a benefit for working 

families with low to moderate 

income. Last year, Tax Prep Chicago 

helped over 20,000 families 

and individuals receive nearly $30 

million in tax refunds and credits. 

“The EITC program has a 

proven record of uplifting people 

communities across the country 

and across our City. I am proud to 

partner with these organizations 

that are strengthening the outreach 

of these free resources to make 

them more accessible across the 

City of Chicago for its residents to 

access them,” said City Treasurer 

Kurt Summers. “We need to be 

investing more in EITC resources 

because it helps working families 

here in Chicago with additional 

money to support their local 

n e i g h b o r h o o d e c o n o m y. ” 

EITC day is a nationwide effort to 

alert millions of low and moderate 

-income workers who may be 

missing out on this significant tax 

credit. In 2017, 963,000 Illinoisan 

workers received more than $2.4 

billion in EITC refunds. 

Volunteer tax preparers, certified 

through an Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS), will assist residents 

with federal and state income tax 

returns for the 2017 tax year and 

in many cases, can help with prior 

-year returns and amendments. 

Volunteers will also help taxpayers 

filing for or renewing an Individual 

Taxpayer Identification 

Number (ITIN). 

Taxpayers, who qualify for the 

EITC and/or the Additional Child 

Tax Credit, will receive refunds 

after February 15, so residents are 

encouraged to file early. Residents 

are also urged to be cautious of 

predatory lenders and stick with 

people you trust. 

Cook County homeowners may 

also take advantage of several 

valuable property-tax-saving exemptions. 

There are currently four 

exemptions that must be applied 

for or renewed annually: The 

Homeowner Exemption, Senior 

Citizen Homestead Exemption, 

Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze 

Exemption, and the Home Improvement 

Exemption. For more 

information, contact the Cook 

County Treasurer's Office at 

www.cookcountytreasurer.com/ 

exemptions.aspx. 

The deadline for filing taxes is 

A p r i l 1 7 , 2 0 1 8 . 

Tax Prep Chicago is an initiative 

of the City of Chicago that enables 

qualified Chicagoans to access 

free income tax return services at 

sites located throughout the city. 

Two nonprofit partners, the Center 

for Economic Progress and Ladder 

Up, train hundreds of volunteers 

each year to provide free preparation 

and e-filing of Federal and 

Illinois returns for eligible families 

and individuals. 

For more information about 

how to access free tax assistance 

or for a complete list of EITC 

locations: 

Visit the City’s tax assistance 

w e b s i t e a t 

www.TaxPrepChicago.org 

Call the City’s 311 helpline 

Visit the Center for Economic 

P r o g r e s s a t 

www.economicprogress.org or 

call (312) 252-0280 

V i s i t L a d d e r U p a t 

www.goladderup.org or call (312) 

409-4719 

Visit the IRS at www.irs.gov 


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DePaul University’s Blair 

Davis discusses 

Marvel’s latest movie 

CHICAGO — Part of the reason 

Marvel’s “Black Panther” 

has seen so much success is 

because it came along at the 

right time both culturally and 

politically, said Blair Davis, an 

associate professor of media 

and cinema studies in DePaul 

University’s College of Communication. 

His latest book, 

“Comic Book Movies,” will be 

available April 19 through 

Rutgers University Press. 

Davis has spent his career researching 

comic books, classic 

Hollywood cinema, B-movies 

and African-American cinema 

and has written three other 

books on film topics. In this Q&A, he 

explains what makes “Black Panther” a 

cultural phenomenon, how it’s different 

from other comic book movies and the 

promising future of the genre. 

Q: What makes “Black Panther” such 

a highly anticipated comic book movie? 

A Davis: Audiences are treating “Black 

Panther” like an “event” movie for several 

reasons. 

Marvel used the character's first appearance 

in “Captain America: Civil War” as a 

way of launching a spin-off film in a way 

that its previous films haven't. Marvel 

characters usually get their own films first, 

and then appear in the Avengers films. 

Marvel handled “Black Panther” much 

differently, using him as a central focus of 

“Civil War,” which was itself an event 

Blair Davis, an 

associate professor 

of media 

and cinema 

studies in 

DePaul University’s 

College of 

Communication 

Director, Ryan Kyle Coogler and 

Aaron Covington screenwriter 

film. This raised the bar for audiences 

much more for a “Black Panther” solo film 

than if they hadn't already come to know 

and love the character. 

This is also an “event” film because of its 

significance as a blockbuster superhero 

film with a predominantly black cast and a 

black director. In our current cultural and 

political moment in which questions about 

diversity are at the forefront of discussions 

about race and the media, a big-budget 

film aimed at mainstream audiences in 

which black characters play a central role 

rather than just a supporting one is noteworthy. 

Add the fact that celebrities like Octavia 

Spencer bought up blocks of tickets to give 

away for free so that black children can see 

a hero on screen who looks more like them 

than a Norse god or blond super soldier 

does and you have a film that resonates 

much more strongly on a cultural level 

than the typical blockbuster. For example, 

on the night the film opened I did a panel 

as part of Black History Month about the 

history of black comics characters for the 

Chicago Bar Association, so “Black Panther” 

is being seen as a cultural milestone 

for a wide range of institutions. 

Q: How might this movie be different 

from other comic book movies that are 

set for 2018 or have come out in recent 

years? 

A Davis: Beyond the important cultural 

differences in how audiences are approaching 

this film, one big difference is in the 

way that director Ryan Coogler was allowed 

to make the film. Marvel's films 

have had a fairly standard look and tone to 

them, on the whole. The producers call the 

shots and expect their directors to adhere 

to the Marvel “house style.” Coogler is a 

talented director who fought to make 

“Black Panther” his own film, rather than 

just the producers' film. Early word from 

audiences is that the film has much more 

depth and heart than other Marvel films, 

thanks to Coogler. 

Q: Do you think there is or could be a 

saturation point with comic book movies? 

A Davis: I actually do not think we're 

approaching a saturation point for comic 

book movies yet. If anything, things will 

keep building further. It's like the western 

in the 1950s, it's full steam ahead right 

now. And with “Logan” earning an Oscar 

nomination for best adapted screenplay, 

there's a shift in the critical status of these 

films going on as well. 

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16 February 28 - March 13, 2018 Chicago Street Journal 

The Woodson Library 


common goal and bring positive 

changes to our city.” 

The branch was named for Dr. 

Carter G. Woodson, considered the 

father of African American historiography 

and founder of what has grown 

into what is now widely celebrated as 

African American History Month. 

Woodson is home to the Vivian G. 

Harsh Research Collection, the largest 

African American history and literature 

collection in the Midwest. The 

Harsh Collection is a resource for 

researchers from around the country 

and the world. In tribute to Woodson 

and Harsh, the first Black librarian in 

the Chicago Public Library system, 

film with digital images of Carter G. 

Woodson and Vivian Harsh were 

applied to glass on south and southeast 

elevations of the building. 

“Libraries afford resourceful anchors 

in strong neighborhoods, providing 

places for life-long learners to 

discover and explore,” said Alderman 

Carrie M. Austin, 34th Ward. 

“Through the committed partnership 

between the city, CPL and our community, 

we have an opportunity to 

read, learn and develop at every level 

of life.” 

“Woodson Library provides our 

patrons with safe learning and gathering 

spaces for the children and families 

of the entire south side community,” 

said Anthony A. Beale, 9th 

Ward. “Libraries serve as community 

anchors, and today we celebrate the 

new opportunities that will come from 

this vital investment.” 

The Harsh Collection contains a 

wealth of documentation of the Black 

experience, focused on Illinois. Its 

holdings include 70,000 books, many 

of them rare; 500 periodical titles, 

current and retrospective; more than 

100 microfilm research collections, 

bringing together the most significant 

primary source materials from other 

Black Studies research collections 

across the country. Among the most 

significant and unique materials at the 

Harsh Research Collection are its 

manuscript holdings including The 

Illinois Writers Project / "Negro in 

Illinois" Papers; original manuscripts 

by Richard Wright, Langston Hughes 

and Arna Bontemps; and the Abbott- 

Sengstacke Family Papers, 1890- 

1997. 

New collections include Milton O. 

Davis Papers, AMF Midway Postal 

Retirement Organization Archives, 

Coalition to Save the South Shore 

Country Club Archives, People for 

Community Recovery Archives, and 

the Philip Sang Papers. During the 

closure, the Philip Sang Papers, manuscript 

materials and memorabilia on 

slavery and abolitionism, were completely 

digitized. 

“The reopening of the Carter G. 

Woodson library is testament to the 

power of faith based and civic organizing 

designed to empower the local 

community,” said Monica Moss the 

wife of Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Pastor, 

Trinity United Church of Christ. 

“Trinity United Church of Christ and 

the Endeleo Institute for community 

development strategized with Washington 

Heights residents to place the 

renovation of the Woodson library as 

a civic priority for the city of Chicago. 

This is community organizing, democracy 

and faith based commitment at 

work in the city of big shoulders 

called Chicago.” 

Woodson, in partnership with The 

Endeleo Institute of Trinity United 

Church of Christ, is also focused on 

creating a culture of health in the 

Washington Heights community. 

Woodson will become the city's first 

Dementia-friendly library, providing 

culturally relevant programming and 

education around Alzheimer's disease 

and memory loss. Through grant funding 

received from the Center for Community 

Health at Northwestern University, 

Endeleo expanded its brain 

health focus to lead a newly formed 

library health advisory board comprised 

of academics, researchers, 

health professionals, clergy, and caregivers 

aimed to create awareness 

about Alzheimer’s disease, which 

adversely affects African-Americans 

2:1. This unique partnership meshes 

community development and health to 

foster a culture of health in Washington 

Heights and surrounding communities. 

Woodson is one of three Comcastfunded 

Experience Labs in the CPL 

system. In October 2017, Mayor 

Emanuel and Comcast Senior Executive 

Vice President and Chief Diversity 

Officer David L. Cohen announced 

that Comcast’s $250,000 

Internet Essentials investment with the 

Chicago Public Library Foundation, 

bringing together three CPL programs 

into unique Experience Labs powered 

by Internet Essentials. Current programming 

includes YOUmedia for 

teens, CyberNavigator digital skills 

tutoring for adults, and Maker Lab 

workshops. Woodson will be the first 

CPL location outside of Harold Washington 

to offer patrons Maker Lab 

technology like 3D printing and advanced 

manufacturing tools and programs. 

The additional Experience Lab 

locations will be Whitney M. Young 

Jr and Altgeld branches.



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