Chicago Street Journal - March 2021 Edition

Vol. XVIII No. 3

N A T I O N A L

February Chicago 25—March Street Journal 10, 2021 February 25—March 10, 2021 Page 1

773-595.5229

Chicago Street Journal is acknowledging Black

History Month, as it relates to the present state

of affairs in the stories and with

a mock Q&A with Malcolm X. Page 12

Rev. Jesse Jackson's

Commentary

Scientific community must

reach out to African Americans

to bolster confidence in vaccine

I

received

my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. I was

honored to be accompanied by Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett,

the brilliant African-American viral immunologist who

is a rock star in the field of immunology science.

(Continued on page 4)

Frank Otton

Staff Writer

The purpose of the Housing and

Urban Development (CHA) Act Section

3 of 1968 is to provide economic and

employment opportunities to low- and

very-low income individuals. The Chicago

Housing Authority (CHA) is the

agency for HUD to administer the goal

for public housing residents for at least

51% of the jobs and business contracts

that has not been the case in Chicago

and the nation as a whole, charged over

the years.

Groups have been charging CHA of

robbing the residents of those jobs. One

recently is a coalition of African American

contractors and organizations joined

to draw attention to exclusion of black

workers and contractors from participation

on CHA Section 3 program. The

National Association of Section 3 Companies

(NAS3C) called Black Secton-3

contractors together as guest on the

WVON talk show with host Eddie Read

on Saturdays at 3 pm.

The National

Association of Section

3 Companies

(NAS3C) visiting

WVON talk show

with host Eddie

Read on Saturdays

at 3 pm. Left to

right Mike Sullivan,

Dennis Muhammad,

Revin Fellows.

State Legislation is

being proposed in

honor of the late

Joseph Watkins, a

leading advocate for

public housing resi-

dents around the Section

3 program

Members of the coalition charging

CHA has robbed over 150 small Section

-3 companies from jobs and business

opportunity to enlisting more contracts

to large white firms such as McDonagh

Demolition, Dennis Muhammad spokesperson

said.

Over the years HUD found Chicago

noncompliant with Section 3. Residents

have also filed lawsuits related to the

program. It resulted in HUD and CHA

embark on a five-year deal in 2013. The

end goal is for at least 10 percent of the

total dollar amount of all contracts covered

by Section 3 goes to Section 3

hires.

Still, today hundreds of millions of

dollars were awarded in contracts, yet

has not 10% of those involved Section 3

resident or owned businesses. In which

NAS3C focus on Black residents and

Black contractors cannot work anywhere,

not even in their back yard. Jobs

are the best crime prevention that we

have”.


Rep. Jones introduced the Black Wall

Street Act in Springfield

The Black Wall Street,

originally known as the Negro's

Wall Street, is a term, reportedly

coined by Booker T. Washington,

to describe the segregated black

business district on the south end

of Greenwood Avenue in Greenwood,

Tulsa, Oklahoma during

the early 1900s. It was a prosperous

area, made so partly by the

segregation laws in effect at the

time which restricted African

Americans from spending their


Frank Otton

Staff Writer

Ice Cube is set to meet with US President

Joe Biden over the rapper’s Contract With

Black America (CWBA). The rapper, who

has long been a vocal advocate for racial

equality, previously received a backlash for

permitting the Republicans to add his name

to the campaign of Donald Trump‘s tenure.

As one may surf the internet the Black

Agenda comes from many sources including

Mr. Biden’s website.

Ice Cube’s CWBA, is another drive to

address the Black Agenda in time for

Black History Month.

During last year presidential campaign Ice

Cube tweeted, "I put out the Contract With

Black America ...Both parties contacted me.

Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after

the election. The Trump campaign said it

will go with it”.

No date has been set. Cube says he's

hoping they can make it a face-to-face

meeting where he can also bring in

some of his experts and specialists on

the subject.

The Black Agendas has been surfacing

every since the Civil War, the bloodiest

conflict in American history. But still

persist a semi reckoning the racist legacy

of slavery spurring movements of


O'Shea Jackson, better known

by his stage name Ice Cube, is

an American rapper, actor, and

filmmaker. Ice Cube has apparently

been working with the

Trump Administration to develop

something called the

“Platinum Plan” for black

Americans.

Page 2 February 25—March 10, 2021

Chicago Street Journal

Chicago Corruption: A new

report from the University of Illinois claims Chicago

is the most corrupt city in the US. The report

is based on data from the justice department,

which looked at public corruption convictions

between 1976 and 2019. During that time period,

Chicago had nearly 1800 convictions — that is

more than Los Angeles, which had the second

highest total. New York ranked third. The report

also found that Illinois is the third most corrupt

state in the country.

making this change, we are reversing a policy that misrepresented

our state’s demographic makeup and

skewed its system of representation and resources.”

The criminal justice and police reform package was

authored by the Black Caucus after months of feedback

from advocates, lawmakers and communities. The final

version of the bill included Ford’s No Representation

Without Population Act, and represents the culmination

of a decade of work from Ford pushing the proposal.

By reversing the process of “prison gerrymandering,”

Ford is hopeful that disadvantaged communities will

receive greater attention as downstate voting imbalances

are addressed.

4308 S. Calumet Ave.

The 43Green proposal in Bronzeville is a mixedincome,

transit-oriented development along the CTA

Green Line with 99 residential units and 24 parking

spaces. The 10-story building will include first-floor

retail, 50 affordable units and 49 market-rate units.

Bar Betting on Violence in

Chicago, New York Authorities

are investigating a Long Island bar that posted on Instagram

that it was taking bets on whether Chicago or

New York City would see more shootings over Labor

Day weekend. The Cliffton, a bar in Patchogue, New

York, shared photos of a paper grid hung in the bar

with patrons placing bets on the number of shootings in

the two cities, Newsday reported.

Ford’s “No Representation

Without Population Act” Signed

into Law by Governor - a landmark

criminal justice reform House Bill 3653, signed by

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, highlighting

his “No Representation Without Population

Act” measure that will require incarcerated individuals

to be counted at their home address for redistricting

purposes, not their prison location.

This February Rep. Ford said,

“We reversed a reckless political

policy that disadvantaged residents

and the communities they call

home,” Ford continued to say. “Most

of the state’s prisoners are Black and

Latino residents of Chicago, but they

have been counted as residents of

downstate prisons helping to boost

populations in districts they hardly would call home. By

Chicago city council granted Emmett

Till home occupied by 14-

year-old who was lynched in

1955 and his mother landmark status 6427 S St Lawrence

Ave, Chicago, IL The 2,400-square-foot structure

was purchased in October 2020 by Blacks in

Green, headed by The Founder - Naomi Davis, an

organization that serves as "a bridge and catalyst"

to develop green, self-sustaining, mixed-income,

walkable-villages in African American communities,

according to its website.

Rush Introduces Legislation to Invest

$100 Billion in Nation’s Youth Workforce;

Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) announced

the introduction of

the Jobs Now Youth Employment

Act (H.R. 8839),

which would require the

Department of Labor to

make increased funds available

for youth workforce

investment activities in areas

experiencing especially

high rates of long-term unemployment.

These activities

would include conducting research related to meeting

the education and employment needs of eligible

youth, as well as the supporting of career services and

financial literacy programs for young people from

struggling and often overlooked communities. “

The Jobs Now Youth Employment Act directs the

Secretary of Labor to make financial resources available

to local areas based on the relative number of longterm

unemployed individuals in each local area, compared

to the total number of long-term unemployed


What was Barack Obama thinking in 2000, when he was just in the

background?

Former President Donald Trump was right when he said in 1998 if

he ran for president he would run as a republican because

they would believe anything he

say. All Facts; 20 Sexual assault allegations,

17 Criminal investigations, 10

acts of Obstruction of justice, 100+

Secret meetings with Russians, 2 Indictments

campaign finance Fraud,

and 210,000 thousand people dead

due to his Negligence and Down

Playing the virus. Those republicans

really see him as the Godfather of

politics, and word to be UnZip did

Black Republicans like Paul McKinney

and publisher of CSJ drink the kool-aid being republicans.

Former President Donald Trump has submitted a statement of appeal

to an oversight board funded by Facebook in a bid to rejoin the platform.

The decision is expected to take around two and a half months.

Speaking of Paul McKinney and maybe half of Black men in Chicago,

they should be aware of their comrades of thousands formerly

incarcerated people in Florida are being kept from the polls due to a

modern-day poll tax that requires them to pay off fines to the state.

These returning citizens are disproportionately a third being Black.

Well if that happen in Chicago as with taking people cars. That would

be one stone and two my knock downs.

Marcus D. Jefferson says Rewards Gift To You, Seniors

Do Not Have To Make Any Mortgage Payments, American

Hero Veterans Pay No Closing Costs! Listen Carefully

Then Call Me Directly At 708-663-0218 For All Of

The Details And Qualifications For Your REWARDS!

As the Chicago Tribune is moving to new ownership,

Beverly Reed Scott, former Chicago Defender reporter

and CSJ Associate Publisher is looking on to a CSJ in

the south burbs.

Campaign organizer hired gun and creator of

Chicago Street Journal’s the UnZip column, Ziff Sistrunk

is reporting coming back to Chicago from Hollywood.

Who would dare to move Jesus?!

“A newspaper is

the center of a community,

it's one of

the tent poles of the

community, and

that's not going to

be replaced by Web

sites and blogs”.

Michael Connelly

Publisher and Editor: Ron Carter

Administration: Cheri Gilbert,

Writers: Donnell Robinson, Frank Otton,

Gregory Thomas, Briyana Kelly (BK)

Circulation: Roosevelt Martin, Harold

Lucus, Temple Of Mercy Association

(TOMA) Photographers: Parthenia Luke

Chicago ‘South’ Street Journal founded in

1993

c/o BOP: 642-644 East 79th Street, Chgo, Ill.

E-mail: ChicagoStJournal@aol.com

773.595.5229

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Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at ChicagoStreetJournal,

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.

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. CSJ

assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited

editorial or graphic material. All rights

in letters and unsolicited editorial or graphic

material will be treated as unconditionally

assigned for publication and copyright purposes.

Material may be printed without written

permission, upon credit given to CSJ and

source with requested.

Chicago Street Journal February 25—March 10, 2021 Page 3

(Continued from page 1)

resistance that calls for The Black

Agenda: Many Black leadership has presented

and had some leverage in civic and

human rights including Booker T. Washington,

the Underground Railroad, the

Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma to

Montgomery March, The 10 Platforms of

the Marcus Movement, the Black Panther

Party, The Nation of Islam to the Million

Man March agenda, In 1972, several

thousand African

Americans, representing

many different political

persuasions, came together

in Gary, Indiana

for the National Black

Political Convention. The

Black Agenda has been an ongoing presentation

from the federal, state and local

elected officials and on to the Black Lives

Matter movement. In Chicago there is the

National black Agenda Consortium.

When rapper Ice Cube noted that he’d

worked with the Trump campaign to implement

what he calls his CWBA https://

w w w . y u m p u . c o m / e n / d o c u m e n t /

read/63585404/cwba. Cube said he is not

endorsing Trump for reelection; he took

issue with leftists who shamed him for even

talking to the Republican president.

The question was asked by host Herb Howard,

“Why are we so quick to celebrate the

Joe Biden presidential victory, other than

the defeat of the worst president of the U.S.

Donald Trump as many claim. What will

change about Black American economic

and cultural circumstances as a result? And

how will the Biden Administration be held

accountable? Economic parity is one that

clearly still remains unanswered

in Black History

Month.

Cube addressed banking,

police and prison

reform, elimination of all

Confederate statues,

federal funding of “baby

bonds” starting with

$1,000 at birth, among

other reforms to support

the Black community in

order to earn the “support of the Black

vote.”

Ice Cube said “Trump campaign made

some adjustments to their plan after talking

to us about the CWBA.”

Trump campaign proposed the “Platinum

Plan” that would include creating 3 million

new jobs in the Black community over the

next four years increasing access to capital

by nearly $500 billion and strengthening

Trump’s immigration policies to protect

” With each new generation comes

a new responsibility and in this millennium

our responsibilities and

our paths are clear…

The new generations of leaders are

charged with the mission to build

upon the previous Black American

Conventions’ Agendas and more

importantly, develop a sustainable

infrastructure for the advancement

and realization of our National

Black Agenda.“

There is still the historic

presidency of Mr. Barack

Obama as the first Black

president. A Black president

in which there was

not a sure vision of a Black

agenda.

American jobs, according to his website.

In a release by the Congressional Black

Caucus (CBC) in September 2020 on the

Platinum Plan, it said, “Don’t be fooled.

Thirty nine days; you won’t hear another

word about a Platinum Plan. If he was serious

about economic empowerment in Black

communities, he would have listened to the

CBC when we met with him in 2017 to tell

him our priorities. Instead,

he never even

read our 140-page proposal

and went on to

embolden white supremacists

and give tax

cuts to himself and his

billionaire friends.”

Cube said, “I told everybody

that, you know,

I’m not playing politics

with this. I’m willing to

meet with anybody who could bring this to

life and make it a reality,” he said. “They

(Trump Campaign) listened, heard what I

had to say, and pumped up their plan and

presented it to the people on September, I

believe, 24.”

Biden campaign material has highlighted

that African Americans can never have a

fair shot at the American Dream so long as

entrenched disparities are allowed to qui-


Petition

Developed by Black Wall Street Chicago

Dearborn Homes 26th and 30th and State

Street of Chicago, is considered a ‘Food Desert’

based on the low-income tracts with a

substantial number or proportion of the population

has low access to supermarkets or large

grocery stores. Low-income tracts are characterized

by either a poverty rate equal to or

greater than 20 percent.

Coming out of August being National Black

Business Month of 2020 a grand announcement

that the term 'Food Desert' is predicted will not

to be identified for residents of Dearborn

Homes in the future. The public housing development,

one of the last of Chicago Public

Housing (CHA) has been without a food store

of any sort since Don’s Food Mart closed in

1996.

Dearborn Homes 660 housing units with an

estimated population of 2,600 residents (A long

with South Common, east of Dearborn on

Michigan Ave of 916 unites, the new development

of SouthBright on 23rd and State’s and

another 300 units are located in the Bronzeville

area of the Douglas community. This truly is the

optimal time to reintroduce a grocery Store for

Dearborn Homes. It goes along with the many

improvements that have been developed over the

past years. Residents have wanted a store to

serve the tenants since Don’s Food Mart closed.

This is a golden opportunity to raise the standard

of living for the residents which will in turn raise

the standard of living for all Chicagoans.

Black Wall Street Chicago (BWSC), revisited

the residences desire after 29th street was

proposed as an honorary name for Don Carter,

by outreaching to various groups for support,

which has gain great interest from the west and

south sides of Chicago with potential investors.

An ad hoc support group has been formed by

BWSC called the Dearborn Associates for a

Grocery Store (DAGS) consist of the support

from Residents of Dearborn, The Black Mall,

National Block Club University, Bronzeville

Visitors and Conventions, Ujima, Inc., St. Paul

Church of God in Christ, Congressman Danny

Davis and State Senator Mattie Hunter. In addition,

support and the Carter-Mitchell Family of

Don Carter.

Mayor Lightfoot Chicago’s INVEST South/

West is a well investment initiative to support

Dearborn Homes residents as part of her key

development plans on the South and West Sides

of Chicago and for what she said to address

communities that have been left out and underserved

in Chicago.

Reasons for signing

See why other supporters like Carmlla

Sallis, and Darva Watkins are signing,

why this petition is important to them, and

share your reason for signing.

Karen Walker, I support the grocery store

petition.

Stephen Zollman, Food is a

basic right that historically,

marginalized communities

like this deserve.


Forg

did n

like

the s




From Dr. Corbett’s

post at the National Institutes

of Allergy and Infectious

Diseases, she led the

team that performed the

scientific miracle of developing

and testing the Moderna

vaccine in record

time. Now she is working

to overcome the widespread

hesitancy in the

black community about

vaccination. Vaccination is

imperative to save lives,

particularly for African

Americans, disproportionately

the greatest victims of the virus.

COVID-19 cases and deaths — now numbering

over a staggering 375,000 in the U.S.

alone — continue to shatter records on a daily

basis. The rampaging pandemic has exposed

once more the extreme disparities in our nation.

The black community has suffered a hospitalization

rate 3.7 times greater and a death

rate 2.8 times greater than the white community.

This reflects the harsh reality of inadequate

health care in African-American communities.

Many impoverished urban communities

are health care deserts with hospitals and

clinics unavailable. African Americans disproportionately

work for employers that do not

provide health care. Those who make too

much for Medicaid eligibility are particularly

at risk.

African Americans are also disproportionately

essential workers — the nurses, bus drivers,

transit workers, grocery store clerks and

others — who must go to work and are at far

greater risk. The mass incarceration of African

Americans, which continues to this day, also

creates far greater risk, since prisoners — like

those in nursing homes — are at far greater

risk.

Now the vaccines offer the potential of

staunching the march of the pandemic and

saving millions of lives. For understandable

reasons — remember the infamous Tuskegee

experiments? — African Americans harbor

suspicions about scientists and vaccines. A

survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found

that nearly one-half (48%) of Blacks and over

one-third (38%) of Latinos were not confident

that their needs had been taken into account in

the development of the vaccines.

“We know our history, and we understand

from where this hesitancy comes,” Dr. Corbett

told the Chicago Sun-Times. “On the one

hand, we are the communities most plagued

by the pandemic. On the other hand, we are

communities least likely to get vaccinated.”

Corbett’s role in leading the development

of the Moderna vaccine in itself should calm

some of the fears. Both of the vaccines currently

approved for emergency use — the

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — have proven

to be greater than 94% effective at preventing

COVID-19 and even more effective at preventing

severe cases. The clinical trials involved

tens of thousands of participants, including

people of diverse backgrounds, races,

ages, gender and those with other ailments like

diabetes. One in 10 of those tested were Black,

numbering in the thousands.

That reality enables scientists like Corbett

to have confidence in treating African Americans

with the vaccine.

Racial violence plagues this country to this

day. For the country to reach herd immunity,

more than three in every four persons must be

vaccinated. If African Americans or Latinos

decline to be vaccinated, all will remain at

risk. The past cannot be erased. But the present

offers hope with Dr. Corbett’s leadership

providing reassurance. To help provide education

on the need for vaccination, Rainbow

Push has partnered with the National Medical

Association, led by its president Leon

McDougle. NAM is the largest national organization

representing African-American

physicians and their patients.

What’s clear is that the scientific community

and community leaders must reach out

and work hard to ensure that African Americans

gain the confidence to get vaccinated.

This won’t be easy. But with the leadership of

Dr. Corbett and others, and with a new administration

getting serious about providing

the resources for mass vaccination and for

outreach into the communities most impacted,

lives can be saved.

I was honored to receive my first dose, and

I strongly urge others to join me.

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

perfecttouchsalon.us

The Datrell Davis

Memorial Year Anniversary

By: Lionel Nixon

celebration of the memory of Dantrell Davis

a 7 year old child with murdered in Cabrini

Green, CHA public housing development in

1992, a recommitment to saving our children

from gun violence and renewing the

historic "Chicago Citywide Gang Truce'.

Keynote speaker at the event was Ms. Arnett

Freeman, the mother of Dantrell Davis. Ms.

Freeman is actively working with others on

a daily basis to renew the gang truce to obtain

peace among the youth and a reduction

of gun violence across the city of Chicago. .

Maurice Perkins, Executive Director at the

Inner City Youth and Adult Foundation Inc.

founded convened the anniversary celebration

event at the organization's headquarters

the Swift Mansion, 4500 S Michigan and

was a key figure in a Chicago citywide coalition

in establishing the Gang Truce in


1993...Arnett Freeman said in her remarks

that "I have to live with the death of my son

every single day." Remembering the gang

truce she said, “That’s one thing about my

Black men, they don’t play about hurting

babies and they felt the responsibility of

stepping up and stopping it,”

Manacari Sr., owner of Mancari Chrysler at

the request of the Inner City Youth Foundation

Inc., donated a Toyota SUV to Ms.

Freeman.

Dantrell Davis would have been 38 years

old this year.

. In celebrating his life at the event there was

a lot of love and hope for the future in the

room.

Bookkeeping

Accountant

Income tax,

Insurance

Business Service and

Notary services.

11513 S Michigan Ave,

Chicago

(773) 568-8181



Kenwood Oakland Community Organization,

reported Elected officials from the

county, city, state and federal government

attended and made a commitment to

work to #SaveMercy, collaborate with the

community and collaborate to make health

equity on the south side a reality.

We urge you to attend the next virtual

meeting of the Illinois Health Facilities and

Services Review Board as they decide if they

F A S T

Hours

(Mon—Sat)

9 am - 8 pm

(Sun)

9 am - 5 pm

We

Sell used

Top Line

Tires

D E P E N D A B L E

will approve Trinity Health's proposal to

open an urgent care center at Mercy instead

of a full hospital! Trinity Health Corporation

and Mercy Care Center is proposing an outpatient

facility at Mercy at a cost of

$13,142,898 with expected completion date

is September 30, 2021.

We need a full service hospital, not an

urgent care center at Mercy Hospital and a

moratorium on hospital closures NOW!

A state board voted to deny an application

Tuesday by the owner of Mercy Hospital &

Medical Center to open a new outpatient care

center on the South Side.

The board voted 2-3 against the application

after hours of testimony over the proposed

center, with critics saying it’s no replacement

for a full-service hospital and will

leave community members, many of whom

are Black and Latino, without adequate

health care. Proponents of the center said

more outpatient care, such as urgent care

services, is needed on the South Side to help

keep people from requiring hospitalization.

Trinity Health, which last year announced

plans to close Mercy Hospital, had proposed

opening the 13,000-square-foot outpatient

care center at 3753 S. Cottage Grove Ave.,

about two miles from where Mercy now sits.

That $13 million center would offer testing

such as CT scans and x-rays, urgent care and

services to connect patients with other providers.

It was slated to open Sept. 30.

The Health Facilities and Services Review

Board voted last month against Trinity

Health’s application to close Mercy Hospital

in Bronzeville, citing concerns over continuity

of care and access to health care for community

members.

Trinity Health has asked the board to revisit

the proposed closure of Mercy, and the

board is scheduled to discuss the issue at its

March meeting. Trinity has two weeks to ask

to re-appear before the board or submit more

information to the board about the outpatient

center.

The vote Tuesday to deny the application

to open the center is separate from the vote to

close the hospital. But some of those who

spoke in opposition to the outpatient center

Tuesday said they believe Trinity wants to

open the center as justification for closing the

hospital.

Alderman Sophia King, 4th, said she and

many other local elected officials oppose the

hospital’s plan to close the hospital and open

the outpatient center.

“We have watched Trinity callously call

the decimation of health care in our community

‘transformation,’” King said. “What they

are calling transformative care is little more

than imaging machines and urgent care.”

But Diane Hargreaves, chief human resources

officer at Mercy, said a better model

of health care is needed on the South Side.

“We all know we need a better health network

and one of the best ways we can do that

is to create more outpatient care so local

residents don’t end up in the emergency

room,” Hargreves said.

Board members who voted to deny the

application, including Dr. Linda Rae Murray,

said they had too many concerns over the

proposal to approve it.

The center is supposed to focus partly on

coordinating care for patients with other area

providers, but Murray said she had not seen

enough support from other area health care

providers for the center. She also said she

doubted Trinity would still want to open the

center if it weren’t planning to close the hospital.

She said the mix of services that would

be offered by the center wouldn’t make sense

as a replacement for those offered by the

hospital, or even in conjunction with the

hospital, were it to stay open.

Board member Gary Kaatz voted in favor

of the center, saying it was independent from

Trinity’s request to close Mercy and that he’s

seen the outpatient care center model work

well in other places.

The hospital announced its closure in

July, after a planned merger between Mercy,

Advocate Trinity Hospital in Calumet

Heights, South Shore Hospital in South Chicago

and St. Bernard Hospital in Englewood

fell apart in May. That merger was abandoned

after state lawmakers decided not to

set aside money for the project, citing a lack

of details.

Mercy was the first chartered hospital in

the city — starting in an old rooming house

near present-day Rush Street and the Chicago

River in 1852 before moving to the South

Side during the Civil War, according to the

hospital. It was founded by the Sisters of

Mercy.

But as of last summer, Mercy had monthly

operating losses of $4 million and needed

another $100 million to maintain its aging

facility.



Randoph Norris,

This is a must for

the community of

Douglas

Gloria A Carter,

I'm signing this

petition because

Don Carter was my

Husband. I know

personally that he

and my Brother-inlaw

William (Bill) devoted tremendous

amount of dedication to the

growth and development of Dearborn

Homes and it's Youths. Don's generosity

to people in need was the same

as he would give to his family. I

believe he felt Dearborn Homes was

part of his family. The Douglas

Community needs another local store

to supply the needs of the total Community.

Gloria Carter

Ron Carter, This is a long over

due agenda, that is not only good

for Dearborn Homes, but the

community national at large

Theresa (TJ)

Hughes, I am a

new resident in

Bronzeville community.

I want to

be active in what is

happening here.

Nita Marchant,

It's a good cause

Anthony

Gardner, I’m

signing this petition

because it

needs to be in the

neighborhood.

Doria wosk, OPEN SMALL

BUSINESSES TO SERVE OUR

COMMUNITIES

Kimberly Green, I’m signing

because we need our city to stop

providing lip service and actually

do something to help our communities

grow and prosper.

Don and William were my cousins.

They were

loved and respected

in their neighborhood,

amongst their

peers and family.

They left a legacy

that needs to be picked up, revived,

sustained and expanded

upon. Let’s show Chicago who

the Carter family is and lead by

example. This initiative can serve

as a model for other African

American neighborhoods

throughout the country.

Dearborn Homes LAC

2940 South State #104. Chicago, IL 60616

Dear President Wallace,

My name is Syron Smith of the National Block Club

University. We are an Illinois based not for profit organization

focused on making the U.S. safer since 2003. We

track, monitor, and counter acts of violence across 167 of

America’s most dangerous neighborhoods.

I am writing this letter on behalf of Ron Carter of Chicago

Street Journal. As you may know Ron has been on

the forefront of economic enrichment for neighborhoods for decades now.

His family use to own and manage a store near Dearborn Homes. When

he explained to me what you guys are attempting to do, I immediately

asked what we can do to support it. I am listing three top reasons we support

your efforts:

#1 A answer to the food desert challenge for our local residents.

#2 Pride in working together towards a common goal.

#3 Prevent outsiders from coming in and creating more expensive options

for tradition residents.

Please accept this letter as a recommendation to the local alderman and

Mayor.

Sincerely,

Syron “Sy” Smith, Founder & President

National Block Club University


individuals in all local areas, for the

purposes of investing in youth workforce

investment activities.

IDES Applies for

Additional Federal

Unemployment Aid;

Officials Express

‘Grave Concerns’ The

Illinois Department of Employment

Security has officially submitted its

application to the federal government

for additional funds for unemployed

workers, but expressed

“grave concerns” about how the

program would work, and whether it

would benefit those it’s intended to

help. According to an IDES press

release, the department has filed

paperwork to apply for the benefits,

which would pay eligible unemployed

individuals an additional

$300 per week due to the ongoing

coronavirus pandemic.

Nominations for the

next Studs Terkel

Community Media

Awards, and will be open

through March 31! Originally

scheduled for the fall of 2020 and

postponed due to the COVID-19

pandemic, the event is now slated to

happen in the spring of 2021 (date

TBA soon). Nominations that were

submitted last year will still be included.

“At a time when there’s so

much mis- and disinformation out

there, who are the journalists who

have kept you grounded in truth?

Who’s told the stories that few others

are telling? Whose Twitter profile

do you look to when the news is

overwhelming, and you need to hear

reporting from someone you trust?”

said Mareva Lindo, Public Narrative

Project Manager and Blog Editor.

Free Breakfast Program

Inspired By Black Panthers

Offers Kids Vegan Meals

In South Shore; Community

organizations are partnering to hand

out dozens of healthy breakfasts to

n e i gh b o r h o o d

kids every weekday

morning at

the Quarry, 2423

E. 75th St. They

also deliver 30

meals daily to a

local youth center

and children's

shelter. Several

dozen grab-andgo

meals are

available 7:30-9 a.m. Monday-

Friday at the Quarry Event Center,

2423 E. 75th St.

Chefs from Chatham-based

restaurant Soul Veg City have prepared

the meals since October. A

breakfast delivery program has began

where one can sign up here. A

total of 30 meals are also delivered

every weekday to the Rebecca K.

Crown Youth Center, 7601 S. Phillips

Ave., and a nearby children’s

shelter. The South Shore initiative is

directly inspired by the Black Panther

Party’s Free Breakfast for

School Children program. “Fred

Hampton is my favorite revolutionary,”

Cartman said.

Organizers need donations of

Donors can call or text the Quarry at

312-259-1143 to schedule a dropoff.

Soul Veg City currently operates

a pop-up location at the Quarry

as the restaurant continues renovations.

255 E. 63rd St.—The Chicago Transit Authority's rail car facility

planned for Greater Grand Crossing includes a two-story, 61,000-squarefoot

maintenance building. The $63 million project will create 114 construction

jobs and an estimated 23 permanent jobs.

Aldermen Consider Push To Rename Lake Shore Drive For Jean Baptiste

Point Du Sable. Du Sable, who was of African descent, is considered

the first permanent non-Indigenous settler in Chicago. Members of

the City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way met last December

to consider a proposal (O2019-7918) to rename Lake Shore Drive to

"Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Drive,"



Honorable JB Pritzker

Governor – State of Illinois

Office of the Governor

207 State House

Springfield, IL 62706

Dear Governor Pritzker:

W

e, the National Black

Agenda Consortium

(NBAC Chicago), the Coalition of

Black Community Organizations, civic

and religious leaders and other constituents coalesce

to speak with one voice regarding the obvious neglect,

blatant disregard, and disrespect toward Black communities

and neighborhoods during this COVID-19

pandemic, for which you committed to assisting us to

rebuild and restore our communities and businesses.

Governor, by your own words, you acknowledged

that it was hard being Black in America. However,

you have not responded justly to the plight that we

continue to experience. You are quite aware of the

systemic racism that continues to plague our Black

families, neighborhoods, and businesses with economic

disenfranchisement, high unemployment and a

myriad of other debilitating conditions. We have been

disrespected in the most egregious way. We continue

to be overlooked by your office as we watch our hardearned

tax dollars given to others for pet-projects,

sanctuary cities, and such like. This is totally unacceptable

to us!

This coalition demands that our tax dollars and

other resources be returned to our neighborhoods and

communities. We have been silent far too long, as we

arerepeatedly misrepresented, and our vote taken for

granted.

Governor, as you well know, much of the inner

city, the south and west sides of Chicago, are subjected

to the highest levels of poverty which enables

and emboldens violence, vandalism, and overall community

decay. Rest assured; we are not “begging” for

that which is rightly ours…we are demanding the

monies that legitimately belong to the Black taxpayers

be released in order for us to do what is necessary.

Our communities and businesses have a right to

thrive.

The Black community is in a State of Emergency;

this is why our very own State Representative

LaShawn K. Ford submitted to you the COVID-19

relief bill for you to National Black Agenda Consortium

– Chicago (NBAC) WWW . NATIONAL-

BLACKAGENDACONSORTIUM . ORG issue as an

Executive Order to provide financial relief to the

Black communities to help us rebuild….we strongly

support this. We understand it is in your purview and

responsibility to work on our behalf as a people, as

you do everyone else. However, we are still awaiting

a response from you.

For the record, approximately 94% of the Black

community voted for you in your gubernatorial run,

hopeful that you would honor your commitment to

help our communities. From our perspective, it appears

that Black people are being shortchanged again.

It is our desire to work with you in order to address

this matter. We demand that you acknowledge and

respect our people by signing the Executive Order as

presented by State Representative LaShawn K. Ford.

Silence is not an option. Remember, “Black people

have it hard.” Remember, “Black people vote”

Sincerely,

Dr. Gale Frazier , Chairman

Craig K. Wimberly

Vice-Chairman

WE DEMAND A SEAT

AT THE TABLE!

Dear Governor

Pritzker:

T

he Illinois State

Black Chamber

of Commerce is

fighting mad. Despite there

being 144,000 Black-owned businesses

in Illinois that represent extremely diverse

industries and generate millions in

taxable revenue for the state, Black

businesses continue to be overlooked

and undervalued by the State of Illinois.

The Central Management Services,

which oversees the State’s more

than 80 agencies, has an annual operating

budget of $84.5 billion and is

tasked with hiring the contractors and

vendors that enable the state to take

care of state business – delivering efficient,

reliable services to the people of

Illinois. Sadly, very little of this annual

budget and accompanying contracts are

ever awarded to Black-owned businesses,

even though Illinois' Business

Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and

Persons with Disabilities Act (30 ILCS

575/) establish, as an aspirational goal,

that not less than 20 percent of the total

dollar amount of State contracts be

awarded to businesses owned by minorities,

females, and persons with disabilities.

The Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce

(ILBCC) was created to help

right such inequities. Our mission is

simple. We exist to empower Black

enterprises in order to strengthen Black

communities. Our goal is for all Black

businesses in Illinois to become sustainable,

high-growth enterprises by assisting

with building their capacity to compete

effectively for local, state, and

federal commercial contracting. Crafting

solutions that directly help reduce

economic disparities that impact our

communities is what the State Black

Chamber does.

Recently, we joined forces with

former employees of the Illinois Department

of Transportation to demand

an investigation of the recurrent

and documented systemic racism at

IDOT, which has a staggering budget of

$23.4 billion this year. We’re working

together to ensure that Black Americans

get a fair chance to reap the benefits of

the tax dollars they’ve paid into the

Federal Highway Fund, with reference

to internal and external hiring as well as

subcontracting opportunities. We’ve

seen it time and again where state contracts

created with the purpose of improving

minority communities are not

awarded to those most qualified to

reach these audiences – entrepreneurs

who look like us.

Just take the U.S. Census Bureau.

For the 2020 Census, a White-owned

agency was awarded a whopping halfbillion-dollar

contract with the U.S.

Census Bureau, even though the campaign

was aimed at providing community

outreach to underserved and hardto-reach

populations ... in other words,

Black and Brown folks. Multicultural

agencies were brought on board as subcontractors,

but even when we are

awarded the contracts, the actual budgets

allocated to do effective programming

and place impactful ad buys with

local and regional Black media is typically

minuscule.

The disparity in State spending,

across all industries, with Black-owned

companies is unacceptable. We contend

that things would have been much different

if Black businesses had a seat at

the table when that decision was being

made. That’s why the ILBCC, its members,

and 12 affiliate chambers and

chapters are calling for a meeting with

decision-makers in Springfield to discuss

these issues. In addition, the State

of Illinois has a dismal track record of

awarding contracts to Black-owned PR

and advertising agencies whose work

helps fuel Black media – newspapers,

radio stations, magazines.

How

Long,

Too

Long

In 2019 US Census Bureau estimated

48,221,139 African

Americans in the United States

which is 14.7% of the total

American population of 328.2

Million. Looking at what the

U.S. did for the Stimus Checks,

African Americans could have

had reparations Years ago I could

have just put on my three-piece Guccisuit,

sat down and remained silent

with all of the academic, government

and especially the street training

I had received at that point in my

life

I knew enough and had all the right

connections back then.

I had wanted to; I could have been a

very, very financially rich man today.

! I just kept thinking about this.

"Throughout history, it has been the

inaction of those

who could have

acted; the indifference

of those who

should have known

better; the silence of

the voice of justice

when it mattered

most; that has made

it possible for evil to

triumph."

Haile Selassie

Two decades later

I'm not trying to

prove nothing to

nobody. I really not

concerned about

what anybody thinks

about how I'm getting down politically.

The late Mayor Harold Washington

told us "If you can't win be a!"

The election of November 3rd we

were sweating the hell out of both

parties for a commitment to Reparations

for Black Americans and a

"Contract with Black America."

have actively been involved in political

elections at all levels for more

than five decades and I have put

everything on the line for a number

of Democratic and so called independent

candidates making significant

contributions to their campaigns

only to be thrown under the bus by

too many of them after

much hard work and effort.

I have endured political

attacks from their

political enemies without

any assistance from them

with the exception of a

few.

Many instances business,

political bosses and their palace

guards "staff" have more influence

and control in many of their undertakings

than they do!

know a lot of people and many of

them know and will tell you that I

have put my career and livelihood

on the line to push back on the depopulation

of Black people, gerrymandering

and unfair redistricting,

the digital divide, the privatization

of our parks, saving the South Shore

Cultural Center from demolition

along with the preservation of the

nature center sanctuary, abuse by the

Chicago Park district in the use of

temporary employees, the unfair

discrimination tottery practices

against black business in the issuance

of government contracts in the

state of Illinois, "spatial deconcentration";

the inappropriate demolition

of public housing and eviction

of residents without appropriate

replacement housing, the elimination

of project based HUD Section 8

housing assistance at the 303 unit

New Englewood

Terrance

Apartments, a

primarily

Black occupied

housing

complex

which was the

largest source

of Section 8

Assistance in

Englewood

and others.

Its highest

level the Contract

with

Black America

is bigger

than Trump or

Biden within

the context that every other ethnic

group in America is telling both

parties what they want except black

people a practice that must stop.

Is a long-range process setting the

stage in perpetuity for Black Americans

that we cannot just ask but

demand public policy that is focused

after more than 400 years Slavery

and "Jim Crow", solely on the interests

of Black Americans for change!

"Moving Forward!"

By: Lionel Nixon

National Correspondent

We are pleased to introduce the


Partnership exchange and, with it, a wide range

of opportunities to help your business or organization

expand its marketing reach. Our participation

will be based on our mutual goals to the power of

community engagement. Partner with us as we play

tribute to MALCOLM X, or any event you are holding

in an innovative way - on your terms. And connect

to our readers media operations in print, online, and

coming the re-launch talk show, and Broadcast vision.

Call BK at


Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-

Ohio) on Thursday was

elected the next chair

of the Congressional

Black Caucus (CBC)


Black Lives Matter Founders Alicia Garza,

Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, nominated

for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for bringing

attention to racial inequities around the

world, has all so presented a Black Agenda.

etly chip away at opportunity.

Biden campaign pointed out there

need a comprehensive agenda for

African Americans with ambition

that matches the scale of the challenge

and with recognition that race

-neutral policies are not a sufficient

response to race-based disparities.

Biden's, Ice Cube’s or any other

Black Agenda presented since the

Civic War ended of 1865 has

touched on the same points.

There is still the historic presidency

of Mr. Barack Obama as the

first Black president. An agenda

that was touched on many Black

presidential candidates, such as

Shirley Chisum, Jesse Jackson,

Elverage Clever of the Black Panther

Party, Al Sharpton, and others.

But the first Black president

was not a sure vision of a Black

political agenda, more of a rising of

issues.

Critics on the left wish the former

president had gone further to

address climate change, immigration

reform, and racial inequality,

and a Black Agenda, while critics

on the right can’t find much of anything

they’ll miss. For the most part

former President Obama seems

poised to have left office on a high

note.

However, the history books still

have not been written on the Black

Agenda from Obama watch going

into the presidency of Joe Biden.

From the position of a community

organizer to president of the

U.S., Obama would surely be recognized

as the Black political

“Messiah” over many others.

As political writer Laura Washington

wrote December 2008: “The

Obama epic offers oaf hope …

Obama’s dodge around race was

exquisitely choreographed. Practically

the only black concerns he has

addressed are his weak nod to affirmative

action and his stumpspeech

admonishments to wayward

black fathers and that trifling

“Cousin Pookie” – he often referenced

in his speeches to black audiences.”

In an interview with American

Urban Radio Networks, a group of

black-owned stations, Obama conceded

that there was “grumbling”

among African-Americans, especially

about his jobs policies. He

rejected the idea that he should pay

special attention to them an argument

as “disingenuous at best, and

an insult at worst.”

Mr. Obama framed it this way: “I

can’t pass laws that say I’m just

helping black folks. I’m the president

of the United States. What I

can do is make sure that I am passing

laws that help all people, particularly

those who are most vulnerable

and most in need. That in turn

is going to help lift up the African-

American community.”

The fact remains Obama was and

still is admired and respected

around the world speaks volumes of

a Black Agenda as the first Black

U.S. president.

Travis Smiley who once held

black agenda forums (year 2010), of

many notable Black leaders at the

same table talks about his new

book, "The Covenant With Black

America - Ten Years Later," a follow

up on his original book, "The

Covenant." He discusses Black

America in the age of the first Black

president and says Obama was not

pressed hard enough to bring about

change in the community.

At key junctures in American

history, African American communities

have hosted political conventions

as a means to, focus on important

issues, and demand effective

action.

The NBAC in a statement declared

in its founding of 2004,

“Today, many of these issues remain

relevant and unresolved. Others

are coming into sharper focus. It

is incumbent upon us to pick up the

Tavis Smiley Black Agenda

Forum 2010

And those of the round table

torch and carry on the mission to

improve the lives of people of African

descent. Our focus should be

trained on empowering people who

reside here in the Unites States, but

also should address how America’s

international policies impact people

of color in other parts of the world.”

The Never-ending story of a

Black Agenda has received attention

from Ice Cube that maybe can

include executing outreach to the

African American community of

equality if not the end to racism.

October Page 10 8—22, February 202025—March 10, 2021


, my “Nigga!” There is power in words. Words

Hey

have weight but perhaps not one other word in

the English language packs as much power, historical, and

contextual fortitude as the “N”-word. The word Negro is

perfectly acceptable as its origin is derived from Portuguese

and Spanish and the Latin word Niger, meaning

black. By the year 1574, whites changed the word to

"Nigger" to offend, degrade, and devalue people of color.

Since then it has grown wings and taken on new meanings.

Your “boy” or your “girl” might call you “My

Nigga,” in this case, it's considered, a good thing. Some

might even be okay if their white friend calls them

“Nigga” or repeats it while singing and swaying along

with a song. In some instances, it may seem endearing.

Other times it may be taken” as fightin’ words, just depends

on who utters it and why.

Never has a word so decidedly raw and divisive, intentionally

offensive, contemptuous, and racist, been so successfully

embedded into society and accepted as normal. Despite

its evocative nature, the “N”-word has shown up in

literary masterpieces and violence

laced lyrics of rap and hip-hop

music. Maybe the most unexpected

place to find the “N”-word

lingering in 2021, is on the lips of

mainstream USA, the young, the

old, and the in-between of every ethnic and economic ilk.

The debate rages on about whether to use or not to use the

word---in all its originally derogatory glory, but at what

cost?

Does the N-word, wielded my

gangsters and gun toting

thugs provoke them to kill?

Jade, a third-year college student, says that she does not use

the word but her Black friends do. She says her white

friends should never use it but she feels that she could if

she chose to. What is the impact of such a complex word

that has experienced multiple transformations while simultaneously

remaining just the same? Over time, the

word born of such insidious and violent undertones has

been manipulated and bastardized by cultural reappropriation.

Comedians shout it out as a way to recontextualize

it to remove the blight and the sting. They

elicit raucous laughter from audiences. On the other hand,

Blacks use it against each other to elicit fear and to signify

impending danger. Bolden, a 19-year old tattoo artist,

uses the word generally and in anger. He sees nothing

Lucretia Vaughn-Bullock

wrong with it because he and his

friends have taken charge of the word

and no one is offended.

There are countless books, articles,

and interviews that discuss and provide

opinions about who, when,

where, why, and how to use, or not

use the “N”-word. One question that

has not been addressed is, does the use of the "N" word

heighten anger? If so, does it also escalate encounters?

We know that the word is often uttered at the onset of and

during violent acts, especially when the perpetrator of the

violence is white and the victim is black. Then we might

say that the violence is racially motivated. This is likely to

escalate a situation. What about black on black violence?

Do words and language have an impact on one’s decision

to commit or escalate violence? Has a certain segment of

the Black population been irreparably harmed by a battered

psyche associated with the "N" word? Does the

word elicit a sense of self-loathing and devaluation? Is it

this self-loathing and denigration that makes some blacks

also devalue life, theirs, and others’?

While one would be hard-pressed to locate a study providing

data that addresses these specific issues it could be argued

that violence might be enhanced through the use of the

“N”-word, especially when there is a racial component.

Perhaps it could also be said that the use of the word

heightens one’s sense of anger, the degree of, and desire

to commit more violence. Does the "N"-

word, wielded by gangsters and gun-toting

thugs provoke them to kill or be more

violent? Probably not, they have likely

become desensitized to the word just as

they have to violence in general.

Whatever the answers to these questions, what can be said

for sure is that the word Nigger is a structurally racist and

offensive term. The architects could not possibly have

known the generationally infinite implications of such a

strategy designed to debase a group of people for the sake

of economics. Although attempts to reclaim the word

have long been underway, the trauma, cruelty, terror, and

systemic oppression at the root of the word will likely live

on in infamy, the struggle to keep it from being uttered by

the wrong people is as real today as it always was. The

solution is likely for us all to throw away the Nigger for

once and for all.

Lucretia Vaughn-Bullock is a program administrator,

freelance writer, and

administrator of the Facebook group

America's History, Issues, Politics, and Satire (AHIPS).


money in white areas. The area reportedly used "black

dollars" instead of U.S. currency to do business inside

the district.

In Chicago there have been seven organizations

with the name of Black Wall Street honoring the

name and over filthy around the country and in South

Africa.

Historical Background –

Black Wall Street

Greenwood is a black neighborhood that first

flourished in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the oil boom of

the early 1900s. It was the largest and wealthiest of

Oklahoma black communities and was known nationally

as the "Black Wall Street". The neighborhood

was a hotbed of jazz and blues in the 1920s. The

scene in Greenwood was so hot, story has it that in

1927 while on tour, Count Basie heard a dance band

in a club in Greenwood and decided to focus on jazz.

In 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot occurred, one of the

nation's worst acts of racial violence. The 35 blocks of

businesses and residences were burned in the Greenwood

District and as many as 300 persons were left

dead, a large majority was black. The Greenwood district

was reduced to rubble after a large-scale civil

unrest known as the Tulsa Race Riot. The Oklahoma

State Legislature passed laws in 2001 aimed at revitalizing

Greenwood, setting up a scholarship fund for

college-bound descendants of riot victims and appropriating

$2 million for a riot memorial. Green-wood

has never fully recovered, but two blocks of the old

neighborhood have been restored and are part of the

Greenwood Historical District.

Today nationally approximately 4% of small business

owners are African American, even though African

Americans make up approximately 13% of the

population. To address this gap and build wealth in

African American communities, May 19, 2007, on the

birth and economic agenda of Malcolm X, the Black

Wall Street-Chicago was founded by Chicago (South)

Street Journal. During its founding the Chicago Urban

League, simultaneously in March of 2007 announced

it is getting out of the social services business and will

focus exclusively on economic development. Moving

forward, CUL stated they will lead with an economic

agenda to drive social change. BWSC identified 14

Black business districts which was integrate a wide

range of activities that illustrates how it serves the

economic agenda. BWSC charged legislation in


Letters to the Editor

Dear

Mr.

Malla Reddy Bokka,

President and Founder

and Mr. Harinder Reddy Puliyala, Executive

President and Founder

Indian Association of Greater Chicago ( IAGC)

C

hicago

Street Journal newspaper is

following up on a story for our next

week publication regarding the relationships

of India business relations in the

African American community. This is in a

result of a member of yours located at 103rd and Aberdeen

Citco gas station.

As a claim of bad community relations to a female customer

there is a boycott of the station. Other issues has has

since arise as follow.

Employment opportunities with India store owners of

51% in parity with the communities population. As it relates

to Federal mandate of leg. E-B 5, if it applies.

Community Investments in the community, such as partnership

and as our readers circulation area to (Black owned

financial institutions.)

Charity to organizations in the area of respected area of

your memberships.

Statement and direct activities of mission of Indian Association

of Greater Chicago ( IAGC) with the African

American communities.

Would your office be so pleased and directed to address

these concerns for publication by February 1, 2021. I have

emailed from your web site as well.

I can also be reached at the number below.

Sincerely

A

s Black History Month comes to a close, the

Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC)

reaffirms our unwavering commitment to advocacy

and action for ending racism. The WBDC is proud to

honor, year-round, Black history and experience, as well as

the many contributions of Blacks to our country’s history.

2020 was notable not only for the pandemic and its unprecedented

challenges, but also as a year during which

there was a mass awakening to both longstanding police

brutality against Blacks and the legacy of racism. The

WBDC was inspired by the peaceful ways in which our

communities came together to demand justice and the dismantling

of the systems and norms that have perpetuated

racial inequality and injustice for centuries.

In 2021, we must strive to do even more and continue to

work together until our diverse country has become a true

model for inclusiveness and equity, offering equality for all

Americans.

The Women’s Business Development Center

February 25—March 10, 2021


Ron Carter Publisher and Editor

o Momma! Gosh those were some

Y fighting words back in the day.

As our Momma, Clinesse

‘Tiny’ (Powell, Spearman) Carter, made

her transition February 7, 2021. She

hinted when are you going to put me in

that old paper of yours and tell the story

of the Woman, from the “Da” Hole, of

Robert Taylor 53rd Street. I thought to

myself ‘When you make some news’.

Well in those 28 years of Chicago (South)

Street Journal she had 3 brief write-ups.

Momma overall have made many

contributions to mark Black History in

which one is starting with Chicago

(South) Street Journal newspaper 28 years

ago. I had $200, my cousin Phyllis had

$200, and my Momma had $200. In directly

if it were not for her it would not be

no Black Wall Street Chicago. This is a

tribute to my Momma, and the Moms for

Black History Month, and Valentines

Day. Being a writer of sort, so bare with

me here.

As we mourn the loss of a dynamic

mother from children, relatives and

friends, the ordeal is recalling how my mom and the moms

silently contributed to Black History month from noble causes

to the foundation of Mother Nature, making reference to how

many can say what came first “The Chicken or the Egg” Not

mentioning the Rooster at all. Even to if Eve was really before

Adam.

From the African to America shores separated from their

children, is marked by the ghastly realities of racism as the

Mothers leans to protecting their sons more than their daughters,

as it was during slavery. How each of them on their

struggle dealing with the Welfare lady: to the gang bangers of

Robert Taylor Homes of the Da Hole (stand to attention when

she and other mothers enter the building and ask 'Mrs. Carter

(Ms. Adams, Ms. Rhodes, Ms. Sanders, Ms. Brown, Ms.

Moore and so on), "Do you need help with your bags?". They

are so many thoughts centered on Black motherhood and the

mothers in particularly the things we want to honor and heal

for them all.

Part of the history is them keeping the children in my mind

as priority. I recall mom could go without eating, but her children

could not. I reflect how she and others were able to call

the children home echoing their children names when it got

dark to come home. How can they make their voices travel

thought the brick walls of Robert Taylor, for someone to tell

you, “Yo Momma is calling you.”

And then playing the dozens, like the fighting words of

‘Yo Momma’. But it got me more when they said, your

momma name is Clint Eastwood, due to her different name of

Clinesse. I later became proud of her name, as I did my middle

name Lenore.

Letters to the Editor

The Obama

Center; Trojan

Horse of Woodlawn

Dear Editor;

S

eems like we have a classic collaborative

"top-down" herd kunclehead

mentality decision from established

community-based institutions that the

"trojan horse" Obama Presidential Center

should be built on 63rd & Stony Island!

As a direct result the east Woodlawn community

is experiences rapid gentrification

featuring young white Caucasians and

"sanctuary city" entitled Hispanics with

good city jobs families rapidly moving

into $400 hundred thousand dollar condominiums

and $800,000.00 new townhomes

in the East Woodlawn community

To witness at 11 years of age walking downtown with her,

as three white teens spit on us. I ask her aren’t you going to do

something. Fearful but strong she grab my arm and said,

“Come on boy”.

How that influence my direction of life. Something is

wrong here to watch my momma being disrespected like a

nobody. As we continued to walk away from them that influence

me to who I am today, taking life seriously about racism,

other than watching Bozo the Clown on TV as Black youth sat

in the back of the audience. Then there was the white welfare

lady as grown men and fathers scatted like roaches when she

came, or those that did not get up in time hid under the bed

until the welfare lady left. Then the households were about at

least 70% husbands and fathers. How did those mothers feel

or come to see the reflections of slavery in the minds of their

man.

I constantly thought about how I can not only redefine the

identity of the community for Mommas to raise their children

and other youth to thrive knowing the history of Mommas as it

relates to why we are who we are today.

For a dynamic woman who had an amazing impact on

rising each of her five children, two adopted cousins and part

time with a nephew. She gave consolation and wisdom and

was proud of her 58 grand and great grand children. As she

and other Moms dedicate their lives to the teaching, they gave

with brilliance, gifts, love, and style. As she exemplified what

feminism and womanism meant, she and others did without

the insignia of the prize of honor. She and others never

dimmed their effortless role to make others feel comfortable.

Momma and me had many of conversations with debates

where the University of Chicago and TWO supported

drug and gang activities for 50 years in the

planned gentrification of East Woodlawn. In west

Woodlawn, we have witnessed the same drug/

gang-related activities that destroyed East Woodlawn

and have resulted in at least 100 alpha black

males involved in click gang activities between

the ages of 13 and 26 years old being fratricidal

murdered by each other in the Chicago Police

Department controlled gang/drug activities that

are highlighted by the recent brazen assassination

of Carlton Wheatley in broad daylight on Oak

Street in the Gold Coast a month ago!

Move the damn Obama Presidential Center,

funded by over $800,000.00 million dollars from

the Illinois General Assembly to the old US Steel

mill site on the south lakefront so lower and

moderate-income African Americans are not

priced out of Woodlawn and Southshore, disenfranchised

and displaced from the south lakefront

region of Chicago and can be involved in the

regional benefits of " bottom-up" community

development on the broader south lakefront region

of Chicago!

about the movement. We both shared a great

admiration for each other's position. Yet she said,

'You think you are always right. You aren't always

right”. She got the last word. But then once

I just had to tell her, ’You need to go back to

Africa’. To this day I am not sure why that lead

me to have the last word. Christmas a few years

ago she gave me a sweat shirt that read ‘I may be

left handed, But I am always Right.’

Being a grown man, I did not have to be concerned

to go get the extension cord, or her shoe

traveling up side your head. Man you had to be

quick to knowing that shoe coming. And you

better not dodge the shoe and let it hit you, because

if she missed. Just hope she don’t miss.

She possessed self-respect, and a perspective that

did not permit her to deviate from her path. Always

have clean underwear on and a dime in

your pocket to make a phone call.

There is life experiences chattels of Momma I

would not ever know. It was many bridges over

troubled waters, and without it, we wouldn’t be

where we are today, still prevailed.

A times we silently are aware of the mothers in

our lineage that lived as chattels as they dreamed

of autonomy for their children, who first stepped

foot in “Da” Hole of Taylor homes, far from carrying the

identity of Africa. However, consequently knowing Africa is

in us. There’s no adequate way to acknowledge and appreciate

why Mom found it so amusing that I told her she need to go

back to Africa. But anytime their was something on TV related

to the Black movement she would call me and say, turn

to this channel or that channel. She knew of the sacrifices,

secrets, and strength of our history that kept us going. I was

proud for her to introduce me to someone and say, “Oh that’s

my oldest child, the black militant”. And I think she knew it

made me proud.

The future of Black motherhood lies not just in the seeds

we plant in our children, but also in what we do to help shape

and reshape the definitions around Black motherhood and for

Black Moms to come.

There are things that we say to our children make us realize

we sound just like Momma. Here’s to honoring the past,

healing the pain, enriching the good times and laughter and

thriving in the present and the future. Happy Black History

Month to everyone, especially my fellow Black mamas. We

don’t always know it, but they make history every day. My

Momma surely did.

The heartfelt condolences to her loved ones and to the

community family at large.

Yo Momma

Being birthed by you, is a gift from God. And to the history

of Black Wall Street Chicago

Loving you is so much a grand feeling.

Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm

Emanuel both conspired to give the old Michael

Reese hospital site to Isrial: Bronzeville East

gentrification project!

Tim Degnans' daughter, Bridget Degnan was

paid for three years by the Illinois Department of

Financial and Professional Regulations to design

the rules for marijuana distribution in Illinois,

then moving on to the Cook County board

to provide the scores rating answers to the white

Irish politicians who got perfect scores and received

all the marijuana licenses!

DUH!

Otherwise, Black folks in Chicago have been

bamboozled again!

Virtually,

Harold L. Lucas

1773-676-6207



F

ebruary 19, marks the 56th anniversary of Malcolm

X assignation, one of the most if not quietly

the most influential figures of the 20th century.

Now in the 21st century his words are still a reflection

of the present and future. And the bases of BWSC

foundation as it was founded.

Malcolm was born Malcolm Little, May 19, 1925, and

was also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz . He was

shot dead as he spoke before a packed audience at the

Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965 at

39 years old.

Some of Malcolm's most meaningful speeches: By Any

Means Necessary and The Ballot or the Bullet still rings loud

and clear with millions and millions of people.

Malik El-Shabazz. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate

for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in

the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans.

Malcolm was effectively orphaned early in life. His father was

killed when he was six and his mother was placed in a mental

hospital when he was thirteen, after which he lived in a series of

foster homes. In 1946, at age 20, he went to prison for larceny

CSJ: This mouth of Black History

Month of February includes your assignation

on the 21st. At your end how do you

feel about it?

Malcolm X: “In the name of Allah, the

Beneficent, the Merciful, All praise is due to

Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, The Beneficent,

the Merciful, Master of this Day of

Judgment in which we now live, Thee do we

serve and Thee do we beseech for thine

aid. Guide us on the right path, The path

upon which Thou hast bestowed favors, Not

the path upon which Thy wrath is brought

down Nor of those who go astray after they

have heard Thy teaching Say : He Allah is

one God Allah is He upon whom nothing is

independent but Upon whom we all depend

He neither begets nor is He begotten

and none is like Him.

Malcolm X:": "For the freedom of my 22

million black brothers and sisters here in

America, I do believe that I have fought the

best that I know how, and the best that I could,

with the shortcomings that I have had...I know

that societies often have killed people who

have helped to change those societies. And if I

can die having brought any light, having exposed

any meaningful truth that will help

destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in

the body of America then, all of the credit is

due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been

mine."

CSJ: Then you are not surprised that

you were assignation?

Malcolm X: I always knew it would end

like this."

..."When a person places the proper value on

freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he

will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever

you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but

in the next breath he is going to tell you what

he won't do to get it, or what he doesn't believe

in doing in order to get it, he doesn't

believe in freedom. A man who believes in

freedom will do anything under the sun to

acquire...or preserve his freedom."

CSJ: You are known as the ‘Shining

Black Prince. So who are you ? and what

do you really do?

Malcolm: "I consider myself Malcolm!"

"I'm the man you think you are.... If you want

to know what I'll do, figure out what you'll do.

I'll do the same thing -- only more of it."

CSJ: Your name has become a trade

“Malcolm X”

mark, portrayed in many movies, the one

most noted made both Spike Lee based on

the life, The GodFather of Harlen by ___,

then recently One Night in Miami. Your

‘X’ has become a symbol of known displayed

in clothing and rather than unknown

as you have the said the X represent.

What does the X mean to you?

Malcolm X: My father didn't know his last

name. My father got his last name from his

grandfather, and his grandfather got it from

his grandfather who got it from the slave master.

…For me, my 'X' replaced the white slave

master name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed

devil named Little had imposed on my parental

forebears.

The real names of our people were destroyed

during slavery. The last name of my forefathers

was taken from them when they were

brought to America and made slaves, and then

the name of the slave master was given, which

we refuse, we reject that name today and refuse

it. I never acknowledge it whatsoever.

CSJ: In your speeches you have somewhat

degraded the white race, on the line of

being a Black racist which has offended

many white people and black?

and breaking and entering. While in prison he became a member

of the Nation of Islam, and after his parole in 1952 quickly rose to

become one of its most influential leaders. For a dozen years he

was the public face of NOI.

By March 1964, Malcolm X had grown disillusioned with the

Nation of Islam. After a period of travel in Africa and the Middle

East, including completing the Hajj. X returned to the United

States to found Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of

Afro-American Unity while continuing to emphasize Pan-

Africanism, black self-determination, and black self-defense.

This mock Q&A is just a sample of how his vision, understanding

and direction is a template of in identify with his remarks, the

Shining Black Prince.

Malcolm X: “Thoughtful white people

know they are inferior to black people. Anyone

who has studied the genetic phase of biology

knows that white is considered recessive

and black is considered dominant. When you

want strong coffee, you ask for black coffee.

“Godfather of Har-

lem”

If you want it light, you want it weak, integrated

with white milk. Just like these Negroes

who weaken themselves and their race

by this integrating and intermixing with

whites. If you want bread with no nutritional

value, you ask for white bread. All the good

that was in it has been bleached out of it, and

it will constipate you. If you want pure flour,

you ask for dark flour, whole-wheat flour. If

you want pure sugar, you want dark sugar.”

CSJ: Do not you think that is a form of

hate or reverse racism?

Malcolm X: I have no hate in me. I don't

have any hate, but I've got some sense...I'm

not going to let somebody who hates me to

tell me to love him. I'm not that way out.”

― Malcolm X, Malcolm X Talks to Young

People: Speeches in the United States, Britain,

and Africa.

“I believe in the brotherhood of man, all

men, but I don't believe in brotherhood with

anybody who doesn't want brotherhood with

me. I believe in treating people right, but I'm

not going to waste my time trying to treat

somebody right who doesn't know how to

return the treatment”

CSJ: Can’t that apply to Black people as

well, in that some of the issues are at their

own fault?

Malik El-Shabazz “No, there is plenty

wrong with Negroes. They have no society.

They’re robots, automatons. No minds of their

own. I hate to say that about us, but it’s the

truth. They are a black body with a white

brain.”

“The American Negro never can be blamed

for his racial animosities—he is only reacting

to four hundred years of the conscious racism

of the American whites. But as racism leads

America up the suicide path,...

CSJ: On page of this newspaper, the

article addresses the Black Agenda, which

their has been many from Marcus Garvey,

Nation of Islam, your organization the

Oganization for African American Unity to

today; the Congressional Black Caucus,

Black Lives Matter, Ice Cube and the Nation

Coruoimsum Black Agenda. Yet many

are at odds not working together?

Malcolm X: "We black men have a hard

enough time in our own struggle for justice,

and already have enough enemies as it is, to

make the drastic mistake of attacking each

other and adding more weight to an already

unbearable load."

"Our people have made the mistake of confusing

the methods with the objectives. As

long as we agree on objectives, we should

never fall out with each other just because we

believe in different methods, or tactics, or

strategy. We have to keep in mind at all times

that we are not fighting for separation. We are

fighting for recognition as free humans in this

society."

Mankind's history has proved from one era

to another that the true criterion of leadership

is spiritual. Men are attracted by spirit. By

power, men are forced. Love is engendered by

spirit. By power, anxieties are created.”

CSJ: You have that cloud over you

provoking violence, is that the case?

Malcolm X: It doesn't mean that I advocate

violence, but at the same time, I am not

against using violence in self-defense. I don't

call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it

intelligence."

“I am a Muslim,

because it's a religion

that teaches you

an eye for an eye

and a tooth for a

tooth. It teaches you

to respect everybody,

and treat

everybody right.

But it also teaches

you if someone

steps on your toe,

chop off their foot.

And I carry my

religious axe with me all the time.”

CSJ: Do you think you have been

somewhat aggressive in your words?

“I learned early that crying out in protest

could accomplish things. My older brothers

and sister had started to school when, sometimes,

they would come in and ask for a buttered

biscuit or something and my mother,



impatiently, would tell them no. But I would

cry out and make a fuss until I got what I

wanted. I remember well how my mother asked

me why I couldn't be a nice boy like Wilfred;

but I would think to myself that Wilfred, for

being so nice and quiet, often stayed hungry. So

early in life, I had learned that if you want

something, you had better make some noise.”

CSJ: Don’t you think that even since

your passing there has been advancements

for the Blacks in America? After all we have

achieved Barack Obama, a Black man as

president of the U.S.

Malcolm X: I can't turn around without

hearing about some 'civil rights advance'!

White people seem to think the black man

ought to be shouting 'hallelujah'! Four hundred

years the white man has had his foot-long knife

in the black man's back - and now the white

man starts to wiggle the knife out, maybe six

inches! The black man's supposed to be grateful?

Why, if the white man jerked the knife out,

it's still going to leave a scar!"

“... No matter how much respect, no matter how

much recognition, whites show towards me, as

far as I am concerned, as long as it is not shown

to everyone of our people in this country, it

doesn't exist for me.”

CSJ: What about the Democrat Party of

a racial coalition electing Barack Obama for

President of the United States?

Obama once had a photo of you in his office

before becoming the president, I am not sure

if he carried that photo in the White House.

But what are your thoughts on the first

Black president of the U.S. Barrack Obama?

Malcolm X: “Any time you throw your

weight behind a political party that controls two

thirds of the government and that party can’t

keep the promise that it made to you during

election time and you’re dumb enough to walk

around continuing to identify yourself with that

party, you’re not only a chump but you’re a

traitor to your race.”

CSJ: Former Alderman Ed Vrdolyak

said of the Chicago Council Wars against

former Mayor Harold Washington that it

was not about race but power. And it so happens

that Harold Washington was Black. Do

you agree?

Malcolm X: "I've never seen a sincere white

man, not when it comes to helping black people.

Usually things like this are done by white

people to benefit themselves. The white man's

primary interest is not to elevate the thinking of

black people, or to waken black people, or

white people either. The white man is interested

in the black man only to the extent that the

black man is of use to him. The white man's

interest is to make money, to exploit."

CSJ: Isn't that sort of unfair of you to

group all white men that way?

Malcolm X: But people are always speculating-why

am I as I am? To understand that of

any person, his whole life, from birth, must be

reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our

personality. Everything that ever happened to

us is an ingredient.

CSJ: If I can reflect on your past life as

a racket man, thief, and dope man if I may

say a pimp. What can you say about the

youth of today?

Malcolm X: “I want to say before I go on

that I have never previously told anyone my

sordid past in detail. I haven't done it now to

sound as though I might be proud of how bad,

how evil, I was.

CSJ: Looking back on it what are your

thoughts?

Malcolm X: “Looking back, I think I

really was at least slightly out of my mind. I

viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I

wore my guns as today I wear my neckties.

Deep down, I actually believed that after living

as fully as humanly possible, one should then

die violently. I expected then, as I still expect

today, to die at any time. But then, I think I

deliberately invited death in many, sometimes

insane, ways.”

CJS: Then being a hustler what was going

on in your head?

Malcolm X: “And because I had been a

hustler, I knew better than all whites knew, and

better than nearly all of the black 'leaders'

knew, that actually the most dangerous black

man in America was the ghetto hustler.

CSJ: Why you say this?

Malcolm X: The hustler, out there in the

ghetto jungles, has less respect for the white

power structure than any other Negro in North

America. The ghetto hustler is internally restrained

by nothing. He has no religion, no

concept of morality, no civic responsibility, no

fear--nothing.

To survive, he is out there constantly preying

upon others, probing for any human weakness

like a ferret. The ghetto hustler is forever frustrated,

restless, and anxious for some 'action'.

Whatever he undertakes, he commits himself to

it fully, absolutely. What makes the ghetto hustler

yet more dangerous is his 'glamour' image

to the school-dropout youth in the ghetto.

These ghetto teen-agers see the hell caught

by their parents struggling to get somewhere, or

see that they have given up struggling in the

prejudiced, intolerant white man’s world. The

ghetto teen-agers make up their own minds they

would rather be like the hustlers whom they see

dressed ‘sharp’ and flashing money and displaying

no respect for anybody or anything. So

the ghetto youth become attracted to the hustler

worlds of dope, thievery, prostitution, and general

crime and immorality.”

CSJ: How did you change?

Malcolm X: “I have often reflected upon

the new vistas that reading has opened to me. I


knew right there in prison that reading had

changed forever the course of my life. As I see

it today, the ability to read awoke inside me

some long dormant craving to be mentally

alive.”

CSJ: What is your advice to the youth?

Malcolm X: “Let's cool it, brothers.”

"Look at yourselves. Some of you teenagers,

students. How do you think I feel and I belong

to a generation ahead of you - how do you think

I feel to have to tell you, 'We, my generation,

sat around like a knot on a wall while the whole

world was fighting for its human rights - and

you've got to be born into a society where you

still have that same fight.' What did we do, who

preceded you ? I'll tell you what we did. Nothing.

And don't you make the same mistake we

made...."

CSJ: Yes, there are many progressive and

outstanding youth. However, the killings,

and disrespect and the degrading of themselves.

Malcolm X: If you've studied the captives

being caught by the American soldiers in South

Vietnam, you'll find that these guerrillas are

young people. Some of them are just children

and some haven't reached their teens. Most are

teenagers. It is the teenagers abroad, all over the

world, who are actually involving themselves in

the struggle to eliminate oppression and exploitation.

In the Congo, the refugees point out that

many of the Congolese revolutionaries, they

shoot all the way down to seven years old -

that's been reported in the press.

Because the revolutionaries are children,

young people. In these countries, the young

people are the ones who most quickly identify

with the struggle and the necessity to eliminate

the evil conditions that exist. And here in this

country, it has been my own observation that

when you get into a conversation on racism and

discrimination and segregation, you will find

young people more incensed over it - they feel

more filled with an urge to eliminate it."

CSJ: So what can you say about those

that has not change?

Malcolm X: The only excuse I can offer is

that like so many of my black brothers today, I

was just deaf, dumb, and blind.”

"Education is our passport to the future, for

tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare

for it today."

CSJ: The N-word is now commonly use

by blacks. Even in African some youth

named their store because African in America

use it as a noble saying. What is your

interpretation of the word?

Malcolm X: “Ignorance of each other is

what has made unity impossible in the past.

Therefore we need enlightenment. We need

more light about each other. Light creates understanding,

understanding creates love, love

creates patience, and patience creates unity.

Once we have more knowledge (light) about

each other, we will stop condemning each other

and a United front will be brought about.”

“You can’t hate the roots of the tree without

ending up hating the tree. You can’t hate your

origin without ending up hating yourself. You

can’t hate the land, your motherland, the place

that you come from, and we can’t hate Africa

without ending up hating ourselves. The Black

man in the Western Hemisphere—North America,

Central America, South America, and in the

Caribbean—is the best example of how one can

be made, skillfully, to hate

himself that you can find

anywhere on this earth.”

“I’m speaking from personal

experience when I

say of any black man who

conks today, or any whitewigged

black woman, that

if they gave the brains in

their heads just half as

much attention as they do their hair, they would

be a thousand times better off.”

“I Used the Word 'Negro' and I was Firmly

Corrected.

CSJ: You and Martin Luther King, Jr.

met briefly what is your assessment of him?

Malcolm X: "… At one time the whites in

the United States called him a racialist, and

extremist, and a Communist. Then the Black

Muslims came along and the whites thanked the

Lord for Martin Luther King."

"He got the peace prize, we got the problem....

If I'm following a general, and he's leading me

into a battle, and the enemy tends to give him

rewards, or awards, I get suspicious of him.

Especially if he gets a peace award before the

war is over."

CSJ: Yes, however, he has made great

organizing contributions to the Black Movement.

What would you say to Dr. King today?

Malcolm X: "If I keep pouring enough

cream in the coffee, pretty soon the entire flavor

of the coffee is changed; the very nature of

the coffee is changed. If enough cream is

poured in, eventually you don't even know that

I had coffee in this cup.

This is what happened with the March on

Washington. The whites didn't integrate it; they

infiltrated it. Whites joined it; they engulfed it;

they became so much a part of it, it lost its

original flavor. It ceased to be a black march; it

ceased to be militant; it ceased to be angry; it

ceased to be impatient. In fact, it ceased to be a

march."

"I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come

to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did

come thinking I could make it easier. If the

white people realize what the alternative is,

perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr.

King."

Dr. King on Malcolm X:

"You know, right before he was killed he

came down to Selma and said some pretty

passionate things against me, and that surprised

me because after all it was my territory

there. But afterwards he took my wife

aside, and said he thought he could help me

more by attacking me than praising me. He

thought it would make it easier for me in the

long run."

“WOMEN

CSJ: February also is a month of love.

Valentines Day. What about being a pimp?

Malcolm X: All women, by their nature,

are fragile and weak: they are attracted to the





Derrick A. Riley,

male in whom they see strength.”

― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm

X…

“A woman should occasionally be babied

enough to show her the man had affection, but

beyond that she should be treated firmly.

These tough women said that it worked with

them.

CSJ: Is it true that if it was not for a

white woman you would not have went to

prison?

Malcolm X: “Even Samson, the world's

strongest man, was destroyed by the woman

who slept in his arms. she was the one whose

words hurt him.”

….“To tell a woman not to talk too much was

like telling Jesse James not to carry a gun, or a

hen not to cackle.”

CSJ: That sounds sort of sexist,.

What are you really saying about women?

Malcolm X: “If you are in a country that

is progressive, the woman is progressive. If

you're in a country that reflects the consciousness

toward the importance of education, it's

because the woman is aware of the importance

of education. But in every backward

country you'll find the women are backward,

and in every country where education is not

stressed its because the women don't have

education.”

“Betty's a good Muslim woman and wife. I

don't imagine many other women might put

up with the way I am. Awakening this brainwashed

black man and telling this arrogant,

devilish white man the truth about himself,

Betty understands, is a full-time job”

“I don't know how many marriage breakups

are caused by these movie-and televisionaddicted

women expecting some bouquets and

kissing and hugging and being swept out like

Cinderella for dinner and dancing -- then getting

mad when a poor, scraggly husband

comes in tired and sweaty from working like a

dog all day, looking for some food.”

CSJ: What about interracial marriages?

Malcolm X: “I believe in recognizing

every human being as a human being--neither

white, black, brown, or red; and when you are

dealing with humanity as a family there's no

question of integration or intermarriage. It's

just one human being marrying another human

being or one human being living around

and with another human being.”

CSJ: People would be surprise of you

open to interracial marriages?

Malcolm X: “But love transcends just the

physical. Love is

disposition, behavior,

attitude,

thoughts, likes,

dislikes - these

things make a beautiful

woman, a

beautiful wife. This

is the beauty that

never fades. You

find in your Western civilization that when a

man’s wife’s physical beauty fails, she loses

her attraction. But Islam teaches us to look

into the woman, and teaches her to look into

us.”

CSJ: It seems you views as changed

since the beginning of this mock interview

and of non-Black people, and tactics. Can

you touch on that?

Malcolm X: …”I do believe, from the

experiences that I have had with them, that the

whites of the younger generation, in the colleges

and universities, will see the handwriting

on the wall and many of them will turn to

the spiritual path of truth—the only way left

to America to ward off the disaster that racism

inevitably must lead to.”

And I, for one, will join in with anyone—I

don’t care what color you are—as long as you

want to change this miserable condition that

exists on this earth.”

CSJ: So as other nationalities joined

the Black Lives Matter movement, you do

see some form of unity in working with

other people. Is that’s the case?

Malcolm X: “I believe that there will be

ultimately be a clash between the oppressed

and those who do the oppressing. I believe

that there will be a clash between those who

want freedom, justice and equality for everyone

and those who want to continue the system

of exploitation. I believe that there will be

that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be

based on the color of the skin...”

CSJ: What about your trip to Mecca

you somewhat changed your view about the

white race and human kind?

Malcolm X: “There were tens of thousands

of pilgrims, from all over the world.

They were of all colors, from blue-eyed

blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we

were all participating in the same ritual, displaying

a spirit of unity and brotherhood that

my experiences in America had led me to

believe never could exist between the white

and the non-white.”

CSJ: So you are open to working with

White people?

Malcolm X: “…we need white allies in

this country, we don’t need those kind who

compromise. We don’t need those kind who

encourage us to be polite, responsible, you

know. We don’t need those kind who give us

that kind of advice. We don’t need those kind

who tell us how to be patient. No, if we want

some white allies, we need the kind that John

Brown was, or we don’t need you. And the

only way to get those kind is to turn in a new

direction.”

CSJ: You and many over before you

have address Black Nationalism. So what

does Black Nationalism mean?

Malcolm X: The economic philosophy of

Black nationalism only means that we should

own and operate and control the economy of

our community.

You would never-- you can't open up a Black

store in a White community. White man won't

even patronize you. And he's not wrong. He

got sense enough to look after himself. It's

you who don't have sense enough to look after

yourself.

... But you will let anybody come in and control

of the economy of the community; control

the housing; control the education; control the

jobs; control the businesses, under the pretext

that you want to integrate. No! You're out of

your mind.

We have to become involved in a program

of re-education. To educate our people into

the importance of knowing that when you

spend your dollar out of the community in

which you live the community in which you

spend your money becomes richer and richer;

the community out of which you take your

money becomes poorer, and poorer.

Woolworth didn't start out big like they

are today they started out as a dime-store.

And they expanded, and they expanded, and

they expanded until today they are all over the

country and all over the world and they are

getting some of everybody's money....

General Motors, the same way, they didn't

start out like it is. It started as a little rat race

operation and expanded and expanded until

today it's where it is right now. And you and I

have to make a start and the best place to start

is right in the community where we live.

So our people not only have to be reeducated

to the importance of supporting

Black business but the Black man himself has

to be made aware of the importance of going

into business. And once you and I go into

business, we own and operate, at least the

businesses in our community, what we will be

doing is developing a situation wherein we

will actually be able to create employment for

the people in the community.

And once you can create some employment

in the community where you live it will eliminate

the necessity of you and me having to act

ignorantly and disgracefully, boycotting and

picketing some [White man] some place else

trying to beg him for a job.

Anytime you find someone more successful

than you are, especially when you're both

engaged in the same business - you know

they're doing something that you aren't.”

CSJ: We have address many concerns

of you and many we have not. How can we

sum up this Mock interview of you?

Malcolm X: “I for one believe that if you

give people a thorough understanding of what

confronts them and the basic causes that produce

it, they'll create their own program, and

when the people create a program, you get

action.”

CSJ: Your "The Autobiography of

Malcolm X: " was hailed by the New

York Times as "Extraordinary. A brilliant,

painful, important book. Still extraordinary,

still important, your electrifying story

has transformed your life into a legacy. The

strength of your words, the power of your

ideas continue to resonate more than generations

after they first appeared.

You have became one of the most influential

figures of the 20th Century. Your journey

from a prison cell to Mecca, describing

your transition from hoodlum to Muslim

minister. It’s been said ", Yet, today an

established classic of modern America.

Today, when everything that I do has an urgency,

I would not spend one hour in the

preparation of a book which had the ambition

to perhaps titillate some readers. ...The full

story is the best way that I know to have it

seen, and understood, ... in prison-I found

Allah and the religion of Islam and it completely

transformed my life.”

CSJ: How do you feel about your

book?

Malcolm X: “When I am dead--I say it

that way because from the things I know, I do

not expect to live long enough to read this

book in its finished form--I want you to just

watch and see if I'm not right in what I say:

that the white man, in his press, is going to

identify me with "hate". He will make use of

me dead, as he has made use of me alive, as a

convenient symbol, of "hatred"--and that will

help him escape facing the truth that all I have

been doing is holding up a mirror to reflect, to

show, the history of unspeakable crimes that

his race has committed against my race.”

CSJ: So you knew physical passing was

coming for you?

Malcolm X: “Yes, I have cherished my

“demagogue” role. I know that societies often

have killed the people who have helped to

change those societies. And if I can die having

brought any light, having exposed any meaningful

truth that will help to destroy the racist

cancer that is malignant in the body of America—then,

all of the credit is due to Allah.

Only the mistakes have been mine.”

“I'm a man who believes that I died 20 years

ago. And I live like a man who is dead already.

I have no fear whatsoever of anybody

or anything.”

In our mutual sincerity we might be able to

show a road to the salvation of America's very

soul.”

CSJ: Thank you for this time again,

Brother Malcolm, As-salamu alaykum

Malcolm X: "Wa-Alaikum-Salaam"

"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the

worlds."

Financial

With

Keith

Literacy

Whitsey

W

ith financial stress on the rise in

the African American community,

financial literacy and education is extremely more important

than ever. We must teach our youth to manage personal

financial matters efficiently and equip them with the

knowledge and understanding of how financial resources

work. To take it further, our youth must learn ”Why”

being financially stout is important to themselves, their

families, communities, and their nation-building.

If you google search the definition of financial literacy,

you will find the definition vary from source to

source, but I like this one: Financial Literacy is the confluence

of financial, credit and debt management and the

knowledge that is necessary to make financially responsible

decisions – decisions that are integral to our everyday

lives.

Not all financial education is the same. Quite the contrary.

Financial literacy and financial education vary from

sponsor to sponsor, with the big banks, investment brokers,

and insurance agencies driving much of the education.

As a result, we end up with financial illiteracy. Despite

the clouded field of entities purporting to provide

financial awareness, financial literacy for the black community

must be starkly different

than what’s been pushed by

mainstream. The black community

is set with a myriad of

financial circumstances and

barriers to wealth not experienced

by other communities, so

a targeted and tailored approach

must be specific to us.

Looking at data particular to

the black community points to

the reason why financial literacy

must be taught differently.

Black people suffer from

what the Global Financial Literacy

Excellence Center at the George Washington University

call ‘Financial Fragility” which is the inability to

cope with an immediate $400 emergency expense or being

unable to come up with $2,000 in 30 days. They did a

study and focused on individuals who are in their prime

working years (25-60) and not retired. Nearly half (47%)

of black participants said they were not confident that they

could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose or

cope with an immediate $400 emergency expense. The

data shows that savings is more difficult for black households

where 45.7% of black households saved for emergencies

compared to 62.4% of white households.

According to ProsperityNow.org, forty percent of

Americans households lack a basic level of savings.

These “liquid assets poor” households don’t have enough

savings to make ends meet at the poverty level for three

months if their income was interrupted. 13.2 % of American

households fell behind in their bills, but roughly on in

four black households (25%) fell behind in their bills.

When you add in housing, insurance, student loan

debt, access to capital, taxes, credit, payday loans and

institutional racism, the financial picture for the black

household is even more exacerbated. So the questions

arises, “why isn’t learning financial literacy at the top of

our education?” And “does traditional education for black

people address their future prospects?” The arguments are

mixed. But when we look at every economic indicator for

the black community, teaching financial literacy and education

from a black perspective is critical and must be at

the top of our educational learning if we are going to close

the wealth gap.

When financial literacy is taught to our youth, imagine

the possibilities: Student loan debt is prevented or manageable.

Better credit rating, higher likelihood to capital,

decrease in bankruptcies, decrease in debt, more mobility,

increase in black businesses, higher deposits in black

banks, decrease in violence, increase in tax base and stable

communities, more financial security and much more.

Financial Literacy is essential for all individuals, but

especially for our black youth. According to Prosperitynow.org,

people of color will make up the majority of

the nation’s population, and it becomes increasingly apparent

that addressing the growing financial security challenges

faced by millions of families of color will be imperative

to our black communities, but also to our national

economic security.


Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the

Department of Planning and Development

(DPD) announced the 30 finalists selected

for the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.

Thirteen of the 30 finalists are located in

commercial corridors targeted by Mayor

Lightfoot’s INVEST South/West initiative.

Mayor Lightfoot. "From a Roseland

bookstore to a North Lawndale restaurant,

these exciting new projects will greatly

enhance the economic vitality of our

neighborhoods and support our citywide

goal of revitalizing communities on our

historic South and West Sides. I want to

extend my congratulations to each of our

NOF finalists and wish them the best as

they bring their entrepreneurial dreams into

reality."

The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund

finalists were selected from nearly 400

applicants that submitted grant proposals in

the fall – the second of two application

rounds held by the DPD in 2020.

Grant amounts range from $40,000 to

$250,000 but are subject to changeas

projects are refined in the coming months.

Finalists will be provided with

concierge service by DPD to help with

contracting, permits, licenses, financing and

other needs as each project progresses

through design, construction and

completion.

Low or No-cost Savings

Account

SSCFCU offers a savings/share account that

is only $50.00 to open, inclusive of a onetime

only $10.00 membership fee. The

monthly minimum balance requirement is

only $50.00. There is a $5.00 monthly service

charge if the balance falls below

$50.00. Direct Deposit and payroll deductions

are available as a convenient way to

save.

Checking Account

SSCFCU offers a share draft/checking account.

It is $50.00 to open. There is a

$5.00 monthly service charge if the balance

falls below $50.00. Member must have a

share account balance of $100.00 at the

time the account is opened.

"The evolution of the Neighborhood

Opportunity Fund under Mayor Lightfoot to

include professional services, technical

assistance, and local hiring bonuses will

help ensure these finalists successfully meet

the needs of local residents," DPD Commissioner

Maurice Cox said.

The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund

was created by DPD in 2016 to allocate

zoning fees from downtown construction

projects toward business projects along

South, Southwest and West side commercial

corridors. Program funding may be

applied toward costs involving building

rehabilitation, new construction, design, site

acquisition and preparation, technical services

and other expenses.

The NOF finalists are:

FAR SOUTH

Burst into Books, 11001 S. Michigan

Lior’s Café, 10500 S. Halsted St.

Natural Roots Kids Hair, 1851-55 E. 87th

One Florence Boulevard, 605 E. 111th St.

Rosie’s Donuts, 7 E. 111th St.

JJJ Burgers, 8904 S. Commercial Ave.

SOUTHEAST

Bronzeville Wingz, 4547 S. State St.

Cookie’s Cocktail Lounge, 1024 W. 79th St.

Fletcher Laundry, 6049 S. Halsted St.

Small Business Savings &

Checking

Small business savings & share/draft checking

accounts. Both are available to businesses

within our field of membership.

Member businesses may open a savings

account for $100.00 Share draft/checking

accounts can be opened for a min. of

$100.00. The monthly service charge is

$10.00 if the balance falls below $1,000.

Youth Accounts

Young adults between the ages of 7 & 17

can open their own savings share account

with a minimum deposit of $5.00.

Holiday / Vacation Club

Save for the Holidays or for that special

vacation in one of our club acounts. It is a

great way to set aside funds for these special

occasions. It only requires $25.00 to

open.

Other savings programs

SSCFCU offers Certificates of Deposit, IRA’s,

Youth, Holiday and Vacation Club Accounts,

as well as its new Healthcare Investment

Account.

Front Yard Jerk Grille, 74 E. 71st St.

Hattie Marie BBQ, 825 E. 87th St.

Justice of the Pies, 2025 E. 75th St.

Sarah Kuenyefu Collection, 4410-4412 S.

Cottage Grove Ave.

Soaj, 2313 E. 71st St.

Shrimp and More, 2320 E. 79th St.

SOUTHWEST

Granados, 1845 W. 47th St.

Pantano’s Restaurant, 2523 W. 63rd St.

Star Farm, 5256 S. Ashland Ave.

Stockyards Dreamcatcher Café, 1824 W.

47th St.

The Joint, 6902 S. Western Ave.

Thrift, 2517 W. 59th St.

Wolf Den, 1924 W. 47th St.

WEST

Delar’s Unisex Salon, 4132 W. 26th St.

Heritage Club, 5951 W. Madison St.

Potluc, 5811 W. Chicago Ave.

Quintana, Inc., 3050 W. Cermak Road

Soul City Studios, 5851 W. Chicago A

Soule Chicago, 3210 W. Roosevelt

Theatre Y, 2006 W. Pulaski Road

Tasa Coffee, 4136 W. North Ave

Basic Money Management &

Budgeting -Saturday,

February 27th, 2021 –

10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

March Classes

Credit Basics and Restoration –

Saturday, March 6th,

10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Preparing for Homeownership –

Saturday, March 13th,

10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Starting & Growing Your

Business – Saturday,

March 20th, –

10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Home Maintenance &

GRADUATION – Saturday, March

27th, 2021 –

10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

For more information and

registration call our Housing Counseling

Center at 773-548-8859.

Contact Mr. Whitsey at:




NAS3C is lobbying for law in

the name of former CHA activist

Joseph Watkins, called ‘Joe Watkins

Right to Work’ Federal Legislation.

Watkins for years charged CHA of

robbing residents highlighted in a

letter to HUD as far back as 2012.

Mr. Muhammad says this law has to

be made in order to insure that CHA

will comply.

Watkins pointed out then there

were no investigations of complaints,

and each time a building is

rehabbed or there is some redeveloping

taking place Black PHR’s are

looked over and picked over as

Hispanics and eastern Europeans

who are categorized as minorities

omitting hiring public housing residents

meeting the Section 3 goals of

51% or more of the business concern

is owned by Section 3 residents,

or 30% of the permanent full

time employees are public housing

residents that live within the areas

or site being redeveloped, or that at

least 10% of the total dollar amount

cover resident owned business concerns”.

Groups have signed on to charge

CHA of short changing residents

and section-3 firm for years, contract

compliance advocates and

government watchdog groups have

been combing efforts to get CHA to

live up to the Section 3 guidelines to

hire Black Section-3 firms who hire

resident and other low income people

in our community.”

Mr. Muhammad pointed out

historically; Black public housing

residents were intentionally excluded

from the business concerns,

contracting and hiring process and

replaced by friends or family of the

mayor, CHA Local Advisory Council,

and alderpersons.

Chicago Street Journal attempted

to contact Latasha Bouldin,

CHA Director of Procurement, and

Sheila Johnson Deputy Chief Procurement

Officer Department of

Procurement and Contracts via an

email letter and phone. A represent

did not return the call to NAS3C

charges.

Muhammad said what makes

Watkins letter historical to HUD is

the findings from the meeting held

by Congressman Danny K. Davis on

the Section 3 contracting and compliance

in August 2011.

Due to the lack of concern that

under former CHA Acting Director

CEO, James L. Bebley watch. We

find it urgent to get this regulation

converted in to law, just to insure

compliance.

Muhammad said that this in the

only economic stimulus left for the

striving poor to pull themselves up

by their own bootstrap.

According to CHA guidelines:

The Section 3 Regulations require

Prime Contractors and any Subcontractors

to demonstrate compliance

by employing Section 3 Residents

as 30 percent of the aggregate number

of New Hires. A Prime Contractor

or Subcontractor is required to

hire only when a New Hire is

needed to perform the work.

Paul McKinley of the coalition

pointed to union-racketeering government-mandated

for Section 3

Businesses as a barrier to job creation

for residents in the construction

industry and one of numerous problems

faced by sub-contractors under

the Section 3 program.

Under former CHA Acting

CEO, James L. Bebley watch, Eric

Garrett, Chief Property Officer, and

Leonard Langston, CHA Deputy

Eddie Read is one of the organizers of the 90’s made the

slogan “If we don’t work, Nobody Work” for work on construction

jobs. As during the same time Voices Of The Ex-

Offenders (VOTE) raise the agenda of contract work as

well. In the bottom photo Aaron Patterson, Joseph

Wikins, and Paul McKinley of VOTE.

https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/southside_archive/2004/SSJ-

2004-08-18.pdf

Chief Property Officer sign off for

approval to pay a white non-Section

3 firm $2 million over what the job

actually cost stated McKinley,

charging Bebley, with racketeering

contracts from 113 companies to 8

developers city wide that were not

Section 3 contractors using $130

millions of Federal funds (CSJ story

Aug. 2020).

McKinley cited that unions are

not using bats and clubs like in the

old days to control the jobs, but the

law with Bebley to steer work to

them.

Mike Sullivan a former resident

of CHA, a member of NAS3C is the

only certified union Black own fire

sprinkler company in Illinois was

provide a cost by CHA Section 3,

to do the same work for $500,000

five times less. He said a white contractor

was not certified in the trade

and had to sub out the work to another

white firm at the expense of

the residents.

“These are clear violations of

HUD rules and regulations. We

have contacted and made complaints

to the United Stated Department

of Labor Inspect General Labor

Racketeering Department and

HUD in this Region.

That’s a huge concern for Thomas

Harris, secretary-treasurer of

the American Allied Workers International

Union. He said organized

labor dictates the contracts. He said

he’s trying to get his union to represent

CHA residents so they aren’t

shut out.

“Labor dictates what’s going to

happen with the contracts and who

the workers are going to be.

They’ve been closed out of workplace

because they’ve never been at

the table to be represented in terms

of their trades,” Harris said.

Project Labor Agreements

(PLAs) are agreements that some

public entities require construction

contractors and subcontractors to

enter into with labor unions as a

condition of being allowed to perform

work on public construction

projects.

It has been pointed out to see

CHA use a lot more of their procurement

power to force the union

to get more residents into the unions

as apprentices. Until that happens

they [HUD, CHA] can sign all the

agreements they want but it’ll run

into a dead end when contractors

say they aren’t in the union.

NAS3C is asking for the firing

of Mr. Bebley, gross mismanagement

of HUD funding. Jackson said,

Revin Fellows, a community

advocate addressing the concerns of

the ‘street brothers’ working with

NAS3C said, “This is more than

economics it is about hiring our

young people in the communities

being on the contracts”. She continued

to add. “We are putting hammers

and dry wall in their hands

replacing the Guns and despair for

our young people.”

While most PLAs allow nonunion

contractors to bid to perform on

covered projects, they typically

require all successful bidders to

enter into union agreements in order

to actually be awarded and perform

the work.

“Community leaders want more

of their program participants to reap

the economic benefits of CHA many

projects”. Said Muhammad. “The

white contractors control the whole

market and they do not even want us

to work in our own back yards. We

want jobs vs. jails”.

The

great Dr. Webb “Mr. Buy Black” Evans, founder

of the United American Progress Association

in 1961 made his transition Feb. 23rd, at

the age of 101 years/ Min. Rahim “Sax

Preacher” Aton.

Dr. Webb Evans was the founder & past

president of what is now recalled the United

Dr. Webb Evans holds a portrait of

himself drawn by

CSJ publisher

Ron Carter

Black American Progress Association

(UBAPA) one of Chicago’s most prominent

and long time advocate for Black businesses.

Dr. Evans was most known as “Mr. Buy Black”

due to his daily efforts getting people to “Buy

Black” as a method to get Blacks off the economic

bottom. He states that “anybody can

come to this country and within a short time

they are doing better than Black African Americans.”

Understanding the importance of unity and

coalitions, he was a member of P.U.S.H., Chatham

Avalon Park Community Council, Black

United Front, NAACP, Black Wall Street Chicago.

Cathedral Baptist Church and the Baptist

Pastors Conference of Chicago.

UAPA continues to work getting people to

spend their money with the business people

who live in the Black community.

Responding to those that say they don’t hear

other races telling their people to shop with

their race, Dr. Evans said “they don’t have to be

told because they are already doing it without

being told. If others lived in the community and

was contributing to the welfare of the community

it would be different. But they don’t live in


the community and their only interest is to

come in and get the money out. Since we don’t

have Black business owners bringing money

from the Arab, Asian, or Caucasian communities,

Blacks should keep every dollar possible in

the Black community

by buying Black.”

In November 2012

Dr. Webb Evans appointed

Minister Rahim

Chesed Aton,

Founder of the Temple

of Mercy Association

as the new President of

the UBAPA.

On the Inaugural

14th year Anniversary

of The National Black

Business Month from

August 1st to 31st. At

a Black Wall Street

Chicago Summit the

motion was moved for

Bro. Revin Fellows

introduced to State

Rep. LaShawn K. Ford

(8th District) to recognize Dr. Webb Evans

during the month of August.

“We are proud to recognize Resolution

HR0608, 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY; submitted

by State Rep. LaShawn K. Ford (8th

District)” said Min. Aton.

Toure Muhammad. publisher and

chief strategist of Bean Soup Times.

Dr. Webb Evans aka Mr. Buy Black center, Minister Rahim

Chesed Aton, Chairman, Pastor St. John Chisum of United

Black America Progress Association

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By Nathan Thompson

“Everything in my life happened

accidentally.”

That’s the proclamation

form Mr. Herman Roberts, head of

what was without question, the biggest,

most important black entertainment

venue ever established on

Chicago’s Southside—Roberts

Show Lounge – where a virtual

who’s who of world-class entertainers

performed and partied. There

was Cab Calloway, Count Basie,

Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx, Sarah

Vaughn, Della Reese, Slappy White,

Johnny Mathis, Billy Eckstine and

Sammy Davis Jr. to name only a

few. The place was also a getaway

for big-name politicians including

Jimmy Carter Dick Daley, Dick

Mell, Ed Burke, Jim Thompson,

Dan Walker, Charlie Chew, Gene

Sawyer, Ralph Metcalfe and Harold

Washington. The club’s clientele

also included a few infamous patrons

like Sam Giancana.

Chicago State University was the

scene recently where an audience of

a hundred or so people enjoyed a

truly fascinating black history discussion

with the Chicago legend,

sponsored by the CSU Library, Archives

& Special Collections and

Department of Art & Design.

Roberts, now 86 and armed with

a sense of humor that has only improved

with time, was born in rural

Beggs, Oklahoma during a time

when, as far as his mother was concerned,

“$40 a year for rent was

unheard of;” even for a house and

40acres of land, “that was just too

much money.” That’s when his family

moved to Chicago, 5512 S. Indiana

in Bronzeville. Roberts:

“The first month I got here I

started selling newspapers at the

corner of 55 th & Michigan. I sold 10

papers and I was rich right off the bat… I made

two cents off each paper… The 2 nd Sunday I

was there, I hired another guy to sell the papers

on the corner for me, while I went to the people’s

houses…”

He recalled the days of ‘10-cent jitney cab

rides’ and his entry into the business.

“We were doing the bus company’s work. I

got put in jail at least two or three times a

month. That was just a standard procedure. I

lived right on the side of the cab company garage.

That’s how I got involved in the cab business.

I was about 15 (years old). I got started in

The late Herman Roberts celebrating his honorary street naming

on King Dr. 63rd to 67th . With family and friends champion

by Dorothy Leavell , publisher of the Reader and Crusader

newspapers. Below Roberts Show Club, now home of

New Beginnings Church on 66th and King Drive.

jitney cleaning them off and a guy came early

one morning and said, ‘man, I ain’t got nobody

to take me home. Drive me home.’ So I drove

him home. It was about 2:30, 3:00 in the morning…I

stayed off South Park, worked through

Indiana cuz I didn’t have no license… Some

people would see me get out the cab and think I

stole it.”

That was the beginning of Roberts TaxiCab

Company and it was Roberts himself who

fought for black cab drivers to work downtown.

In 1941, Roberts was drafted into the Army but

while away he leased his cabs for a weekly fee.

In 1953 Roberts launched what became

an entertainment empire, beginning

with a small State Street lounge

called The Lucky Spot Lounge. Next

came the world-renowned Roberts

Show Club in 1954 at 6622 South

Parkway (King Dr.) where the biggest

black entertainers in the world performed

and where many of the biggest

movers and shakers in town hung out.

It’s where Playboy founder Hugh

Hefner first became acquainted with

comedian Dick Gregory.

After the launch of the show club,

Roberts soon figured out the value in

establishing a motel due to racism that

prohibited black entertainers from

staying in downtown hotels—

regardless of their social status. This

was the genesis of the Roberts Finest

Motels. By 1971, Roberts had built 6

motels, including one in Gary.

Mr. Roberts is currently working on a

book. We’ll keep you posted.

“Everything in my life happened accidentally.”

That’s the proclamation form Mr.

Herman Roberts, head of what was

without question, the biggest, most

important black entertainment venue

ever established on Chicago’s Southside—Roberts

Show Lounge – where

a virtual who’s who of world-class

entertainers performed and partied.

There was Cab Calloway, Count

Basie, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx,

Sarah Vaughn, Della Reese, Slappy

White, Johnny Mathis, Billy Eckstine

and Sammy Davis Jr. to name only a

few. The place was also a getaway for

big-name politicians including Jimmy

Carter Dick Daley, Dick Mell, Ed

Burke, Jim Thompson, Dan Walker,

Charlie Chew, Gene Sawyer, Ralph Metcalfe

and Harold Washington. The club’s clientele

also included a few infamous patrons like Sam

Giancana.

Chicago State University was the scene

recently where an audience of a hundred or so

people enjoyed a truly fascinating black history

discussion with the Chicago legend, sponsored

by the CSU Library, Archives & Special Collections

and Department of Art & Design.

Roberts, now 86 and armed with a sense of

humor that has only improved with time, was

born in rural Beggs, Oklahoma

during a time when, as far as his

mother was concerned, “$40 a

year for rent was unheard of;”

even for a house and 40acres of land, “that was

just too much money.” That’s when his family

moved to Chicago, 5512 S. Indiana in Bronzeville.

Roberts:

“The first month I got here I started selling

newspapers at the corner of 55 th & Michigan. I

sold 10 papers and I was rich right off the bat…

I made two cents off each paper… The 2 nd Sunday

I was there, I hired another guy to sell the

papers on the corner for me, while I went to the

people’s houses…”

He recalled the days of ‘10-cent jitney cab

rides’ and his entry into the business.

“We were doing the bus company’s work. I

got put in jail at least two or three times a

month. That was just a standard procedure. I

lived right on the side of the cab company garage.

That’s how I got involved in the cab business.

I was about 15 (years old). I got started in

jitney cleaning them off and a guy came early

one morning and said, ‘man, I ain’t got nobody

to take me home. Drive me home.’ So I drove

him home. It was about 2:30, 3:00 in the morning…I

stayed off South Park, worked through

Indiana cuz I didn’t have no license… Some

people would see me get out the cab and think I

stole it.”

That was the beginning of Roberts TaxiCab

Company and it was Roberts himself who

fought for black cab drivers to work downtown.

In 1941, Roberts was drafted into the Army but

while away he leased his cabs for a weekly fee.

In 1953 Roberts launched what became an

entertainment empire, beginning with a small

State Street lounge called The Lucky Spot

Lounge. Next came the world-renowned Roberts

Show Club in 1954 at 6622 South Parkway

(King Dr.) where the biggest black entertainers

in the world performed and where many of the

biggest movers and shakers in town hung out.

It’s where Playboy founder Hugh Hefner first

became acquainted with comedian Dick Gregory.

After the launch of the show club, Roberts

soon figured out the value in establishing a

motel due to racism that prohibited black entertainers

from staying in downtown hotels—

regardless of their social status. This was the

genesis of the Roberts Finest Motels. By 1971,

Roberts had built 6 motels, including one in

Gary.

A book is in formation on Mr. Roberts.

By the Publisher

Art work for

Purchase and

Commissioned

872.803.7360


New drama Judas and the Black Messiah harkens back to

the late 60s, when the FBI labelled the Black Panthers as

“the greatest threat to internal security of the country”. It

sought to neutralise them by any means available: infiltration,

surveillance and, ultimately, the assassination of Fred

Hampton, the “black messiah” of the title, forcefully played

by Daniel Kaluuya. In J Edgar Hoover’s mind, the FBI was

protecting “our way of life”; to many in the African-

American community and beyond, the FBI was the threat.

Judas and the Black Messiah is generally described as a

film about Fred Hampton, the late chairman of the Illinois

Chapter of the Black Panther Party. LaKeith Stanfield was

one of the first to discover that it actually isn’t. The movie

is about William O’Neal, the FBI informant whom director

Shaka King persuaded

Stanfield to

play instead. There’s

always a darkness to

The first issue of Chicago (South)

Journal first issue highlighted

Fred Hampton’s wife Njeri and his

son Fred Jr. in September 1993

Stanfield’s projects,

like Atlanta, Sorry to

Bother You, and,

most famously, Get

Out. But the fact that

his character in Judas

helped orchestrate a

21-year-old’s murder

was at times almost

too much to stomach.

Describing his first

pairing with director

Shaka King, cinematographer

Sean Bobbitt

says the helmer

wanted to bring a

reality to Judas and

the Black Messiah,

"It's not a documentary.

He was looking for a reality, a re-creation of that period,

and a very intimate approach to the characters," the

director of photography says of the Warner Bros. drama,

which, after its Sundance premiere earlier this month, is

now available on HBO Max.

King and Bobbitt also watched such documentaries as the

PBS series Eyes on the Prize, which includes an interview

with O'Neal (clips from the interview appear in the movie).

Bobbitt, perhaps best known for shooting 12 Years a

Slave and for his longtime collaboration with its director,

Steve McQueen, read deeply about the period as well.

"Although I am an American, I've spent almost all my life

outside America, and in the '60s I was living as a child in

Saudi Arabia and in England, and so really had no idea

about this story," the DP admits. "In a way, I felt very

guilty. This is the history of the country I was born in. And

so that's what spurred me on to educate myself as to the

background, the history of this story and the politics and the

social conditions of America in the mid- to late '60s."

Judas was shot on location in Cleveland, with an ARRI

Alexa LF (large-format) camera and ARRI DNA lenses in a

2:39 widescreen aspect ratio. This story first appeared in

the Feb. 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

"Hip Hop Uncovered" is an examination

of a dying breed of power brokers who

operate from the shadows of hip-hop. Set

against 40 years of music history, this sixpart

documentary series takes a deep dive

into the paradox of America's criminalization

of the genre and its fascination with

the street culture that created it and still

exists within it. Instead of telling the story

of hip-hop from the top down, "Hip Hop

Uncovered" tells the story from the streets

up, as it reveals the untold story of how

America's streets helped shape hip-hop

culture from an expression of survival and

‘What you do

for Love’

You mean he is

White!?

These reactors are young. Black

Americans over 50 remembers

Bobby Caldwell. The album cover

didn’t show his race. And one day

after years and years of enjoying his

music and found out that he was

white totally shocked. When both

he and Teena Marie came out, we

didn't know they were White, but after they made appearances

on television, we saw them. Caldwell and Teena was a shock

because there were always White artist that played R&B and

Ad

756 E 79th St, Chicago, IL 60619

defiance into one of music's most dominant

genres.

The six-part documentary series follows

five of hip hop’s most influential and important

behind the scenes players: former

gang member James “Bimmy” Antney;

Deb Antney, a music executive who

launched Nicki Minaj’s career and whom

you may recognize from her appearances

on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta; Jacques

“Haitian Jack” Agnant, who many suspect

may have been involved with the assassination

of Tupac Shakur (though he denies

that allegation); Big U, a former L.A. gang

leader who has since founded an organization

to help L.A. kids stay off the streets

and out of gang life; and rapper Trick

Trick from the Goon Sqwad.

No matter how widely covered a topic is,

there’s always an untold story lurking

under the surface. FX Networks’ upcoming

documentary series Hip Hop Uncovered

hopes to unearth several of those

stories, turning its lens on several largerthan-life

figures who have been key players

for a long time and helped pull the

strings in the rap community. Check out

the latest trailer below.

Helping tell the stories will be cameos

from the likes of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,

T.I., Wiz Khalifa, The Game, Waka

Flocka, Run-DMC, Nick Cannon, Ice T,

Too $hort and more. The series premieres

on February 12, and will air two episodes

a week for three weeks.

“The best music is made when there is a

struggle,” Snoop says in the series’

trailer, “when there is some sort of story

that you can identify with that is a rags to

riches story.”

Watch the full-length trailer for the series

up top.

Rashidi Natara Harper serves as a director

on the series. His previous work

includes music videos for Montell Jordan

in the 1990s, several short films, a 2001

short film called Date From Hell that

starred Jamie Foxx, a TV series about New

Jack City director Mario Van Peebles’

attempt to create an eco-friendly house

called Mario’s Green House, and a documentary

about the making of a 2020 Netflix

film called Sneakerheads. Malcolm

Spellman, whose credits include Empire

and Marvel’s upcoming The Falcon and

The Winter Soldier, executive produced

this show.

Jazz tracks, but we always

could tell the difference

in vocal tone,

inflection, etc, from

White singers. Always.

We sing the way we

speak and live. Bobby

and Teena got us. Lol!

All the reactors gave

very honest reactions but

I think the races have

way more in common

then not. I know it’s a

challenge and I understand

why but It would

be great if we could view

people for their talent, accomplishments, skill, etc and not the

pigment of their skin.



Nate Sutton

President of

Sutton Auto Team

21315 Central Ave.

Matteson, IL 60443

Matteson Auto Mall

Sales:

855-383-0670

Service: 855-425-6885

Parts: 855-425-6884

Sales Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 9am-9pm

Saturday 9am-6pm

Service Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 7am-7pm

Saturday 8am-3pm

www.suttonlincoln.com

21315 Central Ave.

Matteson, IL 60443

Matteson Auto Mall

Sales:

855-418-6562

Service: 855-418-6393

Parts: 855-418-6433

Sales Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 9am-9pm

Saturday 9am-6pm

Service Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 7am-7pm

Saturday 8am-3pm

www.suttonford.com

12180 77th Street

Bristol, WI 53104

I-94 & Highway 50

Sales:

888-740-7159

Service: 888-779-1491

Parts: 888-824-4681

Sales Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-9pm

Saturday 9am-7pm

Service Hours:

Mon.-Fri. 7am-7pm

Saturday 8am-6pm

www.hondaofkenosha.com

Chicago Street Journal - March 2021 Edition

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