Chicago Street Journal - August 29, 2016

September 1, 2016

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Vol 21 No. 2 August 29, 2016

Frank Otton Featured Writer Another weekend, 55 shot, 9 killed.

August has been identified as the 12th Annual National Black Business Month: However, in the City of Chicago the month of August received no or little attention in the media regarding Black business Month. Instead it is violence, crime, concerns over police misconduct in the African American community.

In Chicago twenty five children were shot under the age of thirteen years old in 2016. Overall over 256 youth have been killed by Black youth. This year 2,760 people have been shot. In many cases gang and drug related according to the Chicago Police.

Nationally 38.5 per cent of people arrested for murder,

manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault were Black, while they represent 16 per cent of the county’s population. Data reports also reveal that 93 percent of black victims are by other blacks.

Phil Smith noted, “It is a disease that is very contagious. We must find an anecdote to cure it for our lives sake. No one is safe here.”

Given that people make choices in their life, rather to be tainted and pure or disobedience or sickening towards mankind; with the African American youth no other nationality of people is more violent among each other.

And no nationality of people is less in their financial standing in the U.S.A. according to financial planner and real estate investor Guy Williams. He is noted saying the (Continued on page 16)

CTU responds to school budget, a Strike is not out Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will open on time this year. However, CPS won't open in the fall if state government fails to approve an education budget, CPS chief Forrest Claypool.

"Chicago schools would not open, and I suspect most of the schools in the state would not open," Claypool said in a telephone inter-

view a day after divisions among Democrats who control the House and Senate prevented passage of a school funding plan before the end of the legislative session.

At the same time a strike by the Chicago Teachers Union is not out of the park.

Claypool presenting his lead to balancing the school with a $150 million deficit still has

Hosting as a anchor on the 69th Street Black Wall Street District is the Life Builders United Building, lead by Geraldine Smith and Dolphin Norris, located on the corner of 69th and Emerald The once business strip west of the Dan Ryan of 69th street has been identified as a Black Wall Street District, a plan to rejuvenate the business strip of the Englewood community.

For the past three years Geraldine Smith and Dolphin Norris has been moving forward with purchasing the old Union building on 69th and Emerald. Their plan is to create business ventures and add streetscape improvements to the strips in hopes of luring other Black private investment and new development to the strip. The BWSD has been in works since 2015. Though no

former dedication or overall planning is in place, Norris contends "If we don't do it, someone else will."

The Englewood community with the development of a Whole Foods at 63rd Street and Halsted Street, has been described as both a "socioeconomic experiment" and "one part of a solid strategy for economic growth and job creation." What's clear is that the symbolic and transformative power invested in this store, set to open this October and anchor a $10 million retail (Continued on page 15)

odds with CTU with teachers pay, class room issues and pension of teachers. A strike is not out of the picture according to Karen Lewis president of the CTU. CTU released a report detailing the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on privatized ser-

Donnell Robinson Staff Writer Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump, one will be the next president of the U.S. “So, who should voters give their support to in 2016?” ask Lucius Gantt of The Gantt Report, addressing ‘The ballot or the beat down’.

“Should they cast their ballots for Heckle or Jeckle, for Tweedledum or Tweedledee or for Popeye or Olive Oyl? Both parties know that 90 percent of the Black vote normally will go to the Democratic nominee.

However, in the battle between Trump and Clinton, Trump lands in the low single digits of support from Black Americans. In some polls, he has received 0 percent support, a negligible amount. In one recent

(Continued on page 8)

survey, he got 2 percent support. Many say because Black elected officials are normally democrats which leads to the Republican Party to write off the Black vote.

Many Democratic Party Black leaders such as Jesse Jackson speaking before the Democratic convention, “Hillary can be trusted to appoint a fair Supreme Court, and a skilled administration, including a man of faith like Senator Tim Kaine.”

“Hillary will fight to make us more secure by banning assault weapons that are turning our communities into killing fields: over 2300 shot and 260 killed in Chicago alone this year!”

Jackson continued to say, “We can trust Hillary to expand African trade and development. Fight for historically Black col(Continued on page 14)

Eva the Diva Page 5

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Sports Columnist, Teens & Kids Page 10

Page 2 September 1, 2016

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September 1

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(AP Photo/Chris Szagola/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernickcaused a national uproar for refusing to stand during the national anthem at the game against the Green Bay Packers, although that is not the first time Kaepnernick didn't stand for the anthem. He did not stand in the preseason game against Denver. He is not the first U.S.based athlete to use the anthem for protest., John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s rebellious gesture the day they won medals for the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. In 1996, NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the anthem, saying the United States had a history of tyranny and doing so would conflict with his religious beliefs. The NBA initially suspended Abdul-Rauf for his stance before it was lifted when he said he would stand and pray silently during the song.

Kaepernick said he is not worried about any potential fallout from his protest. "This is not something that I am going to run by anybody," he told NFL Media. "I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. ... If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right."

Kaepernicksaid.“ "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Kaepernick has been outspoken on social issues on social media for quite some time now, but his current stand for not standing has received the most attention.

"Considering he was a starter and a jewel of the league a few years ago and he has fallen so quickly, I think that might be something," shared Walter Hernandez, a footb a l l f a n a n d a v e t e r a n .

"I get his not supporting a country that is going to support the innocent killings of blacks, absolutely he has the platform to be able to do that," said Rome Garcia, also a

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hemtrails in the sky, spraying biological and chemicals agents on U.S. Citizens which could be why those folks are shooting and killing each other according to Prince.

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football fan.

Ed Miller, a former MLB player said, "Quite honestly, I have some of the same mixed feelings to represent a country that's supposed to be fair and balanced but it's not fair and balanced."

Speaking to ESPN on Monday, Tavarres said he almost sat during the pregame ceremony at the Indianapolis Colts over the weekend, and he plans to follow through when the Eagles host the New York Jets in their preseason finale Thursday night.

Mayor Rham Emanuel in addressing the guilty verdict gram, strengthening management oversight, using imof John Bills and Redflex on corruption over the proved technology, and adding more pubRed Camera said, “More than a decade ago, John lic transparency and more public input to Bills and Redflex broke the law and violated the the process. Today, CDOT is now required public trust - and those actions have conseto hold a public community meeting bequences. I immediately fired Redflex four years fore any red-light camera system is inago and now Mr. Bills will also pay the price for stalled, removed, or relocated – though his role. none have been added under this Mayor.

Since taking office, Mayor Emanuel has instiMayor Emanuel has reduced the red light tuted a series of reforms to the red light camera camera program by 20 percent by removenforcement program, including firing the origiing cameras in locations that have a very nal vendor, removing 82 cameras at 41 interseclow number of or no serious crashes. tions in response to a review of crash data, workJohn Bills ing with the Inspector General to review the pro-

Newspaper Quote This Issue “I feel especially bound to devote my energies to the freedom and elevation of my people. For the accomplishment of this object, I know of no instrumentality more effective than the press.”

-Frederick Douglass Publisher and Editor: Ron Carter Associate Publisher/ Writers: Donnell Robinson, Naimah Latif, Donnell Robinson, Frank Ottman, Eva Cole, Columnist, Jah Ranu Menab. Staff Photographer: Parphenia Luke, John Alexander, Circulation: Clifton Edgeson, Roosevelt Martin, Social Media: Sonja Perdue, Chicago Black Business Network (CBBN)

eaving Chicago on her way back to Africa, She is a member of the royal family of the Tumbuka tribe of Lundazi Zambia. The 4th generation granddaughter of Chief Nyathi Mphamba and the 6th generation grandchildren from the ancestry line of the Ngoni Zambia linked to Shaka Zulu, king of southern Africa. Princess Zindaea is not just a regular princess. She is an educator, motivational speaker and a congresswoman candidate for Zambia. hispers: the State of Illinois is in worst shape than it has even been according to a buddy of yours, Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In an interview seems like he will support U.S. Senator Dick Durbin run for Governor.

However, State Senator Kor Looks like you may want to stick to your plan as a one term Governor. here is a Black Owned Toy and Electronics store on 82nd and Cottage Grove... Games Plus is located at 8237 S. Cottage Grove, and this store is amazing. Arthur ...Grant III, the owner, has any and every toy you'd see at Walmart or Toys-R-Us. Delivery is available as well in the Chicago area directly or through the website internationally. Go support this Brother. resident Barak Obama signed his own executive order which allowed for the President to enact slave labor, on a large scale, on American soil. A matter of official covert US national policy and a portion of President Obama’s Executive Order (EO 13603) is a continuation of that policy.

Americans will be the new third world with the planned slave labor in support of the WW III production needs. rom the north side now to the Southside is Chicago Black Business Network founder Sonja Purdue getting ready for another radio talk show.

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TW Veteran Center is getting a major make over,. At last. However, donations are still sought for and reach can be mailed to: Ms Arnetha Gholston-Habeel Executive Director, RTW VETERAN CENTER 5536 S. King, Chicago. l Wynn reported that the Black Contractors was in sitting in the emergency room of a Chicago Hospital, waiting the results of Black Community going under surgery. The clock about to hit 12 midnight, for the hospital shift was about to change. The doctor walked in the waiting room, looked down at the contractors. He looked at the love ones of the future Black Contractors and said. “BC has economic cancer.” He continued to say, “It has been on a roller coaster economic surgery since 1970s after the State took over the policy numbers and called it the Illinois Lottery. It need a blood infusion. Are there any donors present among you?

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ary, Indiana Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson can be getting some Chicago Black alderman support for the city to be the third airport, A major airport proposed to be built in Peotone, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. One alderman says it don’t make any sense to focus on Piniton when Gary is only 20 minutes away from Chicago and the jobs would be more in reach for Chicago as well as building up the City of Gary.

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September 1, 1941 "Diamonds are forever" Happy 75th Birthday Chicago Vocational H.S. aka cVs 2100 E. 87th st. Chicago,Il, cVs doors open to 300 freshman boys... ¡Sept. 2-5, The African Festival of the Arts (AFA) has announced a stellar line-up of entertainment led by its Labor Day headlinersHoward Hewett and Rose Royce.

Hewett and Rose Royce will take the stage Monday evening, Sept.

5 th. Held each Labor Day weekend

in Chicago, the Festival offers the best in entertainment from around the world, and this year is no exception. in historic Washington Park, these headliners are just one element of the renowned festival that offers a glimpse into the many unique treasures of the African Continent including Africancentered offerings from across the globe.

A 75th anniversary is called the diamond anniversary. It is sometimes referred to as the diamond jubilee and is considered the pinnacle of anniversary celebrations. Diamonds are the strongest substances on Earth, as well as one of the most desired, and therefore represent such an esteemed celebrat i o n . . . . cVs, The Palace, The V, CaVal i e r S the official Insignia/logo of The cVs 75th Anniversary Celebration & Committee

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Saturday, September 3rd This Labor Day Weekend, the Community Peace Surge is working to make Chicago - A City of Peace.

Black Star Project are asking all Chicagoans to do three things.

1) Cook out or picnic on your block or in your local park. Walk your streets, meet your neighbors, congregate on corners, and claim your streets as yours during the day and the evening hours over September 2nd- through the 6th.

2) On between 9:00 am and 12:00 noon, clean your streets and alleys, pick up paper on your block, trim bushes/shrubs and pull weeds, or plant flowers.

3) During this period, spend time talking to youth. Encourage them to do well in school. Discourage them from engaging in behaviors that destroy our communities. Point them to resources that can help them with their lives.

For more information about the Co mmu nity P eace Su rge, visit CommunityPeaceSurge.org o r call 312.610.7787. Together, we will make Chicago - A City of Peace! Please print the flyer below and place it in your front window to show support of the Community Peace Surge.

Thursday, September 15, The University of Illinois at Chicago's 2016 Urban Forumwill address jobs and the future of labor by exploring job migration, and training and education in metropolitan-based efforts to build a diverse and adaptable work force. from 8:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the UIC Forum (725 W. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago). Registration is $25 and is required.

GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER PRESENTS 22ND ANNUAL BLACK

HARVEST FILM FESTIVALThe Black Harvest Film Festival continues through September 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center (GSFC). Black Harvest is the Midwest's largest festival of the black experience on film and the Gene Siskel Film Center's most vibrant annual showcase featuring provocative films that tell stories, spark lively discussions, and address issues relating to the experiences from the African diaspora. Black Harvestfeatures Chicago premieres, filmmaker appearances, panel discussions, and special events. Presented will be a combined total of over 50 features, documentaries, and shorts, including a number connected to Chicago, affirming the city's role as a vital center for independent filmmaking. Festival Passes available $55 for 6 films and 6 small popcorns!Week 2 Highlights, August 12-18: Music documentaries Tear the Roof Off: The Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic, Walk All Night: A Drumbeat Journey, and Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story, the latter of which includes the presentation of the inaugural Gene Siskel Film Center Legacy Award to celebrated media personality Richard Steele; education documentary Gordon Parks Elementary by Chi-Raq writer and Jayhawkers director Kevin Willmott; interracial drama Love Isn't Enough; and shorts programs Made in Chicago II and We Are Family. http:// www.siskelfilmcenter.org/ blackharvest

The United B l a c k American Progress Association F.N.A. The U n i t e d American Progress Association 4th Monday

Union Station Transit Center. The City of Chicago has announced that the Union Station Transit Center (USTC), a state-ofthe-art new CTA bus boarding facility, will begin service on Sunday, September 4. CMAP is pleased to have provided $26.3 million in federal funds for the USTC, which will make it much easier for travelers to access CTA and private buses, shuttles, and Metra and Amtrak trains at this historic station that has served our region for nearly a century. This CDOT project is a prime example of how to modernize existing assets and infrastructure, as emphasized in the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan.

September 1

Granted Hundreds Of Drug Offenders Freedom.

Dozens Would Have Died Behind Bars.

Ryan J. Reilly Senior Justice Reporter, The Huffington Post WASHINGTON ― President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 214 federal prisoners who were incarcerated on drug charges.

The White House said the announcement meant Obama had commuted 562 sentences, more than the past nine presidents combined.

Obama has now commuted more sentences than any presidentsince Calvin Coolidge.

Of that group, 67 had been given life sentences, as they believing they would die there.

As part of the Obama administration’s clemency initiative, the president had shortened the sentences of dozens of individuals in 2016, including in March and in June. The White House said the 214 number was the highest number of commutations announced in a single day since at least 1900, according to Buzzfeed News.

Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates said the announcement was “yet another step in the administration’s efforts to restore proportionality to unnecessarily long drug sentences,” and that the president had already doubled the number of commutations granted in all of 2015.

“But we are not done yet, and we expect that many more men and women will be given a second chance through the Clemency Initiative,” Yates said.

While the number of commutations granted during the Obama administration are historic, many advocates had hoped that thousands of individuals would be granted clemency under the initiative, which is aimed at shortening lengthy drug sentences that were often a result of federal mandatory minimums. For-

mer Attorney General Eric Holder has said he expected as many as 10,000 prisoners to be granted clemency. Rachel Barkow, a New York University professor, told The Huffington Post that around 1,500 federal prisoners met the criteria that the Obama administration laid out for the initiative.

The Clemency Project, an outside initiative that helps screen federal prisoners applying for a presidential commutation and submits applications to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, represented 118 of the applicants who had their sentences. Many granted clemency are now scheduled for release in December 2016, and oth-

ers will gain their freedom in August 2018. Additional individuals granted clemency had lengthy sentences shortened, but will not be getting out for many years. An individual sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for intending to distribute thousands of kilograms of marijuana, for example, had his sentence reduced to 30 years.

“With less than six months remaining in President Obama’s term,

There are over 2.2 million Black men and women who are not able to vote because of a felony conviction; yet they have paid their debt to society. There are more than 50 reasons why Blacks must fight in the 2016 election.

State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, DChicago, raised the concern with men and women living with a criminal background to call on presidential candidates to make reentry issues a priority for the United States.

"A criminal background in America is a disability that prevents citizens from living a productive life in America," said Ford.

"This is not about political gain this is about justice. Americans with criminal records should be given a second chance if they have

I know that today’s action will bring hope to so many worthy individuals and their incredible and heroic pro bono attorneys from across the country awaiting a decision by the President on their clemency petitions,” said Cynthia W. Roseberry, who serves as project manager for the Clemency Project.

Mark Osler, a law professor at St. Thomas University who helped organize a lettercalling on the ad-

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how bad the justice system is in need of repair after 28 years I'm still living and fighting an unfair Justice System!"

In the United States, more than 100 million people have some form of a criminal record. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, every arrest comes with a sentence: guilty or not guilty. A 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, found that 86 percent of employers use criminal background checks on at least some candidates, with the majority (69 percent) checking all candidates. In a similar 2010 survey by the same group, 31 percent of respondents served their time and are fully comsaid an arrest without conviction mitted to obeying the would at least be laws of the land. Even "somewhat influenthose who were wrongtial" in their hiring fully convicted have to decision. carry the burden of a "I've even face chalnegative image on their lenges after being shoulders. This is causcharged with ing us to see a repeated a misdemeanor in the cycle in our prison federal system," said system and communiFord. "Recently I was ties. We must not turn rejected by TSA for our backs and pretend priority boarding bethis is not an issue with cause of an error in our family, friends and how my record was Rep. La Shawn K. Ford community." reported. People who Howard C. Medley, are productive and a veteran with a Purple Heart and a want to continue to be productive community leader, shares many of citizens in America should not be the issues that plague those with a denied their full liberty in America. background. "I'm a black, 80 year Immigration, global warming, and old man, a Democrat and role many international issues are being model in the community," said debated, but we must ask our canMedley. "I was wrongfully condidates running for president - who victed and jailed 28 years ago, and are asking for our votes - that they I still can't live the American make issues dealing with re-entry dream. I am trying to clear my of our returning and returned citiname for a crime I did not commit zens a priority if our nation is to in the first place. Today, I have heal its wounds. So many people been suffering trying to clear my who have paid their debt to society name, and all the while my busistill struggle to find ways to clear ness also suffers because of it. I their names." have spent over 1 million dollars For info contact Rep. Ford's trying to clear my family's good office at 773-378-5902, or name. I am a perfect example of visit www.lashawnford.com. ministration to speed up the clemency process, called on Obama to “break the bureaucratic logjam” that is holding up the review of clemency application. “These non-violent offenders have been promised a full review and relief, and they deserve nothing less. We again urge the president to speed up his administration’s review of the petitions it has received and to consider whether there are structural changes to the process that would ensure justice is done for every worthy petitioner.”

“Many people will use words today

like leniency and mercy,” said Kevin Ring, who serves as vice president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. “But what really happened is that a group of fellow citizens finally got the punishment they deserved. Not less, but, at long last, not more.”

Learning they’ve gained their freedom is an extremely emotional experience for federal prisoners, especially those who had expected to die behind bars, as The Huffington Post reported in June:

Copycat Copying Center Corner of 79th and King for 24 years

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Chicago police officers fulfilled a promise to 6-yearold shooting victim Tacarra Morgan as one example of community sensitivity, as the city of Chicago announce the next steps in its efforts to fundamentally reform the city’s police accountability system. Following a new series of public hearings and engagement opportunities in Chicago’s neighborhoods, City Council plans to vote on an ordinance in September that achieves Mayor Emanuel’s goal of replacing the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) with a new civilian investigative agency, and creating a new Public Safety Auditor to audit and monitor policing issues.

Separately, the city is also announcing that at the request of community groups who are invested in these issues, a collection of community organizations will now lead a public engagement process focused on creating a Community Safety Oversight Board prior to any City Council vote on that specific issue. A 6-yearold girl who was seriously wounded in a shooting on Chicago’s South Side last month received a special gift Thursday from the Chicago Police Department.

"Several months ago, we began the process to reform the entire police accountability system to ensure investigations of officers are independent, fair, timely and transparent. The ordinance today is the result of a lot of hard work and significant community input. But the path forward will be about more than just the words on a page, it will be about implementation, culture and building community trust in the system of police accountability."

Hundreds of protesters marched through Downtown after a rally at Millennium Park Sunday, demanding justice for the killing of Paul O'Neal by Chicago Police.

The 18-year-old was shot and killed by police on July 28 near 74th Street and Merrill Avenue after a stolen Jaguar he was in smashed into a squad car and O'Neal ran off into the neighborhood.

Videos of police officers shooting at O'Neal as he sped past them and then after he was shot and was being arrested were released Friday, causing a slew of criticism from O'Neal's family and activists accusing the police of murdering O'Neal.

Sunday's march was organized by BLM Chi Youth, an offshoot of Black Lives Matter formed by four 16-and -17-year-old high school students At several recent public hearings, the Mayor and city officials heard from community members about the need for a greater degree of community input into the process of police reform, and in particular into the creation of the Oversight Board. At the request of community groups, and as part of the city’s commitment to preserve the integrity of the process, the city has agreed for these neighborhood-based organizations to lead a series of

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meetings around the city focused on the Oversight Board prior to the introduction of an ordinance on this issue. Following this engagement process, and using public feedback gathered during it, the city will craft an ordinance that lays out the structure of the Board.

While community groups drive this important process forward, it is essential for the city to take action now on replacing IPRA and implementing a new Public Safety Auditor. Given the critical importance of these functions, and the urgency of the issue, it is imperative that the city advance these two measures. In doing so, it will give residents, the public and our public safety agencies the certainty they deserve, while recognizing the equally important need of addressing the voices of community members. It also meets the time frame laid out by the Police Accountability Task Force to adopt many of these important reforms within six months of their introduc“...the code of tion. silence. It is the “Everyone in Chicago detendency to igserves a police accountabilnore, deny or in ity system that is both some cases cover trusted and effective, and up the bad actions we are taking the next steps of a colleague or to achieve that goal,” said colleagues.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Mayor “Following conversations Rahm Emanuel with residents, neighborhood organizations, and others, we are taking action that reflects the voices and interests of the community.

While important work remains, we will all be better off in the years to come because of the hard work and the community process being follow to rebuild and restore that system.”

“This important work to rebuild the police accountability system is moving forward, and as we work together on this effort, we are making important strides to ensure that the input and opinion of Chicago’s residents are heard,” said Ariel Reboyras, Chairman of the Committee on Public Safety.

“The city of Chicago needs and deserves a police accountability system that works, and City Council is taking concrete steps to ensure that system is in place.”

“Restoring trust in Chicago’s police accountability system is imperative, and the voices of residents in neighborhoods across the city need to continue to be a part of this process,” said Carrie Austin, Chairman of the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

“There has to be certainty in the future of the system for Chicago, for our police department, and for the residents of our city. While continuing to gather public feedback, City Council is focused on doing the important work of b r i n gi n g t h i s c e r t a i n t y t o t h e c i t y. ” “We are at a critical moment in our city’s history, and this plan meets the full community engagement process that is necessary in reforming the police accountability system,” said Alderman Ricardo Munoz. “Our city’s residents need to be able to share their experiences and input on this important issue. I support this path forward, and will continue working with my colleagues in the Progressive Reform Caucus to make reform a reality.”

The City Council hearings focused on replacing IPRA

September 1

“SACCC-tivists” Who Helped Launch CUB Now Push for Mayoral Term Limits and a Full-Time Consumer A d v o c a t e Austin – Pat Quinn was joined by activists from a revered community group – the South Austin Coalition Community Council (SACCC) – in pushing for the Take Charge Chicago referendums..

“Thirty years ago, I worked with Lillian Drummond, Bob Vondrasek, Elce Redmond and other ‘SACCCtivists’ to help get the Citizens Utility Board up-and-running,” Quinn said. “In the 1980s, SACCC was in the forefront of demanding lower electric rates. Today SACCC is in the forefront of demanding a term limit on Chicago’s Mayor and opening up City Hall.

They’re all fired up and ready to go!”

The Take Charge Chicago referendums would term limit Chicago’s Mayor and establish an elected Consumer Advocate. They would be the first binding referendums in memory once 100,000 signatures are collected.

On the heels of a Cook County Judge ruling against putting a popular measure on the ballot that would create independently drawn legislative maps, Governor Bruce reiterated his push for good government reforms including a call for the Illinois General Assembly to vote on a term limits constitutional amendment in the fall veto session.

Two years ago, 600,000 thousand people in Illinois signed petitions calling for term limits on elected officials. Rauner while campaigning for the governor seat charged to be a one term governor.

Term limits and fair maps would give the people of Illinois more control over our broken political system.

But the politicians holding power said no.

Rauner says term limits will go a long way toward fixing the system by changing the culture back to public service, not personal gain, by forcing the lifetime politicians to find new jobs, and by bringing new faces and new ideas to Springfield.

As governor, Rauner said, “I've learned just how entrenched the politicians holding power are. They don't want to change. They are focused on their own power, rather than empowering people.

“In Springfield, too many career politicians holding power have been happy to kick the can down the road and do nothing about our biggest problems.

People in business are successful by making things happen. In politics, career politicians don't have to make anything happen to get reelected. If they play their cards right, they've got a lifetime job. We've got politicians in Springfield who've been there for twenty, thirty, forty years! And look what's happened to our state in that time.

This year over 88% of candidates for our

legislature faced no opposition in their primary.

Even more amazing, two-thirds have no opposition in the general election. That's not democracy. That's a rigged system.

The system has given so many advantages to incumbents in the legislature that it's very hard to vote them out -- even if they're not doing a good job.

That's just wrong.

But we can change that. And we must change that.

That's why I'm calling on the General Assembly to vote on a term limits constitutional amendment when members return for the fall veto session.

Now, cynics will say this is an impossible dream to get term limits voted on by this legislature. But that dream can become a reality if the people of Illinois demand it.

Quinn – a long-time West Side resident – addressed SACCC’s monthly meeting where he ripped the Mayor’s record-breaking property tax hike and its impact on every Chicagoan.

“This tax hike on the backs of everyday people shows the need for structural change in City Hall. It shows why we need mayoral term limits and a full-time Consumer Advocate,” Quinn said. “A Consumer Advocate could partner with groups such as SACCC on issues which the Mayor’s current hand-picked consumer affairs commissioner won’t touch.”

The Mayor announced the historic property tax hike just after his reelection. His $588 million increase easily eclipsed the previous record increase – $88 million – imposed by the previous Mayor just after he was reelected to his 6th term.

Chicagoans already pay some of the highest

Page 7

property taxes in the nation, on top of artificial fees such as red-light cameras and the brandnew garbage collection fee which appeared on recent water bills.

In 1982, Quinn won passage of a Chicago referendum calling for the creation of the Citizens Utility Board, Illinois’ largest consumer group for the past three decades. In CUB’s early years, SACCC and CUB joined forces to cut Com Ed’s monthly service fee, restrict winter heat shut-offs and provide universal phone service for seniors.

The South Austin Coalition Community Council is one of Chicago’s most enduring and respected community groups.

Former Illinois Governor Quinn also served as Commissioner of the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals (1982-86), the nation’s largest property tax appeal agency.

Chicago is the only city among the nation’s ten largest without mayoral term limits.

The Take Charge Chicago referendum on mayoral term limits would read as follows: “Shall Chicago adopt the following term limit for the office of Mayor effective for the mayoral election in 2019 and thereafter: No person may hold the office of Mayor for more than two consecutive elected 4-year terms (with all prior consecutive terms of the current officeholder counted in determining the term limit for that officeholder)?”

The Take Charge Chicago referendum on an elected Consumer Advocate would read as follows: “Shall Chicago establish an elected Consumer Advocate for taxpayers and consumers to replace the appointed Commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection?” Currently the Commissioner is hand-picked by the Mayor.

Anyone interested in circulating or signing the referendums to term limit the Mayor and elect a Consumer Advocate should contact Take Charge Chicago, PO Box 8048, Chicago, IL 60680, or call 773-999-2016. Visit TakeChargeChicago.org to download a petition, find Take Charge Chicago on Facebook and follow @TakeChargeChi on Twitter.

Take Charge Chicago is a referendum movement organized to open up the doors of City Hall and let the people in. Take Charge Chicago petition-passers come from all parts of the city and aim to gather signatures in every single neighborhood.

A leader of Take Charge Chicago is Pat Quinn, who led successful petition referendums to end the century-old practice of legislators receiving their entire year’s pay in advance (1976) and cut the size of the Illinois General Assembly (1980). In 1982, he put referendums on ballots across Illinois – including Chicago – which led to creation of the Citizens Utility Board, the state’s largest consumer group.

Click here to download a petition and make history, one signature at a time!

For more information about Take Charge Chicago or to volunteer, visit Twitter, Facebook, orInstagram or call 1-773-999-2016.

Page 8 September 1, 2016

City Convene Group To Coordinate Economic Development Around Obama Presidential Center Chicago put all its markers on winning the Obama Presidential Library (OPL). And now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Aldermen Leslie Hairston (5th Ward), Willie Cochran (20th Ward), Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) and Sophia King (4th Ward) announced that they will convene a group of stakeholders on the South Side of Chicago to create a forum for coordination, collaboration and community engagement in economic development efforts in the neighborhoods surrounding the site of the future Obama Presidential Center.

Advisory group will solicit community feedback, ensure South Side investments are targeted and coordinated to achieve maximum impact Advisory group will solicit community feedback, ensure South Side investments are targeted and coordinated to achieve maximum impact.

Their long-term plan is supported with real estate holdings that provide them with land for future endowments, all the way from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway.

“The Obama Presidential Center, when complete, will offer tremendous educational, cultural and economic benefits to the City and its residents, and it is important that community members be part of the process of investment and development in the South Side of Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I look forward to working with the South Side Aldermen and other community leaders to identify critical stakeholders who will work to ensure that economic development in the neighborhoods around the Center include local feedback and expertise to maximize the positive impact on area communities and residents.”

However, the Community Advisory Board that the University of Chicago assembled to represent the community’s interest, signed on without demanding transparency of the OPL site proposal, or even having a community benefit agreement in place. The community has not begun to visualize just how much more land will be needed for parking and security in the two contending historic Park sites.

One of the first actions of the group will be to research and identify national and interna- unique neighborhoods surrounding the Obama tional best practices for organizational struc- Presidential Center.

The advisory group will include residents, tures and development activities in other cities and regions that may be applicable to the individuals from community organizations that work in the South Side neighborhoods sur-

rounding the Obama Presidential Center and representatives from the University of Chicago, the Obama Foundation, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.

The CTU responds to new school budget, saying it continue to hurt students and cripple public education (Continued from page 1)

vices—services which have resulted in multiple conflicts of interests and an extremely poor level of service in Chicago's public schools. The report, titled "Outsourced: How CPS Sells its Own Governance to the Highest Bidder," comes as CPS claims to have insufficient funds for providing students much-needed classroom services, but continues to dole out millions to for-profit corporations.

CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey in a release on the school district's release of new school budgets: "While we are glad that 40 percent of the student-based budgeting (SBB) is off the table, school budgets are still lower than last year. Unacceptable schoollevel cuts continue, and to be clear, these fiscal decisions hurt our students. A short-term fix from Springfield cannot resolve the long-term damage done to CPS by the Chicago Board of Education and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Simply put, our schools need sustainable, progressive revenue.

More than 1,000 staff members were laid off on Aug 5 and special education funding drastically cut as part of CPS' "balanced budget" for fiscal year 2017. This budget in-

cludes nearly $2 billion in private contracts for a wide variety of services—with minimal oversight or accountability.

"Teachers and students are returning to school buildings that are unsafe due to potential lead contamination, unclean, unhealthy and

understaffed," said CTU President Karen Lewis.

"This is no way to run a school district."

"Our report is just the beginning—digging deeper would undoubtedly reveal even more overspending and mismanagement," Lewis added.

"We've had year after year of reductions in support personnel to schools, and `efficiencies' that principals have tried to wring out of their schools.”TIFs and a corporate head tax will resolve the budget gap completely and result in no cuts to

Derrick A. Riley, CEO

our classrooms. Mayor Emanuel, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and their wealthy friends and developers should pay their fair share instead of paying lip service to teachers, students and parents."

Yet Mayor Rham Emanuel is caught in the middle, getting pressured by Governor Bruce Rauner to enact his reforms, as the mayor tries to find hundreds of millions of dollars to help CPS. At the same appearance in Chicago, Rauner accused Emanuel of blindly abiding by Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, DChicago.

“If I have major disappointment in last months, it’s with the mayor.” Rauner said, adding, though, that the issue is not “personal.”

The Governor apologized in his statement that “The simple fact is that when you look objectively at the state of Chicago Public Schools, many of them are inadequate. Many of them are woeful, and some are just tragic. Many of them are basically almost crumbling prisons.

They’re not a place a young person should be educated,” Rauner said.

The mayor responded to Rauner comparing some CPS schools to “crumbling prisons” by escalating the war of words with his old friend, former business associate

and vacation companion.

“Last week, I said his rhetoric of division and divisiveness — of targeting [and pitting] one group of people against another — was Trump-like. Now, it sounds like he’s auditioning to be Donald Trump’s running mate,” the mayor said.

In Lewis statement, Chicago teachers do not seek to go on strike.

We want to return to clean, safe, resourced schools. We want a fair contract. We will continue to part-

ner with parents and community residents in fighting for the schools our students deserve."

"We do not know if Mayor Emanuel can stand another teachers strike, especially at a time when confidence in his leadership is at an all-time low, and when the city is in an uproar over another police shooting of an unarmed AfricanAmerican youth." Said Lewis.

"Do not force our hand."

September 1, 2016

Page 9

Page 10 September 1, 2016 EVA the DIVA

BYE - BYE NIGHTLIGHT I had a cool nightlight in my bedroom.

The light took away the darkness and gloom.

The nightlight helped me feel comfy and safe.

That’s why my mom plugged it into a special place.

My night light always shined with a glowing light.

It helped me sleep through the long night.

Modern nightlights come with fun characters and faces.

They fit directly into your electrical outlet which has two spaces.

Never play with the electrical outlets because they can harm you.

They are DANGEROUS! Your body can get shocked, turn purple and blue.

Having the night light in my room brought peace and safety.

I could always see when I got up during the night to go

pee pee.

One night my mom and dad encouraged me to be stronger.

So, I wouldn’t have to use the night light any longer.

My mom and dad said total darkness could improve my sleep.

Let’s see if I rest throughout the night without a peep.

I was a little scared but with my mom and dad’s praise, I woke up the next day proud of myself and amazed.

I did it, I did it. I slept through the night, Not having to turn on my cool night light.

The End. Eva the Diva Column SPORTS Columnist, Chicago Teens & Kids Twitter Page: @EvaColeBooks Facebook Page: Cole Cutie Productions Email: EvaCole18@aol.com

A Day At The Zoo With The Black Star Project, A Day of Learning. A Day of Fun, A Day of Relaxation. The Black Star Project at 773.285.9600 to join us for A Day At the Zoo

Summer Jobs Report: Mayor Rahm Emanuel reports; One Summer Chicago youth employment employed more than 30,000 youth around the city with job and internship opportunities this summer. Since 2011, Mayor Emanuel has significantly expanded the summer program, more than doubling opportunities while diversifying work opportunities for youths around the city, with nearly 130,000 youth gaining valuable job training and work experience since the program began.

Bronzecomm.com - Creative teens with an interest in the arts are invited to apply for Fall 2016 teen programs in design/build and arts administra-

tion. Both programs are offered in partnership with After School Matters and take place at the University of Chicago's Arts Incubator in Wash-

ington Park (301 E. Garfield Blvd.). Participants are eligible to earn a monetary award. Design Apprenticeship Program - DAP 1: Foundations September 27 December 10, Tuesdays, 5-7:30pm; Thursdays, 5-7:30pm; Saturdays, 10am-1pm. Teens will develop as designers, builders, and community stewards through an introduction to woodshop safety and culture, hand tools and select power tools, and the design process (including ideation, drawing, prototyping, and building).

Teens typically complete 2-3 small projects and support other local design/build needs. Apply now.

Teen Arts Council: Apprenticeship, September 26-December 10 AND February 22-May 13 Mondays, 5-7:30pm; Wednesdays, 57:30pm; Saturdays, 10am-1pm; Teens will develop creative skills, leadership experience, and opportunities for other teens to engage with the arts. From Fall 2016-Spring 2017, a full-year cohort of the Council will go through the whole process of curating, installing, and organizing public programming for an exhibition of other After School Matters teens' work in the Arts Incubator's gallery. Teens will learn skills in arts administration, curation, and related areas. Note: The Council is a fullyear commitment. Apply now. Accommodations, Persons with disabilities who need an accommodation in order to participate in a program should contact Arts + Public Life for assistance at 773.702.9724 or artsandpubliclife@uchicago.edu.

Questions? Contact Quenna Barrett at quenna@uchicago.edu.

September 1, 2016

Page 11

Page 12 September 1, 2016

What's is Really Behind the Protest Police in Black History has continued to reflect the tragic consequences for African America’s since slavery of the law as a tool to oppress; from the civil rights marches, the forming of the Black Panther Party of Self Defense in 1966, and today urban communities have become impossible to ignore as protests' continue addressing police misconduct even to:

Chicago Police Officer Kills Young Man and then Sues for "Making" Him (the Officer) Kill Him. "That's a new low even for the Chicago Police Department," said Basileios Foutris, attorney for the LeGrier family.

"First you shoot them, and then you sue them."

“Soured relations between the police and the communities they serve are one of the most challenging issues of our time," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said addressing the riots that erupted in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

This is just one of long line of Blacks killed, inexplicably, in brushes with the law.

In July 1966, James Baldwin published “A Report from Occupied Territory,” a despairing essay in the Nation contemplating race relations in American cities. Describing the deep sense of alienation and despair in the black community, Baldwin wrote: “The children, having seen the spectacular defeat of their fathers . . . cannot listen to their fathers and certainly will not listen to the society which is responsible for their orphaned condition.”

Fifty years later, it’s heartbreaking and infuriating to read those words and realize how little has changed.

Chicago in 2015 approved $55 million in what it called reparations of innocence. And likely not the last, as just last December young 19 year old Quintonio LeGrier was killed and his neighbor were accidentally killed by Chicago police.

Malik Ismail, an international traveler, historian and activist pointed out that, Like prosecutors, police officers are tasked with making the society safe. Sometimes their zeal leads them to cross the line and use the power of their badges to make a case that otherwise would not be tribal.

The numbers show the laws and the police killings target one group of people, “Because they're defenseless and more vulnerable than others” says Everoloyce MCullough, south

Tens of thousands of black people since the 1866 birth of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tenn. have been lynched, burned alive, beaten to death and mutilated by whites. The 1980 riots in Miami's "Liberty City" and the 1992 L.A. riots involving the Rodney King verdict were again expressed in Ferguson, Mo. Pay attention to this history of brutality and criminalization of the humanity of black people and law enforcement.

side community activist that works with the street organizations.

“The actions of the police is attributed to obvious racism, as well it should; but even worse than that, this state of the city also reveals the government from the one deal it is also “Capitalism”. Said McCullough says, “Police brutality goes farther than physical harm.

When then State Senator Barrack Obama pass the “Driving While Black’ law in the State of Illinois, that law meant, ‘don't do it any more’.

SSJ in an interview with Senator Obama, ask him what about the innocent that we unjustly

incriminated that cause him to pass a ‘Driving while Black law.’

Obama responded. “ The law does not cover that.”

McCullough says police brutality remain with a bigger picture of the law enforcement; concerning the crimes police did that are not caught on video? The innocent people from a simple traffic ticket that builds up to get ones car impound and license taken away? Or the stop and search that leads to a compound warning in a data system; the traffic court when one mainly see mainly Black people.

McCullough continue to say police killings do get attention, but innocent people made out of criminals or cash cows must be addressed as well.”

It is likely that there are many other "LaQuan McDonalds" and officers like Jason Van Dyke never caught on video and the public will never know their names. “ Now look at those in Cook County jail 90% are Black and half are innocent but no funds to put up bail.”

A big problem with blacks, especially black males, is that this system is design to get them into the system early on in life and mark them with a felony on their record thereby allowing them to be legally discriminated against without actually saying they are discriminating against them because they are black. But if you follow the data, even though whites are just as likely to commit crimes as blacks are, they are less likely to be pulled over, charged or prosecuted for these offenses. So if it seems only black men are convicts, that’s only because white men aren’t pursued by the justice system.

Michelle Alexander identified this scheme in her book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”. She should how the government (system) has devised a way to keep men of color in a perpetual state of second classed citizenry in order to continue the cheap/free labor from the days of slavery. Even if we change the system today and it became fair, we still have millions who have gone through the system who are still shackled by having the term felon on their record for an offense occurring over thirty years ago.

Cook County Commissioner Richard

Boykin (D- 1st District) Earlier 2015, partnered with Congressman Danny K. Davis to ask the Justice Department to open an investigation into the police detention facility in Chicago known as 'Homan Square.' It is well known and documented that the CPD has detained over 7,000 individuals there. It is also well known that a high number of those detentions involved the delay or denial of access to counsel- a clear civil rights violation.

“Capitalism is a big picture of innocent people is the example of economic injustice.

Ismail said overall, the observation of many Blacks believe the issue of police brutality against Blacks in America is a major problem.

In fact, a good number of people feel this is an issue, which if allowed to fester, will become a major fissure in the fabric of America.

But again and again it is no new news: The profound findings of the Kerner Commission, which former President Lyndon B. Johnson established to study the root causes of the 1967 race riots. "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal," the commission famously warned. "Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans," it reported, adding that the media had "not communicated to the majority of their audience — which is white — a sense of the degradation, misery and hopelessness of life in the ghetto."

The City of Chicago Police Leaders aware of the tension early summer of 2015 the CPD met with residents across the City to Gather Feedback CPD leadership, including former Superintendent McCarthy, First Deputy Al Wysinger, newly appointed Deputy Chief of Community Policing Eric Washington participated in outreach sessions at churches on the City's south and west sides including the Apostolic Church of God, St. Martin De Pores, St. Sabina, Mt. Calvary, and others.

"We had a wonderful and productive event," said Cortez Trotter of the Apostolic Church of God and Executive Director of the Woodlawn Public Safety Alliance. "Our community members and neighbors were able to ask questions of the officers and talk about the issues they face, and were receptive and addressed our more pressing concerns. It really helps strengthen the relationships between the public and our police."

Many would point to a radicalized system of justice and not just a case of bad apples.

Police misconduct and prosecutors derailing accountability of the police existed long before any present administration arrived and will likely thrive as a culture way past their departure under the code of silence of police departments all over the country. Police brutality is a crime that is has been surfacing in the news recently. Some people are just starting to realize that these injustices against the black community really occur, while others are well aware. However, the injustices towards African Americans, mainly target black males Key Findings:

 Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, more than any other race.

(Continued on page 13)

September 1, 2016

Term limits:

Page 13

Perspective chang-

Letters to the Editor

ing the culture back to public service, not perThe Bud Billiken Parade sonal gain, forcing the lifetime politicians to find Dear Editor Remarks as prepared for delivery: ver the past two years, the people of Illinois, Democrats and Republicans alike, have demanded reform. In 2014 the entrenched politicians holding power in Springfield ignored those demands. They used the Illinois court system to stop proposals for term limits and fair maps that could have led to the reforms the people want.

Term limits and fair maps would give the people of Illinois more control over our broken political system.

But the politicians holding power said no.

Last week they said no again. A lower court threw out this year's Fair Maps proposal that has the support of nearly 600,000 Illinois citizens, support from both Democrats and Republicans.

We cannot let this stand. The only way to overcome entrenched political power is for the people of Illinois to never give up, to keep pushing forward for reform.

That's why we're here today.

Term limits is an issue I believe in deeply. And so do the people of Illinois.

Term limits is supported by 80% of the people I talk to, and it seems like 80% of the politicians are opposed. Our people want term limits now more than ever, and that's why I'm so committed to continue the fight to make it happen.

You know, I've been Governor of Illinois for a year and a half now. We've gotten some important things done. But I'm as frustrated as everyone else that we haven't been able to tackle the biggest challenges facing our state. These past 18 months have been a humbling experience - I've learned just how entrenched the politicians holding power are. They don't want to change. They are focused on their own power, rather than empowering people. But I have also learned that you want me to keep working to fix our broken political system. That is just what I plan to do.

But I need your help to get it done.

As I've travelled the state, I've learned the most from talking to people, not politicians. I've talked to people in factory break rooms, in coffee shops, in milking barns, in office buildings and at kitchen tables. After you spend enough time in Springfield, it's inspiring to talk with people facing real challenges every day and seeing how hard they work to get ahead. It makes me want to work that much harder for all the people of Illinois.

Our people want action on the challenges we face. People want us to fix the broken system that has put our state deep in the hole. But in Springfield, too many career politicians holding power have been happy to kick the can down the road and do nothing about our biggest problems.

That is how we ended up with a $100 billion unfunded pension liability. Even with our massive tax bills, our government spends a dollar-thirty for every dollar it takes in. It simply defies common sense. The people I talk to every day balance their budgets, and they expect us to balance the State's. To do that, we need new people with their new ideas in Springfield.

People in business are successful by making things happen. In politics, career politicians don't have to make anything happen to get re-elected. If they play their cards right, they've got a lifetime job.

We've got politicians in Springfield who've been there for twenty, thirty, forty years! And look what's happened to our state in that time.

It's time for change. Two years ago, 600,000 thousand people in Illinois signed petitions calling for term limits on elected officials. The politicians long in power ignored the petitions. They won't even debate the issue. That's crazy!

We desperately need new faces and new ideas in Illinois politics. We need to make serving in government more about public service, and less about power and a government pension. That should be ob-

O

vious!

We need it in the Republican Party, in the Democratic Party, and throughout the political spectrum. New faces need to believe they have an even chance of winning in a truly democratic election.

Look at the numbers: This year over 88% of candidates for our legislature faced no opposition in their primary.

Even more amazing, two-thirds have no opposition in the general election.

That's not democracy. That's a rigged system.

The system has given so many advantages to incumbents in the legislature that it's very hard to vote them out -- even if they're not doing a good job.

That's just wrong.

But we can change that. And we must change that.

That's why I'm calling on the General Assembly to vote on a term limits constitutional amendment when members return for the fall veto session.

It's certainly true that getting term limits won't fix every problem we face.

We've still got to wipe out corruption, conflicts of interest, and repair our broken pension system. We've got to balance our budget without balancing it on the backs of the most needy. We've got to get our property taxes moving down, not up. All of this will help create the environment we need to attract good jobs back to Illinois.

We can overcome our challenges. We can do it together. First, we've got to fix Illinois' broken political system. And when we fix the system, we can take on any challenge Illinois faces.

Term limits will go a long way toward fixing the system by changing the culture back to public service, not personal gain, by forcing the lifetime politicians to find new jobs, and by bringing new faces and new ideas to Springfield.

All of the changes we need won't happen right away. This will take time. But now we'll be moving in the right direction.

Instead of gridlock and inaction, we'll be moving forward.

And every day we'll get closer to the future we, our kids and our grandkids deserve. Illinois can be the economic engine of the Midwest again. We can be a magnet for the best companies from all over the world and the best jobs, just as it used to be. From our rich farmland to busy factory floors to tech start-ups, Illinois will be going and growing again.

Now, cynics will say this is an impossible dream to get term limits voted on by this legislature. But that dream can become a reality if the people of Illinois demand it.

And we are not stopping with term limits. We'll keep pressing every day to lower our property taxes, to protect all our taxpayers, to protect and grow our jobs, and to ensure every child has a chance at a great education. We can do this – if we work together for the reforms our state needs.

We're facing tough challenges, but we can meet those challenges if we work together for reform. One step at a time.

Starting right now. It starts with term limits.

Thank you.

Governor Bruce Rauner

The problem with shortening the parade is that we should not be eliminating the participation of our children whom the parade was designed to highlight our Children.

If any one needs to be removed to shorten the parade it should be the politicians.

Think about what is the parade all about "THE CHILDREN" or prohibit, or egotistical politicians. Bottomline - we need to showcase our children and sponsors period and all the Politicians who are truly interested in the success of our children need to set up tenets in the park and give out schools supplies all day and provide back to school physicals. This should not even be a topic, when Chicago Violent crime is out of control. Where are the decent adults who will be willing to give up there right to be in the parade, so more children can have the chance to participate? We have this very chance to highlight the good things and talents of our children to counteract the negative image portrayed via the news......

From the Treasurer Dear Editor Please feel free to share this invitation with friends and family. I hope you will join us tomorrow, Tuesday, August 23rd at 12pm/noon! $102 million. That's how much our team is projected to increase Chicago's revenue for 2016.

As taxpayers and stakeholders, we want to keep you informed about the fiscal state and direction of Chicago. Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday, August 23rd at 12p/noon (cst) for our Q2 Quarterly Earnings Call and Webinar.

On this call, we will be discussing how our office is creating relief for Chicago's taxpayers by increasing our revenue projections.

To register, please click here. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with the steps necessary to join the call from your desktop or phone!

If you have questions or need help registering, please contact: city.treasurer@cityofchicago.org or call 312-744-0292. To join by phone, you can dial-in by calling: +1 (415) 655-0060 Sincerely,

Kurt Summers Chicago City Treasurer

I See White People Dear Editor

T

oday we see something, somewhat different. Whites have decided that they wanna be in certain areas already inhabited mainly by blacks. They've been educated to the potential advancements of communities like South Shore, Bronzeville, and even parts of Englewood, and sections of the Westside, have become very attractive for reasons that blacks have ignored or taken for granted.

The only difference today is that whites have moved into communities where blacks have lived for decades and they're not asking to be accepted. Nor are they concerned about being turned away through the very means in which their parents and grandparents refused blacks admittance into all-white communities over 50 years ago. But what's ironic is that most of the whites invading black areas are not that open to building relationships with already permanent black residents.

They come in, mind their business-- they run, walk, ride, and stroll through the hood with their families as though blacks don't even exist. It's quite interesting to see. I've studied this immensely. They're only concerned with building property value that they see having much more worth than who their neighbors are. Because they understand that neighbors today may not be on their blocks tomorrow."

Carl West

(Continued from page 12)

· Nearly 1 in 3 black people killed by police in 2015 were identified as unarmed, though the actual number is likely higher due to underreporting · 37% of unarmed people killed by police were black in 2015 despite black people being only 13% of the U.S. population · Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015 · Only 9 of the 102 cases resulted in officer

(s) being charged with a crime Lynch adding that there has been "a serious erosion of public trust." as the Justice Department investigation into the Chicago, Ferguson (MO), Los Angles, Baltimore and the many that was not caught on video. The police force continue be to identified with a law enforcement practices that are unconstitutional and violate civil rights, with a great majority of the cases are African American people.

Page 14 September 1, 2016

Chicago Street Journal

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Legislation To Commemorate and Promote the Historic Cultural Resources in Chicago MidSouthside Community WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will introduce the Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Act when Congress returns from recess on September 6. Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) will be introducing companion legislation in the House.

This legislation would create the Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area to provide national recognition and resources to the story of African American perseverance from the Civil War to the modern day.

“Providing national recognition to the rich historical and cultural

influence of this area will generate economic development and encourage tourists from around the world to visit and be proud of the contributions the African-American community has made to Chicagoland, our state, and our nation,” said Senator Kirk.

The Heritage Area will help bring to life the well documented impact of the African American community to Chicago’s culture and economy. Since the Great Migration, when thousands of African American migrants moved North to escape oppression in the South, the proposed National Heritage Area recognizes the community that fostered the efforts of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Jesse Binga, Ida B. Wells, Jack Johnson, Nat King Cole, Mahalia Jackson, John John-

Are our young people working leges and universities.” more than what is was before he However, Trump speaking on came into office? The condition got and for the Black vote said, "No worse. So now we as black people group in America has have to do and rebeen more harmed by member what the Hillary Clinton's policies honorable Elijah than African Americans," Mohammed said. he said, apparently pointNo politician can ing to individuals in the save the black comcrowd. "No group. No munity; we’ve gotta group. If Hillary Clinton's do it ourselves.” goal was to inflict pain to “America’s in trouthe African American ble. And I want to community, she could not say to black and have done a better job. It white people, only a is a disgrace." fool fights in a burn"Detroit tops the list of Quanell X, of the New ing house. This most dangerous cities in Black Panther Party house is on fire.” terms of violent crime, Online publisher of in Houston, Texas number one," Truth to Bold, Carl "This is the legacy of the Democ- West said, “Trump..... this theater ratic politicians who have run this that he's producing is what I call city. This is the result of the policy America's biggest 'reality show.' He agenda embraced by crooked has virtually fired us all! We're just Hillary Clinton." like unemployed people looking Trump continue to say, "Look at through the window and begging to how much African American com- be insulted and disrespected again munities are suffering from Democ- and again.” ratic control. To those I say the But Trump has reached out hirfollowing: What do you have to lose ing African Americans and Latinos by trying something new like on his campaign staff in which Trump? What do you have to lose?" Richard Fair a Chicago republican he asked. "You live in your poverty, on the WVON radio program says your schools are no good, you have too little to late for Trump. no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is Not calling Trump crazy but Mr. unemployed. What the hell Fair said, “As my do you have to lose?" mother use to say; As many say the Trump He has a condihas over pointed the case tion,” of Black America, Quanell He continue to X, of the New Black Pansay, “One party ther Party in Houston, takes us for Texas, said that black granted and the Americans should truly other annoys us.” examine Donald Trump’s President Obama outreach to the black comestablished a winmunity and “re-examine Carl West, publisher ning formula in the relationship” that Black Truth Be Told 2008 and 2012 voters have with the Dewith social media, mocratic Party. the support of the Quanell X in his overview of minority community, youth, senPresident Obama said, “Barack iors, women, and first time voters.

Obama, our president, served two Clinton is well aware of the terms. The first black president President’s winning formula, and ever. But did our condition get bet- her campaign team is trying to repliter? Did financially, politically, cate the same system. Many conacademically, with education in our sider Clinton a part of the establishcommunity, did things get better? ment, and this thinking does not add (Continued from page 1)

son, and Muddy Waters. The Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission, which includes First Lady Michelle Obama on its Steering Committee, has been collaborating with community leaders to fight for this recognition for years. The legislation authorizes up to $1 million in federal matching funds per year, designates the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission as the Local Coordinating Entity and establishes requirements for a management plan to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

“Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood has remarkable national historical significance, from its important role in America’s civil rights movement to its position as a national hub for the arts,” (Continued on page 19)

a positive element so the Democratic Party leadership is not forced to give up any demands because Blacks are not organized.

Black leadership is not asking the Democratic leadership to support Black candidates. In 2016, it is not politically correct for Blacks to support a candidate only because he/she is Black. Instead of getting more Blacks in positions of power, and representing the Black community, no one is talking.

Jackson said as he congratulate Bernie Sanders for energizing this campaign season with ideas and hope. The Bern must never grow cold. , “Eight years ago, Republicans drove our economy to the brink of disaster. But after 76 straight months of job growth under President Obama – it’s no time to turn back now.”

Quanell X, added Donald Trump’s outreach to the black community and “reexamine the relationship” that black voters have with the Democratic Party.

“We may not like the vessel that said what he said, but I ask us to truly examine what he said, because it is a fact that for 54 years, we have been voting for the Democratic party like no other race in America.

And they have not given us the same loyalty and love that we have given them. We are being pimped like prostitutes, and they’re the big pimps pimping us politically, promising us everything and we get nothing in return.”

“We gotta step back now as black people and say, we’ve gotta look at all the parties and vote our best interests.”

However, West said “They're the worst of the two evils that have ever competed for the Oval Office in my life-time.”

“I'll vote in November. And I will vote for Hillary. But it hurts my heart and soul badly knowing that my choices are limited to these two candidates who have no intentions of following through on their overblown campaign promises. I support the notion wholeheartedly of a woman president. I just hate that it's Hillary Clinton.”

September 1, 2016

civil rights movement for integration complex, could be a game changer. during the 50’s. The same reality in “However”, says Norris, “We\e Chicago: On the corner of 35th and need Black ownership in the commu- State Street stands a dedication of nity”.

Black businesses in Chicago known Sixty Ninth Street from State as the Chicago Black Wall Street, Street to the west of Damen has doing 1940’ up to the 60’s about 17 businesses, eight of them Norris as he reflected on why the are Black owed, one is a partnership building is so important. He pointed of Black and Middle Eastern owed. the longevity of black institutions But the strip has 60% vacant land and culture, “The community deand builders which includes the old pends on the strength of AfricanKennedy King College.

American businesses.”

The property on 69th and Emerald Although both Smith and Norris is in the process of being purchased realized that close to two million

by Life Builders United lead by African-American innovators today Smith and Norare practically ris. And the invisible, and largest owned by often times, that a black business lack of attention in the Englecan be fatal. wood commuSmith is the nity. founder of Life "It can have a B u i l d e r s tremendous United, a nonlifting of a burprofit grassroots Geraldine Smith, and Dolphin den on the comorganization munity of ill Norris of Life Builders United. that unites variissues such of ous programs in crime once the community at large order to redirect the lives of those rerecognize the districts and this build- entering society after incarceration. ing as a major commercial anchor to Smith made history by becoming the it." points out Norris, chair of 69th first woman sentenced to death in Street Black Wall Street Chicago Illinois after the death penalty was District. reinstated in 1977. Her execution was BWSC was founded by this news- scheduled for May 20, 1998. paper on the premise of Malcolm X, “The Life Builders United on 69th ‘At least establish the businesses in Street compliments rebuilding 69th your own community, before it is too Street.” Said Smith. late.’ As it was in the spirit of Tulsa, Norris, in partnership with his Ok. destroyed by the massacre of family restaurant “Dan's” on 79th 1921. But after Tulsa rebuild the and Campbell said, State of Black financial strength was doomed by the Business, “We are convinced the (Continued from page 1)

front page stories of violence and the senseless killing is the result of Black business has not been achieved in parity to other racial communities. It is proven that an economic mix community in the view of the youth would exceeds better education and would cut violent crimes more than half Norris declares.

Norris pointed out that only one cent on the dollar of the minimum credit demand for black businesses is being met by private banks using the SBA guarantee program.

With the 100,000 black firms with employees generating one million jobs, it doesn't take advanced mathematics to see how to reduce the high rates of unemployment in AfricanAmerican communities. Although 80 percent of jobs in the economy are created by small business, only six percent of jobs in the AfricanAmerican community are created by black firms.”

“The Life Builders building is a must in seeing progress in the community.”

In spike of many success stories prominent black business are raising unsettling questions about the current state of black entrepreneurship: Why do so many other ethnics do so well now in business in the Black community?

Norris expressed one report is that the SBA lending to black firms has been down as much as 80 percent from the peak in 2007, although the Federal Reserve's Survey of Small Business Lending indicates that each firm needs at least $15,000 in credit - a total of $30 billion.

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On the corner of 35th and State Street stands a dedication of Black businesses in Chicago known as the Chicago Black Wall Street, doing 1940’ up to the 60’s

Another case is foreign businesses in the Black community as Congress created EB-5 Program which in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. Participants who invest in commercial enterprises associated with regional centers approved by the feds based on proposals for promoting economic growth. Under this program, alien entrepreneurs (and their spouses and unmarried children under 21) are eligible to apply for a green card (permanent residence) if they: Their investment creates 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers, but not necessary of the community.

The perfect reason for the strip to be patronized by the Black community and recognized as the Black Wall Street District, according to Norris.

Norris said, "The Black community should be represented as China Town, Little Village, Greek and Italian Town is represented in Chicago."

“Economic development ought to be at the forefront of reducing Chicago's violence and murders. Yet it is not even close at the table in compared to other ethnic communities.”

“On Taylor Street; where public housing was the third populated of Black people 15 years ago. Now it is one of the vital business strips of

Pullman – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Whole Foods Market today broke ground on a 150,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market Midwest distribution facility in the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Expected to open in early 2018, the new Whole Foods Market Midwest distribution center will initially employ 150 people and serve as many as 70 Whole Foods Market locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, and the Canadian province of Ontario.

“There is a renaissance happening in Pullman and this Whole Foods center will only make it stronger,” Mayor Emanuel said. “By investing in our neighborhoods and supporting projects like this distribution center, we are creating economic opportunities for families throughout Chicago. I want to thank Whole Foods for their continuing commitment to Chicago and our neighborhoods."

Relocating from the current Whole Foods Market distribution center in Munster, Indiana, the new location offers a building double the size of the current facility. Investing in additional space to grow as the company expands its reach in Chicago and beyond, this new facility is expected to bring real, long-term economic benefits to Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.

“We are thrilled to begin construction of our new distribution center,” Whole Foods Market Midwest Regional Vice President, Bobby Turner said. “We’ve grown so much since opening our first Midwest store in Chicago in 1993 and as our growth continues, this distribution center helps us continue our mission of providing access to fresh, healthy foods and supporting the communities where we do business.”

The new distribution center will occupy previously empty land and allow Whole Foods Market to join two major suppliers, Method and Gotham Greens, in the Pullman neighborhood.

It also builds on the company’s plan to serve Chicago’s South Side including a recently-opened location in Hyde Park and a location in Englewood that will open in the fall. Additionally, the company is hosting a Whole Foods Market Job and Employment Resource Fair for the new store in Engle-

young people enjoying the fruits of economic growth, no bars on the windows, shops open 7 pm like it was noon time, another Rush Street.”

Norris continues to say, “We must establish the Black Business and charged that Task as the forefront among other and any issue”.

Chicago has five operations/ organizations using the name Black Wall Street, from a music recording company to the original organization all branched off from the base of Chicago Street Journal newspaper.

However, around the country there are over 50 organizations using the name. One of the first was the Oakland, California in which Chicago based its 14 Districts using Oakland template.

wood, July 29 and July 30. South Side residents can apply and interview for available positions as well as attend employment development workshops, sign up for childcare and meet with workforce support organizations. Other businesses with employment opportunities such as Starbucks will also take applications from interested residents.

The new center is among more than $225 million in public and private projects moving forward in Pullman, including: the community’s 2015 designation as a National Monument by the U.S. Park Service for its historic affiliation with industry, land use planning, and workers’ rights; the 2015 construction of Method Products’ first U.S. factory and Gotham Green’s rooftop greenhouse; the 2014 construction of the $135 million Pullman Park retail development; the current construction of a $15 million community center; and improvements to dozens of historic homes and other properties.

“With major projects like this Whole Foods distribution center, the Pullman/ Roseland area is reclaiming its history as a thriving hub for manufacturing and innovation,” Alderman Anthony Beale (9th) said.

“As this facility grows it will add even more jobs and have an even stronger impact in the 9th ward.”

To ensure the site was competitive with the existing facility in Indiana, City Council approved up to $8.4 million in TIF assistance to help pay for site preparation costs, including grading, demolition, and utility installat i o n .

Whole Foods Market founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, is the first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store”

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In fiscal year 2015, the company had sales of more than $15 billion and currently has more than 439 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Page 16 September 1, 2016

(Continued from page 1)

Black community asset is $16 on a dollar compared to Caucasians $86. “And the Black community will never catch up. It contributes to the fascination of violence”.

Capitalism the bases for the country and the lack of it bleeds crime and despair. A disease rooted in the Black community. This has not always been case. The question is why.

What happen?

Feticide vs. Genocide:

The self-hate of African Americans is still rooted from slavery with the concept of the ‘Willie Lynch Letter (the slave master hand book of the 1800)’ as Percy Coleman proclaim.

“We must recognize the fact of past discrimination and disinvestment had "to some degree" impaired the Black community where the generations today are still suffering from slavery.”

One of the points of the Willie Lynch Letter is turn them against themselves. As today they use the N-word more than the slave master did.”

“They lost the pride of the 60’s, and their as Dwight Taylor, Gary, Indiana coordinator He underscores concerns that the edgy rap pride and the economics of self reliance as a for the Chicago Coalition on Black Civic Par- music of the generation of rappers that came ticipation (CCBC), shares this view, and urges behind him is not only providing the soundwhole has been lost.” says Coleman.

“The reality of ‘Willie Lynch” has a lot to do concerned protesting radio stations for allow- track for gangs, but might just be helping to fuel the fire of gang violence. with the violence today alone with government ing and creating it to the listeners.

"To decide to take someone's life, I don't think policies.”

Drugs: they let a rap song determine that," says ChicaThe magnitude of the lack Reality of the Movies goan Common, 41-year-old hip hop of influencing capitalism in However, the breakdown of the family is just artist who believes that rap artists simthe community and the relaa part of the violence, For the better part of a ply reflect the violence of the streets, tionship to crime and violence decade, a San Franand doesn’t cause it. has a compelling wave from cisco Bay Area drug Common, “At the same time, the result of the illegal drug fans of young rapmarket, according to The “At the ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and pers, whose music Godfather and the Panther same time, Bloods street gangs of provides a window movies. Instead of capital fans of Los Angeles and funinto a violent lifeinvestment it was disinvestneled millions in drug young rapstyle, are ment and drugs as it sorely "influenced by that pers, whose profits to a Latin was in need of economic Violence activist energy and take it guerrilla stimulus. music pro- American army run by the U.S. Percy Colman the wrong way."

In the absence of specific vides a win- Central Intelligence has race-conscious measures to pointed out, “The Common dow into a Agency, a Mercury thought about it reality of ‘Willie increase its participation, violent life- News investigation has drugs was the answer, which Lynch” has a lot to enough to once sugviolence came with it. Black- do with the violence gest a "peace sumstyle, are found.

One raw and economic mit" with Chief owned businesses, resulting today alone with "influenced by that energy and reason was revealed in Keef, a Chicago in a "statistically significant government politake it the wrong way." two movies and their rapper whose music disparity" between the black cies.” realities: The business includes references communities across the nation of drug trafficking and its impact on the Afrito weapons and who was arrested after for the past generations from pointing a gun at police officers and after a can American communities. ‘The Godfather’ the 60’s to now.”

According, "Black crime rates were lower in video showed him firing a semi-automatic rifle movie set in the 40’s filmed in 1971, without one African American in the movie; it was all the 1940s and 1950s, when black poverty was at a gun range. higher""racial discrimination was rampant and “The key to ending the cycle of violence that about Black Americans.

A scene in the movie, the Godfather told the rap music has been linked to for years,” Comlegal."

‘If it's not racism and poverty that are blame mon believes, “is more educational programs gangsters he will get involved in drugs, “Sell it and other initiatives. Rap artists should help to the Mexicans and the N****’. The Godfafor the high black crime rate, then what is?” ther went on to say, ’Do not sell it to his peoMany contributes the culture of Rap music those programs in any way they can.” ple, “The drugs will turn the people on themselves, steal from each other, and kill each other for years to come. He went on to tell the gangsters, if you sell it to my people I will come after you with all I got.’ The gangsters agreed to the Godfather.

The other movie, ‘Panther’, the FBI made a deal with the drug dealers as an answer to rid the nation of the Black Panther Party. The drug dealers assured the FBI it will not only stop the Panthers but any progressive movement equal to the Panthers. One FBI agent note to reframe the drugs only in the Black Panther strong holds.

The Drug dealer replied, “We will not only stop the Black Panther Party, but any progressive movement, they will begin to kill themselves and will not know why.”

One of its founders, Huey Newton, was killed in a drug related murder.

Studies continue to warrant the government involvement of the drug trade to the Black community.

This drug network opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods. The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America . . . and provided the cash and connections needed for L.A.'s gangs to buy automatic weapons.

The CIA-Contra story can only feed longstanding rumors in black communities that the U.S. government "created" the crack cocaine epidemic to kill and imprison AfricanAmericans and otherwise wreak havoc in inner cities. Gangs moved more into the drug industry and guns become more assessable.

With it came the HIV cases associated with drugs, once gay concerns African Americans are 44% of the victims of the cases.

The Crime The Wall Street Journal's reported "Blacks commit violent crimes at 7 to 10 times the rate that whites do."

Nationally, Whites committed 45 percent of homicides while composing 77% of the population, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In Chicago, Blacks committed 76 percent of all homicides, and 78 percent of all juvenile arrests. Whites, who compose 28 percent of the city's population, 4 percent of its arrest and 3.5 percent of its juvenile arrests. Hispanics, who compose 30 percent of the city's population, 19 percent of its homicides and juvenile arrests.

The Family A relationship between family breakdown and youth violence has been a concerned as economist Thomas Sowel points out, before most black children were raised in two-parent families." In 2013, over 72 percent blacks were born out of wedlock. In Cook County 79 percent of blacks were born to single mothers in 2003, while only 15 percent of whites were born to single mothers.

"Until that gap closes, the crime gap won't close, either," writes Mac Donald.

Cure of the violence: Recognizing the potential for another spike in violence in Chicago, several local philanthropies lead by the Chicago Community Trust (Continued on page 18)

September 1, 2016

The Westside Cultural Foundation proudly presents Platinum AwardWinning R&B artistPrice, the greatest hip-hop storytellerRick The Rulerhiphop iconMC Lyte, for the 5th Annual Chicago Westside Music Festival ("WSMF") on August 20, 2016. is a FREE outdoor event with activities and performances for all ages.event takes place 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Douglas Park, 1401 S. Sacramento Drive (at the corner of Ogden and Sacramento). The WSMF host,Luv, will be joined by special guest, Grammy and Oscar W i n n e r , C h e "Rhymefest" Smith.

There will also be a special performance by the™ Ballerinas, who were recently featured on Good Morning America and whose viral videos have received over 32 million views.

"We were very excited to present the line-up for our 5th Year. This is a major milestone and we wanted to produce a show that would be massive and I think we've done just that," says Natashee Scott, Executive Director of the Westside Cultural Foundation.

"The three top tier artists we've tapped to perform reflects not only a strong diversity of musical talent but it also celebrates the positivity and great-

Page 17

ness of R&B and Hip-Hop music." begins at 12 p.m. with theof Summer Celebration sponsored by the 24th Ward Alderman, Michael Scott, Jr., which includes activities for kids and seniors, along with school supply and backpack giveaways. begin at 4 p.m. with a curated line up of top Chicago talent, followed by performances by MC Lyte, Slick Rick The Ruler and Kelly Price. year's sponsors include BMO Harris Bank (Presenting Sponsor), ComEd, Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, The Chicago Community Trust, MillerCoors, Sterling Bay, Comcast, Mesirow Financial, Lagunitas, Loop Capital, Oak Street Health, Clarius Partners, Walgreens, American Airlines, Citgo Lemont Refinery, C&S Store Fixtures, NextLevel Health, Saint Anthony Hospital, Peoples Gas, The Raymond Law Group, Infrastructure Engineering and CS Insurance Strategies; media/promotional partnership with The Chicago Defender; social media partnership with Culture of Black Chicago; and other partners include the Chicago Park District, Mayor's Nights Out in the Parks, Friends for Scott, BDavis Designs, High Style Marketing & PR, AGB Investigative Services and A Tale of Two Chefs. was founded in 2012 to establish the West Side as a destination for cultural and community programming. Inspired by the late Chicago official, Michael Scott Sr., the festival is intended to shine light on the positive contributions, culture, and people of Chicago's West Side.Scott's son, Alderman Michael Scott, Jr. says, "It's an honor to partner with the Westside Cultural Foundation and again host the WSMF in North Lawndale.Every year this event gets stronger and stronger. WSMF has become one of the best End of the Summer Celebrations in the City of Chicago." festival continues to build upon this legacy of greatness.Past headliners of the festival include R&B acts Bell Biv DeVoe, Musiq Soulchild, Syleena Johnson, Brownstone and 112. is an open seating event.Attendees are allowed to bring lawn chairs, tents (only in designated areas) and prepared food (no grills allowed).Food vendors and the MillerCoors beer garden will also be onsite.

For more information on the festival, including a list of prohibited items, please visit:www.chicagowestsidemusicfestival.com

7506 Sangamon On the 75th Street Black Wall Street District

Page 18 September 1, 2016

(Continued from page 16)

are collaborating to support interventions by community organizations working to keep neighborhoods safe.

To address solutions to the violence and crime, The Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities will award grants to support community-based actions and activities that serve to make neighborhoods safer, reduce violence and promote peace over the Labor Day weekend and through the beginning of the school year.

Grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in Chicago leading activities that promote community cohesion, foster constructive relationships between police and community residents, and reduce violence.

Phillip Jackson of the Black Star Project in a conversation with Terry Mazany, President and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust questioned to overall content of the program saying in a public letter, “Social service organizations must adopt disparity of the escalating violence in these communities, a comprehensive, intelligent, coordinated, well-thought out, mid- and long-term, community-driven, action plan is a must.

“Social services should not be the lead in addressing the violence” said Dr. Levern Murphy of Project 5000 at a meeting at Captain Hard Times on 79th Street. “We need economic development to address this self-hate disease of violence of our youth. Just like other ethics have.”

Revin Fellows, community organizer and resource advocate pointed out Chicago 2020 plan did not include the stability of Black businesses up to 2012 "The Black community should be represented as China Town, Little Village, Greek and Italian Town is represented in Chicago."

Fellows who lead the discussion of the city’s plans up to the year 2040, “When the City

of Chicago will be investing resources of an additional 12,000 housing units in the south loop on top of the 175,000 housing units developed since 1997. During the same time it destroyed public housing, the federal government under former president Bill Clinton introduced ‘three strikes’ back to jail, and it cut many off government social services.”

“City planners knew the outcome that would happen in the communities.” Fellows stated.

On Taylor Street; where public housing was the third populated of Black people 10 years ago. Now it is one of the vital business strips of young people enjoying the fruits of economic growth, no bars on the windows, shops open 7 pm like it was noon time, just like another Rush Street.”

“Economic development ought to be at the forefront of reducing Chicago's violence and murders. Yet it is not even close at the table in compared to other ethnic communities.” Said Dr. Murphy.

"We are convinced the front page stories of violence and the senseless killing is the result of Black business has not been achieved in parity to other racial communities. It is proven that an economic mix community in the view of the youth would exceeds better education and would cut violent crimes more than half as Tony Curtis of "Curtis T Shirts" located on 79th Street declares.

“We would be remiss if we overlooked economics related to crime and its relationship to our society.

Economist Cedric Muhammad said, “That painful reality created a circumstance of suffering and limited freedom which forced a level of unity and social cohesion that laid a foundation for economic independence.”

Dr. Murphy said, “People make choices all the time.

But t he choices of Blacks participating by owning up to its parity of capitalism in its portion of its population is the answer to stop this disease of violence.”

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First armory in the U.S. built for an African American regiment

said Senator Durbin. “Our bill to elevate this unique neighborhood to national park status will help preserve the rich history of Bronzeville, increase tourism, and facilitate economic development in the community.”

“I live in the heart of the Bronzeville community and have for over 20 years. I see its beauty, majesty and its need for landmark recognition as it is the birthplace for much of the African American communities ingenuity, poetry, artistry and contributions to the City of Chicago,” said Representative Rush.

“I thank Senator Kirk for leading this Congressional effort to solidify the legacy of the African-American community in our state at a pivotal moment in history. By establishing the National Heritage Area, tourists from our state and across the world will be able to explore and learn more about our community’s rich cultural and historical significance,” said Paula Robinson, President of the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission.

The City of Chicago's Black Metropolis offers historical recognition to African American achievement in all segments of society, from business, to the arts, and politics. The historical significance of the region is also tied to the Great Migration of 1916-1970, when approximately 500,000 African Americans migrated north to Chicago for new opportunities. The introduction of the legislation coincides with the efforts of the Great Migration Centennial Commission which the Illinois legislature created in 2010 to promote a deeper knowledge, understanding, and engagement in the life and time of the African American Migration Experience. The Illinois legislation requires the Centennial Commission to work in coordination with the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Project Steering Committee to broaden outreach and voluntary assistance to the effort.

The Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area is home to over 200 historical assets including:

Abbot House: A National Historic Landmark, home of the founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper

Camp Douglas: Union Army Recruitment and Training Camp Eighth

Regiment Armory:

Liberty Life/Supreme Life Insurance Company, HQ of most successful early African American owned and operated insurance company in the Northern US, founded in 1919 Bronzeville Walk of Fame: Monument to the Great Migration Bud Billiken Parade: Celebrating Chicago’s youth since 1929 The Heritage Area is supported by the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago Field Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Landmarks Illinois, the Millennium Reserve Steering

Committee, and the Bronzeville Community Development Partnership.

Legislative Background: Senators Kirk and Durbin and Representative Rush have a history of collaborating for historical preservation in Illinois. In 2008, the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area was added to the National Heritage Area list. Then-Representative Kirk and Representative Rush were co -sponsors on the legislation.

Senators Kirk and Durbin are working this year to extend the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area. In February, 2015, Senators Kirk and Durbincelebrated President Obama’s designation of Chicago’s Pullman Historic District as a National Monument after they co-introduced legislation to create the Pullman National Historic Park in 2014.

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