Afrika Porter: Chicago’s proud daughter striving for a better city

By Rose O'Keeffe Staff Writer

On a rainy Friday afternoon, Afrika Porter recalled a quote that invigorated her passion for activism: “Malcolm X said that Black women are the most unsupported, left-outin-the-cold species on the planet. When I heard that, I was so startled. I took that and I said I have to really focus now.”

Porter is not just focused. For over 20 years, she has been dedicated to raising the voices of Black women and men in Chicago.

Porter will receive the Dr. Margaret Burroughs Award for Leadership from the South Side Community Art Center on March 18. This award honors women who have worked to elevate the African diaspora through art, service, or education.

Burroughs has always been a role model for Porter, who now is a role model for many Black youths in Chicago.

“I will have young people there to help me receive the award because it's not about me as much as it is about them, ” Porter said.

Born and raised in the South Side, Porter is an activist, speaker, business owner, filmmaker and teacher whose mission is community leadership.

She is the youngest of six children born to John and June Porter. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a prominent pastor and sociology professor at the University of Chicago.

“Rev. Dr. Kwame John R. Porter and my mom June Porter have worked in civil rights and Black liberation causes for over 70 years,” Porter said. “I learned from the best.”

Her father was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) chapter president for Chicago as well as one of the founding members of the National Rainbow Push Coalition.

With an upbringing shrouded in intellectualism and activism, Porter said she has al-

Porter exposed to justice, peace, equality and human rights.

Revin Fellows, activist and longtime friend of the Porter family, said that Porter is well-rounded in her activism because of the influential role models she grew up with.

“She cultivates that history of who she is and where she comes from with pride,” Fellows said. “Her name is Afrika, and she carries herself like she’s the motherland.”

Ancestral heritage and cultural pride ground Porter in her many professional endeavors. She is often seen in colorful cultural dress that expresses the pride she feels being African American.

Fellows said that knowing the history and culture of Black Chicago is a key part of surviving as a community activist and why Porter is so well-respected and successful.

“There is no room she can’t get in,” Fellows said. “She can go from the streets to the suites.”

Despite her large network of connections who support and respect her, Fellows commended Porter for her humility and work ethic.

Porter’s activism for Black representation is not restricted to office hours. She is one of 12 people who fought to change what has been known for decades as Lake Shore Drive to DuSable Drive, after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a Black man of Haitian descent who was the first permanent non-indigenous settler of Chicago.

She and her fellow activists are in the process of erecting a 25-foot statue on Michigan Avenue to commemorate DuSable and his role in Chicago’s history.

Educating people about Chicago’s rich history is the premise for Porter’s work in film. In 2016, she began working as an executive producer on the Emmy-award-winning documentary “Chicago at the Crossroad.”

“She was somebody who understood Chicago and why certain communities have experienced violence and poverty,” said Brian Schodorf, director of “Chicago at the Crossroad.”

The documentary explains the origins of the public housing crisis in Chicago and examines the violence, poverty, and skyrocketing murder rate that has particularly affected the South Side.

Schodorf said Porter’s work as an executive producer was essential for the film's success because she viewed the subject matter through the lens of her firsthand experience. He praised her as a respected member of the community who brought increased credibility to the film.

“The fact that people in the community trust her was a huge deal and making this happen,” Schodorf said. “She was vital in making sure that the film was accurate and carried the integrity that was needed.”

In 2014, Porter started her own public relations firm called Afrika Enterprises, created to promote people, businesses, art, and activism in the Black community.

Around the time Afrika Enterprises was established, Porter said that negativity online motivated her to showcase positivity.

“YouTube was flooded with ignorance,” Porter said. “Black people fighting each other, Black people arguing with each other and Black people killing each other. These were not things I saw in my life.”

Porter has worked to counter misrepresentations and generalizations about the Black community through public relations and consulting for nearly 10 years, working with people from the rappers to educators, business owners and entrepreneurs.

“Afrika is part of the ecosystem of community partners for our movement,” said DeJuan Kea, CEO of FBRK Brands, a non-profit organization that works with Afrika Enterprises on community promotion.

“She has a very diverse skill set,” Kea said. “I see a woman that can, not just move, but excel and dominate different industries.”

Above all, Porter’s generous spirit and strong work ethic have made her a role model for many young people.

“She covers a lot of areas, role modeling for young Black girls and being a much-needed light for Black men,” Fellows said.

MIGRANTS, continued from front page Church, a landmark on N. Michigan Avenue. When a reporter for The DePaulia tried to interview some of the migrants, church and hotel employees asked them to leave and threatened to call the police.

Byron Sigcho-López, the alderman of the 25th Ward, said asylum seekers should be transferred to areas with higher Latino populations to supply them with equitable resources, prevent language barriers and provide higher levels of comfort.

“Infrastructures like bilingual services in schools and health centers for refugees exist in Latino communities, yet the migrants have been located in areas that lack these resources,” Sigcho-López said.

Sigcho-López added that officials have not appropriately assessed the situation.

“We are a welcoming sanctuary city, but only on paper,” Sigcho-López said. “Through actions, we have seen a poor handling of the humanitarian crisis regarding refugees.”

A spokesperson for Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city “continues to respond to this humanitarian crisis and remains dedicated to supporting the new arrivals.”

The goal is to connect migrants to city services, the city said.

State officials are now considering a plan to move more than 650 migrants to a vacant K-Mart on Chicago’s Southwest Side, according to a recent report from WTTW. The plan has drawn objections from local elected officials, including Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar.

In a letter to the Illinois Department of Human Services, Guerrero-Cuellar wrote that she did not believe the former big box store could adequately handle the migrants.

“Many questions remain about whether the facility is prepared to serve as safe housing for this many people,” she said.

Other critics of government responses to the influx of migrants in the area , such as Sigcho-López, say the city needs a comprehensive plan.

Sigcho-López said his administrators and other alderpeople have attempted for several months to communicate with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to create a structured plan, but they have been neglected every time.

“The state and the city do not see this issue as important,” Sigcho-López said.

A staggering number of migrants coming to Chicago continue to strain the city’s ability to house and support them, Sigcho-López said.

“We have a housing crisis exhibited by the pandemic, unemployment, poverty and violence,” he said.

Similarly, former 26th Ward alderman Roberto Maldonado, who represented the Humboldt Park neighborhood, shared his disbelief in the protocol the city of Chicago created in response to this issue.

“The guidance the city has given migrants if they find themselves on the street is [to] head to the police district or go to a hospital which is insane,” Maldonado said. “What are migrants going to think if we tell them those two options? They are not going to exercise those options because those are not the places for them to stay in.”

However, Maldonado believes the Lightfoot administration has had “good intentions” but the Republican governors’ refusal to collaborate with city officials to create a structured plan when sending asylum seekers to Chicagohas led to the current state of this issue.

“This dumping of migrants in Chicago by Republican governors from Texas and Florida has happened without either of them informing Chicago leadership what these migrants need and how the city can help them in order to build a structured plan. Instead, they are dumping them here because we are a sanctuary city.”

Maldonado said he tried to help migrants by donating clothes, but the city’s protocol on only brand-new clothing items being acceptable to give to migrants was a challenge for him.

“In my house, we had maybe around $300 [worth] of used clothes that were all washed, ironed, some dry cleaned, and the city would not take it. We ended up giving this clothing to local churches in this neighborhood so they could give [it] to any mi- grants that needed it,” he said.

Maldonado said he is unsure how involved other alderpeople are with this issue because he stopped attending meetings about the migrant crisis in Chicago.

The biweekly meetings with city council members were held through Zoom and Maldonado said “it was all talk” and led to no real solutions.

“At the end of the day, we are 50 members, and if you were to take a poll keeping everyone’s name anonymous, most of them won't give a shit about the migrants here,” Maldonado said. “Many would prefer not to have them here.”

With a new administration set to replace Lightfoot’s, Maldonado believes the next mayor needs to be willing to invest financially in resolving this situation. He said there should be a designated committee that can propose an infrastructure plan to help with the humanitarian crisis.

Ferreira and his family made a difficult, dangerous trek across eight countries to reach the U.S. border with Mexico.

“I came here with only $4,000 and went through many nights of hunger along my journey,” said Ferreira.

Not long after his arrival at the Adalberto United Methodist Church, Ferreira landed a job with the help of Rev. Cortes. Now, he supports his daughter and wife by working daily, nine-hour shifts.

As asylum seekers, most cannot work as they await a work permit and their immigration appointment to follow up with their case, others opt to find a job and work under the table.

Ferreira says he is grateful for the opportunity.

“I value everything we have now,” Ferreira said. “A simple bottle of water. During my journey, there were many times when I could not afford one.”

At the church, with additions like new kitchen and shower installations, Cortes tries her best to make migrants feel comfortable. She said they have no rules about who they can speak to, where they are allowed to go or how long they can stay out.

“I made sure to always respect the liberty these migrants have,” Cortes said. “I did not want this shelter to feel like a jail or detention center.”