StreetWise Vendor A. Allen Takes a Tour

by A.Allen

When we arrived at 3763 S. Wabash Ave., we encountered a few young Black men out in front and Tara Balcerzak, who would be our tour guide through this living landmark.

Known as the “Colored YMCA” for half a century after 1913, this Wabash Avenue building is a historical monument of the Great Migration in the Black Belt, now known as Bronzeville. It was the place where Negro History Week, later Black History Month, was founded.

Black History Month is not only a time to reflect on accomplishments. Similar to Black Lives Matter, it is more than an aftermath movement related to tragedies such as the unlawful deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown,

Eric Garner and George Floyd. Black lives do matter, as do all human lives. That is why prevention is a better approach.

The programs of the Wabash YMCA were positive and profound in taking care of people coming up from the South, needing a place to live and meeting other people to gain support in the segregated city of the early 1900s.

In 1920, for example, a group of 1,137 boys from the YMCA were involved in a neighborhood cleanup campaign and they put 100 community gardens into operation. Also that year, 1,154 people attended Bible classes; 3,604 men and 14,096 boys used the swimming pool; 17,106 boys attended gymnasium classes and 44,742 people came to watch.

After Tara Balcerzak gave us a wonderful tour of the first floor and second floor ballroom, we ended up in the gymnasium, where we discussed the Wabash Outlaws basketball team, and the Harlem Globetrotters, who used to practice there. The world champion Black cyclist, Major Taylor, was allowed to live there free until his death. Veterans also received discounts.

But before that, we were in the ballroom, with the mural by W.E. Scott. His interpretation of the Spirit of the YMCA, conceived by George Arthur, director of the YMCA, was truly the grand apex.

The picture says it all about opportunities a Black person might have, whether in sports, law, medicine, the armed forces, the clergy, or government. I love the quote from the Chicago Defender: “Chicago: with the freedom to all men and favors to none, has been able to bring out the best in all its citizens,” which was part of the information packet Balcerzak gave as part of the tour.

This platform reminds me of StreetWise, in that it allowed Blacks to do something for themselves: to be able to come together, to think and operate as a unit, to uplift and really demonstrate positively Black community.

I am grateful for the white business leaders Julius Rosenwald and Cyrus McCormick, who gave generously to the building funds, and to Mr. James H. Tilghman, the first Black donor to the campaign. He gave his entire life savings of $1,000. There were also many Blacks who met Rosenwald’s challenge to raise $50,000 in ten days. Personally, I appreciated the Black Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows, who participated in the parade that followed the laying of the cornerstone in 1912, which created more attention.

And it was one of my heroes, the great orator Booker T. Washington, who wrote the book that inspired Rosenwald to make his challenge grant offer.

Balcerzak, to my surprise, was Caucasian, but very knowledgeable about Black history and this restored YMCA that catered to Blacks in the early 1900s. As for the young Black men outside the building, they were part of the positive, Heartland Alliance/Centers for New Horizons READI program that was geared toward helping young people in the Englewood area deal with gun issues.

This all was a demonstration that Black Lives do Matter. Not a protest or a demonstration to be seen of men and news media, but accomplished with real unity, support, dedication, commitment. We’ve come a long way in declaring Black Lives Matter, but we still need more programs like the Wabash YMCA of a century ago – not graffiti – looting and violence.

Tara Balcerzak, wearing a sweatshirt she created for the "Living Landmark" Wabash YMCA, provides its history for A. Allen, left, and Kianna Drummond

Suzanne Hanney photo