Bronzeville Regional Collective - Obama Presidential Library & Community Economic Development

Bronzeville Regional Ad Hoc Collective For The Obama Presidential Library & Community Economic Development Benefits Box 378411 Chicago, IL 60637 773-678-9541 Founding Members

June 16, 2014

Sandra Bivens

Mr. Martin Nesbitt The Barack Obama Foundation 300 East Randolph Street Suite 4030 Chicago, IL 60601

Naomi Davis Byron Freelon Donna Hampton-Smith Paula Robinson Paul Thomas

Re: Voices & Visions of the Legacy Communities Primarily Impacted By Chicago’s South Side Obama Presidential Library Bids We thank your foundation, Mr. Nesbitt, for the structure you created to receive independent feedback from stakeholders and other parties of interest, but without RFQ bids, in the Obama Presidential Library [OPL] development process.

Background As leading local organizations, we have each received multiple solicitations for letters of support from various RFQ teams. And though we greatly admired parts of those plans shared with us, we maintain concerns about plans from teams which have met with us, but which either engaged us late in the process; or not shared proposal contents; or failed to adequately address our questions on displacement, benefit monitoring and tracking, or design for ongoing collaborative process.

Seizing the potential of OPL to uplift Chicago’s entire south side and African American communities, we resolved to come together now and introduce our commitment to voice our vision directly to the foundation and to whichever teams are advanced to the RFP stage.

Optimistically, we foresee the opportunity for Chicago to win the bid, and then fill a need for broadest possible collaboration in designing and implementing the OPL proposal.

Our group is a new, open-door coalition of mature community and economic development organizations based in Bronzeville, with service areas ranging from local SSA commercial corridors to national networks, including – for full transparency – one RFQ bid team organization. Our individual and collective experiences include our unfortunate witness to practices – reaching far into history and continuing to this day – of external parties translating our needs, desires, dreams, and demands, often not fully or accurately. As a new way forward, and understanding the current climate of crisis in our African American community, we have resolved to clearly, affirmatively, and independently voice our vision for the transformative form, function, and impact to our community health/wealth.

Moreover, we understand, as America’s most privileged generation of African American children, our certain duty to step up to ensure that actions today help restore our place in our

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childrens’ world – based on the sacrifices of our ancestors, whose hard won legacy of prosperity and striving we have inherited.

While we do not presume to speak for organizations not signatories to this document, our requests here are meant as a preamble for later, broader, and more structured conversations for Community Economic Development Benefits, with reach far beyond the historic boundaries of Bronzeville. Indeed, the best of the Great Migration legacy which we seek to advance here is – like us – grassroots, regional, and international.

Purpose We aim to catalyze measurable and substantial increases in our community health/wealth. We expect the first round of these gains to be triggered by the OPL development, but also anticipate subsequent positive results from plans spearheaded by our own initiatives and those of other entities. We intend to create multi-generational and multiplyer benefits through long-term, placebased community economic initiatives which develop without displacement; which prioritize rewards and incentives to residents; and which cultivate a diverse community and culture of learning and practice. With this letter of introduction we aspire to continue and create a Chicago Community Benefits Agreement to which all OPL/RFP respondents will subscribe, and which will evolve into broader contract and legislative applicability regionally. Our highest priority for our constituencies is sustainable and inter-generational land ownership and transfer; secondly, increasing revenue streams through neighbor-owned businesses and buildings; and thirdly, cultivating a thirst and resources for vibrant lifelong learning.

Benefits Our engagement in this process is informed by the successes and challenges of various organizations and Community Benefits models, including but not limited to the West Harlem Community Benefits Agreement with Columbia University/NYC; City of Milwaukee Ordinance, File #080218, for City resident participation in public works contracts; the Democracy Collaborative; CommunityWealth.Org; ICIC “Measuring the Shared Value of Anchor Community Engagement;” The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and “Housing Bronzeville,” a project of the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.

Some key examples of benefits/prohibitions we are interested in exploring and securing, and which we are specifically requesting for application to the Obama Presidential Library RFQ bids include, but are not limited to: 

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Community-wealth building. Substantial goals, metrics, monitoring, and tracking of the increased household income and net worth of present Bronzeville region residents, directly or indirectly attributable to OPL developments; and an independent third party entity contracted to report/verify increments over time.

Moratorium & Mapping. Transparent and ongoing mapping of land ownership in the OPL region and “real-time” website reporting of land transfers. Temporary stay of public financing on acquisition of OPL area real estate after official announcement of RFP finalists in order to manage for mitigation of land grabbing.

Grandfathered Real Estate Taxes & Assessments. Establishment of community-led community land trusts in tandem with tax abatements to ensure sustained affordability by low and moderate-income households and to avoid displacement.

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Neighbor Property Acquisition. Preferences, incentives, grants, forgivable loans, special-interest mortgages, and other funds set aside for the purchase of OPL region real estate by residents.

Cash contributions and contracts to community. For any single-host bid winner, endowment of a Benefits Fund with cash advance on signing, and long-term allocations of support for business development and investment; purchasing agreements and collectives; and job readiness and training.

Other practices/prohibitions should include:  Eminent domain forbearance  Collaboration/investment toward life-saving trauma center  Guaranteed percentages of resident hiring [including Section 3, Davis Bacon, MBD/DBE/WBE with retention requirements]  Renegotiated terms for construction trade jobs pipeline  Region-wide network of community centers for teens and lifelong education Request We understand the complexity of the task ahead for your foundation, for the bidders, for our neighbors, and for the intellectual, creative, and investment communities interested in participating in the development and management of the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago.

Our communities have suffered for decades under failed economic development plans and policies, most recently, LISC Quality of Life Plans for these targeted OPL development areas and the national foreclosure tsunami. We treasure the opportunity to work with your foundation in establishing a monumental break from the past, and prosperity befitting the dream of our first African American President of the United States. Thank you for your receptivity. Please call us with any questions, and to explore opportunities to meet for discussion.

Sincerely,

Naomi Davis naomidavis@blacksingreen.org 773-678-9541

Donna Hampton-Smith president@thewashingtonparkcc.org 773-955-0199 For The Bronzeville Regional Ad Hoc Collective For The Obama Presidential Library & Community Economic Development Benefits Sandra Bivens Executive Director 51st Street Business Association

Byron Freelon Founding Member Bronzeville Regional Ad Hoc Collective

Paula Robinson Managing Partner Bronzeville Community Development Partnership

Naomi Davis Founder & CEO BIG: Blacks in Green™

Donna Hampton-Smith President & CEO Washington Park Chamber of Commerce

Paul Thomas Co-Founder/Chair I Am We Community