Chicagoans from across the city gather to aid in cleanup after vandalism

by Suzanne Hanney

Vandalism to the 40th ward on the North Side in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death and peaceful protests was minimal, so on June 6, Ald. Andre Vasquez instead took volunteers to the 24th ward on the Southwest Side, where they were among nearly 500 people who knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor Floyd.

“It was pretty cool,” Vasquez said. “If Chicago can do what Minneapolis and L.A. are doing to really change policing, it will be something good that comes out of this tragedy.” Floyd died during a nearly nine-minute police chokehold in Minneapolis that has sparked peaceful protests, looting and soul-searching across the U.S.

“Because our ward wasn’t as hit as hard as others, I’ve reached out to my colleagues on the City Council who needed help,” Vasquez said. “We’re a segregated city, and people on the North Side don’t understand the reality of what occurred in other parts of town, so I organized a cross-town cleanup where neighbors could see what their environment was like.”

The 24th ward had organized a cleanup of litter and debris on Roosevelt Road between Homan and Kedzie Avenues, so Vasquez put his people under the direction of Ald. Michael Scott, Jr. Roughly 60 people had met at 10 a.m. at the Streets and Sanitation office at Western and Foster Avenues, and then headed to North Lawndale.

“We want to be sure we are breaking down the walls of segregation by having our neighbors go visit other parts of town and help out,” Vasquez said. He was planning another trip on Saturday, June 13, to help Ald. Jason Ervin (28th ward) at Tilton Park Fieldhouse, 230 N. Kolmar Ave. on the West Side.

Ald. Vasquez estimated damage in his ward at perhaps 10 businesses: the Walgreens on Catalpa Avenue and AKIRA in Andersonville, a dollar store where people could smash and grab quickly, and some businesses in Lincoln Square. People broke into the Target store at 2112 W. Peterson Ave., but not much was taken. Because of social media chatter, shopping carts had been placed as obstacles.

“Citywide, we kind of saw the activity was beginning and there was some social media about burning the North Side, but it wasn’t as severe as other wards across the city had experienced,” Vasquez said. “The North Side looting was not by people of color. My gut tells me it was more fascist groups that were trying to incite people of color or people who are just justifiably angry to get there to be more chaos in an environment that was already unstable.”

Community groups around 112th and Michigan in the Roseland neighborhood had posted requests for volunteers in Block Club Chicago, but they referred comments to Ald. Anthony Beale (9th ward).

“I was so proud of my community organizations that came out with rakes and shovels and brooms on Monday [June 1], the very next day,” Ald. Beale said of efforts to clean up damage to between 40 and 50 businesses in the ward. “Today [Wednesday, June 3] we had about 100 more volunteers out. That’s what keeps you going: the good heart and good nature of people stepping up to the plate to do the right thing.” Groups included The Firm Marketing Group and Unity Chi Breakfast Club, Beale said.

Businesses that were damaged in the 9th ward were a mix of Black-owned and other businesses: cell phone stores, Old Fashion ed Donuts, City Sports, Popeyes and Subway, Beale said. However, the Walmart Supercenter at 10900 S. Doty was not damaged.

“I was extremely blessed to be able to save Walmart,” Beale said. “It’s the only grocery store on the South Side that did not get hit, the only pharmacy on the South Side that did not get hit. We need to get it open so people can get prescription drugs, diapers, milk, and whatever else they need.

“I am looking at continued help from the City to make sure my Walmart stays viable and doesn’t get looted. It’s too valuable of a store right now,” Beale said in the early June interview. “I personally went out there Saturday morning and quarterbacked the shutdown. I got resources from the county, from the Special Service Area police to work with Chicago Police and then I got some resources from [the Department of] Streets and Sanitation to close the streets off with salt trucks.”

The Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus (CABC) issued a statement June 3 that first of all said it was “saddened by the senseless murder at the hand of a police officer of Mr. George Floyd,” but also that after months of COVID-19 isolation, deaths, loss of income, and historic disparity, their South and West Side businesses “bore the brunt of the looting and mayhem” because of the decision to transfer police resources to the Loop, River North and the Gold Coast after the peaceful protests Saturday, May 30. Pleas for extra police protection by several South and West Side aldermen went unanswered.

At least 45 businesses on State Street and on Wabash Avenue – Walgreens, Bank of America, AKIRA, theWit, Chicago Jewelry Mall, Central Camera, as well as lightscapes and the Gateway art installation – sustained damage on Friday and Saturday, May 29 and 30, according to officials at Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA).

The City’s Building Department boarded up damaged Loop windows. CLA CEO Michael Edwards, and CLA Membership Relations and Events Director Sarah Morse, assisted in cleanup. Morse, who lives in the Loop, also saw as many as 75 people helping on Sunday, the day after the looting. “In the end, it was the folks who live in the Loop who lent their time to clean up,” CLA PR and Communications Manager Jessica Cabe said. “We don’t often think of the Loop as a neighborhood, but it is home to over 20,000 residents” and 370,000 jobs.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th ward) said she was unsure if damage to her West Side ward was because disproportionate members of police were downtown or that they were simply outnumbered and caught off guard by daytime violence. “It started early Sunday morning at 9 o’clock and went all day. When I called 911, I couldn’t get through and several of my colleagues said the same. They [vandals] jammed the signals to allow the hours of looting.”

Ald. Mitts said police would arrive at one call and immediately receive another; liquor stores, gas stations, pharmacies, banks, dollar stores and big box stores were hit, especially around North and Cicero Avenues. The Walmart superstore at 4650 W. North Ave., temporarily closed now, donated its produce to the community and on Wednesday, June 3, people were picking up these food items at her ward office, 4926 W. Chicago Ave.

Ald. Mitts said she sent Walmart officials a video of herself standing in front of the superstore, pleading with the company to stay. “I told them, ‘I was there for you when you wanted to come in 2006, you need to be there for me.’” She approached Walmart about opening its first store in Chicago and she solicited approval for it individually from City Council members.

Cleanup volunteers came from Healing Temple Church of God in Christ, New Hope MB Church, whose pastor also chairs the faith-based work of the 15th District Police; from BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development), Austin Coming Together, West Side Health Authority, Austin African American Business Networking Association, 48th Ward Ald. Harry Osterman’s office, Rush University Medical Center and the community at large, Ald. Mitts said.

Damage downtown to theWIt hotel.

photo provided by Jessica Cabe / Chicago Loop Alliance

The Wicker Park neighborhood sustained some damage on Milwaukee Avenue Sunday night, May 31, between North Avenue and Division Street, while West Town had vandalism to about three to five stores on Chicago Avenue between Damen and Ashland Avenues, said Allison Carvalho, community development director in the office of Ald. Daniel LaSpata, (1st ward).

Streets and Sanitation crews power-washed Milwaukee Avenue Monday morning, volunteers cleared debris by noon and the West Town Chamber boarded up the damaged businesses. Roughly 200 people volunteered through LaSpata’s office and 100 people showed up to Wicker Park on Monday, when Chicago Park District employees were not working.

In the following week, the office continued to get 10 phone calls or emails daily from people asking what they could do to help or how they could support food-insecure families. “It’s really inspiring during this time how much people care,” Carvalho said.