Digital Media Specialist/Good Neighbor Campaign liaison
Paul Goyette Photographer
EDITORIAL BOARD
Morris Reed Westside Health Authority/CEO
Karl Brinson Westside Branch NAACP/President
Bernard Clay
Introspect Youth Services/Executive Director
Michael Romain Village Free Press/Publisher
CONTACT US at stories@ourculture.us
VISIT US ONLINE at ourculture.us
WESTSIDE LIVES [ [
Obidise Smith, the Co-Owner of the Forthcoming Avenue Q and Kitchen, Is Passionate About His Craft
By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Obidise Smith and his wife, Lucretia, plan on opening Avenue Q and Grill, 5428 W. Chicago Ave., in Austin sometime in April. It’s the second brick-and-mortar restaurant for the competition griller. His first restaurant, Pit Zone, which he opened in Forest Park in 2017, closed at the start of the COVID pandemic. He’s been catering ever since. Smith, who lives in Oak Park but grew up in Austin, talked about his passion for barbecuing, the lessons he’s learned as a business owner, and his ideas about how to level the playing field for Black businesses.
I’ve been barbecuing for around 20 years— even when I worked as a supervisor at a window manufacturing company. I’d sell dinners at my job. When I decided to build a fanbase, I made a Facebook post one night to see if people would buy barbecue from someone they didn’t know. That first night, I sold 80 plates. It was amazing. That’s when I knew I could do this every weekend. My Facebook page went from probably 500 friends to 5,000. I have about 10,000 followers.
With the Pit Zone, I made the mistake of opening in the winter. Business started picking up, but then COVID hit and flipped me upside down. To this day, people ask, ‘When will you open back up? We need your barbecue.’ I’ve learned a lot since then. I’ve learned to run my business like a business instead of letting it be only about my passion. I won’t outprice myself. I want to be profitable but not to the point where the customer is looking at me funny. I’ve also cut down on rent. The other place I had was larger than what I have now. That restaurant sat 120. This will have two tables out front and people will be in and out. The rent is much lower. I didn’t market as hard back then. Marketing helps you a lot. I’m going to run the new store with six people. Right now, I’ve hired about three people.
What makes my barbecue unique? I use a dry rub for the seasoning and wet sauce. My customers love my pineapple habanero sauce. We also make the rub ourselves. Some of our best sellers are the hot links, the fried catfish, and the beef short ribs. We want to start doing Soul Food Sundays sometime in July. My wife has a collard green recipe that’s crazy good.
I’m in the process of getting permits. The city is slow. It’s a big city. I just have to get a
few things running and let them put some paint on the walls.
If I had the power to create a private or government program to help small businesses like mine, I would tell the people running it to avoid looking at business owners as just pieces of paper. See who that person is to determine if you can see drive in people. You know when people are passionate. I could have easily gone back to work, but I love this.
On The Cover
Obidise Smith in front of Avenue Q and Grill, the barbecue restaurant at 5248 W. Chicago Ave. he plans to open in the spring.
| PHOTO BY KENN COOK JR.
Obidise Smith said he started selling plates while working at a window manufacturing company. Now he does it full time and is poised to open his second brick-and-mortar restaurant after closing his first one in Forest Park at the start of the COVID pandemic. | KENN COOK JR.
EVENTS & RESOURCES [ [
Saturday, March 1, 7 - 9 p.m., The Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | Struggle and Resilience – Celebrating Black and Latina Women in the Arts | In rhythm’s heart, words and motion unite as Keherin Center for the Arts Foundation and Ballet 5:8 present a multi-disciplinary exploration of Maya Angelou’s incredible poem, The Caged Bird Sings. Written by Kady Debalak and Choreography by Julianna Rubio Slager. Visit kcachicago.org for more info.
Saturday, March 1, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., BUILD Chicago, 5100 W. Harrison St. |
BUILD Chicago Home Gardening Workshop
and more, all accompanied by members of the Music of the Baroque Orchestra. Visit kcachicago.org for more info.
Sunday, March 9, 5 - 7 p.m., The Kehrein Center For The Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | 312 Music Awards 2025 | The 312 Music Awards is an annual celebration of the vibrant and diverse music scene in the 312 area. The 2025 edition marks the 4th year of the event, which continues to honor and recognize exceptional talent across multiple genres and roles within the music industry. From artists and producers to songwriters and engineers, this event highlights the achievements of the city’s most influential music creators. The event will feature live performances, exclusive interviews, and special guest appearances, showcasing both emerging talent and established names from the Chicago music community. With a mission to uplift and celebrate local culture, the 312 Music Awards is a pivotal moment for Chicago’s music industry, fostering connections and promoting artistic growth. Visit kcachicago.org for more info.
RECURRING EVENTS
Saturday, March 1, 1 p.m., Sankofa Cultural Arts & Business Center, 5820 West Chicago Ave. | Chicago Westside Branch NAACP | The local NAACP branch meets every first Saturday of the month. Visit cwbnaacp.org for more info.
Thursday, March 20, 6 - 8 p.m., The Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | Just(US) Dinners | Join us for our Just(US) Dinner where we will bring Black folks from our community together to unpack the struggles and challenges unique to their lived experiences as Black people over dinner and movie. These dinners will happen every Thursday of each month through June. Visit kcachicago.org for more info.
Saturday, March 29, 6:30 p.m. - midnight, Xoco House Gallery, 2317 W. 18th | 8th Annual Austin Coming Together Spring Social Dance Party & Fundraiser | This event will bring together community residents, partner agencies, member organizations, and supporters for an exciting evening. Funds will support our Hub team and their work and impact with expansion to the Aspire Center. Join us for a fun night of dancing, networking, and good vibes. All funds will be used to sustain ACT’s Austin Community Hub initiative and support operations for our exciting move to the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation in 2025. Visit one.bidpal.net/2025springsocial to purchase tickets.
RESOURCES
Grace & Peace Church Food Pantry | Every Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., and Thursday, 2 - 6 p.m. | Grace & Peace Church, 1856 N. Leclaire Ave. | Call (773) 387-1713
| Discover the joys of home gardening with BUILD Chicago’s new workshop series. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting started, our hands-on workshops offer something for everyone. Join us to learn sustainable gardening techniques, connect with the community, and grow your skills—and your garden. Learn how to jumpstart your garden with healthy seedlings! This workshop will cover the basics of seed selection, germination techniques, and creating the perfect environment for your plants to thrive. All workshops are free and open to the community. Spaces are limited, so sign up today and start growing with BUILD Chicago! Questions? Email: kesiahbascom@ buildchicago.org
Tuesday, March 11, 9:30 a.m. - 11 p.m., Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd. | Leaders Network Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, March 4, 7 - 9 p.m., The Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | Jonathan Woody in Concert | One of America’s most intriguing and thoughtful singers, bass-baritone Jonathan Woody performs a program he’s crafted around the life and music of Charles Ignatius Sancho, an 18th-century writer, composer, abolitionist, and business owner who was the first Black man to vote in Britain. Also featured are songs by other 17th- and 18th-century composers, Woody’s own music inspired by Sancho,
| The Leaders Network is a collaborative of faith and community leaders who organize, strategize, and mobilize to improve the quality of life for the Westside communities and Greater Chicago.
Saturday, March 8, and Saturday, March, 22, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Greater St. John Bible Church, 1256 N. Waller Ave. | GSJ’s Healing Austin Event | Twice monthly on every second and fourth Saturday, the church hosts healing circles that focus on racial healing with open discussions. Adults and teens are welcome. Lunch is provided.
Hope Community Church Food Pantry | Every Friday, noon - 2 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. - noon | Hope CDC, 5900 W. Iowa St.
Good Neighbor Campaign Kids Cafe | Monday through Friday, noon - 2 p.m. | Good Neighbor Center, 5437 W. Division | Free lunch for Austin kids. Call (773) 786-0294 for more info.
Free Senior Legal Services Community Meeting | Wednesday, March 19, noon - 1 p.m., The Living Room, 4835 W. Chicago Ave. | Call (708) 529-5042 for more info.
OUT & ABOUT [ [
On Feb. 13, Firebird Community Arts hosted its annual Feel the Love event, an initiative designed to celebrate love, joy, and connection in Chicago. To learn more about the organization, visit firebirdcommunityarts.org. | PROVIDED
The Westside Multi-Block Club Association hosted one of its jazz nights at Time Out Market Chicago on Feb. 15. The night featured the sounds of the PSM Knight! Park N Ride Band and Joyce Jackson Hurley (pictured in Army fatigue alongside the Association's leader, Talei Thompson).
Community members and elected officials gathered Three Crosses of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 4445 W. Madison St., on Jan. 24 to mark the opening of Good Neighbor Madison and the Mercy Community Development Center. The facility will house Good Neighbor wellness, case management, and senior activity, programs, among others..
PHOTOS BY KEVIN HOLLIDAY
KENN COOK JR.
Black Economic Boycotts of the Civil Rights Era Offer Lessons on How To Achieve a Just Society
Successful boycotts in the past demonstrate that major legislative reform requires mass disruption outside the electoral and legislative spheres
BY KEVIN YOUNG
The Conversation
Signed into law 60 years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in the U.S. based on “race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.”
Yet, as a historian who studies social movements and political change, I think the law’s most important lesson for today’s movements is not its content but rather how it was achieved.
As firsthand accounts from the era make clear, the movement won because it directly hurt the interests of white business owners.
The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 boycott of Birmingham businesses, and many lesser-known local boycotts inflicted major costs on local business owners and forced them to support integration.
THE CONVENTIONAL NARRATIVE
A view common among scholars, activists, and the general public holds that the Civil Rights Movement succeeded because violent attacks against peaceful Black protesters mobilized white public opinion in the movement’s favor.
One of the most famous incidents occurred in Birmingham, Ala., in May 1963, when the city’s public safety commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Connor, turned fire hoses and dogs on Black demonstrators.
The conventional wisdom is that Connor’s actions outraged Northern whites, and in response, the Kennedy administration sent federal troops to Birmingham and a civil rights bill to Congress.
But this view misunderstands the source of
the movement’s power.
For one thing, it overstates public sympathy for the Civil Rights Movement. Three months after the attacks against Black protesters in Birmingham, for instance, almost two-thirds of the public opposed the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of August 1963.
Moreover, the Kennedy administration predicted that civil rights legislation would hurt the Democrats electorally. “The President never had any illusions about the political advantages of equal rights,” wrote Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger in his memoir “A Thousand
Days.” “But he saw no alternative” given the movement’s actions.
So what were those actions?
Black organizers aimed to inflict maximal disruption on the white power structure, particularly economic elites. As Martin Luther King Jr. later recounted, “The political power structure listens to the economic power structure.”
By disrupting white businesses, often in a highly organized way, Black activists won social change.
See BOYCOTT on page 6
“By disrupting white businesses, often in a highly organized way, Black activists won social change."
Participants during the 1968 March on Washington. History shows that in addition to protests and demonstrations, economic boycotts have been pivotal to advancing critical civil rights legislation. | PUBLIC DOMAIN
BOYCOTT
Continued from page 5
A ‘DEVASTATINGLY EFFECTIVE’ WEAPON
Economic boycotts in Southern cities such as Birmingham and Nashville, Tenn., played crucial roles during the civil rights era. A 20-month boycott by Black shoppers of downtown businesses in Greenwood, Mississippi, brought legal changes to the city’s hiring practices in 1964.
The most famous boycott occurred in 1955–56 in Montgomery, Alabama, where the nearly 13-month protest against segregated public transportation caused the city’s bus service to lose an estimated US$3,000 a day in fares.
Black people made up about 75% of public transportation riders. Instead of using city buses, they walked, formed car pools and used Black-owned taxi services. The boycott ended on Dec. 20, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that segregation on buses was unconstitutional.
By 1960, civil rights organizers widely em-
braced this “economic weapon to fight segregation,” reported the national magazine Business Week.
Three years later, Time magazine wrote that boycotts had proved “devastatingly effective” in pushing white business owners and government officials to desegregate.
In Birmingham, for example, real estate tycoon Sidney Smyer led the elite push for integration. Smyer was a staunch racist, but he capitulated amid the boycott and related disruption.
“I’m still a segregationist,” he said in May 1963, but “I’m not a damn fool.”
During five weeks of boycotts, sit-ins and marches, Birmingham businesses had lost millions in sales.
Smyer and his fellow executives decided to cut their losses by integrating. They then dragged along the politicians, judges, school administrators and law enforcement officials. That had been civil rights strategists’ plan from the start.
According to civil rights organizer Abraham Woods, they hoped that business owners hurt by the boycott in Birmingham would “pressure the city” to integrate.
Andrew Young, an adviser to King, later said that “Bull Connor made the impact greater, but the dynamics would have taken effect without Bull Connor and the dogs. … When the demonstrations were so massive and the economic withdrawal program was so tight, literally, the town was paralyzed.”
CHANGING THE LAW AFTER BIRMINGHAM
The Birmingham victory inspired other Black people to rise up. Kennedy’s Department of Justice reported another 2,062 Black protests in 40 states by the end of 1963. It also led Kennedy – 28 months into his presidency – to propose a civil rights bill, in June 1963.
Even as he tried to dissuade Black leaders from marching on Washington, Kennedy admitted that the disruptive boycotts and protests “had made the executive branch act faster and were now forcing Congress to entertain legislation,” as Schlesinger reported in his book “A Thousand Days.”
Kennedy also feared the radicalization of
Black consciousness after Birmingham. If the federal government didn’t deliver moderate reform, the “colored masses” might embrace “the mindless radicalism of the Negro militants,” as Schlesinger described the president’s logic.
Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963 meant the civil rights bill fell to his successor, Lyndon Johnson. After a heated battle in Congress, Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964.
By causing massive and sustained disruption to ruling-class interests, particularly businesses, Black organizers who were formally excluded from political power were able to force legal change.
The lesson is that major legislative reform requires mass disruption outside the electoral and legislative spheres. Without that disruption, it will be very difficult to win any law that negatively affects entrenched power-holders.
The Conversation
Kevin A. Young is an associate history professor at UMass Amherst. Originally published in 2024, this article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
A document showing Rosa Parks’ finger prints when she was booked in an Alabama jail after refusing to give up her bus seat. | PUBLIC DOMAIN
Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. | PUBLIC DOMAIN
‘You Can’t Get Blood Out of a Turnip’
Congressman Danny K. Davis sounds the alarm on Republican plans to cut essential programs like Medicaid and Medicare
By Michael Romain Editor
On Feb. 25, the U.S. House adopted a budget plan that entails up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and nearly $900 billion in cuts—“nearly half of the $2 trillion in spending reductions that Republican leaders have promised their most conservative members that they will include in the legislation to offset the cost of the tax cuts,” the New York Times reported.
Republicans have instructed “the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to come up with nearly $900 billion in cuts, roughly “half of the $2 trillion in spending reductions that Republican leaders have promised their most conservative members that they will include in the legislation to offset the cost of the tax cuts,” the New York Times reported.
“While some Republicans denied that they would slash programs for the poor, the amount of revenue they are calling to raise would all but certainly necessitate cuts to at least one of those programs,” the Times said.
On Feb. 26, Congressman Danny K. Davis spoke with The Culture over the phone from Washington, D.C. The congressman sounded the alarm on what those drastic cuts to social programs might mean for Westsiders.
On Trump’s and Musks’ plans for ‘reengineering government’
The whole idea that Trump and Musk came up with—reengineering government is what they’re calling it—is the most ridiculous, draconian, ill-fated, unbelievable disruption that our country has seen in modern times. It is unbelievable, quite frankly, that they would do this, and yet they are doing it, with the idea of seemingly letting the chips fall as they fall. Of course, they’re falling on the most vulnerable people in our society, but they’re also falling on everybody—even people who don’t think they’re in the pathway of vulnerability.
For example, if their plan to cut Medicaid goes through [it will drastically impact] Illinois, where 56% of all the federal funding we
get comes through Medicaid. Medicaid is not just a few poor people, it is [the healthcare system]. Just in my district alone, there are 23 hospitals. Some of those are disproprotionate share hospitals, meaning a disproportionate share of their patients’ bills get paid by either Medicare or Medicaid. Then consider all the nurses and people with disabilities. There is no way that this wouldn’t be a serious disruption—not only of the services but of the wider economy. If patients can’t go to the doctor then doctors can’t get paid. So one may think it’s only the patient affected but the doctor is also susceptible to the impact.
This is all about trying to make sure that there is a big tax break, a tax cut for the wealthiest 1% of the people in this country—people who make over $740,000 a year. That certainly is not us. In my district, there are 246,000 people (102,000 children) on Medicaid, and many of them—all of them quite frankly—could lose their healthcare coverage if this becomes the budget. It’s hard to believe that they would be this heartless just to do one thing—to give a tax break to wealthiest in the country …
What power does the Democratic Party have right now in the face of these Republican assaults on government?
We say this and we mean it even though people think we mean something else, but the power is in the people. The Democrats are 215 individuals collectively working together but the power is in the people–even in those in Republican districts. All of us Democrats voted against the budget, every last one of us voted against it. Every Democrat in the House. So it takes some Republicans to join in and people are beginning to push back at their Republican representatives. We think all of this combined is going to put us in a better position as we continue to negotiate and get this changed so it does not become the absolute plan for spending for the next year.
There’s movement and its good that people are raising their voices, pushing their representatives to have more impact and input and that’s what these people with public voices are doing but it also takes the other side.
According to a recent Politico report, “Democratic leaders “now face a dilemma: Do they hold firm, refrain from bailing Republicans out and allow an unpopular [government] shutdown? Or do they fold and risk the ire of liberal voters eager to see the
party stand their ground against Trump and Musk?” Democrats have about two weeks to decide on this. What do you think the Democratic Party should do?
We hope that the Republicans will have changed their position on many of these issues by that time. So we don’t know what will happen when we get to that point. But Democrats are not going to back off our principles. We’re not going to back off of knowing that we can’t leave these vulnerable people, our constituents, drifting and not knowing what they’re going to be able to do. We are prepared to fight to the finish. What the outcome will be, we can’t determine that right now. But we’re going to fight to the finish.
What roles can state lawmakers play in the situation happening in Washington, D.C.?
Everybody has to figure out a way to manage the affairs of their entity. Illinois is fortunate that our state legislature and governor have been doing a great job as far as I can determine. Gov. JB Pritzker has stated that he’s in the fight and Illinois is going to do the best it can do by its people. But it is going to get those resources from the federal government that we know should be forthcoming.
We will fight to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and to get from the federal government what we’re due.
Can you help people understand the implications of the funding cuts that Republicans are proposing? What will happen if that money doesn’t come?
People will suffer, be sick, and not be able to get healthcare. People will die if they don’t get the care they need. Children will go hungry. People will be petrified. It will be very painful, so we’re trying to prevent as much of that pain from occuring as we can. But yes, it will be very disastrous. It will be terrible because you can’t get blood out of a turnip. You need the resources. This is the richest country in the world, the most sophisticated country in the world so there should be no reason we can’t feed our people and provide healthcare for them, that we can’t provide medicine for senior citizens. We can do this, we just have to make sure that this administration, even though they may be in the majority, understand that it has a responsibility to take care of the needs of the people and we’ll keep pushing them to the point where we hope that’s what they will do.
The Culture staff photographer Kenn Cook Jr. is Legler Regional Library's new artist-in-residence. PHOTOS BY PAUL GOYETTE
Economic Boycotts Rising as Companies Drop DEI Efforts
Abandoning corporations and leaning into Black-owned businesses takes strategy and sacrifice, activists and business owners say
By Michael Romain Editor
Activists are planning a series of economic boycotts as corporations across the country—from Target to Walmart—roll back their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives under assault by President Donald Trump.
When this publication went to print on Feb. 26, national civil rights organizations were gearing up for a national economic blackout that would be in effect from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 28. Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network urged participants to refrain from making any purchases, shopping online or in person, and using credit or debit cards for non-essential goods.
On Feb. 15, the NAACP issued a Black Consumer Advisory to “inform and caution Black consumers about the ongoing and intentional rollback of nationwide [DEI] commitments by corporations and institutions. These actions threaten economic opportunities, workplace diversity, and community investments, directly impacting Black communities nationwide.”
The NAACP urged Black consumers to take the following actions in response to those anti-DEI actions:
1. Spending Intentionally: Support businesses and organizations that maintain and expand their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion and prioritize investment in Black communities.
2. Demanding Accountability: Call out corporations that have abandoned diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and demand transparency in their practices.
3. Supporting Black-Owned Businesses: Prioritize Black-owned businesses and service providers in spending decisions.
4. Advocating for Change: Push for policies strengthening supplier diversity, workplace equity, and economic inclusion for Black professionals and entrepreneurs.
5. Staying Informed: Educate yourself and others about corporate rollbacks and their impact on Black communities.
More boycotts against corporations are planned for the weeks and months to come. According to the People’s Union USA—a national organization that describes itself as “a movement of people, unionizing to take back control of our economy, government and future of our countries”— future boycotts include:
• Amazon Boycott: March 7-14
• Nestle Boycott: March 21-28
• Walmart Boycott: April 7-14
• General Mills Boycott: April 21-28
• Amazon Boycott #2: May 6-12
• Walmart Boycott #2: May 20-26
• Target Boycott: June 3-9
• McDonald’s Boycott: June 24-30
Some activists and business owners, however, argue that consumers should be prepared to do more than refrain from buying if
Instead of buying your coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin, consider the offerings of Urban Essentials Cafe, 5300 W. Chicago Ave. in Austin. | MICHAEL ROMAIN
WHERE TO SHOP INSTEAD
We’ve compiled a listing of other Blackowned companies that consumers can rely on not just during the boycotts but perhaps permanently.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
• Forty Acres Fresh Market sells a robust selection of highquality produce at the peak of freshness. | Owner: Liz Abunaw | fortyacresfreshmarket.com
• Living Fresh Market offers produce, organic products, prepared foods, a bakery, and a cafe. | Owners: Living Word Christian Center and the family of the church’s pastor, Rev. Bill Winston. It’s managed by his daughter, Melody Winston. | 7520 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park | livingfreshmarket.com
• Urban Essentials Cafe “features cafe staples such as coffee, cappuccinos, blended drinks, and tea, as well as cakes, muffins, sandwiches and wraps,” Block Club Chicago reported in 2023. “Coffee is supplied by Stivers Coffee, a Black-owned roaster in Pilsen.” | Owners: Robbie Wilkerson and his daughter, Destiny Wilkerson | instagram.com/urban_essentials_ coffeecafe
NEWS & INFORMATION
• Black Star Network is owned by nationally prominent journalist Roland Martin and features his #RolandMartinUnfiltered digital daily show broadcast from Washington, DC, that focuses on news, politics, culture, entertainment, social justice, and sports, among other
they want these demonstrations to work— they should also develop long-term strategies and prepare to make some sacrifices.
“Boycotts are difficult,” said Karl Brinson, the president of the Westside Branch NAACP. “Unfortunately, this is not the age of sacrifice. A lot of us don’t know about sacrifice because we haven’t had to do it, so we have to be more disciplined about that. These things are always going to be challenging.”
Liz Abunaw, the founder of Forty Acres Fresh Market, a company specializing in grocery delivery and is poised to open a brick-and-mortar store at 5713 W. Chica-
topics. | Owner: Roland Martin | blackstarnetwork.com
• The Culture is designed to enhance the media ecosystem on the city’s Westside and be a conduit for Westsiders to tell their own narratives and plead their own causes. | Owner: Westside Health Authority | ourculture.us
• The TRiiBE is a digital media platform that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago and giving ownership back to the people. Their original works in journalism and documentary, alongside creative writing and video, capture the multifaceted essence of the Black experience in pursuit of truth and liberation. | Owners: Morgan Elise Johnson, Tiffany Walden, and David Elutilo. | thetriibe.com
• The Crusader Newspaper Group consists of two weekly newspapers in Illinois and Indiana featuring news, commentary and lifestyle reporting geared toward the African American community. | Owner: Dorothy R. Leavell | chicagocrusader.com
• Afriware Books is an African American mobile and online bookstore with a wide selection of unique titles and products like black soap and shea butter. | Owner: Nzingha Nommo | afriwarebooks.com
HEALTH, BEAUTY & WELLNESS
• T&C Fitness Club, 5906 W. Chicago Ave. in Austin, includes state-of-theart fitness equipment, a basketball court, group fitness classes, community event space, locker
go Ave. sometime later this year, recommended that boycott participants do their research and make a plan that includes outlining their goals and objectives.
“It’s like losing weight and dieting,” Abunaw said, adding that residents of the Westside and the west suburbs who want to avoid shopping for food and other essentials at large corporations like Target and Walmart are fortunate.
The Greater Westside is home to Abunaw’s Forty Acres Fresh Market and one of the few Black-owned supermarkets in the country—Living Fresh Market, 7520 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park.
rooms with showers, and more. | Owners: Cornelius and Katrina Coe | tandcfitnessclub.com
• AAA Beauty Supply, 1006 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood, offers a variety of beauty products and supplies curated particularly for Black people. | Owners: Mohamed Keita and Tenin Kaba | (708) 344-3998
• Del-Kar Pharmacy, 3726 W. 16th St. in North Lawndale, is an independent Black-owned business that has been selling medicine, food, and electronics for nearly 60
years. | Owner: Pharmacist Edwin Muldrow | (773) 762-5058
TRANSPORTATION
• People Cab Co., 727 Bellwood Ave. in Bellwood, provides transportation for all kinds of events—from weddings and proms to airport transportation. The company was started by the late J.W. Scott, a decorated Korean War veteran, in 1986. | Owner: David Scott | (708) 544-3494
What Else You Can Do
• Join an association like the Austin Chamber of Commerce or the Austin African American Business Networking Association (AAABNA)
• Get involved in local politics and/or volunteer for the campaigns of candidates who share your goals, values, and objectives
• Simplify your lifestyle and reduce spending on non-essential items
• Reduce your time in front of screens and read more books to learn about what strategies and tactics worked in the past
• Learn a practical skill like CPR or carpentry that might help in emergency and crises
AAA Beauty Supply co-owners Mohamed Keita and Tenin Kaba inside the store they acquired last year.
| MICHAEL ROMAIN
Illinois Banned Life Sentences for Young Offenders— but Not for Those Already Behind Bars
A bill to make youth sentencing reforms retroactive
stalled last session, but lawmakers are trying again this year
By Ethan Holder & Julia Rendleman Capitol News Illinois/The Pulitzer Center
Cleodious “J.R.” Schoffner Jr. sits in a visitor’s room at Lawrence Correctional Center, a small, cinderblock box with a guard posted outside the heavy metal door. His lanky, 6-foot frame is swallowed by baggy prison blues, and a faded lotus flower tattoo – inked by a fellow inmate – peeks from his shirt. Schoffner entered into custody in 1997 at the age of 20. Now 48, Schoffner has spent 28 years – more than half his life – behind bars. And unless the law changes, he will likely die here.
“They didn’t have to do what they did to me –put me in prison for the rest of my life and just throw me away like that,” he said in a December interview.
The Illinois Department of Corrections lists Schoffner as serving life sentences for two murder convictions. The truth is more complicated. In 1998, in the tiny southern Illinois town of Tamms, Schoffner was convicted as an accomplice to a robbery that left two dead and another seriously injured. Though Schoffner has maintained that he had no idea his cousin Glen would rob the store – let alone kill anyone – the state built its case on the theory that he helped plan and carry out the crime. A jury agreed. It was undisputed that Schoffner didn’t physically kill anyone. He had no weapon, and Glen Schoffner confessed to the murders. Yet both were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder – J.R. Schoffner under the state’s broad “accountability theory” that holds accomplices such as lookouts and getaway drivers to the same standards as the gunman if a death occurs in the course of certain crimes, including armed robbery.
For nearly three decades, Schoffner has fought for a second chance. Lawmakers now agree that young offenders deserve one. With the passage of legislation in 2019 and 2023, Illi-
nois banned life sentences without the possibility of parole for most youthful offenders under 21 at the age of their offenses. But these laws aren’t retroactive, and Schoffner and dozens like him sentenced as young adults over previous decades, weren’t included.
At sentencing, Judge Stephen Spomer acknowledged the gravity of the crime but lamented Schoffner’s sentence. “To compare this defendant’s culpability with that of Glen Schoffner’s culpability is a tragedy in my mind,” Spomer said, according to court transcripts reviewed by the Saluki Local Reporting Lab, WSIU and Capitol News Illinois.
But the judge’s hands were tied by decades of tough-on-crime laws that had been sweeping the nation. Illinois, at the forefront of that
A TRAGEDY IN A SLEEPY TOWN
In 1997, he was living in rural Pulaski, working odd jobs – at a lumber yard and for his dad’s landscaping business
On April 10, his cousin, Glen Schoffner, pulled up and asked him to go for a ride. J.R. recently told reporters that he had immediately felt something was off – Glen was driving erratically and appeared drunk. They argued, and J.R. asked to be dropped off, but instead, they continued to the D&M Quick Stop in Tamms, a store catering to guards from the new supermax prison next door.
Inside, Glen pulled a gun and shot the store owner at close range. He then turned the gun on two customers – he executed one in the bathroom and wounded another, Norma John-
movement, had enacted particularly harsh penalties against accomplices, abolished parole and established strict sentencing guidelines by the time Schoffner stood trial. In short, state law mandated Schoffner serve a life sentence.
For Schoffner, it felt like a death sentence.
“It wasn’t until they sentenced me, and they said ‘a life without the possibility of parole’ –that’s when they broke me,” he said, his voice wavering. “That’s when they just broke me. And I just laid my head on the table, and I remember my dad coming up there and telling me, ‘Lift your head up. You know we’re gonna keep fighting.’”
son, with a shot in the leg and stuffed her in the trunk of a car.
J.R. says he was terrified and had no choice but to comply, insisting he didn’t know about the robbery and that he played no role in the violence. But Johnson, the surviving victim, testified that while she couldn’t see her attackers at all times, she believed J.R. participated in her beating while Glen was in another part of the store, court records show.
With Johnson still in the trunk, Glen sped off. J.R. told reporters that he grabbed the steering wheel to make the car crash and save Johnson’s life. After the wreck, they fled on foot. A
friend picked them up, and at his house, Glen changed clothes. That friend testified that he also gave J.R. a change of clothes, and police later said J.R. was arrested wearing an outfit that matched that description.
J.R. said he ran to his father’s house, and his father called the police to report what happened. They were shocked when J.R. was arrested and charged with murder. Glen was caught the next day after a high-speed chase that ended in a crash with a deputy.
A TOUGH-ON-CRIME ERA
Schoffner opted to go to trial – a risky decision.
Illinois abolished parole in 1978, becoming one of the first states to do so. In its place, lawmakers introduced determinate sentencing, ensuring inmates served a set portion of their terms. During this tough-on-crime era, the state also mandated life without parole or the death penalty for individuals convicted of multiple first-degree murders. Sentencing laws continued to grow even harsher. By the time Schoffner stood trial in 1998, truth-in-sentencing laws – bolstered by federal incentives under the Clinton administration – had further limited early release and extended prison terms.
As a result, prisons swelled throughout the 1980s and 1990s, disproportionately incarcerating young Black men like Schoffner. Overcrowding led to violence, poor medical care and costly lawsuits. By 2013, Illinois’ prison population peaked at nearly 50,000, straining taxpayer resources and pulling funding from schools and social services.
Recent bipartisan efforts have tried to reverse some of these policies, and the prison population now sits at about 30,000, though the number remains higher than it was in the early 1980s. Black inmates still make up a disproportionate share. More than half of the state’s inmates are Black, while Black people make up less than 15% of the state’s population.
Today, Illinois remains one of 17 states without discretionary parole. Only two groups can seek it: those sentenced before parole was abolished in 1978 and youthful offenders sentenced after 2019.
Tamara Kang, an assistant professor of psy-
Cleodious “J.R.” Schoffner, 48, sits in a visitation cell at Lawrence Correctional Center on Dec. 16, 2024 in Sumner, Illinois. | JULIA RENDLEMAN FOR CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
chology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, says young offenders should be treated differently than adults in the justice system.
“Their planning, impulse control, and all of that is still in development until the age of 20,” Kang said. “The majority of people are adolescent-limited offenders, meaning they will age out of crime.”
YOUTH SENTENCING REFORM
A series of U.S. and Illinois Supreme Court rulings have reshaped juvenile justice over the last 20 years. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court banned juvenile death sentences. In 2012, it ruled that life without parole for juveniles required a case-by-case review considering the child’s history and potential for rehabilitation. The Illinois Supreme Court later decided that ruling applies retroactively, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed it in 2016.
Illinois is one of 28 states that has banned juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole. In just over half of these states, the law applies retroactively. Illinois is not one of them.
Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, introduced a bill in the previous legislative session that would have made the ban on life without parole retroactive, but it failed. Republican Sen. Seth Lewis, of Bartlett, co-sponsored the measure. Though he declined an interview, a spokesperson said he “still agrees with the concept” but believes the bill’s language needs revisions. The spokesperson did not specify what changes he had in mind.
Not everyone supports expanding these reforms. Some lawmakers and crime victim advocates worry about who might be released and the potential risk to society. They also express concerns about forcing survivors to relive traumatic events. But Ventura says the bill simply gives people a chance to petition for release. Even when courts have ordered new sentencing hearings for juveniles, not all of the defendants have received reduced sentences. Some remain incarcerated.
“The truth of it is, petitioning the board is not the same thing as being released by the board. So, I think we have to keep that in mind,” Ventura said.
Lindsey Hammond, policy director for Restore Justice, which advocates for criminal justice reform, said she’s hopeful the bipartisan effort will get another chance this legislative session. In 2023, her organization estimated that about 80 people would become eligible for parole over a decade. The bill that failed would have allowed people serving life sentences to petition for parole after serving 40 years. A new measure, House Bill 3332, would allow individuals convicted of murder under the age of 21 to petition for parole after serving
20 or 30 years, depending on the circumstances of their case.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn from their mistakes,” Hammond said. “This is ultimately about redemption, and redemption is not a partisan issue. It is something that people from both sides of the aisle believe in. Grace and mercy – we grow and change as we get older, and none of us are the people we were when we were younger.”
Marsha Levick, chief legal officer of the Juvenile Law Center, a national nonprofit that advocates for youth rights in the justice system, said states should raise the age threshold for juvenile offenders – giving young people more consideration before they are treated as adults, and make these changes retroactively.
But Levick said one area demands immediate attention: young people convicted under felony murder or accomplice liability doctrines, like Schoffner.
“We are one of the only countries in the world that still convicts people under a felony murder or accomplice liability doctrine,” she said. “But yes, we do it, and pretty much every state does it. It is reviled by the criminal defense bar for both young people and adults. It’s just a ridiculous way of imposing liability that holds them accountable in the same way that you would hold the person accountable who was directly involved in the killing.”
Despite widespread criticism, Levick said the U.S. remains committed to the practice. “As a country, it’s been very hard to get rid of.”
NATURAL LIFE
Schoffner maintains his innocence and has spent the past 28 years behind bars studying the law, filing appeals and helping others fight their cases. He earned a two-year degree in paralegal studies and works in the prison law
he testified against J.R. because police had threatened him with the death penalty if he didn’t.
ALL THE APPEALS HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL.
Norma Johnson, the only survivor of the 1997 robbery, gave damning testimony at trial, telling jurors that Schoffner helped Glen with the robbery and beat her in the store. She died in 2010. Her daughter, Kim Noble would sign an affidavit in 2021 stating that her mother had spent years privately admitting her testimony was false – that she had been coerced into securing a conviction.
library. There, he estimates he has helped at least 15 inmates win their release.
“If J.R. was not right there with me at that point in time, I would still be in jail until 2027, because that was my out date,” said Justin Cavette, a former inmate serving time for gun crimes who Schoffner assisted.
The law library has become both an outlet and a lifeline. It also helps him hold onto hope. If he ever secures his freedom, he plans to continue helping others navigate the legal system as a paralegal.
The lotus flower tattoo on his chest has come to symbolize his time in prison.
“A lotus flower comes up every morning from the murky water, and it leaves no mud stains. And then in the evening, it goes back into the murky water. And I kind of liken that to myself,” Schoffner said. “Because every morning I wake up and I look at those walls and look at everything that I’m faced with, it’s like being in that murky water. And then when I go into my element, being in that law library and being able to help other people and help myself at the same time, then it’s like that mud is wiped off. And then I gotta go back into that mud in the evening time.”
Schoffner’s appeals and clemency petition to the governor – all unsuccessful to date – argue that his trial was fundamentally flawed. He claims in court filings and clemency petitions that jurors fell asleep during testimony, that his natural life sentence violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois constitution, that his attorney failed to provide an adequate defense and that the court suppressed witness testimony that could prove his innocence. As part of a clemency petition, the friend recanted his prior testimony that he gave Schoffner a change of clothes. Glen, his cousin, also admitted to falsely implicating Schoffner under police pressure; in a sworn affidavit, he claimed
“As Glen went back to beat and stab my mother, Cleodious [J.R.] kept telling Glen to stop attacking her and made several attempts to stop Glen. She explained to the state that if it had not been for constant pleas from Cleodious telling Glen to ‘stop,’ Glen would have killed her in the store,” Noble wrote in the affidavit.
In 2020, Schoffner’s attorney delivered what seemed like good news: He believed Schoffner’s release was imminent. The optimism stemmed from a case involving Antonio House, who was sentenced to life without parole at age 19 for his role as an accomplice. A panel of the Chicago-based First District Appellate Court had ruled that House’s mandatory life sentence “shocks the moral sense of the community,” raising the possibility that similar cases – including Schoffner’s – could be reconsidered.
Schoffner’s mother, Dorothy, 68, prepared for his homecoming. Christmas was always his favorite holiday, so she decorated. She strung plastic holly across the mantel, placed two small evergreens on either side of the hearth, and set up a full-sized tree by the front door –the first thing he would see when he walked in.
In 2021, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned parts of the appellate court’s ruling and sent House’s case to the trial court, finding that the lower court had improperly ruled on his sentencing challenge without fully developing an evidentiary record of how his age related to his crime. House has since been released.
Schoffner argued that the higher courts’ decisions should have set a precedent for his case. The judge had previously noted that Schoffner’s case was on point with House’s and had delayed ruling on one of his appeals until the House decision was finalized. However, after that ruling, the judge ultimately denied Schoffner’s petition on a technicality, citing an untimely filing.
More than four years later, the decorations remain. Dorothy refuses to take them down. Someday, she says, her son will come home. She will be ready.
J.R. Schoffner (left to right) is pictured at age 15, age 7 as a 2nd grader at Meridian Elementary School, and (far right) with cousins at junior high graduation. | PROVIDED FAMILY PHOTOS
