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Rev. Marshall Hatch: City must address unnecessary police home invasions,

Vol. 35 No. 2

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January 13, 2021

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Laramie Bank building proposals unveiled, PAGE 3

West Side apt. building’s visitor ban puts moms in a bind ‘My kids can’t come to work with me,’ one tenant says

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

Moms at a West Side affordable housing complex say they have been forced to quit their jobs after a new building policy made it impossible to get in-home child care while they are at work.

In December, Interfaith Housing Development Corporation banned tenants from having guests at Independence House, a 25-unit apartment complex at 810 S. Independence Blvd. The ban includes child care workers and family members, tenants said.

The restrictions are meant to protect residents from exposure to coronavirus and to reduce crime and drug activity, said Harriette Mimms, Interfaith’s director of asset management.

Mimms said the policy is flexible and temporary — but tenants contend the ban has already had drastic consequences.

“It made me miss out on a job opportunity because I don’t have anyone to watch my kids,” tenant Jeri Freeman said.

Freeman was preparing to start a job as a home care aide. She usually relies on family members or the father of her 6-year-old and 6-month-old children to babysit, but the restrictions made that impossible.

“My kids can’t come to work with me,” she said. “Who are you to stop us from having comSee BUILDING BAN on page 5

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

SHOWING LOVE: Reesheda Graham-Washington, the Austin native and owner of Live Cafe in Oak Park, speaks during a gathering outside of her business last week, a day after she discovered a brick wrapped in a racist message in front of the cafe’s doorway.

West Side leaders speak out on attack on Oak Park Café

Brick wrapped in racist message found outside of Live Cafe, owned by Austin native

By STACEY SHERIDAN & MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter & Editor

Surrounded by community members and broadcast news cameras, Live Café

owner and Austin native Reesheda Graham-Washington spoke Thursday about the recent racist attack on her Oak Park Avenue business, where someone attempted to throw a brick carrying a racial slur through the café’s window, causing it minor physical damage.

“Our souls are damaged by this offense,” said Graham-Washington told the masked crowd. “This damage, this harm – it sits in the seat alongside 401 years of trauma.”

The paper-wrapped brick was discov-

ered early Wednesday morning outside Live Café. Scrawled on the paper were the words “No n — on the ballot.”

Oak Park police continue to investigate the incident.

Live Café is serving as the campaign headquarters of Black village trustee candidates Juanta Griffin, Anthony Clark and Chibuike Enyia. Clark and Enyia both face challenges to their candidacies.

The attack’s timing lined up with Clark See LIVE CAFE on page 6

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Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

Residents can soon vote in 29th Ward’s participatory budgeting Participatory budgeting administrators say goal is for residents to be able to vote before end of January

By ZACH CUNNING AustinTalks

Resident of the 29th Ward will soon have the opportunity to vote on how they’d like $1 million in participatory budget money spent.

This is the third time under Ald. Chris Taliaferro, now in his second term, that 29th Ward residents have had a say in how the so-called menu money will be spent.

This year’s proposals include installing bike lanes along sections of Roosevelt Road and Austin Boulevard; painting a mural in Columbus Park; putting up community identifiers on light poles in the north part of the ward; and various street, alley and sidewalk repairs throughout the ward.

Norma Hernandez, a community development planner who works for UIC’s Great Cit-

ies Institute, which administers the participatory budgeting program in Chicago, said the goal is for residents to be able to vote before the end of January.

The city’s deadline for voting to conclude and selected projects to be submitted is March, Hernandez said.

Last year, voting ran from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20. This year, it’s been delayed by the pandemic.

Tom Drebenstedt, who leads the team representing the north third of the 29th Ward, which spans Roscoe Street to North Avenue, said he wishes residents were already voting.

But due to the pandemic, “of course, this year is different,” he said.

The other two parts of the ward are led

by Maria Sorrell (the central section, which runs from North Avenue to Lake Street) and Tina Augustus (the south section, which stretches from Lake Street to Roosevelt Road).

Participatory budgeting gives ward residents a say in how some of the menu money allocated to each of the city’s 50 wards receives every year is spent. One of the program’s primary goals is equity – ensuring funds go to areas most in need.

CHRIS TALIAFERRO

Sorrell is concerned about that equity in the 29th Ward.

She said in past participatory budgeting cycles the north section has received a much bigger portion of the money than the central and south sections of the ward.

In 2017, the north section received nearly all of the money not spent on street upkeep: $280,000 out of $312,000.

PB Chicago’s website shows last year the north section received $160,000 for projects, while the central and south areas received a combined $176,800 for their projects; the north part of the ward received 47.5 percent of the available funds.

Because the north area has such high turnout for voting on participatory budgeting, their projects tend to get a lot of the menu money, Sorrell said.

Hernandez agreed, saying it comes down to where those who vote live in the ward.

So far that has been the north, in particular Galewood. Last year, 330 residents across the ward voted, down from the 390 who voted in 2017.

She’s worked with Sorrell to increase voter turnout in the central and south areas of the ward. They set up a table at the Austin Town Hall’s City Market on two Thursdays to talk to residents and collect ideas as well as distribute information about participatory budgeting.

Hernandez said they were able to talk to about 30 residents.

Byron Watson, 29th Ward budget director, said at a participatory budgeting meeting held in November they were prioritizing infrastructure projects.

The ballot will give residents the option of

spending anywhere from 60% to 100% of the funds on street resurfacing.

Hernandez said they’ve opted to start the street resurfacing amount at 60% because studies have shown people tend to vote around that level for these types of projects.

Hernandez said this type of voter involvement is part of a larger movement toward increased participatory democracy.

Participatory budgeting started in Brazil in 1989 as a response to the authoritarian government. Hernandez said when the process came to the U.S. about a decade ago, Chicago was the first city to implement it.

Of the city’s 50 aldermen, only nine currently participate in participatory budgeting, according to the current projects section of PB Chicago’s website. The 36th Ward is the only other West Side ward participating.

An aldermen’s participation in participatory budgeting is completely voluntary.

“We’re not paying them, they don’t pay us,” Hernandez said.

Augustus said having participatory budgeting in the 29th Ward is important because it gives residents a voice to make change in their community.

“It gives us more power, gives us more power to do things,” she said.

Residents can sign up for the 29th Ward newsletter to get updates on the ballot and voting for this year. More information about participatory budgeting, as well as past ballots and projects, is available on the city’s participatory budgeting website at: pbchicago.org/.

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

Overdose deaths hit record levels in Cook County in 2020

Opioid-related deaths could top 2000 for 2020, prompting West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force to call for more training on reversing overdoses

By SUZANNE McBRIDE AustinTalks

The record number of opioid-related deaths in Cook County last year means far more people need to be trained on how to reverse overdoses, says Charles Brown, a member of the West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force.

The task force wants to make sure people know how to stop someone from overdosing, including using Narcan, a medication that blocks the effects of opioids.

There were 1,599 opioid-related deaths in 2020, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. And the final number could end up topping 2,000 once pending toxicology reports are finalized, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week.

Overdose deaths – which include fatalities linked to drugs like heroin, fentanyl and pain killers – have been steadily increasing since 2015 when 647 opioid deaths were reported.

“It’s so important now because nationwide (and locally) we’ve experienced more overdoses than any time in our history,” said Brown, an adjunct psychology professor at Richard J. Daley College and a contract tracer.

Speaking this week at the monthly meeting of the 15th Police District’s faith-based leaders, Brown urged attendees to take the free training he offers. The training is available on Zoom – rather than in person – because of the pandemic.

Brown’s own brother overdosed nine times in one year, but he hasn’t overdosed

since. And a very good friend of Brown’s overdosed in the basement of their church as services were being held.

Pastor Steve Epting, senior pastor of Hope Community Church, said he found the training to be informative and helpful, especially for people of faith who want to help church members struggling with addiction and/or mental health issues.

The Chicago chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has been offering its own training to faith-based leaders across the city.

The free two-hour training covers the signs and symptoms of mental illness, and how to talk about mental health, says Kasey Franco, chief education officer for NAMI of Chicago.

More than 500 faith-based leaders have

completed the training over the last five months, she said, and the goal is to train even more.

“We know that many people go to their faith communities when they’re struggling with their mental health,” Franco said.

Pastor Epting said it’s so important for faith leaders to build their skills in this area, especially at this time when dealing with stress and maintaining mental wellness is so critical.

For more information about the mental health training, faith leaders can call (833) NAMI CHI, and for more information about being trained on preventing opioid overdoses, contact Brown at (773) 626-8926 or drccbrown@gmail.com.

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

City considers 7 proposals for Laramie State Bank site Redevelopment ideas include turning historic site into blues museum, marijuana dispensary and art venues, among others

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) received seven responses from developers and community organizations interested in redeveloping the former Laramie State Bank and the nearby vacant lots at 5200-5224 W. Chicago Ave. As part of the Invest South/West initiative, the city has been inviting organizations to submit redevelopment proposals for mostly city-owned lots. The Laramie State Bank site is the only site one where the lots are split between two private owners, although the city is prepared to buy up the land, if necessary. The idea is to attract development to neighborhoods that haven’t gotten much attention and to give local residents input into whatever redevelopment happens.

When the request for proposal first went out in August, the Westside Health Authority expressed interest in turning the site into a museum of African-American culture. The proposal it submitted recently expanded on that idea, adding a community-run cafe, an arts venue, retail spaced and mixed-income housing.

The other proposals included some mix of affordable housing and retail, with many proposals featuring art hubs and business incubators. According to DPD Commissioner Maurice Cox, all proposals will go through “a formal, community driven review process,” and the developer will be selected “in early 2021.”

The Laramie State Bank was built in 1929.

Longtime Austin residents John Young Sr. and Earline Ruffin bought the building in 1994, and it was designated a Chicago Landmark by the City in 1995. But the building has been boarded up since 2012 due to multiple building code violations. Young and Ruffin currently also own two lots on the west side of the block, and the remaining five lots in between are owned by Chicago Ave LLC. According to city officials, both sets of owners support what the city is doing.

All of the proposals had to follow certain guidelines. They had to preserve and rehab the bank building, include some kind of public plaza components and provide opportunities for local businesses and/or community

organizations.

During a meeting of the Chicago Community Development Commission held last August, WHA founder and DirecWikimedia tor Emeritus Jacqueline REBIRTH COMING?: The Laramie State Bank building in AusReed said that the orgatin, which could get a new life once the city selects a developnization would be interested in turning the site ment proposal. into the “African-American Culture and Arts Museum” that would to bring “national chain grocery and local include interactive exhibits and perforce pharmacy tenants” to about 36,000 square feet of retail space. The design would use sospaces.

For the proposal it submitted to DPD, the lar panels.

Holsen Development, an affordable houshealth authority teamed up with Brimstone Development, of north suburban North- ing developer, and Austin-based New Moms brook. The company has worked on the Inc., 5317 W Chicago Ave., which provides redevelopment of several public housing services for young moms, teamed up for a developments, including the Henry Horner proposal that includes an Access Health clinic on the first and second floors of the Homes.

The proposal calls for the construction of a bank building, a business incubator on the five-story, 58,000-square-foot building on the third floor of the bank building.

The new building would include 81 aflots west of the bank building. It would include 3,000 square feet of retail space on the fordable housing units, a GoGrocer grocery ground floor and 50 apartments, 45 of which store, a small Chicago-based chain that bills would be affordable. The renovated bank itself as a more health-conscious version of building would include the museum, an art 7-Eleven, and a Sonrisa Family Dental location. The proposal mentions that artist Tye venue and a “community-run Soul Cafe.”

The health authority isn’t the only non- Moores, an Austin native, would be involved profit submitting proposals. The Heartland in some capacity, but doesn’t elaborate beAlliance’s housing division has teamed up yond that.

548 Development, a Black-owned Chicago with the Oak Park Regional Housing Center for another mixed-use proposal with a mu- developer, proposes building 66 affordable housing units, 30,000 feet of commerseum.

The new building would include 76 hous- cial spaces reserved for the Pullman-based ing units, 53 of which would be affordable. Majani Vegan restaurant, West Humboldt The organizations would set up a “com- Park-based Turkey Chop grill, 3506 W. Chimunity led board of directors” that would cago Ave., and West Humboldt Park-based control what goes into about 10,000 square Bikette spin studio 4353 W. North Ave. The feet of commercial space. The bank build- developer would also include Viola Brands, ing would include a bank branch, although a minority-owned cannabis dispensary franthe proposal doesn’t specify which bank. chise. The proposal also features a Science, The development would also include a Chi- Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathcago Blues Museum, a business incubator, a ematics training facility.

Evergreen Redevelopment and the Imagcommunity co-working space, a coffee shop operated by an Austin native, and several ine Group propose redeveloping the bank building for its original purpose as “a bank, outdoor and indoor community spaces.

The Austin Community Family Center, a credit union or another community-serving nonprofit that currently offers several hous- financial institution.” They propose having ing and recreational services out of the his- 57 housing units, 46 of which would be aftoric Austin YMCA building, 501 N Central fordable, as well as a community garden.

Jupiter Development submitted the least Ave., teamed up with River North-based Interfaith Housing Development Corp., Hyde detailed proposal of the seven. It calls for putPark-based real estate developer the Rankin ting a “community gallery,” as well a “comGroup and the Structure Group to propose munity space or a non-profit office space” in the bank building. Although it calls for what it dubbed the Soul City Citizens Plaza.

The rehabbed bank building would in- 64 residential units in the new building, clude a bank branch on the first floor and a it doesn’t specify how many of those units 7,000-square-foot business incubator on the would be affordable and did not include desecond floor. The new building would in- tails for its plans for the retail space. clude 56 apartments, all of which would be affordable, and the developers would aim CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

AUSTIN WEEKLY

news Editor Michael Romain

Senior Editor Bob Uphues Contributing Reporters Bonni McKeown, Igor Studenkov Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks Columnist Arlene Jones Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designer Debbie Becker Sales & Marketing Representavies Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner ≈ Publisher Dan Haley Business Manager Joyce Minich ≈ GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA Board of Directors Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson , Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer ≈ HOW TO REACH US 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE 773-626-6332 FAX 708-467-9066 CIRCULATION Jill@oakpark.com ONLINE www.AustinWeeklyNews.com TWITTER @AustinWeeklyChi Austin Weekly News is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. It is distributed free of charge at locations across Austin and Garfield Park. Our hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

L E T T E R S

Dear Mayor Lightfoot, hear our concerns about CPS An equitable and high-quality public education for the poor and students of color is a fundamental right. It should not consistently take a back seat to corporate interest in the city of Chicago.

This disregard for the most vulnerable population in our city is evident every time the CPS administration adopts initiatives without community input.

Long before COVID-19, the dismantling of public education on Chicago’s West Side was an epidemic. CPS’ Renaissance 2010 put measures in place that have proven to be detrimental to Black students. The Renaissance 2010 plan implemented by CPS became a holocaust of public education on Chicago’s West Side, resulting in the near extermination of Black students, Black educators, and community schools. CPS’ historical practice of systematic racism has resulted in the elimination of desired educational and occupational programs on Chicago’s West Side.

CPS no longer offers technical and vocational programs to provide skills that will enable students to successfully enter and succeed in the labor market.

The Chicago Board of Education and the CPS administration consistently bypasses both state and federal laws-leaving behind policies that hinder educational growth.

This causes a disadvantage for students living in West Side neighborhoods and discord for residents who are the absolute last to be consulted about public education.

For the last year, the Chicago Westside Branch NAACP has unsuccessfully communicated our concerns to the CPS administration. All attempts have been discarded, and our telephone calls ignored.

We have not yet had the opportunity to speak on behalf of the West Side community

residents and Black students continue to suffer. Therefore, we are requesting a review of our concerns.

— Karl Brinson, president, Westside Branch NAACP

A way forward for dealing with unnecessary police home invasions As shameful as the mistaken Chicago police raid was in the case of Anjanette Young in February 2019, what happened to her is merely the tip of the iceberg. Of the 6,800 police raids of private residences between 2016 and 2019, 46 percent were conducted in only six of the 77 community areas in Chicago. Those community areas — Englewood, Austin, North Lawndale, Garfield Park, Humboldt, and Back of the Yards — are on the South and West sides of the city and their populations are 90 percent Black and Brown.

In contrast, five of Chicago’s whitest community areas — Edison Park, Wrigleyville, Museum Campus, Magnificent Mile and Printer’s Row — had zero police home raids.

Seventy-two percent of the warrants authorizing police raids were conducted to search for illegal drugs. Police report that drugs were found less than 5 percent of the time. On its face, the low law enforcement yield does not support continuing these levels of police raids. Considering the great harm done to innocent families and family members, the practice should be warranted in the very, very few cases where the information is certain, the evidence is overwhelming and the eminent dangers are life-threatening.

Police raiding run amuck is furthering

“The” Friendship BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Dr. Reginald E. Bachus, Pastor 5200 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60644 773-378-6600 fbcchicago.org facebook.com/friendshipbcchicago JOIN US FOR ONLINE SERVICES • FACEBOOK @FriendshipBCChicago • YOUTUBE @The Friendship Baptist Church of Chicago

Sundays - 9:30 AM Sunday School • 11:00 AM Worship Service

Wednesdays - 6:00 PM Bible Study

Chicago’s tragic “tale of two cities” narrative. To the immoral “separate and unequal” Chicago themes of food desserts, economic disinvestment, closed schools, structural racism and segregation from opportunities, health and life expectancy disparities and the ravaging of COVID19, we must now add violated constitutional rights to privacy and unwarranted police home invasion. Most social justice issues have long histories and complexities that will take years of engagement and investment to address. The inequities of police home raiding are not nearly as complicated to immediately address. We can simply stop these raids for non-violent cases and searches that do not involve saving human lives.

As a long-serving West Side pastor, I have personally been called to the homes of three of my parishioner families to witness the aftermath of a police raid. In two of the cases, the raids were falsely warranted, and in the other case, extended family members were forced to endure the damage and terror and humiliation of police home invasion, because they were related to the suspect that the police were investigating.

In each instance, when I arrived at the family home I could hardly believe my eyes. The doors were beat down and unhinged. Every drawer was dumped and every cabinet and closet was ransacked and emptied. In the kitchens, food and cooking supplies and utensils were thrown about, and the contents of refrigerators and freezers were trashed.

In one of the raids, a female minor was traumatized by police pointing a gun in her face in the family dining room. That innocent family eventually financially settled with the city. In the case of the other family being innocently raided, they did not feel up to challenging the system, took their losses, focused on building their neighborhood restaurant business and went on with their lives. In the family of the suspect, the grandmother was subjected to two such raids before she passed away.

Over the years, I have often thought about these families and my own vulnerability.

My community, Austin, had the secondhighest number of raids in the 2016 to 2019 span. Because of where I live, we deal with needing police and police safety while abhorring police misconduct and abuses of power. These raids further erode trust and cooperation with local police. If we are going to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods like mine we are going to have to radically change the dynamics of

police and community relations.

With tensions laid bare by the Anjanette Young wrongful raid, what is the way forward?

One, the mayor must immediately direct the police superintendent to stop unnecessary police home invasions. The obscene volume of raids and the cavalier ways that they are executed suggest a police brass crassness at best or something more sinister at worst.

Two, the Chicago City Council, the Inspector General, and the mayor’s appointed special counsel must lay out a coordinated plan to investigate Anjanette Young’s case and offer public reporting of the details and the findings. Ms. Young is our Rosa Parks. Her character is above reproach. The city must seek to make her whole.

Three, congressional representatives who represent the South and West sides must provide a national hearing platform for citizens of the affected neighborhoods to come forward and tell their individual stories. We cannot reconcile the factions of our city nor correct its injustices until we hear the truths of those who have suffered in forgotten neighborhoods. Indeed, the nation needs to hear of these violations of civil rights in the heartland of America.

Our leaders should not expect people to suffer in silence any longer.

Four, we must all commit to reforming the Chicago Police Department by literally “re-forming” the institution. We should not offer the police union another contract.

Let’s imagine something new. There are powerful examples around the country, from Camden, New Jersey to Minneapolis, Minn., of what disbanding the police departments and radical reformation of policing looks like.

Real change will take courage. It will take commitment. It will take sacrifice. It will take all of us willingly and patiently pressing through seasons of fearful uncertainly and hopefulness. And it will take the faith that we can finally move the needle and move progressively from a tale of two cities to the city on a hill.

The best use of this current crisis is to turn it into a season of limitless opportunity, to not accommodate the police force as it is, but to move forward in creating a police department and a city that reflects our most cherished values and our most hopeful dreams.

— Rev. Marshall E. Hatch, senior pastor, New Mount Pilgrim Church-Chicago

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Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

BUILDING BAN Mothers affected from page 1 pany? We grown!”

Resident Bana Glenn lives with a disability and relies on visitors to help her with tasks like “bringing my groceries in, going up and down to the laundry room, things like that.”

Typically, Glenn relies on helpers to visit three or four times a week. The rules have made it difficult for her to take care of routine errands, she said.

Residents and tenants advocates are fighting the restrictions, which they describe as an illegal lockdown.

The ban on visitors violates tenants’ rights laws by changing the terms of the lease, which had no restrictions on guests, without the consent of residents, said organizers with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.

“The only way that the tenants’ rights under their lease … can be changed is if there is a city or government issues ordinance,” said organizer Laura Garcia.

But Mimms said the nonprofit’s leaders believe they have the authority to ban visitors due to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s social distancing and stay at home advisories.

“We don’t feel the rule is illegal. There is a public health emergency that we feel supersedes the lease,” Mimms said. “If you have a lot of people coming and going … you’re going to end up spreading the virus.”

The mayor’s advisory isn’t enough to override the lease signed by the tenant, said attorney Philip DeVon, who also works with Metropolitan Tenants Organization.

“That doesn’t change the fact that what they’re doing is not only inappropriate, but also, in my opinion, illegal,” he said. The stay at home advisory is “called advisory for a reason. Because it’s essentially advice.”

In an attempt to get the city to intervene, residents even called 311, they said.

In a statement, the city’s Department of Housing said it is “committed to safe affordable housing for all especially during these difficult times.”

“We are looking into the conditions at the Independence House in North Lawndale and will work with Interfaith and residents to realize that goal,” spokeswoman Eugenia Orr said.

Security ‘Terrorizing Tenants,’ Organizer Says

window for them to open the door,” Freeman said. “Don’t nobody want to live like this.”

Conflicts between security and residents make some tenants, like Katrina Scott, feel unsafe in their own home.

Scott recently witnessed an incident where a tenant attempted to let a guest in the building. During an altercation with the guest, Scott said she saw a guard pull his gun on the visitor.

A video of the incident reviewed by Block Club shows two security officers tussling with a tenant and her guest.

During the fight, an officer drops what appears to be a gun as a bystander shouts, “His gun on the floor! Get my kids back! … You better put that gun in your holster!”

“It could have ricocheted and hit somebody,” said Scott, who lost her parents to gun violence.

Mimms denied allegations that security has drawn a gun at residents. Interfaith is reviewing bodycam footage of the incident, she said.

‘It Put Me In A Whole Financial Situation’ Like several other single moms at the Interfaith building, Scott had to quit her job as a security officer due to the visitor ban.

She doesn’t want to risk sending her kids to day care due to the pandemic, and her usual babysitters — her kids’ father or her family — are no longer allowed in the building.

“It put me in a whole financial situation, especially with rent,” she said. “It’s hard for me to get to the grocery store. It’s hard for me to do anything. I have four kids.”

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At the start of the visitor ban, Scott attempted to enter the building with her four kids, but her 6-year-old daughter, who was not on the lease, was denied entry to the building, Scott said. Instead, she had to go stay with her father, Scott said.

“That felt horrible. How can I tell my baby who’s crying to come to me, that she can’t come with me? This is where she stays. Her bed, her clothes, everything is here,” Scott said.

Some tenants have been able to have guests, Scott said, but leeway on the visitor ban is at the discretion of security and the building managers who “pick and choose whose family could come.”

Mimms said the nonprofit hasn’t heard of any tenants who have had to quit their jobs and tenants experiencing issues with child care never reached out to Interfaith make accommodations.

“We ask you to come and tell us,” Mimms said. “Nine times out of 10, we say yes.”

Interfaith’s management said the ban on visitors was a temporary measure that will be reevaluated with input from residents in the coming weeks.

But even if Interfaith Housing Development Corporation gives some residents flexibility around the visitor ban, the nonprofit has deeper issues with violating tenant rights laws, aggressive security practices, and poor treatment of tenants, organizers said.

“Unfortunately, we see a lot of nonprofits operating under the guise of helping the community and serving under-resourced communities. But in reality, they are nonprofit slumlords, and there’s an abuse of power happening,” Garcia said.

Interfaith hired a private security firm in Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps early December to enforce the visitor ban member covering Austin, North Lawndale and reduce crime. The armed guards rouand Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago. tinely intimidate and harass residents, Garcia said.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org “They are terrorizing tenants and creating a prison-like environment where they don’t feel comfortable. They feel on edge,” Garcia said.

Freeman has lived in the building for 15 years and has always had a key to the front door. But when Interfaith brought in armed security, they changed the locks so the only way residents can get into their apartments is to show their ID and get buzzed in by the guard, she said.

Freeman said the guard often gives tenants a hard time.

“They look at us COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago like we’re crazy.

LOCKED OUT: Th e Independence House building in North Lawndale seen on Jan. 6.

Armed security guards tasked We gotta beat on the

with enforcing the building’s coronavirus rules pulled a gun on one visitor, a tenant said.

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Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

LIVE CAFE

Community unites from page 1 and Enyia’s electoral board objection hearing, which took place Wednesday afternoon.

At the same moment, insurrectionists descended on Washington, D.C., taking over the capitol building for several hours.

At the press conference, Graham-Washington referenced the attack on the Capitol and President Donald Trump while asking the public to consider those in the community who fail to condemn unsavory and racist acts committed at home.

“Just as Trump was the perpetrator of yesterday’s incidents complicitly,” she said, “I would encourage you to think about who the complicit perpetrators of yesterday’s events are.”

Graham-Washington asked people to financially contribute to organizations that promote racial equity and to support Blackowned businesses to redistribute wealth and power. A GoFundMe campaign started ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

SPEAKING OUT: Rev. Ira Acree, above, and Rev. Marshall Hatch, below left, spoke out in support of Reesheda GrahamWashington and Live Cafe during last week’s gathering outside of the Oak Park establishment.

yesterday by a community member in support of Live Café’s anti-racist mission has already accumulated about half of its $10,000 goal.

“We don’t have systemic racism on our side to put the things in our hands,” said Graham-Washington.

Clark and Enyia attended the press conference, as well. Griffin, who is recovering from surgery, was unable to attend, but told Austin Weekly N ews she was saddened not to “be with my people right now.”

In his address to the crowd, Clark called racism a viral pandemic, but one with a

widely available vaccine: anti-racism.

“It is not enough to not be racist,” said Clark. “You have to be anti-racist.”

Clark said the racist ideologies perpetuated by the insurgents that stormed the Capitol building started at home, started with vandalism in the community and, in a nod to his own campaign situation, “it started with challenges to Black candidates and communities that are pushing for change.”

Enyia asked the crowd not to cower or be intimidated, but to speak out against racism and in support of those who others try to silence because of their skin color.

“This happens over and over again, be-

cause people don’t speak up,” Enyia said.

“Because the people who have the most ability to help us out feel that we should do this ourselves.”

Multiple religious leaders, including Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple B’nai Abraham Zion, Rev. Ira Acree of Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin and Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mount Pilgrim Church in Garfield Park, spoke out in support of Graham-Washington and Black political candidates, even as they condemned racism and hatred.

“What the enemy meant for evil ... God has made it to be for the good,” Acree said.

“Something good will come out of this.”

“The fact is, we are all, as some of us have fought many fights over the years, we are all West Siders, whether you know it or not,” said Hatch, who lives in Austin, several blocks away from Live Cafe. “We are all one community.”

“An attack on Live is an attack on all of us,” said Weiss. “It is an attack on the values that bind us together. It must be met with the forces of justice and the forces of love.”

Hatch referenced the attack on Capitol Hill during his address to the crowd, using it as an example of the negative consequences that occur when hatred is appeased.

Organizer Makesha Flournoy, an organizer with Black Residents of Oak Park, told the crowd that it wasn’t by happenstance that the brick was found on the same day as Clark and Enyia’s objection hearings.

Graham-Washington and Flournoy are both members of the coalition backing Griffin, Clark and Enyia’s trustee runs.

Flournoy also called out Kevin Peppard, the person who filed the petition challenges.

Referring to him as a “joker,” Flournoy reminded the crowd that Peppard filed challenges in 2016 against two incumbent Black trustees, Glenn Brewer and Peter Barber, causing them to lose their seats.

“We’re not going to be able to address our problem, our pervasive, racist, misogynistic, oppressive problem that we are addicted to until we come out of denial,” she said.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

Printmaking for Seniors 8-Week Online Series

Father Pfleger? … why now?

T

he voices that can garner attention in Chicago regarding the plight of the Black community are fewer and fewer. We have a number of charlatans and carpetbaggers who show up to get their names and faces in front of television cameras and then they disappear, never to be heard from again.

Since Dr. King, few Blacks in leadership positions have led us to any significant progress.

Our condition and plight is a double-edged sword. We suffer from not only what others are doing to us but also from what we do to ourselves.

I cannot name a single thriving Black community in the city of Chicago. Our business districts tend to look like wartorn Beirut. And even though we have a Black mayor, a Black president of the Cook County board, a Black state’s attorney for both the county and the state, a Black lieutenant governor, a Black out-of-towner police chief (who knows nothing about this city), the progress we are making as a group is stilted.

Yet one of the most outspoken voices for the Black community has now been silenced. A 40-year-old allegation of alleged sexual abuse has taken out Father Michael Pfleger. My question is, ‘Why now?’ Who benefits from this allegation? Who loses the most because of this allegation?

St. Sabina is one of the last vestiges of stability and cleanliness in an otherwise desolate neighborhood. The church sits right on the western edge of Englewood. I

have no clue what the city’s plans are for the Englewood/Auburn Gresham neighborhoods, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that keeping it the way it is is feasible. Too much prime land sitting empty. And a troublesome preacher who can call a press conference and actually get the media and people to show up needs to be silenced so that the carnage that is going on can continue.

Of all the allegations someone can make against a person, pedophilia is one that is indefensible. It does not allow the accused to continue doing their job while the charges are being investigated. Instead once the allegation is made public, the alleged victim is kept anonymous, and the accused’s entire career is placed in limbo. Even worse, no one can argue against the unfairness of the situation because it is something that involves (or involved) a child.

Be you a supporter or a foe, we all need to stay vigilant and pay attention to the outcome of this situation. I don’t agree with some of Father Pfleger’s tactics, like shutting down the Dan Ryan. But there is still something in the back of my mind questioning, “Why now?” It’s not like he has been in hiding and difficult to find. He is a very public figure. He has also been able to stay at a church longer than the archdiocese’s rules normally allow.

I hope these are not just manufactured charges to get him away from St. Sabina.

ARLENE JONES

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PAINTING & DECORATING

We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.

Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost

Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area

PLASTERING

CLASSIC PAINTING

HAULING

WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead or plastic – other misc. toys.

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

HAUL AWAY

HANDYMAN

HANDYMAN Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates

773-637-0692 Ask for John

To Be Given Away, Items for Sale and Lost & Found classified ads run free in Austin Weekly News!

Call 773/626-6332 to place your ad.

JUNK

Clean out your basement, garage or attic.

773-637-0692 Ask for John

REFINISHING Terry's

Woodwork Restoration On-site refinishing of wood

and fiberglass since 1977.

Includes doors, woodwork, windows, staircases and new woodwork etc. All work done by hand. NO sanders. Your unfinished project my specialty!

References available.

Contact Terry Seamans at 630-379-7148 or terryseamans@yahoo.com

Buying? Selling? Renting?

Hiring?

Austin Classified 773/626-6332

Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice in Austin Weekly News Call the Experts Before You Place Your Legal Ad! Call 773/626-6332

708.749.0011

708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848

WANTED TO BUY

Starting a New Business In 2021?

McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.

Small & big work. Free estimates.

Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services

708/386-2951 • ANYTIME Work Guaranteed

Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years

Selling your home by owner?

Make it stand out. Advertise here.

Call 708-613-3342 to place your ad.

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y21005556 on January 8, 2021 Under the Assumed Business Name of MEN OF VALOR REMODELING COMPANY with the business located at: 908 N FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, IL 60622.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: ERIC STRAUGHTER, 908 N FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, IL 60622, USA. Published in Austin Weekly News 1/13, 1/20, 1/27/20211

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know • In print • Online • Available 24 /7/365 AustinWeekly News.com PublicNoticeIllinois.com

Attn: HomeImprovement Pros!

Reach your target demographic – people who are making decisions.

Advertise here!

Call 773/626-6332

Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

(773) 626-6332 | FAX: (708) 467-9066 | E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS

local happy employees... employees!

Hire Local. Place an ad on AWN’s Local Online Job Board.

Go to AustinWeeklyNews.com/classified today!

Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information.

(773) 626-6332 • maryellen@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, January 13, 2021

Photo: Liam Alexander

12

FIRSTHAND Living in Poverty

STRUGGLING BUT STRIVING. Watch Patricia’s story: wttw.com/firsthand

#FIRSTHANDwttw