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Vol. 34 No. 43

Garfield Park businesses forced to close due to crime,

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October 21, 2020

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Systemic racism pervades loan industry experts say

Pervasiveness discussed during Black Caucus hearing on Oct. 15

By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD — In Illinois and around the country, an increasing number of universities, investigators and researchers are turning up evidence of systemic racism in the financial sector that has plagued Black Americans for decades In June, a report from Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM and the nonprofit news organization City Bureau found that for every dollar banks loaned in a white Chicago neighborhood, they only invested 12 cents in Black neighborhoods.

A 2019 Duke University study estimates Black Chicagoans lost between $3 to $4 billion in the 1950s and 60s due to predatory housing contracts.

A 2013 Pew report shows that nationally, African Americans lost 53 percent of their wealth between 2005 and 2009 due to the collapse of the housing market.

On Oct. 15, the Illinois Senate Executive and Commerce and Economic Development committees held a joint hearing on racial equity in lending and homeownership. The hearing was the latest in an ongoing series of hearings prompted by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus agenda to end systemic racism.

“The time is long overdue for Black households to be met with policies that uplift them and provide them with access to better credit and lending opportunities,” state Sen. Mattie Hunter, a Chicago Democrat who chairs the Executive See LOAN INDUSTRY on page 3

Photo provided

LOOKING FRESH: Children gaze up at the newly repainted mural of slain Black Panther Fred Hampton in West Garfield Park.

Fred Hampton mural revamped to honor Black Panthers

Garfield Park mural repainted with new design dedicated to Black political struggle in Chicago

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

The mural honoring the legacy of Fred

Hampton, the slain chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, has been repainted with a new design dedicated to the history of Black political struggle on Chicago’s West Side.

The new design was created by the same group behind the original mural of the civil rights icon. Organizers decided the time was right to paint over the deteriorating original mural since the country is reckoning with the same racial injustice and police violence that the

Black Panther Party fought decades ago.

The original mural of Hampton was painted in 2010 at the intersection of California Avenue and Madison Street by artist Dasic Fernandez. Every element of the mural and the process to create it was politicized, according to Fred Hampton Jr., Hampton’s son. The mural faces westward and away from Downtown as a sign that his father’s legacy belongs to the people of the West Side, Hampton Jr. said.

See FRED HAMPTON MURAL on page 13

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

BRIGHT MINDS GETTING BRIGHTER

The future is in STEM. That’s why, whether it’s through grants, local school partnerships or programs such as Icebox Derby, we’re committed to supporting STEM education all over Chicagoland.

Because giving young people a way to shine can make the future brighter for all of us.

Learn more about STEM programs available to students at ComEd.com/STEMeducation

A brighter future

Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

LOAN INDUSTRY Rooting out racism from page 1 Committee, said. “It’s imperative that we work to close the wealth gap and level the playing field.”

Officials from various state agencies, banking executives, community advocacy groups and researchers all appeared before lawmakers as part of a four-hour hearing that delved into the evidence and ongoing practice of systemic racism in Illinois’ financial institutions, and what solutions the state government can pursue in partnership with private firms to end it.

“What we want to see is a lending market where race is not the largest predictor of approval for a home loan. We ultimately want to see a lending market where these disparities do not occur,” state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, a Chicago Democrat and chair of the Senate Financial Institutions Committee, said. “We need an end to this cycle of disinvestment, which is at the very root of generational poverty here in Chicago and throughout the state and the country.”

Loans Chasse Rehwinkel, acting director of banking for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, testified that being able to build assets, such as property or businesses, is “key to intergenerational wealth creation. Without adequate access to lending, it is impossible for communities to develop long-lasting economic growth.” Rehwinkel said African Americans have historically been and continue to be systematically excluded from this process of wealth creation.

Rehwinkel told lawmakers that African Americans in Chicago were nearly three times more likely to have mortgage applications denied than white applicants. In 2017, according to Rehwinkel, 30.3 percent of mortgage loan applications by African Americans and 22 percent of applications submitted by Latino households were denied in the city.

Referencing WBEZ’s report, Rehwinkel explained that Lincoln Park, a primarily white neighborhood in Chicago, received 13 percent greater loan investments from banks than every majority Black neighborhood in the city combined.

“This is a large disparity,” Rehwinkel said. “It is only the tip of a larger systematic issue. Our economic system, for better or worse, is built on the extension of credit and the repayment of debt.”

According to Rehwinkel, the problem is nationwide. A 2017 report from the Federal Reserve to Congress found that nationally, Black business owners had their applications for credit denied twice as often as white business owners. A 2019 Federal Reserve report on access to credit found that 45 percent of borrowers who were Black and applied for any type of credit in the prior year were denied, compared to 18 percent of white borrowers.

The process of deregulation and consoli-

dation, which has been going on for the last four decades, according to Rehwinkel, has pushed out smaller unique institutions that specialized in serving lower income borrowers and ethnic enclaves in metropolitan areas. That has resulted in some communities being underbanked or having no access to banking services at all, making it harder to obtain loans.

That applies to about 45 percent of African American households, a financial status the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimates costs consumers an average of $182 per year to access their own money.

Rehwinkel suggested lawmakers could help combat systemic inequities by creating programs to incentivize lending in disadvantaged communities and create opportunities for banks to create branches in underbanked communities to cater to individuals who currently lack services.

Cerita Battles, who serves as head of affordable lending at JPMorgan Chase & Co., also testified before the committee.

“As one of the largest lenders to Black and Latinx homeowners nationally, it was apparent that we needed to be more intentional about serving our local communities, especially those of color,” Battles said. “We also hold ourselves accountable to doing more, not just in the city of Chicago, but in the state of Illinois and nationally to advance homeownership.”

Earlier this month, Chase announced it was committing $30 billion over the next 5 years nationally to “address some of the largest drivers of the racial wealth divide.”

The commitment includes $8 billion in mortgages and $4 billion in refinance loans, explicitly to help Black and Latino households.

Chase has also committed to provide $600 million in mortgage lending to Black and Latino Chicagoans over the next 5 years, making Chicago the only city where the bank made a commitment separate from its national plan, according to WBEZ. Battles referenced WBEZ’s report on lending in Chicago, which showed Chase was the worst offender among major banks in the city for giving less to Black homeowners.

As a percentage of all dollars lent by Chase between 2012 and 2018, Black neighborhoods received around 2 percent, 5 percent in Latino neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Fifth Third Bank and Associated Bank each submitted written testimony affirming support for diversity initiatives and a commitment to more equitable lending in the future, but Battles was the only representative of a banking institution to testify.

Homeownership Rehwinkel cited a 2018 Brookings Institute paper called “The devaluation of assets in black neighborhoods,” which found that homes in Black neighborhoods of similar quality to homes in non-Black neighborhoods were worth 23 percent less, or about $48,000 per home on average, in U.S. metropolitan areas between 2012 and 2016.

That equates to about $156 billion in cumulative losses in asset value for Black homeowners in the United States, more than

the combined operating budgets of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin’s state governments for their most recent fiscal year.

Donna Clarke, interim president of Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, spoke to lawmakers about the difficulties faced by Black homeowners around the U.S. “I’ve spoken to other Black community development groups in other major urban cities, and yeah the data is the same and in some instances it’s even worse,” Clarke said.

“In 2019 the Black homeownership rate in the United States hit its second-lowest rate in 26 years at 42.1 percent. In Illinois the rate was even lower at 39 percent.”

According to Clarke, the gap in home ownership between Black and white Americans is higher today than it was in 1934. Citing a 2020 MIT study called “The Unequal Costs of Black Homeownership,” Clarke told lawmakers that African Americans on average pay higher mortgage interest rates, higher insurance premiums and higher property taxes than white families. By retirement age, those extra housing costs are estimated to equal $67,320 in lost savings, which contributes to the wealth gap and serves as a barrier to Black Americans owning or keeping their homes.

“The financial institutions and other companies make new promises to infuse capital into Black and brown communities… However, if the systemic issues in the mortgage lending process that contributes to these disparities are not also addressed, this money will not reach our communities and we will be here in another 20 years,” Clarke said.

“At the rate we’re going, it’s going to take us 238 years to close the racial wealth gap,” According to Clarke, there is no single solution that will solve every inequity in the housing industry, but down payment assistance would lead to the most immediate and obvious relief for Black homeowners.

Several testified about the appraisal system, which is a somewhat subjective process in which a qualified third party determines a property’s value based on factors such as market trends, recent sales and visual inspection of the home.

Critics of the appraisal system say the race of the owner has been shown to skew the value of the home. The Chicago SunTimes recently reported an incident where a black homeowner in Chicago had their home appraised at a lower price than what they paid. After getting a second appraisal, this time without disclosing their race, the property was valued $62,000 higher than the first appraisal.

A 2020 study that looked at appraised values concluded neighborhood racial composition was a larger factor in appraised value in 2015 than it was in 1980.

Sheila Sutton, who testified as a policy expert representing Housing Action Illinois, spoke about the appraisal process through the lens of her prior work with a lender. “We had homes that were the exact same home…

And we had $100,000 difference between appraisals, on homes that were across the street from each other.”

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.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 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, October 21, 2020

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Madison Street corridor dealt blow after pandemic, riots

West Garfield Park businesses forced to close due to open air drug market, crime scaring off customers

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

One of the West Side’s main commercial corridors was in freefall after the one-two punch of the pandemic and looting that devastated many businesses.

Now an uptick in street violence and drug sales in broad daylight threaten to be the final nail in the coffin for businesses along Madison Street in West Garfield Park, business owners said.

Business owners and chamber of commerce leaders said police officers are nowhere to be found along the corridor, which has become too dangerous for customers.

What used to be a handful of dealers has escalated into an open-air drug market with dozens of dealers “doing curbside service during store hours,” said Michael Rembert, who manages MP Mall, 3973 W. Madison St. The dealers can be pushy as they approach potential customers walking down Madison,

he said, and the area has become a hot spot for violence as territorial dealers fight over customers.

In the Harrison (11th) Police District, which includes the stretch of Madison Street, shootings are up 50 percent, murders up 26 percent and robberies up 15 percent compared to this point in 2019, according to police data.

“It kills us because if you’re coming to shop on Madison Street, and you get your kids with you, as soon as you park, four or five young men approach you with drugs in their hand,” Rembert said. “You don’t want to shop there.”

‘They Couldn’t Recover’ About half of businesses along the main stretch of Madison have been boarded-up and closed for months, Rembert said. At least 10 owners have told Rembert they won’t be coming back since they can’t bring in enough customers to make up for their losses over the summer, he said.

“With the pandemic, the small businesses we had, they couldn’t recover,” Rembert said.

The Madison Street corridor is typically a busy economic center lined with dozens of small businesses. At the MP Mall, the shops were so busy entrepreneurs once clamored to rent retail space, Rembert said.

In years past, storefronts at the mall wouldn’t be vacant “for more than a week or two,” Rembert said. But now, the top floor has four vacant shops. On the lower level, about 75 percent of stores are vacant.

“No one’s interested,” he said.

Government assistance programs have done little for the most impacted Garfield Park businesses, Rembert said.

The Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce helped struggling businesses apply for emergency disaster loans and coronavirus relief funds to help them stay afloat. Nearly all the businesses at MP Mall applied for the government funding, Rembert said, but he doesn’t know of any businesses in the area who received it.

“I can’t name not one business who benefitted from this money. And I know for a fact all of them applied,” he said.

‘The Businesses Are Not Being Protected’ Police have turned a blind eye to the dire situation along Madison, Rembert said.

During the looting over the summer, police were criticized for focusing their efforts on protecting businesses Downtown. West Garfield Park businesses are still struggling because of the damage done this summer, Rembert said.

“We call the police every day. They tell us

there’s nothing they can do,” he said. “They tell me their hands are tied.”

Siri Hibbler, the chamber of commerce’s president, said businesses in the area were struggling long before coronavirus hit. But the pandemic, looting and the now the uptick in violence and drugs may be the final straw, she said.

“No matter how many [community policing] meetings they go to, how many complaints they give to the commander … the businesses are not being protected,” Hibbler said.

Businesses are trying to weather the storm and stay open, Hibbler said. But they feel they are being “pushed out because they’re totally being ignored about the violence, the drug dealing.”

A Chicago Police spokesperson said the department has implemented parking restrictions on the West Side to prevent congregating in the area. Police also created a Community Safety Team earlier this year to work with community outreach teams to help prevent violence, the spokesperson said.

The department “underwent a reorganization earlier this year to move more resources into our districts and most vulnerable communities, including local business corridors on the city’s West Side,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

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West Side groups hiring contact tracers to fight COVID-19

Westside Health Authority, Safer Foundation and Habilitative Systems Inc. are each receiving grants

By SHELBY E. HAWKINS AustinTalks

Three West Side organizations are hiring workers to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

Countywide, 31 groups are hiring contact tracers through the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, which received a $56 million grant from the Chicago Department of Public Health to oversee contact tracing efforts.

Westside Health Authority, Safer Foundation and Habilitative Systems Inc. are each receiving grants. The initiative will create close to 600 jobs across the county; it’s uncertain how many of those jobs will be on the West Side.

Westside Health Authority has filled 20 position; each person will be working from home equipped with Wi-Fi, a telephone and a computer.

People being hired will be from the communities hardest hit by COVID-19.

“COVID hit hard in African American communities as well as Latinx communities,” said Morris Reed, the CEO of Westside Health Authority.

“The unemployment and housing insecurity is a result of us quarantining ourselves, so this is sort of a stimulus. It’s a health stimulus and an employment, economic stimulus for some of our residents

to get back on their feet and help people.”

Contact tracing has been used in Chicago since the beginning of the pandemic with about 200 contact tracers working at the city’s public health department.

With the implementation of the city’s COVID Contact Tracing Corps, there will be more than 800 contact tracers, including those working for clinical partners and the city public health department.

Contact tracing has been used for decades to fight infectious diseases. A “contact” is anyone who’s had direct physical contact with an infected person – or been within 1 meter of an infected person for 15 minutes.

Once someone is confirmed as a contact, they need to quarantine for two weeks, as it can take between one to 14 days to develop symptoms after being exposed to the coronavirus.

Contact tracers also connect people to services that will make their quarantine easier. That includes treatment, social services, housing and food assistance, among other resources.

“We’ve married up public health and workforce development in a way that’s not been traditionally done to try to fight this pandemic,” said Susan Massel of the Chicago Cook Workplace Partnership. “We need to bring people back into the workforce who have been so negatively impacted by the pandemic.”

Massel said everyone needs to understand how critical contact tracing is. Declining calls from tracers could mean unknowingly spreading the virus to others.

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

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Protecting children is a parent’s job

t is one of the sickest and most heartbreaking stories I’ve read in ages. Catrell Walls, 18, is accused of having been caught on camera sexually molesting his 7-year-old cousin. The child was participating in a remote learning class. She muted her microphone, but did not close out her camera. That smart girl had figured out a way to save herself when the adults who should have been protecting her were MIA. As I pored over numerous news reports, eking out different details from each one, several things struck me as extremely disturbing.

This monster, pervert, pedophile male was subliminally being portrayed for reasons I can’t understand by the news media in a sympathetic manner. First he had become a “high school student,” as if still being in high school excused him from his behavior.

Next we learn from his attorney that Walls suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as if that is some excuse to justify what he forced that young child to do.

Over the years, the narrative regarding abuse of children has usually been situations where females left their children with a new boyfriend. The new boyfriend, frustrated by something the child does, injures, maims and even kills the child.

But studies from the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community published in February of this year, state one in four Black girls will be sexually abused by the age of 18. The statistics gets even worse with 40 to 60

percent of Black women reporting that they were coerced into sexual activities by the age of 18. The Walls case highlights how true those statistics have to be.

I recall it was in the early 1990s when a lot of press began asking questions about Black people and oral sex. That was a taboo subject at the time amongst Black folks.

Now, 30 years later, we have become the face of it. Porn is no longer seen as the purview of white people, strip clubs and X-rated movies. It has become a staple in the music videos, rap music and even went so far that in 2017, Black celebrities began the ‘What I Would Do for Da’ D***/P**** challenge.

What might have been funny in an adult environment became fodder for numerous online video sites as young people attempted to create their own outrageous versions. And as it was happening, there was no voice of dissent from anyone in the moral authority community.

I am not willing to give Walls an “out” for any reason. If the charges against him prove true, he deserves to be thrown under the jail. I am also not willing to overlook the members of the household where that behavior happened. They failed that 7-yearold, and they should be held accountable as well. Walls was already out on bond because of a gun charge. That behavior alone should have sent off warning signals about an absence of good judgment. But it didn’t.

Protecting children from harm is the number one responsibility of parenting.

Please speak to your children about inappropriate touching. Maybe we can save the next one in advance!

ARLENE JONES

AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS Mail a letter to the editor.

Austin Weekly News, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 Email: michael@austinweeklynews.com Call Editor Michael Romain at 773-626-6332

Be Safe! In light of the Covid-19 pandemic during this election cycle please practice social distancing, wear your mask, and wash your hands.

VOTE FOR DEMOCRAT

STATE REPRESENTATIVE 78TH DISTRICT Serving the Vision of Every Resident with Dignity, Equality, and Respect Election Day November 3

PUNCH 41 Vote for Lilly’s Leadership Lilly is a committed leader in the fight for affordable healthcare, economic development, clean energy, education, affordable housing and violence prevention.

Education Funding education as a #1 priority and supports job training programs to prepare youth for high wage jobs Clean Energy Participates annually in One Earth Film Festival to promote clean energy awareness Arts Lilly Chairman of Museums, Arts, and Cultural Enhancements increased funding by $50 million for the Arts Property tax relief Repeatedly voted and advocated for property tax relief Affordable housing Creating affordable housing programs through the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Economic Development Earmarked more than $91 million to rebuilding the infrastructure of business districts on Chicago Avenue, North Avenue, plus Art, Theater, and Parks Health Care Fighting for health care for all, and to protect healthcare for individuals with pre-existing conditions Violence Prevention Lilly funded more than $700,000 for grassroots violence prevention programming Gun Laws Supports common sense gun laws that keep our neighborhoods safe

VOTE BY MAIL HAS STARTED!

Early Voting Locations 29th and 37th Wards Oct. 14th – Nov. 2nd

Monday-Friday 8:30 am-7:00 pm Saturday-Sunday 9:00 am-5:00 pm Burbank Elementary School 2035 N. Mobile Ave. (1 block East of Narragansett) St. McNair Elementary School 4820 W. Walton (1 block South of Augusta Blvd.)

Drop Boxes at the same locations above Vote Election Day: Nov. 3, 2020 6:00 am-7:00pm 6200 W Bloomingdale

Suburban locations Oct. 19th – Nov. 2nd

Monday-Friday 8:30 am-7:00 pm Saturday-Sunday 9:00 am-5:00 pm Oak Park Village Hall: 123 Madison St., 60302 Elmwood Park Village Hall: 11 W Conti Place, 60707 Franklin Park Village Hall: 9500 Belmont Ave, 60131 Melrose Park Village Hall: 1000 N. 25th Ave, 60160

For locations go to www.cookcountyclerk.com/service/early-voting-locations

Traditional Early voting October 14-November 2

For dropbox locations go to chicagoelections.gov/dropbox

Camille Lilly Is Endorsed By • Congressman Danny K. Davis, Central Committeeman, 7th District • Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Committeeman • Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb Village of Oak Park • Mayor Angelo "Skip" Saviano Village of Elmwood Park • Mayor Barrett Pedersen, Committeeman Village of Franklin Park • Mayor David B. Guerin Village of River Grove • Mayor Nick Caiafa Village of Schiller Park • Alderman Chris Taliaferro, Committeeman 29th Ward • Alderman Emma Mitts, Committeeman 37th Ward

• Westside Black Elected Officials • Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois • Chicago Fire Fighters Union • Coalition of Austin • Democratic Party of Oak Park • Democratic Party of Illinois • Faith In Place Action Fund • Illinois AFL-CIO • Illinois Alliance • Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans • Illinois Beverage Association • Illinois Farm Bureau • Illinois Health and Hospital Association • Illinois Nurses Association • Illinois Retired Teachers Political Action Committee • INCS Action (Illinois Network of Charter Schools)

• Italian American Political Coalition • Local 150 Operating Engineers • Mont Clare - Elmwood Park Chamber of Commerce • National Association of Social Workers • National Association of Social Workers Illinois Chapter • North Avenue Business Association • Personal PAC • Restore Justice Illinois • Reverend Ira Acree • Reverend Marshall Hatch • Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 • UAW Illinois State Community Action Program Council (CAP)

Thank you for your continued support as we approach Election Day

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

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CREATING AN EQUITY LENS: Darnell Johnson, pictured earlier this month in suburban Broadview, is among the few Blacks in the renewable industry sector.

West Side Lives

Darnell Johnson, 45, on bringing the ‘equity lens’ into focus

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

I interviewed Austin native Darnell Johnson earlier this month for an article on his company Urban Efficiency Group and his attempts to promote equity in the green economy, where it’s rare to see Blacks in that sector’s good-paying jobs that don’t require college degrees.

What didn’t make that article was Johnson’s insight into the upcoming presidential election and equity in the laws ostensibly designed to promote a green economy.

DAYS

On what’s at stake in this election What they need are the resources to enable them to grow their staff to get more people to expand their reach and expand these opportunities. A Democratic administration would put a huge upswing in the resources, legislation and support that has been whittled away under this current administration, because they don’t believe in Climate Change, which is a real thing that is affecting our community and our globe.

In the first presidential debate, Joe Biden spoke specifically about putting more money into energy efficiency because it creates jobs. Well, the thing about creating jobs part is you need to drill down not hat to make sure there’s an equity lens that applies to the equity creation and you need to make sure that lens is brought into focus.

How do you bring that lens into focus? By talking to people like us who understand the challenges. We’ve been through the discrimination, we’ve been through the racism, we’ve been through being stonewalled and locked out.

On the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, the 2017 law designed to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and job training in clean energy across the state.

That legislation, while good in theory, the practical implementation of that wasn’t as good as it was projected to be, because there wasn’t an equity lens applied to have measurable outcomes. If we say we want to see more diversity, but you fail to say what are the benchmarks in achieving that — what does success look like — then you leave the market wide open for things to take the usual path or the usual course, ultimately leaving us out.

How do we change that? We change it by making sure there are definitive measurements and outcomes that we are looking for.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

West Side church awarded preservation grant

At 90, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church has served as a hub for the Black community since the ‘60s

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

An 89-year-old church on the West Side is being recognized as a historic treasure by preservation groups because of its legacy as a hub for the Black community in K-Town.

The Pentecostal Church of Holiness, 1444 S. Keeler Ave., was awarded a $2,500 Preservation Heritage Fund Grant by Landmarks Illinois. The church is also being evaluated by the city’s Commission on Historic Landmarks and will likely be recognized and protected as a historic site.

The church was built in 1931 by the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and was knownas Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The church has had a strong Black membership since the ’60s, said Lisa DiChiera, director of advocacy at Landmarks Illinois.

Many other Catholic churches in Chicago have ornate architecture and glasswork, but the Depression-era church in K-Town has a

simple design that reflects the frugal time in which it was built.

The Pentecostal congregation took over after the Catholic church closed Our Lady of Lourdes in 2004. The church’s demure appearance allows the congregation’s service to the neighborhood to take center stage, said Pastor Chaun Johnson.

“Our church, it’s humble,” he said. “But the humility of that building speaks to the servitude of the church to its people.”

Many of the parishioners were alumni of a nearby school affiliated with the original Catholic church, Johnson said.

The church and the school held great sentimental value to residents of many faiths, but by the time the newer congregation bought the building, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair that mimicked the decline of the community, Johnson said.

“We began to see the building crumble and fall. And so being alums, you can imagine how we felt. We saw it in its heyday.

We know the power of the humble church,” Johnson said.

Johnson has worked to rebuild and preserve not only the church itself, but also the legacy of the congregation as a pillar in K-Town.

Thousands of area residents have been fed and clothed by the church’s programs, Johnson said. The church also supports neighborhood businesses and is a resource for job seekers.

PASCAL SABINO/Block Club Chicago

PRESERVING THE LEGACY: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, which received a preservation grant.

Black churches were once the spiritual and economic backbone of Lawndale and many other neglected neighborhoods, Johnson said, and Our Lady of Lourdes was an anchor for the community back in the “glory days.”

“The church, back in the ’60s, [they] were the beacons or the gathering spots and played the role for leadership for the community. I want to see that restored,” Johnson said.

Johnson hopes the grant, as well as the landmark designation he is seeking from the city, will propel revitalization of the neighborhood by getting more residents engaged with efforts to improve the quality of life.

“If the church is transformed as a beacon of the community, as a light of the communi-

ty, we can transform others, and transform the lives,” Johnson said.

Landmarks Illinois gave a $2,500 grant — which will be matched by money raised by the church — to pay for bathroom repairs to preserve the building as a viable place to congregate.

In addition to the funding, the organization hired a preservation architect to take stock of the work the church will need to protect the building as it ages, DiChiera said.

“It helps give them the start that they need, and the recognition that they need,” she said. “While these monies are small in nature, their impact can be big.”

The church’s historic value comes from the people who have lived near the church through its evolution from a Catholic to Baptist to Pentecostal institution and the church’s service to the community, DiChiera said.

“Yes, this building is beautiful. Yes, this building is historic,” DiChiera said. But “it’s more about who occupies the building now and what they’re doing … Pastor Johnson and his congregation is the reason we’re giving the grant to this building.”

Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

The Fair Tax is a tax cut for

97% of Illinoisians No matter what we look like or where we come from we all want to know our families are safe and taken care of.

When our community hospitals are closing but the wealthy get tax breaks something is wrong.

TOGETHER WE CAN FIX THE TAX SYSTEM, MAKING IT FAIRER, AND PROTECTING ALL OF OUR FAMILIES PAID FOR BY VOTE YES FOR FAIR TA X

Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

West Side alderman’s hearing probes nonprofit effectiveness

At Ald. Taliaferro’s hearing, politicians talked with nonprofit leaders about lack of communication

of you are working tirelessly in our wards and you’ve done a great job. But we do believe that it’s important for us to discuss the work you’re doing in our wards. There are organizations that are working tirelessly on our streets and have not received [city] funding.”

Andrew Papachristos, director of the Northwestern University’s Neighborhood and Network Initiative, which has

By IGOR STUDENKOV been studying CP4P’s effectiveness, said that, during the Contributing Reporter first 30 months CP4P has been operating, the incidents of violence involving residents the program worked with During a virtual hearing convened by Ald. Chris Taliadropped by 13.3 percent. ferro (29th), the chair of the City Council’s Committee on His best estimate was that around 200 shootings were Public Safety, on Oct. 15, several aldermen expressed frusprevented in Chicago. Although the numbers since the tration with what they saw as the lack of communication pandemic struck were still preliminary, the data collected and collaboration from the organizations that receive city so far shows that numbers have worsened, which Papafunding to combat violence. christos attributed to the fact that safe spaces for young There are 11 organizations that receive funding to do people have closed due to infection risks. violence prevention on the West and South sides. Those Audry Phillips, the executive director of CP4P partner organizations include Austin-based Institute for Non-ViTARGET Area Development Corporation, cited the fact olence Chicago, East Garfield Park-based Breakthrough that more violent incidents have been taking place inMinistries and North Lawndale-based UCAN. doors, which hinders the outreach teams.

In an earlier interview, Taliaferro explained that he had Although Ald. Byron Sigchoconcerns that the money the Lopez (25th) and Ald. Michael city was putting into the proRodriguez (22nd) both said they grams wasn’t doing much good have good relationships with and expressed concerns that organizations in their wards, aldermen have no communicaseveral South and West Side tion with those groups. aldermen, including Ald. Jason During the hearing, the orgaErvin (28th) complained about nizations defended their records, the lack of communications. arguing that they were slowly but “I think your organizations surely driving down violence unwould have much better suctil the COVID-19 pandemic upFile cess if they [communicated],” ended everything. They argued Talaiferro said. “I don’t think that work takes time and consis- UNDER SCRUTINY: Children play basketball in 2019 there’s anyone who knows the during a Light in the Night event at Columbus Park groundwork better than the altent city investment.

In 2018, the Loop-based Met- in Austin. The event was hosted by Communities dermen and the police officers ropolitan Family Services Partnering for Peace, one of the nonprofit entities who work in these communilaunched the Communities ties.” whose effectiveness was scrutinized by West Side Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) colSeveral aldermen also arlaboration to reduce violence aldermen during a virtual hearing on Oct. 15. gued that the organizations by providing support for resididn’t work with local commudents ages 18 to 40 who were likely to be affected by vio- nity groups and local churches. Phillips and Bryant said lence, whether as victims or perpetrators. that it wasn’t the case, but both acknowledged they could On April 10, the collaboration received $6 million from be doing better in that regard. the city, so that it could work with 11 organizations that Ervin pressed the organizations on what they would were already doing similar violence prevention work, pro- need to do their jobs better. Bryant said that more funding viding them with additional funding and training. As part would help. of that, the Institute for Nonviolence and Breakthrough “[In] Austin, West Garfield Park — we need to be in eveach received $500,000 while UCAN received $400,000. ery corner of the community, as opposed to small pockets,” The organizations that make up the expanded CP4P used he said. street teams made up of long-time community residents to Bryant also said they should be doing more to encourdo the outreach, used case managers to help connect resi- age people to take advantage of services that are already dents at risk of violence to resources, paid them to attend there and that more funding should go to support South job training sessions and/or get their GEDs, and provided and West side entrepreneurs. mental health support. All outreach workers and case “A lot of people don’t want to work for somebody else managers are trained at Metropolitan Family Services’ and do a 9-to-5,” he said.

Teny Gross, the director of Institute for Nonviolence, Metropolitan Peace Academy.

Vaughn Bryant, head of CP4P, explained that they wanted argued that addressing mental health issues should go beto professionalize the outreach, ensuring that they not only fore everything else.

“We feel like we’re part of the solution, but we feel like get consistent training, but a decent salary and health benefits.

At the start of the hearing, Taliaferro said that, while he the trauma is very deep,” he said. “[Organizations like believed that the organizations did good work, he wanted ours] often try very quickly to get people in the jobs, beto have accountability to make sure the city funds were cause we feel if they have employment, that starts solving the immediate needs, but they’re often not ready,” well-spent.

“The city spends millions on violence prevention and the numbers continue to increase,” he said. “I know many CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

11

Florida company looking to redevelop Austin building

Lionheart acquired former White Cap Bottle Company factory in December 2017

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The former White Cap Bottle Company factory and warehouse complex in North Austin, at 1819 N. Major Ave., one of the neighborhood’s largest vacant industrial properties, may be poised for redevelopment as its current owners applied for a zoning change that will allow for commercial uses.

In August, the property’s current owner, Miami based Lionheart Capital, is looking to rezone the property from purely industrial to a zoning area that would allow a wide variety of industrial and commercial uses.

The application doesn’t delve into any details, except that the company doesn’t plan to make many changes to the building and that the shorter, two-story warehouse building will get an indoor parking garage on the first floor.

Although the zoning application was originally scheduled to go before the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Oct. 7, it was deferred and it’s not clear when it might be up for a vote.

The roughly L-shaped complex is located in the industrial area around the Milwaukee District West line railroad tracks, towering over all of the surrounding buildings. It is made up of the seven-story manufacturing building at 1819-1833 N. Major Ave., and a warehouse at 1812 N. Central Ave. that was added later as part of the company’s expansion.

White Cap Bottle Company was best known for inventing the vacuum-sealed bottle lids and twist-off bottle caps. Originally based in Goose Island, it moved to North Austin in 1930 and the factory stayed open until 2002.

According to its zoning application, Lionheart acquired the property in December 2017. It didn’t elaborate on what it plans to do with the property, writing only that they are “seeking to permit the location and establishment of a commercial uses within the existing building, as part of its general rehabilitation.”

The company mentioned that it aims to create “approximately 282,050 square feet of commercial space,” out of the total 359,374 square feet, and it specified that it doesn’t intend to make any substantial changes to the exteriors. The application notes that parking will be provided on site and the plans submitted show indoor parking spaces on the smaller warehouse’s first floor.

Lionheart owns a number of hotels, shopping plazas and retail buildings, but the White Cap complex is its only property in the Chicagoland area. Out of the Box Ventures, the company’s retail and commercial properties subsidiary, is advertising the building as the “White Cap Lofts,” touting its proximity to Oak Park and downtown Chicago, as well as the fact that the building is “surrounded by 1.3 million residences in a 5-mile radius.”

Neither Lionheart nor Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), whose ward includes the buildings, did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment by deadline.

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

12

Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

FRED HAMPTON MURAL Revamped from page 1 The younger Hampton commissioned the original mural with allies in the musical group Rebel Diaz after first attempting to rename the street where Hampton was slain by officers in his honor.

“There was a big fight in City Hall, and the street sign was never officially approved,” Hampton Jr. said.

The group decided the 2010 mural would be a more fitting way to honor Hampton’s memory and inspire conversation among residents about the struggle for Black liberation.

Hampton is among the most revered figures in the neighborhood’s history since he lived on the West Side when he was killed by police in a 1969 raid as he slept next to his fiancé Akua Njeri, who was nine months pregnant with Hampton Jr. at the time. The assassination was part of the FBI’s illegal COINTELPRO operation aimed at preventing “the rise of a messiah,” feared to be Hampton, among the movement for Black liberation.

Residents in the area were initially skeptical when they saw their beloved mural was being painted over, which Rodrigo Starz of Rebel Diaz said is a testament to how deep Hampton’s legacy runs on the West Side. But the community was supportive when they learned the new mural was being painted at the direction of Hampton’s son and would represent more of the Black Panther’s history in Chicago, Starz said.

The mural now honors not only Hampton but also the other members of the Black Panther Party present at the police raid known locally as the Massacre on Monroe. The

13

painting now incorporates the stories of Defense Captain Mark Clark, who was also killed in the raid, as well as Akua Njeri, and the party’s Minister of Health Doc Satchel.

“Often we remember the figure that had the name, that had the charisma … but there’s always a group behind that person to give that person strength,” said Andre Trenier, the artist who painted the new mural.

A young Hampton Jr. is also depicted in the mural as a symbol that the revolutionary movement to end white supremacy in America lives on despite attempts to snuff it out.

“They tried to burn Photos provided down the garden, but NEW MURAL, SAME MESSAGE: Th e old mural depicting slain Black Panther Fred Hampton in West Garfi eld Park the good seeds rehas been replaced by a new one.

Below, Hampton’s son, Fred Hampton Jr., stands outside of the newly repaintmained,” Starz said.

The portraits in the ed mural. Bottom right, Hampton Jr. with community members in front of the repainted mural of his father. mural are also a recell anemia, a genetic disease prevalent Starz said. minder of how young Young people who hadn’t previously among Black people.

Hampton and the Black Panthers were, Treknown about the Black Panthers saw the Public art is a powerful avenue for sharing nier said. Though he was a key leader in the group painting the mural and began asking the legacy of the Black Panthers since the movement. Hampton was just 21 when he movement for Black liberation is often mis- questions about the struggle for equality, was murdered.

“You see their faces and you see the light represented and cherry-picked in schools, Hampton Jr. said. The mural gives neighborhood youth real people from their comin their eyes and it changes things,” Trenier Trenier said. munity who they can draw strength and wis“It’s not being taught.

Because it’s actively said.

The mural isn’t just public art, Trenier being hidden and corrupted,” Trenier said. “I dom from, he said.

He also hopes it will instill in them a sense said. It is also an invitation for people to hope this opens some eyes and some brains.” of pride for the revolutionary history of the As the mural was being painted, older learn more about the legacy of the Black West Side. people from the area approached the artists Panther Party, like their work in Chicago “We have to be innovative, creative about to develop a free breakfast program for chil- and shared stories about how their lives were dren and broad health screenings for sickle- touched by Hampton and how they partici- getting this information out. Information is pated in the Black raw material for new ideas,” Hampton Jr. freedom move- said. “We intend to turn the community into classrooms.” ment, Starz said.

“There’s powPascal Sabino is a Report for America corps er in art. It was literally like a member covering Austin, North Lawndale political educa- and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago. tion course as we were painting,” CONTACT: Pascal@blockclubchi.org

14

Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

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NOVENAS PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL) Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me, herein you are my mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to suc cor in my necessity (make request).

There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, show me herein you are my mother. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (3 times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days and publish; your request will be granted. R.B. PRAYER TO ST. JUDE May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved & preserved throughout the world now & forever.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.

St. Jude worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say this prayer 9 times a day for 9 days. By the 8th day your prayer will be answered. It has never been known to fail .Publication must be promised. Thank you Jesus.

Thank You St . Jude. R.B. NEVER FAIL NOVENA May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised, adored and glorified throughout the world, now and for-ever. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in you. Holy Mary Mother of Jesus, pray for me.

St. Theresa child of Jesus, pray for me.

St. Jude, helper of hopeless causes, pray for me and grant this favor I ask. Say this prayer 9 times a day for 9 days .R.B

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AustinWeeklyNews.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com 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: Y20004709 on October 5, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of THE PERFECT PLAN 4 U 2 with the business located at: 3636 213TH PL, MATTESON, IL 60443.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: ELLEN MCKAY 3636 213TH PL MATTESON IL 60443, USA.

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Published in Austin Weekly News 10/14, 10/21, 10/28/2020

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: Y20004728 on October 6, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of MAID 2 ADORE with the business located at: 3301 W ARTHINGTON 205, CHICAGO, IL 60624. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: LATISHA PATRICE LACEY 3301 W ARTHINGTON CHICAGO, IL 60624, USA. Published in Austin Weekly News 10/14, 10/21, 10/28/2020

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: Y20004905 on October 14, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of VONLONGMIRE with the business located at: 1639 N. LOREL AVE., CHICAGO, IL 60639. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: DAVONTE LONGMIRE 1639 N. LOREL AVE. CHICAGO, IL 60639, USA. Published in Wednesday Journal 10/21, 10/28, 11/4/2020

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Austin Weekly News, October 21, 2020

Under the Fair Tax, 97% of Illinoisans will see a tax cut

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