30 years ago, we lost Harold Washington...

[VIDEO] I intended to mark this event in Chicago's history late last month and unfortunately never got around to it. On November 25, 1987 - 30 years ago - Mayor Harold Washington died of a heart attack. Washington was Chicago's first Black mayor.

As you see in the video above CBS Chicago marks the legacy of Harold Washington as mayor roughly around the anniversary of his untimely demise.

Tonight I would like to share with you something you might see in this month's edition of Chicago magazine discussing his death.

The Chicago Tribune’s coverage of that day depicted a city convulsed in grief: “Women sank, sobbing, onto plaza benches. A man sat and buried his head in his hands.” A memorable photo showed a police officer standing guard outside the mayor’s City Hall office—where Washington had collapsed just hours earlier—wiping tears from his face.

Washington, a former U.S. congressman, was 65 years old, overweight, an ex-smoker, and a notorious workaholic in a stressful job, yet his death hit Chicagoans—especially African Americans, 98 percent of whom had voted for Washington in the first election—like a gut punch. To many black residents, the loss of their charismatic, Bronzeville-born mayor threatened to extinguish four and a half years’ worth of progress in a city that had long been ruled by machine politics and marred by racial injustice.

During that period, having overcome fierce opposition from an obstructionist group of mostly white aldermen known as the Vrdolyak 29, Washington increased the number of minorities in local government, awarded a record number of contracts to minority-owned businesses, improved governmental transparency by granting the public access to official records, and formed an ethics commission to root out corruption. The mayor envisioned those and other moves as merely a start, quipping after his April reelection that he was going to be “mayor for life” and die at his desk. His prediction proved uncannily true, and all too soon.

Two days after Washington’s death, his body lay in state in the City Hall rotunda, drawing thousands of mourners. He was buried four days later at Oak Woods Cemetery, not far from his Hyde Park apartment. Early on December 2, over the vociferous objections of protesters who supported Washington’s widely acknowledged heir apparent, Timothy Evans, a majority of the City Council selected Eugene Sawyer, an African American alderman favored by the late mayor’s foes, to succeed Washington. In the eyes of many Chicagoans, the machine had regained power, and a momentous era was over.

But for a great number of those who knew and worked with the man, their impressions of Washington have faded little in three decades, and the things he fought for feel more urgent than ever. For a handful of people who lived through that November day in 1987, the memories are indelible.

Another perspective is from the Chicago Reader just click the tweet below

On the 30th anniversary of Harold Washington’s passing—an oral history through the eyes of those around him (via @ChicagoMag)https://t.co/MVdnzU8Ctv

— Chicago Reader (@Chicago_Reader) November 24, 2017

Ten years ago, I had shared a link to an NPR program called This American Life which had an episode discussing the time of Harold Washington as Mayor of Chicago. And apparently it re-aired last month also. Give it a quick listen.

Capitol Fax: Today's must listen

 

[AUDIO] Rich Miller shares a podcast from The Daily Line (aka Aldertrack) where Dean Angelo - President of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the Chicago Police union - to discuss the reforms in the wake of the Justice Department probe. Offers this rather damning headline: "The headline on the piece quotes Angelo as saying that Chicago police 'care about black lives more than most black politicians.'"

Vocalo: Chatham Changes

[AUDIO] The Vocalo's Barber Shop show discusses the current state of Chatham with journalists from City Bureau. Duration of this program is 48 minutes.

Having listened to this clip they talk to the owner of Dat Donut on 83rd & Cottage Grove. Also a question comes up about how we can bring the younger generation - millennials to the Chatham neighborhood for it's revitalization.

Bringing in millennials is something hinted in a post regarding Englewood and how that neighborhood could change in the future with an influx of new residents. Perhaps that's Chatham's future also.

Another important aspect of this discussion is the state of the Black middle class.

Audio from race for 6th ward alderman

 

[AUDIO] Recently we received two e-mails from the Wooten campaign for 6th ward alderman above is an ad that you may have heard on the radio. The other is an article from DNA Info which featured students being honored by Richard Wooten's Gathering Point Community Council.

AUDIO: Last Friday's "Afternoon Shift" live broadcast from Brown Sugar Bakery

[AUDIO] JP Paulus mentioned this last week and now we can share some audio of this WBEZ program on this blog. The audio embedded above features not only 6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer but also Brown Sugar Bakery owner Stephanie Hart and Park Manor Neighborhood Association President Darlene Tribue.

Subjects that came up during this segment the history of Park Manor, 75th Street as a commercial street, also the issues of living in an area such as Park Manor or the 6th Ward in general. Also host Rick Kogan had Hart make a case for people from the suburbs to come down to 75th Street and the 6th Ward for a visit. This was a very interesting segment and lots of stuff said about the area and its history.

You can hear more clips from last Friday's The Afternoon Shift here.

Also the pic below was taken at Brown Sugar Bakery last Friday for the live WBEZ broadcast. In the pic from left to right is Darlene Tribue, Ald. Sawyer and Rick Kogan. This was posted on 6th Ward Chicago - the Alderman's office official website -  as the pic for last week.

Black middle class demographics

Over at BlackDemographics.com we see a number of stats and commentary about the Black middle class. I wonder where the Chicago area ranks in that area. So far all I see are Queens in New York and Dekalb County in Georgia. Of course they also address how the Black middle class is in danger.

BTW, remember this post we had entitled "Can the Black Middle Class Survive: Obama Is in the Oval Office but the Black Bourgeoisie is Foundering"? The author - Steven Gray - of the article that provided the basis of that post was interviewed on NPR back in September to talk about his article. You can hear the [AUDIO] below or click the link in the brackets.

EDIT: Messed up on one link and forgot to add another. Sorry.

Final materials for state rep 34th district primary...

I ran out of time to post these items so this is going to be your pre-election posts. Hopefully if you vote tomorrow you see this when you go into the booth. A lot of material I will share with you after the election that I don't think will fit very well here.

First Richard Wooten shared with us another audio piece about his campaign for State Representative. [AUDIO]

Basically this piece is an hit on those candidates who are lawyers. It especially is raised against the front runner Elgie Sims. It also talks about what Wooten hopes to bring to the table as State Representative.

Speaking of Elgie Sims now I will actually post a mailer from him. Probably one of his last that I recieved.

Also received in my mailbox recently an article from nwi.com that discusses a disciplinary complaint against Elgie Sims. I would consider this a hit piece although now that I post this it's a little late for anyone to email him or call his office to urge him to leave this race. Who's responsible for this I wonder?

Finally a mailer from suburban upstart Kyle Kasparek. He did admirably in a candidate forum hosted by the GCA. Perhaps he will do very well in Tuesday's primary we shall see.

Best of luck to all candidates in Tuesday's primary! Look forward to this primary. A hotly contested Republican primary for President and eyes will be on our State of Illinois. Also the race for Democratic and Republican Committeeman Tuesday.

Flyer and audio for Sandra Wortham for state representative

Recently we received an e-mail wondering why we hadn't posted any materials from the Wortham campaign. We had in the past posted at least a flyer and a pic of a billboard but there isn't a lot of materials to be had from her campaign. I was given an e-mail address for Ms. Wortham and I got some audio and a flyer. This would certainly fit on the radio as the audio for her opponent Richard Wooten although that was used for robocalls.

The audio is below you can click the player or click the link in the brackets [AUDIO]

Basically the audio contains the voices of Sandra Wortham and her father Thomas Wortham III and especially notes their relation to the late police officer Thomas Wortham IV. It offers her goals as our state representative and mentions the issues of public education, public safety and jobs. Let us know what you think of Ms. Wortham!

Flyer and audio Sixth Ward Democratic Committeeman race...

This flyer is for Sixth Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer who is running for Democratic Committeeman against Richard Wooten. Wooten is also running for 34th District State Representative. They also ran against each other last year against then Alderman Freddrenna Lyle. Wooten came in third in the February election and Sawyer defeated Lyle in the runoff last April.

Wooten and Sawyer appeared on CLTV's Politics Tonight earlier this month and Paul Lisnek noted that many hoped for a rematch between Sawyer and Lyle. Lyle became a Cook County Judge and it must also be noted that Ald. Sawyer is now the Sixth Ward Democratic Committeeman. So that sets us up for a race between former the former opponents for Alderman.

Another item to add about the committeeman's race, I had received an audio file from the Wooten campaign. Click the embedded player below or click the link in the brackets [AUDIO]

 

Basically this audio was of a call directed towards the residents of Roseland Heights, West Chesterfield, and Chesterfield. This audio is a hit on Sawyer based upon the ward remap which will see those communities sent to the 9th Ward. In fact it was emphatic that those neighborhoods will be sent into the mess that is Ald. Anthony Beale's 9th Ward.

That was some pretty tough audio from the Wooten camp, but I can only let you decide if this ad makes sense to you. Would this audio influence your vote for 6th Ward Committeeman?