Keith Tate R.I.P.

Keith Tate was president of the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council. He had retired from his long time role in the Chatham neighborhood in recent years. Had met him occasionally years when available for events in Chatham for this blog and always met me with a smile and a hand shake.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Here's a post from Worlee Glover's Concerned Citizen's of Chatham marking his untimely passing.

Voyage Chicago: Meet Asiaha Butler of R.A.G.E.

The article was actually shared to our FB page by JP Paulus last week. Time to share this on the blog with this quote:

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.

My journey started when I decided to relocate from Chicago back in 2008, after my block here in Englewood was in turmoil. A bullet went through my door, someone had climb through my daughter’s window attempting to rob us and there was shootings happening on a nightly basis. I was afraid from my life and the life of my family. After reviewing the housing market in Atlanta where most of my family lives, I was ready to say goodbye to Chicago. Then something hit me when I looked out of my window at four young children playing in a vacant lot filled with bottles, glass and dirt. That moment I decided, that instead of leaving Englewood, I need to stay and add value in order to make a change in my neighborhood.

I didn’t know where to start so I just volunteered everywhere in Englewood. After volunteering, I became frustrated that there was not many event or activities for youth on the Saturdays, which was my day off from my day job and since my husband is a DJ, I felt our first move should be creating a youthful space for young people on Saturdays. My goal, was to connect our young people with our elders, whom were the ones hosting many young programs. So we started showing a series of documentaries, inviting young and older people for “Docs & Dialogue” at libraries, parks, and other locations. We chose films to spark in-depth conversation about provocative issues such as misogyny in hip hop, violence in video games, and the ways societal ills from slavery to drugs have affected black women over time. Then in 2010, I founded alongside two other Englewood residents, a youth journalism program called Media-N-Motion, where we led young people in making videos, writing articles, and publishing a newsletter examining how Englewood was portrayed in the media.

During this time, I met countless residents who wanted more for Englewood who wanted to be a part of the change, like I did. In November of 2010, I brushed off my association experience from my day job and co-founded R.A.G.E. or Resident Association of Greater Englewood. Our mission is to mobilize people and resources to force a change in the community and our primary focus areas are Education, Youth Development, Economic Development and Civic Empowerment. We started with 13 members and looked for ways to empower leadership within the community to help take on the complex problems that impact and stigmatize Englewood. Now our association has more than 260 members with many achievements under our belt, ranging from being the civic pioneers of the Large $1 Lot program, working to repurposing vacant schools and continuing to connect empowerment tools to residents.

A year ago, after 16 years I decided to quit my day job at a real estate association to work on the efforts in Englewood full-time. I opened the R.A.G.E. headquarters in the building I owned across the street from my home, adjacent to a once-vacant lot that was my turning point that I bought from the city for $1. I use my lot for community events, place-making activities, meetings and recently a job fair that brought over 400 attendees.

My journey continues as I served as the architect and lead curator of Englewood Rising, a recently launched neighborhood rebranding campaign actively working to change the community’s narrative. In addition to boosting neighborhood pride among residents, the campaign also aims to show those outside Englewood that the violence and crime and poverty they hear about on the news is only one part of the story. I recently founded my own real estate development group to develop and rebuild the neighborhood with a mission to increase home ownership and work to counter the fears of gentrification. It is my personal mission to continue to love on and show the beauty of Englewood from the people, the movements, the assets, and opportunities. I coined the name “Mrs. Englewood”, because I am truly married to my community, I have made personal vows to see our community revitalized and rebuilt with residents leading every step of the way.

If you're looking to make a different in your communities, hopefully this inspires you. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

The Future of Chatham Avalon Park Community Council (CAPCC)

The Chicago Neighborhoods

Check out the below essay written by our own Worlee Glover over at NextDoor. Here on this blog we have considered the state of Chatham's community based organizations. I wondered if there are too many organizations as at one point there had been three CBOs in Chatham - CAPCC, GCA, and Reunite Chatham.

Now using Worlee's words you see below, there's be a lack of direction at CAPCC since a whole new regime has taken over. Chatham is a great neighborhood - a bastion of the Black middle-class in Chicago - and well we see RAGE as an organization with a great vision. Perhaps a CBO in a Black middle-class neighborhood needs to take a page out of the book of RAGE who do have a number of successes in recent years.

Beyond that, what do you think of Worlee's essay.

VIDEO: "Welcome to Englewood" Sign Unveiling, May 12, 2017

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have missed this video. Last month the Englewood community got themselves a landmark sign located at 63rd/Yale (almost near what used to be the former Harvard stop on the CTA Green Line). This is an event I caught wind of mainly on ig and even regrammed one record of this event.

Anyway this illustrates something that I've noted here on this blog. Englewood has a marker, and then I found that Grand Crossing and Park Manor have markers. Even suggested at one point perhaps Chatham should have a sign or mark at entry points into the Chatham perimeter.

Perhaps on King Drive, Cottage Grover, 75th, 79th, 83rd, 87th and certainly on State Street. I got one potential candidate for what this sign this Chatham brand should look like. Of course someone who lives there has to make the proposal and ultimately make it happen.

Of course I recognize that's not the only community that can use this idea. Perhaps once Pullman's national monument really gets going this is the treatment they get. Hopefully in the future Roseland can have one to begin it's revitalization, especially when the CTA red line gets extended past 95th Street.

Forgot to add this video was produced by an old favorite artistmac who was also in Englewood for the groundbreaking and grand opening of Whole Foods Market Englewood. And he also drove along 63rd Street at one point also.

Why is the Chicago Police Department Causing KAOS in Chatham

Last week the Chicago Red Eye ran an a not so flattering article about a section of East 79th street which is covered by the 6th District of the Chicago Police Department . So when I received the attached letter that was mailed to my home on Saturday 6/22/13 from Chicago Police headquarters via U.S Postal Service.  The letter to those who live outside of Chatham might seem to be harmless, but for those of us who live here it reeks on various levels.

Besides being a poorly written letter, it's not signed by the commander but someone else. Secondly, the partnering is questionable. Why are taxpayers paying for the promotion of a community organization meeting? Isn't the CAPS program suppose to partner with residents irregardless of group affiliation? In Chatham, we have two established organizations, Chatham Avalon Park Community Council (CAPCC) and Greater Chatham Alliance (GCA) and I have never received a letter promoting their meetings nor any other community based organizations that resides in the 6th district.

Politics is definitely involved  as I previously wrote a post about this group and when politics and policing get together that definitely produces an unholy alliance.

With the crime situation we have in Chatham and the City of Chicago financial situation, this waste of taxpayers money and practicing petty politics is something we don't need.

Want to connect with Reunite Chatham...

We mentioned Reunite Chatham in a blog post last month entitled "Direction: communication & cooperation". Also Worlee had provided more information about this organization in another post over at Concerned Citizens of Chatham.

Today it was discovered that they have both a Twitter and FB page. So for those of you who are interested there is more information out there for them and indeed ways to connect with them on social networking.

Also note that Reunite Chatham is a not-for-profit organization with a 501c3 status pending. According to another image found on the FB page.

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: Are Community Organizations Relevant Anymore

Very valid questions and Worlee's response to our recent post "Direction: communication & cooperation" it's spelled out even more the conflicts between the various community organizations and especially spells out the purpose of the emerging Re-Unite Chatham noted in the posting here. He does take aim at Greater Chatham Alliance & Chatham/Avalon Park Community Council:

For some residents this is where the usefullness of these organizations begin and end. Some residents have criticized the organizations of political grandstanding, partisian politics, a tool shed for governmental employees and being clueless on what residents want and need. The major criticism is that the presence of two organizations has turned into turf wars. The former president of one sent the other a letter stating that a portion of the community did not want to be represented by them. Also, on several local issues regarding businesses, it turns into one will say yes and the other will automatically say no. It has been a tradition in the ward for the Alderman to refer business owners who want to potentially open up to gain community organization approval. This process has gotten out of hand and prompted the current Alderman to state that he will not allow community organizations to stymie economic development.

Recently, a convenience store that was rumored that they were going to apply for a liquor license finally approached the Alderman for support. The Alderman refused to support the issue and as the news made its way around the community, it was very apparent that the community opposed the issuance of a liquor license. Subsequently, a group of residents decided that they wanted to start a community organization. The group decided on the name ReUnite- Chatham. I was contacted and attended a meeting.

This is where the BS begins, it was apparent that I was not suppose to have been invited to this meeting but it was nothing that could be done. The organizer which is a block club president started off the meeting selling woof tickets. The moderator stated that the current community organizations have not been proactive but reactive to issues, there were a lack of recreational opportunities for young adults and teens and other criticisms. A comment from the audience was a long time resident stated she hadn't heard of the other community organizations. I personally took exception to the statement that the community had a lack of recreational activities for young adults and teens as the church where the meeting took place has a young adult choir and teen club open to the community. Also, the Chicago Park District Superintendent for Cole Park lives in our community and has broght a number of programs back to the Park. Then it hit me what was going on here when former Alderman Niles Sherman(21) who has an on going dispute with current Alderman Howard Brookins was attempted to play political godfather in the 6th ward and the comment he made against one community organization was totally unwarranted and a misrepresentation. After the comments speakers from the Mayor's office and the Chicago Police Department spoke. I left the meeting because I saw that this meeting was political and they wanted to pimp the residents for their political gain. No representatives from either community organization or the Alderman office was invited or present.

As we end this year and enter a new one it appeared that there might be a truce called over the "turf wars" but with this new organization, ReUiting Chatham was not on the agenda but rather the political aspirations of wanna be and defeated political candidates being mentored by a wash up has been former Alderman who has been exiled from his former ward.

While I feel like the question I would like to ask could be a bit loaded, it's worth asking anyway. Are community organizations in Chatham relevant?

BTW, Rev. Marc Robinson is a sub-area Vice President for the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council. He recently announced his resignation from the organization. I'm wondering if this resignation is indicative of the issues that may exist in Chatham neighborhood organizations. Indeed Rev. Robinson does seems to point his finger at the organization he's resigning from.

Also let's note that the organizations that exist in the 6th Ward in addition to the CAPCC and GCA we also have Park Manor Neighbors for example. In this vein Worlee made sure to note that the Resident Association of Greater Englewood has looked east of the Ryan to emulate those organizations. That would be my hope in spreading the idea of The Sixth Ward as "as state of mind".

As always comments are appreciated!

Direction - communication & cooperation

Chatham community area

Worlee had recently alerted me to news that another community organization is about to emerge in Chatham called Re-Unite Chatham (RUC). My first reaction to this was between aren't two neighborhood organizations enough or is this more "turf wars"?

Well RUC's stated purpose was to not engage in "turf wars" and to get grants for community development. When you think about pursuing community development grants should be the niche of another Chatham organization, Chatham Business Association (CBA).

It's great to see a new neighborhood organization arise in Chatham hopefully with differing ideas on how to revilatize the community. There definitely needs to be solid vision to keep this particular community special.

Currently there are two main neigborhood organizations in Chatham, and both have lineage. The Greater Chatham Alliance (GCA) have held major monthly meetings during their existence (they have had a meeting on Wal-Mart, ward remap, hosted forums for Aldermanic and State Representative candidates, a forum with Gary McCarthy, etc) had once been known as the Wabash-Indiana-Michigan Block Club. They have definitely made a mark during their time in existence.

Also there is the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council (CAPCC) who also have lineage since the 1950s or earlier as the organization still had whites in it during the time of racial transition and they accepted Blacks into their membership. Their organization goes block by block as it goes from sub-area to sub-area. They are known for meetings regarding a pawn shop that would've opened on the site of the former Chatham Pancake House.

My point in noting those two organizations is that they bring something to the table. They're able to get people out for whatever their subject matter are. GCA is able to get the big ticket meetings and CAPCC has an organization that seems to allow smaller areas to organize. Besides CAPCC has called people to sub-area meetings.

Only time will tell if RUC will bring anything of value to the table. Perhaps having various community organizations in Chatham isn't entirely a bad thing. The question we have to ask now if there is any communication or cooperative between the different groups?

We already have one example of one groups' mission overlapping the other. Can any community survive having competing organizations with overlapping missions, but without having some form of cooperation or communication between the various groups?

Concerned Citizens Of Chatham : How to Keep the "Terror Town" Violence From Spreading: Zero Tolerance

My recent post from Chicago Now

Just hours after the end of Peace in the Park After Dark, and an afternoon where several groups were doing their back to school rallies and parties, the "Terror Town" violence found its way to my community. These beefs between posse's with multiple gang affiliations are out of control and have found their way out of the far southeast side and moving to other communities throughout the southside. This past Friday night was one of the most violent http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-teen-wounded-in-east-chatham-shooting-20120824,0,5211283.story . Then Saturday afternoon violence erupted again http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-3-reported-shot-in-chatham-20120825,0,1971776.story.

The terror town retaliations are out of control and have to be stopped. I wrote a blog post last year and here is an excerpt I have called for allowing the Chicago Police Department to institute a Zero Tolerance Policy. Many have said "be careful for what you wish for because you might just get it", but at this point the Chicago Police Department, Roderick Sawyer, Alderman of the 6th ward, Chatham area community based organizations and concerned citizens have to make a strong statement. "NOT HERE AND NOT ON MY BLOCK". Over the past several years their have been some high profile incidents and the fact is the perpetrators are coming into or through the Chatham community. This must stop, the fear of being arrested must be put on the minds of those who think they can run through and pillage and Chatham is not a "hangout" spot. Some will say that zero tolerance will not work, will cost the city money settling lawsuits and violates civil rights. But I ask them do you want to be political correct or safe? The zero tolerance and once we stand up and say I'm sick and tired of this $@^%!, then and only then will the senseless violence stop.

The complete post at  http://www.chicagonow.com/concerned-citizens-of-chatham/2012/08/how-to-stop-the-terror-town-violence-from-spreading-zero-tolererance/

Worlee's Rant: Readers First

This blog takes great pride in the information we present. We take time to sift through tons of information to give our readers accurate, timely and factual information because we understand that information about our community that does get published in traditional media outlets gets buried behind information that is not that as important. Also, with a plethora of social media sites that claim to provide information about our community that typically get it "wrong", we know we have to get it right.

Because of the standards you hold us to and the work of my counterparts here, the blog has become a relied upon source for traditional and independent local, citywide and national media outlets. Whether they want to know who a candidate is or what's on the mind of the residents, they look at our post and your comments.  Many may not know that the reason traditional media is getting it "Right" now is because my counterparts are leading them to knowledgeable sources of information .

Also, we not only write about this community we live here with our immediate families, so we are stake holders and take our responsibility to help improve our community seriously, that is why we ask for flyers from any and all sources that are presenting events in and around the community that can improve the quality of life for our neighbors. But, when you give us a flyer about an event and the event leaves our readers with suspicion, doubt and unanswered questions, we have to act accordingly We apply this standard across the board whether the organization has been in existence for 1 month, 1 year, 10 years or 100 years. Do not abuse our readers intellect or time.

So when your committee supposedly plans an event for four months and has more loose ends to your event than completed task and puts residents health and safety in question. Do not get mad with me, don't get mad with residents who you choose to exclude and those who do not want to put up with community organization B.S. Accept that there is a new standard and you failed to achieve it.