WGN News: Cook County Commissioner on city's response to looting

[VIDEO] I'm sharing this with you to show one response to the looting that took place early on Monday overnight. Brandon Johnson is a sitting Cook County Commissioner representing the first district of Cook County.

The WGN anchors states Commissioner Johnson is calling for defunding the police. Johnson explains why these individuals were looting on Monday. Johnson explains that what we saw earlier this week is an expression of frustration and anguish with regards to poverty over many generations....

Here we go he's excusing this behavior. The worst part of this behavior is it wasn't just another Black person shot by police, it was misinformation that even the Mayor of Chicago had to take to twitter to address.

There is a false rumor on social media that police officers killed a 15-year-old on Sunday. Here are the facts:
- Officers responded to 911 calls about an armed man in Englewood
- A 20-year-old suspect fired at officers, gunfire was exchanged
- The suspect is in stable condition

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) August 10, 2020

Misinformation causes anguish and frustration over proverty during the course of many generations. I had to turn this off once I heard him start with the excuses. Is there any leader in the Democratic machine that is willing to stand up to this lawlessness. Where is the leadership?

CapFax: Black and brown people are being hit coming and going

Not only about positive rates of infections when you read this post from Rich Miller they also talk about jobs. The economy took a hit due to the lockdowns and while it seems this state had regained jobs guess there were some groups who didn't appear to benefit?

Black and brown people are being hit coming and going https://t.co/cd8AotfGrZ

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 19, 2020

CapFax: Unity facade cracks as Lightford lashes out

To be honest I hate to see stories about this. Sometimes I wish politics can just run like a machine, unfortunately we're dealing with people. People have their own agendas.

So the story via Capitol Fax about state Sen. Kimberly Lightford's attempts to become the presiding officer of the Illinois State Senate being derailed by the efforts of former Senate president Emil Jones. It's about her failure just about a decade ago to support another Black state senate to become Senate president.

Unity facade cracks as Lightford lashes out https://t.co/LVZmY9MmSX

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 20, 2020

I think for now enough about what's going on at the state capitol in Springfield.

Capitol Fax: It's just a bill

A couple of bills being reported here that caught my eye. One bill lowering the minimum age for a child to be enrolled in Kindergarten. Also a bill that we should keep an eye on, the state's legislative Black caucus fights a bill with regards to "forced unionization" until there is meaningful inclusion of minorities in trade unions. Go over to Rich Miller's blog for more.

It’s just a bill https://t.co/lyIfasSkyp

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 16, 2019

Ethnic/racial shift in Englewood

Shared this Sun-Times article over the weekend. Englewood is changing one sign of that is not only Kennedy-King College that has been located at 63rd & Halsted since 2007, also the Whole Foods Market store that opened at 63rd & Halsted in September 2016.

Another sign of Englewood changing:

Now, there’s a new demographic shift in her neighborhood. African-Americans are leaving for better opportunities as a small-but-growing number of Hispanics move into Englewood and West Englewood, a community residents commonly call Greater Englewood.

Greater Englewood’s total population dropped from 71,740 in 2010 to an estimated 55,004 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During that time, the African-American population fell from 69,776 to 51,015 — a loss of nearly 19,000 residents. African-Americans still make up more than 90 percent of the population, but as some leave, the Hispanic population has tripled in size, from 845 people in 2010 to about 2,700 people by 2017.

What’s driving the influx? Cheap property, Williams said.
...
Overall, the bureau estimates Chicago’s African-American population dropped nearly 10 percent between 2010 and 2017, to 820,000. In that time, the Hispanic population grew nearly 5 percent, to 790,000.
...
Aysha Butler, president of Residents Association of Greater Englewood, said there has been little coalition-building between the two groups.

“It’s really hard to have the conversation when people are feeling that their Hispanic neighbors aren’t very neighborly,” Butler said. “I know a lot of my West Englewood members are very uneasy about this and I just hope eventually that we reach a common ground because unfortunately we’ve been taught to be divided and if we were working more closely together we probably would have a little more power.”

The history is interesting as noted in the above article Englewood in the 1960s & 1970s went from white to Black and now possibly Hispanic. And then couple this with the trend that Blacks are leaving Chicago.

Capitol Fax: The black exodus

Rich Miller talks about the so-called Black exodus out of this state.

The focus on the mainstream media of this state might focus on say middle or upper income whites who are leaving this state due to taxes for example. What they might miss is why Blacks are leaving Illinois. And Miller shares a tweet of someone who's seeking to crunch some numbers on this issue.

The black exodus https://t.co/RhYAIKsI5H

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 13, 2019

I will admit I've been linking to CapFax a lot lately.

Capitol Fax: Chicago’s black flight problem

Rich Miller writes about the decline of the Black population in Chicago based upon an article you might have read in the Chicago Reader. BTW, it's in line with the population decline in Illinois.

Chicago’s black flight problem https://t.co/CsJw87pxY2

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 29, 2019

The article about "Black flight" from the Reader was written by PeteSaunders. You can follow him on Twitter @petesaunders3 or visit his The Corner Side Yard blog.

Van Dyke sentenced

[VIDEO] There has been a lot of reactions to it as I see many aren't happy with the former police officer's sentence of 6 years and 9 months in prison. Cook County prosecutors wanted a sentence of at least 96 years behind bars.

Via Vox

Months after being convicted for second-degree murder, former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke has been sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and two years of mandatory supervised release for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald, a judge announced Friday.

This is further broken down on the CapFax and not long after they shut down comments for the weekend.

How Jason Van Dyke’s projected 96-year sentence wound up being 81 months https://t.co/8RwzD8dZcq

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 19, 2019

There was another trial last week which just ended of other police officers who were also involved with the shooting of LaQuan McDonald and they were charged with covering this up:

Three current and former Chicago Police officers have been acquitted of criminal charges accusing them of conspiring to cover up the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014 in an effort to protect fellow officer Jason Van Dyke.

Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson found former officer Joseph Walsh, Officer Thomas Gaffney and ex-detective David March not guilty of felony counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and official misconduct.

“The state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was an agreement between any of these defendants or others, or any act in furtherance of their agreement,” she said. “This court finds that the state has failed to meet its burden on all charges.”

In announcing her verdict, Stephenson said prosecutors did not prove the statements the three officers made in official reports on the shooting were false. She also said deciding the case was not a simple matter of comparing the video of the shooting to official police reports, noting the dashcam video was not filmed by the officers.

Finally, this is how upset some people were with this verdict. And let's not count this out, last year one judge didn't get retained thanks to a very concerted effort.

 

And I did share this on The Sixth Ward's FB page however this was not an endorsement, just to share something I had found on FB.

Feel free to share any opinions you may have on this case. I know that opinions are largely along racial lines.

Capitol Fax: Hard times are driving African-Americans away from Chicago area

Sorry to have missed this yesterday. The CapFax discusses a study and a column by Crain's Greg Hinz regarding why Blacks are leaving the Chicagoland area.

Hard times are driving African-Americans away from Chicago area https://t.co/E5lIwUnerW

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) December 6, 2018

For instance, while the unemployment rate in the region dropped from 9 to 7.6 percent overall, among blacks it dipped just four-tenths of a percentage point, or 0.4 percent. That's significantly smaller than the drops among Latinos, Asians and non-Hispanic whites, even though the unemployment rate was and remains far higher among blacks, more than 17 percent.

Similarly, median household income among blacks is still off nearly a tenth—9.4 percent—among blacks. In comparison, among whites, the drop was 1.5 percentage points; among Hispanics, 4.2 percentage points, with Asians gaining a bit. And while the drop-off in labor force participation rates was smallest among blacks in the 2010-17 period compared to other groups, blacks already had and still have the lowest rate, with just over 60 percent holding a job or actively looking for one.

The result: African-Americans are leaving, while the population of whites, Latinos and Asians is up, if only modestly so. Those findings had been previously reported, but in its new report CMAP breaks it out by those with and without jobs, and some of the data is eyebrow-raising.

Among non-Hispanic whites, Asians and Latinos age 16 to 64, a clear majority of 53 percent to 64 percent, respectively, of those leaving the region already hold jobs. But among blacks, only 42 percent are employed. The remaining 58 percent of those moving either are unemployed or out of the workforce and not looking at all.

CMAP Associate Policy Analyst Aseal Tineh said there could be various reasons for the latter distinctions, such as more rapid aging among white residents. But overall, it's likely that African-Americans here are having a harder time finding jobs, and a harder time getting jobs that pay well, she said. Beyond that, the report itself notes previous research that black commuters tend to have a longer trip to work than other area residents.

The question is what can we do about it?

Who can be the next Harold Washington? #ChgoMayor2019

Here's Harold!

This editorial was published over the weekend of the Chicago Tribune. It seems many in Black Chicago have been looking for the next Harold Washington and unfortunately no one has come close yet. Will it likely happen?

The Tribune's Dahleen Glanton attempts to answer.

The kind of perfect storm that came together to elect the first African-American mayor in 1983 doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a well-thought-out plan and a multicultural chorus of united voices to form a movement that changes the face of politics.

In Chicago, Harold Washington was the first to show us what that kind of energy looks like. We saw it nine years later with the election of Carol Moseley Braun to the U.S. Senate and again in 2008 when Barack Obama first ran for president.

When an African-American candidate is on the verge of winning an important race, there is excitement in the air. It’s hard to explain, but there’s an overall feeling that this is our time and that we’re on the verge of something momentous.

During those elections, you could barely find a home on the West or South sides that didn’t have a sign in the yard with the candidate’s face on it. You couldn’t have a conversation that didn’t lead to talk about the first black mayor or the first black female senator or the first black president. There was a tingle in the pit of your stomach.

That kind of energy isn’t brewing in Chicago right now. In fact, 35 years after Washington’s election, it seems impossible that black people would rally around a single mayoral candidate.

That’s not to say no one is qualified for the job. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle certainly is. So are Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown, state Rep. La Shawn Ford and attorney Lori Lightfoot, if you’re looking only at experience.

None of these candidates, though, have the charisma of a Harold Washington. They can’t fire up a room with a simple phrase like, “You want Harold? You got ’em!” None of them make us feel like we’ve got this in the bag.

Unfortunately, personality has a lot to do with winning elections. But beyond that, there are other more complex issues.

If I recall my history since I was really too young to remember the events leading up to that history 1983 mayoral election, there was an appetite in the Black community for a Black mayor of Chicago. As it turned out Congressman Harold Washington was also the right man to be mayor of Chicago. On the other hand I always gotten the impression that Blacks who have ran for mayor in the succeeding years since Mayor Washington's sudden and unexpected death were often running for Mayor of "Black Chicago".

 Who in the current crop of mayoral candidates can truly be the mayor for all of Chicago? And who in the future can be seen as the mayor for all of Chicago?

Decline of Black Chicago

Also known as: "How the Great Migration to Chicago became the Great Black Exodus" written by Alden Loury a senior editor for WBEZ

In its many forms — individual, institutional, structural and systemic — racism has blocked the flow of African Americans into certain communities and isolated them in others.

The restrictive covenants, redlining and white flight of yesterday have been replaced by stiff resistance to affordable housing, high-cost housing that effectively prices out some people of color, disinvestment in communities of color regardless of their economic heft, and more white flight.

Practically shunned by all others, homes and businesses in many South Side and West Side neighborhoods draw interest only from African Americans. That means a constricted market for homebuyers and business owners, resulting in lower market demand, fewer customers and lower values.

Almost a decade after the latest recession, some black neighborhoods in Chicago are still waiting on economic recovery.

Found this through the e-mails of The Daily Line! Often lots of goodies there and if you're so inclined they have subscription service also! 

Capitol Fax: “There is a greater racial gap in infant mortality rates today than there was during slavery in America”

From a press release you might've seen at Capitol Fax:

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Bobby Rush (D-IL-01), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), and Bill Foster (D-IL-11) today pressed Governor Bruce Rauner on what steps his Administration is currently taking—or plans to take—to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in Illinois, as well as to reduce the stark racial disparities.

The United States is one of only 13 developed countries in the world where the rate of maternal mortality—the death of a woman related to pregnancy or childbirth either during pregnancy or up to a year after the end of the pregnancy—is worse today than it was 25 years ago. Each year, an estimated 700 to 900 women nationwide now die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, with black women significantly more likely than white women to die from pregnancy related causes. In 2016, Illinois had more than 150,000 births, with 72 pregnancy-associated maternal deaths and 985 infant deaths. In Illinois, black women have 3.5 times higher mortality rates than white women and black infants have nearly 3 times higher mortality rates than white infants—far worse than the national average.

“The United States is one of the very few developed countries where deaths related to pregnancy or childbirth are increasing—and there is a greater racial gap in infant mortality rates today than there was during slavery in America. This is simultaneously unacceptable and heart-breaking,” the members wrote. “More must be done to help women and infants across Illinois—especially black mothers and babies—and we look forward to hearing what your Administration plans to do to assist in these efforts.”

Woah!  

CapitolFax: Does Illinois really have the highest black unemployment rate?

Upon reading this, I thought Rich Miller would look at the validity of a variety of local headlines on
this subject. It appears to be valid. As always what could we do about Black unemployment?

Does Illinois really have the highest black unemployment rate? https://t.co/qOQj2NVz1t

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 25, 2018

Political Forum discusses Black county court judges

[VIDEO] Dartesia Pitts - she introduces herself as the outgoing President of the Cook County Bar Association - hosted this recent special edition of CAN-TV's Political Forum with guest attorney Erica Kirkwood introduced as a past president of the Black Woman's Lawyer Association of Greater Chicago. They discuss the fact that no Black lawyers were elected associate judges by county circuit court judges.

I shared this article last month about this fact which will allow you to read up on this subject. Give it a quick read.

No African-American candidates chosen as Cook County judges add 16 to bench https://t.co/KKxYLijB3R

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) May 27, 2018

You might have seen a regram of this on our ig feed. Ms. Pitts certainly helped to put word out about her CAN-TV program on her ig. I'm sorry I didn't share this with you before it aired so that you could turn in and ask your own questions. Political Forum is normall a live call-in program.

Marynook 1962: "Decision at 83rd Street"

[VIDEO] 56 years ago Hugh Hill produced this documentary for CBS Chicago (or WBBM-TV) looking at racial integration in Marynook. On the other hand, what is seen here is an anatomy of "white flight". It's mentioned that realtors are "block busting" they're attempting to stir fears in white homeowners that Blacks are coming to buy homes on their blocks. Of course as we know in the 50+ years most of the south side is mostly Black today.

I can consider the many communities of the south side that since the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, or even 1980s experienced white flight. We can talk about Englewood, Woodlawn, Chatham, South Shore, Roseland, or Auburn Gresham. All of those communities experienced this "white flight".

I also want to note the example of Pill Hill - remember this was a neighborhood that at one point had a high prevalance of doctors working at a nearby hospital. I would recommend this book The South Side: The Racial Transformation of an American Neighborhood to see another angle to white flight. I had checked this book out of the library over a decade ago. The author contacted me years ago to clarify some points I made on another blog.

Morehouse Leadership Lecture Series involving Starbuck's executives

I know this is essentially outside of the scope of this blog, but hopefully this interests you.

In light of the recent controversy at Starbucks with two Black males being arrested at a location - they didn't yet order any thing and were waiting for a friend - Morehouse College is hosting a town hall. This will be between two of the head honchos of Starbucks that include Spelman College alum COO Rosalind Brewer and chairman Howard Schultz.

I'm sure that the issue of that controversy is will come up in this conversation. If you wish to join this town hall. Click on this eventbrite and watch the livestream at morehouse.tv starting at 3:45 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, May 3, 2018.

BTW, I was perusing the Morehouse website and saw that Mayor Rahm Emanuel was down there to encourage students to consider living & working in Chicago. I was about to say if you're from Chicago and want to get away from Rahm, sorry he's looking for you. Although to be honest if Chicago is to become a better place we need the young men of Morehouse to give the Windy City a chance. We need their talents whatever they may be! Perhaps they can create a competitor to Starbucks! :P

Here's an ig post from Morehouse College on this event.

Capitol Fax: Pritzker and the black vote

JB Pritzker had a strong victory in Tuesday's election. It's safe to say the general election in November will see two wealthy men face-off against each other so get ready for Gov. Bruce Rauner versus his challenger Pritzker. With those wiretaps that came out during the course of the primary with long ago conversations with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich proved to be controversial however, not enough to keep Black voters from choosing Pritzker.

Hence Rich Miller's post:

Pritzker and the black vote https://t.co/PKD7DiZaaK

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 22, 2018

From Miller's post he shares a tweet that has graphics of who voted for whom in the Democrat primary on Tuesday across Chicago. Most of the areas that voted for Pritzker is safe to say are the mostly Black neighborhoods of Chicago.

Is "redlining" still a problem today?

In the videos shown on this blog - regarding Roseland & Englewood - about the top 10 most violent neighborhoods (or community areas) in Chicago a factor noted in those videos is redlining. So according to the Tribune redlining is still a factor in other cities around America. That is certain segments of the population still have some difficulty getting mortgages to buy a home, and that's regardless of the type of jobs they hold.

Found this article via R.A.G.E. check out this post and why they shared this link.

More Pritzker damage control

Today the CapFax has another round-up on the racial remarks made by Democrat gubernatorial hopefully J.B. Pritzker. Clearly his comments regarding Emil Jones Jr. and Jesse White or even Jesse Jackson Jr. and using the term crass or safe to refer to certain Black politicos aren't going away. Let me remind you those comments were made on long ago wiretaps in 2008 with then governor Rod Blagojevich.

Refer to tweet below and head over the Capitol Fax

Attacks keep coming as Pritzker tries to rebound with apologies, promises of inclusion https://t.co/YnvlDWDZ6H

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 9, 2018

Meanwhile the man whom Pritzker hopes to face in November Gov. Bruce Rauner has released another ad. It doesn't refer to those crass or safe Blacks. It doesn't even have Pritzker's voice on it as the earlier ads. However, one reason Blago is in prison today is because he attempted to auction off President Obama's old US Senate seat.

Apparently Blago claimed that Pritzker wanted to be appointed to Obama's senate seat. The asking price is raising $10 or $15 million dollars for Blagojevich! I wish I knew with whom the former Governor was thinking speaking out loud with. The ad is below. [VIDEO]

h/t to ad from Illinois Review.

And through this ad there's a website for other wiretaps pritzkerblago.com. It's clear that Rauner in order to increase the odds of his re-election as Governor, wants to muddy the waters around Pritzker who is as wealthy as Rauner.

Related

• Capitol Fax: Pritzker hit from all sides
• Capitol Fax: Emil Jones explodes at Pritzker, “safe blacks”; Bishop Trotter disinvites; Staffer quits

Capitol Fax: Pritzker hit from all sides

J.B. Pritzker was caught on long ago wiretaps with former Governor Rod Blagojevich - for those of you that don't remember he had been arrested while governor and then removed from office trying to sell President Obama's old US Senate seat to the highest bidder - you may have heard some of them. These wiretaps were used in ads by our current Governor Bruce Rauner.

The 2008 wiretaps there weren't used in the ad had been released by the Tribune has caused controversy. The problem - JB Pritzker was talking about "safe" Blacks or "crass" Blacks. Unfortunately those long ago comments has engendered a strong reaction by many Black politicos in Chicago.

Pritzker is a wealthy man - his family got rich off of a hotel chain perhaps you heard of them Hyatt. He was poised to be the front runner to run against another wealthy man who just so happens to be the current governor until this current drama starting hitting the news. Here's the latest round-up that you will find on the Capitol Fax via this tweet:

Pritzker hit from all sides https://t.co/HxLuxI2hwc

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 8, 2018

All the same, it's safe to say Pritzker is on damage control said to be calling as many prominent Blacks as possible to apologize for these long ago comments. 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer was even forced to make a statement regarding these disappoint comments though it's safe to say for now that Ald. Sawyer will remain behind Pritzker.