SR0801 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0801 LRB103 39735 MST 70196 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The 7th Senate District is one of the most ethnically diverse districts in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The district has long been and increasingly is home to Black people from every corner of the vast and beautiful Black diaspora; and

WHEREAS, The Black and African-American communities of the district have a rich history of achievements, culture, activism, and countless other contributions to the vibrancy and uniqueness of the district; and

WHEREAS, Graceland Cemetery, located in the district in Lakeview, is the permanent resting place for 29 leaders of the Underground Railroad network that helped many thousands of enslaved African-American people find freedom; and

WHEREAS, Uptown was one of the first places African-Americans could live on the north side outside the Black Belt, despite experiencing intense racism and discrimination once they moved there; and

WHEREAS, The family of Sen. Mike Simmons, who represents the 7th District, was one of the first Black families to move into and integrate the Lincoln Square neighborhood just two years before he was born there in the early 1980s; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Simmons, who is of Ethiopian and African-American descent, is proud to have grown up in one of the very first scattered-site public housing apartment buildings built on the north side of Chicago in Lincoln Square in 1981; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Simmons is the first Black person to represent the far north side of Chicago's 7th District in the Illinois State Senate; and

WHEREAS, Black elders currently residing in the 7th District as longtime residents were some of the first Black people decades ago to move into communities such as Buena Park, Rogers Park, Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Budlong Woods, Uptown, Edgewater, Lakeview, West Ridge, and other areas of the district; and

WHEREAS, Black elders have left a rich legacy in the district by creating safe spaces and being role models for youth of all races and ethnicities; and

WHEREAS, The Black Panther Party established a legacy of mutual aid and humanity across racial lines, which continues to shape the community-led mutual aid efforts in Uptown, on Argyle Street, in Rogers Park, along the Winthrop and Kenmore corridors, and in other 7th District areas; and

WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to the historic Winthrop Family Garden, which honors the legacy of African-American families who made the historic move during the Great Migration and began building a Black residential community along the 4600 North block of Winthrop Avenue as early as the year 1910; and

WHEREAS, Winthrop Avenue was the only block on which Black families could live because of segregation, with scores of racial covenants hindering them from moving onto other blocks in Uptown; with only 18 families living on 4600 North Winthrop Avenue, they formed a community that supported each other and became one family despite the restrictive covenants intended to keep Uptown segregated; the Winthrop Family Garden stands as a place of remembrance and celebrates what it took to make Uptown what it is today; and

WHEREAS, Many Black residents, including whole villages and communities, have been displaced from the far north side over the decades, including from parts of neighborhoods within the 7th District; and

WHEREAS, Those same Black residents left their mark on nearly every neighborhood in the north lake front district; and

WHEREAS, The future of the 7th District is as bright as the past, as Black people continue to run small businesses of every type, continue to graduate from schools, and assume leadership roles in their communities, in the region, and in our state in every imaginable way; and

WHEREAS, Uptown features small businesses from West and Central Africa, such as Osas African Kitchen, the Nigerian Kitchen Restaurant, the Mukase African Restaurant, the Makola African Supermarket, Amen African Braiding, the Iyanze Bar & Cafe, The Good Shepherd Enterprise, B&Q Afro Root Cuisine, the Queen African Hair Braiding Salon, and Chem's African Hair Braiding, among others; and

WHEREAS, Edgewater, Uptown, and Rogers Park are home to an extensive Eritrean and Ethiopian population spread along Broadway and Clark Street with family-run businesses such as the Axum Ethiopian Restaurant, the Ethiopian Diamond, the Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Tesfa Ethiopian Cuisine, the Selam Ethiopian Kitchen, Queen Sheba, the Ethio Mart, the Mella Cafe, the Demera Restaurant, the Kukulu Market, the Ethio Mart, the Denden Restaurant, and Meron Injera; and

WHEREAS, Howard Avenue in Rogers Park is home to many Black-owned Caribbean small businesses, such as the Kizin Creole Restaurant, Caribbean Cuts, the Good To Go Restaurant, the Caribbean American Baking Co., and Ashley Beauty Supply; and

WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to many Black Americans and African-Americans and is comprised of a glorious multitude of ethnic groups from all over Africa, including those from Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Senegal, Mali, Togo, Congo, Cameroon, Sudan, the Caribbean, and South America, many of whom found refuge along Broadway and Sheridan in Uptown and along Howard Avenue in Rogers Park and built a community; and

WHEREAS, The Bryn Mawr Historic District in Edgewater is home to a growing number of new African-American and Black and LGBTQ+-owned small businesses that bring vibrancy to this historic corridor; and

WHEREAS, Ebony DeBerry, a Black woman and lifelong resident of Rogers Park, wanted to build a community of people who lifted each other and gave back to the community she had growing up; she helped develop ONE Northside, which is a mixed income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational community-based organization that brings together the diverse communities of Chicago's far north side and uses collective power to address injustice and advance the community's interests; she has created safe spaces for women of color to come together, share resources, and encourage each other; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Taylor, a Black woman and longtime resident of Uptown, founded the Black Ensemble Theater in 1976, which is the first cultural center in the nation dedicated to eradicating racism through the arts; the Black Ensemble Theater is a crown jewel of the 7th District, bringing together not only Black residents but people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds to celebrate through free outdoor concerts for the community on the 4400 block of North Clark Street, unique plays, and other programming that celebrates the arts in the district; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Ana Vicky Castillo, an advocate for the education of the Latin and African diaspora, created the Afro Latino Historical Society and the African Diaspora Museum; she has worked tirelessly to reclaim the legacy of the forgotten history of the African-American and Latin community; she has helped inform the public of the great achievements of the Afro-Latino and African immigrant communities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the Black and African-American communities of the 7th Senate District and express our deep appreciation and respect for the myriad of Black communities that currently reside in and have lived in the 7th District; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we celebrate the history, achievements, culture, activism, and countless other contributions that Black people from a vast and beautiful diaspora have made to the 7th Senate District of Illinois on the far north side of Chicago.