Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SR0801 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	1 SENATE RESOLUTION
4	4	2 WHEREAS, The 7th Senate District is one of the most
5	5	3 ethnically diverse districts in the State of Illinois; and
6	6	4 WHEREAS, The district has long been and increasingly is
7	7	5 home to Black people from every corner of the vast and
8	8	6 beautiful Black diaspora; and
9	9	7 WHEREAS, The Black and African-American communities of the
10	10	8 district have a rich history of achievements, culture,
11	11	9 activism, and countless other contributions to the vibrancy
12	12	10 and uniqueness of the district; and
13	13	11 WHEREAS, Graceland Cemetery, located in the district in
14	14	12 Lakeview, is the permanent resting place for 29 leaders of the
15	15	13 Underground Railroad network that helped many thousands of
16	16	14 enslaved African-American people find freedom; and
17	17	15 WHEREAS, Uptown was one of the first places
18	18	16 African-Americans could live on the north side outside the
19	19	17 Black Belt, despite experiencing intense racism and
20	20	18 discrimination once they moved there; and
21	21	19 WHEREAS, The family of Sen. Mike Simmons, who represents
22	22	20 the 7th District, was one of the first Black families to move
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31	31	1 into and integrate the Lincoln Square neighborhood just two
32	32	2 years before he was born there in the early 1980s; and
33	33	3 WHEREAS, Sen. Simmons, who is of Ethiopian and
34	34	4 African-American descent, is proud to have grown up in one of
35	35	5 the very first scattered-site public housing apartment
36	36	6 buildings built on the north side of Chicago in Lincoln Square
37	37	7 in 1981; and
38	38	8 WHEREAS, Sen. Simmons is the first Black person to
39	39	9 represent the far north side of Chicago's 7th District in the
40	40	10 Illinois State Senate; and
41	41	11 WHEREAS, Black elders currently residing in the 7th
42	42	12 District as longtime residents were some of the first Black
43	43	13 people decades ago to move into communities such as Buena
44	44	14 Park, Rogers Park, Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Budlong
45	45	15 Woods, Uptown, Edgewater, Lakeview, West Ridge, and other
46	46	16 areas of the district; and
47	47	17 WHEREAS, Black elders have left a rich legacy in the
48	48	18 district by creating safe spaces and being role models for
49	49	19 youth of all races and ethnicities; and
50	50	20 WHEREAS, The Black Panther Party established a legacy of
51	51	21 mutual aid and humanity across racial lines, which continues
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62	62	1 to shape the community-led mutual aid efforts in Uptown, on
63	63	2 Argyle Street, in Rogers Park, along the Winthrop and Kenmore
64	64	3 corridors, and in other 7th District areas; and
65	65	4 WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to the historic Winthrop
66	66	5 Family Garden, which honors the legacy of African-American
67	67	6 families who made the historic move during the Great Migration
68	68	7 and began building a Black residential community along the
69	69	8 4600 North block of Winthrop Avenue as early as the year 1910;
70	70	9 and
71	71	10 WHEREAS, Winthrop Avenue was the only block on which Black
72	72	11 families could live because of segregation, with scores of
73	73	12 racial covenants hindering them from moving onto other blocks
74	74	13 in Uptown; with only 18 families living on 4600 North Winthrop
75	75	14 Avenue, they formed a community that supported each other and
76	76	15 became one family despite the restrictive covenants intended
77	77	16 to keep Uptown segregated; the Winthrop Family Garden stands
78	78	17 as a place of remembrance and celebrates what it took to make
79	79	18 Uptown what it is today; and
80	80	19 WHEREAS, Many Black residents, including whole villages
81	81	20 and communities, have been displaced from the far north side
82	82	21 over the decades, including from parts of neighborhoods within
83	83	22 the 7th District; and
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94	94	1 WHEREAS, Those same Black residents left their mark on
95	95	2 nearly every neighborhood in the north lake front district;
96	96	3 and
97	97	4 WHEREAS, The future of the 7th District is as bright as the
98	98	5 past, as Black people continue to run small businesses of
99	99	6 every type, continue to graduate from schools, and assume
100	100	7 leadership roles in their communities, in the region, and in
101	101	8 our state in every imaginable way; and
102	102	9 WHEREAS, Uptown features small businesses from West and
103	103	10 Central Africa, such as Osas African Kitchen, the Nigerian
104	104	11 Kitchen Restaurant, the Mukase African Restaurant, the Makola
105	105	12 African Supermarket, Amen African Braiding, the Iyanze Bar &
106	106	13 Cafe, The Good Shepherd Enterprise, B&Q Afro Root Cuisine, the
107	107	14 Queen African Hair Braiding Salon, and Chem's African Hair
108	108	15 Braiding, among others; and
109	109	16 WHEREAS, Edgewater, Uptown, and Rogers Park are home to an
110	110	17 extensive Eritrean and Ethiopian population spread along
111	111	18 Broadway and Clark Street with family-run businesses such as
112	112	19 the Axum Ethiopian Restaurant, the Ethiopian Diamond, the
113	113	20 Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Tesfa Ethiopian Cuisine, the Selam
114	114	21 Ethiopian Kitchen, Queen Sheba, the Ethio Mart, the Mella
115	115	22 Cafe, the Demera Restaurant, the Kukulu Market, the Ethio
116	116	23 Mart, the Denden Restaurant, and Meron Injera; and
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127	127	1 WHEREAS, Howard Avenue in Rogers Park is home to many
128	128	2 Black-owned Caribbean small businesses, such as the Kizin
129	129	3 Creole Restaurant, Caribbean Cuts, the Good To Go Restaurant,
130	130	4 the Caribbean American Baking Co., and Ashley Beauty Supply;
131	131	5 and
132	132	6 WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to many Black Americans
133	133	7 and African-Americans and is comprised of a glorious multitude
134	134	8 of ethnic groups from all over Africa, including those from
135	135	9 Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Senegal, Mali,
136	136	10 Togo, Congo, Cameroon, Sudan, the Caribbean, and South
137	137	11 America, many of whom found refuge along Broadway and Sheridan
138	138	12 in Uptown and along Howard Avenue in Rogers Park and built a
139	139	13 community; and
140	140	14 WHEREAS, The Bryn Mawr Historic District in Edgewater is
141	141	15 home to a growing number of new African-American and Black and
142	142	16 LGBTQ+-owned small businesses that bring vibrancy to this
143	143	17 historic corridor; and
144	144	18 WHEREAS, Ebony DeBerry, a Black woman and lifelong
145	145	19 resident of Rogers Park, wanted to build a community of people
146	146	20 who lifted each other and gave back to the community she had
147	147	21 growing up; she helped develop ONE Northside, which is a mixed
148	148	22 income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational community-based
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159	159	1 organization that brings together the diverse communities of
160	160	2 Chicago's far north side and uses collective power to address
161	161	3 injustice and advance the community's interests; she has
162	162	4 created safe spaces for women of color to come together, share
163	163	5 resources, and encourage each other; and
164	164	6 WHEREAS, Jackie Taylor, a Black woman and longtime
165	165	7 resident of Uptown, founded the Black Ensemble Theater in
166	166	8 1976, which is the first cultural center in the nation
167	167	9 dedicated to eradicating racism through the arts; the Black
168	168	10 Ensemble Theater is a crown jewel of the 7th District,
169	169	11 bringing together not only Black residents but people from all
170	170	12 racial and ethnic backgrounds to celebrate through free
171	171	13 outdoor concerts for the community on the 4400 block of North
172	172	14 Clark Street, unique plays, and other programming that
173	173	15 celebrates the arts in the district; and
174	174	16 WHEREAS, Dr. Ana Vicky Castillo, an advocate for the
175	175	17 education of the Latin and African diaspora, created the Afro
176	176	18 Latino Historical Society and the African Diaspora Museum; she
177	177	19 has worked tirelessly to reclaim the legacy of the forgotten
178	178	20 history of the African-American and Latin community; she has
179	179	21 helped inform the public of the great achievements of the
180	180	22 Afro-Latino and African immigrant communities; therefore, be
181	181	23 it
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192	192	1 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
193	193	2 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the Black
194	194	3 and African-American communities of the 7th Senate District
195	195	4 and express our deep appreciation and respect for the myriad
196	196	5 of Black communities that currently reside in and have lived
197	197	6 in the 7th District; and be it further
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