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1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The 7th Senate District is one of the most
3 ethnically diverse districts in the State of Illinois; and
4 WHEREAS, The district has long been and increasingly is
5 home to Black people from every corner of the vast and
6 beautiful Black diaspora; and
7 WHEREAS, The Black and African American communities of the
8 district have a rich history of achievements, culture,
9 activism, and countless other contributions to the vibrancy
10 and uniqueness of the district; and
11 WHEREAS, Graceland Cemetery, located in the district in
12 Lakeview, is the permanent resting place for 29 leaders of the
13 Underground Railroad network that helped many thousands of
14 enslaved African American people find freedom; and
15 WHEREAS, Uptown was one of the first places African
16 Americans could live on the north side outside the Black Belt,
17 despite experiencing intense racism and discrimination once
18 they moved there; and
19 WHEREAS, Black elders currently residing in the 7th
20 District as longtime residents were some of the first Black
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1 people decades ago to move into communities such as Buena
2 Park, Rogers Park, Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Budlong
3 Woods, Uptown, Edgewater, Lakeview, West Ridge, and other
4 areas of the district; and
5 WHEREAS, Black elders have left a rich legacy in the
6 district by creating safe spaces and being role models for
7 youth of all races and ethnicities; and
8 WHEREAS, The Black Panther Party established a legacy of
9 mutual aid and humanity across racial lines, which continues
10 to shape the community-led mutual aid efforts in Uptown, on
11 Argyle Street, in Rogers Park, along the Winthrop and Kenmore
12 corridors, and in other 7th District areas; and
13 WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to the historic Winthrop
14 Family Garden, which honors the legacy of African American
15 families who made the historic move during the Great Migration
16 and began building a Black residential community along the
17 4600 North block of Winthrop Avenue as early as the year 1910;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, Winthrop Avenue was the only block on which Black
20 families could live because of segregation, with scores of
21 racial covenants hindering them from moving onto other blocks
22 in Uptown; with only 18 families living on 4600 North Winthrop
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1 Avenue, they formed a community that supported each other and
2 became one family despite the restrictive covenants intended
3 to keep Uptown segregated; the Winthrop Family Garden stands
4 as a place of remembrance and celebrates what it took to make
5 Uptown what it is today; and
6 WHEREAS, Many Black residents, including whole villages
7 and communities, have been displaced from the far north side
8 over the decades, including from parts of neighborhoods within
9 the 7th District; and
10 WHEREAS, Those same Black residents left their mark on
11 nearly every neighborhood in the north lake front district;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, The future of the 7th District is as bright as the
14 past, as Black people continue to run small businesses of
15 every type, continue to graduate from schools, and assume
16 leadership roles in their communities, in the region, and in
17 our state in every imaginable way; and
18 WHEREAS, Uptown features small businesses from West and
19 Central Africa, such as Osas African Kitchen, the Nigerian
20 Kitchen Restaurant, the Mukase African Restaurant, the Makola
21 African Supermarket, Amen African Braiding, the Iyanze Bar &
22 Cafe, The Good Shepherd Enterprise, B&Q Afro Root Cuisine, the
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1 Queen African Hair Braiding Salon, and Chem's African Hair
2 Braiding, among others; and
3 WHEREAS, Edgewater, Uptown, and Rogers Park are home to an
4 extensive Eritrean and Ethiopian population spread along
5 Broadway and Clark Street with family-run businesses such as
6 the Axum Ethiopian Restaurant, the Ethiopian Diamond, the
7 Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Tesfa Ethiopian Cuisine, the Selam
8 Ethiopian Kitchen, Queen Sheba, the Ethio Mart, the Mella
9 Cafe, the Demera Restaurant, the Kukulu Market, the Ethio
10 Mart, the Denden Restaurant, and Meron Injera; and
11 WHEREAS, Howard Avenue in Rogers Park is home to many
12 Black-owned Caribbean small businesses, such as the Kizin
13 Creole Restaurant, Caribbean Cuts, the Good To Go Restaurant,
14 the Caribbean American Baking Co., and Ashley Beauty Supply;
15 and
16 WHEREAS, The 7th District is home to many Black Americans
17 and African Americans and is comprised of a glorious multitude
18 of ethnic groups from all over Africa, including those from
19 Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Senegal, Mali,
20 Togo, Congo, Cameroon, Sudan, the Caribbean, and South
21 America, many of whom found refuge along Broadway and Sheridan
22 in Uptown and along Howard Avenue in Rogers Park and built a
23 community; and
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1 WHEREAS, The Bryn Mawr Historic District in Edgewater is
2 home to a growing number of new African American and Black and
3 LGBTQ+-owned small businesses that bring vibrancy to this
4 historic corridor; and
5 WHEREAS, Ebony DeBerry, a Black woman and lifelong
6 resident of Rogers Park, wanted to build a community of people
7 who lifted each other and gave back to the community she had
8 growing up; she helped develop ONE Northside, which is a mixed
9 income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational community-based
10 organization that brings together the diverse communities of
11 Chicago's far north side and uses collective power to address
12 injustice and advance the community's interests; she has
13 created safe spaces for women of color to come together, share
14 resources, and encourage each other; and
15 WHEREAS, Jackie Taylor, a Black woman and longtime
16 resident of Uptown, founded the Black Ensemble Theater in
17 1976, which is the first cultural center in the nation
18 dedicated to eradicating racism through the arts; the Black
19 Ensemble Theater is a crown jewel of the 7th District,
20 bringing together not only Black residents but people from all
21 racial and ethnic backgrounds to celebrate through free
22 outdoor concerts for the community on the 4400 block of North
23 Clark Street, unique plays, and other programming that
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1 celebrates the arts in the district; and
2 WHEREAS, Dr. Ana Vicky Castillo, an advocate for the
3 education of the Latin and African diaspora, created the Afro
4 Latino Historical Society and the African Diaspora Museum; she
5 has worked tirelessly to reclaim the legacy of the forgotten
6 history of the African American and Latin community; she has
7 helped inform the public of the great achievements of the
8 Afro-Latino and African immigrant communities; therefore, be
9 it
10 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
11 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the Black
12 and African American communities of the 7th Senate District
13 and express our deep appreciation and respect for the myriad
14 of Black communities that currently reside in and have lived
15 in the 7th District; and be it further
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