4/5/2023 0 Comments The black masses mapRather than building a bold new coalition of united Black and brown leaders, the council is defined by the argument between them. The Latino council members are pushing for greater representation (one more seat) given their growing population. The locus of conflict, right now, is redistricting: As the city redraws the maps of its 50 City Council wards, dictated by population, the council’s Black Caucus is trying to preserve 16 of the 18 majority Black seats it now holds, plus one seat in a mostly Black ward. Today, that dream feels distant, as Black and brown communities battle each other for a greater stake in city government. Latino residents are beginning to replace Black residents, forcing a realignment in Chicago’s political scene - and a return of the bare-knuckle tribal fights that made Chicago’s City Hall legendary.īack in 1987, Roderick Sawyer’s father inherited a political agenda from Washington that included ambitions to build a multiracial coalition among the city’s low-income residents and white progressives - one that would help advance marginalized communities. The impact on Chicago has been stark, not only in the feeling and identities of neighborhoods like Englewood, but in the power politics of the nation’s third-largest city. Block by block, neighborhoods lost historically Black communities Black residents at each Census But it’s also a story about what happens to a neighborhood when people decide to give up and leave - and how that reshapes the city around it. ![]() I had tears in my eyes, because I saw there was nothing being paid attention in a lot of areas of Englewood.”Įnglewood’s descent from a boomtown to a ghost town is a story with many causes, from government neglect to the loss of manufacturing jobs. When he toured the neighborhood after his election, Sawyer said, “I’m not going to lie, I cried a little bit. ![]() ![]() On a recent November afternoon, Roderick Sawyer, who narrowly won his father’s old City Council seat in 2011, walked past block after block of vacant lots, pointing out the empty homes and apartment buildings whose gutted frames were overgrown by weeds, exposing themselves to Chicago’s notorious weather. Security cameras on the wall of the local Planned Parenthood, where a mural of Englewood has been painted.
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