West Chesterfield on the recent Walgreen's closure in the neighborhood

Crossposted from The Sixth Ward

347 E. 95th Street - June 2017

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to go to the recent meeting hosted by state Rep. Elgie Sims on the Walgreen's store that closed on Tuesday Jun. 27th at 95th/King Drive. However I'm glad that the West Chesterfield Community Association was able to share a quick report on their fb page. That report is embedded below

Against All Odds: The Fight for the Black Middle Class

Crossposted from The Sixth Ward

[VIDEO] One of the main reasons why I started The Sixth Ward was to in some way highlight the middle-class aspects of the 6th Ward as it was drawn between 2002 to roughly 2015. Chatham isn't the only community with a solidly Black middle-class population, but it has often been considered a bastion of the Black middle-class.

This documentary was mentioned on the ig profile for the new owners of the former Seaway National Bank - Self-Help FCU - doing a quick mention of this documentary Against All Odds: The Fight for the Black Middle Class. It's available for viewing either on pbs.org or you can watch it through the PBS app available on iPhones & iPads and likely Android also.

Wendy's coming to 95th/Michigan?

Worlee wrote this over at NextDoor recently

107 E. 95th Street - June 2017

• Where o Where Will Wendy's Go

  
  
  The plot thickens. There is an unverified report that Wendy's will take over the former KFC site at 95th Michigan. 
  
  
  Also, it has been reported that Wendy's will be opening a store at the 87th street retail corridor. 
  
  
  So will we have two stores opening? Will we have 4 stores in a 5mile radius with the existing stores at 86th Stony and 83rd Ashland? 
  
  
  What's your thoughts?

In addition there's also a Wendy's at 111th/State in Roseland. Also let's not forget that the former Wendy's at 95th/King Drive still hasn't found another tenant yet. Though it's great to finally have a new business in the former KFC space which closed permanently near the end of 2015. Here's one of our ig posts.

I don't know what is going on here but this KFC at 95th/Michigan is now closed. #kfc #kentuckyfriedchicken #southside #chicagogram #95thstreet #businessclosed

A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Dec 17, 2015 at 8:23am PST

 

Mary Mitchell writes about the decline of Black Chicago

Sun-Times columnist Mitchell takes on the issue of Blacks leaving Chicago

After a lifetime of living in Chicago, my husband is seriously talking about moving away.

It’s not just one thing that is spurring him to pack up and leave, he explained; it’s a combination of things.

He cited high taxes, crime and bad politics, but he’s obviously not alone. Black people are fleeing the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods on the South and West Sides.

Meanwhile, according to recent U.S. Census data, white people are flocking to neighborhoods near Downtown.

Chicago, once a haven for the black middle class, is no longer seen as a place of economic opportunity for African Americans.

6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer was quoted:

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) argues that white people are moving in as black people abandon these neighborhoods.

“I’m in Woodlawn right now, and there are white people walking down the street, walking dogs and jogging. People don’t mess with white people. If I walked up and down the street over here, I would probably get hit in the head, and that’s an awful thing to say,” Sawyer conceded.

“But we can make it better by staying and putting in the time and work and getting involved in your neighborhood. You can’t complain about it while you are locked up in your house,” he said.
...
“We may lose another black alderman as some of our wards are teetering around 60 percent black. In fact, Walter Burnett’s ward is not black. We lost the second ward in the last redistricting,” Sawyer said.

Still, the alderman is wary of the Census data.

“I don’t think as many people are leaving, as they are not being counted,” he said.

Conclusion:

This latest Census data shows black residents want the same things other people want: employment, fair government, safe neighborhoods and good schools.

Unfortunately, too few African-Americans in Chicago can say they have any of those things.

Employment, fair gov't, safe neighborhoods, & good schools. How do we get any of those?