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CBA Activists and 400+ Residents Prepare to Put Obama Center Community Benefit Ordinance on February Ballot


Obama Presidential Center
Design of Obama Presidential Center (Source: USA Today)
Chicago, IL —(ENEWSPF)—July 26, 2018
Contact: Jawanza Malone

As the election season ramps-up, around 400 community residents are expected to descend upon the South Shore Cultural Center to digest the data on gentrification taking place in the communities surrounding the site for the Obama Presidential Center, and how a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) ordinance can stop low income and working families from being pushed out. They will demand Mayor Emanuel and local aldermen pass a CBA ordinance to stop displacement. The Coalition is organizing residents to petition to put the Obama Center Community Benefit Ordinance on the Ballot in February.

“We have a window of opportunity before the next election to protect the most vulnerable people in our community. We’re gathering to make sure Mayor Emanuel and the local aldermen do the right thing, or we’ll have to elect people who will,” says Paru Brown, member of the Obama Library Southside CBA Coalition and Chicago Chapter Co-chair for the Black Youth Project 100.

The CBA Ordinance calls for: 1) 30% of new housing to be set aside for affordable housing, 2) property tax freeze for long-time residents, 3) independent monitoring & local hires, 4) support for neighborhood schools; and, 5) a community trust fund to support these initiatives. Organizers are preparing to petition residents in the 5th and 20th Ward in order to put the question before voters on the February Ballot.

The forum will take place on Thursday, July 26 at 5 p.m. at the South Shore Cultural Center Dining Room, 7059 S. Shore Dr. in Chicago.

Speakers will include: Renee Hatcher, John Marshall Law School; Jawanza Malone, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization; Jamiyah Lee, Hyde Park Career Academy; and, Marcus Gill, Dust ‘Em Clean Co.

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ObamaCBA.org, @ObamaCBA. The coalition includes Alliance of the Southeast (ASE), Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), Bronzeville Regional Collective (BRC), Chicago Jobs Council (CJC), Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (CLCCRUL), Chicago Rehab Network (CRN), Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT), Friends of the Parks (FOP), Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Metropolitan Tenants Organization (MTO), Poor People’s Campaign, Inc. (PPC), Prayer and Action Collective (PAC), Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) – Chicago, Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP), Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement at UIC, Westside Health Authority (WHA), WolfpackWoodlawn East Community And Neighbors (WECAN)

Source: Obama Library Southside CBA Coalition


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