Add news
News Every Day |

The legacy of Martin Luther King in Chicago: "to fight on, against all odds''

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Chicagoan. He lived at 1550 S. Hamlin with his wife and their four children. Coretta Scott King remembered the apartment building as "dingy ... no lights in the hall, one dim bulb at the head of the stairs," with a hallway reeking of urine.

With King's time here in mind and his holiday uncomfortably sharing Monday with the second inauguration of Donald Trump, I visited his old stomping ground by hitching a ride on a King-focused private bus tour that TikTok historian Shermann Dilla Thomas conducted for United Way of Metro Chicago.

If there's one thing that sets Thomas's tours apart — alongside his deep knowledge and warm personality — is that the past never stays past. Right off the bat, he drew a line from King's time to our own.

"Today we're here to talk about Dr. King's time in Chicago," Thomas began. "The thing that brings him to Chicago is housing. It's crazy to think that almost 60 years later we're still dealing with housing issues related to segregation, inadequate housing for the poor, lack of public housing, absentee landlords, people who hold onto vacant lots and dilapidated properties and don't do anything about them."

Opinion bug

Opinion

The tour stopped at the Stone Temple Baptist Church, a former Romanian synagogue on West Douglas Boulevard.

"This is where King did a ton of time doing his Chicago Freedom campaign," said Thomas. "Every year the folks connected with Skokie's Holocaust Museum build sukkahs in North Lawndale to continue the tradition. That's how you build community."

The best and worst of the city freely mix — Thomas pointed out the beelove cafe, a sparkling facility featuring local honey, directly across the street from the Chicago Police Department's notorious "Black Site."

"Thousands of Black and brown kids have been taken in that building without due process and held for days being tortured," Thomas said.

Next stop, the old Sears Homan Square campus.

"This was an anchoring space," Thomas said. "What makes them leave? King's assassination. ... Dr. King was the powderkeg. King gets assassinated, there were riots here, and Sears decides too take this expansive campus and put it all in one building, the Sears Tower."

The site of the dilapidated building where Martin Luther King lived in 1966 at 1550 S. Hamlin is now the Dr. King Legacy Apartments, a $17 million project of 45 unites of affordable housing building in 1966 by the Lawndale Christian Development Corp. The hope was to make it the center of a new King historic district, but historian Shermann Dilla Thomas says the site lacks even an official city plaque.

Neil Steinberg/Sun-Times

We stopped at 1550 S. Hamlin, now the site of the Dr. King Legacy Apartments, an attractive rental complex built in 2011.

"To show the dilapidated housing that Black folks lived in, King moved to the West Side," Thomas said. "King was already a rock star. He had already won the Nobel Prize. He had already given the 'I have a dream' speech. He could have lived anywhere. He wanted to live as people actually lived. He comes to Chicago to talk about housing, and has speeches and marches everywhere."

The building itself honors King, but the city is mum.

"The site where King lived should have a plaque from the city of Chicago, but it doesn't," Thomas said. "That's a travesty. What do we call the area by Buckingham Fountain? 'Queen's Landing.' Queen Elizabeth came to Chicago one time. We should have a sign in the spot where Dr. King lived for a year in Chicago. We should continue to acknowledge what he left us, a legacy to fight on, even against all odds."

We stopped in front of the former Jewish People's Institute, now the Lawndale Community Academy. Thomas deftly summed up the past 175 years of Chicago history as only he can.

"You know how it goes in our country," he said. "One of the reasons why we need people like Dr. King: we're always crappy to the new people, right? Anglo-Saxon dudes were here. Then they Germans came, and they were crappy to the Germans. It led to the Lager Beer Riots. Then the Germans Americanized, and the Irish folks have the potato famine and the Irish come. The Anglos and Germans are [lousy] to the Irish. And then the Italians come, and the Irish are [unpleasant] to the Italians. Then the Black folk come via the Great Migration, and the last group in is being crappy to the Black folks. Sometimes in that, you find this line where folks come from this same struggle, they remember that it wasn't always nice for them. So they're willing to be nice to others."

After the tour, I asked Thomas if Chicago does a good job of remembering King's legacy.

"No we do not," he said. "It isn't until this time of year we even mention that King has spent any time in Chicago. That's something we should talk about outside of King Day or Black History Month, as a part of the overall history of Chicago."

Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this

Here’s more of what you’ll see through Meta’s $1,000 smart glasses

Tesla shares sink as deliveries miss forecasts by 'wide margin': report

T-Mobile closes Lumos deal after dropping DEI

Roadies XX: Even after Gautam Gulati's return, Elvish Yadav remains the richest gang leader on the show; A look at his net worth

Ria.city
Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Ревматолог: "3 апреля 2024 в г.Колумбус запущена квота"

Каждый человек с больными суставами имеет право получить...






Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Ревматолог: "3 апреля 2024 в г.Колумбус запущена квота"

Каждый человек с больными суставами имеет право получить...


Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Ревматолог: "3 апреля 2024 в г.Колумбус запущена квота"

Каждый человек с больными суставами имеет право получить...

Read also

What America’s working class really wants, and why politicians keep ignoring them

LASWA boss clamours for non-fossil fuel boat engines

Rehab and Physical Therapy - What’s the Difference? -

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Here’s more of what you’ll see through Meta’s $1,000 smart glasses

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Tesla shares sink as deliveries miss forecasts by 'wide margin': report



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Янник Синнер

Ямаль — в Химках, Черчесов вернулся в Казахстан, Синнеру продлили бан, чемпионат Гренады — на российских экранах



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Бадминтонист из Бердска стал одним из лучших в стране



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Ансамбль из Петрозаводска завоевал Гран-при международного конкурса


Новости России

Game News

Atomfall surpasses 1.5 million players to become Rebellion's most successful game launch in 32 years


Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this

Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine

Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this

Russian.city

Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine


Театр

На сцене Театра Эстрады пройдёт Музыкальный фестиваль «Ровесники Победы»


Губернаторы России
Владимир Путин

Вучич заявил, что два мировых лидера якобы тайно поддерживают контакты с Путиным


Великолукская лучница победила на всероссийских соревнованиях «Весенний кубок ЦСКА»

«Ассоциация Блогеров и Агентств» и «Рейтинг Рунета» выпускают первый в России рейтинг агентств с экспертизой в инфлюенс-маркетинге

Рейтинг пяти лучших маркетинговых агентств: VICTORY GROUP занял первое место

Экономист Осянин: на сдаче комнаты можно зарабатывать от 16 до 55 тысяч рублей


Карди Би обвинила отца своих детей в покушении на убийство

Кураторские Плейлисты.

На сцене Театра Эстрады пройдёт Музыкальный фестиваль «Ровесники Победы»

Джаз-клуб Игоря Бутмана открывает резиденцию в загородном ресторане "Подмоскоvные Vечера"


«Это привилегия». Елена Рыбакина высказалась о том, что представляет Казахстан

12-е место в мировом рейтинге WTA, нелюбовь к России и нетрадиционная ориентация Касаткиной

Ямаль — в Химках, Черчесов вернулся в Казахстан, Синнеру продлили бан, чемпионат Гренады — на российских экранах

WTA сменила флаг теннисистки Дарьи Касаткиной на австралийский


Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this


Axenix и «КОРУС Консалтинг» объявили о стратегическом партнерстве для реализации проектов на платформе интегрированного планирования In.Plan

Александр Буйнов приглашает на свой 75-летний юбилей

«Ассоциация Блогеров и Агентств» и «Рейтинг Рунета» выпускают первый в России рейтинг агентств с экспертизой в инфлюенс-маркетинге

Рейтинг пяти лучших маркетинговых агентств: VICTORY GROUP занял первое место


Петрова презентует книгу «Теннис. Методические рекомендации» 5 апреля в Москве

Выставку «Москва промышленная. Город будущего» признали событием года

Кураторские Плейлисты.

Лукашенко: для Минска и Москвы важно сохранить историческую память о ВОВ


Подмосковные спортсмены завоевали 4 медали на соревнованиях по пулевой стрельбе

В Подмосковье сотрудники Росгвардии задержали мужчину, который украл у сотрудницы торгового объекта рюкзак

Скидка для гостей отеля в спа-комплекс «Мон-Плезир»

Ефимов: 22 крупных объекта образования построят в Москве за счет инвесторов


Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this


Путин в России и мире
Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this



Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine



Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine



Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine

Персональные новости Russian.city
ГУАП

ГУАП на выставке «Образование в России-2025»



News Every Day

T-Mobile closes Lumos deal after dropping DEI




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости