Join us in October in welcoming Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson to the Chicago Cultural Center for a reading from "The Warmth of Other Suns"

“The Warmth of Other Suns”, a history of the Great Migration -- the mass movement of six million African Americans from the south to the north in the middle decades of the twentieth century – told through the lives of three people who joined the exodus.

....Ida Mae Gladney worked alongside her share-cropper husband in Mississippi’s cotton fields, desperately poor people living in one of the most oppressive places in America, until a night of violence in October 1937 convinced them that they couldn’t take it anymore. Within a couple of days they were on their way to Chicago. Eight years later George Swanson Starling got into trouble trying to unionize fruit pickers in central Florida. Fearing for his life he fled to New York. And on Easter Monday 1953 Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, MD – a product of Morehouse, Meharry Medical School, and the Army medical corps -- packed up his practice in Monroe, Louisiana and headed west, determined to trade the humiliations of Jim Crow for the freedom of southern California.

see more at the Chicago Tribune

For the current tourism season, we will be featuring the tour " From Civil War to Civil Rights to the White House and Beyond".

Join us in celebrating a true slice of the American Dream!

Bronzeville pitches Michael Reese site for Presidential Library

Harold Lucas -  Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council

The Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council sees the Presidency as an economic development tool. A powerful tourism engine that can bring economic activity to a community that is rebuilding, and the added economic boost to a burgeoning internationaurism destination.

"This area tells the story of Chess Records, gospel music, blues and jazz, electrified by Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters," said Harold Lucas, president of the Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council in Bronzeville. "When people come to Chicago, that's what they want to see. They want to see the birthplace of Mr. Obama's political career." ( 12/25/2012 - Chicago Tribune)

Barack Obama's acquisition of a second term with greater than 50% of the popular vote, the passing of the Affordable Care act and other significant actions throughout the first 4 years accord him his place among the historical greats on the Bronzeville walk of fame and it would be fitting to have an entrance to his library and a walk of fame star off of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.

Because Obama is the first African-American president, his library would have unique historical significance and likely would become one of the nation's most popular attractions, according to experts on presidential libraries. It also would provide a platform from which Obama could continue or expand the work he began as president. ( 12/25/2012 - Chicago Tribune)

We want to be clear that we understand his library location is his choice. We also believe that there is no better choice than Bronzeville. From the Great Migration to the American Presidency is a quintessential american story, with its substance located squarely in the south side of Chicago. From Jesse Binga to Elsie Higgenbottom, or Harold Washington to Barack Obama is a story worth telling in Bronzeville.

Bike share, not white share: can Chicago’s program achieve diversity? - The Community expresses its interest.

Eboni Hawkins (standing right in photo) from www.redbikeandgreen.org provides a power-point presentation on the demographics and culture of bicycles, at the Bronzeville Bike Infrastructure meeting on Thursday, November 29th, 2012 at 12 noon, at the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center.

Eboni Senai Hawkins, founder of the local chapter of Red Bike and Green, a group that promotes cycling among African Americans, recently met with Kubly ( CDOT deputy director) to discuss the diversity issue. “He definitely seems concerned and he wants to see an equitable distribution of bike share across the city,” she says. Hawkins notes that, in many black and Latino communities on the South and West Sides, destinations are farther apart than in dense North Side neighborhoods, which makes bike commuting more challenging. She adds that the city needs to do more outreach to educate Chicagoans about how to use bike share, choose comfortable cycling routes and combine bike trips with transit. “That kind of thing doesn't come easily to everybody.”

“I want to see as many bike assets on the South Side as possible,” says Bernard Loyd, a real estate developer who lives in the neighborhood and pedaled to the meeting. “Bike share can potentially make cycling much more accessible to people in Bronzeville.”

“My number-one priority is getting a membership that reflects the diversity of the city,” Kubly assures them. “Since we’re using public dollars, it’s important that the folks who are using the service reflect everybody in the community. It’s a challenge but we’re going to crack it.”