Black American Heritage Collective

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CHICAGO HARMS: REPARATIONS & EQUITY — Vol. 2

Chicago Public Schools (CPS)

In 1963, 225,000 Black children walked out of school because the City of Chicago refused to let them sit next to White students — even when the seats were empty.

They put trailers on Black school playgrounds instead. Called them "Willis Wagons." Black kids got secondhand books. Classes 25% larger. Two-thirds the funding of White schools. Same city. Same tax dollars. Different children.
That was 1963.

In 2013 — fifty years later — Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 schools in a single vote. The largest mass school closure in United States history. 42 of those 50 schools had student populations that were over 75% Black. 88% of every child displaced was Black.

The school buildings sat empty for a decade. The $24 million from selling them didn't go back to those neighborhoods. It went to build schools in White communities.

The CEO who oversaw it said calling it racist was an affront. She later went to federal prison for a $23 million bribery scheme.

And today?

Only 9.1% of Black students in Illinois meet math expectations.

Black students are expelled at nearly 3x their share of the student population.

Black school districts pay 134% higher property tax rates and still receive $9,824 less per student than White districts every single year.

There are zero arts seats per 100 students on Chicago's South Side.

There are 70 arts seats per 100 students in Lincoln Park.

Same city. Same CPS. Different children.

This is not an achievement gap.

This is a documented, deliberate, 160-year educational debt — built by the City of Chicago, maintained by its school board, and still unpaid.

Swipe through all 5 cards 👉

Next: Chicago Police Department — 50 years of lawsuits, $930 million in misconduct settlements, and a consent decree they still can't comply with

CHICAGO HARMS: REPARATIONS & EQUITY — Vol. 1
Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)
They sued in 1966. The Supreme Court ruled in 1974. HUD took over in 1987. Section 3 violations confirmed in 2012. A whistleblower filed in 2026.
The harm never stopped.
Black Chicago families won every lawsuit — and still have a $0 median net worth while sitting on a 30-year waitlist.
This is not history. This is a documented, unpaid debt.
Swipe through all 6 cards 👉
Tomorrow: Chicago Police Department — 50 years of lawsuits, $930M in settlements, still out of compliance.
🔗 Learn more about documenting your lineage and heritage soon

ILLINOIS AFRICAN DESCENT-CITIZENS REPARATIONS COMMISSION RELEASES LANDMARK REPORT ON HARMS TO BLACK ILLINOISANS
First-of-its-kind report documents historic and ongoing inequities for Black Illinoisans

Springfield, IL— The Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC) today released “Taking Account: A History of Racial Harm & Injustice Against Black Illinoisans,” the State’s first comprehensive, evidence-based report examining how slavery and its vestiges produce historical harms and continue to generate inequities for Black Illinoisans.

Commissioned by ADCRC and in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago's Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, the report traces racial injustice from colonial enslavement and early statehood through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, urban renewal, and mass incarceration. Drawing on scholarly research, historical archives, government data, and community perspectives, the report documents the impact of deliberate policies that structured opportunity along racial lines.

“Confronting the truth of our state’s history is a necessary first step toward building a more equitable future,” said ADCRC Chair Marvin Slaughter, Jr. “By grounding our work in historical evidence and the lived experiences of those who have experienced harm, we are laying the foundation for informed and meaningful reparative action. The Commission is proud to release this during the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, a commemoration of the contributions of Black Americans to American society. We are proud to continue the legacy of Carter G. Woodson in honoring the resilience and strength of Black Americans.”

The findings will guide the African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission’s recommendations to the Illinois General Assembly on pathways toward reparative action.

“The idea that racial inequity simply dissolved after the end of formal segregation is a myth,” said Dr. Terrion L. Williamson, project leader and associate professor of Black Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Redlining, chronic school underfunding, discriminatory lending, and over-policing were not isolated injustices. They were policy decisions that structured opportunity along racial lines and continue to shape the experiences of Black residents in Illinois today.”

The report identifies nine broad categories of harm and documents how each continues to share disparities across Illinois:
Enslavement and Servitude: Although Illinois entered the Union as a free state in 1818, legal exceptions, indenture systems, and restrictive laws allowed slavery and slavery-like arrangements to persist for decades, embedding racial hierarchy into the state’s early economic and legal foundations.

Racial Terror: From lynchings and race riots in Springfield (1908), East St. Louis (1917), and Chicago (1919) to the proliferation of Sundown Towns, racial violence and intimidation enforced segregation and exclusion well into the 20th century.

Political Disenfranchisement: The Illinois Black Codes (1819–1865) barred Black residents from voting and civic participation. Later tactics — including violence, gerrymandering, and prison-based districting — diluted Black political power and representation.
Stolen Economic Labor: From enslavement and exclusion from unions to discriminatory hiring practices and present-day income disparities, Black labor has been systematically exploited and undervalued, contributing to a persistent racial wealth gap.
Policing and the Legal System: Early systems that monitored Black mobility evolved into modern forms of policing, punitive sentencing, and mass incarceration that disproportionately impact Black communities and destabilize families.

Housing: Redlining, racially restrictive covenants, contract selling, exclusionary zoning, and public housing segregation created an architecture of segregation that limited Black homeownership and concentrated disinvestment and environmental harm in Black neighborhoods.
Education: Segregation, inequitable school funding, and housing policy have produced enduring educational disparities.
Family: Policies that sanctioned family separation, economic exclusion, and disproportionate surveillance have destabilized Black households across generations, even as Black families built resilient community-based systems of mutual aid and support.

Health: Historical exclusion from quality healthcare, environmental degradation, housing instability, and systemic bias contribute to higher rates of chronic illness, maternal and infant mortality, and premature death among Black Illinoisans.

To review the full report and learn more about ADCRC and its upcoming events—including a public hearing on April 25 at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Chicago—visit: https://adcrc.illinois.gov/.

About ADCRC
The African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission is a State of Illinois-appointed commission committed to advancing equity and opportunity for African Americans with lineage to the American Slave Trade. The commission was created to research Illinois’ historical involvement in slavery and its enduring impact, and developing legislative recommendations to promote restoration and reparative justice. ADCRC’s mission is to prioritize preserving and strengthening historically Black communities, fostering economic empowerment through vocational training and workforce development, ensuring equitable access to state contracting, and advancing accountability through the Illinois Slavery Era Disclosure Bill.

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ILLINOIS AFRICAN DESCENT-CITIZENS REPARATIONS COMMISSION RELEASES LANDMARK REPORT ON HARMS TO BLACK ILLINOISANS

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Gladys West, mathematician whose work paved the way for GPS, dies at 95 A self-described "little farm girl" in the Jim Crow Era, Gladys West's complex and pioneering work for the U.S. Navy helped to improve billions of lives — and keep us from getting lost.

Let’s kill one of the biggest lies-by-omission in modern history.

The oldest modern republic in Africa is NOT Ghana.

It is NOT Nigeria.
It is NOT Senegal.
It is NOT Mali.
👉 It is LIBERIA.

Liberia became a sovereign republic in 1847 — more than 100 years before most African countries existed as modern nation-states.
Let that sit with you.

While Europe didn’t even begin the Scramble for Africa until the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference, Black Americans had already founded and were governing a fully functioning African republic.

And no, this wasn’t run by Europeans.

👉 Liberia was founded and governed by Black Americans.
The first President of Liberia was Joseph Jenkins Roberts — a Black American born in the United States — who took office in 1848.

Liberia had:
a written constitution
an elected government
a presidency
international recognition

All before modern Ghana (1960), Nigeria (1960), Senegal (1960), Mali (1960), and nearly every other African republic that exists today.
With one exception.

👉 Only Ethiopia and Liberia were not colonized by European powers.

Ethiopia remained a continuous state.

Liberia stood as the first modern republic.

So while we’re constantly told that Black Americans have “no nation,” “no political legacy,” and no history outside of enslavement…

Black Americans literally founded the oldest modern republic currently on the African continent.

This isn’t mythology.
This isn’t symbolism.
This is documented history.

Black Americans were nation-builders.
Liberia proves it.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/brooklyn-americas-oldest-black-town/

America’s oldest Black town is in Illinois — and it’s dying. But the fight has begun to save it. America’s oldest Black town is Brooklyn, Illinois. Once an Underground Railroad stop, it’s now dying. A race is on to save it.