City Government

Linda Hudson Endorsed for Alderman of Chicago’s 8th Ward by Post News Group

Local elections are February 28 in Chicago, the third-largest city in the country with a nearly 30% Black population. The city’s South and West sides, once marked by thriving and vibrant Black neighborhoods, now struggle with widespread disinvestment and other issues. One candidate running to make a change in the Eighth Ward is Linda Hudson, a longtime community organizer who has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune.

Published

3 months ago

February 21, 2023

Oakland Post

Linda Hudson Endorsed for Alderman of Chicago’s 8th Ward

By Post Staff

One candidate running to make a change in the Eighth Ward is Linda Hudson, a longtime community organizer who has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune. We talked to Hudson about why she’s running and what she hopes to accomplish if elected. Their interview has been edited for brevity.

Oakland Post: Why are you running?

Linda Hudson: [My family] moved to Calumet Heights in 1969. It was beautiful. There was homeownership and a sense of community. We had Black professionals and a working class. We had strong Black elected leaders.

I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I’m running because I don’t recognize my community. Our business corridors are filled with boarded up businesses. We’ve got tons of vacant and boarded up homes. There’s been an uptick in crime. There are many seniors in the community. I’m hearing over and over, “We feel like we’re under siege.” We don’t have a lot of programs for our youth. So, I’m running because I just don’t recognize the community that raised me and I want to bring it back to its glory. I want to bring professionalism back to the Eighth Ward office.

OP: What are your three biggest priorities?

LH: My top priority is safety. I want more police presence. I think we should know our police officers by name. There’s a shortage of officers and they are moved to downtown to protect that area. And the ones in the community are moved around to other areas of the city. If police officers could give our community two years without being transferred, that could be great for building community relationships.

Economic development is another issue. We don’t have decent businesses in the ward. We don’t have a nice sit-down restaurant. We don’t have healthy options. There needs to be a marketing strategy to bring business in and make sure businesses can thrive in this environment.

Stony Island is going to be the gateway to the Obama Center. And right now, there’s nothing for people traveling down this gateway. When I go out of town, I want to go to that restaurant or that store that I heard about. But this area has nothing for a visitor coming in.

The third thing is more activities for our youth. Many of our young people are opting out of college, so we need to put trades back into the school. We need more mentoring, and more activities.

OP: Why you instead of the incumbent?

LH: Because I have a vision. The incumbent does not. She was appointed and has been in office for 16 years. And, there has been a drastic decline in the community in the last 16 years. There’s no clear vision. We have the Regal Theater on 79^th Street that has landmark status and this administration has done nothing to help renovate and restore it to its past grandeur with the many grants that are available through city programs.

And right across the street from the Regal is a coffee shop that was built with millions of dollars but never opened. I see 79^th Street being our arts district. I see more viable business in our business district – trying to help small entrepreneurs grow their businesses. I’ve talked to people and they want to be in this community. But they must go through the alderman’s office and the incumbent makes it very difficult.

We’re an older ward and older people are going to leave. The only way to attract younger people is to have activities. Young people like to go out. A bowling alley or movie theater. We’ve got to be able to grow this area. And I have the vision and the professionals willing to assist in the effort.

I will be the alderwoman for the entire ward, not just those residents that go along with the incumbent’s program.

Up Next

Mississippi’s House of Representative’s Pass Jim Crow Law

Don't Miss

Opening of Spark’d Studios in Minneapolis. Empowerment with Sunny Love.

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

Published

2 days ago

June 2, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Activism

Community Opposes High Rise Development That Threatens Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

Published

6 days ago

May 30, 2023

Oakland Post

Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

Activism

Community Meeting on Crime and Violence

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

Published

6 days ago

May 29, 2023

Oakland Post