Latest news with #Chicagoan
Black America Web
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
20 Black Films That Show The Soul Of Chicago
Chicago is one of the most beloved cities in America, respected for its rich history and deep connection to Black culture. That's probably why Hollywood has made it a go-to destination when it comes to choosing the filming location for an array of projects over the years. Whether moviegoers knew it or not, the trend popped up most recently in the blockbuster vampire thriller, Sinners . Although the film is in fact based in Clarksdale, Mississippi circa 1932, the lead characters (both played by Michael B. Jordan) are hailing from a long stint of working for the infamous Chicago crime family. Everything about their appearance — dress, demeanor and dialect combined! — is rooted from a pivotal time of Chicago culture. RELATED: Top 20 Classic Black Movies Since 2000 Take a look below at what director Ryan Coogler had to say about the underlying influence of Chicago on Sinners , via The Movie Blog : ''Sinners is a Chicago movie as well as it is a Mississippi Delta movie,' Coogler told us. 'You know, the Delta blues… it's like Highway 61. It's like the artery.' For Coogler, the connection between Chicago and the South isn't just musical—it's familial. During our conversation, he revealed that his wife's father, a lifelong Chicagoan, played a special role in the early development of the film. 'My wife's father is from Chicago. He's 93 years old,' Coogler said. 'And yeah, he read the script before we took it out and got feedback—and he gave it his stamp of approval.'' If you can get that much Chi-Town inspiration based on the backstory alone, just imagine how it shaped the many films that literally use the city as a character itself. From making history as the location for the first African American film to be made with sound to simply being the backdrop for silver screen classics ranging from comedy and drama to horror and documentaries, Chicago has always been in the focus. While the eras may change drastically from one film to another, and Alfre Woodard just so happens to appear more often than expected for someone not born in the Windy City, one thing that will become clear as day is that Chicago can without question be a beautiful place to call home. Take a look at 20 films with settings based in Chicago that truly were able to recapture everything we love about the Windy City: SEE ALSO Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Chicago Tribune
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Chicago Cubs beat the hapless Colorado Rockies 3-1 to kick off a must-win series at Wrigley Field
The Chicago Cubs met the newest 'worst team in baseball history' Monday at Wrigley Field, and not surprisingly, it turned out to be a good day to play the Colorado Rockies. Despite managing only four hits, the Cubs beat the Rockies 3-1 before a Memorial Day crowd of 40,171, riding the arm of starter Jameson Taillon and the bullpen on an unseasonably cool but sunny afternoon. 'We're finding a way to win different types of games,' Taillon said. 'We can win the slugfest, we can win the small ball game … It's good right now. Obviously a lot of year ahead, but it's a nice mix. We can win in a lot of different ways, which is important.' Taillon (4-3) allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings, and four relievers finished it off, with Daniel Palencia registering his third save. This is a must-win series for the Cubs, though only because the Rockies have yet to win a series in their first 17 attempts, and it would be somewhat embarrassing to be their first victim. The Rockies are 9-45 after Monday's loss, leaving them on pace to finish 27-135, which would obliterate the 2024 White Sox's record of 121 losses — one more than the 1962 New York Mets. The Rockies are now 2-16 in series openers, 0-6 on Mondays and have lost 25 of their last 28 games. They can lose in any kind of weather, and at any altitude. The Cubs, meanwhile, have gone in the opposite direction, which suggests a series sweep should be the real goal. They're 10-3 in their 21-game stretch of facing sub-.500 teams, doing what good teams do. Memorial Day is the first real milepost of the six-month regular season, and in Chicago it also serves as the unofficial start of tourist season at Wrigley Field. Jason Bateman, Austin Butler, Jeremy Allen White and David Harbour were among the tourists on hand Monday, though White has probably earned honorary Chicagoan status by now from 'Shameless' and 'The Bear.' Thanks to fans who just want to go to Wrigley, a mediocre Cubs team can draw well any summer. But a very good Cubs team will see packed houses every game from Memorial Day through September, and this team is trending toward the latter, with a 33-21 record and one of the game's top offenses so far. Imagine if the wind starts blowing out once in a while, which it typically does in the summer. It was blowing in at Wrigley on Monday for the 16th time in 24 games, and has blown out on only four occasions. The Cubs are 4-0 in those games. 'When you've got a lot of guys producing at a really good level, it's tough to get through parts of our lineup for sure,' manager Craig Counsell said. 'And we're making it tough in a lot of innings for teams, and you're going to get results eventually by that. And you see that by lack of strikeouts, of runners on base, etc.' While the Cubs came in averaging over 6 runs per game and faced a pitcher in Carson Palmquist with an 11.88 ERA, a stiff in-blowing wind on a cool, 56-degree afternoon turned out to be the equalizer. The Cubs scratched across a first-inning run on Dansby Swanson's RBI groundout, and Taillon held the Rockies without a baserunner until two outs in the fifth, when Mickey Moniak hit a game-tying, 399-foot home run to right. In the bottom of the fourth, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a similar shot, but it was a tad too high and was held in by the wind, landing in the glove of Moniak for a routine out. But Kyle Tucker's run-scoring single in the fifth put the Cubs ahead again, and Taillon got out of a jam in the sixth, aided by Nico Hoerner nailing a runner at the plate on a fielder's choice grounder. Counsell removed Taillon with one out in the seventh after only 82 pitches, and turned it over to his bullpen, which had a 1.25 ERA over its previous 10 games, seeming to solve the team's most glaring weakness. Caleb Thielbar, Ryan Pressly and Drew Pomeranz — the thirtysomething trio of middle relievers — have helped Counsell's blood pressure of late. Palencia, who has a closer's mentality and a 101 mph fastball, looks like a bona fide homegrown stopper, something the Cubs haven't had in years, except for a few months of Adbert Alzolay closing in '23. Tucker added a sacrifice fly in the seventh on a hit to left fielder Jordan Beck, originally ruled a dropped ball that turned into a double play. But the umpires converged and decided Beck had caught the ball and dropped it while transferring it out of the glove, negating the double play and making it 3-1. 'It's not a one-man show,' Taillon said of Tucker. 'But it definitely helps to have that guy.' Photos: Chicago Cubs defeat the Colorado Rockies 3-1 at Wrigley Field on Memorial DayThe Rockies play two more games against the Cubs this series on their road to nowhere. Entering Monday's game, the winning percentage disparity between the Cubs (.611) and Rockies (.167) was minus-.444. Admittedly, I've never heard of a stat called winning percentage disparity before. But it turns out the Rockies' win over the New York Yankees on Friday tied for the second-largest winning percentage disparity (minus-.452) for a team at least 50 games into a season in the expansion era. Beating the Cubs would be close to that monumental achievement. Those of us who haven't blotted the '24 Sox out of our membranes can attest that the Rockies are substantially worse for one big reason — there is no Garrett Crochet on the staff to save them every fifth day. But before the '25 Rockies can officially wipe the '24 Sox out of the record books, they still have to play the games. This unique baseball record must be earned on the field, as the Sox did so ably last year. The Rockies look like they have it in them to do it, but some bad luck obviously is needed, as the '24 Sox proved. Trading their best player, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, might be the one move that puts the Rockies over the top. But no matter how the season unfolds, the Cubs and Rockies will be back Tuesday night, where Cubs rookie Cade Horton will be seeking his third win. The Rockies are 0-6 on Tuesdays … just in case you were wondering.
Chicago Tribune
25-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Tyrone Haymore, who founded Robbins Historical Society, bsolutely loved' the village
Tyrone Haymore was a longtime resident of Robbins and, with his decades of service as an elected official and as head of its historical society, one also could call him the village's greatest ambassador and champion. 'He absolutely, absolutely loved this village,' said Robbins Village Clerk Sharon Dyson. 'He was so proud of all the history that is Robbins and being able to document it and get it out to the world, in whatever venue. He was proud of the heritage that he was able to do in terms of keeping that history alive.' Haymore, 78, died May 3, according to the W.W. Holt Funeral Home in Harvey. Haymore was a longtime Robbins resident. Haymore was the son of a former sharecropper father from Lexington, Mississippi, who moved the family from Chicago's Bronzeville to Robbins in 1949. In a 2004 Tribune interview, Haymore recalled the Robbins of his boyhood as a place where one 'could live real nice and eat beans and greens.' Haymore attended Thornton Junior College — now South Suburban College — before embarking on a long career with the Chicago Transit Authority. Concurrently, Haymore was a Robbins village trustee and then was elected the village's clerk in 1989. He later returned to being a trustee for several terms. In 1980, Haymore started the Robbins Historical Society with several others, including a woman named Eddie Lou Allen. Dating back to his high school years, Haymore had developed a keen appreciation for the many notable African Americans from Robbins. They include cellophane inventor and former Mayor Earl Nichols, the former mayor's actress daughter Nichelle Nichols, early Black multimillionaire and cosmetics magnate Samuel B. Fuller and aviators Cornelius Coffey and John Robinson, who along with Chicagoan Bessie Coleman founded the short-lived Robbins Airport, which was the nation's first Black airport and school of aviation in Robbins. Haymore authored a Robbins coloring book as a teaching tool in the mid-1990s. 'In Black History Month, he was always booked to appear at schools and before different organizations to tell the history,' Dyson said. After retiring from the CTA, Haymore devoted himself to Robbins' history, and eventually to creating a permanent location for exhibits. He took on the role of executive director of the Robbins History Museum, and for many years stored numerous artifacts in his home. Despite Robbins' well-documented struggles, Haymore remained upbeat and hopeful about the potential for the community despite unemployment, poverty and disinvestment. 'We're left with nothing but our history,' he told the Tribune in 2004. 'If we don't do anything with that, they may take that away too. This is what I choose to do with my retirement. I'm going to save Robbins' history.' In 2010, Haymore opened a permanent location for the Robbins History Museum, in an old storefront at 3644 W. 139th St. Later, Haymore oversaw the Robbins History Museum's acceptance of a donation: the glassy, one-story former S.B. Fuller house at 135th Street and South Kedzie Avenue. Abandoned for a decade, the mid-century, modern-style home, donated as a tax write-off, had potential, but its days of opulence were long behind it. 'It's in pretty bad shape,' Haymore told the Daily Southtown in 2022. 'I think that's why they gave it to me. Nobody wanted it anymore because it had been vandalized so badly. That house has six bathrooms and they pulled the plumbing out of all six of them. All the electric wiring has been pulled out. When people left out of there, they left it wide open, and the vandals did their job.' Haymore accepted the donation because the Robbins History Museum had outgrown its home on 139th Street. 'The Fuller home is five times larger than our current building,' Haymore told the Tribune in 2022. 'And we do need to preserve Mr. Fuller's history as well. Taking on the responsibility of that house was something we really had to think about, but we really didn't have a choice. So we reluctantly accepted it.' The museum continues to operate from the 139th Street location, as fundraising has not been sufficient to pay for renovations to the former Fuller home. 'I'm the last one alive from the original historical society,' Haymore told the Tribune in 2004. 'And it scares me to death. It scares me that Robbins' history will be buried with me.' There were no immediate survivors.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jewish groups say local leaders must ‘stop tolerating hate' after embassy shooting in DC
CHICAGO — Jewish organization leaders and allies on Friday called for local elected officials and civic heads to 'stop tolerating hate in the guise of activism' following the fatal shooting this week of two Israeli Embassy employees, allegedly at the hands of a Chicago man. Flanked by officials from the American Jewish committee's Chicago office, the Jewish United Fund, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and several aldermen, the Anti-Defamation League's David Goldenberg said 'this is a major problem here in Chicago, and too many of our elected and civic leaders have not only been silent on the issue, but some continue to fan the flames of hate and antisemitism.' Although Goldenberg, who is the ADL's Midwest regional director, did not specifically call out anyone by name for their rhetoric, he was critical of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for 'elevating people who have a history of being hostile to members (of) the Jewish community.' The alleged shooter, Chicagoan Elias Rodriguez, was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court with murder after shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Wednesday night as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The two were identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Authorities said Rodriguez 'spontaneously stated on scene to (police) 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,'' and a social media account attributed to the suspect shared a manifesto condemning the deaths of tens of thousands in Gaza and how civil protests had fallen short in stopping the war. Ald. Deborah Silverstein, 50th, the lone Jewish member of the Chicago City Council, said that 'the unpermitted protests that have overtaken our streets, the unsanctioned encampments on college campuses, the orchestrated walkouts in CPS schools … are not expression of free speech. These are breeding grounds for dangerous ideologies.' 'When our elected leaders enable and praise this behavior, it creates an atmosphere that encourages people to go out and harm Jews,' she said. 'We need our leaders to work to lower the temperature and defuse these extremist organizations that are spreading antisemitism and hate when it comes from within our own parties and from our own political base.' Johnson has overseen a sharp split among the Chicago City Council over the war in Gaza, including a heated debate over a resolution calling for a ceasefire in which the mayor became a tiebreaker to approve it. It came on the heels of a separate resolution also condemning the October 2023 Hamas attack. Johnson has described the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas as 'genocidal,' also calling for 'the immediate releasing of hostages, the end of these acts of terror and the end to this war.' Johnson committed to lowering the temperature at a Thursday press conference where he and CPD Supt. Larry Snelling addressed the incident. 'There's been so much animus that has been directed towards the Jewish community, and it's our collective responsibility,' the mayor said before pausing and saying, 'to be far more thoughtful about how we express our politics.' In a statement, Johnson's office reiterated his 'care and support for all Jewish people in Chicago and around the world' and said the mayor 'has consistently spoken out against antisemitism in Chicago,' including after the attack on two Jewish DePaul students, incidents of antisemitic graffiti in the 44th Ward and in condemning the Hamas attacks as 'one of the worst acts of terror we've witnessed.' Ahmed Rehab, executive director of Chicago's Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he disavowed the violence, but disagreed with the idea local protests sparked it. He argued protests have 'all been peaceful' and added that local protest groups do not know Rodriguez. 'I'm seeing the re-definition of antisemitism to include legitimate criticism of the genocide in Gaza in order to give cover,' he said. 'I see that as gaslighting.' Rodriguez participated in protests for progressive causes, including opposition to the war in Gaza, against Amazon's expansion locally and the police response to the death of Laquan McDonald. The spotlight on Rodriguez's politics also led to false and misleading claims circulated on social media of the alleged shooter's ties to Johnson allies, underscoring how charged the situation has become since Johnson made waves as the first big city mayor to endorse a ceasefire last year. Several viral social media posts incorrectly purporting to show Rodriguez alongside Johnson and several progressive aldermen in a political group's 'family photo' were seen by hundreds of thousands of users online. Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, who is also in the picture, confirmed the man falsely identified as the shooter was actually her former political director, Chris Poulos. Poulos confirmed to the Tribune that he was the man in the photo. 'This is exhausting and harmful. They can really put people in danger,' Ald. Rodriguez Sanchez said of the viral, incorrect posts. 'Our message has always been about peace.' Though some social media users deleted their claims about the photo when Poulos identified himself, Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, left several posts of the image up, one with the caption, 'Birds of a feather.' 'What they are inferring … is open to interpretation,' Lopez told the Tribune. He refused to say whether he meant to imply the shooter was pictured but said he would not take the photo down. Shlomo Soroka, a lobbyist for the Jewish orthodox organization Agudath Israel of Illinois, told the Tribune on Thursday that Johnson had called that morning to offer condolences and also 'conceded that perhaps he could have done better and can do better in terms of dealing with our community and the sensitivities we have.' The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment on the conversation. Soroka said the mayor had given him permission to post about their conversation on social media. Soroka said he told the mayor 'a lot of the people he surrounds himself with and is associated with are responsible for what happened. There's a movement that has created a climate in which it's acceptable to talk in ways that facilitate violent behavior against Jewish people (that have) nothing to do with the Middle East conflict … you're going to have to be more vocal and call out people that are your friends and allies. And he said, 'You have my word and my commitment.'' But during Friday's press conference, which was also attended by Nancy Andrade, the chair of the city's Commission on Human Relations, Goldenberg and others had harsh words for the mayor. Goldenberg pointed the controversy over the mayor's previous handpicked school board president, Pastor Mitchell Johnson, who resigned last year after coming under fire, in part, for social media posts that were deemed antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial. 'If you're the mayor, you stop appointing and elevating people who have a history of being hostile to members to the Jewish community. And when you find out that they have that history, you get rid of them,' Goldenberg said, adding he was speaking for the ADL. 'Think about Pastor Johnson. The antisemitism isn't what doomed him. It was the 9/11 conspiracies. The antisemitism was known for multiple days, and the mayor continued to allow him to have the job of being the head of the CPS board. It wasn't until he came out that he was in a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and said it was an 'inside job,' that he lost his gig and was forced to step down.' Johnson appointed Cydney Wallace, a leader on the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, to fill the vacant Board of Education seat. Goldenberg on Friday said state elected officials could take concrete steps to curb antisemitism, including passing a pending bill that mandates hate crime training for law enforcement, develop a statewide plan to combat antisemitism and for the state's department of education to implement digital media literacy curriculum so children could spot online hate. The hate crime training bill, Goldenberg said, was being held up by members of the General Assembly's progressive caucus. 'This legislation has now been in the House for two years, and we've had a number of conversations about it,' state Rep. Bob Morgan, the bill's sponsor, told the Tribune Thursday. Members have 'expressed concerns to make sure that whatever this training is, that it's done in a way that really is protecting all communities.' 'It's certainly on top of my mind to make sure we do this and do this quickly,' given Wednesday's shooting, Morgan said. Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian-American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, said he 'had been engaging in good faith' efforts to amend the bill to ensure that those supporting Palestinian rights that wear or display the watermelon symbol or wear a keffiyeh, for example, aren't deemed antisemitic. Conflating 'advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism … is abominable.' Leaders have an obligation to call out messaging that 'celebrates and calls for violence against Jews,' Goldenberg said. 'Saying 'Free, free Palestine, in and of itself, is not antisemitic,' he said, but signs or chants about globalizing the intifada or glorifying martyrdom should be 'shut down.' 'The irony that these young folks, 26 and 30-years-old, about to get engaged on a trip to Israel, were gunned down as they exited this (diplomatic) event after dedicating their lives towards the progress of peace is the actual illustration of what is going on on our planet right now with antisemitism,' Beth Ida Stern, the interim regional director of the American Jewish Committee Chicago office said. 'The only solution is for us to coalesce, build understanding, overcome our differences and realize that our similarities are what tie us together as human beings.' _____ Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Alice Yin contributed. _____
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jewish groups in Chicago say local leaders must ‘stop tolerating hate' after Washington, DC fatal shootings
Jewish organization leaders and allies on Friday called for local elected officials and civic heads to 'stop tolerating hate in the guise of activism' following the fatal shooting this week of two Israeli embassy employees, allegedly at the hands of a Chicago man. Flanked by officials from the American Jewish committee's Chicago office, the Jewish United Fund, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and several aldermen, the Anti-Defamation League's David Goldenberg said 'this is a major problem here in Chicago, and too many of our elected and civic leaders have not only been silent on the issue, but some continue to fan the flames of hate and antisemitism.' Although Goldenberg, who is the ADL's Midwest regional director, did not specifically call out anyone by name for their rhetoric, he was critical of Mayor Brandon Johnson for 'elevating people who have a history of being hostile to members (of) the Jewish community.' The alleged shooter, Chicagoan Elias Rodriguez, was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court with murder after shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Wednesday night as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The two were identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Authorities said Rodriguez 'spontaneously stated on scene to (police) 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,' and a social media account attributed to the suspect shared a manifesto condemning the deaths of tens of thousands in Gaza and how civil protests had fallen short in stopping the war. Ald. Deborah Silverstein, 50th, the lone Jewish member of the Chicago City Council, said that 'the unpermitted protests that have overtaken our streets, the unsanctioned encampments on college campuses, the orchestrated walkouts in CPS schools … are not expression of free speech. These are breeding grounds for dangerous ideologies.' 'When our elected leaders enable and praise this behavior, it creates an atmosphere that encourages people to go out and harm Jews,' she said. 'We need our leaders to work to lower the temperature and defuse these extremist organizations that are spreading antisemitism and hate when it comes from within our own parties and from our own political base.' Johnson has overseen a sharp split among the Chicago City Council over the war in Gaza, including a heated debate over a resolution calling for a ceasefire in which the mayor became a tiebreaker to approve it. It came on the heels of a separate resolution also condemning the October 2023 Hamas attack. Johnson has described the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas as 'genocidal,' also calling for 'the immediate releasing of hostages, the end of these acts of terror and the end to this war.' Johnson committed to lowering the temperature at a Thursday press conference where he and CPD Supt. Larry Snelling addressed the incident. 'There's been so much animus that has been directed towards the Jewish community, and it's our collective responsibility,' the mayor said before pausing and saying, 'to be far more thoughtful about how we express our politics.' In a statement, Johnson's office reiterated his 'care and support for all Jewish people in Chicago and around the world' and said the mayor 'has consistently spoken out against antisemitism in Chicago,' including after the attack on two Jewish DePaul students, incidents of antisemitic graffiti in the 44th Ward and in condemning the Hamas attacks as 'one of the worst acts of terror we've witnessed.' Ahmed Rehab, executive director of Chicago's Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he disavowed the violence, but disagreed with the idea local protests sparked it. He argued protests have 'all been peaceful' and added that local protest groups do not know Rodriguez. 'I'm seeing the re-definition of antisemitism to include legitimate criticism of the genocide in Gaza in order to give cover,' he said. 'I see that as gaslighting.' Rodriguez participated in protests for progressive causes, including opposition to the war in Gaza, against Amazon's expansion locally and the police response to the death of Laquan McDonald. The spotlight on Rodriguez's politics also led to false and misleading claims circulated on social media of the alleged shooter's ties to Johnson allies, underscoring how charged the situation has become since Johnson made waves as the first big city mayor to endorse a ceasefire last year. Several viral social media posts incorrectly purporting to show Rodriguez alongside Johnson and several progressive aldermen in a political group's 'family photo' were seen by hundreds of thousands of users online. Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, who is also in the picture, confirmed the man falsely identified as the shooter was actually her former political director, Chris Poulos. Poulos confirmed to the Tribune that he was the man in the photo. 'This is exhausting and harmful. They can really put people in danger,' Ald. Rodriguez Sanchez said of the viral, incorrect posts. 'Our message has always been about peace.' Though some social media users deleted their claims about the photo when Poulos identified himself, Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, left several posts of the image up, one with the caption, 'Birds of a feather.' 'What they are inferring … is open to interpretation,' Lopez told the Tribune. He refused to say whether he meant to imply the shooter was pictured but said he would not take the photo down. Shlomo Soroka, a lobbyist for the Jewish orthodox organization Agudath Israel of Illinois, told the Tribune on Thursday that Johnson had called that morning to offer condolences and also 'conceded that perhaps he could have done better and can do better in terms of dealing with our community and the sensitivities we have.' The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment on the conversation. Soroka said the mayor had given him permission to post about their conversation on social media. Soroka said he told the mayor 'a lot of the people he surrounds himself with and is associated with are responsible for what happened. There's a movement that has created a climate in which it's acceptable to talk in ways that facilitate violent behavior against Jewish people (that have) nothing to do with the Middle East conflict … you're going to have to be more vocal and call out people that are your friends and allies. And he said, 'You have my word and my commitment.'' But during Friday's press conference, which was also attended by Nancy Andrade, the chair of the city's Commission on Human Relations, Goldenberg and others had harsh words for the mayor. Goldenberg pointed the controversy over the mayor's previous handpicked school board president, Pastor Mitchell Johnson, who resigned last year after coming under fire, in part, for social media posts that were deemed antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial. 'If you're the mayor, you stop appointing and elevating people who have a history of being hostile to members to the Jewish community. And when you find out that they have that history, you get rid of them,' Goldenberg said, adding he was speaking for the ADL. 'Think about Pastor Johnson. The antisemitism isn't what doomed him. It was the 9/11 conspiracies. The antisemitism was known for multiple days, and the mayor continued to allow him to have the job of being the head of the CPS board. It wasn't until he came out that he was in a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and said it was an 'inside job,' that he lost his gig and was forced to step down.' Johnson appointed Cydney Wallace, a leader on the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, to fill the vacant Board of Education seat. Goldenberg on Friday said state elected officials could take concrete steps to curb antisemitism, including passing a pending bill that mandates hate crime training for law enforcement, develop a statewide plan to combat antisemitism and for the state's department of education to implement digital media literacy curriculum so children could spot online hate. The hate crime training bill, Goldenberg said, was being held up by members of the General Assembly's progressive caucus. 'This legislation has now been in the House for two years, and we've had a number of conversations about it,' state Rep. Bob Morgan, the bill's sponsor, told the Tribune Thursday. Members have 'expressed concerns to make sure that whatever this training is, that it's done in a way that really is protecting all communities.' 'It's certainly on top of my mind to make sure we do this and do this quickly,' given Wednesday's shooting, Morgan said. Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian-American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, said he 'had been engaging in good faith' efforts to amend the bill to ensure that those supporting Palestinian rights that wear or display the watermelon symbol or wear a keffiyeh, for example, aren't deemed antisemitic. Conflating 'advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism … is abominable.' Leaders have an obligation to call out messaging that 'celebrates and calls for violence against Jews,' Goldenberg said. 'Saying 'Free, free Palestine, in and of itself, is not antisemitic,' he said, but signs or chants about globalizing the intifada or glorifying martyrdom should be 'shut down.' 'The irony that these young folks, 26 and 30-years-old, about to get engaged on a trip to Israel, were gunned down as they exited this (diplomatic) event after dedicating their lives towards the progress of peace is the actual illustration of what is going on on our planet right now with antisemitism,' Beth Ida Stern, the interim regional director of the American Jewish Committee Chicago office said. 'The only solution is for us to coalesce, build understanding, overcome our differences and realize that our similarities are what tie us together as human beings.' Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Alice Yin contributed.
