Landmarking the Black Panther Party in Chicago and Illinois
Group Seeks Black Panther Party Historic District on National Register
Members of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party listen to Chairman Fred Hampton at the People’s Church, 201 S. Ashland, in Chicago. Photo: Paul Sequeira, Getty Images
Chicago (September 20, 2022)–The Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party (HPS) is pursuing a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places to mark the Black Panthers’ work and activism in Illinois. The HPS Landmarking Committee plans to present its multiple property submission (MPS) to the Illinois State Preservation Office in February 2023 and is launching a public awareness campaign on October 13, 2022, with a series of educational events at the Chicago History Museum.
Leila Wills, whose parents were members of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, spearheads the landmarking committee and started the project in 2020 while working with Fred Hampton, Jr. and Lisa DiChiera of Landmarks Illinois on landmarking the childhood home of Illinois Chairman Fred Hampton in Maywood. Her ongoing research includes a compiled survey of properties in Chicago and Illinois.
“I wanted to tell the story of the Black Panther Party by location,” said Leila Wills. “On the west side, the Party’s headquarters is now a Walgreens. The south side office is also gone. The Black Panther Party’s work changed lives and legislation and we don’t want them wiped out of our city and state’s memory. Each property has an associated history that is important to our heritage.”
After hearing the depth of the project, DiChiera suggested an MPS and brought in Loyola University’s Public History Director Ted Karamanski. Two of his then students, Mikey Spehn and Adam Yunis, volunteered to join the project, and together, they comprise the landmarking committee. The head of the HPS, to organize the effort, is the Black Panther Party’s Illinois Minister of Education, Billy “Ché” Brooks, a lifelong social justice advocate dedicated to helping young people develop the social, cultural, and analytical skills necessary to approach life, current conditions, and issues of justice. The HPS has over 50 members who support the initiative.
At the Chicago History Museum on October 13, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., Brooks will lead a panel discussion on the Party’s work after a landmarking presentation by Leila Wills. Wanda Ross, the key organizer of the Breakfast Program, and Ralph Bostick who helped establish the free Medical Center will join Brooks on the panel. Design Trust Chicago is co-hosting a MAPPED-A-THON session earlier the same day to begin an online database of Party properties. The Chicago Community Trust is co-sponsoring the event. In-kind supporters include Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Design Trust Chicago, and Free Spirit Media.
More Stories
Chicago–Today, Metropolis publisher and journalist Leila Wills filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County against the Universal Zulu Nation, Ronald Savage, Mickey Bentson, and others believed to be Zulu Nation members for several offenses. Namely, falsely accusing her of soliciting Savage into a civil conspiracy.
Formal Complaint Filed with New York Attorney General Against Universal Hip Hop Museum
Rocky Bucano Gives False Assurances to Mayor Eric Adams. Senator Chuck Schumer and other New York legislators who are charged with safeguarding the public’s money appear to be asleep at the wheel and have not addressed this issue nor read our extensive report.
Group Demands Eric Adams and Chuck Schumer Stop Taxpayer Dollars From Funding Museum, Protest March 27th at City Hall
The Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party (HPS) is pursuing a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places to mark the Black Panthers’ work and activism in Illinois. The HPS Landmarking Committee plans to present its multiple property submission (MPS) to the Illinois State Preservation Office in February 2023 and is launching a public awareness campaign on October 13, 2022, with a series of educational events at the Chicago History Museum.
Bronx–Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation have yet to respond to a child sex trafficking lawsuit filed by an anonymous plaintiff on August 4, 2021. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Hugo Ortega, is now seeking to serve Lance Taylor, the absentee hip hop pioneer known as Bambaataa, by publication. If the judge grants this request, Ortega must place the summons in a New York newspaper for 28 consecutive days.
In a new filing dated August 11, 2022, John Doe’s attorney Hugo Ortega asked Judge Alicia Gerez for a 60-day adjournment to track down Afrika Bambaataa who has been unresponsive to a year-long civil lawsuit.
Bronx-On July 11, 2022, a technicality caused Bronx Superior Court Judge Alexander Tisch to deny John Doe’s April 11th motion for a default judgment in the child sex trafficking case against Afrika Bambaataa.
Bronx, NY (June 7, 2022)–The time allowed by law for Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation to respond to a lawsuit brought under the Child Victims Act has expired.
Is John Doe Safe? Court to Decide If He Can Remain Anonymous
The title of my documentary on Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation never changed.
Yesterday, the Metropolis was the first to report on the Child Sex Trafficking lawsuit filed against Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation. Today, the Zulu Nation released the statement below in response.
I was never planning to let these other Zulu Nation members off the hook by focusing on Bambaataa only.
Telling your audience that you must get paid to talk about your abuser is a slap in the face to all survivors
New York–A lawsuit filed in New York’s Supreme Court accuses X Clan’s Jason Hunter and Lumumba Carson of repeated sexual assault of a minor child.
New York - Sounds of Brazil (SOB’s) nightclub denied entry to hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa on Saturday, December 22, 2018. Phone calls, emails, social media posts, and an outraged public made an on-site protest against his scheduled appearance at the venue.
Among all the shame and disgrace Bambaataa has earned for himself, there are passionate reactions of the public whose shock is compounded by the mythic narrative of Afrika Bambaataa being, “The Father of Hip Hop.”
Hip Hop Legend and Pioneer Afrika Bambaataa is facing a litany of child molestation allegations said to have taken place over the course of nearly five decades.
Chicago (December 22, 2023)–This morning, an email announcement from the National Park Service listed its approval for a Thematic Listing for the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party.