Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago History Museum.
Block club members at West Van Buren and South Springfield Avenue, Chicago, in 1979.

What a difference a small group of determined individuals can make when they band together!

For example, read what Jewél Jackson reported for WBEZ about people who improved their neighborhood in Chicago by organizing block clubs.

“Helen King sits in her dining room in West Garfield Park. She’s been living in the home for more than 50 years and chuckles at the couch and lampshades covered in plastic.

“ ‘Can you imagine that color if I didn’t have plastic on? All the kids and stuff,’ she asked.

“King raised her children here with her late husband, Harry. She takes pride that her couches are still their original shade of yellow. …

“ ‘Alexa, play Ray Charles,’ she said as she walked over to the kitchen. The music takes her back to summer parties organized by her block club. Neighbors gathered outside for some barbecue and good company. …

“Today, you’ll still see evidence of block clubs in South Side and West Side neighborhoods: colorful signs, often wooden and hand-painted. They might be decorated with flowers and trees, and most tell readers what is allowed or not allowed on the block.

“Block clubs are coalitions of neighbors who volunteer to improve the physical and social conditions of their block. That can range from planting flowers on the parkway to buying abandoned homes in order to increase the neighborhood’s market value. These clubs differ from homeowners associations because they are not legally mandated for residents to participate in or pay fees toward.

“The history of block clubs in Chicago go back to the Great Migration. According to Amanda Seligman, author of Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape the City, block clubs likely originated in Atlanta. In 1908, Lugenia Burns Hope started the Atlanta Neighborhood Union, where she and a team of mothers worked to bring education and health programs to African American families. It’s often credited as the road map for the Civil Rights Movement and block clubs.

“ ‘[Block clubs] really grew to their mature form in Chicago, especially thanks to the work of the Chicago Urban League,’ said Seligman, who is a professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

“During the early 20th century, over 6 million African Americans left the Jim Crow South for Northern cities like Chicago, Detroit and New York. The Chicago Urban League helped to provide financial and community support, including the formation of block clubs.

“ They wanted to … cultivate local leadership skills and to improve the physical environment that African Americans were living in,’ Seligman said. ‘And also to demonstrate to white organizations and leaders in Chicago that Black people would make good neighbors.’ …

“Helen King is a member of the Westside Block Club Association. When the association leader, Talei Thompson, started the block club, he was told to speak with neighbors and elders like King. She moved to Chicago in the 1950s from Jackson, Mississippi. …

WBEZ
“After you moved to Chicago, what happened?

Helen King
 ”I did get a job, and I kept a job until I eventually retired. I got  married, and my husband and I were able to purchase our own home, something that we picked out, and I’m so pleased with it.

WBEZ
“What were block clubs like when you first bought your home? …

King
We’d meet at each other’s home, once a month. We’d have little refreshments, and if we had issues or if we were planning anything, we would just discuss stuff that was important. I kept track of the funds we took up. …

“It starts with a small group, and then it grows. Back in the day, we’d take the kids on trips, and we’d have cookouts for the kids. We didn’t do an awful lot because we paid very little, $5 or something, nothing much. 

“It starts with a small group, and then it grows. Back in the day, we’d take the kids on trips, and we’d have cookouts for the kids. We didn’t do an awful lot because we paid very little, $5 or something, nothing much. But it was just the idea that everybody owned their own home, so they wanted something.

“If one had a problem, then the next had a problem. We worked together. We all needed and wanted the same things. We wanted success, and we wanted our kids to be safe.”

Read more at WBEZ, here.