Dorothy Tillman
| Dorothy Tillman | |
|
|
|
| In office 1985–2007 |
|
| Succeeded by | Pat Dowell |
|---|---|
| Constituency | Third Ward |
|
|
|
| Born | May 12, 1947 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Chicago |
| Occupation | Politician |
Dorothy J. Tillman (born May 12, 1947) is a former Chicago alderman in the 3rd Ward (map). A member of the Democratic Party, she represented part of the city's South Side in the Chicago City Council. As an Alderman, Tillman was a strong advocate of reparations for slavery. In April 2007, she was defeated in a runoff election by challenger Pat Dowell. Tillman defeated Dowell in 2003. Prior to her career as an alderman, Tillman was active in the civil rights movement, working for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) as an activist.
Tillman was known for wearing large hats and has cultivated this image as her trademark [2]
Contents |
[edit] Civil rights activities
Dorothy Tillman was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1947. She joined the SCLC as a trainee and field staff organizer in 1963.
Tillman marched with King and was among the SCLC Field Staff to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in the Selma to Montgomery marches on 7 March 1965.
She had her first involvement in Chicago politics later in 1965 when Dr. King sent her there to campaign for better housing, education and employment conditions for blacks. This campaign marked the start of King's effort to improve socio-economic conditions for blacks. Tillman was involved in organizing King's move into a Chicago tenement in early 1966 and the launch of his campaign in July 1966.
While in Chicago, Tillman met her husband, blues drummer Jimmy Lee Tillman. The Tillmans moved to San Francisco shortly after their marriage and became involved in a successful campaign to improve public transport services to their neighborhood.
The Tillmans later returned to Chicago where Dorothy Tillman became involved in educational issues. She founded the Parent Equalizers of Chicago, which eventually became active in 300 schools across the city, setting the groundwork for school reform in Chicago. The momentum created by several successful grassroots campaigns Tillman help organize led to the election of Chicago’s first African American mayor, Harold Washington.
[edit] Chicago Alderman
 |
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (March 2010) |
Dorothy Tillman was elected as an alderman representing Chicago's Third Ward in 1985, being the first woman elected for that ward. As an alderman, she was active in education, housing and homelessness.
Immediately following her appointment in 1984, the miles of dirt along the boulevard of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Garfield Boulevard was restored, abandoned cars were towed, abandoned buildings boarded up, or if necessary torn down. A neighborhood that was once call “fly dump city”, initiated a clean up campaign that piloted the city’s Clean and Green Program that is still in place today. Tillman pioneered the first TIF to be used in the black community, with the construction of the 55th and Dan Ryan shopping center that continues to create jobs and millions of tax dollars, and also she left the 3rd ward rich with several other TIF districts that will continue to benefit it well into the future. As recently as 2007, she recruited Quinton Primo, III of Capri Capital for the corner of 39th and State Street for a $155 million dollar retail and condo complex that is currently be developed and countless other multi-million dollar projects that are in progress in the 3rd ward.
She helped to found the African American Home Builders Association and advocated for an unprecedented 70/30 plan to make certain that African American received the majority of the contracts. She is a visionary who created the Chicago Blues District and The Harold Washington Cultural Center. Her ward led in the initiative of neighborhoods Going Green by helping to develop two Ecofriendly houses on E. 44th Street.
Tillman produced the stellar Bring It On Home to Me Roots Festival, where over 300,000 people attended this family oriented event that attracted national and international megastars who performed for free, along with annual Christmas Gifts for Children, Thanksgiving Family Affair Dinners, and The Back to School Health Fairs.
Her many humanitarian efforts includes the Washington-King Resource Center, an 80 bed homeless shelter, two hurricane relief drives, and the ground breaking reparations legislation.[1]
During Tillman's administration, property values increased 400 percent from 1990 to 2000, and there was a tenfold increase in applications for building permits.[2]
Tillman was a leading advocate of reparations for slavery and was successful in having a number of resolutions passed in support of the concept and has organized conferences supporting the concept. She authored a bill, passed unanimously in 2002, forcing companies who perform contracts with the council to declare any past ties with slavery.
In early 2005, Tillman led a campaign against a $500 million refinancing deal with the Bank of America because of its alleged links with slavery. In the case of the Bank of America, these links are allegedly through FleetBoston Financial, a company which it acquired in 2004. Providene, a predecessor of Fleet Boston, was supposedly founded by a slave owner in 1791.
Although she had the backing of Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley, Tillman was not able to achieve a majority of votes in Chicago's non-partisan aldermanic election in February, 2007. As a result, Tillman stood in in a runoff election against challenger Pat Dowell. Dowell took 54 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Tillman. [3]
[edit] Controversy
In 2000, Tillman requested that two waiters at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago be replaced with African-American waiters for a banquet hosted by Alderman Tillman. Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley delivered a strongly-worded rebuke in the media.[4]
During one loud session of the City Council, Tillman gained the attention of the entire floor when she produced a pistol from her handbag and brandished it about.[5] This led calls by some aldermen and Chicago citizens to call for a censure on Tillman's professional ethics, and possible mandatory gun safety training. Tillman also opened herself up to charges of hypocrisy, as she is a well-known advocate of gun control, yet she personally possessed a pistol. Since Chicago has strict gun control laws, it has been also seen as elitist that she can take advantage of gun ownership (under Chicago law, aldermen are allowed to carry firearms) while Chicago citizens could not.
Tillman has been involved in the Harold Washington Cultural Center (HWCC) since its inception. An award winning 2006 three-part investigative report by the Chicago local paper Lakefront Outlook claimed accounting irregularities and conflicts of interest by Tillman and her family.[6][7][8] Despite the controversy and his stand on ethics reform, U.S. Senator Barack Obama endorsed Tillman in her 2007 election noting she was an early supporter of his.[6]
During a debate between Tillman and challenger Pat Dowell on April 3, 2007, Dowell charged Tillman with failing to produce business growth beyond the street corner where her ward office is located and stated "I will be the change agent," after which Tillman's daughter (and political staffer) shouted out "A white man agent!"[9]
In October 2008 Tillman was convicted for criminal trespassing at an Alabama hospital in March 2008. A dispute over medical records escalated and the police were called. Tillman claims she was brutalized by the police. She was fined and received a suspended sentence. Her lawyer stated that an appeal is planned.[10][11] A trespassing charge against former Chicago alderman and civil rights activist Dorothy Tillman was dropped as part of a settlement with an Alabama hospital[12]
[edit] References
- ^ http://faithinactiononline.com/2008/08/11/family-comes-to-defense-of-former-chicago-alderman-dorothy-wright-tillman/
- ^ www.wethepeoplemedia.org
- ^ "Union candidates surprise Daley-backed Tillman, Haithcock, Coleman," April 18, 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, p. 23.
- ^ Spielman, Fran: "Daley blasts Tillman for waiter request", 20 July 2001, Chicago Sun-Times, [1]
- ^ Okpotor, Faith: "Pistol packin’ aldermen protected by the law", http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/local.cfm?ArticleID=3863, Chicago Defender, February 3, 2006
- ^ a b Jackson, David and John McCormick (2007-06-12). "Critics: Obama endorsements counter calls for clean government". Chicagotribune.com. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-obama_endorse_12jun12,0,484394.story.
- ^ Lakefront Outlook: "Cultural center under scrutiny", http://www.hpherald.com/tillmanstory_12_13_27_07.pdf, Lakefront Outlook, December 13, 2006
- ^ "Long Island University Announces Winners of 2006 George Polk Awards"; http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2006.html, "Long Island University"
- ^ Dumke, Mick: "Aldermania: The Final Round", http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/aldermania/, Chicago Reader, April 13, 2007
- ^ CBS (2008-03-02). "Former Ald. Dorothy Tillman Arrested And Released". CBS. http://cbs2chicago.com/local/dorothy.tillman.arrested.2.667326.html.
- ^ Spak, Kara (October 3, 2008). "Former Ald. Tillman guilty of trespassing in Alabama". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1198802,tillman100208a.article. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/dorothy-tillman-goes-on-trial--again.html
