One more time, because here's the thing, RAGE is in the building.
You can call me Kenny, and I have the pleasure of serving as the program director here at RAGE.
My name is True Renato. I am the operations and special projects manager at RAGE.
I'm here today. If you don't know, this day has been years, years, years in the making.
Can you believe it? We're here, True?
I can't believe it, but we are here. I heard all of y'all loud and clear.
want you to pay attention to. As you're listening, we need you to listen to how residents came
together to build this power. As you're walking around, we want you to really look at the pictures
because a lot of the people that you see in the pictures are here today in this space. These are
all real people. No stock images, no AI. It's real people. And three, we want you to enjoy yourself
Because ain't no party like a rage party, right, True?
Ain't no party like a rage party.
Okay, so now that we got it started, now that it seems like y'all ready,
we're going to introduce our emcee for the day.
True, who's our emcee?
Our emcee is one of our most amazing rage members, Miss Larvetta.
So Miss Larvetta, let's give her a real rage hand.
Ain't no party like a rage party.
I'm excited to be a member.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Re-Up at 59th and Racine.
My name is Larvetta L. Lofton-Arnold, but you can call me Larvetta.
I am the proud member of RAGE, the Resident Association of Greater Inglewood.
Now, let me be honest with you all.
I came here, too, about almost two years ago, and I immediately joined RAGE
because I believe in the power of residents leading change in their own community.
Today is more than a celebration of a building project.
It's a celebration of vision, investment,
and what is possible when neighbors come together to create something lasting.
And these are all neighbors.
Ain't that amazing?
Thank you all for being here as we mark this exciting milestone.
and let me be honest we're going to help set the tone for our day so we've got to set our tone
it is my pleasure to introduce a talented rage member that i also know she is an artist and a
poet and she goes by dion victoria miss dion victoria come on there we go so really quick
I'm going to tell y'all about coming to Englewood in 2020, driving down hostage, showing my mom on the way to the building that became my home later to become the art center of Englewood.
And she's like, oh, my God, that's where the old theater used to be.
And the White Castle still there.
It was at that moment I realized my mom is from Englewood.
I had no idea, y'all.
I just found out that day.
And that's what happens here.
The people never forget.
And you never forget the people.
They move purposefully, knowingly sharing their passion, putting their purpose into action.
Inglewood is its own faction.
And Rage, the people's reaction to making sure Inglewood always stays good.
In this neighborhood, perseverance is for breakfast, for lunch, adaptability, and dinner is family, legacy.
Sprinkle in a little community organizing, and you get rage.
The Resident Association of Greater Inglewood, partnering with organizations, always looking for collaborations.
The work we're doing is healing the nation.
And I say it weird because I'm also a rage member, y'all.
Hey!
It's a rebirth thing.
A phoenix rising from the fire, a re-earth thing.
What's for certain?
Rage always takes it.
inner stage. Why? Because we engage the people where they need engagement. Blossoming through
the cracks like a flower through cement. The work Rage does is equally important to you
as it is to me. See, we learn how to keep the people free, right? Because we got this
RE-UP program. Y'all know about that, right? Home ownership, businesses in Inglewood, all
Right? And that's just what it is. The same way Inglewood is the birthplace and stomping grounds of so many greats, rage is the example of how to support the human race.
Just like Chicago is the heartbeat of the USA
Inglewood is the place where rage empowers the people and their passion
Never lacking, it's just faxing
The last thing I have for you is a call to action
Think about it
How do you empower the people?
Where do you plant your passion?
I heard some braids out there, absolutely
Let's empower us with braids
Enjoying rage
And how are you using your power
In the smallest of actions
Because here in Inglewood
Not only do we have rage
But we've got the Inglewood Art Collective
Think Outside the Blocks
Imagine Inglewood
If Camp 1302
Teamwork Inglewood
Peace of Mind
Grow Greater Inglewood
City Motivators
The Art Center of Inglewood
Local Color Art Studio
The Healing Academy
Aldermen's David Moore
Stephanie Coleman
And William Hall
And I
For the sake of time
We're going to leave these thoughts right here
On your mind
People passion
I need y'all to get on y'all feet
And give her a round of applause
Give the best parties y'all
They give the best parties
Again
My name is Larbetta
I like to say it because that's a hard name
For people to remember
So I'm going to keep saying that
The passion, creativity and commitment of Rage members
Are at the heart of everything we do
And if you haven't met her yet, be sure to stop by the kids' area later, that's Dionne, where she'll be sharing her artistic talents through face painting.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Dionne.
She is just an artist with, she knows how to do all of it, all of it, like all of it.
Poetry, singing, all the things.
And so make sure you stop over there.
Next, I'd like to introduce someone who has helped shape the vision for this project from the very beginning.
I am pleased to welcome R.A.G.E. member and the strategic advisor for REUP at 59th and Racine, Mr. Steve Rogers.
Give him a round of applause.
Good morning. My name is Stephen Rogers. She introduced me, and I was the first black Captain America.
I am a retired professor from Harvard Business School, where I taught entrepreneurial finance, and I created a new course titled Black Business Leaders in Entrepreneurship.
But more important than that, I am the son of the community of Inglewood.
I am an Inglewood OG.
I was born and raised, listen to me using the new school vernacular, I was born and raised one mile away from here at 410 West 60th Place.
And since then, I have devoted my life as a race man, I've devoted my life to the uplifting of the poor black American community.
I did some thinking about what is it that burdens black American communities financially.
Thank you.
And my answer was, very simply, the absence of employment, the absence of jobs for people who live in those communities.
And just like a national economy and a city economy, a community economy must also be very financially healthy.
The foundation of a healthy economy for a community are jobs created by private enterprise.
For-profits, ladies and gentlemen, they create jobs for people.
And people who have jobs are self-sufficient, and self-sufficient people live in healthy communities.
Here are some examples of a financially healthy economy.
There are 30 million private businesses in America, and they serve 300 million citizens.
That is a ratio of one business for every 10 citizens.
If you look at the city of Chicago, the ratio is the same.
We have one business for every 10 citizens.
If you look at Black Wall Street, which is a model for us here in Englewood, as well as the West Side, North Lawndale, another community where I did some work.
If you look at those communities, excuse me, if you look at the city of Chicago, excuse me, if you look at Tulsa, Oklahoma, Black Wall Street, that ratio that we all are very proud of in 1920, before it was destroyed, that ratio was 1 to 15.
If you look at Englewood and North Lawndale, that ratio is one business for every 1,100 people.
So the canary in the coal mine, ladies and gentlemen, is very simple,
and that is the absence of private enterprise in our predominantly black communities.
And therefore, it's very simple.
What we need is we need these communities to be flooded with black-owned businesses.
Why black-owned businesses?
Well, research shows, and everything that I'm talking to you is data-driven.
Research shows that black owners, black entrepreneurs, no matter where they're located,
if they're in the suburbs, if they're in predominantly white communities, or if they're in black communities,
they will hire black people.
Conversely, research shows, and this was research done by a white scholar by the name of Dr. Timothy Bates.
Conversely, the research shows that any group that is not black, that is located in the black community, will not hire black people.
So it's very evident that what we need, not only are more businesses, we need them to be black owned.
And we don't need those businesses to be startups.
This whole model for what we're doing here is for businesses to be recruited, to come to Englewood, not startup, because most startups fail.
Now, remember what I told you. I'm a retired professor at Harvard Business School where I taught entrepreneurial finance. I'm an expert in the business of finance. So in 2020, I made this pitch to the mayor of Inglewood, Asha Butler.
And I said to her, my good sister, we need more black-owned businesses in Chicago, in Englewood.
I met Asia 14 years ago when we were involved with the Englewood Railroad Coalition,
where we were fighting Norfolk Southern Railroad from coming in and taking over property that was owned by black people.
The Norfolk Southern Railroad sued me personally via eminent domain.
We fought them for 10 years and we won.
And when I say we won, I say black people in Inglewood financially won this battle that took almost 10 years.
So I approached Asia and I said, Asia, we need to do something in the community of Inglewood to make the economy healthy.
And very specifically, what we need to do is we need to recruit black-owned businesses to set up business here in the Englewood community.
So with that, she immediately said, I'm in, let's do it.
And so then we went around and we hired one of my former students, Kevin Ozean, a good young brother who did the work for us in developing a plan that that plan was created.
And then Aisha, Kevin Ozean, and myself, we made a pitch of that plan to some of my other former students, Zachary and Grant Gund. The Gund family used to be the owners of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They were my students at Northwestern when I was a professor there.
We made a pitch for them saying, we need seed capital for you to take this concept that we have around bringing black-owned businesses to the community for the purpose of creating jobs.
We need seed capital from you.
In response to the wonderful presentation given by Aisha, they decided to donate $1 million.
So with that $1 million, when we started talking to people about what the project is we were going to do here,
it was more than simply a concept.
It had seed money behind it, and the seed money was used to buy this building.
And we bought the building from the Englewood, excuse me, from the Cook County Land Bank,
and an extraordinarily attractive price, and we're going to use that to create jobs in this community
that will come from private enterprise that will be located in this building.
So thank you very much for coming. I appreciate you.
And with that, let me introduce, and I mentioned the Cook County Land Bank,
let me introduce you to the Executive Director of the Cook County Land Bank, and that's Ms. Jessica Caffrey.
And in particular, our partner, the executive director, Asha Butler.
Let's give it up for her.
I'd like to the officials joining us today.
Alderman of the 16th Ward, Alderman, Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman.
Thank you.
And the mayor of the greatest city of Chicago, Mayor Brandon Jack Johnson.
I also would like to acknowledge Commissioner Boatwright of the Department of Planning and Development.
So again, my name is Jessica Caffrey, and I am the executive director of the Cook County Land Bank.
And I always say, it always starts with the land.
And you are standing on that proof today.
This building was a 2017 tax certificate.
That means it was delinquent in taxes.
The Cook County Land Bank bought this in 2020, and we sold it to Rage for a mayor price of $35,000 in 2023.
And here we are today, breaking ground on this building.
So, for those of you who don't know, the land bank's job is to clear all the back taxes, the liens, and all the legal complication that makes redevelopment feel impossible.
We clear all that red tape for you, and we make it possible.
And we do that with organizations like RAGE, who have a vision and who have capacity and who work with the community.
So we're so proud to partner with RAGE.
This means it's a foundation for the community.
It means generational wealth right here in Englewood.
The Land Bank's mission is so impactful.
And standing here on this block, I am so grateful for what may happen next.
I would like to conclude by saying the partnership with RAGE is so exciting.
They have been able to contribute their legacy to Inglewood.
And this partnership between RAGE started years ago, during Juneteenth,
where we awarded in partnership with RAGE several locks to the community to rebuild.
And they did exactly that.
So thank you all, community.
Thank you, Inglewood.
Thank you to everyone here.
I'm short.
Okay, I think I got this.
So it takes two to build a vision, and we could not have done this.
Rage could not have done this without the other Steve.
So, Steve, can you come on up here now?
First off, I'd like to thank Asha for making a commitment to hire a black general contractor.
Let's give it up for you.
I've been in the industry since 1977.
I was selected from a special program I transferred from Morgan Park High School to Dunbar
because the Chicago District Council of Carpenters and Pepper Construction
were under enormous pressure to allow African Americans access into Washburn Trade School.
So Pepper Construction said, I'll take the top kid in the first class and I'll mentor that kid
and you're looking at that kid today.
This kid went on not only to build over $3 billion in projects.
I was responsible for reopening Providence Hospital.
And then John Stroger, Orlando Jones, and Ruth Rothstein came to me and said,
Steve.
We've been here for three years trying to get this thing open, and you got it open in nine months.
We want you to be the VP of operations.
And I said, I don't know nothing about running a hospital,
but they said if you can do what you did in nine months, you can run a hospital.
What I say that to say is that the possibilities for our young people are endless if given an opportunity.
That's all we need is an opportunity.
I did not have a degree in medical affairs. I had a desire and a burning passion to do whatever my hand found to do. I did it with all my might.
I grew up on the west side of Chicago. I was born at Kedzie and Fulton in East Garfield Park.
So, Mayor, you got another west sider on the stage today.
and then I moved to North Lawndale
and I went to James Weldon Johnson High School
I mean grammar school
every day at James Weldon Johnson we sang
lift every voice and sing
I didn't know anything about singing
I pledged allegiance to the flag
until we moved to the south side
all of my life I knew about our history
I was attending James Weldon Johnson School
when Martin Luther King got assassinated, I saw our neighborhood go up in flames,
and I am happy to be a part of the rebuilding of our communities.
And that rebuilding effort starts with hiring people from the neighborhood
and people that look like you and me.
So I'd like to not just talk about myself for this next few minutes,
but I'd like to introduce you all to the team, because when we go to basketball games,
they don't just talk about the executives, do they?
They introduce, who do they introduce?
From North Carolina, Michael Jordan, right?
Well, I want to introduce, pardon me, I want to introduce some folks to y'all
that you need to know that has been a part of this project from the very beginning.
The first person, I want you to come up here when I say your name and come up quickly.
The first person is Demetrius Tullock from Curie High School.
Let's give it up for him.
We're talking about City of Chicago products.
This man is a union carpenter.
We are a union carpenter.
Francis is very unique.
We're not the biggest contractor, but we're probably one of the most unique.
Why are we unique?
Because we're signatory to carpenters, laborers, and operating engineers.
What does that mean?
That means we can hire people. We don't just talk to talk, but we walk the walk. Do you understand what I mean?
The next person I want to introduce is Clarebelle Perez. Come on up here real quick.
She handles all of our billing. And guess where she's from? Roberto Clemente High School. Let's give it up for her.
The next person I want to hire, come on up here real quick, Terrence, from CVS Vocational.
And y'all can just come up front here.
CVS vocational. These are high schools you all have heard of, haven't you?
We're talking about hiring not only black folk, but black folk that have gone to Chicago public schools.
The next person we're going to talk about, Terrence is also a union carpenter.
The next person we're going to talk about is a Lindblom and Inglewood Prada.
Come on up here, James Fagan.
James Fagan is our heavy equipment operator.
We own our own big, heavy equipment, and this brother lives in the neighborhood, and he has been actively involved on this project from the very beginning.
Give it up for James, y'all.
The other young man I want to talk about, I want him to come up, is a first-year union apprentice carpenter.
Come on up front, Marquise. Give it up for Marquise.
This guy works hard. It looks like he should be a fullback for the Bears, but he's working hard every day.
Thank you for your hard work.
We certainly appreciate you.
There's another young man I want to acknowledge.
His name is Antonio Pena.
Come on up real quick, Antonio.
Antonio is a union carpenter.
He runs all of our demolition projects.
When we demolished an entire hotel out at the executive airport, he was the guy running that job.
When we dig foundations, he's the guy running that heavy equipment operation.
Thank you so much for your hard work.
We appreciate you.
Now I'm going to do something now for this young man who's been with us a year.
And I told him, I said, listen, everybody wants the promise of making $50, $60, $70 an hour.
When they find out we're a union contractor, everybody wants the promise of making $50, $60, $70 an hour.
wants a job, but who wants to prepare themselves? Who wants to do the dirty work, show up every
day on time, do the hard work? This young man, this next young man, Chris Mitchell,
come on up front here, Chris. Chris started as a driver. He's been an errand runner.
Come on up so everybody can see you. And this week, Chris doesn't even know, we are sponsoring
him this week into the laborers union this week we are partnering with higher 360 and he will be
a union laborer union laborers make 52 dollars an hour this is your week brother you kept your
nose clean you worked hard you showed up every day and now your reward is here brother all right
good job i want to introduce another couple few people that are members of our team real briefly
I want to introduce my youngest daughter, Stephanie Searle.
Stand up, Steph, real quick.
Stephanie handles all of our finance.
She graduated from the University of Chicago.
She studied economics there, all right?
Next, I want to introduce my daughter.
Come on up real quick.
You all got to move fast like young people.
Come on out.
Alicia Gaskin.
Alicia went to an HBCU, Clark Atlanta, representing in the house.
Yes, she's in the house.
She is a senior project manager running this project and the E.G. Wood Food Hub a few blocks from here.
Doing it every day, doing a good job for us.
Have I missed anyone?
Last and not least, get up here quickly.
A Mount Carmel graduate.
Come on up, Christian.
This guy was all-state in football, won two championships, two state championships with Mount Carmel.
was all-conference in basketball, can dunk with two hands.
He only 5'7".
Come on, you've got to give it up for that now.
Come on now.
We don't need Spud Webb, we've got him.
And then he played four years of college football at the University of Dayton
and got signed by the Washington Redskins
and got hurt the first day of rookie minicamp.
All my retirement went down the drain.
All of it.
he started working in the business in 2018 after he got hurt we built a two million dollar mansion
in california he took the reins of the company and now he is the president of the company running
the day-to-day operations he deals with the unions he deals with the subcontractors he's over our
heavy equipment over our pickup trucks over our dump trucks over everything and he's 30 years old
And he's not getting married no time soon.
Have I forgotten anybody?
I don't want to forget anybody because, you know what?
Without you all, I'm nothing.
This is about a team.
I want to introduce two recent members of our team.
Phillip, will you stand up?
Phillip is a senior project manager and a senior estimator.
And I want to introduce you to Esther, our accounts payable and purchasing.
She is also a Taft alumni.
Y'all heard of Taft High School, right? So we got a lot of CPS in the house here today. Thank you so much, Asha, for this opportunity. We are thrilled with the opportunity of being able to build this project in a neighborhood. When I moved from the west side to the south side, I went to Morgan Park, but we live right at 95th and Vincennes.
And every time I got my lawn, my grass cutting money, guess where I came?
To the Mecca on 63rd where everybody would come shopping back in the 70s.
Do you all remember what used to be there?
You used to come to 63rd and host it and you could buy everything.
Everything.
I came and got some platform heels because I was a little vertically challenged.
I'm going to tell you the truth.
Thank you so much for this opportunity, Asha.
We're happy to be a part of the team.
Thank you.
All righty. I love to hear stories of black businesses that are being created in our community.
It's such a blessing to hear and to hear the impact that you're making here.
So I'm going to say this. I'm about to introduce our commissioner.
But before I bring her up, I got to say this. I am the host of Black Businesses Matter podcast.
And as I look out here and I see all these amazing black people that during COVID, Dia and I said, you know what, we're not going to give you money.
And so I made a decision as the founder of the L3 agency, which is a woman owned black.
A women-owned, black-owned marketing and communications company that I said, we have to have a voice, that our stories matter, and there are amazing, outstanding, remarkable businesses on the south and west side that hire black people.
We are the largest, when you take black businesses, we are the largest employers of black people, and we just saw that from Steve, so thank you for that.
And that gave me purpose to say what I'm doing is what I'm supposed to do.
So I'm going to tell you all, check it out, Black Businesses Matter podcast.
We were named one of the top ten black podcasts by Black Podcast Millionaire.
We were one of the top ten.
So please dial in and you will hear from a lot of these business owners.
So I had to say this because I have the pleasure of introducing our commissioner of the Department of Planning.
And what I love about Sierra Bowright, because she and I have been in different spaces, even at the Chicago Urban League, I was there interviewing for our podcast.
So the fact that I am here now to bring her up, but back then I wasn't there to introduce her, but I am pleased to introduce this woman, woman of power as a woman owner, who is changing narratives.
To have her stand here and represent our city of Chicago is just a pure joy.
So, Sierra Burry, please come up and give her a round of applause, please. Thank you.
Good morning.
I want to acknowledge our amazing mayor, Mayor Johnson, our incredible Alderwoman, Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman.
What an amazing project.
From a planning perspective, corner locations like this are critical to local investment because of their effort on streets.
And the oversized roles in defining a community, including where it's been and where it's going.
Wood's upward trajectory under Mayor Brandon Johnson.
It's a highly visible $6.4 million investment that will revive an existing building with
a diversity of uses that provide sit-down dining, commercial space, and job training.
Precisely the activity we need at the crossroads of streets.
This is why from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, $2.5 million for this project.
The fund is DPD's Robin Hood program, where we apply downtown construction fees towards neighborhood investment projects just like this.
So kudos to Asha Butler and the RAGE team for leveraging the fund, its remarkable vision, this amazing project,
and its unyielding commitment to Greater Englewood because the REUP is more than a building.
It's a mission that ultimately makes the city a better place to live, work, and raise families.
I also want to make a special shout-out to my team at DPD for helping to spearhead this project
through the review and approval process, especially Robert Bumpers, who's sitting right over there.
This was truly a team effort, and it's going to be an amazing transformation.
Thank you so much, and congratulations to the entire development team.
Let's try to make these changes.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
I can adapt.
Now, I said that I had the pleasure of introducing Ciara.
Now, I have the pleasure of introducing our elder woman, Stephanie Coleman.
And because my home church is literally counter-corner, I'm going to say praise the Lord.
I'd like to welcome you to one of the two greatest wards in the city of Chicago.
My colleague, Alderman David Moore, the 17th ward, is here.
To the leader of this great city, to Representative Sonia Harper, to Senator Willie Preston.
and I believe the next school board district member
Brittany Press is in the house
but to each and every one of you
Inglewood
To the visionary, the CEO, the executive director, started from the block, now you be the block.
To Asha Butler, I am so delighted to know the story and to see the vision come to reality.
Now, Professor, you all have started, I'm sorry, Mr. Steve, you all have started a Westside gang up here.
So I want to acknowledge the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Commissioner Sierra Boe Wright, and the amazing director, Cheshiree Caffrey, because these two women are the foundation of what has assisted in making sure that this project became a reality.
Don and Chanel, I remember Leon's. I remember the grand opening of this Leon's and the old Leon's on this corner.
And when I think about the Finney family, I think about legacy and knowing that the legacy will still live on and the importance of making sure that African-Americans are the face, the head, the visionaries, the planners.
We are excellent.
And Inglewood is so excellent, and I am so glad that now the world will see, the city of Chicago will see just how excellent we are with the 59th and Racine Corridor being the official house of rage.
We've got the 59th Street Trail right at 59th and Wallace that will be crossing through here.
Thank you, Mayor. Crossing through here down to Damon.
We've got the Regenerator on 62nd and Racine.
We've got the Englewood Fresh Market on 63rd and Racine.
We'll be reopening the Green Line at 63rd and Racine.
63rd and Ashland.
New housing being built at Englewood Stem at 63rd and Wood.
This is what investment looks like.
Moran Park, a brand new field.
Most of it, if not 95% of what I just named is all in the 16th Ward.
So thank you, Commissioners and Director Boatwright and Caffrey, and thank you to our mayor for coming in day one in 2023, reinvesting in communities that have been victims of disinvestment for far too long.
And again, seeing these young men and women that represent France's construction, I cannot thank you all enough for the emphasis and being intentional about black African-American contractors doing work in African-American communities.
And so I am looking forward to more and more of jobs, homeowners, and good times with good folks at the Rage headquarters.
And future home of the other Bistro, which will be here at 59th and Racine, owned by two 16th Ward residents.
Where are they at? Where is my Bistro?
You heard it from my mouth to God's ears.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the leader of this great city, a man who is unapologetic about African-Americans, about the betterment of African-American communities.
He may be from the West Side, but he loves Englewood.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Meriden Johnson.
Well, what's going on, Englewood?
I'll give it up one more time for the older woman of the 16th War, Stephanie Coleman.
Thank you for that introduction and your leadership.
This is such an exciting, groundbreaking on the south side of Chicago, and it's always
special when we can break ground on something new, something that will serve and strengthen
the people of not just this community and neighborhood, but our entire city.
We cannot do this work alone, so I want to thank our state representative, Sonia Harper,
who I met when she was first running as a former organizer,
and she's done an incredible job in her role.
Thank you to our state senator, Willie Preston.
He's trolling me with that Sox hat today.
I see you, brother.
My cubbies are struggling right now,
but I see the Sox are playing good baseball.
And listen, I'm going to take credit for that
because I went to the Pope and I prayed for y'all.
So some of that Pope love.
I didn't rub off on the north side, but the Sox are playing holy right now.
Thank you, Senator Preston.
You've heard from our commissioners here, Bullwright.
And the person of the hour who you're going to hear from in just two minutes,
the executive director of RAGE, Asha Butler.
I feel like I'm in the way of the main speaker, so I'm going to just hurry up and get through my speech,
because y'all came to hear Asha, right?
But y'all want that fifth floor money.
I understand this.
It's all good.
I don't want to take it personal anymore, I don't.
Today's groundbreaking will be a transformational moment for the Inglewood community.
It will breathe new life into this neighborhood by fostering economic growth and, as has been
stated, creating jobs and bringing a long-term corridor to revitalization.
And when completed, the re-up on 59th and Racine will serve as the new headquarters of this incredible organization.
Y'all talked about RAID so much, I think I'm just going to sign up and pay my dues.
I mean, why not?
Give me that $20 Westside discount, though.
But it really means that RAIDs will not just have more space and resources,
but the ability to connect, to mobilize residents, create tangible solutions,
and bring in more resources to help restore this beloved community.
And more importantly, it will be a community-centered business hub
that is featuring black-owned retail businesses, restaurants, offices, and community spaces
because investing in black is not a criminal act.
In fact, investing in black is the act of God.
So today, it's not just about breaking ground on the new development.
It's about showing up for the people of Chicago.
It's also demonstrating that we are committed to investing in and revitalizing our neighborhoods,
and particularly those that have been historically left behind.
And we are doing this by building sustainable and affordable housing,
creating jobs and strengthening workforce development,
transforming vacant spaces into usable community assets,
and rebuilding business corridors on the south and west sides of our city and this kind of
development and revitalization it doesn't happen in a vacuum it happens when communities come
together demand action and through new collaborations and bold partnerships and it
happens through a desire to build a city where everyone no matter their zip code can achieve
their dreams and access these opportunities so i want to thank the entire raids team y'all deep
here today. The Rays team, thank you all, everyone who made this project possible. I want to give
again another shout out to our Commissioner, C.R. Bullwright, Department of Planning and
Development. The $2.5 million investment in this project is an investment in people. And through
developments like this one, it's not only going to make Chicago the safest, most affordable big
city in America, but it's going to be a place where we can grow and watch our families grow
and thrive so i look forward to the opening of the re-up and all the amazing businesses and
opportunities that will come to inglewood and throughout the entire south side of chicago
so god bless you and god bless the greatest freaking city in the world the city of chicago
now it is my honor keep clapping to bring to the podium the one and only the executive director of
rage there's only one way to pronounce her name asia before i even say something i have to bring
up state rep sonia harper i know her as a rage member sonia harper um before we start speaking
because we have been at this for the last 15 years and i have really no words of what i'm
seeing today when we started rage in 2010 we really just said you know what we live in the
community we are our own solution we can start on our blocks and stabilize our blocks and everybody
starts saying yeah i can do that i can talk to my neighbors i can purchase vacant property i can
make a pocket cart on my on my block but then raise kept thinking bigger the schools closed we
said you know what i think as residents we could take over a vacant school and people looked at us
we was crazy and now we'll be closing on a regenerator for four blocks from here
i need sonia to come up here with because she everybody say we crazy together but this is
this is what crazy look like it's good grace
kept moving um it was just so many things i remember when we were doing the large lot program
and it was an alder woman who told us it's no way we're selling city land for a dollar
it wasn't it wasn't and guess what we did 314 people in inglewood was the pioneers of the
large lot program so every time someone thinks we're too crazy that we can't do it oh my god
you're looking at a corridor the old leon's building oh what do you see there we saw vision
we see an opportunity we saw actually a canvas for development while we saw the other side of
the street as another opportunity we also looked at all the other buildings as that could be bought
that could be bought that can be bought and that could be revised so today we really you know in
And Rage Way, we party.
So this is just not a stuffy groundbreaking.
This is a groundbreaking party.
And I just want to make sure I bring up State Rep Harper,
because she also has been supporting and been with us since 2011, 2010.
What did you say, a couple of remarks?
A couple of remarks.
Not long, and then we're going to close out.
I won't be long.
Greetings, everyone.
Is Rage in the building?
I said it's Rage in the building.
man special thanks to my rider guy asha butler the entire butler family antoine and samaya
many special thanks to our members that's why we're here today people like miss cora butler
people like miss estella holloway people like miss benita i see you back there people like
miss berlin files and so many so many more thank you guys for just being a great example
And, you know, I've been a very proud member of RAGE for a very long time, way before ever being tricked into this job.
But when people ask me what the secret is or what the answer is, I always tell them, no one is coming to save us.
We must save ourselves.
And this building right here is proof, right?
This didn't happen because somebody powerful rode in on a white horse.
It happened because residents organized.
It happened because residents dreamed, we fought, and we refused to give up on Inglewood like so many others.
So what you guys see today is a result of all of that years of sacrifice
and people choosing community over convenience and hope over despair.
Mayor, as your state representative, I fight every day for this neighborhood.
But sometimes my fight is hard because I care more about keeping my neighbors happy than keeping the campaign donors happy.
I care more about building projects like this building behind me.
I'm sorry, Mayor.
I care more about this building than about building stadiums for millionaires to make even more money.
I love you, Inglewood, because this is my home.
I was born here. I was raised here.
I'm raising my baby here.
And you guys, this building represents more than just the bricks and the mortar.
It represents resident power.
It represents what happens when community believes in itself.
So let us all celebrate today.
But then let us get back to work tomorrow, okay?
Thank you.
I'll be remiss if I didn't.
I wish I had some Bulls music, because I need my team low-key to come to the front.
First of all, none of this could be possible without our staff team.
I mean, Rage wasn't even thinking about having staff.
We thought we was just going to keep doing this work and not actually hire people.
Well, we got a whole entire team here.
If you ask them, come to the stage.
Don't look like that.
Come to the stage.
Come in front of the stage.
Come in front of the stage.
Young people, that's how Rage started.
We was young.
He was young 15 years ago.
We have our interns.
We have our fellows.
Because you know what?
We're not going to be here forever.
And since Rage was started, we always poured it into our young people.
So as you see them, just know these are our future leaders.
So this is definitely a team effort.
And then most of the vendors and the people and the design and the decor is from our member, Latonya Lee and her team right here.
So we make sure we sacrifice and we make sure we put our dollars back into the zip code if no one else does.
have a whole entire team owners reps architects lawyers they all in the front my commercial
broker please wave your hand please there we go come on down come on down come on down dion yes
come on down dion owners rep lawyers commercial brokers i want people to see we ain't playing
about that black we wasn't playing look at the team come on and then where is my husband one of
our co-founders. I need my co-founders. If you're a co-founder of Rage, I need you in the front.
If you're a co-founder of Rage, I need you in the front. If you're a board member of Rage,
I need you in the front. And this is honestly not everybody. But I just want to make sure you see
who was working on this project around the clock from our GCs to our architects, to our owners
Rep, to our boards, our co-founders, our members. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all of
the work that you pour into Englewood. It is not into rage. It is into Englewood. We love this
community. I took the 44 bus every day. So to be here on Racine on 59th Street, June 15th, is a
blessing. And I just want to thank everybody
who came out. We're going to party
now, y'all. We're going to do a
couple of little photo-offs. We're going to
put the shovels in the ground, but we're going to
party the rage way. And I just
want to thank everybody who came out. Enjoy.
We're not going anywhere. Shout out
to the team. What else?
Why you didn't stand up? Deborah, you a co-founder?
Come on.
Alright. Shout out
to my team. We're excited. Thank you, everybody
who came. Commissioner,
one of the best aldermen,
In a heartbeat of Inglewood, the 16th Ward, we go way back.
Our Francis team, everybody here, thank y'all.
We not done.
We ain't going nowhere.
But that's all I have to say for today.
Just overwhelm, y'all.
Love y'all all.
And one more, one more.
As I talked about young people, it is a group of young people that y'all see around here.
Our team can disperse right now.
Let me show you the next generation.
Inglewood first responders and the other mayor of Inglewood.
We got the governors of Inglewood.
We can turn off the music.
We can turn off the music.
Thank you.
So one thing when we bought this building back in 2023, we did the rage where we beautify everything we get our hands on.
So we put a mural up and we asked the first responders to maintain the site all before in the winter.
Cut the grass.
Get everything together.
I would love for you guys to come up.
I need you, Mayor, to come on stage because I got something for you.
But I want the first responders in front.
Please give it up for these young people.
Where they at?
Is that a comment out here around?
Where they at?
We all think about our young people.
We are all looking at the news of teen trends.
But Inglewood got a different teen trend.
Our teen trends are civically engaged, productive young people.
This is a trend in Inglewood.
And I just want to say thank you.
You've been riding with us, helping with maintaining the building, having our young people out.
And I just want to give you a little special little gift and acknowledge you.
Okay.
All right.
I'm sure.
Shout out to Charles McKenzie and the Englewood First Responders.
Certificate of Appreciation because I swear around the clock, it could be a tree down.
We could have accidents over here and we're like, oh, we need you to come.
Charles is on the spot.
So I just wanted to publicly acknowledge you.
And as you see these young people, please pour into our young people like Charles has been doing.
How's it going, everybody?
I appreciate everybody for coming out.
Thank you, Rage, to my brother around me, Iman.
Rage, we appreciate you.
One thing about Rage, with our organization, we had a sit-down.
And I told Rage, I say, Rage, sometimes we know the funding can be kind of funny.
She said, Mackenzie, as long as you are with us, funding is not going to be funding for you guys.
Because we're always going to keep you young guys working.
And that's what she did with our young people.
I have 30 to 40 young people throughout the city of Chicago doing the work from violence prevention, from youth development.
And there's not just no ordinary organization.
We's a family in Inglewood.
There's always something going on in Inglewood.
Much love to our Alderman Stephanie Coleman, one of the best Aldermans in the 16th War.
She would get out and fight with us.
But I told the mayor of Chicago, when he come to Englewood, what you got to do, mayor?
All right, the mayor of Englewood.
All right, that's how we need to get that understood, because you the mayor.
City of Chicago.
I'm the bare finger wood.
We have those titles.
So we will end up officially in our program now.
We're going to play some music.
I'm going to bring Larveta back.
We're not going anywhere.
We will be starting our tour, so watch out for the announcements.
You should have a wristband.
Folks will be able to walk in the building, take a look at it, take some photos,
and then we're going to party, right?
Larveta, you want to come back to the party like a rage party?
All right.
Guys, can you all give everyone a round of applause?
Thank you, Jessica. Thank you, Sierra. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Underwoman, Stephanie.
We thank all of it. It takes a village to build something like this.
So, Asha, this is amazing. Thank you so much for allowing me to be here.
Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.