Woke and Cancel Culture Hit Chicago-- Part 5: About the Columbus Statues

 Black artist Hank Willis Thomas offered a giant Afro pick that tapered to a black power fist at the end of its handle.  Titles "All Power To All People," the 800 pound aluminum-and-steel sculpture was provocatively placed near a bronze statue of Frank Rizzo, a former Philadelphia mayor and police commissioner who for many Philadelphians was a symbol of police brutality directed at Blacks and other people of color.

The discussion over history and monuments has continued into 2021, as San Francisco recently scrapped 44 school names.

The issue came to a head last July, when activists forcibly attempted to remove the prominent statue of Columbus in Grant Park, leading to violent clashes between police and protesters.  Nearly a week later, Mayor Lightfoot took down Columbus statues in Grant Park and Little Italy.  She later had a lesser-known Columbus statue in a South Chicago neighborhood removed.

Columbus has been condemned by activists around the country who point to the Italian explorer's treatment of Indians after he landed in the Americas in 1492.

Many Italians prize the statues of the explorer as an expression of their mainstream American identity.

--Cooter

Woke and Cancel Culture Hit Chicago's Columbus Statues-- Part 2

Disputes over Chicago's Columbus statues erupted last summer between protesters and police, including a violent clash at Grant Park.  I saw this one and if there has ever been an actual attack on police with intent to harm, this was one.

Chicago's Mayor Lightfoot had that Columbus statue and two others removed, saying it was going to be temporary but that the removal was for public safety.

In a public statement, Lightfoot said:  "This project is a powerful opportunity for us to come together as a city to assess the many monuments and memorials across our neighborhoods and communities -- to face our history and what and how we memorialize that history.

"Given the past year and in particular the past summer that made clear history isn't past, it is essential that residents are a part of the conversation.

--Cooter

Montgomery Ward Preserves Chicago's Lakefront-- Part 1

From the August 10, 2014, Chicago Tribune "Montgomery Ward deserves our gratitude" by Ron Grossman.

On summer days, thousands of people visit and enjoy Chicago's magnificent lake front, but it almost wasn't to be as developers sought the land, but one store owner, businessman had the foresight back in the late 1800s to save it.  That man was Montgomery Ward.

That's right, the Montgomery Ward that those of us who are older remember was a big department store chain.  It was the man who pioneered mail-order retailing.

Four times between 1897 and 1910, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld Ward's contention that Chicago's lakefront should be parkland.  Ward felt that this land should be "forever open, clear and free."

Four years before his death in 1913, Montgomery Ward told the Tribune: "Had I known in 1890 how long it would take me to preserve a park for the people against their will, I doubt if I would have undertaken it.  Perhaps I may yet see the public appreciate my effort.  Bit I doubt it."

They Didn't back Then, But Sure Do Now (If They Can Afford the Parking Meters).  --Cooter