Residents come together to clean-up their communities
Screenshot of Instagram post of a local musician publicly sharing photos of him and others cleaning up on the Westside of Chicago.
In light of George Floyd’s death, Chicago activists and community organizers were able to use social media to gather the community for protests against the injustices against Black men and women in America this past weekend. These organizers also use social media to organize community clean-ups after Chicago businesses were looted.
Here is a timeline and snapshot of multiple clean-up efforts throughout the city’s South and West sides.
Monday, June 1st
9:00 am
Screenshot of the event page for the Westside Clean-UP posted by the Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce.
The Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce led a West Side clean-up. Their event posting stated: “We are sending out a humble cry for support for our Westside business communities. They asked that volunteers bring their masks, gloves, brooms, and bags to the cleaning site. Their target locations were streets Western and Madison, Kedzie and Chicago Avenue, Madison and Pulaski, Kostner and North Avenue, and Cicero and North Avenue.”
11:00 a.m.
A photo of the North Lawndale Cleanup Day Flyer issued by the Ald. Michael Scott and his team.
In North Lawndale volunteers wanting to help clean up the community were invited to pick up trash, clean streets and clean sidewalks. This initiative was organized by Ald. Michael Scott (24th Ward). This group of volunteers started at the strip mall on the corner of S. Pulaski Rd. and Roosevelt Rd.
11:30 a.m.
Screenshot of Public post promoting the West Side Clean up by the T-Star Verse Family. Post by instagram handle @tstarverse.
Entertainer/entrepreneur T Star Verse and her family led a cleanup initiative on W. North Ave. and N. Austin Blvd. They planned to help clean up W. Madison St. and S. Pulaski Rd., but that area was closed off to residents. In a social media post the artist said, “Last night our communities were destroyed and that didn’t sit well with me because I know that the city would not rush and clean it up for us.” In the post she encouraged others to help make a positive statement.
11:48 p.m.
Screenshot of a volunteer sharing his experience helping clean-up via public Facebook status.
In a post that was publically shared more than 7,550 times, Chicagoan Randiss Hopkins posted a photo of multiple garbage bags filled following a community cleanup on the West Side. He said in a status, “And don’t let the police in one photo fool you. This was organized by our people and for our people. We just do the work, there’s no question where we stand and who we standing for.” This clean-up was organized by Keirra Khold.
Hopkins added on Facebook, “The westside clean ups this week really inspired me. It made me think, maybe it’s time we re-envision Madison and a new future for the Westside - black businesses, young entrepreneurs, grocery stores, performing art centers, sports facilities, possibly a museum...it’s time to rebuild.” He then posed a question to the public and his Facebook friends, asking them what they would like the Westside to look like.
3:40 pm (approximately)
Screenshot of Instagram post of a local musician publicly sharing photos of him and others cleaning up on the Westside of Chicago.
Late in the afternoon, musician Lord Acee shared on his Instagram account that he among others were located on Madison St. cleaning up the damage in that area. He shared, “I’m not posting this for likes!! I’m posting this because I rep the #westside in all my music and in my heart!!! We out here in our community #Westside cleaning...”
Wednesday, June 3
10:00 a.m.
Flier of Chicago Community Cleanup that was shared on multiple social media platforms.
Chicago Community Cleanup asked for clean-up volunteers via social media. “Please Volunteer to clean up and rebuild small businesses and Black neighborhoods.” They are also asking for donations. Their cleanup started in the Roseland neighborhood. Their meeting location is 112th and S. Michigan Ave., and did not have a scheduled end time.
Screenshot of the Southside Cleanup that was shared on multiple social media platforms.
The Southside Clean Up started at noon and did not have an end time listed. The areas that they are aiming to cover are: Roseland Ave. - Halsted Ave. Strip; 95th - Stony Island Ave. Strip; 87th - State St. Jewels parking lot; 79th - Cottage Grove Ave.; 47th - Walmart Parking lot, and 35th - Lake Meadows Shopping Center. The flier asks people that wish to help either donate or bring their own cleaning supplies to help fix-up the area.
In addition to these clean-ups, Mayor Lori Lighfoot made this statement in her June 1 press conference: “We are launching all these city services into the neighborhoods to step up and support our neighborhoods,your neighbors, your neighbors, so that they can recover and they can rebuild.”
In the same conference, Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner John Tully also added workers within his department will assist in cleaning up garbage and debris from 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. He also shared that resources like Sweepers would be taken out of the Loop and deplored to other areas that suffered the most damage.
Lastly, the Chicago Department of Buildings plans to have workers out assessing damages in order to help business owners get their windows boarded up and start the process of restoring their business.
Screenshot of a flier containing information on how local businesses affected by looting can receive help if wanted. The post was shared via Instagram.
The Community Clean Up shared a post stating that they would help organizer volunteers to clean-up local businesses that needed it. They said businesses could request help at the email Thankyouchicago@gmail.com The flier above did not say how long they would be accepting requests.