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    <title><![CDATA[eBlack Champaign-Urbana]]></title>
    <link>http://eblackcu.net/portal/items/browse/59?collection=6&amp;output=rss2</link>
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    <pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:40:12 +0000</pubDate>
    <managingEditor>nlenstr2@gmail.com (eBlack Champaign-Urbana)</managingEditor>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[American History Teachers Collaborative Links]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/319</link>
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    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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        <h3>Title</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">American History Teachers Collaborative Links</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-subject" class="element">
        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Lesson Plans, World War II, Schools, Education, Tuskegee</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-description" class="element">
        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Annotated list of websites produced by the American History Teachers Collaborative touching on local African-American history, including lesson plans and digitized primary sources.</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
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        <h3>Creator</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Various, American History Teachers Collaborative</div>
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                <div id="dublin-core-publisher" class="element">
        <h3>Publisher</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Urbana School District</div>
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        <h3>Date</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">2004-2010</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text"><a href="http://americanhistoryteacherscollaborative.blogspot.com/">http://americanhistoryteacherscollaborative.blogspot.com/</a><br />AHTC blog - stay up-to-date with upcoming events!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/MLuffman07/MLuffman07.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/MLuffman07/MLuffman07.htm</a><br /><span>Melissa <span class="SpellE">Luffman reflects on the Tuskegee Airmen</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Lee07/Lee07.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Lee07/Lee07.htm</a><br />Patricia Lee reflects on "Negro Squad" at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Burgess07/Burgess07.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Burgess07/Burgess07.htm</a><br />Izona J. Burgess reflects on World War II's role in the civil rights struggle<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Aulph09/Aulph09.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/activities/Aulph09/Aulph09.htm</a><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></strong>Joy E. Aulph reflects on the Champaign County Poor Farm<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/images/Champaign-County-Poor-Farm/poor-farm.html">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/images/Champaign-County-Poor-Farm/poor-farm.html</a><br />Digitized sources relating to Champaign County Poor Farm<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/images/WWII/WWII.html">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/images/WWII/WWII.html</a><br />Digitized World War II Source material<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/GersdorfRotramel06/GersdorfRotramel06.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/GersdorfRotramel06/GersdorfRotramel06.htm</a><br />Lesson Plan - National and Local Reactions to Brown v. Board of Ed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/WardSI07/WardSI07.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/WardSI07/WardSI07.htm</a><br />Lesson Plan - Significance of the 99th Pursuit Squadron<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/Adrian2007/Adrian07overview.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/Adrian2007/Adrian07overview.htm</a><br />Lesson Plan - School Integration: Just a Southern Problem?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/ajones05/ajonesTTY.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/ajones05/ajonesTTY.htm</a><br />Lesson Plan - Through the Years: African-American History in Champaign County<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/Mann07/Mann07lesson.htm">http://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/Mann07/Mann07lesson.htm</a><br />Lesson Plan - The Tuskegee Airmen: African American Pilots during WWII</div>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 15:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Community and Police Forum Focus Questions and Responses]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/306</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Community and Police Forum Focus Questions and Responses</div>
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        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Crime, Policing, and Gangs</div>
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        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">These are the ideas taken at a community forum in March about how to improve the relationship between the police and the community.</div>
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    <h2>Contribution Form</h2>
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        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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            </div><!-- end element-set --><div class="item-file application-pdf"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/325/fullsize">2010-03-15_CPForum_Responses.pdf</a></div>]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 17:50:54 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[City of Champaign remembers life of Mable Thomas]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/305</link>
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    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text">City of Champaign remembers life of Mable Thomas</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Champaign City Government, Civil Rights</div>
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        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">The city of Champaign is dedicating a street to Mable Thomas for many years of work in the community. Mable Thomas passed away April 13, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. </div>
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        <h3>Creator</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Marty Malone</div>
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        <h3>Publisher</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Daily Illini</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-date" class="element">
        <h3>Date</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">4 May 2010</div>
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        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Mable Thomas, longtime coordinator of neighborhood groups for the City of Champaign, passed away April 13, 2010 at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.<br />
<br />
The City of Champaign said a community memorial service will be held for Thomas at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 8, 2010 at Douglass Park in Champaign.<br />
<br />
The city will also dedicate honorary street signs to Mable&acirc;&euro;&trade;s family.<br />
<br />
Thomas was originally hired in 1987 as Administrative Assistant, promoted to the Assistant to the City Manager for Community Development in 1988 and was appointed to serve as Neighborhood Services Coordinator upon creation of the Neighborhood Services Department in 1992.<br />
<br />
&quot;Thomas was a dedicated public servant who spent countless hours providing support to neighborhood residents and leaders in addressing community problems,&quot; the press release noted.<br />
<br />
Over her tenure with the City, Thomas helped organize hundreds of neighborhood groups. She was instrumental in expanding the City&acirc;&euro;&trade;s Neighborhood Watch Program and organized the popular National Night Out event. With the support of the City Council she created the Neighborhood Small Grant Program to fund neighborhood based problem solving and improvement projects. She initiated an Annual Neighborhood Leaders Meeting to educate residents about City government.<br />
<br />
Thomas was also very active in a number of community organizations and activities including the Triad SALT, Crimestoppers, Safe Kids Coalition, CommUnity Matters and the First Street Farmers Market.<br />
<br />
Community members and representatives of neighborhood groups are encouraged to come out and celebrate the life of Mable Thomas.</div>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 17:50:30 +0000</pubDate>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Scratch Me, and I Bleed Champaign: Geography, Poverty and Politics in the Heart of East Central Illinois]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/294</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Scratch Me, and I Bleed Champaign: Geography, Poverty and Politics in the Heart of East Central Illinois</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-subject" class="element">
        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Geography</div>
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        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">As all maps are unreadable without a legend, I offer you mine at the beginning. This essay will chart the geography of Urbana-Champaign from a hybrid point of view: considering it from the vantage point of the local African-American community (or perhaps, more accurately, a point of view sympathetic to that community, of which I cannot claim to be a part) and at the same time from my own point of view as a white graduate student trying to make sense of this place. By looking at the politics produced in local geography, I will develop a materialist account of Urbana-Champaign. Geography is a substance &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and not just an instrument &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; of local politics. Real (that is to say, material) local conditions themselves produce the imagined geographies that seem to underwrite them. - click on link for full article.</div>
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        <h3>Creator</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Jonathan Sterne</div>
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        <h3>Source</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Bad Subjects, Issue 17. <a href="http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/17/sterne.html">http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/17/sterne.html</a></div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
                <div id="dublin-core-date" class="element">
        <h3>Date</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">November 1994</div>
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        <div id="contribution-form-online-submission" class="element">
        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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    <h2>Scripto</h2>
        </div><!-- end element-set --><div class="element-set">
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                                    <div class="element-text">Legend (Instructions on How to Read This Place)<br />
<br />
As all maps are unreadable without a legend, I offer you mine at the beginning. This essay will chart the geography of Urbana-Champaign from a hybrid point of view: considering it from the vantage point of the local African-American community (or perhaps, more accurately, a point of view sympathetic to that community, of which I cannot claim to be a part) and at the same time from my own point of view as a white graduate student trying to make sense of this place. By looking at the politics produced in local geography, I will develop a materialist account of Urbana-Champaign. Geography is a substance &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and not just an instrument &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; of local politics. Real (that is to say, material) local conditions themselves produce the imagined geographies that seem to underwrite them.<br />
Local Knowledge<br />
<br />
Urbana-Champaign is a relatively quiet midwestern twin cities located three hours south of Chicago in east-central Illinois. We&#039;re just south of Interstate 74, and the last stop on I-72. The residential population is about 100,000; during the school year, the university probably adds about 25,000 to that number. Its not simply a university town, however. There are several major local industries: it supports factories for Kraft and Solo Cup, and its an old and thriving banking center. In fact, Urbana-Champaign is something of a regional center for a whole host of surrounding smaller towns. But the economy here (as in many other places) is not what it once was, and both towns are very concerned with &#039;image&#039; issues, in terms of attracting businesses and in terms of attracting tourists. Thus, the promotional literature touts each town as having its own &#039;personality,&#039; an over-generalization somewhat confirmed by my own experience.<br />
<br />
Champaign is the larger of the two towns, originally growing up around a railroad station established just to the west of Urbana in the 1850s. Politically, it&#039;s a much more conservative town, both in its local ordinances and in its appearance. Downtown business interests, as represented by the Champaign Chamber of Commerce, essentially control the city council. Of the two towns, Champaign takes in a disproportionate amount of retail business. In all, Champaign operates along a suburban logic: outside the &#039;historic&#039; downtown, strip malls, service industries and subdivisions organize the town&#039;s sociology and political culture. Complementing the retail provisions are new and expensive housing developments on the southwest and west sides of town.<br />
<br />
Established in 1837, Urbana is one of the oldest cities in Illinois, and for some years was actually larger than Chicago (which is not to say it was ever very big!). Urbana is also the county seat, so it supports a healthy civil service bureaucracy. In fact, its status as a county seat has probably enabled it to escape some of the dominance of local businesses manifested in Champaign. Sales taxes are a little higher, local ordinances are a little more liberal, but Urbana&#039;s most defining feature is its &#039;historic&#039; nature.<br />
<br />
Although historic preservation has certainly influenced both towns, it is a defining characteristic of Urbana. The downtown is only a couple of blocks long, but it is well restored and decorated. Urbana is full of streetlights, but despite their relatively recent vintage, they look old. This would not be such a problem, except that they give off very little light. According to a national survey reported in the towns&#039; promotional literature, Urbana is one of the darkest cities in the United States. Looking down my street at night, one sees two slightly crooked rows of glowing orbs, barely illuminating themselves.<br />
<br />
As I&#039;ve painted them for you, Urbana-Champaign&#039;s identities should sound fairly familiar &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; one town looks like a suburb of noplace; the other playing to its own, fabricated, &#039;historic&#039; character. But a distinguishing feature of both towns, one that doesn&#039;t seem to come up much in the promotional literature, is the durable segregation of a significant number of their residents. According to the 1990 Census, roughly 13,000 out of just under 100,000 Urbana-Champaign residents are black. African-Americans, while clearly a minority in town, comprise a sizable segment of the population &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and the largest &#039;minority.&#039; Yet, despite a visible presence, the legacy of segregation remains &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; the majority of black residents live in a concentrated section on the northern end of town. Other kinds of poverty are similarly segregated &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; there are several trailer parks on the outskirts of town.<br />
<br />
One could understand this segregation of race and poverty as perfectly consistent with the towns&#039; economic strategies &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; both have moved toward service economies. Urbana must commodify itself: historic preservation is about commodifying public space in the service of selling an affect called &#039;history.&#039; Unfortunately, in this model of history, poor street lighting appears to be more historic than any visible African-American presence. Poverty is never historic, it seems; at least, the tourism industry hasn&#039;t figured out how to market it. Champaign, for its part, is run by (mostly retail) business, and poverty is never good for a business image. So the city is busy passing ordinances to manage the homeless population and running drug busts. The county ran a referendum in the last election for the renovations and enlargement of jail space. There was no parallel referendum for an increase in funding for local schools. You figure it out. This is urban renewal in the heart of east-central Illinois. But despite these marketing strategies standing in for substantive social policy, the towns can neither wholly deny the existence of a significant local minority population; nor can they ignore a rich local history.<br />
Becoming Black Urbana-Champaign<br />
<br />
African-Americans have been a visible and active presence here for most of the towns&#039; histories. The black migration began with the completion of the north-south railroad in the 1850s. This railroad connected Chicago with all points south, and Urbana-Champaign turned out to be a convenient stopping point along the way. According to a 1934 University of Illinois Master&#039;s Thesis by Janet Andrews Cromwell, most of the towns&#039; early black residents settled here by default &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; they&#039;d run out of money, or they were taking jobs along the way to Chicago. The flow of African-Americans into the county was slow but steady at first. The 1850 census listed 2 &#039;free coloreds&#039; in the county. By 1860, there were 41 blacks in the cities; by 1870, the population had grown to 163; and by 1880, that number grew to 462. Initially, this population was not clearly limited to one area: an 1878 survey shows black residents scattered throughout the towns. But by 1904, African-American residents were clearly concentrated in a northern part of town, bisected by the border between Urbana and Champaign.<br />
<br />
Conditions in town were certainly better than in the southern United States, but not much better. Many blacks found employment through the University&#039;s Fraternity/Sorority system, and other low-paying service jobs. There was little industry in either town, and those higher paying jobs went mostly to whites. Thus, low rents attracted black residents to the northern part of town, and explicit segregation policies kept them there. At the time of Cromwell&#039;s research &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; in 1934 &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; many black residents lived without electricity, indoor toilets, or even running water. Industrious residents would obtain water from hydrants. In federally funded public housing, segregation was a matter of official public policy. Like many other towns, Champaign-Urbana had exploited Plessey v. Ferguson for all it could: movie theaters, restaurants, schools, and stores were segregated. Blacks were not allowed into Urbana&#039;s public Crystal Lake Park. As late as 1960, according to Esther Patt (Urbana City Council and Tenant Union Member), there were still segregated lunch counters in downtown Champaign.<br />
<br />
The local black community has certainly made efforts to advance its cause. In 1951, the first family moved into Carver Park, a subdivision north of Bradley Avenue (a street now located in the heart of the black community). According to the Urbana Courier, the development was the first large-scale residential development here to be initiated with private capital entirely through black families. It&#039;s prime mover, Charles E. Phillips, was a black insurance agent and savings and loan executive who was frustrated with the poor living conditions of northeast Champaign (and by extension, northwest Urbana). By 1963, the Champaign County NAACP and the Champaign-Urbana Improvement Association were holding demonstrations against local discrimination in housing and employment. That year, three well-established and respected real estate firms each sold a home in a formerly all-white area to a black family. 1965 marked the first sale of a newly constructed home in a &#039;white&#039; area to a black family. The first major effort at desegregating commercial establishments was in 1954, when there was a sustained &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and eventually successful &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; struggle on the part of local blacks to desegregate barbershops, especially around the University of Illinois campus. Despite lauding the significant formal and legal advances made during the civil rights era, a 1968 League of Women Voters report tempered their enthusiasm by noting that such improvements in status of local African-Americans were, on the whole, &#039;largely illusory. The majority are confined to housing which is old, overpriced, overcrowded, and often below minimal standards.&#039; It reported that despite the majority of local black families being renters, there was &#039;a critical lack of standard low-cost housing available to them.&#039; Public housing was underfunded, substandard, and insufficient.<br />
<br />
By 1981, the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette reported that although &#039;black families can now be found in all parts of the two cities,&#039; the heaviest concentration of African-Americans &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; that is to say, the majority &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; still live in what the paper euphemistically called &#039;the traditional neighborhood.&#039; Although redlining had long been illegal, the paper reported real estate agents steering black families to the black community. In 1985, the Champaign Public Housing Authority came under federal investigation for steering black families toward prefabricated public housing, while steering whites toward &#039;Section 8&#039; programs where rent in privately owned housing is federally subsidized. African-Americans seeking public housing reported not even being told about the Section 8 programs.<br />
<br />
Today, the community remains largely segregated. Public housing, and especially Section 8, are still riddled with problems. Esther Patt said that Section 8 has been a boon to private developers, who deliberately overcharge for so-called low-income housing. Since residents only pay 30% of their income toward rent and the government picks up the rest, rents soar. A &#039;low-income&#039; 1-bedroom apartment is listed at $395 per month. A 3-bedroom apartment goes for over $900 a month. It is well known that landlords and realty firms overprice student housing, and students can find good quality 1-bedroom for considerably less that $395. I know these prices may seem cheap to readers residing in larger coastal cities, but consider that my partner and I pay $435 for a modest 2-bedroom duplex (and my rent&#039;s not particularly low). A big, old, beautifully remodeled 3-bedroom house one block north of me was up for rent at $750 a month. So-called &#039;low-income&#039; housing is no bargain.<br />
<br />
But there are no easy answers. Currently, the waiting list for Section 8 housing is 600 families long, and it is closed. Desegregating public housing presents its own conundrum at this point: (again, according to Patt) 90% of applicants for public housing are black. Achieving a racial balance in public housing at the point would literally mean discriminating against black applicants. For blacks not quite as poor, housing remains a problem. Rents take up a large chunk of family income, and if families earn enough to look into housing, problems persist. Both cities have uniform housing codes dictating up-keep, lawn-care, and the like; but a quick drive around town will make clear that said codes are selectively enforced. Housing conditions remain quite variable in the northern community. Well kept, modest sized houses will stand next to decaying structures that barely remain standing, but still house occupants. The building boom in southwest and west Champaign is mainly in privately owned subdivisions, which carry with them very clear demands for income level &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; the lot and the house have minimal size and maintenance requirements that effectively exclude lower and lower-middle income families. There have been about 8 new houses built in the northern/black community since 1990.<br />
Conclusion<br />
<br />
There is much to make one pessimistic about possibilities for positive social change here &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; not the least a somewhat depressed local economy composed mainly of professionals, students and service workers. Champaign county has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Illinois. Such an arrangement does not provide much in the way for upward mobility. Furthermore, the answer to poverty&#039;s problems for the black community and for the community at large is not simply a matter of desegregation or more equitable policies, although they would help. Consider that local realtors still hold seminars on how to spot if you&#039;re being inspected for racial steering.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, a significant faction within the black community seems to be moving toward a different kind of politics. Patt pointed out to me that there is now, more than ever, resistance in the black community to desegregation efforts. The line of thinking is that families who &#039;make it&#039; &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; who can afford nicer housing &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; should remain settled in the community and help give it an economic boost. In other words, the geographic condition of the community becomes more important that the history of segregation. This idea is not new &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; after all, this was the net effect of the Carver Park development &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; but it is animating local policy in new ways.<br />
<br />
Things could well improve for residents by their staying together at this point. Even though the geography of local blacks might appear determined by a history of segregation, the geography itself can be the raw materials for an economically vital and invigorated black community. This is a source of hope, and stands as a feasible alternative to the dispersion that a more rigidly historicist politics would rely upon. Integration at this point might well be disintegration. The point is not to spread out and disperse the black community, but to bring it together, keep it together, and make it strong. There never was an organic past when people lived happily integrated in east-central Illinois. There&#039;s nothing to say that a utopian future can&#039;t begin with the strength of a local community brought together by common interest, and perhaps by other common bonds. Given the contours of local social life, this is no easy task &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; but then, real social change never is.<br />
<br />
Social space becomes an instrument in an historically-based politics, such as in the fight against segregation. But space can also take on a much more vital role as the substance of a geographic politics, one based first on the needs of place and belonging; a politics where history itself becomes one among many scarce materials. This is spatial materialism. The strategy of the local elite has been to market an imagined local geography to a real market, under the guise of &#039;historic preservation.&#039; It makes sense that the disadvantaged elements of our community should devise their own spatial strategies to effectively combat a corrosive local geography.<br />
Acknowledgements:<br />
<br />
I would like to thank the staff of the Urbana historical archives for their generous assistance in this project. I would also like to thank Carrie Rentschler and Joe Sartelle for their stimulating conversation and useful comments. This essay draws on a diversity of sources: newspaper clippings, first-person accounts, research reports, interviews, and a Master&#039;s thesis.<br />
<br />
Jonathan Sterne is a graduate student in Communications Research and Critical and Interpretive Theory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently working on an historical geography of early American television, among other things. He can be reached at -stern1@uiuc.edu.</div>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 04 May 2010 02:28:20 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Community Development Projects]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/292</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
        <div id="dublin-core-title" class="element">
        <h3>Title</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Community Development Projects</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-subject" class="element">
        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Urban Renewal</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
            <div id="dublin-core-description" class="element">
        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Work-in-progress by City of Champaign with documentation about ongoing community development projects, primarily in African-American neighborhoods. See City of Champaign website for most up-to-date information: http://ci.champaign.il.us/departments/neighborhood-services/neighborhood-programs/community-development-projects/<br /><br />===<br /><br />
<h2>Bristol Place<a class="cboxElement" rel="lightbox[6428]" href="http://ci.champaign.il.us/cms/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/DSC06578.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-19169" title="DSC06578" src="http://ci.champaign.il.us/cms/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/DSC06578-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="219" height="195" /></a></h2>
<p>The Bristol Park area includes three small neighborhoods; Bristol  Place, Garwood Addition, and Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park. The Bristol  Park neighborhood lies at the northeast corner of Bradley Avenue and  Neil Street. It is enclosed on its eastern edge by the Canadian National  railroad tracks that run northeast/southwest and from the north by  Interstate 74. The completed Neighborhood Plan will includes four parts:  an existing conditions analysis; vision, goals, objectives; land use  plan and implementation recommendations. The existing conditions  analysis was completed in 2009. Currently, the visions, goals,  objectives are drafted and ready for review by City Council. The purpose  of the plan is to provide guidance to the City and a future  neighborhood group with specific actions on how to improve the  neighborhood. It is designed to be a holistic plan that addresses  physical issues, such as vacant lots and deteriorating housing stock as  well as social issues, such as the need for more activities for children  in the neighborhood. In addition, the plan is also intended to be used  by the City and the neighborhood group when applying for grants and  other funding.</p>
<h2>Beardsley Park Plan</h2>
<p>Initiated in 1995 and amended in 2000, this plan targets three  sub-areas in the Beardsley Park Neighborhood for redevelopment.  Community Development Block Grant and Urban Renewal funding has been  allocated for the improvement of infrastructure (roadways, curbs and  gutters, streetlights, and sidewalks) in two sub-areas. Further  redevelopment efforts will include a public services campus and  neighborhood commercial developments. Single-family affordable housing  development is also included in the plan as a priority for this  neighborhood.</p>
<h2>CommUnity Matters</h2>
<p><a class="cboxElement" rel="lightbox[6428]" href="http://ci.champaign.il.us/cms/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/DSCN4573.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-19159 alignleft" title="DSCN4573" src="http://ci.champaign.il.us/cms/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/DSCN4573-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="179" height="146" /></a>In  2007, the City of Champaign, Champaign Park District, Unit 4 School  District, Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, and the United Way created a  partnership to begin addressing youth issues identified by neighborhood  residents and police officers in the Garden Hills neighborhood.&nbsp; The  CommUnity Matters model is now expanding to other areas to address  issues identified by neighborhood residents and associations, frequently  involving youth, in the City&rsquo;s targeted neighborhoods.&nbsp;&nbsp; This  initiative is a partnership with substantial funding from the Community  Development Block Grant and Urban Renewal funds at the City of  Champaign, as well as significant in-kind staffing and resource  contributions from the partner agencies.</p>
<p><a href="http://ci.champaign.il.us/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/December-2010.pdf">December&nbsp;CommUnity Matters Events Calendar</a></p>
<h2>Douglass Square Redevelopment</h2>
<p>The Douglass Square redevelopment is located on the north side of  Bradley Avenue at the 5th Street intersection (former Burch Village  public housing complex). This site is located across the street from the  Taylor Thomas Subdivision and near the Oakwood Trace Apartments. The  Douglass Square redevelopment, similar to the Taylor Thomas and Oakwood  Trace developments, was undertaken by both the City of Champaign and the  Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC). The Burch Village  structures were obsolete and had issues with crime and other social  disturbances and required more than just refurbishing and/or remodeling.  The HACC received HOPE VI demolition funds from the U.S. Department of  Housing and Urban Development for the removal of the existing structures  and the relocation of the residents. Financing for the construction of  the new development included Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the  State of Illinois, HOME funds from the City of Champaign and the State  of Illinois, and Affordable Housing Program funds from the Federal Home  Loan Bank-of Chicago. The new development includes 50 units of  mixed-income as well as a community space and onsite laundry.</p>
<h2>Taylor Thomas Subdivision</h2>
<p>The Taylor Thomas Subdivision includes 13 completed single-family  homes with two more to be constructed.&nbsp; Twelve of the 15&nbsp; homes are  subsidized by the City through HOME and Community Development Block  Grants to create affordable housing compliant with the U.S. Department  of Housing and Urban Development. The site was formerly the location of  the Mansard Square Apartments, which were demolished in 1999-2000 to  make room for the future development of single-family homes. The  subdivision was named after Taylor Thomas, a local educator who served  the community in a variety of ways. He was the first director of the  Douglass Center, the first honorary commissioner of the Champaign Park  District, and one of the first African-Americans to teach in the Urbana  School District.</p></div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
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                                    <div class="element-text">City of Champaign Neighborhood Services</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">City of Champaign</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">2010</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Community Development Projects<br />
Email Email  |  Print Print<br />
<br />
(One upcoming goal will break each project out into its own page, with Narrative, Map, Photos, and Document links.)<br />
Bristol Place<br />
<br />
(Need information.)<br />
Beardsley Park Plan<br />
<br />
Initiated in 1995 and amended in 2000, this plan targets three sub-areas in the Beardsley Park Neighborhood for redevelopment. Community Development Block Grant and Urban Renewal funding has been allocated for the improvement of infrastructure (roadways, curbs and gutters, streetlights, and sidewalks) in two sub-areas. Further redevelopment efforts will include a public services campus and neighborhood commercial developments. Single-family affordable housing development is also included in the plan as a priority for this neighborhood.<br />
Garden Hills Neighborhood Improvement Initiative<br />
<br />
(Need information.)<br />
Joann Dorsey<br />
<br />
(Need information.)<br />
Douglass Park Infill<br />
<br />
(Need information.)<br />
Douglass Square Redevelopment<br />
<br />
The new Douglass Square redevelopment is located on the north side of Bradley Avenue and at the 5th Street intersection where Burch Village was previously located. This site is located across the street from the Taylor Thomas Subdivision and near the Oakwood Trace Apartments. The Douglass Square redevelopment, similar to the Taylor Thomas and Oakwood Trace developments, is being undertaken by both the City of Champaign and the Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC). The Burch Village structures were obsolete and had issues with crime and other social disturbances and required more than just refurbishing and/or remodeling. The HACC received HOPE VI funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the demolition of the existing structures and the relocation of the residents. Financing for the construction of the new development includes Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the State of Illinois, HOME funds from the City of Champaign and the State of Illinois, Affordable Housing Program funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, and other sources as needed. The new development will include 50 units of mixed-income as well as a community space, onsite laundry, and a manager&acirc;&euro;&trade;s apartment. With construction scheduled to begin in early 2005, the redevelopment should be completed by July 2006 and occupancy completed by December 2006.<br />
Taylor Thomas Subdivision<br />
<br />
The proposed development will contain 15 single-family homes, 12 of which are being subsidized by the City through HOME and Community Development Block Grants to create affordable housing compliant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The site was formerly the location of the Mansard Square Apartments, which were demolished in 1999 and 2000 to make room for the future development of single-family homes. Infrastructure improvements have already been completed and housing construction began in August of 2003. The subdivision was named after Taylor Thomas, a local educator who served the community in a variety of ways. He was the first director of the Douglass Center, the first honorary commissioner of the Champaign Park District, and one of the first African-Americans to teach in the Urbana School District.</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
            </div><!-- end element-set --><div class="item-file application-pdf"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/1248/fullsize">December-2010.pdf</a></div><div class="item-file image-jpeg"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/1249/fullsize"><img src="/portal/files/display/1249/square_thumbnail" class="thumb" alt="City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Community Development Projects" width="300" height="300"/>
</a></div><div class="item-file image-jpeg"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/1250/fullsize"><img src="/portal/files/display/1250/square_thumbnail" class="thumb" alt="City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Community Development Projects" width="300" height="300"/>
</a></div>]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 May 2010 00:43:46 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[Links from the Youth Community Informatics (YCI) program relating to local African-Americans]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/272</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Links from the Youth Community Informatics (YCI) program relating to local African-Americans</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
                <div id="dublin-core-description" class="element">
        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">http://elseyjdc.wordpress.com/<br />
<br />
http://yci.illinois.edu/yci/?page_id=728<br />
<br />
http://yci.illinois.edu/yci/?page_id=1379</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">#<br />
Champaign teens document community&acirc;&euro;&trade;s perspective on poverty.<br />
<br />
Location: Champaign, IL<br />
<br />
Three Champaign Centennial High School students are producing a three-part radio series addressing the topic of poverty in their community with the help of GSLIS student and former reporter Moustafa Ayad. The students, Raisha Mitchel, Clorissa Mainor and Christina Coleman are part of a community journalism project, funded by the Youth Community Informatics (YCI) IMLS grant, called Community Care and Research. The project is providing the students with research techniques and community-based journalism skills that allow them to explore topics that are important to their lives.<br />
<br />
Ayad and his students recently visited Amplified Librarians, a Monday night radio show on WRFU hosted by two GSLIS students, to share the first part of their series. The segment discusses why the group chose to focus on the topic of poverty, how the topic personally affects them and their community and the background research they performed to prepare for their project.<br />
<br />
Part two of the series chronicles the group&acirc;&euro;&trade;s visit to a North Champaign polling place on Election Day to talk to local residents about poverty. Interview subjects discussed how poverty affects their health and the community at-large, as well as how they believed the presidential candidates would address poverty in America.<br />
<br />
====<br />
<br />
In Search of Hip Hop Express Upcoming for Summer 2010<br />
<br />
(Above is a mock up of the wrap design for the &acirc;&euro;&oelig;In Search of Hip Hop Express&acirc;&euro;)<br />
<br />
Introduction<br />
<br />
Youth, particularly African Americans that live in the northern parts of the community, have expressed that young people get into trouble for two main reasons.  The first is that they do what others do in their community as a means to survive. The second is that they have never really seen anything other than what is on their block or in the community.  This project was conceptualized to address those two issues.<br />
<br />
Project Philosophy<br />
<br />
In Search of Hip Hop Express is conceptually designed to function as a modern day Jessup Wagon. The Jessup Wagon was a school on wheels developed by the great agricultural scientist, George Washington Carver, to educate black and white farmers in the early 1900s and later adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Morris K. Jessup, a philanthropist from New York funded the project. Both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver believed that if farmers wouldn&acirc;&euro;&trade;t come to Tuskegee, then Tuskegee would go to them. Now, Fast-forward a century, In Search of Hip Hop Express is steeped in that same philosophy.  However, our mission is to extend the civic engagement and service mission of the University of Illinois by utilizing the aesthetic elements of urban America culture, namely Hip Hop to &acirc;&euro;&oelig;scale up&acirc;&euro; the idea of the Jessup Wagon to reach potentially at-risk young people.<br />
<br />
Approach and Goals<br />
<br />
University of Illinois students will serve as multi-media mentors to young people involved in the project, working particularly with Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club to identify young people involved in their Comcast Media Lab to inspire them to learn how to use media to promote and develop responsible events that build and sustain community for young people. </div>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:44:09 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[Articles and links on St. Luke's C.M.E. in Champaign]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/270</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
        <div id="dublin-core-title" class="element">
        <h3>Title</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Articles and links on St. Luke&#039;s C.M.E. in Champaign</div>
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                <div id="dublin-core-description" class="element">
        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">http://www.dailyillini.com/blogs/cu-in-the-news/2010/03/08/champaign-park-district-to-celebrate-black-history<br />
<br />
http://thechristianindexonline.blogspot.com/2010/01/st.html<br />
<br />
http://www.smilepolitely.com/opinion/the_church_hopper_3_st._luke_cme/</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Champaign Park District to celebrate black history<br />
Svjetlana Stojanovic   News staff writer   Contact me<br />
March 8th, 2010 - 2:02 PM<br />
Tagged with: Champaign Park District, Douglass Community Center<br />
Share on FacebookRecommend thisPost a commentDecrease Text SizeIncrease Text Size<br />
<br />
The Douglass Community Center will celebrate black history with an afternoon of free entertainment.<br />
<br />
The event will take place April 24 at 3 p.m.<br />
<br />
The play &acirc;&euro;&oelig;From the Bidder&acirc;&euro;&trade;s Box to the White House&acirc;&euro; will be presented by the Douglass seniors.<br />
<br />
Praise Dancers from Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church and New Life Choir from St. Luke C.M.E. Church will also be performing at the event.<br />
<br />
==<br />
<br />
St. Luke Honored for<br />
One Church One School<br />
<br />
St. Luke CME in Champaign, IL, where Rev. Dr. Clarence Buchanan is the pastor, was recognized at the December 14, 2009 Champaign School District Board of Education meeting for its One Church One School initiative at the school district&acirc;&euro;&trade;s Academic Academy.<br />
<br />
A certificate designating St. Luke as an A+ Partner was presented to Patricia McKinney Lewis, St. Luke&acirc;&euro;&trade;s One Church One School Coordinator, by Superintendent Arthur Culver.<br />
Pictures of staff members from the Academic Academy attending a worship service at St. Luke were projected on a large screen during the presentation.<br />
<br />
Recent OCOS projects at the Academic Academy consisted of St. Luke&acirc;&euro;&trade;s Minister Jacqueline Davis starting a workshop series in November on the topic of &acirc;&euro;&oelig;Building Self-Esteem and Character Building.&acirc;&euro;<br />
<br />
On December 17, 2009, Tanya Chillis, a nurse, spoke to female students about respecting their bodies and maintaining positive images. Mrs. Chllis is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a collaborator with St. Luke&acirc;&euro;&trade;s One Church One School initiative.<br />
St. Luke members with school age children are invited to attended parent meetings in which speakers will speak on topics that may be of interest to them. Students at the Academic Academy are available for service learning projects designed to help senior citizens at St. Luke CME.<br />
<br />
Photo shows Patricia McKinney Lewis accepting the A+ Partnership certificate from Champaign School District Superintendent Arthur Culver.<br />
<br />
==<br />
<br />
The Church Hopper #3: St. Luke CME<br />
<br />
Posted in OPINION to Your Humble Heretic by Ryan Neaveill on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 9:30 am<br />
<br />
St. Luke CMEThis past Sunday, April 27, my family and I attended St. Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Champaign. I had never attended a CME church before and so I really did not know what to expect. The only things I really knew for sure were that this church has, like me, a Methodist heritage and that it has, unlike me, a black heritage.<br />
<br />
I have visited or attended many Methodist churches (e.g., Urbana First UMC, Champaign First UMC, Wesley UMC, New Horizon ) but they have all, unfortunately, lacked in the area of cultural diversity. I have also visited a few black churches (e.g., Love Corner, Salem Baptist, Canaan Missionary Baptist ), but none of these had Methodist roots.<br />
<br />
So I was quite curious about St. Luke CME, for here is a church that has both a black and a Methodist heritage. How, then, would it come across? Would one of these heritages win out over the other? Or would this church somehow manage to marry Methodist and black culture into a cohesive whole?<br />
<br />
I was pleased to find that the latter was the case.<br />
<br />
The worship service at St. Luke followed traditional Methodist liturgy and all of its old familiar trappings were present including an organ prelude, call to worship, choir processional, hymns, gloria patria, scripture reading, sermon, offering, doxology, benediction and postlude. We even said the Apostle&acirc;&euro;&trade;s Creed.<br />
<br />
But this wasn&acirc;&euro;&trade;t your old, stodgy, anal-retentive Methodist worship service, for driving all of this familiar liturgy was the infectious and celebratory music of the black church.<br />
<br />
It rocked.<br />
<br />
And the folks at St. Luke were by far the friendliest I have ever met in a worship service. I think almost everyone in that church shook my hand.<br />
<br />
My only complaint about St. Luke &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and forgive me if I&acirc;&euro;&trade;m starting to sound like a broken record &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; is that there was no Eucharist. I really don&acirc;&euro;&trade;t want to preach another sermon here about the importance of Communion in Christian worship, so all you churches out there in Champaign-Urbana, would you please just start doing it every time you worship?<br />
<br />
OK, off my soapbox.<br />
<br />
St. Luke is a lively and friendly church that has successfully joined the Methodist and black cultures into a rockin&acirc;&euro;&trade; good worship service. So if that&acirc;&euro;&trade;s what you&acirc;&euro;&trade;re looking for in a church then check &acirc;&euro;&trade;em out at 809 N. Fifth Street in Champaign.<br />
<br />
St. Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church: 4 stars<br />
3 comments<br />
username<br />
ad<br />
05/07/08 at 05:59<br />
#1<br />
<br />
Is it air conditioned? Do they provide child care during service or other times? Do they have help getting there van or volunteer?  Are they accessible to the handicapped? Did you let them know you were comming?  You were welcome as a guest, do you think you would be welcome as a member being outside of the culture? What is the average age? Were their many children, what age groups? Are there many singles? What committees/charity do they sponsor internaly and externaly? Is the minister the kind of guy you call for help in the middle of the night? What is the average income?  What is the dress code? Are the taking new parishers and if so what&acirc;&euro;&trade;s involved?<br />
Ryan Neaveill avatar<br />
Ryan Neaveill<br />
05/08/08 at 05:51<br />
#2<br />
<br />
Those are all excellent questions. I will try to incorporate some of them into my next Church Hopper article. Thanks for your feedback.<br />
username<br />
Rob<br />
05/28/08 at 05:49<br />
#3<br />
<br />
I have enjoyed your previous postings and they were wonderfully descriptive and very detailed on several points.<br />
<br />
I didn&acirc;&euro;&trade;t get a clear picture of this church. I was also curious about the cultural diversity you were seeking? The adage about Sunday morning being our most racially divided hour of the week is a tough trend to overcome.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
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</a></div><div class="item-file image-jpeg"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/1247/fullsize"><img src="/portal/files/display/1247/square_thumbnail" class="thumb" alt="Articles and links on St. Luke&amp;#039;s C.M.E. in Champaign" width="300" height="300"/>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:33:39 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[Articles on the "Heavenly Seven," a grass-roots African-American Men's Group]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/268</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Articles on the &quot;Heavenly Seven,&quot; a grass-roots African-American Men&#039;s Group</div>
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        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Activism</div>
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        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Group active since ca. 2007. Articles from News-Gazette and Daily Illini.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
&#039;Heavenly Seven&#039; improve quality of life for community members<br />
Group members plan dinners, hand out school supplies<br />
Patrick Wade   News staff writer<br />
Posted: September 6th, 2007 - 12:00 AM<br />
Updated: April 22nd, 2009 - 12:49 AM<br />
Tagged with: Bill Hamilton, Person Career, Quotation, Rodney Butler, News<br />
<br />
Sitting in a dimly lit garage once a month, 15 men open and close their meeting with a prayer. They talk about how they can help the elderly and young adults.<br />
<br />
Most importantly, they talk about how they can better the community.<br />
<br />
They call themselves the &quot;Heavenly Seven.&quot;<br />
<br />
&quot;Our goal is to provide for our community, the whole community - black, white, whatever you want to be,&quot; said Rodney Butler, a Heavenly Seven member and vice chairman for the National Council of African-American Men.<br />
<br />
About two years ago, the seven founders, most of whom are retired, decided to start a group to address issues in their area.<br />
<br />
&quot;When we got started, we didn&#039;t know how far it would go,&quot; said Bill Hamilton, president of the Heavenly Seven. &quot;But then we just started working, and we organized it, and decided we&#039;d get a charter.&quot;<br />
<br />
Now that group of seven has grown to 15, they continue to work with children and senior citizens, planning dinners and other functions, despite the fact they pay for everything out of their own pockets.<br />
<br />
&quot;We&#039;re trying to prepare our youth to succeed from kindergarten to 12th grade,&quot; Butler said. &quot;Education is the key.&quot;<br />
<br />
On Aug. 25, the group gave out bookbags and other school supplies to area kids who needed them.<br />
<br />
&quot;When I saw the smile on those kids&#039; faces over there the other day, it really took me,&quot; said Augustus Johnson, a member of the group.<br />
<br />
But for the Heavenly Seven, bookbags are just the beginning.<br />
<br />
&quot;We&#039;ve got to start somewhere,&quot; Johnson said. &quot;We started there, so we&#039;ve got to keep on moving.&quot;<br />
<br />
The group is trying to improve the quality of life in predominantly black communities in town.<br />
<br />
&quot;I think it&#039;s very, very positive for older African-American men to participate in younger African-American men and women&#039;s lives,&quot; said Seon Williams, who has talked to members of the Heavenly Seven on the Sunday morning radio program he co-hosts for WEFT. &quot;They&#039;re showing the openness of love and concern.&quot;<br />
<br />
Willie B. Franklin, vice president of the group, said that they are trying to open opportunities for black children that have not been there for them in the past.<br />
<br />
&quot;We are put on a different pedestal, because we are the minority,&quot; Butler added. &quot;Our kids are not supposed to learn, just like 50 years ago.&quot;<br />
<br />
The group brought enough supplies to the function for 100 people, but in about 20 minutes, everything was gone.<br />
<br />
&quot;We ran out of supplies,&quot; Hamilton said. &quot;We just didn&#039;t have enough for them.&quot;<br />
<br />
Moving beyond school supplies would be difficult without some kind of help from the community, group member James Culp said.<br />
<br />
&quot;We&#039;ve got to have donations from people in order to accomplish what we are trying to do,&quot; Johnson said. &quot;We just can&#039;t do it out of our pockets.&quot;<br />
<br />
Butler said the group has asked both the Champaign and Urbana city councils for assistance, but have been denied by both.<br />
<br />
&quot;The city is always saying they&#039;re concerned with building a new overpass over there on the west side,&quot; Butler said. &quot;What about the infrastructure that&#039;s already in place?&quot;<br />
<br />
Kerri Spear, acting neighborhood services director for Champaign, said that the Champaign Police Department has been working in the District 1 community and directing many programs to help the residents in that area. No one from the police department was available to comment on these programs.<br />
<br />
Hamilton asked that anybody who is interested in donating or helping the Heavenly Seven call his home at 217-643-2854.<br />
<br />
As the Heavenly Seven begins to face more situations like the school supply giveaway, they are reaching out to the community and the cities for assistance.<br />
<br />
&quot;We need help,&quot; Butler said.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Divine intervention helps schoolchildren<br />
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 9:24am<br />
<br />
Angels come in all shapes and sizes.<br />
<br />
It&#039;s amazing how much good well-intentioned people can do when they channel their collective energy and ideas into public service.<br />
<br />
Take the Heavenly Seven Club, a group of local men who liked to get together, play cards and have fun. They decided they wanted to expand their social activities in a way that served the community. They eventually decided to focus on helping schoolchildren and the elderly.<br />
<br />
This month will mark the third year they&#039;ve provided backpacks containing back-to-school supplies for needy children. The first year they gave away 100 backpacks, and they expect to increase that number this year to 200.<br />
<br />
The giveaway is planned for Aug. 15 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Morning Star Free Will Baptist Church in Urbana.<br />
<br />
Although they accept donations, the men pay for the items mostly by themselves.<br />
<br />
They&#039;re also planning a Thanksgiving dinner for seniors. Last year, they served about 150 people.<br />
<br />
This is a wonderful example of how just a small group (the club has grown from seven to 15 members) can make a big difference in helping people. While setting a wonderful example of community spirit, they also enjoy the sense of personal satisfaction gained by lending a hand to people in need.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Group of men plans to give school items away to needy<br />
Photo by: Heather Coit<br />
<br />
Photo Caption: Members of the Heavenly Seven Club on Tuesday surround a table filled with school supplies they bought, which they plan to give to children in need. From left are Percy McNutt, Willie Franklin, Michael Davis, Columbus Boykins, Cle Easley, club treasurer Bill Hamilton and club president Joe McVay.<br />
Thu, 08/06/2009 - 9:06am | Jodi Heckel <br />
<br />
A sampling of school supplies was laid out neatly on a table in a driveway &acirc;&euro;&ldquo; rows of pencils, notebooks, crayons, markers, glue sticks and backpacks.<br />
<br />
Soon those materials will be given away to children whose families may not have the money to buy the items themselves. The school supply drive is courtesy of a group of men who call themselves the Heavenly Seven Club.<br />
<br />
Many are longtime friends who get together to talk and laugh and play cards. A few years ago, they talked about starting a hunting club, but not all of them wanted to hunt, said Bill Hamilton, one of the club members. Several of the men had been in a fraternal organization together at one time that did community service work. So the talk turned to their community and the needs of families.<br />
<br />
The men decided to do something for kids and senior citizens in the community, and they came up with a name.<br />
<br />
&quot;That&#039;s how we got it started, just sitting around,&quot; Hamilton said.<br />
<br />
This will be the third year the group has collected school supplies for elementary school children, and the men are planning their third Thanksgiving dinner this fall for senior citizens.<br />
<br />
The men get the school supply lists for kindergarten through fifth grade and they fill backpacks with the required supplies. They gave away about 100 backpacks their first year, and 150 last year. This year, they hope to give away 200.<br />
<br />
&quot;Each time they&#039;ve done it, people have been very appreciative &acirc;&euro;&ldquo; &#039;Thank you. You just don&#039;t know how much you&#039;ve helped us,&#039;&quot; said Sandy Lee, the partner of one of the club members, Percy McNutt.<br />
<br />
&quot;This year I&#039;m sure there will be more people because of the need in the community,&quot; she said. &quot;The economy is really tough for all of us.&quot;<br />
<br />
The giveaway keeps growing, Lee said, but the money doesn&#039;t.<br />
<br />
The men pay for most of the supplies themselves. This year, the group will have a food booth at Champaign-Urbana Days at Douglass Park this weekend to raise some money. They also accept donations.<br />
<br />
Lee and several wives look for back-to-school sales and do most of the shopping. They buy a lot of the supplies at Staples because the store allows them to get more than the limited quantity of sale items available to most customers.<br />
<br />
At the school supply giveaway, the club provides refreshments for the kids &acirc;&euro;&ldquo; hot dogs, chips, cookies, juice.<br />
<br />
&quot;We have a great time doing it,&quot; said Joe McVay, the club president. &quot;It&#039;s a great reward for us to invest back in their education.&quot;<br />
<br />
McVay was not one of the original Heavenly Seven, but he joined after seeing how the group helped the community.<br />
<br />
&quot;I was just overwhelmed with what they were doing, and I had to be part of this organization,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Cle Easley, one of the newer members of the club, added: &quot;It makes us feel good that we&#039;re doing it as a group.&quot;<br />
<br />
He added that the men benefited from the same kind of attention from older members of the community when they were young.<br />
<br />
&quot;The older people showed us the way,&quot; Easley said. &quot;We had somebody watch over us and make sure we stayed out of trouble. We&#039;re trying to do the same thing.&quot;<br />
<br />
The club, which now has 15 members, meets monthly to talk about what is going on in the community and what needs there are. One idea they are working on is providing trips to museums for area kids.<br />
<br />
The men also attend a different church together once a month.<br />
<br />
And they do the cooking for their annual Thanksgiving meal for senior citizens.<br />
<br />
Well, they get some help from their wives, McVay said. &quot;We don&#039;t want a disaster,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
The dinner fed about 150 people last year, and included gospel music.<br />
<br />
&quot;Gosh, those seniors from all over love it,&quot; Lee said. &quot;They put on a little show for them, and it&#039;s a social event. Everybody&#039;s exhausted afterward, but it&#039;s such a great event.&quot;<br />
<br />
Hamilton added: &quot;We put a lot of smiles on people&#039;s faces. What we are putting out is love.&quot;</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">Various</div>
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                                    <div class="element-text">2007-2010</div>
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        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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            </div><!-- end element-set --><div class="item-file image-jpeg"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/290/fullsize"><img src="/portal/files/display/290/square_thumbnail" class="thumb" alt="Articles on the &amp;quot;Heavenly Seven,&amp;quot; a grass-roots African-American Men&amp;#039;s Group" width="300" height="300"/>
</a></div><div class="item-file image-jpeg"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/291/fullsize"><img src="/portal/files/display/291/square_thumbnail" class="thumb" alt="Articles on the &amp;quot;Heavenly Seven,&amp;quot; a grass-roots African-American Men&amp;#039;s Group" width="300" height="300"/>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:56:27 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[CUCPJ Makes Proposals to Champaign Police Union Contract in Wake of Kiwane Carrington Killing]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/267</link>
      <description><![CDATA[<div class="element-set">
    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
        <div id="dublin-core-title" class="element">
        <h3>Title</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">CUCPJ Makes Proposals to Champaign Police Union Contract in Wake of Kiwane Carrington Killing</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
            <div id="dublin-core-subject" class="element">
        <h3>Subject</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Policing</div>
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        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text"><p>For full article visit: <a href="http://ucimc.org/content/cucpj-makes-proposals-champaign-police-union-contract-wake-kiwane-carrington-killing">http://ucimc.org/content/cucpj-makes-proposals-champaign-police-union-contract-wake-kiwane-carrington-killing</a> .</p></div>
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        <h3>Creator</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Brian Dolinar</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
                <div id="dublin-core-publisher" class="element">
        <h3>Publisher</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">UCIMC</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
            <div id="dublin-core-date" class="element">
        <h3>Date</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">20 April 2010</div>
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    <h2>Contribution Form</h2>
        <div id="contribution-form-online-submission" class="element">
        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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</a></div><div class="item-file application-pdf"><a class="download-file" href="/portal/files/download/289/fullsize">cucpj-makes-proposals-champaign-police-union-contract-wake-kiwane-carrington-killing.pdf</a></div>]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:45:57 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[Equal but Separate 
]]></title>
      <link>https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/263</link>
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    <h2>Dublin Core</h2>
        <div id="dublin-core-title" class="element">
        <h3>Title</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Equal but Separate <br />
</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
                <div id="dublin-core-description" class="element">
        <h3>Description</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">The article posted on the University of Illinois alumni Magazine dealing with the racial separation on the U of I campus. As the article states that the laws change but the people don&#039;t. Unless the change how they really view the world.  <br />
<br />
Article Text: Fifty years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, whites and blacks on campus seem to &#039;get along without getting along&#039;<br />
<br />
By Kevin Davis<br />
<br />
Editor&#039;s Note:<br />
Since the beginning of the academic year, the University of Illinois has held a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed racial segregation in the nation&#039;s public schools. In light of the anniversary of this landmark Supreme Court case, Illinois Alumni sought to assess the status of black and white relations on campus by talking with students present and past. We recognize that race relations have come to mean much more than how blacks and whites get along, and encompass the relationships among students of various racial and ethnic cultures from around the world, each with their own unique experiences, histories and sets of concerns.<br />
At the beginning of the fall semester, incoming students Laura and Lisa were assigned to share a dorm room at the Florida Avenue Residence Hall. The pre-med biology majors had never met before and soon realized that this chance living arrangement would become an exercise in racial integration.<br />
Lisa is black and comes from the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago. Laura is Caucasian, from the mostly white Chicago suburb of Lombard. Despite having shared close quarters for months, the young women&#039;s lives and interests remain worlds apart.<br />
&quot;Our cultures are so different,&quot; says Laura. &quot;It places some barriers between us.&quot;<br />
One clear difference is their interest in racial matters. On Lisa&#039;s dorm room shelf is a copy of &quot;Jim Crow&#039;s Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision.&quot; Chancellor Nancy Cantor urged every student entering the University in 2003 to read it as part of the University&#039;s commemoration of the historic school integration case.<br />
&quot;I wanted to be part of the discussion they were having on campus about it,&quot; says Lisa, a junior transfer student. &quot;I want to participate in as many things as I can. It&#039;s important.&quot;<br />
Laura, a freshman, was less inclined. &quot;They gave out free copies to everyone in the building,&quot; she says. &quot;I didn&#039;t take one. I felt it was being thrown in my face. I think it was too pushy.&quot;<br />
She has declined to participate in other events, as well. &quot;It&#039;s getting exhausting,&quot; Laura says. &quot;I just don&#039;t have the time. ... I&#039;m not prejudiced, and I don&#039;t hate anyone.&quot;<br />
While Laura and Lisa may not end up as best friends, they acknowledge and understand their differences. Their relationship is like that of many blacks and whites on campus &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; friendly and civil but at a distance.<br />
&quot;We&#039;re different,&quot; Lisa says, &quot;but we&#039;re cool about it.&quot;<br />
&quot;I have my friends,&quot; Laura says, &quot;and she has hers.&quot;<br />
Same campus, different perspectives<br />
At a time when more blacks are enrolled at the University than ever, black and white students continue to live in separate worlds, much as they do outside the world of academics.<br />
&quot;The culture on campus is pretty much a reflection of the society from which the students come,&quot; says Leonard Steinhorn, a communications professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and an expert in race relations. &quot;But that doesn&#039;t necessarily mean that campuses can&#039;t be an oasis to try to counteract that culture.&quot;<br />
Steinhorn, who co-authored &quot;By the Color of Our Skin: The Illusion of Integration and the Reality of Race,&quot; writes of a &quot;striking contrast between our very public ideal of a racially integrated America and the daily, grinding reality of a society deeply divided by race.&quot;<br />
But with higher education come higher expectations and greater opportunities to break down those divisions. &quot;On campuses today, they&#039;re teaching students the real meaning of diversity in this world and asking them to look beyond their core assumptions,&quot; Stein-horn says. &quot;At least the campus has done the job in trying to mitigate the barriers we see in the rest of society.&quot;<br />
At the University of Illinois, administrators, professors and students have worked hard to create a culture of greater understanding and a deeper thinking about race relations through classes, lectures and events like the Brown v. Board commemoration.<br />
Interviews and surveys suggest that black students do not perceive the University as a racially hostile place, yet feel that pockets of racist attitudes and behavior continue to exist beneath the surface of a campus where whites make up 67.6 percent of the undergraduate population and blacks 7.5 percent (based on fall 2003 enrollment figures).<br />
As a group, blacks have expressed the least satisfaction with the state of race relations compared to other minorities, according to senior survey results from last year. Whites, on the other hand, generally believe that race relations are going pretty well.<br />
Blatant acts of racism and hate crimes are rare but do surface from time to time. Officially, there was only one hate crime reported to University police in the past three years.<br />
Rather than a racially charged campus, there appears to be an atmosphere of polite tolerance. Students of different color accept each other but often cut themselves short from developing deeper relationships, choosing instead to associate with their own racial and ethnic groups.<br />
<br />
Patricia Wierzbicki and Daniel Williams<br />
Walk around campus today, and you see people of color everywhere - darting across the Quad from class to class, hanging out in the Illini Union, in the residence halls, at the fast food restaurants along Green Street. But it is apparent that people with similar skin color tend to stick together.<br />
Moises Jerez, MS &#039;03 ALS, is a 22-year-old black graduate student in sports management. He&#039;s from the West Side of Chicago. He knew before coming to the University that he would feel different as a black man on campus.<br />
He sees a campus in which the races largely ignore one another. &quot;Overall, I don&#039;t see any communication between whites and blacks,&quot; Jerez says. &quot;There are no problems because there is no communication. Blacks stick to themselves, and so do the whites. There&#039;s hardly ever been a clash between the two in the six years I&#039;ve been here. I guess that means that they get along without getting along.&quot;<br />
Like many black students, Jerez tends to spend time outside the classroom with those like himself. He leads a group called House Arrest II Dance Team, hosting shows and performing at parties, most of which are attended by blacks. &quot;We try to reach out to other people, but it&#039;s not something I guess they&#039;re interested in,&quot; he says. &quot;But a lot of my African-American friends aren&#039;t hanging out with white people, either.&quot;<br />
&#039;It&#039;s almost like a subculture&#039;<br />
The Florida Avenue Residence Hall has a reputation among students as the &quot;black dorm&quot; because of the large population of blacks living there, many by choice. This past fall, blacks made up 20.2 percent of the population, higher than any other residence hall. (Overall, blacks represented 11.5 percent of the residence hall population.)<br />
Once a week, FAR hosts a soul food night in the cafeteria, with a DJ spinning music on a booming sound system. While black students from dorms around the campus congregate at the meal, white students tend to stay away.<br />
&quot;There&#039;s not a white person in the place,&quot; says Laura. &quot;Me and my friends usually go somewhere else for dinner. &quot;It&#039;s really uncomfortable and really loud.&quot;<br />
Her roommate, Lisa, likes soul food night. She says white students who venture in often appear ill at ease in the presence of so many blacks. &quot;Some of them were not exposed to this much diversity before,&quot; she says. &quot;They come here, and they feel uncomfortable. But that&#039;s [what] it&#039;s like to be diverse, so get used to it.&quot;<br />
Events like this affirm Laura&#039;s opinion that blacks cling together, making it more difficult to get to know them. &quot;They pride themselves by saying they want to be equal, but they still choose to have their own clubs and have their own homecoming,&quot; says Laura, whose career plans led her to leave campus after her first semester. &quot;They choose to separate themselves.&quot;<br />
Senior Daniel Williams recognizes differences exist between white and black cultures but urges students to embrace new experiences. A political science major with a focus on racial and ethnic politics, Williams, who is black, has made deep friendships on campus with men and women of many ethnic groups.<br />
&quot;You have to have a willingness to accept and to be curious about [someone] as a person &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; race included,&quot; says Williams. &quot;[People] don&#039;t become friends on the basis [that] they&#039;re of two different races; they&#039;re friends because of commonalities.&quot;<br />
Williams&#039; best friend, a white UI student named Patricia Wierzbicki, &quot;didn&#039;t see me as different,&quot; he says. &quot;She didn&#039;t make assumptions like I was poor, from the projects, with no father. ... She looked at me as a regular person.&quot; He says preconceptions prevent people from reaching out to different racial groups.</div>
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            <div id="dublin-core-creator" class="element">
        <h3>Creator</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Kevin Davis</div>
                    </div><!-- end element -->
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        <h3>Source</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">Illinois Alumni Magazine</div>
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        <h3>Date</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">March/April 2004</div>
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    <h2>Contribution Form</h2>
        <div id="contribution-form-online-submission" class="element">
        <h3>Online Submission</h3>
                                    <div class="element-text">No</div>
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    <h2>Scripto</h2>
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                                    <div class="element-text"><a href="http://www.uiaa.org/illinois/news/illinoisalumni/utxt0402c.html">http://www.uiaa.org/illinois/news/illinoisalumni/utxt0402c.html</a></div>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:04:15 +0000</pubDate>
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