On Friday afternoon, organizers with Southside Together sent a press release with updates in the foreclosure case of the South Shore apartment building subjected to an infamous ICE raid in September.
Mayor Brandon Johnson sent a letter to Friedman Communities on Thursday, “requesting an immediate postponement of the move-out date and $7500 lump-sum payments to each household in the building.”
A Cook County Circuit Court judge recently granted an emergency motion from Wells Fargo for all residents to vacate the South Shore property no later than Dec. 12.
Represented by the Law Center for Better Housing, the 7500 South Shore Tenants Union filed an emergency motion to reconsider, including requests to:
- extend the building’s December 12 vacate date by 60 days
- require that the City of Chicago and the building’s court-appointed receiver, Friedman Communities, create a relocation plan and provide relocation services to Union members
- require that Friedman Communities authorize $7500 payments to all Union members.
Residents of the South Shore property recently formed the 7500 South Shore Tenants Union. They’ve been highlighting the unlivable conditions in the building, and are demanding more time and money for residents to relocate.
On Monday at 1:00 p.m., the 7500 South Shore Tenants Union will hold a press conference outside the building to discuss next steps in ensuring “safe and dignified housing for all residents of 7500 S. South Shore Dr.,” according to the Southside Together press release.
Many Chicagoans are standing in solidarity with residents of the South Shore apartment building. Over the next week, organizers are hosting two solidarity rallies in the Little Village and South Shore neighborhoods.
This Saturday, a grassroots coalition of 100 Black advocates, community members, faith leaders, educators, health workers and longtime organizers are coming together to express their outrage at a solidarity rally in Little Village at Carnitas Uruapan (located at 3801 W. 26th St.) at 3:30 p.m.
“We stand in unwavering solidarity with ALL immigrant communities targeted by these raids, especially Black and brown communities,” the coalition’s press release reads. “The anti-immigrant onslaught impacted Black Chicago directly since Black immigrants are also targeted, but we see in the case of the military assault on the 75th and South Shore building, that when there is a racist attack on one group, we are all vulnerable.”
The group is calling for unity among Black and Latine communities. At Saturday’s solidarity rally, organizers will read a statement signed by prominent local leaders such as Trinity United Church of Christ Rev. Otis Moss III, Trinity United Church of Christ pastor emeritus Rev. Jeremiah Wright, activist and University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Professor Barbara Ransby, and UIC adjunct Professor Dr. Linda Murray.
“Solidarity is the antidote to authoritarianism, and attacks on Black, brown, immigrant, Palestinian and LGBTQ communities, makes us all less safe,” the coalition’s press release reads.
A second solidarity rally will take place in South Shore on Dec. 11, a day before the court-ordered evacuation of the ICE-raided property at 7500 S. South Shore Dr. The rally will last from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m, and will include remarks from Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters (D-13th) and songs by renowned Chicago artist Jamila Woods.
“We strongly support the tenant union formed by South Shore residents in the wake of the ICE assault last month that left their lives and homes in chaos,” the coalition’s press release reads. “We all deserve better and we will not fall for the divide and conquer strategy of the regime currently in the White House.”
