Legendary South Side business owner Ed Gardner on Sunday was once again protesting the lack of black workers on local construction crews, leading about 1,000 demonstrators supporting his cause.
CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov reports Gardner and his supporters marched down 95th Street in the Beverly neighborhood to the construction site of a new shopping center in neighboring Evergreen Park, demanding more African Americans be hired on work crews.
Gardner, 87, led a similar, but smaller protest, at the same sites more than a week ago, after noticing not a single black worker was on the road construction crew working along 95th Street in Beverly, or at the nearby shopping mall project in Evergreen Park.
That frustration led to Gardner’s call for hundreds of people to show up for Sunday’s protest. About 1,000 people stopped traffic on Western Avenue and 95th Street as they demanded more jobs for black workers on local construction crews.
“If we don’t work, nobody works,” protesters chanted as they marched in the street.
Read more: CBS Chicago