South Side Chicago Business Legend Protests for More Blacks in Construction Jobs

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

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top