A Stark Look:
A 20-Year Political Retrospective:
Progress, Regression and Regrets

At the root of this retrospective are tremendous political strides made by African Americans all over the country in the 1980s. The world joined in celebration of the triumphs made by black Chicagoans after the city's first black mayor, Harold Washington, was elected in 1983. Chicago in 1983 was the last remaining symbol of 19th and 20th century machine politics. The significance of the election of Harold Washington as mayor of "The City of Big Shoulders" reverberated across the nation and spawned the push for black mayors throughout the nation, including New York City and Philadelphia. It lent encouragement to the budding movement for a serious black presidential candidate to enter the 1984 presidential primary. Thus, Rev. Jesse Jackson entered the 1984 Democratic Presidential Primary that eventually helped to change the nomination rules that paved the way for the election of Barack Obama.

The number of black elected officials throughout the state and the nation increased, and black Chicago was at the political epicenter of the black world. Chicago was the place that the rest of black America turned to for political inspiration. The black economic infrastructure that emerged from the earlier segregated environment of the 20th century was still in place. The last of the black national and local business and commercial establishments that flowered in the 1960s with headquarters in the city were still intact. These businesses were successful because they grew and developed in harmony with the emerging Civil Rights Movement. Black Chicago had the benefit of the leadership of the men and women of the so-called Greatest Generation, who had fought in WWII, manned the frontlines of the Civil Rights struggle throughout the 1960s and made the clarion call for black political empowerment. Blacks comprised almost 60 percent of the population in the city by 1980, with a significant number of this population living in public housing, located primarily on the south and west sides of the city. This population majority made it possible for the election of an additional black Congressman, Gus Savage, political activist and newspaper owner.

AFTER HAROLD
Clearly, the biggest single blow to the seemingly unlimited ascendancy of black politics was the sudden death of Mayor Harold Washington in November 1987. The turmoil and political explosion that was ignited by this death set off a chain reaction of self-defeating actions that allowed the enemies of Black progress to begin the process of dismantling the Black political infrastructure.

However, no one had any idea that our political, economic and social fortunes would undergo such a drastic transformation from the election of Harold Washington in 1983 to the present. In this interim, we have made great progress; we have regressed somewhat; and we now have some real regrets. The question that now hangs over us is why? What were the factors that led to the political regression? How did the black community spend a century building, a political infrastructure that was able to elect a black mayor only to have that infrastructure threatened after that mayor's death? These are some of the questions we're looking to address.

N'Digo, Chicago's "Magapaper for the Urbane," was born in 1989 at the beginning of the end of the black political zenith and has documented, analyzed and projected the lasting impact of this political transformation over the last 20 years. The publication's unique approach to coverage of these events has put it in the vanguard of journalism in the city and made it the voice that is looked to for analysis and direction. I have had the privilege of serving as N'Digo's political editor and columnist since 1991. From the beginning, this newspaper has been a leader in innovative journalism.

Taking the position of political editor, I was given the license to search for and locate the links between the economics, politics, social, ideological and even spiritual aspects of the local, national and international events, occurrences and actions that have impacted Chicagoans over the last 20 years. I am a firm believer that it is impossible to fully understand any issue without examining the linkages that connect cause to effect, as well as immediate and future impacts. I have done my best to bring clarity to issues using this approach.

As political editor, I have spent a considerable amount of time tracking this phenomenon and trying to explain it to the readers of this publication. I have tried to point out the same set of national and international circumstances that impact the vital interest of the black community. Thus, we have reported and analyzed everything from the Gulf War of President George Bush to the "war on terrorism" following the 2001 terrorist attacks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the election of President Barack Obama in 2008.

N'Digo was the first publication to profile now-president Obama and introduce him to the Chicago larger community. We have subsequently tracked his progress from law professor at the University of Chicago to his Illinois state senate election, his election to the United States Senate and his campaign to the presidential nomination.

We are continuing to report on his progress as president, his paucity of African American appointments, his economic policy, his foreign policy and the tremendous respect that he has gained worldwide, as evidenced by his receipt of The Nobel Peace Prize.

I am determined to continue to report, analyze and interpret the news as it affects the interest of the African American community in the best manner that I know how. I will continue to show the linkages between the economic, political, social, ideological and yes, the spiritual. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Truth is not the mere recitation of facts; it is the linkage of facts."

I intend to tell the truth!

starksandassoc@sbcglobal.net