Activists to MacArthur Foundation: Give back to Chicago

The steady pounding of African drums and chants of “black and youth power” echoed Friday outside the MacArthur Foundation’s building as about 50 parents, children and community organizers called for more money to reduce violence in Chicago.

Phillip Jackson, founder and executive director of the Black Star Project, organized the demonstration at the foundation, 140 S. Dearborn St., to demand the MacArthur Foundation invest more grants in Chicago’s black and Latino communities than it does now.

“MacArthur, as a responsible citizen of Chicago, has a responsibility to be a good Chicagoan,” Jackson said. “We’re asking MacArthur to take some of their $7 billion … and invest in activities that are going to stop black and Latinos from dying here in Chicago.”

Jackson accused the foundation of redlining with its grant money by underfunding black and Latino communities on the South and West sides — areas that do not have the same resources as Downtown Chicago.

A MacArthur representative denied those claims in an official statement, which also said the foundation has donated more to Chicago than to any other place in the world.

“Since 1979, we have invested $1.1 billion in more than 1,000 recipients of grants and impact investments, with a special focus on supporting the city’s neighborhoods where economic disparity, racial inequality, violence, and inequitable access to opportunity persist,” part of the statement reads.

“We recognize that our city is facing an urgent need for further change and meaningful progress, including on such critical issues as youth unemployment, violence and policy-community relations. We are engaged in a series of discussions with community and civic leaders and other donors about the most effective ways to further address the serious issues facing Chicago, and we have invited the Black Star Project to participate in that constructive process.”

In a May 26 op-ed published in Crain’s Chicago Business titled “MacArthur Foundation is ducking on Chicago’s most crucial issues,” Jackson examined MacArthur’s 2015 annual spending and found that of the approximately $325 million MacArthur spent worldwide, one-tenth of one percent went to organizations serving Chicago’s black communities.

Jackson said the foundation should instead allocate 33 percent of its spending on black organizations and 29 percent on Latino organizations, reflecting the percentage of blacks and Latinos that make up Chicago.

Friday’s protesters included 8-year-old triplets Aaron, Christopher and Brandon Williams.

“This is our world. We want it to be safe. We want all of you to be safe. We need MacArthur’s help and MacArthur needs our help,” Christopher said.

“[MacArthur] can keep most of their money,” Brandon said. “We are not greedy, but they should help us stop the violence because their foundation lives in Chicago, and so do we.”

Jeffrey Muhammad, chairman of the Chicago Nation of Islam Local Organizing Committee, said MacArthur has a responsibility to help Chicago’s poorer communities.

“MacArthur Foundation states that they give money, but these children don’t see it. … They make a statement that they give. We demand that whatever they give reaches the poor black children who are in harm’s way.”