A local activist as well as a former teacher with Niles Township High School District 219 say there's a failure to hire and retain Black staff at the large suburban school district.
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AMITA Health gynecologist Riley Lloyd emphasized the importance of building Black community amid the pandemic Monday night.
“What helps our community is when we’re better neighbors,” Lloyd said. “We tend to run away from (mental health)…we’re going to have to reach out more and face those demons and bring people in.”
Lloyd was joined by four local Black medical professionals at the “Bridging the Gaps: Black Health and the COVID-19 Vaccine” event, hosted by Evanston’s Second Baptist Church (SBC) and AMITA Saint Francis Hospital Evanston.
SBC senior pastor Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors and Kenneth Jones, Saint Francis Hospital’s chief executive officer moderated a conversation about the state of COVID-19 and the role of the vaccine.
“I just grabbed my phone and hit the streets,” she said.
Four years later and during another local election cycle the Evanston Chamber of Commerce has honored Gardner as the 2021 Community Leadership Person of the Year. Her platform, which produces content covering local politics, social justice efforts and community leaders, now has more than 44,000 views on YouTube and over 6,000 Facebook followers.
Catching the “entertainment bug” early in her life, Gardner moved to Los Angeles as a young woman and worked as both a touring dancer and casting director before she returned to Evanston in 2013.
“Once you know you’re this artistic, creative person, I don’t think it ever leaves you,” she said. “You feel like you’re dying when you’re doing anything other than (entertainment).”
The Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston is set to establish an Evanston Reparations Community Fund, which will be housed at the Evanston Community Foundation.
While the city’s $10 million reparations fund can only be used for housing programs and economic development, the RSAE fund, will allow the community to pursue other avenues for repair, Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) said.
In addition to housing and economic development, the RSAE fund will contribute toward education, health and wellness and cultural support. The fund will also continue reparations work after tax revenue for the city’s current reparations program is no longer available.