October 26, 2022
Dear Mayor Lightfoot,
It has been seven years since Chicago’s City Council passed unprecedented legislation providing reparations to people tortured by notorious former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the detectives under his command. In doing so, the City of Chicago made history becoming the first municipality in the U.S. to provide redress for racially motivated police violence
With the passage of the legislation, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM) and others have worked tirelessly with City officials to implement the reparations legislation providing holistic redress which included: an official apology; monetary compensation; the creation of the Chicago Torture Justice Center; a history curriculum (“Reparations Won”) about the Burge torture cases taught in Chicago Public Schools; free enrollment in Chicago City Colleges; and the creation of a public memorial for the Burge torture survivors. The one component of this legislation that has yet to be fulfilled is the creation of the permanent public memorial.
CTJM demanded the memorial be included as part of the reparations legislation to ensure that this chapter of racially motivated state violence is not erased from public memory by inscribing it onto the landscape of Chicago. The memorial is a testament to the survivors, their families and communities who persevered and struggled for justice as they grappled with their unrelenting trauma. Like memorials in South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Germany, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama, Chicago’s memorial will show the nation and the world how public art can bear witness to the ugly truth of our past and how people can come together collectively to seek change and repair systematic harm. It will serve as a call to action that connects the past with the current struggles to end racist police violence and systemic racism. The City of Chicago, when promising to build the Burge torture justice memorial appropriately acknowledged that “education about the transgressions of the past is essential to laying claim to a future that is free of racism, discrimination, inequality and cruelty.”
CTJM continues to work with City officials to secure a site for the memorial, titled “Breath, Form & Freedom” in the 20th ward where the Chicago Torture Justice Center is currently located. While CTJM has raised $500,000 to build the memorial, the City of Chicago has made no official commitment to financially fulfill its promise to pay for the remaining costs of the project, approximately two million dollars.
The memorial will serve to permanently and publicly acknowledge what the torture survivors endured, particularly in light of the fact that they were disbelieved for decades when sharing their horrifying encounters. The fact that seven years later the memorial still has not been built serves once again to deny or disregard the state sponsored violence the survivors endured. City officials must not let political will trump justice. It is the city’s and our collective moral responsibility to not further harm or continue to traumatize our neighbors and communities who have borne the brunt of the worst forms of the city’s complicity and silence. Survivors are aging and members of their families have passed. They should have had the opportunity to see this memorial built to honor them. Justice delayed is justice denied!
Recently the Chicago Monuments Project recommended the City of Chicago build the Burge torture justice memorial, noting that such a memorial, like others, will “require significant government support to access land, expertise and funding.” This was the most recent call by advisors to your administration, Mayor Lightfoot, to call on you to commit the city to build this memorial. In May of 2019, the Arts & Culture Transition Team recommended that you fund the memorial as soon as possible.
By building the public memorial for the Burge torture survivors, the City of Chicago will make history and demonstrate true leadership in condemning racially motivated police violence. It’s time for you and Chicago’s City Council to fulfill its promises. It’s time for them to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk about racial equity and justice.
Today, we stand with CTJM to demand the City fully fund the development, construction, and maintenance of the Burge torture justice memorial, and that those funds be included in the City of Chicago’s budget for 2023.
Elected Officials:
Brandon Johnson, Cook County Commissioner
Howard B. Brookins, 21st Ward
Maria Hadden, 49th Ward
Michael D. Rodriguez, 22nd Ward
Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward
Jeanette Taylor, 20th Ward
Andre Vasquez Jr., 40th Ward
Lakesia Collins, IL State Representative, 9th District
Will Guzzardi, IL State Representative, 39th District
Joe Moore, Former Alderman, 49th Ward
Organizations/Institutions:
About Face: Veterans Against the War (Chicago)
Action Center on Race and the Economy
ACLU of Illinois
American Friends Service Committee, Chicago
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Chicago
Axis Lab
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
Chicago Community Bond Fund
Chicago Freedom School
Chicago Teachers Union
Chicago Torture Justice Center
Chicago Women Take Action
Children’s Best Interest Project
CODEPINK: Women for Peace
Collaborative for Community Wellness
Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic
Equity and Transformation (E.A.T.)
The Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School
First Defense Legal Aid
FirstFollowers
Grassroots Collaborative
IL Green New Deal
Illinois Innocence Project
The Illinois Prison Project
The Innocence Project
Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy
Jewish Council of Urban Affairs
John Brown Anti-Klan Committee
Kartemquin Films
The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender
Law for Black Lives
Love & Protect
LYTE Collective
Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity (MAMAS)
Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School
Museum and Exhibition Studies Program (UIC)
National Lawyers Guild, Chicago
Neighbors for Environmental Justice
Organized Communities Against Deportations
Palenque LSNA
Palestine Legal
Parole Illinois
People’s Law Office
Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project
Project NIA
Pushing Envelopes Chicago
Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education
REAL Youth Initiative
The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center
SOUL (Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation)
The Tea Project
United Working Families
Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois
Women’s Justice Institute
Individuals*:
Christin Adams, Social Work Graduate Student
Elena Ailes, Professor
Randall Albers, Professor
Simone Alexander
Rebecca Amato, Educator
Bethany Amburgey
Jen Ash, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials
Ben Austen, Journalist
Beth Awano, Program Coordinator at Human Rights Lab and Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture
Dr. William Ayers
Timothy Barnett, Professor, Northeastern Illinois University
Jane Beachy
Sheila Bedi, Clinical Law Professor, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Peregrine Bermas, Artist
Ionit Behar
Julie Biehl, Director of the Children and Family Justice Center
Alyssa Bierce
Martha Biondi, Lorraine H Morton Professor of African American Studies
Jeanne Bishop, Attorney and Author
Katherine Black
Dana Blanchard, Program Coordinator
Caroline Blanton
Brett Bloom, Artist and Educator
Larry Brent, Jr.
Jennifer Brier, Professor of Gender and Women Studies and History, UIC
Joy Bunton
Ryan Cairns
Jacob Campbell, Environmental Anthropologist
Anthony Cappetta
Len Cavise, Professor of Law (Emeritus) DePaul College of Law
Liú Chen
Ann Cibulskis, Chicago Resident
Harriet Clark
Judith Clark, Hour Children Community Justice Advocate
Cathy Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago
Nikki Cotto
Sabrina Craig, University of Chicago
Susie Day
Rachel DeWoskin, Novelist, Poet, Professor
Bernardine Dohrn, Retired, Clinical Professor, Northwestern Children & Family Justice Center
Brian Dolinar, Journalist
Jeff Edwards, Labor Organizer
Barbara Engel
Daniel Epstein
Deborah Eptstein, Consultant
Elizabeth Espoz
Roxana Espoz
William Estrada, Multidisciplinary Artist + Educator
Amelia Evans, Executive Director
Patricia Evans
Dr. Eve L. Ewing, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago
Sylvia Ewing, Poet
Brian Ferguson
Isis Ferguson, Arts Administrator
Dr. Luke Fiddler, Curator, Institute of the Arts and Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz
Marc Fischer, Artist and Publisher
Michael Fischer, Instructor the Odyssey Project at IL Humanities
Jason Fountain, Higher Education + Development Coordinator, Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project
Laurel Jean Fredrickson, Professor
Rory Fanning, Author and Activist
Craig Futterman, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
Joby Gardner
Maria Gaspar, Artist and Educator
Chris Guzaitis, Resident of Chicago
Sarah Dávila, Director, International Human Rights Clinic at UIC Law
Stacy Davis Gates, President of the Chicago Teachers’ Union
Genevieve Galang
Adom Getachew, Professor
Amber Ginsburg, Artist and Lecturer, University of Chicago
Christina Gómez, Professor, School of Art Institute of Chicago
Eliza Gonring
Deborah Gould, Associate Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Cruz
Adam Green, Associate Professor, American History and the College, University of Chicago
Robert Greenwald, President of Brave New Films
Haley Greep
Ryan Griffis, Chicago Resident
Jacky Grimshaw, Chair of Chicago Women Take Action
Donna Guttman, Activist and Organizer
Sandy Guttman, Curator
Susan Gzesh, Professor, University of Chicago
Anne Hallett
Deborah Harrington, Co-Chair of the Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative
August Hastings
Renee Camillee Hatcher, Director and Assistant Law Professor of the Community Enterprise & Solidarity Clinic
Tempestt Hazel, Curator, Writer, Co-Founder of Sixty Inches From Center
Skyla S. Hearn, Archivist
India Hilty
Brian Holmes
Elizabeth Horowitz
Aaron Hughes, Artist
Davida Ingram
Johari Jabir
Mary Jane Jacob, Director, Institute for Curatorial Research and Practice, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Raphel Jackson, Case Manager
Sparsh Jain
Hamza Jilani
Jennifer Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union
Mariame Kaba, Executive Director, Project NIA
Geralynn Kahn
Dima Khalidi, Director, Palestine Legal
Susan Kaplan, formerly with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Maryam Kashani, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Lauren Kaeseberg, Co-Director, Illinois Innocence Project
Dima Khalidi, Director, Palestine Legal
Alice Kim, Director, Pozen Center Human Rights Lab, University of Chicago
Judith Kossy
Anna Krause
Douglass Krause
Kevin Kumashiro, Educational Consultant and Former Dean
Bill Lamme
Daniel Lastres
Lisa Yun Lee, Associate Professor, UIC
Kirsten Leenaars, Artist
Robert E. Lehrer, Attorney
Carole Levine, Board Member, Chicago Women Take Action
Lauren Leving, Curator at moCA Cleveland
Laura Levitan
Amanda Lewis, Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy, IRRPP
Deana Lewis, Survived & Punished National Steering Committee
Sarah Lewison, Artist, Writer, Professor
Maria Eugenia Lopez, Faculty, Museum and Exhibition Studies Program (UIC)
Gabrielle Lyon
Tracye A. Matthews, Documentary Filmmaker
Alex Orfirer Maher, Associate Curator, National Public Housing Museum
Sherrie Malleis, Coordinator of Chicago Women Take Action
Devin Malone, Arts Worker
Noreen McNulty
Erica Meiners, Professor, Author
Patrick Miner
Shelley Miller, Retired Teacher
Phyllis Mitzen, Consultant
Joey Mogul, Partner, People’s Law Office
Jessica Mueller, Artist/Educator
Nasan Navrab, Artist
Eleanor Nicholson, Retired Education
Laura Nirider, Co-Director, Center on Wrongful Convictions
Meredith Nnoka, Educator
Ydalmi V. Noriega, Chicago Resident
Isabel Nunez, Dean, School of Education, Purdue University Fort Wayne
Heather M. O’Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Media Arts, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Susan M. Oppenheimer
Francisco J. Ornelas, MAMAS
Sarah Paretsky, Author
Julie Parson Nesbitt
Hilesh Patel, Educator and Consultant
Mary Patten, Artist, Educator, Activist
Aurie A. Pennick
Christina Perez, Associate Professor of Sociology at Dominican University
Nadia Pittendrigh, Artist and Art Educator
Risa Puleo, Curator
Michael Puican
Therese Quinn, Professor
Jane Ramsey, President, Just Ventures
Dr. Barbara Ransby, Professor, Author and Activist
Dawn Reel
Susan Reverby, Professor
Karen B. Reyes, Executive Director, Firebird Community Arts
Dr. Aja D. Reynolds
Beth Richie, Professor, Author and Activist
Andrea Ritchie, Author and Activist
Oliva Ridge
Josh Rios, Artist and Art Educator
Christina Rivers, Professor
Dylan Rodriguez, Professor, Past President of American Studies Association
Eve Rosahn
Susan Rosenberg
Sarah Ross, Associate Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Dagmar Schalliol
Bianca Schindeker
Dialika Sall, Professor
Steve Saltzman, Attorney
Vanessa Sanchez
Fred Sasaki, Creative Director
Courtney Sass
Sarah Schulman, Professor and Author
Joel Schwartz, CSEA (Retired)
Nuria Sheehan, Writer
Robin Semer
Steven Serikaku
Anthony D. Stepter
Eleanor Stein, Professor and Attorney
Katja Stroke-Adolphe
Flint Taylor, Founding Partner, People’s Law Office
Anson Tong
Leanne Trapedo Sims, Assistant Professor of Peace and Justice
Asia Smith, Community Organizer with Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Anthony Spaulding
David Stovall, Professor
Albert Stabler, Assistant Professor of Art Education
Randolph Stone, Former Director of the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic
Gregory Swygert, Clinical Associate Professor, Center on Wrongful Convictions
Nik Theodore, Professor
Julian Thompson, Assistant Professor
Elizabeth Todd Breland, Associate Professor of History, University of Illinois, Chicago
Sarah Tomas Morgan, Graduate Student, University of Chicago
Fereshteh Toosi, Artist and Educator
Monica Trinidad, Artist
Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza Vanegas, Professor
Sharon Varallo, Director of Augustana Prison Education Program
Kae Vecchia-Zeitz
Jennifer Viets, Restorative Justice Practitioner
L. Vinebaum, Arts Educator
Rachel Wallis, Lecturer, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
April Ward, MAMAS
Lori Waxman, Art Critic
Deborah R. Weaver
Jessica Weller, Museum Professional
Joel Westheimer, University Research Chair in Democracy and Education
Laura Whitehorn, Social Justice Organizer
Anna Martine Whitehead, Chicago Artist
Amanda Williams, Artist
Carl Williams, Business Owner/Activist
Tyreece Williams
Tara Aisha Willis, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Bonnie L. Wishne
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Professor, Author
Andrea Yarbough, Chicago Resident
Dr. Barbara Zeller
Rebecca Zorach, Mary Jane Crowe Professor in Art and Art History at Northwestern University
* Organizations listed for Identification Purposes Only
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