Dorothy Tillman
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| Dorothy Tillman | |
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| In office 1985 – 2007 |
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| Succeeded by | Pat Dowell |
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| Constituency | Third Ward |
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| Born | May 12, 1947 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Chicago |
| Occupation | Politician |
Dorothy J. Tillman (born May 12, 1947) is a former Chicago alderman in the 3rd Ward (map). A member of the Democratic Party, she represented part of the city's South Side in the Chicago City Council. She has been a strong advocate of slavery reparations since her election in 1985. Prior to her career as an alderman, Tillman was active in the civil rights movement, working for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) as an activist. In April 2007, she was defeated in a runoff election by challenger Pat Dowell (after failing to carry the necessary minimum percentage to win in the original election). Tillman defeated Dowell in 2003.
She is known for wearing large hats and has cultivated this image as her trademark [2]
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[edit] Civil rights activities
Dorothy Tillman was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1947. She joined the SCLC as a trainee and field staff organizer in 1963.
Tillman marched with King and was one of the first SCLC activists to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in the Selma to Montgomery marches on 7 March 1965.
She had her first involvement in Chicago politics later in 1965 when Dr. King sent her there to campaign for better housing, education and employment conditions for blacks. This campaign marked the start of King's effort to improve socio-economic conditions for blacks. Tillman was involved in organizing King's move into a Chicago tenement in early 1966 and the launch of his campaign in July 1966.
While in Chicago, Tillman met her husband, jazz musician Jimmy Lee Tillman. The Tillmans moved to San Francisco shortly after their marriage and became involved in a campaign to improve public transport services to their neighborhood.
The Tillmans later returned to Chicago where Dorothy Tillman became involved in educational issues. She founded the Parent Equalizers of Chicago, which eventually became active in 300 schools across the city.
[edit] Chicago Alderman
Dorothy Tillman was elected as an Alderman representing the third ward in 1985, being the first woman elected for that ward. As an alderman, she was active in education, housing and homelessness.
Tillman has been a leading advocate of reparations for slavery and has been successful in having a number of resolutions passed in support of the concept and has organized conferences supporting the concept. She authored a bill, passed unanimously in 2002, forcing companies who perform contracts with the council to declare any past ties with slavery.
In early 2005, she led a campaign against a $500 million refinancing deal with the Bank of America because of its alleged links with slavery. In the case of the Bank of America, these links are allegedly through FleetBoston Financial, a company which it acquired in 2004. Providene, a predecessor of Fleet Boston, was supposedly founded by a slave owner in 1791.
Because she was not able to achieve a majority of votes she had to stand in a runoff election on April 17, 2007, which she subsequently lost.[3]
[edit] Controversy
In 2000, Tillman requested that two waiters at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago be replaced with African-American waiters for a banquet hosted by Alderman Tillman. Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley delivered a strongly-worded rebuke in the media.[1]
Tillman has been involved in the Harold Washington Cultural Center (HWCC) since its inception. An award winning 2006 three-part investigative report by the Chicago local paper Lakefront Outlook claimed accounting irregularities and conflicts of interest by Tillman and her family.[2][3][4] Despite the controversy and his stand on ethics reform, U.S. Senator Barack Obama endorsed Tillman in her 2007 election noting she was an early supporter of his.[2]
Tillman was arrested for few hours on March 2nd, 2008 for criminal trespassing at an Alabama hospital. A dispute over medical records escalated and the police was called. Tillman claims she was brutalized by the police. [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Spielman, Fran: "Daley blasts Tillman for waiter request", 20 July 2001, Chicago Sun-Times, [1]
- ^ a b Jackson, David and John McCormick (2007-06-12). Critics: Obama endorsements counter calls for clean government. Chicagotribune.com.
- ^ Lakefront Outlook: "Cultural center under scrutiny", http://www.hpherald.com/tillmanstory_12_13_27_07.pdf, Lakefront Outlook, December 13, 2006
- ^ "Long Island University Announces Winners of 2006 George Polk Awards"; http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2006.html, "Long Island University"
- ^ CBS (2008-03-02). Former Ald. Dorothy Tillman Arrested And Released. CBS.
