For immediate release: 12/3/98
Contact: Jimmie Lee Robinson, 773-778-1476 or Professor Steve Balkin, 312-341-3696
Impassioned 67 year old Bluesman, Jimmie Lee Robinson, is at the midpoint of his 60 day fast to save old Maxwell Street from the wrecking ball of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Jimmie Lee Robinson was born in nearby Cook County Hospital in 1931 and grew up in the Maxwell Street area. He learned to play guitar and sing blues by hanging out on Maxwell Street and listening to the many musicians there. He played there as street musician in the early 1940s.
Says Jimmie Lee Robinson, "I've withdrawn from eating any food except for one glass of water a day taken with lemon and honey. This is the way I purify myself to take on this battle against the UIC Philistines and to influence God to come to our aid. Maxwell Street was a holy place. It was sanctified by the Jewish people and many blues and gospel musicians and preachers of every religion. Just like my body is the temple of my soul; those old buildings on Maxwell Street are the temple of the soul of Chicago. The aura of the past is still in those buildings. It is Chicago's oldest integrated neighborhood. That counts for something."
In 1948, Robinson met the now legendary singer/guitarist Eddie Taylor and they played the Chicago club scene until 1952. Later, he played with Freddie King and Frank Scott Jr. in a band called "The Every Hour Blues Boys," and would go on to share the stage with Little Walter and B.B. King. He was in demand at classic Chess and Veejay recording sessions. He also gained fame as a sideman for other blues legends such as Sunnyland Slim in the '60s and Howlin' Wolf in the '70s. By the '80s, however, he had virtually disappeared from the blues scene. He has made a comeback in the '90s, when he signed with the Delmark label and also produced CDs for his own Amina Records. He is a member of Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition and wrote their emblem song, the Maxwell Street Tear Down Blues.
Most of Jimmie Lee's family came from around Hillhouse, Mississippi. Jimmie knew his great grandfather Mose Jenkins, who was born a slave. After emancipation, Mose became a preacher circuit rider. Jimmie Lee remembers walking with his great grandfather and grandfather on Maxwell Street. His grandmother, Celia 'Little Mama' Jackson was a follower of Marcus Garvey. Jimmie's mother Emma had a close friend, Jack Palmer, who was friends with Paul Robeson. It is these influences that have created Jimmie Lee's social justice concern.
Worried friends and relatives have pleaded with Jimmie Lee to discontinue this fast but he says, "I must keep my word." Jimmie Lee studied M.K. Gandhi. "I studied him as kid. He lived in my time. If he moved the British Empire by a fast, I can certainly move UIC with a fast. The people of Chicago won't let me die."
For more information visit the website of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition <http://www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html>
Also see Maxwell Street Tear Down Blues <http://www.openair.org/maxwell/ptear.html>
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return to Preserve Maxwell Street