For immediate release (9/04/01)

Contacts: Steve Balkin, Professor of Economics at Roosevelt University and Vice President of the Maxwell Street Coalition, 312-341-3696, <mar@topicbox.com>; Mr. H 312-813-1051; Jimmie Lee Robinson 773-778-1476; Frank Scott Jr. 773-264-4746; Neil Rose 847-431-4030

The Blues musicians of old Maxwell Street along with the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition are hosting a Blues jam and awareness raising rally on Sunday, September 9, on old Maxwell Street, just east of Halsted, from noon to 4PM., weather permitting. Blues fans, history buffs, UIC students and faculty, the Near West communities, and groups struggling for community control of their communities are all welcome to attend.

Says Steve Balkin, Professor of Economics at Roosevelt University and Vice President of the Maxwell Street Coalition, "We have been pretty demoralized with the closing of Maxwell Street's last two hot dog stands. But I've talked to the musicians, and they want to continue the Blues tradition on old Maxwell Street, no matter what."

Mr. H, long time resident of the area, comments, "Something great happened here on these streets with the people, the music, the preaching, the bargains, and the sense of community. We were all one here no matter where you came from or how you spoke. Blues brought people to together. We can't give that up. Last week, a young African-American kid came by to jam with us. We asked him if he was a Blues musician and he replied: No but he wants to learn. Where else can you learn to play blues in Chicago but from us old timers in the place of its birth?"

Jimmie Lee Robinson, who was born and raised in the this neighborhood, says, "Sure UIC cut off our legs from under of us and they took our hands too, that's true. But with the stubs we are going to continue to fight and keep up the Maxwell Street tradition. I risked my life by fasting to try to save this place. There is only a little sliver left here. But in this UIC desert wasteland we will continue the struggle. My ancestors were slaves and American Indians, but they survived under adversity too. I hope there can be a National Natural Health Morality Institute of Learning there too."

Balkin says further, "There are still lots of issues to fight for. We want to make sure the hot dog stands get a good relocation spot in a timely fashion; we want to save Paul and Bill's tailor shop, the Creative Reuse Warehouse, the 13th Street Garden, the Gestheme Baptist Church (which used to be an old Romanian Synagogue); and to bring back Reverend John Johnson and his Blues Bus, get parking access for St. Francis Church, get a good space for a Community Blues Bandstand, get some affordable housing in University Village, bring back the street vendors, place any buildings saved on the National and Local Registers for Historic Places, and stop the evictions at 716 W. Maxwell Street.

For more information about Maxwell Street and the Call for a Boycott of UIC's new dorm and University Village, visit the website <www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html> or call 312-341-3696.

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