Catherine Yronwode <cat@luckymojo.com> Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997
Hello,
I have just learned of the plans to tear down historic Maxwell Street in Chicago, and i am writing to let you know that you would do more good -- and make more money for the area -- if you created a Historic Maxwell Street preservation District instead. I was raised in the East Bay Area in California and first visited Maxwell Street in 1964, while going to college in Mount Carroll, Illinois. I made it a regular place to visit during my stay in Illinois, because i was a fan of the blues and i loved the wonderful shops there. In fact, i loved it so much i even mentioned it on my web page about folkloric magic, because it was on Maxwell Street that i first got to know the African-American hoodoo tradition.
(You can see my mention of Maxwell Street by going to the home page of the Lucky W Amulet Archive (an online illustrated book on folkloric magic charms) and scrolling down the page. It's at Lucky W Amulet Archive: http://www.luckymojo.com/LuckyW.html.
I realize that i am just one voice, but there are many who feel as i do about Maxwell Street, and we hope that there is something in you that loves the past as well, and would also love to create a great tourist attraction in Chicago.
Catherine Yronwode
Note: Muddy Waters sang, "I got my mojo workin' but it just don't work on you." A Mojo is the staple amulet of African-American hoodoo practice, a red flannel bag containing one or more magical items. Many acoustic blues songs of the1920s refer to mojos. See Mojo.
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