Community Survival Days
An Uptown Tradition at the Sunnyside Mall
by Paul Siegel, PhD
The Sunnyside Mall dates to the early 1970s following the displacement of 1200 families to build Truman College. The community wanted a safe place to gather as part of a much larger and creative “peoples’ plan” for low cost housing and community institutions. Instead the city gave us the Mall, with inadequate planning, equipment or maintenance, while colluding with slumlords and private developers to bleed and destroy low income housing here and gentrify. A wave of arson for profit took many lives in the 1970s and ‘80s. The crisis situation and the loss of housing bred much instability and the Mall became a place where much of that destabilization was played out. Racial conflict and violence between youth, drugs, police abuse, withdrawal of city services — were all reflected in conditions on the mall.
In 1976, the increasingly united and determined Heart of Uptown residents organized the first of some 15 annual Survival Days on the Sunnyside Mall. We came together as a community, celebrated our endurance and struggle, had a whole lot of fun, and showed that together we could claim the Mall at least for a day as the community’s own without violence, racism, drugs, or police abuse to distract us. The political machine and the District Commander predicted disaster but over 1000 people of all ages and colors gathered in peace, heard and danced to local country and soul musicians, ate delicious food, and heard speakers on the fight against displacement, for community health and many other survival programs. The youth in particular understood the meaning of the challenge and worked through the night on a giant clean up in preparation and kept the peace. A huge banner strung across the width of the mall proclaimed, “Defend your community”.
Following this success, more and more grass roots talent made the annual event a community institution. There were boxing exhibitions from Johnny Lira, a professional boxer who worked with Uptown youth. In 1977, Survival Day included a successful health fair carried out by volunteer doctors from Cook County hospital and community volunteers. This was part of a massive campaign spearheaded by the Chicago Area Black Lung Association (CABLA) for a community-controlled health center with a special black lung clinic for the many coalfield migrants then living here. The following year, we won the clinic (which was closed 3 years later due to slashing of public health). Survival Day, 1978 included a joyous march, led by an Uptown Blue Grass band, “Blue Ridge Mountain Boys”— who were all CABLA members — from the Mall to Broadway near Lawrence to give the community the first look at the new clinic.
So today, October 21st, 2021, in commemorating the Mall, let us remember Survival Day and that the diversity we seek to preserve is literally built upon the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of people. We celebrate our endurance and the building and preservation by the community’s struggle of many units of affordable housing in the face of relentless misuse of the peoples’ resources for unneeded gentrification. And our love for one another and our human potential will give us the strength to carry on the fight.
LET’S CELEBRATE AND COMMIT TO THE GOOD FIGHT!!!
