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1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, The Kenwood Oakland Community Organization,
3		affectionately known as KOCO, was founded by community and
4		religious leaders in 1965 and celebrates its 50th year of
5		existence this year; and
6		WHEREAS, KOCO was incorporated 2 years later in 1967 and
7		had as its first Executive Director the esteemed and
8		internationally recognized Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.; and
9		WHEREAS, Rev. Curtis L. Burrell became KOCO's second
10		Executive Director from 1967 to 1971 and, through partnerships
11		with the Community Renewal Society and other community
12		institutions, provided landmark employment and child care
13		initiatives; and
14		WHEREAS, An organizer with the world-renowned Congress of
15		Racial Equality (CORE), Robert L. Lucas, joined KOCO as its
16		coordinator for leadership training in 1969; he became the
17		Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1972 and then became its
18		third Executive Director in 1975, serving in that capacity
19		until 2000; and
20		WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get the Martin Luther
21		King, Jr. High School built in 1971 in order to replace the

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1		overcrowded Forrestville High School; and
2		WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get the Kenwood Oakland
3		Medical, Limited (KOMED) health clinic opened in 1975, which
4		later merged with the Holman health clinic in 1997, to provide
5		quality health care to low-income and working families in the
6		north Kenwood-Oakland community; and
7		WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to erect the Woodlake
8		Village Townhomes in 1988 to provide affordable housing for
9		more than 70 families on a parcel of land that had become an
10		unsanctioned waste dump in the middle of the community; and
11		WHEREAS, The first African-American Mayor of Chicago,
12		Harold Washington, broke ground at the site of what would
13		become the Woodlake Village Townhomes in 1987 - the morning of
14		the day he died in office; and
15		WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to create another 300 units
16		of affordable housing in the north Kenwood-Oakland community to
17		provide safe, decent, and quality housing for families in need;
18		and
19		WHEREAS, KOCO members played a significant role in the work
20		that led to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called
21		for the creation of local school councils, and with it, 5

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1		consecutive years of improved standardized test scores; and
2		WHEREAS, KOCO members led the call for balanced community
3		development in north Kenwood-Oakland that did not result in
4		displacing residents, which led to the creation of a shopping
5		center and the designation of north Kenwood-Oakland as a
6		community conservation area; and
7		WHEREAS, KOCO has a long and distinguished history of
8		providing youth development programming - a summer day camp
9		since 1992 and an afterschool program since 1995 - to serve
10		low-income and working families who are unable to afford most
11		comparable programs; and
12		WHEREAS, Jhatayn "Jay" Travis served as KOCO's fourth
13		Executive Director from 2000 to 2012 and ushered in a
14		renaissance of its community organizing activities -
15		challenging slum lords and school-closing advocates and
16		refocusing its attention on grassroots leadership development;
17		and
18		WHEREAS, KOCO was one of the first community-based
19		organizations to certify parents and residents as local school
20		council trainers and have since provided training for hundreds
21		of local school council members throughout Chicago; and

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1		WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get a community benefits
2		agreement signed to protect community residents from being
3		displaced and added provisions to improve the community if
4		Chicago won its bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games; and
5		WHEREAS, KOCO members led the charge in working with the
6		Illinois General Assembly and the Office of the Governor to
7		secure increased resources for summer youth employment
8		throughout Illinois to offer a solution to the scourge of
9		violence plaguing our communities; and
10		WHEREAS, KOCO members have traveled abroad, received
11		international recognition, and hosted distinguished foreign
12		guests in its service to the ideals of social justice; and
13		WHEREAS, KOCO has been honored throughout the years by the
14		hard work of its community members and leaders to provide a
15		litany of unnamed benefits and protections to some of the most
16		vulnerable populations of people in the City of Chicago, the
17		State of Illinois, and beyond; and
18		WHEREAS, KOCO is currently led by its fifth Executive
19		Director, J. Brian Malone, and has maintained its use of
20		community organizing as its primary methodology to create
21		change for low-income and working families in the north
22		Kenwood-Oakland community; therefore, be it

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1		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2		NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3		celebrate the 50th anniversary of the courageous leadership
4		that led to the creation of the Kenwood Oakland Community
5		Organization; and be it further
6		RESOLVED, That we honor the distinguished record of service
7		that the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization has provided to
8		low-income and working families throughout Illinois; and be it
9		further
10		RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11		presented to the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization as an
12		expression of our esteem and respect.