Blacks benefited by help electing a new mayor in 2011

The Examiner.com searched through its City Hall archives to find the one news event that had the most impact on blacks in 2011, and the election of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel topped the list.

Not because he is the city’s first Jewish mayor or the former White House chief of staff to America’s first black president. But because of a variety of programs he launched since his May 16 inauguration that either targeted the black community indirectly or affected the Black community directly.

According to the Board of Election Commissioners for the city of Chicago, Emanuel won all 19 black wards in the February election by more than 50 percent and received 326,331 votes from the 590,357 votes cast. This despite three other black candidates, who combined, garnered only 68,109 votes. Emanuel said he is a mayor for all Chicagoans, not just blacks, whites or Jewish Americans.

“What makes this victory so gratifying is that we won with votes from all across the city,” Emanuel said during his Feb. 22 victory speech. “I am determined with your help to meet our challenges head on and to make our city even greater.”

And like his predecessor former Mayor Richard M. Daley, who is the city’s longest serving mayor, Emanuel has appointed blacks to top posts within his administration namely, South Side resident Felicia Davis as his first deputy chief of staff.

But his programs are what impacted blacks the most.

Just two weeks after being sworn into office Emanuel unveiled Internet Essentials, a public-private partnership, that provided access to high-speed, Internet service to low-income families. Families were able to purchase broadband Internet service for less than $10 a month and no installation or service fees applied. Additionally, families eligible for the program were able to purchase computers for $150, far less than the average $500 for a new computer.

And Emanuel said access to the Internet is vital for everyone nowadays.

“Having access to high-speed Internet service allows children to do schoolwork, adults to find jobs and grow the city’s economy, and families to learn and explore together,” explained Emanuel. “The Internet Essentials program is a perfect example of the city’s government and business community working together to craft innovative, competitive solutions to the important problems facing our citizens.”

In June he announced that over the next two years the Academy for Urban School Leadership would increase to 14 from seven teaching academies thus creating 200 new jobs for Chicago residents, who would be trained for education jobs at academically challenged public schools.

AUSL has partnered with the Chicago Public Schools to help “turn around” low performing schools, such as those on academic probation due to low test scores and graduation rates. When a school is turned around a new administration and staff is brought into a school that has traditionally underperformed. Emanuel also targeted foreclosures this year.

There was a 20 percent increase in foreclosures in Chicago for 2010, according to Emanuel, and most were in black and Hispanic communities on the South and West Sides. And 95 percent of the foreclosed homes are vacant, City Hall data showed. So in August the city launched the Micro-Market Recovery Program, a new program that focused on reducing foreclosures and stabilizing property values.

Among the black communities the program targeted were Chatham, Chicago Lawn, West Woodlawn, Auburn Gresham, West Pullman, Englewood, and Grand Boulevard.

“This program will move Chicago from a house-by-house approach to a community-focused strategy, which will do a better job of protecting residents from the devastating impact of foreclosures, and will have a positive impact on our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Emanuel.

Employment was also part of Emanuel’s plan to improve the quality of life for residents.

According to Mayoral Press Secretary Tarrah Cooper, Emanuel helped bring more than 10,000 new job opportunities to Chicago since being elected mayor. Most of the new jobs were through partnerships the mayor formed with private employers. Cooper is another high level black appointee of Emanuel’s.

Also in October the mayor tackled the food desert problem plaguing minority communities.

As a result of a City Hall summit the mayor and first lady Michelle Obama had with grocery store executives, 36 new grocery stores will be built in undeserved areas that do not have access to fresh produce, vegetables and fruits.

“Imagine what we could achieve if mayors across the country started taking on this issue (like Mayor Emanuel),” Obama said. “Think about all the jobs we could create, all the neighborhoods we could begin to transform and what it means when our children finally get the nutrition they need to grow up healthy.”

And this month, Emanuel announced a new program to benefit students at City Colleges of Chicago, that are majority black, according to Katheyrn Hayes, a spokeswoman for City Colleges of Chicago. The purpose of the Colleges to Careers program is to ensure that students from City Colleges of Chicago are ready for jobs in high growth industries. The program, which will begin next fall, aims to forge partnerships between City Colleges, corporations and organizational partners to drive the creation of jobs in growing fields and help increase the competitiveness of Chicago’s companies.

Emanuel told the Examiner.com that helping college students prepare for a meaningful career is essential to the city’s future growth.

“By making a diploma from our community colleges into a ticket to the workforce, we will make them a first option for job training and not a last resort,” he added.

For 2012, Cooper said the mayor has even more programs he plans to unveil that will benefit all Chicagoans especially residents living in under-served and economically challenged communities, who often need assistance the most.