Celebrating Wardell Lavender’s life: stories & chicken on June 5
Wardell and KOCO director Shannon Bennet at “Lightfoot’s Tent City,” an action for a CBA in June 2020.
STOP co-founder Wardell Lavender, AKA “The Chicken Man,” “Baby Chick,” “Rodriguez,” “Bobby Rosso,” and “The Mayor of Woodlawn,” passed away in April at the age of 80.
He was an incredibly effective organizer, instrumental in everything from our founding campaign to save Grove Parc’s 504 low-income apartments, to our current Community Benefits Agreement campaign. And he was a widely-recognized leader, known as the “Mayor of Woodlawn” and active in Latinx-Black community solidarity. Read our remembrance of him here, read the Chicago Tribune’s here, and read the Hyde Park Herald’s here.
Join us to remember and celebrate his life. You’ll have the opportunity to share a brief story or tribute to him, and we’ll gather over food. Gather with us Saturday, June 5, from 1 to 4pm by the Jackson Park Fieldhouse, 6401 S Stony Island Ave (outside). We’ll have food at 12:30 and we’ll invite anyone interested to speak about Wardell at 1pm.
We’ll also invite members to speak about Mr. Green, a fellow STOP member and tenant in Wardell’s building. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 100.
In honor of “The Chicken Man,” we’ll provide chicken, and a vegetarian entre. We’ll have sides pot-luck style; consider bringing a side-dish! Also, please bring a mask and, if possible, a chair for yourself (if you can’t bring a chair, don’t worry, we’ll have a few!). Finally, please social-distance.
