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Black leaders rally to prevent shut down of Urban Prep Academies, warn of political consequences

May 30, 2023

Governor J.B. Pritzker

State Capitol

207 Statehouse

Springfield, IL 62706

Mayor Brandon Johnson

121 North LaSalle Street

Fifth Floor

Chicago, IL 60602

Re:    An Open Letter Regarding Urban Prep Academies

Dear Governor Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson:

African-Americans have been denied a first-rate education in the United States from 1619 to the present.  Whether it was addressed in the Autobiography Of Frederick Douglas, The Miseducation Of The Negro by Carter G. Woodson or in Brown v. The Board of Education, the vast majority of Black people in Chicago and elsewhere have struggled to get an education in order to improve our standing in America.  Then, when we finally do find ourselves in the position of making great educational strides, we find ourselves under attack.

For example, Urban Prep Academies right here in Chicago has an unmatched record of educating Black male high school students on two different campuses and then sending them to college.  Since their first graduating class in 2010, Urban Prep has graduated over 2,300 young men, all of whom were accepted into a four-year college or university.  From where we sit as Black male doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, educators and other professionals, Urban Prep’s record of educating young Black men is unmatched by any other institution in America, with the possible exception of Morehouse College where Dr. King received his undergraduate degree.

Yet, because of allegations of fiscal mismanagement and misdeeds by the adults who run Urban Prep, the school has had its charters revoked and is facing the prospect of being shut down and taken over by the Chicago Public Schools, which we assert has its own history of miseducating or indifference towards Black male students.  Furthermore, we believe that the unstated motivations of those who want to close or take over Urban Prep mirror the impulses of those who have prevented Black people from being educated since we involuntarily arrived upon these shores 400 years ago.

Our point in writing this open letter is to say that whatever ails Urban Prep needs to be fixed.  We do not want to see the institution closed down nor do we want to see it taken over by CPS.

Accordingly, we, the undersigned Black men, know that, as Governor and Mayor, you have the power directly and indirectly through those whom you appoint and control to save Urban Prep and we demand that you do so.  Saving Urban Prep is critical to the young men who attend the school, it is essential in helping to redress the history of not educating or miseducating Black people and it is about sending an unequivocal message of support for Urban Prep to the multitude of Black folk, near and far, who voted for you.

If you fail to keep Urban Prep, a Black-managed and operated institution of learning open, independent, and free of a CPS takeover, then when your next election comes we will do everything in our power to encourage the Black community to withhold votes from you and instead deliver those same votes and support to candidates who not only say the right thing, but who do the right thing.

Very truly yours,

Clarence N. Wood, Chairman,

Coalition of African American Leaders (COAL)

 

Craig K. Wimberly, President,

Coalition of African American Leaders (COAL)

 

John C. Allen IV, Esq. David L. Berry
Ernesto D. Borges, Jr., Esq. Howard B. Brookins, Sr.
Roland L. Burris, Esq. Randolph D. Carnegie
Craig T. Carrington Melvin L. Carter, Esq.
Gomez S. Charleston, Jr., MD Michael Coburn
Clifford S. Crawford, MD, FACS Revin Fellows
Leon Gholston Lance Gough
Andre Grant, Esq. Victor P. Henderson, Esq.
Bruce A. Jackson, Esq. David A. Jackson II, P.I.
Frederick Jackson Greg S. Jones
William H. Jones William H. Laws, Esq.
Hank Meyer III James D. Montgomery, Esq.
Kenneth Rapier Rev. Dr. Marc A. Robertson
Angelo R. Shavers Russell Spillman
Walter D. Street III Michael D. Sullivan
Mark C. Thompson Mark J. Wallace
Everett White Kenneth E. Wright, Esq.

 

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