The owner thinks her lower home appraisal was skewed by her race and her neighborhood — and a recent study says those factors play more of a role in appraisals now than in 1980.

“One of the pathways to eradicating systemic inequities and systemic racism is to INVEST. Where you drew red lines, let’s green line, let’s spur jobs, let's spur investment, let's bring housing equality, let's bring education infrastructure, let's invest in the schools in my neighborhood.” -Lamell McMorris

Till's childhood home in Woodlawn is a lasting physical symbol of his life and legacy.

Companies that value homes for sale or refinancing are bound by law not to discriminate. Black homeowners say it happens anyway.

There are places like Gilpin all across the United States. In cities like Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Portland and New York, neighborhoods that are poorer and have more residents of color can be 5 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter parts of the same city.

Anniversaries afford us important opportunities to reflect, but this year we approach the 57th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom having already had more than enough time and cause for reflection. At a moment when the fatal inadequacies of our public health and public safety systems are finally, powerfully and painfully clear not just to Black Americans, it's hard to imagine that anyone needs to be reminded of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called, the "fierce urgency of now." And yet, this urgency is still being met with reactionary or performative change, as opposed to systemic reckoning.

“Chicago should really take the lead … say let’s be a model for the rest of the world and not be afraid to say when we talk about desegregating the city, we’re talking about creating a more equitable Chicago for everyone.”

In a virtual groundbreaking video for its first major development in the Woodlawn neighborhood last month, development firm Greenlining Realty featured speakers such as Pete Buttigieg, Martin Luther King III and Rev. Al Sharpton.

It goes much deeper than terminology.

Greenlining Realty USA, a national real estate development firm committed to undoing the historic damage caused by the discriminatory practice of redlining, recently unveiled its first major development in the Chicago neighborhood of Woodlawn. The virtual groundbreaking of the Woodlawn Pointe development featured nine vibrant homes in the historically redlined district, serving as a tribute to this effort to provide quality homes in communities of color.

To fight the generations-spanning, discriminatory housing practice known as redlining with nine homes in a pocket of the South Side might seem, at first, like David going up against Goliath.

Racism and inequality have deep roots in our society. They have permeated nearly every aspect of our lives (sometimes without us even recognizing it). And that includes where we live.

Greenlining Realty USA, a national real estate development firm committed to undoing the historic damage caused by the discriminatory practice of redlining, today unveiled its first major development in the Chicago neighborhood of Woodlawn. The virtual groundbreaking of the Woodlawn Pointe development, which will feature nine vibrant homes in the historically redlined district, served as a tribute to this effort to provide quality, affordable homes in communities of color.

Welcome to Black America 2020: COVID-19 has taken the lives and livelihoods of more black Americans than of any other race. Amy Cooper invoked the police to threaten Christian Cooper in Central Park, and three white men in Georgia almost got away with murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Then, the horrific killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd exhausted and horrified audiences. Inequality in America is too often fatal, but it has finally become impossible to ignore.

Systemic racism affects every area of life in the US. From incarceration rates to predatory loans, and trying to solve these problems requires changes in major parts of our system. Here's a closer look at what systemic racism is, and how we can solve it.

With the cost to buy and own a home rising rapidly in Chicago, some residents see developers and real estate brokers as the enemy. But the true picture is much more nuanced than that.

Indeed, it turns out there are ways for development to happen without displacement and for neighborhoods to be improved in a way that benefits everyone.

Three steps to go from being perceived as an agent of gentrification to an agent of revitalization

Developers, city officials and community organizers shared their thoughts with residents about housing affordability and economic development in the community area at the 11th Annual Woodlawn Community Summit on March 7.

The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to count everyone living in the United States every 10 years. EVERYONE. In the beginning, this accurate comprehensive count was important because it determined the number of representatives a state would have in Congress. The Founders carefully chose the word “resident” not “citizen” because southern slave owners insisted that their slaves be counted too – albeit as three-fifths a person. The bitter irony of that – counting slaves so a state would continue to have the political power in Congress to continue to enslave them – should not escape any of us.

Earlier this year, we announced Lyft City Works a major commitment to invest $50 million or 1% of profits — whichever is larger — to support locally communities by solving transportation challenges. At Lyft, we know that working together, we can do more to make cities people-focused and instead of built around cars. And in Chicago, there are civic leaders of transportation, philanthropy, activists business, education and the arts and who are making city life better, more inclusive, more equitable and more sustainable. We want to lift up this heroic work.