I wonโt be attending the Obama Presidential Center opening. I stand with the Black contractors and workers who have been left behind. The African American Contractors Association has reported that at least 10 Black-owned firms are owed millions of dollars for work connected to the project. At the same time, President Obama declined to support a Community Benefits Agreement that many residents believed could have helped protect longtime Black families from displacement and rising housing costs.
The South Side deserved development that created wealth and stability for the people who stayed through decades of disinvestment. Instead, too many Black contractors are still fighting to get paid, and too many Black residents are being pushed out of the very neighborhood this project was supposed to uplift. Progress should be measured by how the community benefits not by the size of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
President Trump awards the Medal of Honor to retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr. for extraordinary heroism during a four-day reconnaissance mission in Vietnam.
Despite suffering multiple severe wounds and massive blood loss after his team was ambushed, Capers continued leading his men, directing fire, and guiding the patrol to an extraction site. He refused evacuation until every member of his team was safely aboard the helicopter.