Enstrumental + ESHU

NOBODY BUT HAROLD

The “Our Concern Is To Heal” Collection

April 2023

APRIL 29th, 2023.

This date marked 40 years to the date that Harold Washington came to office as the first Black mayor of the city of Chicago, where he served beginning April 29, 1983.

To celebrate and commemorate this historical, cultural, and political moment, me and the long-time homie Aakeem (founder of ESHU Clothing), came together to release a capsule of products that included the following:

- The rerelease of the Enstrumental “Nobody But HAROLD” hat (from 2018) in 2 colorways, this time as a trucker joint.
- The “Our Concern Is To Heal” shirt in 2 colorways.

Many of us know about the various city facilities and institutions that were named or renamed after him to commemorate his legacy … That being said, while it is indeed necessary and meaningful to honor the monumental aspects of history’s firsts, to truly honor, understand, and give righteous recognition to an individual’s legacy, we must respectfully dig a bit deeper with our conversations, reflections, and education.

Let’s highlight 10 of his accomplishments - the “work” he put in.

1. He instituted a Freedom of Information Act order in his first days in office.
2. He passed the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, giving renters stronger rights.
3. He set to redirect resources from downtown to neglected neighborhoods, to make jobs for those who need them most central to economic development policy, and also allowed community groups to give their input on housing, commercial development, and plant closings.
4. He gave collective bargaining rights to city workers.
5. He barred city departments from cooperating with federal immigration officials, making Chicago the first “sanctuary city” in the Midwest.
6. He created the city's first environmental-affairs department.
7. He ensured that city services were for the first time distributed equitably among communities, and set an initiative requiring businesses receiving city subsidies to give residents the first shot at jobs.
8. He opened city contracts to those who had been excluded, through set-asides for minority and women-owned businesses, and ended patronage hiring and firing, which led to many more city jobs for Blacks and Latinos.
9. He launched a citizens’ schools task force, which led to the creation of elected local school councils.
10. He established weekly community forums held by district commanders and senior citizen councils in all police districts, which sowed the seeds of community policing (CAPS).

Let’s keep in mind that he faced extreme political constraints while in office, including vicious opposition by white aldermen, and drastic cuts to federal funding for cities during the Reagan administration … His most visionary objectives were just getting off the ground when he died.