Chicago`s black aristocracy parties as it works: hard and with a sense of community commitment often missing from the old-line, old-wealth families of other ethnic groups.
America as a whole may be experiencing a ”return” to classy parties, but dressing up, stepping out, being social for a cause has never been out of style with this group.
”That isn`t new,” scoffs Etta Moten Barnett, 85, one of the doyennes of Chicago`s black society. ”We`ve always had people who dressed up and went out.”
What is new is black society`s increased visibility and greater clout in a city with its first black mayor. Also new among the Chicago area`s 1.2 million blacks is a growing pool of young professionals who benefited from social changes in the 1960s and are eager to give back to the community and ambitious to move into the city`s elite.
”There is a growing middle class,” says Barnett, ”and as many more have become affluent, those young people are going out and showing they`ve made it like young people everywhere.”
”For the last 15 years I worked hard for my business and my family,”
says Barbara Burrell-Glover, vice chairman of the Burrell Communications Group, parent company of the largest black-owned advertising agency in the U.S. ”I`m happy that the time has come in my life for me to work with some organizations in which I have an interest. My children are in their teens now. There`s more time for me.”
Burrell-Glover is chairman of the Jan. 30 Black Creativity Gala, one of the hottest social tickets in town. More than 1,000 invitations will be mailed. Only the first 500 people to pay $100 can be accommodated and will be lucky enough to mingle with business, social and artistic leaders and dance to the Count Basie Orchestra.
The gala kicks off Black Creativity, a monthlong celebration including a juried art show, performances and symposiums during February, Black History Month. The gala will be at the Museum of Science and Industry, one of the major cultural institutions nestled in the Hyde Park and South Shore home of Chicago`s black elite.
OLD NAMES AND NEW
Black society today melds distinguished Chicago names such as Barnett, Neal, Dibble (Ann Dibble Cook, a member of this family, recently became the bride of Vernon Jordan, former director of the National Urban League), Partee, Lafontant, Duster (descendants of Ida B. Wells), Grisham (Parker House Sausage) and Sengstacke (Chicago Defender) with highly visible entrepreneurs including John Johnson (Johnson Publications), George Johnson (Johnson Products, makers of hair care products) and Ed Gardner (Soft Sheen hair care). It includes businessmen such as Jacoby Dickens, chairman of Seaway National Bank of Chicago (the nation`s largest black bank); Cadillac dealer and special mayoral adviser Al Johnson; doctors such as Lowell Zollar, Charles Runner and the Williams family; and educators including Dr. George Ayres, president of Chicago State University, and Dr. Walter E. Massey, vice president for research and for Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago. In addition, a growing number of black professionals are climbing to the upper echelons of corporate America to positions of influence and power.
Defined but not ossified, Chicago`s black society is perhaps one of the few in the U.S. that has been able to capitalize on a combination of fine old names and bright up-and-comers.
”Chicago is the heart of black entrepreneurism in the country,” says Amina Dickerson, president of the DuSable Museum of African-American History. As such, comments Dwain T. Kyles, special counsel to McCormick Place and founding chairman of the New Chicago Committee, a black professional network group, there is willingness to recognize and accept personal achievement.
”There are a lot of first-generation entrepreneurs here,” says Kyles, who was born in Chicago but grew up in Memphis. ”There is a lot of hope where the only criterion is hard work.”
MONEY HELPS, BUT . . .
Making lots of money helps to make it into Chicago`s black elite, but money is not the only criterion.
”There are only a few super-rich families and they are very well-known,” observes John W. Rogers, a junior member of a well-known family.
Birth into a distinguished family, wealthy or not, ensures entry for some. Outstanding educational credentials help, beginning with attendance at the Harvard School, Francis Parker, University of Chicago Lab or Latin School, for example, and ending with degrees from the nation`s top universities or such black institutions as Fisk and Howard University.
Rising to the top in an occupation or profession qualifies others, although there is no guarantee. Despite his position as mayor of the nation`s third-largest city, his father`s profession as an attorney and a brief stint at boarding school, there is some debate on whether Harold Washington is
”society.”
”Politics,” says one observer, ”kind of taints your ability to be truly social.”
SERVICE IS THE KEY
Community service, by most accounts, is the most important credential for inclusion onto the mysterious and unwritten master social listing.
”With blacks, the perception (of who is in black society) might be somewhat different than in the white world,” explains one businesswoman, a longtime Hyde Park resident, who asked to remain anonymous. While professional athletes such as Michael Jordan may be famous and fabulously wealthy, ”and that certainly reflects well on the black community,” it takes ”using accomplishments for the community to move (people) into a different level.
”Black society is people who have some effect on other blacks. They are people who have positioned themselves to service the community . . . teachers were the first. Making money is not enough. Social responsibility is the key. Social responsibility may be more important than money.”
Among the time-honored ways to fulfill this social obligation is working for major social and cultural organizations.
Three, says Barnett, are of key importance.
”The Urban League, with work in jobs, research and organizing the opinion-makers,” she explains. ”The NAACP, because still there is a need for civil rights. The United Negro College Fund, because most Negroes or their parents did get their degrees, or certainly the first degrees in most families, from those schools.”
”I think that`s true because those organizations are being threatened by a lot of things,” agrees Shawnelle Richie, a young assistant press secretary to Mayor Washington. ”A very conscious effort is being exercised to keep those organizations. I think we were all brought up with a social
consciousness and awareness of our blackness.”
URBAN LEAGUE POWER
Of all local organizations, the list of past and present directors of the Chicago Urban League is a virtual all-star roster of influential black, and white, leaders. The envy of other organizations for its ability to garner top talent as well as raise big bucks, the Urban League demonstrated its awesome power recently by raising more than $500,000 in a single evening at the 25th Anniversary of its Golden Fellowship Dinner.
DuSable Museum, Urban Gateways and Operation PUSH also are among the organizations reaping the rewards of a strong impulse to serve.
”Black causes strike a chord,” observes Dickerson, ”especially among those who benefited from the 1960s. If anything, these people are more dedicated to making a contribution,” although many are still busy building careers.
Ronne Hartfield, executive director of Urban Gateways, a cultural arts group that helps artists of all races, says supporting traditional black organizations is important but should not be misinterpreted as racial isolationism, but rather as a first step to serving on broader-based boards.
”I think they (young blacks) came to us with a real espousal of working for the good of the community,” says Hartfield, whose board is multi-racial. ”I think they want to work with and for an organization that has representatives of all parts of the community. They want to work with a smaller board where they can have more impact. They can feel more intimately connected. They see racial isolation as a danger. I think they see Urban Gateways as an entree.”
”Fundamentally, these are people who haven`t been tapped to do anything else,” says Dickerson, whose organization hosted a Carnival last summer, one of the more memorable events of the year and one that benefited from the creativity of some young volunteers.
There is no mystery to this civic service, agree John Rogers and Linda Johnson Rice, two of the younger set who are active. People are welcome ”if you are willing to contribute or willing to work,” Rice says.
FRINGE BENEFITS
Acquaintances and associations working for a mutual cause may lead, not incidentally, to a wider professional and social circle in Chicago and at the same time to a more intimate inner circle in black society.
”Buying a ticket to a benefit is more an announcement,” observes Doris Zollar, wife of a prominent physician and a woman who has been active on boards ranging from the Women`s Board of the Art Institute of Chicago to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. ”There are private events that are prestigious.”
Membership in small and exclusive black social clubs is one measure of social acceptance.
The Links, roughly the equivalent of the Junior League, is both a social and service organization and sponsors one of the city`s most prestigious debutante cotillions. The primary purpose of most social clubs, however, can be summed up by the motto of another group, the Moles: ”Enjoy yourself. It`s later than you think.”
Inclusion in such a selective, like-minded group is by invitation only and can be limited to as few as 10 or 15 members, according to Zollar. The groups meet regularly during the year at private homes and public places. The financial obligation can be steep.
December is the month for many of the holiday parties for groups with names like the Frogs, Snakes, Druids, Club 40, Chicagoans and Guardsmen for men and the Moles, Girl Friends and Voguettes for women. When the social clubs host elaborate holiday soirees, and even when they take trips, they invite nonpaying guests, so a member`s bill for a single evening can easily reach four figures. Continuous expenses of that magnitude ensure that members are from the upper strata of society and have achieved a degree of financial security.
”Society,” however, is not a term some people wish to embrace, although it may denote achievement, a degree of wealth and leadership to some.
”In some ways, it has a sort of frivolous ring,” comments Dorothy Runner. Long active in the community, Runner says she would be hard-pressed to identify black society because ”so many people are making a contribution. A lot of them are unsung. Like me, they are not anxious to be dubbed (part of society). The organizations that I work for like the Art Institute and Urban Gateways are important. The causes are not frivolous and are very serious. We can`t afford to forget this.” —
