John

I came to North Chicago for a better life. I was wanting to go to California, but I had an older brother living in Waukegan. His wife said, "Why don't you come and live in Waukegan?"

I came on a Greyhound bus from from from Tulsa, Oklahoma. That very night I got to Waukegan, I came to a wedding reception; one of the Kneeland boys. The Kneeland family is one of the longtime families here in North Chicago. That night, I knew I was going to live in North Chicago. 

North Chicago at that time was a small town. I like rural neighborhoods. I like living in the country. Two months later, I moved from Waukegan where I was living with my brother. I’ve been in North Chicago ever since.

I got involved with with politics. When Leo Kukla became mayor, there were a lot of appointees and various government services that Blacks weren't involved in. I was one of the first appointees to North Chicago Housing Authority. I served as a commissioner for about 25 years. Matter of fact, I was instrumental in getting Kukla Towers built, as well as the Bobby Thompson Manor. 

I love North Chicago for its size and its people. What people really don't realize is that there are a lot of wonderful people in North Chicago. And we have a variety races of people. When it comes down to what someone's color is: it's a person. That's my neighbor.

I'm retired now from Abbott Laboratories. “Are you gonna move away to Gurnee or Wadsworth?” “No!” I said. The Lord blessed me with the house that I want. I haven't seen a house in Gurnee, or Libertyville, or any of these other places that I would trade my house for.

Back in the day, they had this special-built lamp made out of driftwood, and it had a little light in it. Every evening, the drapes will be be open just enough that when I passed this house, that little light would be on. It set this house off like you wouldn't believe, and that was my dream. "If I ever get a house, I want that house."

One day I was on my way to work and I saw this big “for sale” sign up. I got into the office and I said; you know, my house is up for sale and I don't have the money to buy it. But somehow or another, long story short, I managed to finagle the situation where he accepted my bid for this house. End of story. A home is where that everything's in it fits you. This house just fits me. 

I'm a man of faith. I know that there are things that that have happened to me, that have been given me, that I know that the only reason that I had them was because of God's grace. When God gives you stuff, you maintain it. You keep at it. You don't lose it. Things I have gone after, things of my own doing; it fell apart. But the things that God was involved in, it’s still held true, even when other folks tried to take it away.

I come out of a community in Tulsa, and a culture where we were very proud of our heritage. We were independent. Oklahoma had the most all-Black towns out of any state in the union. I was raised in an all-Black town where the town was run by Blacks. The school system was run by Blacks. Your school system is only as good as the community. You have to be involved with your children, whether it's a good school or bad school. When you send your child to the school, teachers need parents at home to have their backs. North Chicago has kind of gotten a bad rap, but there have been a lot of kids that have gone on to do well from North Chicago. What does that tell you? I know some of these these students, I know it was because their parents were involved. They had a mind to do better.

Any regrets, or things in life you wish you could do over?

I think there''s probably only… maybe a couple of things… but I think I would probably be more involved in my city. I didn't get paid working for the Housing Authority. Those were free hours. And then I was working, I went to night school... I wish there was some way I could have gotten involved with the school system where I could have made a difference, rather than just going to meetings and talking and leaving things unchanged. I thought I was going to be to do that. But because of which way our systems are, with politicians the school system is very political… you've got unions...

If there's mistakes I've made, hey, I'm not looking back. Even at this age, I'm not looking to make mistakes again. I want to be able to live my life in a good way with no regrets.

To have what we have now, it takes work. From 1960 up until now, I've always been involved in North Chicago. I always saw North Chicago as a great city. We don't kick people out, we bring them in.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.