SR1045 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1045 LRB097 23702 GRL 72803 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Flowers, who passed away on December 9, 2012; and

WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers grew up in Chicago, in the Cabrini-Green public housing complex; he served his country as a member of the United States Army in Vietnam before returning to Chicago, where he worked with young people as an employee of Chicago Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers began studying for the ministry in the 1970s and was ordained in 1977; he was the founding pastor of the Austin Community Ministries, as well as a former president of the Westside Ministers Coalition and chairman of the Coalition's board; and

WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers was known for his battles on social justice on the West Side of Chicago, particularly in the Austin community; as a spokesman for the Community Reinvestment Organizing Project, he requested that Mayor Rahm Emanuel include Austin, which reportedly led in the number of foreclosures, in the mayor's $15 million Micro-Market Recovery Program; he fought to keep open the Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy High School, one of 3 smaller schools now operating in the former Austin High School building; he was heavily involved in getting the school started as a contract school; his efforts also led to Chicago's designation in 1994 as a federal empowerment zone, a designation that brought with it a total of $100 million over 2 years to promote economic development and jobs in several areas of the city; and

WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers is survived by his wife, Cynthia; his sons, Durand, Duwone, and Elijah; his daughters, Lanita Joyner and Blaire Flowers; his brothers, Victor, Cornelius, and Dennis; his sisters, Lorinda Givens, Jocelyn Flowers, and Aretha Johnson; his 9 grandchildren; and his great-grandchild; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Flowers; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the family of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Flowers as an expression of our sympathy.