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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Flowers, who passed
4away on December 9, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers grew up in Chicago, in the
6Cabrini-Green public housing complex; he served his country as
7a member of the United States Army in Vietnam before returning
8to Chicago, where he worked with young people as an employee of
9Chicago Public Schools; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers began studying for the
11ministry in the 1970s and was ordained in 1977; he was the
12founding pastor of the Austin Community Ministries, as well as
13a former president of the Westside Ministers Coalition and
14chairman of the Coalition's board; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers was known for his battles on
16social justice on the West Side of Chicago, particularly in the
17Austin community; as a spokesman for the Community Reinvestment
18Organizing Project, he requested that Mayor Rahm Emanuel
19include Austin, which reportedly led in the number of
20foreclosures, in the mayor's $15 million Micro-Market Recovery
21Program; he fought to keep open the Austin Business and
22Entrepreneurship Academy High School, one of 3 smaller schools

 

 

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1now operating in the former Austin High School building; he was
2heavily involved in getting the school started as a contract
3school; his efforts also led to Chicago's designation in 1994
4as a federal empowerment zone, a designation that brought with
5it a total of $100 million over 2 years to promote economic
6development and jobs in several areas of the city; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Flowers is survived by his wife,
8Cynthia; his sons, Durand, Duwone, and Elijah; his daughters,
9Lanita Joyner and Blaire Flowers; his brothers, Victor,
10Cornelius, and Dennis; his sisters, Lorinda Givens, Jocelyn
11Flowers, and Aretha Johnson; his 9 grandchildren; and his
12great-grandchild; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
15his family and friends, the passing of the Rev. Dr. Lewis
16Flowers; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
18presented to the family of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Flowers as an
19expression of our sympathy.