The North-End

This story was not penned for clicks, likes, humor or book deals. I wanted to personally understand the history of the neighborhoods that rests on the northern edge of Champaign-Urbana and are known as "The North-End" subsection of a divided community. MY truth was developed in a segregated normalcy. In digging into the historical but hidden gems to record the social movement of becoming recognized as #NORTHTOWN; underneath it the momentum generated the structural elements for ecosystem building. It was clear the pain & disenfranchisement ran several generations deep and was engrained in many families that inhabited the neighborhoods before my birth. My exploration of the northern edge of CU was intended to discover the impact of those experiences and circumstances imprinted on me & many others like me, who were redlined north of University Ave. Before my 1960's generation become Indigenous advocates & community developers and we had the desire to have our own business district; several actions had to take place to complete the task. The backdrop of the town slogan that did not include us, national civil unrest, and now COVID-19 ushered us into a new normal. We can only go North from here!