45 Facts About Dorothy Tillman And Her Contributions To Society

Born on May 12, 1947, Dorothy Tillman is the daughter of James Wright and Edna Mae Struggs.

Tillman met Martin Luther King Jr at nine years of age and went on to work closely with him during the climax of the African American Civil Rights Movement. It was not until 1965 that she arrived in Chicago.

At least within the African American community, the sound of justice resonates when Tillman voices her criticism against slavery and demands reparations. In a 22 year long political career shaped by the advocacy of the African American agenda, Tillman served as the Third Ward alderwoman of Chicago City.

Her systemic fight against racism finds expression in her concentrated efforts in addressing the complex socio-economic exploitation of African Americans.

Introduction To Dorothy Tillman

Dorothy Tillman is a former member of the Chicago City Council who represented the city's Third Ward as an alderwoman. She is now registered as a member of the Democratic Party.

• Mayor Harold Washington initially nominated Tillman after Tyrone T. Kenner's dismissal.
• Later she secured an 81% majority vote in the 1985 special election to succeed Kenner as the first woman to represent the city's Third Ward.
• Her political career as a Chicago alderman lasted 22-year long, from 1985 to 2007.
• Dorothy failed to secure a majority in the 2007 Aldermanic elections of Chicago.
• Pat Dowell succeeded her after losing the runoff elections in 2007.
• Tillman was able to secure 46% votes during her loss.

Life History Of Dorothy Tillman

Even though Tillman lost the 2007 Aldermanic elections, it hardly reflected sentiments of the African American community who still backed her. The former President of the USA, Barack Obama, was her most prominent supporter.

• Dorothy Tillman was born on May 12, 1947. As of 2022, she is 74 years old.
• She is the daughter of James Wright and Edna May Struggs.
• The real name of Dorothy Tillman was Dorothy Jean Wright.
• She was born in Montgomery, Alabama.
• One of Dorothy's primary inspirations was her grandmother, Dorothy Jean Tillman.
• Tillman was only nine years old when she met Martin Luther King and 19 when she marched alongside him.
• She got her master's degree from Unity College.
• She moved to Chicago in 1965.
• In 1966, she met her husband, Jimmy Lee Tillman, while serving as a civil rights activist in Chicago.
• The couple got married in 1967 and raised five children.
• Dorothy and Jimmy Lee Tillman relocated to San Francisco in 1967.
• The following year in San Fransisco, Dorothy agitated along with the residents of her housing society over local public transportation issues.
• The launch of a permanent bus route marked the success of this protest.
• She is currently the host of 'Coffee, Tea, and a Conversation with Dorothy Wright Tillman', which runs every Saturday morning.

Recognitions Of Dorothy Tillman

Tillman has been a civil rights activist from 16 years of age when she joined the African American Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. A child prodigy, Dorothy was named 'The Movement Baby' who received numerous awards for her contributions to society.

• Tillman was actively involved in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) of Martin Luther King Jr. after being recruited by James Bevel as a field staff organizer in 1963.
• In 1965, she was named one of the first SCLC field staff organizers to participate in King's march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
• The march, also known as Bloody Sunday, was a watershed moment in securing African American voting rights.
• Dorothy Tillman was involved in the Chicago Freedom Movement of 1965.
• While campaigning for the Chicago Freedom Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. selected Tillman to protest better housing, employment, and education for the African American community.
• The campaign paved the first step in King's effort to revive the African American socio-economic conditions.
• Tillman assisted King's relocation to the Chicago tenement in 1966.
• In her pursuit of providing quality education, Tillman provided the framework for school reform in Chicago by founding the city-wide organization, Parent Equalizers of Chicago.
• Tillman mobilized the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) residents in 1982 to oppose Mayoral candidate Jane Byrne's nomination of three white candidates without any prior linkage to CHA's housing project as members of the CHA board.
• Tillman's proactive involvement and success in grassroot Chicago politics are attributed as one of the reasons leading to Harold Washington's election as Chicago's first African American mayor in the Mayoral elections of 1983.
• Dorothy Tillman, who supported Timothy Evans in the 1989 Mayoral elections, criticized Eugene Sawyer, the incumbent mayor, remarking that he was an 'Uncle Tom.'
• Sawyer retaliated against the personal attacks by removing Tillman from the Housing Committee chairmanship.
• Tillman triggered outrage by demanding to be served by only black people at a 2001 political reception.
• After pulling out a pistol in the middle of an ongoing Chicago Council session, she invited more controversy.
• Tillman is credited with mobilizing Chicago's predominantly African-American wards to provide the groundwork to Barack Obama's US Senate run in 2004, which the latter won with a 90% majority votes.

Work Done By Dorothy Tillman

Tillman's influential role in the 1983 Mayoral elections gave momentum to launch her own political career as the first female alderman of Chicago's Third Ward. In a 22 year long political career, she remains a strong advocate of racial justice.

• She left her mark of success in advocating the African American agenda by passing several resolutions related to slavery reparations.
• Dorothy Tillman hosted the first National Reparations Convention for African-American Descendants of African Slaves in 2001.
• She is known for backing the construction of the 55th and Dan Ryan shopping center, the first Tax Increment Financing(s) to operate in the African American community.
• The African American Home Builders Association was founded with Tillman's help.
• Tillman authored the Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance, unanimously passed in 2002.
• The law made it mandatory for all companies vying for city contracts to disclose any prior links with slavery.
• In 2005, Tillman highlighted Bank of America's alleged connection to slavery in her campaign against a $500 million refinancing deal.
• Dorothy Tillman, along with Lou Rawls, is credited as the two visionaries behind the establishment of Harold Washington Center.
• Its management is headed by the executive director of Tobacco Road, Jimalita Tillman, Dorothy's daughter.
• Lakefront Outlook, a local newspaper, opened an investigation against Tillman in 2006 after finding out that the Harold Washington Center was shrouded with financial discrepancies involving tax violations.
• Furthermore, alleged charges of blatant nepotism killed her political clout. Tillman lost the aldermanic elections in the following year.