PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
Formation	1968
Type	Political organization
Purpose	representing and addressing the interests of African Americans in the Illinois General Assembly
Location	Springfield, Illinois;
Region served	Illinois, United States of America
Membership	31 members
Official language	English
Joint Chair	Sonya Harper
Parent organization	National Black Caucus of State Legislators
Affiliations	Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation
Staff	2
Website	Illinois Legislative Black Caucus

The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to the Illinois Legislature.

Priorities

The primary mission of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is "to assure that the interests of African American citizens are given equitable representation in the General Assembly and that legislative action is directed to address those interests."^[1] The Caucus's efforts have focused in the areas of housing, health & welfare, education, employment and minority business enterprise.^[1]

Specific priorities include:^{[citation needed]}

Reform the current education funding inequalities in Illinois Schools
Develop a comprehensive job training program, which will focus on the top ten zip code areas with the highest unemployment statistics.
Make Illinois a SAC (State Apprenticeship Council) state.
Restore education classes to all prisons.
Develop comprehensive expungement legislation.

Current membership

Officers are elected from within the Caucus with equal representation from both the House and Senate members.^[2]

Officers

The following legislators are officers of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus for the 102nd General Assembly.^[3]^[4]

Officer	Position	District
Sonya Harper	Joint Chair	6 (House)
Robert Peters	Senate Chair	13 (Senate)
Kam Buckner	House Chair	26 (House)
Emil Jones	Secretary	14 (Senate)
Lakesia Collins	Treasurer	9 (House)
Curtis Tarver	Sergeant at Arms	25 (House)

Senate Members

Representative	Party	Residence	Took Office
James Clayborne Jr.	Democratic	Belleville	April 1995
Jacqueline Y. Collins	Democratic	Chicago	January 2003
Napoleon Harris	Democratic	Hillside	January 2013
Mattie Hunter	Democratic	Chicago	January 2007
Robert Peters	Democratic	Chicago	January 2019
Emil Jones III	Democratic	Chicago	January 2009
Kimberly A. Lightford	Democratic	Chicago	December 1998
Kwame Raoul	Democratic	Chicago	January 2005
Donne Trotter	Democratic	Chicago	January 1993
Patricia Van Pelt	Democratic	Chicago	January 2013

House Members

Representative	Party	Residence	Took Office
Lamont Robinson	Democratic	Chicago	January 2019
Sonya Harper	Democratic	Chicago	October 2015
Emanuel Chris Welch	Democratic	Hillside	January 2013
LaShawn Ford	Democratic	Chicago	January 2007
Art Turner	Democratic	Chicago	January 2013
Pamela Reaves-Harris	Democratic	Chicago	January 2015
Christian Mitchell	Democratic	Chicago	January 2013

Thaddeus Jones	Democratic	Calumet City	January 2011
William Davis	Democratic	Homewood	January 2003
Al Riley	Democratic	Olympia Fields	January 2007
Mary E. Flowers	Democratic	Chicago	January 1985
Andre Thapedi	Democratic	Chicago	January 2009
Marcus C. Evans Jr.	Democratic	Chicago	April 2012
Elgie Sims	Democratic	Chicago	August 2012
Rita Mayfield	Democratic	Waukegan	July 2010
Litesa Wallace	Democratic	Rockford	July 2014
Camille Y. Lilly	Democratic	Chicago	April 2010
Jehan Gordon	Democratic	Peoria	January 2009
Carol Ammons	Democratic	Urbana	January 2015
Eddie Lee Jackson	Democratic	East St. Louis	January 2009

History

African Americans in the Illinois General Assembly have had the longest uninterrupted presence in any state legislature in the United States, dating back to 1882. The first African American in the Illinois House of Representatives, John W. E. Thomas of Chicago, was elected in 1876, and after not being re-nominated in 1878 and 1880, returned to the House in 1882. The number of African-Americans in the House increased to two in 1912. Adelbert H. Roberts became the first African American in the Illinois Senate in 1924. Roberts, in 1927, became the first to chair a legislative committee, the Senate Committee on Criminal Procedure. Until 1934, all of the African-Americans elected to the General Assembly were Republicans, after which the African-American presence in the legislature gradually shifted to the Democratic caucus. Floy Clements (1958) and Earlene Collins (1977) became the first African-American women to be elected to the House and Senate, respectively. Cecil A. Partee rose to become the first Minority Leader (1973) and President of the Senate (1975).

The Caucus originated in a study group formed by Harold Washington, Louis A.H. Caldwell, Otis Collins, and Calvin Smith (Illinois politician) in 1966.^[5] The Caucus was formally established in 1967, and purchased a permanent headquarters in Springfield in 2004.^[5]

Works cited

Williams, Erma Brooks (2008). Political Empowerment of Illinois' African-American State Lawmakers from 1877 to 2005. University Press of America. ISBN 9780761840183.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation. "About". Retrieved 2020-01-26. Formally established in 1968, the primary mission of the ILBC is to assure that the interests of African American citizens are given equitable representation in the General Assembly and that legislative action is directed to address those interests.
^ "Leadership". Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
^ Kapos, Shia (2020-12-11). "BLACK CAUCUS' NEW LEADERSHIP — LaHOOD, BOST SPIN IN A TEXAS TORNADO — CALLING THE NATIONAL GUARD". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
^ Kapos, Shia; Carrasco, Maria. "BLACK CAUCUS BACKS BUCKNER — 'PAINFUL' BUDGET CUTS — NEXT COVID CHALLENGE: APATHY". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
^ ^a ^b Williams 2008, p. 87.