They got Obama elected. Now activists fight to make sure his presidential center won't displace Black residents

• Activists fighting gentrification released a set of demands for Barack Obama's Presidential Center.
• Residents demand investment that doesn't displace the community's Black residents.

The ongoing, and years-long, fight over the forthcoming Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago is heating up. Activists recently released a new set of demands for the project aimed at combating gentrification.

They aren't protesting the center itself, but are working to stop development from displacing them.

"We're not against the center," Dixon Romeo, an organizer with the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, told Insider. He added that South Shore residents were among those who sent Obama to Springfield as an Illinois senator and later the White House.

"The issue is if you're not investing in community members and the costs are going up, there's nothing in place for folks to stay, it becomes harder for folks to live there," he added

Even though residents of the South Shore neighborhood voted overwhelmingly for the Democrat both in 2008 and 2012, they stand to lose their homes should the project cause rents and home prices to skyrocket even further.

Their demands include developing affordable housing from the city-owned vacant lots in a neighborhood whose residents are predominantly low-income and Black, as well as allocating money to the Chicago Low-Income Trust Fund for subsidized units in the area.

The coalition is also calling for expanded tenant protections, including the establishment of a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase program, and greater Fair Notice protections.

These measures would shield tenants from arbitrary punishment.

Younger folks are actively trying to buy into the community and are getting priced out. Jacky Brooks, Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition

Potential and current homeowners would also be protected. The policy demands include apportioning funds to provide grants and down-payment assistance for South Shore residents, forgiving the $2.3 million tax debt owed by primarily low-income residents.

"You can implement all of the demands immediately," Romeo said of the list the advocacy group released in November.

"They would have an immediate impact and effect and help stop the displacement that we're seeing," he added.

Chicago's south side has a long history of gentrification and displacement

There's a well-established precedent of displacement for Black communities in the South side of Chicago.

In the past, much of it came at the hands of the University of Chicago, as the cultural critic Davarian Baldwin details in his book In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities.

Though the center is still being developed, its announcement has already had tangible effects on the housing market on the South side. Baldwin noted that "as soon as it was announced that the center would be in Jackson Park, speculation drove housing values up at exorbitant rates."

"A real estate website named Woodlawn one of the hottest neighborhoods on the South side a couple of years ago," Baldwin told Insider. "That's cool and everything, but it comes after decades of profound divestment in historically Black neighborhoods like Washington Park, Woodlawn, and Bronzeville."

"Many of these neighborhoods have been left to die," he added.

According to the US census and data from Redfin, nearly 80% of South Shore residents are renters. Of those, more than half are "rent burdened," spending on average more than 30% of their income on rent.

Meanwhile, the median sale price for homes in Woodlawn rose 106% from 2016-2020, according to Movoto, a digital real estate company.

South side residents like Jacky Brooks, who is also a member of the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, are concerned that even though they want to invest in their communities, they'll have to move from these neighborhoods because of the lack of affordable housing.

"I'm a younger millennial trying to buy into the place that I'm from, but I'm finding it difficult," Brooks told Insider. "Younger folks are actively trying to buy into the community and are getting priced out."

The coalition is striving to replicate success seen in other areas

While ensuring a project as major as the Chicago Presidential Center meets community members' needs is a mammoth task, organizers at the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition have already seen some success.

After five years of organizing, the coalition was able to win protections for Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood in September of last year. Woodlawn is a predominantly Black neighborhood and about 40% of the neighborhood's population is living in poverty, according to a University of Chicago study.

The protections include grants for a program aimed at keeping housing affordable and money for residents to repair their homes.

Construction on the Obama presidential center was also delayed in part because of a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Protect Our Parks, separate from the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition.

Protect Our Parks sued Chicago, federal officials, and the Obama Foundation in April, arguing that the site plans did not follow federal regulations.

While a federal judge ultimately denied the advocates' attempt to halt construction of the project, the lawsuit reflects a community push for the construction of the center to actually benefit long-standing residents.

"It was hard for long time for residents to express their frustrations about the center, because they didn't want to get called traitors," Baldwin said.

"There was this idea of going against the 'Black Savior,' so to speak, but the fear of displacement became so profound that we saw labor organizations, community groups, and even University of Chicago faculty come together around the Community Benefits Coalition."

As construction approaches, the fight for "true" investment continues

Last month, the Obama Foundation, which is overseeing construction of the center, announced that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos donated $100 million to its organization.

Bezos requested that the center be named after the late Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis as part of the deal.

The donation comes a couple of months after the Obama Foundation officially broke ground on the site of the center.

Bezos isn't the only mega-donor to contribute to the center; the Obama Foundation announced it has received at least $10 million in donations from corporations and other foundations.

The center, which will include a museum tower, plaza, a Chicago library branch, a forum, and an athletic center, is drawing significant financial investment.

But whether that money will actually benefit South Shore residents and other Chicagoans living on the city's south side is yet to be determined, according to advocates.

Neither the Obama Foundation or Obama responded to Insider's requests for comment about the center.

However, the Obama Foundation advertises the project as one that will "create new jobs and opportunities" and "uphold our commitment to this vibrant community" on its website.

Obama also previously told ABC News that he's "absolutely confident" the center will benefit the community.

But some are not convinced this will be the case.

"We've seen this movie before and we don't want a three-quel," Romeo, the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition advocate, said.

"We've seen the promises made by the city, but there's nothing in writing and nothing that's legally binding, and then you look up and you can't afford to live here anymore."