“Motherdawn” Blackman

Dawn Mosley Blackman, a Chicago native, moved to Champaign in April, 1993. She is the current steward of the Randolph Street Community Garden and a pastor at the Church of the Brethren. As a military wife she lived in Europe and the Middle East, where she apprenticed with native craftspeople, which led to the founding of Motherlands Multicultural Resource Center and Motherlands Culture Club, located at Church Street Square, in 1995. In the spring of 1999, Motherlands Culture Club was adopted as a ministry by the Church of the Brethren. She is a recipient of a McKinley YWCA award for community service, and was named a 2015 Purpose Prize Fellow by Encore.org. Dawn shares her proud achievements within the local community, including hosting a food pantry at the Champaign Church of the Brethren and coordinating the community gardens, which are affiliated with the church.

We Don’t Live in a Food Desert. We Live under Food Apartheid

“When I was growing up as a child in Chicago, there were a few grocery stores in my neighborhood. I remember there were three or four of them; they were close enough to walk to. They mostly had non-parity foods. One chain would overcharge shoppers in our area; another would send bruised and days-old fruits and vegetables and stale bread from stores in affluent neighborhoods and sell them at full price in our area. In the ’60s and ’70s, families with cars would shop outside of the community in order to get fresh produce, fresh bread, and shelf items that were not damaged, dented, or dusty.” This is how Dawn Blackman remembers accessing food during her childhood in the Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago. However, she continues, “now when I go back there and drive around the neighborhood, there aren’t any full-service grocery stores within walking distance.” Combining memories of past and present Chicago, she argues that “we currently don’t live in a food desert, we live under food apartheid.” Continue reading →