Chicago Tribune

He wrote a famous letter to his white friends in 2021. Now he’s reclaimed a property where Black families had been pushed out

Steven Rogers, right, greets friends at a performance by the D.J.A.M. World Music Quartet at the Second Church of Christ, Scientist on Nov. 14, 2023, in Evanston.

CHICAGO -- Evanston, Illinois, resident Steven Rogers penned the 2021 book “A Letter to My White Friends and Colleagues: What You Can Do Right Now to Help the Black Community.” Released on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s killing, it offered practical guidance on how to improve Black and white racial relations, including white people sharing generational wealth that’s been denied to the Black community by governmental policies such as slavery, segregation and redlining. He also asked that Black people use their money to support Black-owned ventures in an effort to help their own.

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