Historic West Woodlawn
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Place of Pioneers
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A Wonderful Walkable Village
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Historic West Woodlawn ~ Place of Pioneers ~ A Wonderful Walkable Village ~
Attorney Earl Neal was a benchmark of commitment, integrity and extreme professionalism for over three decades. Earl Langdon Neal stands as one of the most respected attorneys on the Chicago legal scene. The son of Chicago attorney Earl James Neal, Earl Langdon Neal was born in Chicago on April 16, 1928. He received his B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1949, and his J.D. from Michigan Law School in 1952.
Following his graduation from law school, Neal served briefly in the United States Army. In 1955, he joined his father's law firm, Neal & Neal. Their first trial together took them to Lincoln, Illinois. The two were forced to commute from Chicago because Lincoln, nearly one hundred and seventy miles away, had no hotels that would admit African Americans. In 1960, Neal began working with the Chicago city government. That year Neal was appointed assistant Corporation Counsel and worked closely with the Bureau of Engineering in acquiring land for the Dan Ryan and Kennedy rapid transit extension projects. He also served as trial lawyer for the Land Acquisition Division and the Land Clearance Committee. In 1962, Neal accepted the responsibility as principal of his father's law firm after his father was appointed judge. In 1968, he formed his own firm, Earl L. Neal and Associates and continued to handle trial work for the city of Chicago and other public agencies.
Naomi Davis
Naomi Davis is an urban theorist, attorney, activist, and proud granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. She is the founder and CEO of BIG: Blacks in Green™- a national green community economic development network launched in 2007 and based in Chicago. She is a pioneer and continuing innovator in empowering urban communities to choose green solutions for sustainable development.
Attorney Davis draws upon the strong heritage of her forbears to offer a course she calls Grannynomics/The Conservation Lifestyle™ and its emerging “urban homestead” mixed-use real estate developments. She authored and teaches The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building™ – training activists and everyday neighbors to lead where they live in establishing “walkable-villages” within a “City of Villages” – where every household can walk-to-work, walk-to-shop, walk-to-learn, walk-to-play.
YOU CAN ACCESS THE VIDEO BELOW.
BIG’s first green-village-building pilot – in Chicago’s historic West Woodlawn – aims to restore the former framework of neighbor-owned businesses and neighbor-owned buildings as a local living economy, needed now more than ever as a greenhouse gas reduction strategy. She has taught Grannynomics ™ and Green-Village-Building™ as an open enrollment three-semester course at the University of Chicago/Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and in shorter formats – one week, full- and half-day workshops, as well as in one-hour and keynote lengths for schools, organizations, churches, and events across the country.