THE SQUAD
Willie JR Fleming
Willie "J.R." Fleming has over 20 years of experience as a community organizer and human rights defender. He is currently the Executive Director of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign (CAEC), Board President of the Chicago Owner’s Land Trust (COLT), and is the President of a Section 3 Minority Owned Company. His activism and organizing grew out of the demolition of public housing and the devastating impacts felt by his community from displacement. In the CAEC's first year, the organization built a dynamic city-wide Human Right to Housing Collective consisting of CHA tenants and families facing foreclosure. The CAEC also won a temporary moratorium on "economically motivated" evictions in Cook County and has successfully negotiated partnerships between banks, community groups, and businesses. As the Executive Director, J.R. worked with Cook County commissioners to help create the Cook County Land Bank, worked with Chicago Community Loan Fund a local CDFI to create a Community Land Trust pilot for 50 homes. His work also expanded to help the Charlottesville Housing Authority, Public Housing Association of Residents, and Habitat for Humanity to create a Section 3 pilot program.
Dedicated to enforcing human rights, J.R. has organized with groups such as the Chicago Coalition to Protect Public Housing, U.S. Human Rights Network and the Hip Hop Congress. He previously served as the Chicago City Chair and lead coordinator for the United Nations International Covenant on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), UN Human Right to Adequate Housing's official missions to the U.S.
JR is also dedicated to developing and mentoring young leaders who were instrumental in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of a Child adoption by Chicago City council. J.R. is also a national advocate for the Women’s Ex-offender Re-entry Program (CHA,HUD) and has been involved in ending the school to prison pipeline by utilizing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of a Child. He has provided testimonies, reports and shadow reports for U.S. Congress/Senate and the United Nations.
J.R. also serves as a consultant in higher education institutions, most recently notably his work in social movements inspired the opening of the Institute for Inequality and Democracy at UCLA. He is also a Board Member and assisted in building out the Equity Center at University of Virginia to help build better equitable relationships between the UVA and the Charlottesville community to redress racial and socioeconomic inequality. J.R. also partnered in the past with the Harvard Graduate School of Education that led to a book about dilemmas in educational practices using a human rights lens. He has a partnership with the University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program as a community scholar.
J.R.’s work has earned him recognition in books, short films, local-international documentaries, television shows, news broadcasts, and magazines including a nine-page cover story in the NY Times Magazine titled "The Death and Life of Chicago." In 2013 he was given the Human Rights Movement Builder Award along with seven other notable human rights leaders nationally by the US Human Rights Network.
Ananka Shony
Ananka is the Co-Director of the Chicago Anti Eviction Campaign. Activism was deeply instilled by their grandmother through her examples of care and community. Ananka began taking her own initiative around issues that were harming the people and the planet since the 5th grade. Since then, she has learned a great deal about the world we live in and has remained connected to the collective struggle around Human Rights and the Health of our planet as a whole. She has worked with various groups and organizations over the years and recognizes the importance of working with individuals and efforts that are truly working around the needs of the people and the planet from the ground up with a solid heart and sound mind. She found that space in the work of the Campaign educate and activate awareness around the Human Right to Housing.
Henry Warfield
Born and raised in Chicago, living in the Cabrini Green housing projects, Henry felt the impacts of the demolition of public housing. Knowing the impacts housing can have on families, Henry is a staunch activist around the human right to housing. Henry is a human rights educator and expert, worked for the Coalition to Protect Public Housing and currently serves as the CFO of the Campaign. Dedicated to enforcing human rights, Henry has organized with groups to protect public housing, national human rights organizations, and national hip hop organizations. Henry strongly believes in educating and helping Chicago’s communities by any means necessary, especially as it pertains to the issues of health and well being.
Mikael David
Mikael David is our Project Manager and Managing Broker. Mikael brings a wide range of talents and inclusive vision to the work. Mr. David has woven together a unique approach to Urban Design, Arts Culture, Agriculture, Health, Energy Efficiency, Tech Implementation and Civic Engagement. His contributions have been a powerful addition to our collective group effort.
Sylvester Blue
Sylvester Blue, best known as Blue, is our Lead General Contractor and Senior Instructor. With over 30 years of experience, in residential & commercial construction, private and government General Carpentry, flooring, and roofing - Blue offers a vast arsenal of DIY tricks, Patience, skilled instruction, and a wealth of wisdom that has been a huge asset to all who cross his path.