MEDIA ADVISORY

SOUTH SIDE CONVENTION SEEKS NEW DIRECTION FOR CHICAGO

State Sen. Robert Peters, State Rep. Kam Buckner to Keynote Annual KOCO Gathering

WHAT: Bronzeville residents, eager to start a citywide conversation, will gather to map a new direction for Chicago at the annual convention of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, or KOCO. Attendees break into groups to develop strategies to build on and enhance five key quality-of-life components: 

• Equitable Education
  
• Community Health
  
• Youth Investment
  
• Senior Rights
  
• Affordable Housing 
  

The convention will kick off with keynote addresses from two state legislators who fight for community progress: state Sen. Robert Peters (13th) and state Rep. Kam Buckner (26th). 

Peters is sponsor of the Workers Rights and Safety Act as well as legislation aimed at improving the state’s criminal justice system. Peters is chairman of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus.

Buckner’s sponsored legislation in Springfield includes support for safety-net hospitals and for additional housing as well as a measure to strengthen fair elections. He is speaker pro tempore of the Illinois House.

After convention attendees break into groups to explore the quality-of-life issues, they will reconvene to jointly discuss how KOCO can share those strategies across the city and state. Over the next few months, KOCO will develop tactics and work with leaders and policymakers to activate those strategies for positive change in Chicago and Illinois.

WHO: Keynote Speakers

• State Sen. Robert Peters (13th)
• State Rep. Kam Buckner (26th)
  

WHEN & WHERE:

• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 2025
  
• King College Preparatory High School, 4445 S. Drexel Blvd., Chicago
  

WHY: Founded in 1965, KOCO is in its 60th year of building community, creating resources and developing intergenerational leaders, including prominent figures in Chicago. KOCO listens to residents' concerns and ideas and turns them into action. KOCO’s major

organizing efforts resulted in: 

• The annual We Walk for Her march, a youth-led event entering its eighth year of bringing attention to the plight of missing and murdered Black women and girls (who annually are overrepresented among missing persons in the U.S.). KOCO’s Girls Who Lead continue to work with city, county and state leaders on policy issues related to the safety of Black women and girls.
  
• Leadership in the movement to stabilize rents in Illinois
  
• The planned 2025 opening of the Silver Fox Cafe, to provide seniors a daytime gathering spot with not only an affordable menu but music, art, exercise and fellowship. 
  
• Chicago’s first-ever school board elections, in 2024
  
• A community push for the construction of King College Prep High School in 1971 to replace the overcrowded Forrestville High School. 
  
• A sustained campaign in 2020 to keep open the hospital now known as Insight Hospital & Medical Center, when the facility was slated to close during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
• A 34-day community hunger strike in 2015 that kept open the Dyett High School for the Arts. In 2025, KOCO is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the hunger strike.
  
• The Community Youth Employment Act, an Illinois summer jobs program in 2010 and 2011.
  

ABOUT KOCO

Founded in 1965, KOCO is in its 60th year of building community, developing leaders and creating resources. Through the sustained engagement of low-income and working families, KOCO develops multi-generational leaders who impact decision-making processes and public policies, improving the quality of life in our local communities. KOCO is an instrument for grassroots democracy in the North Kenwood and Oakland communities. For more information visit kocoonline.org.

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