Slum Busters: Remembering Chicago's Community Garden Roots
``I am somebody . . . prove it. Help clean up your neighborhood."
They call themselves Slum Busters, and they`re doing what they can to change the blighted appearance of their North Lawndale neighborhood.
Every Saturday and at least one other day, when the weather is good, members of the group can be seen in vacant lots, swinging sickles to cut the tall underbrush and gathering up bottles, cans, and paper.
Junked cars have been towed away from lots through their action, and discarded tires have been recycled into planters to be used next year for flowers. Members of the group plant grass and flowers in vacant lots and in front of homes.
Read more, "'Slum Busters' Calling: Growing Group Beautifies North Lawndale Blight," Jerry Thornton, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 28, 1986.