December 10, 2012

Statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the Passing of Reverend Flowers

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

“The loss of Reverend Lewis Flowers reminds us how much our city gained from his life of love and service to our city. As a City, we mourn his passing.  Our enduring gratitude is with his wife Cynthia and their five children for sharing Reverend Flowers with us and for carrying on his legacy of care and commitment to the West Side.  That legacy was woven together by a common thread of striving to achieve social justice, especially for our children. Reverend Flowers is justly celebrated as the unofficial ‘Mayor of the West Side’ and as Mayor of Chicago, I am thankful for his tireless efforts as president of the Westside Ministers Coalition and founder of the Austin Community Ministries.  And as we reinvent and reemphasize our community policing strategy, I am thankful to Reverend Flowers for serving as a CAPS beat facilitator and for organizing a grassroots ‘parent’s patrol’ to protect our children around Austin High School.  Whether he was working to increase access to higher-paying jobs, more affordable health care, better education or fairer housing for the communities on the West Side, Reverend Flowers reflected the best of all of Chicago.”

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