Rep. Ford: Change Cicero Avenue to Mandela Road

Oak Park Chronicles

South Oak Park’s Rep. La Shawn Ford wants to rename Cicero Avenue to Mandela Road. It would be “a small gesture from our partnering communities” — Western Springs, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Brookfield, Forest Park, Proviso Township, Riverside, North Riverside, Berwyn, Oak Park, and Austin, all of the 8th Illinois House District — to honor the late S. African leader, who has been “an inspiration to many,” Ford says in a petition.

Doing this “will send a message that Illinois stands for a strong road for justice,” he adds.

It would to many. But probably not to merchants who have to change their signs and letterheads. Not even, maybe, to the cash-strapped city of Chicago, which would have to change street signs etc. Not to mapmakers — wait: yes to mapmakers, who would gain much business from need for new maps. But not to the town of Cicero, for heaven’s sake…

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