Love, Tami

Our beloved Tami Love departed this world on Sunday, February 21, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer. Tami Diane Love was born in Chicago on March 28, 1963, to Ozie Love-Givens and William Tell Jr. She was the fifth of six children. Tami attended Felsenthal Elementary School and King High School. She then attended Wilfred Academy for Cosmetology and became a beautician. Tami had a passion for cosmetology and fashion. “You better be a Diva,” she liked to say. Tami was known as the CEO of her family due to her intellect, strength, courage and assertive personality. She was the go-to person for advice on life, or when someone needed the strength to face challenges or uncertainty. When someone offered what she thought was bad advice for her family or friends, she would say, “We don’t roll like that!” Tami loved gardening both indoors and out, taking pride in her thriving house plants. She had a great love for music and loved to sing and dance. She was the life of the party. She was fascinated with astronomy and always at ease with new technology. Tami truly enjoyed sharing her interests and experiences with family members and friends, often inspiring them to take on new hobbies. Tami’s ambition, love and willingness to advocate for people in need led her to pursue a career as a community organizer with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). In 1995, as a parent of three children at Funston Elementary School, Tami joined LSNA’s very first cohort of Parent Mentors. Tami took time to meet people as they were, to listen, to try to learn their language, and to celebrate powerful personal changes as well as systemic change. Tami was instrumental in creating the Funston Community Learning Center, the first such center in Illinois. With her friend Ada Ayala, Tami led a team of Funston moms that interviewed 750 people in and around the school, asking what programs would best serve local families if the school building was open in the evening. They negotiated an agreement with Malcolm X College to provide GED and English classes, then complemented these with on-site childcare and other programs for adults and children. Their work was cited as an outstanding case study by the national 21st Century Community Schools Initiative. Tami soon joined the staff of Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), where she continued to build the field of parent organizing in Chicago schools. Returning to LSNA in 2004, Tami guided Lathrop Homes residents and former residents through their long campaign to protect and preserve public housing in a gentrifying area – an effort she staffed through 2018. With Tami at their side, Lathrop residents won unprecedented commitments from the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA): to keep a minimum number of units occupied until the start of redevelopment; to replace all 925 of Lathrop’s public housing units (either on site or elsewhere on Chicago’s North Side); the high-quality historic preservation of two dozen of Lathrop’s original buildings; and the retention of “Lathrop” as the community’s name. Tami was also deeply involved in building the Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI), which linked Lathrop leaders and LSNA to other tenants and community organizations fighting to reform CHA. A builder of Black and Brown coalitions, she was particularly proud of her role in CHI’s “Keeping the Promise” Campaign. In recent years, Tami returned to her roots in the Parent Mentor program, helping to shape the Parent Engagement Institute at LSNA. She fought for state funds to expand the Parent Mentor Program across Illinois, and then mentored and coached parent mentor organizers across the state to make sure the values and heart of the work was replicated with fidelity. Due in large part to Tami’s committed leadership in both volunteer and staff roles, the Parent Mentor Program grew to include ten schools in Logan Square, then 150 schools across Illinois, and now reaches into other states. Thousands of women leaders, in particular, felt Tami’s barrierbreaking passion and care as they completed the Parent Mentor Program. In recent years, Tami was a caregiver to her late mother and a source of support for her siblings. She also fulfilled new dreams, becoming a homeowner and traveling to the Grand Canyon. Tami was preceded in death by her father William Tell Jr., her mother Ozie-Love Givens, her sister Patricia Gloster, her niece Draya Michelle and her nephew Stevie Love. Tami is survived, and her memory is cherished, by her stepfather, Leo Givens; her daughter Brandie, son Kevin and daughter Katrina; her six grandchildren, Brooklyn, James, Turrant, Kevin Jr., Kyrian, Shayne; her four siblings, Gloria, Joe, Absia and Sheri; a host of nieces and nephews; and countless friends. Services will be held at the Gatling’s Chapel funeral home, 10133 S. Halsted St. in Chicago. On Friday, March 5, Viewing will take place between 3 and 6 PM. On Saturday, March 6, there will be a brief Visitation from 1 to 1:30 PM, followed by a Homegoing (funeral) Service from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. (Attendance is limited to 50 people at any time, with masks and social distancing required.) The funeral service will be streamed via Zoom; find the link at https://gatlingchapel.com/. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Logan Square Neighborhood Association at https://www.lsna.net/donate.

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