ENGLEWOOD — A South Side artist, historian and entrepreneur are joining forces to give Chicagoans a tour of Greater Englewood’s rich history — and a crisp drink from a Black-owned brewery.
Get On The Bus!, a two-hour guided tour of Greater Englewood, rolls 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. April 7. Chicago urban historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas and Folded Map Project founder Tonika Johnson will guide guests through the neighborhood’s past and present.
Moor’s Brewing Company, a Black-owned brewery founded on Juneteenth in 2021, is hosting the tour. Ticketholders will receive a beer from the brewery, a Moor’s Beer mug and a limited-edition poster designed by Englewood Arts Collective co-founder Cujo Dah.
Tickets for the 10 a.m. “Get On The Bus!” tour have sold out after an overwhelming response from Block Club readers, Johnson told Block Club.
Tickets for the second tour 2-4 p.m. Sunday are $60 and available here.
All proceeds will support Johnson’s, Thomas’ and Moor’s work.
“Since Dilla uplifts that everything dope about America comes from Chicago, we wanted to use this as an opportunity to uplift this Black-owned brewing company from Chicago,” Johnson said. “We’re uplifting history in a more contemporary way by expressing the beauty of our neighborhood, often hidden because of racism, and showing what us young, Black business owners are doing to disrupt that history.”
The Get On The Bus! tour will examine the decades of disinvestment in Greater Englewood while celebrating its current successes, Johnson said. The tour might also uncover history people might not be familiar with.
Guests will learn about Englewood High School and its famous alumni. They’ll see new developments, like the Go Green Community Fresh Market, Johnson said.
The bus will stop at the Englewood post office and the Yale Building. It’ll also visit the homes marked with “landmarkers” as part of Johnson’s Inequity for Sale exhibit, which showcases homes sold to Black homebuyers using land sale contracts.
With a complimentary Moor’s beer to accompany them, “people can expect to learn while getting lit,” Johnson said.
The Greater Englewood tour illustrates how when Black-owned businesses work together, “we can create greatness,” said Jamhal Johnson, co-founder of Moor’s Brewing Company.
“A lot of people don’t know about Englewood outside of the negative narrative,” Jamhal Johnson said. “This is an opportunity to get information and history about the neighborhood and the value it brought and continues to bring to the city.”
Coincidentally, the tour’s date falls on National Beer Day, Jamhal Johnson said. Following the tour, guests are invited to grab a beer with Moor’s, he said.
“For three Black-owned businesses to do this work and put that forward is groundbreaking and should be celebrated by the community,” Jamhal Johnson said. “Everyone should support this tour and others like it.”
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