Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Registered speaker George Blakemore urges Black residents to 'tend to your business' during Cook County committee meeting

Business and Economic Development Committee (Cook County) · April 14, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

At a Cook County Business and Economic Development Committee meeting, registered speaker George Blakemore used the public-comment period to urge Black residents to support Black businesses and criticized immigrants for prospering economically; his comments included repeated racially charged language and drew time admonitions from staff.

George Blakemore, a registered public speaker, used the committee's public-comment period to criticize economic behavior in Black communities and urge more Black-owned commerce.

"Black people, you don't tend to your business," Blakemore said during…

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to keep reading

Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.

  • Unlimited articles
  • AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
  • Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
  • Follow topics and more locations
  • 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
30-day money-back on paid plans