Timuel D. Black Jr., 86, is a revered and highly respected educator, civil rights activist, noted jazz historian, community leader, oral historian and author. He spent more than 40 years as an educator including 14 years teaching at DuSable, Farragut and Hyde Park and night classes at Dunbar and Phillips High Schools .

He is a pioneer in the independent black political movement, having served as a close advisor and strategist for Mayor Harold Washington. He is also a professor emeritus of social sciences at the City Colleges of Chicago after a twenty-six year tenure.

Tim has received many awards for excellence over the years including Teacher of the Year (1965) and the Civil Liberties Award (1971). He has served on the board of many non-profit organizations including the Grand Boulevard Federation, the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the League of Women Voters and is currently involved in the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, the Small Schools Workshop and the DuSable High School Transitional Advisory Council.

In 2003 Tim published the first volume of his trilogy, “Bridges of Memory: Chicago ’s First Wave of Great Migration”. This major undertaking focuses on documenting the development of Chicago ’s African-American community from the 1920’s to the present.