CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Aldermen could consider a proposal Thursday afternoon to rename Lake Shore Drive for the man considered Chicago’s founding father, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable.
The idea, advocated by activist Ephraim Martin, has been pressed for years and more recently gained traction, especially in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"We come together for a man who discovered this city over 230 years ago, right by this river," Martin said at a rally in March. "When he got here, he set up a trading post and he started this great city called Chicago. He has not been given his full reward...We need a major street. We want Lake Shore Drive."
Alderman David Moore introduced the name change in the City Council. He said the city can’t be called one of the greatest cities when the founder isn’t recognized.
"There is no way we can continue to say Chicago is one of the greatest cities if we cannot recognize the man fully who founded Chicago," Moore said.
Martin has argued if DuSable weren’t a black man, there would have been a monument, a street, and a city holiday named in his honor long ago.
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There is currently a park, a harbor, a bridge, and a museum named for DuSable.
The renaming is on the agenda of the City Council’s Committee on Public Transportation and Public Way.