Family, friends and fans gathered Saturday at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel to pay tribute to Dr. Margaret Burroughs.
“Act now
because tomorrow is never promised to anyone. You can sleep when you’re dead,”
Eric Toller, Burroughs’ grandson, fondly remembered his grandmother telling
him.
Burroughs, co-founder of the DuSable Museum of
African-American History, died in November at the age of 95. She also started
the South Side Community Art Center and the Lake Meadows Art Fair and was most
recently the Chicago Park District Commissioner.
Toller,
who said she was just “grandma, and later Dr. B.” to him, said Burroughs always
encouraged him to travel abroad.
Several
reflected on her legacy, including Dr. Carol Adams, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Haki
Mudhubuti, Dr. Charles Branham and Diane Dinkins-Carr.
John
Johnson, a friend of Burroughs’ grandson, and Maggie Brown each gave a solo
tribute. Johnson sang “My Funny Valentine” and Brown sang “Black Butterfly.”
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
