Samantha Jordan in Columbus Park. Her proposal to upgrade the century-old Austin park, designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen, won a $1.5 million Chicago Works Community Challenge grant.Chicago native and Austin resident Samantha Jordan, 33, has been rapping as FURY since 2015, with a sound that emphasizes live-band instrumentation and politically conscious lyrics.
I did get the idea from—she was a Chamber of Commerce president for Austin at the time, Tina Augustus. She suggested Columbus Park, because I’m just like, should I do it on a vacant lot? It could’ve been a vacant lot, a city-owned park, or a library that you can use this grant—up to $1.5 million—to renovate, to do upgrades.
Because one of the things I said is we need events here; we don’t have any event spaces. There’s really no bars in Austin—there’s nothing but churches and abandoned buildings. We needed something to where we can have businesses come and see there’s money out here to be made. A lot of times we’re forced to go to Oak Park or neighboring communities like Belmont Cragin or Cicero just to find fun, food, entertainment. There’s not a lot of options in Austin.
each other. I lived in Austin five years and didn’t know the people I was around. Only time I heard from my neighbors was when they were fighting, and I’m not gonna be like, “Hi, I’m Samantha. I just heard you cussing out your man. Are you fighting?” So I definitely had her in mind. Her school was like two blocks from Columbus Park. Even when I was applying, I was just telling her, “Hey, I’m gonna get this grant.” And she’s like, “OK, ma.” You know kids, they don’t believe nothing. They just think all adults are full of crap. But I was like, “Camille, you guys are gonna be able to do stuff at Columbus Park.” And she’s a believer now. That’s all I gotta say.
But that’s how Chicago is—if you build it, they will come. And that’s what I’m excited to do—throw festivals. I know music, and I know food. So I’ve already gone out for another grant. Hopefully I get it next year. The Neighborhood Access Program grant. And that’s kind of the same thing: come up with an idea, something you want to do in your neighborhood, and we’ll see about funding you. I would love to do a summer series to celebrate the new performance area, so I’m hoping it all lines up.
Who are you going to be? Are you still going to be easily triggered, easy to bait, easy to get upset? Or are you gonna be calmer ’cause you know who you are, you know what you want in your life? Revolution is just knowing, if I don’t change something, I’ll be back here next year. A lot of us are kind of in this endless loop, this vicious cycle, and we want to break free. But it has to start with you. You have to know who you are.