'~I Am East St. Louis' founder honored with rename of street

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - Barbara Brown doesn't want people to forget about her daughter.

It's why, for the past year, she has spent most of her time cleaning the building on the corner of 25th and Lincoln Avenue in East St. Louis, the former home and office space of her late daughter Charmaine Savage. Now, a year-long effort she spearheaded to get that portion of Lincoln Avenue renamed in her daughter's honor is complete.

East St. Louis City Council voted last month to rename Lincoln Avenue, from 21st Street to 25th Street, 'œCharmaine Y. Savage Place.'ť

'œI told my husband then that I was seeing if I could get the street named after her,'ť said Brown, who lives around the corner from the street. 'œIt was kind of hard because she had just passed and I had to get my mind together before I did anything. Then a few months ago, I reached out to the mayor and told him what I wanted to do, and he told me not to worry about it and to get a couple names in the neighborhood for the petition, and I took it down there the week before it was approved.'ť

'œPeople tend to forget about people when they're gone. They might have memories, but they eventually forget. I want them to remember her.'ť

Charmaine Savage passed away in January 2019 due to breast cancer. She was 51. Her long battle with cancer began when she was 29.

Savage was born and raised in East St. Louis and graduated from Lincoln Sr. High School in 1985. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration from McKendree College in 1989. Savage later enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a human resources officer. Before retiring, she lived in San Diego with her husband and served on the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado when a recurrence of breast cancer prompted her return to East St. Louis in 2014 to be closer to family.

After moving back home, she dedicated her life to promoting positive images of her hometown through I Am East St. Louis, The Magazine, which she formed with her husband Lorenzo Savage in 2014. The first issue was released in 2016. Lorenzo said his wife wanted to start the magazine after hearing a commentator compare East St. Louis to Iraq.

'œWe both took offense to that because I know my wife was in Iraq, and we knew that the people there are suffering way more than we are, so we knew we needed to do something to combat the negative media portrayal of East St. Louis,'ť Lorenzo, 52, said. 'œWe knew that people like ourselves and many of our friends and family who've done wonderful things in the city and even outside of the city. But all you see is the crime and corruption.'ť

'œThat was the impetus of it. To create a media narrative that is something more positive for the community to have.'ť

In 2016, Charmaine expanded the magazine's brand to I Am East St. Louis, The Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the image of the city. Along with the magazine, the foundation now includes a public arts project and a speaker series.

Lorenzo, an architect at ArcVision Inc., assumed leadership of both the magazine and foundation after his wife's passing. He's proud that her legacy in shifting the media landscape of the city is being honored with a street named after her.

'œIt wasn't much time after she retired that she started her work, and I thank God that that's the case because she really got an opportunity to make her mark in the short time that she was doing it,'ť Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo and Charmaine first met and formed a friendship when they were in high school at Lincoln Sr. High School. The pair remained friends after college, which led to a nearly 30-year marriage. The couple has two children. Lorenzo said marrying Charmaine was the best thing that ever happened to him.

'œWe met in high school and we were just friends, but we were in a lot of the same classes,'ť Lorenzo said. 'œShe was quiet but smart as a whip. We stayed friends, and after college we got together, and I think that was key in our relationship because we liked each other.'ť

'œShe lived a life of purpose. She was always the person that was the treasurer of the class, very organized. For our bills, she had an Excel sheet. She was wonderful in everything she did, and she always gave 100 percent.'ť

Antwoinette Ayers, a long-time subscriber of I Am East St. Louis, The Magazine, described Charmaine as her 'œshero'ť. Ayers said Charmaine was always willing to help anyone in need.

'œI started a Wives Matter group on FaceBook about marital couples for people looking for advice to keep marriages going, so she would comment on there and give advice from her perspective on her own marriage. She was always so positive.'ť

Ayers is now the magazine's communications director. She said East St. Louis naming a street after Charmaine is a well-deserved honor. Ayers became communications director after Charmaine's death.

'œHer work of wanting to change the narrative of how people perceive East St. Louis has allowed access for people to see the creative side of East St. Louis, the educational side of East St. Louis, the heart of the people and the culture as a whole and not as a negative experience,'ť Ayers, an East St. Louis native, said.

'œThe bad things I would hear (about the city) is that we're the murder capital of the world.There are a lot of talented people from here, but I know that some people are ashamed to say they came from here. Her work with the magazine made our world seen in a greater light. Now, people can look at the magazine as a bridge to get the best of the best (from the city) from the common man to the most professional.'ť

The idea to rename a street in Charmaine's honor was a no-brainer for Mayor Robert Eastern III, who feels personally connected to the initiative. He said the city is planning to hold an official ceremony for the street renaming next month.

'œI think that she did outstanding work in trying to highlight the good in East St. Louis and those citizens that are doing outstanding work in the city currently and those who are no longer in the city but are East St. Louisans,'ť Eastern said. 'œMy wife, Chrisitne, actually died of breast cancer four years ago, and I did a ceremony honoring all East St. Louisans who were fighting some form of breast cancer.

'œ Charmaine, my wife and several other people were included in that. Christine passed first and then Charmaine, so it was my honor to honor her in some type of symbolism to my wife as well.'ť

For Brown, fixing up the area where her daughter once worked and called home is an obligation. She regularly visits the site and has people in the community come to mow the lawn and clean the building. She's planning on turning the building at 2319 Lincoln Ave. into a beauty salon, and the one on 2323 Lincoln Ave. a corner store. Both will be named after Charmaine.

'œI just think she deserves it,'ť Brown said. 'œShe loved this city, and I think she just deserves that and more. She was just awesome. That's why I can be here every day. My family and my husband would get a little worried about me because I spend most of my time here getting things done, and it helps me with my mourning process because it makes me feel closer to her.'ť

'œThis is a legacy for her family and her siblings, her grandkids, nieces and nephews where they'll never forget her. It's hard to forget someone that gave you so much to remember.'ť

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Source: Belleville News-Democrat: https://bit.ly/360Gz2a