First Lady, Dignitaries to Attend Bishop Brazier Funeral

Dozens gather to continue affordable housing project Brazier spearheaded

First Lady Michelle Obama and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett will be in Chicago on Friday to attend the funeral for Bishop Arthur Brazier, the White House said.

Brazier, a civil rights activist and former leader of the Apostolic Church of God, in Woodlawn, died a week ago after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.

Services for Brazier begin at 11 a.m. at the South Side megachurch, at 6320 S. Dorchester Ave.

On Thursday, dozens gathered near East 62nd Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue to continue the work Brazier started before he died.  A wall was erected in his honor at the site of a affordable housing project in Woodlawn.  Brazier helped plan and implement the development.

Those who gathered said it marked a new era in the community and one that would not have happened without the contributions of Bishop Brazier.

“I know I feel many different feelings," said Amy Anthony, the president of the group Preservation of Affordable Housing. "Part real excitement that we’ve gone to this place; the walls are rising. Certainly sadness that Bishop Brazier, who was with us from the very beginning and worked with us, has left us. But it is important to remember how much helped to bring us all together…and help move it closer to reality."

The First Lady will be joined by her husband on Saturday, where he will hold a get-out-the-vote rally in at the Midway Plaisance near the University of Chicago.

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