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Posts tagged as “chicago fire department”

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

By goodblacknews on July 2, 2021

After working for over 30 years in several different positions within the Chicago Fire Department, Annette Nance-Holt recently became the first woman to lead the CFD.

Her appointment to the top position of Fire Commissioner was confirmed last week by Chicago’s City Council, wgntv.com reports.

“Commissioner Holt has more than three decades of proven leadership and a passion for public service that makes her the perfect fit for this role,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“Furthermore, in a time where more work remains in order to eliminate discrimination, racism and sexism from the firefighter profession, Commissioner Holt’s history-making appointment as the first woman and Black woman to lead as Fire Commissioner couldn’t have come at a better moment.”

Holt was appointed first deputy commissioner in 2018 and has been serving as acting commissioner since Richard C. Ford retired earlier this year.

In 2007, tragedy put Nance-Holt into the news when her 16-year-old son Blair Holt was shot and killed on a CTA bus while shielding a classmate from gunfire.

Nance-Holt since then has helped start Purpose Over Pain, a non-profit which aids parents who have lost children to gun violence.

Commissioner Nance-Holt was mainly raised in the Maple Park community on the south side of Chicago and attended both parochial and public schools. She learned responsibility at an early age, having worked at the family-owned grocery store on the south and west sides of Chicago.

While studying and working full time, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chicago State University, and later obtained a Master’s in Public Administration in Fire and Emergency Services  from Anna Maria College.

Prior to joining the CFD, Commissioner Nance-Holt worked in the private sector for eight  years.

Read more: https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/annette-nance-holt-confirmed-as-first-black-woman-to-lead-the-chicago-fire-department/

After 17 Years, Black Candidates Become Firefighters

By goodblacknews on November 3, 2012
Eighty six of the 98 new firefighters who graduated Thursday were bypassed by a discriminatory 1995 entrance exam. Sharon Wright reports.

At age 53, Marvin Jones finally became the fireman he’d always dreamed of becoming.  “It’s been a long struggle. I feel blessed. I’m almost closed to tears,” he said before walking across the stage in Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom to shake hands with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  Jones was among 98 new firefighters who graduated Thursday, 86 of whom were overlooked by city officials who used discriminatory practices in evaluating applicant scores for a 1995 entrance exam.

“It is my hope that we never, ever make those mistakes again,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel, stressing that the Chicago Fire Department should be as diverse as the city it serves.

After a series of back-and-forth legal battles over the years, Chicago was ordered in May 2011 to hire 111 black firefighters and pay a total of $30 million to nearly 6,000 clients listed in the class-action lawsuit known as the Lewis case.

Would-be firefighters who chose other career paths and those who chose to bypassed a “jobs lottery” six months later received cash awards of at least $5,000 per person.

Jones never took that payout, opting instead to follow his dream.

“We persevered. We’re here today. We’re graduating. We’re about to be Chicago firefighters,” said Jones, a postal worker for 33 years.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/chicago-fire-department-graduation-176881481.html#ixzz2BGFsOIwY