Chicago City Wire

Pfizer made a grant to the Chicago Urban League prior to comments from its president in favor of vaccination.

Lee Fang reports that the Chicago Urban League “received a $100,000 grant from Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, for a project to promote ‘vaccine safety and effectiveness.’ Although the Chicago Urban League is not normally shy about disclosing its corporate donors, the support from Pfizer is not listed in the ‘partners’ section on its website. The drug industry funding likewise went unmentioned during the interview.” Fang reports many of those paid to advocate for vaccination and mandatory vaccination in the general public did not disclose financial ties to Pfizer.

“Pfizer’s grant to the Chicago Urban League was one of many that Pfizer made to nonprofits and trade organizations. Pfizer doled out special funding to groups across the country that lobbied in favor of government policies to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine,” Fang reported.

At the time Karen Freeman-Wilson, president of the Chicago Urban League, encouraged mandatory vaccines for all Illinoisans as part of the “vaccine pass” system, as deployed in other parts of the country. Included in a conversation on WTTW was the fighting against the alleged “falsehood” that Covid was manmade, which is now the general understanding given the advocacy of the lab leak theory by the FBI, Department of Energy and a recent report from the U.S. Senate. She said the barrier created by highly controversial vaccine passes was worth the supposed health benefit from vaccination.

“I think whenever you have mandates, you have to think about why they're being placed,” Freeman-Wilson told WTTW. “And the health and safety factor here far outweighs the concern about shutting people out or creating a barrier. But I do think we should keep data. And if we look at the statistics and come up with innovative ways to encourage people in spite of their hesitancy or their refusal to get vaccinated, that could counter any barrier that is created by mandates. But we absolutely support barriers because our health depends on.”

She also supported sending vaccine advocates “door to door” to get the unvaccinated in line.

“I've seen both city and state encourage vaccines through advertising, through social media and other things," Freeman-Wilson said. "I think that the idea that they will go door to door is something that is a possibility and something I certainly support, even supported by the city and the state. And I also think meeting people where they are taking mobile vaccine trucks to church, to liquor stores, to other social settings, to clubs. I think that when you do that, you have an opportunity to get people vaccinated because they don't then have the excuse that it's too hard or it's not been.”

Freeman-Wilson has been the president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League since January 2020.

The Chicago Urban League acknowledges her “passion for equity and social justice to the organization, which works to achieve equity for Black families and communities through social and economic empowerment.”

Freeman-Wilson was previously mayor of Gary, Indiana and was the first female to lead the city of Gary and the first African American female mayor in Indiana. Some of the accomplishments under her leadership as a mayor, "included job creation, completion of a $100 million airport runway relocation, and the development of key areas in the city. She also previously served as Indiana Attorney General, Director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and presiding judge of the Gary City Court.” She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. According to her bio, she has “served in the public arena most of her professional life, Freeman-Wilson has deep experience in addressing issues that impact urban communities."