Dempsey Travis is an extraordinary man who continues to lead an extraordinary life. At age 87 he’s about to start the final phase of his Chatham Park Place development, and is planning new projects.
Travis is a philanthropist, author, real estate developer, entrepreneur, musician, founder of one of America’s 100 largest black-owned businesses, and far more. He was repeatedly one of Ebony Magazine’s 100 most influential black Americans.
Barry Pearce and I spent a few — too few — hours with Dempsey on Wednesday, at his office and at his home. We invite you to watch parts of our candid and often blunt conversation. We talked about Chatham — where Dempsey has lived for 40 years — and the impact of the Olympics on Washington Park (video), about racial segregation in Chicago (video), about the early influences on his life and his philanthropy (video), and about his best friend, Mayor Harold Washington (video).