WEEKEND QUOTABLES

After more than $1billion was easily raised for the repair of  Notre Dame Cathedral, thousands marched in Paris, for the 23rd week in a row, over the lack of economic equality in France  

Father Michael Pfleger

 “It’s being reported a lot of money to rebuild Notre Dame is coming from the United States. Well, consider the fact that America hasn’t finished rebuilding the 9th Ward in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We still don’t have clean water in Flint, Michigan. We still have not rebuilt Puerto Rico since Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. Up until recently, little money was raised to rebuild three black churches burned to the ground in Louisiana. Poverty is raging in communities in Chicago and the state.” -- Sun-Times

John Barnett, Boeing whistle-blower

“As a quality manager at Boeing, you’re the last line of defense before a defect makes it out to the flying public. And I haven’t seen a plane out of Charleston yet that I’d put my name on saying it’s safe and airworthy.” -- New York Times

For the first time, Chicago top execs are all women of color. 

Lori Lightfoot

 “We are very focused on making sure … that we are creating opportunities for diverse young people to get a seat at tables that they wouldn’t ordinarily have a seat at. I think that’s reflected in our transition committees — we’re matching up people who are notable with people who are laudable and unsung and everything else in between.” -- Sun-Times

Anand Giridharadas, author of  'Winner Take All"

And he lambasted the notion, frequently championed by the likes of Bill Gates and Barack Obama, that Silicon Valley’s innovations would disrupt old hierarchies and spread capitalism’s rewards. “Really?” Giridharadas asked. “Now five companies control America, instead of 100! And a lot of those companies are whiter and more male than the ones they disrupted.” -- Washington Post

Dick Simpson, political science prof at UIC

Simpson noted that the woman Emanuel affectionately called “B3” was “held out to be a reformer who was improving the schools....There should have been red flags, given some of her previous involvement, as came out in the court case, with her former employer." -- Sun-Times