This Black History Month, the spotlight shines on three outstanding women representing the South Suburbs in Cook County positions.
Donna Miller was first elected 6th District Cook County Commissioner in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. Monica Gordon first won election as 5th District Cook County Commissioner in 2022. The Democratic Party then tagged her to run for Cook County Clerk to fill a vacancy. She won that election in November. To fill the vacant 5th District commissioner’s seat, Democrats selected Kisha McCaskill. She was sworn in in January.

“It is an honor to be in this role and to be in a position to not only accomplish some of the things that I would like to accomplish but also to pave the way. The door was opened by (5th District) Commissioner Deborah Sims (who retired in 2022),” McCaskill said.
“She began the work, but that is exactly what it’s about, the legacy of the (5th District) seat. Opening it up to young Black women and also younger girls. … That will definitely be a priority of mine as it relates to outreach. Making sure they see who they can become in these kinds of roles.”
“I think representation matters,” Gordon said. “And, I think that to understand a specific issue or topics you have to come from the perspective of, for instance a Black woman. Her perspective on topics can be different from others.
“I learned that when I was a commissioner on the county board. I found out why it was so important to Commissioner Sims that her district by represented by a Black woman. A lot of the issues that were pertinent in the district were issues that affected Black women.”
Commissioner Miller points to her family’s history going back 100 years in Cook County. Her grandfather, the first Black psychiatrist in Chicago, worked at County Hospital. Her aunt, a physician, reorganized the ophthalmology department there.
“I think of being a Black woman in a role like this, I only got here because of them and I’m only able to do things and think about things just because of the values that were instilled in me and the role of my family and having that really deep sense of history and legacy, that’s what I carry every day,” Miller said.
Miller points to her grandmother who became a professional golfer in the 1930s. She petitioned the county board for 14 years for the right of women to have golfing privileges on county courses. She finally won the right in the 1950s.
“When I think about Black History Month and me in this role, it’s a culmination of all that. It’s instlled in me to make me what I am,” she said.