Highland Park: Mama Shu's block is now a village, and she wants City Hall

HIGHLAND PARK. Shamayim "Mama Shu" Harris started by picking up trash on Avalon Street after a personal tragedy. Two decades later, the block has basketball courts, a homework house, shipping-container retail space, and street lights the city removed in 2011 when it couldn't pay the electric bill. The street is now officially called Avalon Village, and Harris runs it as CEO.

Harris spent six years as the Highland Park Police Department's first lady chaplain, four years as school board president, and three as chair of the city's Charter Revision Commission. She ran for City Council in 2010, 2011, and 2015 without winning. Now she's running for mayor, on a platform of tearing down blight, rebuilding housing stock, and growing local business.