Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago”: Chicago’s urban historian shares his passion for teaching people about the city he loves.

Join us as Sherman “Dilla” Thomas, proud South Sider, founder of Mahogany Tours, son of a Chicago police officer, and TikTok dad, explains how the power of storytelling can change the narrative about Chicago. “My gift is that I understand history--that helps me to order my steps in the now,” he says. “We all have to do our part to make Chicago better.”

Featured across Chicago media and nationally on both the Today and Kelly Clarkson shows, Thomas soared to fame with his 60-second TikTok videos on Chicago history, which have gathered more than 20 million views. His company, Mahogany Tours, visits neighborhoods such as Bronzeville, Englewood, and North Lawndale. “I wanted to have an asset-based tour,” says Thomas, as opposed to a lineup of notorious mob sites or the like--“not pointing out the site of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, but instead showing people where Pope John Paul II spoke, where Nat King Cole lived.”

Thomas, an employee of Commonwealth Edison, has been named the 2022 Chicago Tourism Ambassador of the Year by Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism agency. He has also received the prestigious Chicago Public Library Foundation's 21st Century Award, as well as the Studs Terkel Uplifting Voices Award.