 Shiller moved to Chicago 's Uptown neighborhood in 1972 with her husband Marc Zalkin and her infant son , Brendan , and lived on N Malden Street in Uptown . Shiller drove a cab , worked as a waitress and free lance photographer , and got involved in radical politics . With one of Chicago 's most controversial political organizers , Walter " Slim " Coleman , Shiller helped organize the Intercommunal Survival Committee , a sort of white support arm of the Black Panther Party . The committee evolved into the Heart of Uptown Coalition , a political and social service organization steeped in the rhetoric of Marxism ; " comrades " were expected to organize " cadres . " " We must have the frame of mind that as revolutionaries we have ( to ) be able to solve any problem that comes our way ... " Shiller said . The Coalition provided an array of programs geared toward providing essential services for the poor , including medical clinics for pregnant women , mothers and young children ; a legal aid clinic , food pantries and distributing clothes and meals to the poor . For decades Shiller and her allies worked to preserve Uptown as the last North Side lakefront neighborhood south of Rogers Park that is home to a significant population of low income households . 
