Shermann “Dilla” Thomas is an American

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

er and self-taught historian who first became known for leading historic walking tours of Chicago. He first became interested in history from his father, a former Chicago police officer who refused to use expressways as a protest against the impact their construction had on Black communities. While initially only leading walking tours, in October 2022 Thomas successfully raised money to purchase a tour bus and start a company, Chicago Mahogany Tours. ''

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'' described him as being part of a growing trend of BIPOC travel experts parlaying social media success into real-world careers. In February of 2022,

WCIU-TV WCIU-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is siste ...

aired a television special titled "Black History Verified" hosted by Thomas. He is currently working with Netflix and

Chris Witaske Chris Witaske (born June 12, 1983) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Chris Czajkowski in the Netflix romantic comedy ''Love''. Life and career Witaske was born in St. Charles, Illinois. He began taking classes at Second Ci ...

to develop a Chicago-based historical fiction series.

References

American TikTokers Entertainers from Chicago Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-bio-stub Historians from Illinois Mass media people from Chicago