March 27, 2019 by South Side Weekly

Blackstone Bicycle Works

Weekly Bike Sale Every Saturday at 12pm Wide selection of refurbished bikes! (most bikes are between $120 & $250)

Blackstone Bicycle Works is a bustling community bike shop that each year empowers over 200 boys and girls from Chicago’s south side—teaching them mechanical skills, job skills, business literacy and how to become responsible community members. In our year-round ‘earn and learn’ youth program, participants earn bicycles and accessories for their work in the shop. In addition, our youths receive after-school tutoring, mentoring, internships and externships, college and career advising, and scholarships. Hours Tuesday - Friday 1pm - 6pm 12pm - 5pm Saturday

773 241 5458 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637

A PROGRAM OF

SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent nonprofit newsprint magazine written for and about neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. We publish in-depth coverage of the arts and issues of public interest alongside oral histories, poetry, fiction, interviews, and artwork from local photographers and illustrators. The South Side Weekly is dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists. Volume 6, Issue 22 Editor-in-Chief Adam Przybyl Managing Editors Emeline Posner, Sam Stecklow Deputy Editor Jasmine Mithani Senior Editors Julia Aizuss, Christian Belanger, Mari Cohen, Bridget Newsham, Olivia Stovicek Chief of Staff

Manisha AR

Education Editor Music Editor Stage & Screen Editor Visual Arts Editor Food & Land Editor

Rachel Kim Christopher Good Nicole Bond Rod Sawyer Emeline Posner

Contributing Editors Mira Chauhan, Joshua Falk, Carly Graf, Ian Hodgson, Maple Joy, Sam Joyce, Ashvini Kartik-Narayan, Rachel Schastok Amy Qin, Jocelyn Vega Staff Writer Kyle Oleksiuk Data Editor Jasmine Mithani Radio Exec. Producer Erisa Apantaku Social Media Editors Bridget Newsham, Sam Stecklow Director of Fact Checking: Sam Joyce Fact Checkers: Abigail Bazin, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Sam Stecklow, Elizabeth Winkler, Tammy Xu Visuals Editor Ellen Hao Deputy Visuals Editors Ireashia Bennett, Siena Fite, Lizzie Smith Staff Photographers: milo bosh, Jason Schumer Staff Illustrators: Siena Fite, Natalie Gonzalez, Katherine Hill Interim Layout Editor J. Michael Eugenio Deputy Layout Editors Haley Tweedell Webmaster Operations Manager

Pat Sier Jason Schumer

The Weekly is produced by an all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We distribute each Wednesday in the fall, winter, and spring. Over the summer we publish every other week. Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773) 234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly.com

IN CHICAGO

A week’s worth of developing stories, odd events, and signs of the times, culled from the desks, inboxes, and wandering eyes of the editors

Is the Election Over Yet? If there is one thing that we’ve learned from this election, it’s that Chicago still isn’t likely to see reform, even though a Daley was defeated. In the mayoral, treasurer, clerk, and aldermanic races, Chicagoans were treated to a plethora of bad faith and corrupt campaign maneuvers from a host of candidates. State Representative Melissa ConyearsErvin, running for treasurer, was accused of fanning anti-immigrant flames with her ad against Ameya Pawar, her runoff opponent. Multiple South and West Side candidates went public with allegations of their campaign workers being harassed, beaten, and even shot while canvassing. Allegations of homophobia ran rampant, from the “gay agenda” ads distributed outside South Side churches—some have accused Toni Preckwinkle’s campaign of being behind these—to some allies and acquaintances of the Daley family being accused of homophobic cyberbullying against 11th ward candidate David Mihalyfy. (Sometimes claims of homophobia turned out to be an incumbent crying wolf; see embattled 33rd Ward Alderman Deb Mell taking offense at being called a “dyke” by queer youth organizers or 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez claiming that young people protesting him in “Gays Against Lopez” shirts were homophobic.) However they manifested, the dirty campaign tricks were clear to most Chicagoans (at least those who haven’t tuned out elections for this very reason). It all goes to show that until candidates, especially incumbents, are willing to take up the mantle of meaningful campaign reform and ethics legislation, all Chicagoans will continue to suffer—even though we’re all ready for reform.

IN THIS ISSUE runoff to the finish

Incumbents, challengers, and newcomers face off weekly staff......................................4 wrestling for the 25th ward

“People are confused.” quinn myers.......................................7 a symbol of healing

“An art exhibit from the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials showcases proposals for the final piece of promised reparations.” helena duncan................................11 bad fingerprint work undermines chicago property crime cases

“These large cities are just little time bombs waiting to go off.” nicole wetsman..............................14

Despite Reparations, Police Torture Isn’t Over for Some Survivors Our cover story this week explores an exhibit of design proposals for a public memorial for the more than one hundred Black Chicagoans tortured by former Chicago Police Department commander Jon Burge and his officers between 1972 and 1991. The idea of a memorial—part of the historic reparations ordinance the city council passed in 2015— might seem to imply this particular chapter of Chicago’s long and ongoing history of racist police violence is in the past. But it’s not in the past for James Gibson. Gibson, beaten by detectives under Burge’s command after two days of fruitless questioning twenty-nine years ago, just had his conviction overturned by an appeals court two weeks ago. And he’s not free yet: he must wait for a new trial. An Injustice Watch article highlighted that the appeals court even assigned Gibson’s case to a new judge, because the judge overseeing his case twice refused to find the evidence he was tortured credible, which the court described as “arbitrary and manifestly wrong.” Gibson is only one of around twenty people who were tortured by Burge and his fellow Chicago Police officers who is still in prison. Survivors who are out of prison are still living with the trauma of their experiences. Burge is dead, CPS teaches about his crimes in history class, and some survivors of his torture ring were paid reparations by the city. But as the exhibit of memorial designs takes care to emphasize, for our city’s torture survivors—and for those who experience racist violence at the hands of today’s CPD—it’s not over.

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Cover photo by Rod Sawyer MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 3

POLITICS

Runoff to the Finish Incumbents, challengers, and newcomers face off (again) in the 5th, 6th, 15th, 16th, and 20th Ward runoffs

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5TH WARD While it once might have been viewed as an earnest attempt to force a return to the progressive, independent politics of yesteryear’s Hyde Park and South Shore, the race for the 5th Ward aldermanic seat has quickly devolved over the last few weeks into just another Chicago political race: unearthed hateful comments, allegations without backing, and absurdly “off the record” press conferences. After organizer Will Calloway beat out activist and former journalist Gabriel Piemonte for the chance to face longtime Alderman Leslie Hairston in her first runoff, two Hairston allies moved quickly. Marc Loveless, a longtime activist with the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization, which has supported Hairston for decades, and Adrienne Irmer, whom Hairston supported in the race for the 25th District state House race last year, sent reporters screenshots of three- and four-year-old Facebook posts made by Calloway calling same-sex marriages “abominations” and suggesting pastors not preaching actively homophobic material might themselves be gay. Irmer held a press conference condemning Calloway the next day. Calloway took days to respond, putting out a Notes app screenshot apology saying he had “no intention of attacking” queer people with his Facebook statuses and that his thinking had “evolved” on the issue. He then promised to hold a forum to hear from LGBTQ residents, but when he did, he refused to answer questions from the media on the record and, though he apologized at the forum, he accused Hairston supporters of “falsifying” allegations against him, without specifying further. Hairston, for her part, has been citing allegations of unpaid parking tickets by Calloway in appearances without providing evidence. Residents have also voiced suspicions about the election year timing of the newly-announced grocery store on 71st Street, where a former Dominick’s has sat vacant for years. The non-candidate actor looking just as bad as the candidates has been Piemonte, who immediately backed Calloway after coming in third on February 26 and has vehemently defended him on social media. Troublingly, especially considering he is the former editor of the Hyde Park Herald, he insisted to his former newspaper that much of Calloway’s forum was not quotable. And most irresponsibly, after Calloway’s campaign office window was shot on Monday, he tweeted within hours that the shooting was politically motivated, also with no evidence. Left in the middle of all this, of course, are the residents of the 5th Ward. (Sam Stecklow)

POLITICS

6TH WARD

15TH WARD

After a few days of tick-tock headlines detailing the vote-by-vote ballot count in the 6th Ward, it became apparent that two-term Alderman Roderick Sawyer had been forced into a runoff by accountant and activist Deborah Foster-Bonner, who also defeated pastor and police officer Richard Wooten. A look at the precinct-level election map gives a hint as to what went wrong for Sawyer: In the vote-rich Chatham area, he consistently received under fifty percent of the vote, giving credence to allegations from Foster-Bonner and Wooten that some parts of the ward—namely, his Park Manor area—receive better services and more attention than others. Both candidates may look to boost the extremely depressed voter turnout in the chunk of Englewood that lies in the 6th Ward. It will be difficult. Englewood has been awkwardly gerrymandered into five different wards for decades, resulting in some of the lowest turnout in the city and a widely disenfranchised electorate. It may ultimately come down to money, as it often does in Chicago. In the month of March alone, Sawyer has raised over $112,000 from unions, corporate PACs, fellow elected officials, family members, and development interests. Foster-Bonner has just a fraction of that on hand, largely selfdonated or contributed by her son and campaign manager. (Sam Stecklow)

Heading into last month’s runoff, 15th Ward challenger Rafael Yañez appeared to have a lot of momentum. He’d picked up endorsements from local and national progressive forces like the Chicago Teachers Union, U.S. Representative Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, and Our Revolution, and he faced an opponent, incumbent Raymond Lopez, who has caused enough controversy that a young progressive activist group named “Fuera Lopez!” formed to advocate for getting him out of office. But Lopez—who has the backing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, ties to powerful city interests like Ed Burke, and the endorsements of both the Tribune and Sun-Times—nearly avoided a runoff. Out of 5,113 total votes—a below-average turnout of only 27.1 percent—Lopez received 49.7 percent and Yañez 21.83 percent; three other progressive challengers split the rest of the vote. Lopez got the most votes in all but two precincts. Given Lopez’s strong showing, the likelihood of prevailing in the runoff looks slim for former police officer Yañez, who also fell to Lopez in a runoff in 2015. But Yañez has received the endorsement of third-place finisher Berto Aguayo, who got more votes than Yañez in some Back of the Yards and Brighton Park precincts. Yañez fell most behind Lopez in the West Englewood section of the ward, but endorsements of former fellow challenger Joseph Williams, who’s from West Englewood, and former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson, who got the most votes there, could help him. When it comes to policy, Yañez and Lopez have little in common. Yañez has joined activists to oppose controversial mayor-supported projects like the $95 million police academy and Lincoln Yards development; Lopez voted for both. Yañez wants to reform the use of Tax Increment Financing districts and aldermanic prerogative; Lopez says both have benefited his ward. Yañez, despite his background in the police force, has made police accountability a top issue: he says that tough policing is not the solution to gang violence and that addressing violence in the ward requires more investment in schools and increasing the availability of social services and jobs. Lopez says that Yañez’s proposals threaten public safety in the ward and prides himself on having “confronted gangbangers & their enablers.” (Mari Cohen)

MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5

POLITICS

16TH WARD

20TH WARD

The runoff campaign in the 16th Ward picked up where the general election campaign left off: set narratives about each candidate, a lack of engagement from both, and intimations over social media. The narratives are these: incumbent Alderman Toni Foulkes has represented much of Englewood since 2007, first as alderman of the 15th Ward before redistricting in 2011 forced her to run in the 16th Ward in 2015. Since then, she has had trouble connecting with her new constituents and struggled to coordinate city services for her new territory. Her challenger, Democratic committeeman Stephanie Coleman, faces accusations of nepotism and inexperience—her mother is former 16th Ward Alderman Shirley Coleman, and she has little career experience outside of the political arena. The candidates have been here before: In the 2015 election, Coleman forced Foulkes into a tight runoff, which Foulkes won by less than 150 votes. This time around, Foulkes looks to be losing ground. Coleman beat her in the general byx thirteen points, and in a ward with turnout as low as the 16th, that might be a death knell in and of itself. Foulkes often touts her work on economic development around the intersection of 63rd and Halsted Streets, but her poor showing in the precincts immediately surrounding that area, and the rest of the ward, shows how little that new prosperity has spread. This is of course not Foulkes’s fault, but her soft-spokenness is—as Coleman regularly points out, Englewood needs strong leadership to counteract the disinvestment, disenfranchisement, and population loss of the neighborhood. It’s just hard to see how Coleman will provide that. (Sam Stecklow)

At one point, fifteen candidates had (more or less) declared that they were running for 20th Ward alderman. Nine ended up on the ballot, after a much-publicized deluge of petition challenges. Now only two remain ahead of the runoff election on April 2: public education organizer Jeanette Taylor, and former educator and consultant Nicole Johnson. Taylor came out ahead in the first round with twenty-nine percent of the vote; Johnson was second at twenty-two percent. In the month since the first round, Taylor has pulled in a dizzying amount of money— well over $100,000—to her campaign war chest, which now totals about $230,000. Most of the funds came from the progressive groups and unions that have supported her campaign since the beginning: United Working Families, Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU, Chicago Federation of Labor, and others. Johnson, meanwhile, lags behind with about $70,000 on hand. She doesn’t have support from many labor groups (the International Union of Operating Engineers, frequently associated with Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, is one exception), and much of her money has come from well-connected political donors. Among Johnson’s biggest contributors are Timothy Schwertfeger and wife Gail Waller. Schwertfeger is a former investment banker who donated over $155,000 to Bruce Rauner’s 2014 campaign. He now sits on the board of Emerald South, a newly formed group that is aiming to bring more development to the mid-South Side with the arrival of the Obama Presidential Center. Whoever wins will almost immediately face a test of her newfound power. Last week, the Cook County Land Bank chose a proposal for the redevelopment of the Washington Park National Bank Building at 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. The winning plan, jointly proposed by DL3 Realty and Greenlining Realty USA, would demolish the bank building and replace it with a mixed-use structure that would house a bank, a café, and a nonprofit incubator run by the University of Chicago. Historical preservationists and some community members objected to the tear-down. Later that day, Taylor said she wouldn’t sign a demolition permit for the building. “I would hope that the county would take into full consideration the wishes of the everyday resident of the community and not just those of the University of Chicago," she wrote in an email to the Weekly. This Monday, after getting into a Twitter spat with 5th Ward aldermanic also-ran and Woodlawn activist Gabriel Piemonte in which she expressed some support for the accepted plan, Johnson said she also would oppose demolition, accusing the Land Bank’s president, Rob Rose, of “blatantly reneging on his pledge to listen to the community.” (The principal of Greenlining Realty, Lamell McMorris, has donated $1,000 to Johnson’s campaign.) The Land Bank’s plan is part of a years-long effort to redevelop the corner of 63rd and Cottage Grove (a major Woodlawn transit hub), as the Weekly reported earlier this month. Since the local alderman has to sign off on any application for a demolition permit in their ward, the plan may have to change in the face of opposition from the only two remaining candidates for the seat. (Christian Belanger)

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POLITICS

Wrestling for the 25th Ward

Extremes of Pilsen’s political spectrum face each other in the runoff BY QUINN MYERS

he energy in the auditorium at Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen on March 20 was charged and heated, at times feeling closer to a pep rally than a political debate. Neighborhood residents and members of various community organizations had packed in to hear the two runoff candidates for 25th Ward alderman, Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Alex Acevedo, present their visions for the next four years of ward leadership. Despite a “no heckling” rule, and several reminders from WGN’s Lourdes Duarte, the moderator, both candidate’s base of supporters was amped up, jeering and shouting out at the opposing candidate, and

applauding effusively when their own spoke. Remarkably, disgraced 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solís was only mentioned a few times by name, as Duarte tried to steer the conversations toward various ward issues. Solís’s much-chronicled involvement in an FBI investigation, which is targeting some of the Chicago Democratic machine’s most notorious power brokers, dominated the discourse of the general aldermanic election in the ward on February 26. But as the tick-tock reporting of the scandal surrounding Solís has largely faded from the headlines and campaign trail in the ward, it’s quickly been replaced by allegations of voter fraud and ballot theft,

alleged “intimidatory” campaign tactics, and a general climate of contention and disdain between the candidates. At last week’s debate, the tension—buoyed by raucous supporters on both sides—was palpable, a snapshot of the vitriolic tenor both candidates have struck on the campaign trail. It’s that atmosphere which former aldermanic candidate Hilario Dominguez, who came in third on February 26, says has become a serious distraction from substantive debates on ward issues—one that he admits his own campaign could have been better about, too. “[We need to] start moving away from the divisive politics and the toxic politics, the

SIENA FITE

type of campaigning that historically we’ve had in the ward, and to start demanding better campaigning, start demanding that candidates stick to issues, talk about issues, and don’t bring in personal attacks,” he said. “If we want better candidates, if we want better politics, then we have to demand it, and that means we have to move beyond our historically toxic culture.”

he heavily gerrymandered 25th Ward runs a diverse range of neighborhoods on Chicago’s Lower West Side, stretching from the northeastern corner of McKinley Park through most of Pilsen and part of the West Loop, before MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 7

POLITICS

sloping down to encompass a stretch of the South Loop and most of Chinatown. In some ways, Sigcho-Lopez and Acevedo represent caricatures of the opposite ends of Pilsen’s political spectrum: a socialist immigrant community organizer going up against a lifelong neighborhood resident with family ties to the Democratic machine. As the Weekly has previously reported, both candidates’ power bases lie in distinct organizations and longtime affiliations, each with deep and at times divisive histories in the 25th Ward. Before going on leave and launching his campaign, Sigcho-Lopez was the director of the Pilsen Alliance, an antigentrification community organization that has organized around housing justice, education, and other progressive issues. Under Sigcho-Lopez’s leadership, Pilsen Alliance developed a citywide reputation, aligning themselves with causes like Lift The Ban Coalition, which hopes to overturn a state law prohibiting rent control, and the #NoCopAcademy movement. They’ve also been one of the most vocal anti-Solís voices in Pilsen for many years, challenging the alderman’s relationship with property developers, which they say has sped up widespread displacement in the neighborhood. Development and displacement have been defining issues in the race, not only in Pilsen, but Chinatown, the West Loop, and throughout. On the campaign trail, Sigcho-Lopez often calls for greater accountability and transparency in City Hall, and has pledged to dismantle the Pilsen Land Use Committee (PLUC), a closed-doors council that advises the alderman on development projects. He’s made sustainable development the central pillar of his campaign, and is supportive of rent control and community-driven zoning, a process which allows anyone from the community be involved (much like participatory budgeting, another one of his policy platforms). “We in the 25th Ward do not have an issue of bringing resources [to the Ward] resources are coming in, there’s a lot of projects, there’s a lot of development, but it’s not benefitting the residents,” SigchoLopez said at Wednesday’s debate. “Many small businesses have seen their doors close. So we have to make sure that development is also helping the residents and small businesses. Who will make that a priority? To make sure that we sign community benefits agreements, that create affordable housing, that create local employment… 8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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the main thing is sustainable development, to make sure that every project is vetted by the residents.” Acevedo has promised similar transparency in his platform—which he described in a Weekly interview before the election as consisting of support for homeowners, resident engagement in public safety, and environmentally-friendly development—but many of his familial and institutional ties, like his endorsements from the FOP and the charter school lobby and work with a neighborhood watch group that works with police, have left critics wondering how much he intends to follow through on his more progressive proposals. At the debate, Sigcho-Lopez ended up circling almost all of his answers back to the issue of equitable development, speaking broadly while mostly shying away from specific solutions and ideas. He also repeatedly brought up Acevedo’s ties to developers, who have heavily supported his campaign. “During twenty-three years, [Solís] took massive amounts of money from developers. So that’s a key problem here... In order to for us to bring resources to the 25th Ward, we cannot accept a penny from developers.” Acevedo’s public relationship with development interests has been inconsistent. At a forum in late January, Acevedo agreed to a pledge proposed by SigchoLopez not to take campaign contributions from developers. It’s unclear what exactly Acevedo’s thinking here was; throughout his campaign, he’s received tens of thousands of dollars from developers and other groups with a stake in the 25th Ward’s hot development market, including realtors, property management firms, construction firms, trade unions, and the Mexican American PAC, which is partially funded by developers and 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke. (He’s also received $1,500 between 2016 and last month from the treasurer of that PAC, Phil Fuentes, under the nom de plume “Hamburger Seller”—likely a reference to his occupation as the owner of several McDonald’s franchises, and, given the fact that there are no companies registered under that name in Illinois, a potential campaign finance reporting violation, according to Reform for Illinois. Fuentes did not respond to media requests for comment.) Additionally, his proposals for transparency around development— keeping the existing PLUC but expanding

ELLEN HAO

Alex Acevedo

it to longtime residents, a ban on accepting money from developers that receive TIF funding, and a forty-eight-month ban on donations from developers seeking a zoning change in the ward—are markedly selective and potentially difficult to implement. (His campaign didn’t respond to Weekly requests for comment.) “It’s not the fact that you’re just taking money from developers, because I clearly took money from real estate agents,” Aida Flores, who came in fourth in the first round, said in an interview. “It’s the fact that you’re not owning up to it.” Acevedo tried to dodge the association at the Benito Juarez debate, saying, “Our campaign is a coalition of multiple contributions, from minority-owned businesses, to small businesses, from entrepreneurs from this community. We don’t have PACs giving $50,000, we don’t have wives giving $90,000.” That’s a dig against Sigcho-Lopez, who has received significant donations from traditionally liberal special interest groups. So far, he’s accepted $27,500 from the Chicago Teachers Union and approximately $50,000 from two local SEIU PACS. He’s also received $80,000 in donations and

loans from his wife, Loreen Targos, and more from her family. And while Sigcho-Lopez has publicly railed against corruption and back room decision-making in the 25th Ward, the last month has brought serious allegations of ballot theft and voter fraud against his campaign. In mid-February, Hilario Dominguez and state Representative Theresa Mah accused Sigcho-Lopez supporters of stealing mail ballots from seniors in an apartment complex in Chinatown. Then, on election day, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights said that voters at affordable housing development Barbara Jean Wright Courts, near the University of Illinois at Chicago, were promised gift cards if they voted for Sigcho-Lopez. The Illinois Attorney General and Cook County State’s Attorney’s office are investigating the claims, but neither confirmed whether any findings would be released before the runoff election on April 2. In both instances, Sigcho-Lopez has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the allegations as “desperate eleventh hour attempt[s] to mislead and distract the voters.”

KATIE HILL

Byron Sigcho-Lopez

Both situations were strangely reminiscent of the 2015 aldermanic election, when then first-time challenger SigchoLopez was the one accusing incumbent Solís of manipulating mail-in ballots, vote buying, and vote manipulation at locations that also included the Barbara Jean Wright Courts Apartments and senior apartments in Chinatown. The allegations have become an outsized issue in the race. That’s been partially fueled by the Acevedo campaign, which has dubbed Sigcho-Lopez “Buyin’ Byron” in recent campaign mailers. At a press conference on March 11 outside of the Barbara Jean Courts, Acevedo continued the attack, saying the gift card exchange was “a highly coordinated attack on voting rights by the Sigcho-Lopez campaign.” On Friday, the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois announced they would send at least twenty lawyers to act as poll watchers in the 25th Ward during the April 2nd election. The president of the HLAI, Juan Morado, is also the cochairman of the Latino Leadership Council, a PAC started last year by, among others, U.S. Representative Jesús “Chuy” García

and Solís. He also served as the campaign manager for 30th Ward Alderman Ariel Reboyras’s first reelection campaign in 2007. Reboyras was first elected with the support of the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization, a corrupt political arm of the Richard M. Daley administration that also supported the political rise of Eddie Acevedo, Alex’s father. David Wu, the executive director of the Pui Tak Center in Chinatown, told the Weekly after a candidate forum last week at the center that residents had expressed concern over the nature of the allegations, some of which involved taking advantage of vulnerable seniors in Chinatown, who are also a difficult group to get out to vote. But Angela Lin, community outreach coordinator for Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC), still didn’t think the investigation would galvanize Chinatown voters for the runoff. Lin said that seniors make up a large portion of Chinatown’s eligible voters, but those same seniors are often only able to read local Chinese language news outlets where the allegations weren’t covered in depth. “Most detailed articles about the allegations are covered in English, so it may MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 9

POLITICS

“If we want better candidates, if we want better politics, then we have to demand it, and that means we have to move beyond our historically toxic culture.” —Hilario Dominguez not affect voters and residents with limited English proficiency who do not know about the incidents,” said Lin. Whether the allegations are true, Sigcho-Lopez resoundingly won both precincts on February 26 where the alleged misconduct took place—as he did most of Chinatown, despite Mah’s endorsement of Dominguez. Mah, who was elected to be the first Asian-American in the state legislature in 2016, has contentious relationships with both candidates. Sigcho-Lopez has regularly criticized her for a perceived alliance with Solís, and the campaign between Mah and Acevedo for the state House seat became particularly nasty by the end. Still, Mah expressed willingness to work with the winner of the election. “I'm willing to work with whoever is elected into that office,” said Mah, “It would be a deal for my constituents if we could all work together and get things done for them.” It may eventually not matter as much whom Mah is aligned with in a few years; at the Pui Tak Center forum, both Acevedo and Sigcho-Lopez advocated for the creation of a majority-Chinese ward based in Chinatown, an issue community groups have been organizing around for years in the historically underrepresented and politically fragmented neighborhood.

n the weeks since the election on February 26, Acevedo’s campaign has moved to the left, incorporating policies that a month ago would have seemed more in line with Sigcho-Lopez’s platform, including his proposals around campaign donations and developers. Part of the Acevedo’s shift is no doubt due to the large chunk of votes still up for grabs. Together, Acevedo and Sigcho-Lopez received just over half of the votes cast in the February 26 election. That leaves a huge percentage of unaffiliated residents who initially supported Hilario Dominguez, Aida Flores, or Troy Hernandez. Now, a week before the election, it’s unclear where 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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those voters are going to go; at the time of this article’s publication, none of the three former candidates have endorsed SigchoLopez or Acevedo. “People are confused, I think voters in general, maybe voters that voted for myself, Aida or Troy, are just trying to figure out where to go next,” Dominguez said in an interview. “I think a lot of people are listening to hear what I have to say, and... it’s [to] listen carefully on issues, see where they stand, challenge candidates on how exactly they’re going to do things...The bar is too low in the 25th Ward.” Aida Flores, the only woman who ran in the general election, echoed Dominguez’s call for focusing on the issues and holding the runoff candidates accountable. And while Flores has declined to make an endorsement, she’s made it clear she won’t be supporting Acevedo. In a statement shared on social media in early March, Flores accused the Acevedo campaign of lodging an “ugly and sustained whispering campaign against me and my loved ones and intimidatory tactics utilized against my supporters.” “I don’t think our values and processes match,” Flores said in a later interview, expressing concerns about his campaign’s conduct. “I had volunteers that some of [Acevedo’s] supporters were hostile towards, and that was inappropriate...at the polling place, you know, ‘who is she,’ ‘who does she think she is running for office,’ things like that or, you know, talking to my family and saying, ‘she should drop out of the race because she's inexperienced.’” At the press conference on March 11, Acevedo said Flores’s allegations were “false, absolutely false.” Troy Hernandez came in last on February 26, receiving 835 votes, or 8.46 percent of total votes cast. Throughout the race, Hernandez said he would not support either Sigcho-Lopez and Acevedo. “They’re both machine campaigns,” he said in an interview this week, calling

Sigcho-Lopez a “fake progressive” and criticizing Acevedo’s family history. “I’m personally annoyed and frustrated by Byron, but I wouldn’t go against his campaign just out of a personal thing. I think he’s a dangerous person to give power to.” Hernandez says he will likely end up voting for Acevedo, but doesn’t plan to endorse him.

s each campaign doubles down ahead of next week’s runoff, it’s unclear just how much the baggage of the race will sway 25th Ward residents. Will voters, still outraged at the lingering corruption scandal involving Solís, identify with Sigcho-Lopez’s sweeping, idealistic rhetoric? Or will they be attracted to Acevedo’s specific, if at times unworkable, policies? Or they may be more concerned with receiving consistent services that an alderman can facilitate—like garbage pickup or filled potholes. ¬ Additional reporting by Sam Stecklow and Tammy Xu Quinn Myers is a freelance radio and print journalist based in Chicago.

VISUAL ARTS

A Symbol of Healing

An art exhibit from the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials showcases proposals for the final piece of promised reparations HELENA DUNCAN

mmediately upon entering the Arts Incubator, an arts initiative and gallery run by the University of Chicago in Washington Park, visitors stopped to look at the dozens of vertical black banners hanging in rows on the hallway walls. Each banner bore a single name in simple white lettering: Gregory Banks, James Lewis, Lee Nora, Unknown 14 Year Old. At the bottom of the banner were the words “Tortured in Chicago.” It was Friday, March 15, during the opening reception of an exhibition titled “Still Here: Torture, Resiliency, and the Art of Memorializing.” The artists with work on display had been commissioned to submit design proposals for a public, permanent memorial that would pay tribute to the victims of Jon Burge. Burge was the former Chicago Police Department commander who, along with the white officers under his command, tortured more than one hundred Black men, women, and boys between 1972 and 1991 at his Area 2 police station in Pullman. Many of Burge’s victims spent years or decades in prison for convictions stemming from coerced confessions; some remain incarcerated today. The public memorial is one component of a historic reparations package passed by the city in 2015, which marked the first time an American city has given reparations to victims of police violence. The ordinance included a community and health center for torture survivors in Englewood; a formal apology from the mayor and members of the City Council; financial compensation, college education, mental health services, and job assistance for torture survivors and their families; and the inclusion of Burge’s crimes in the Chicago Public Schools eighth- and tenth-grade history curricula. The memorial is the only element of the reparations ordinance that has yet to

be realized. No site has been designated for it yet, nor has the city granted funding for it. But Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM), the grassroots group of activists and torture survivors who fought for years for the reparations, has continued to push for the memorial. At the end of the spring, one of the six designs will be selected by a team of jurors comprising “torture survivors, artists, community activists, cultural workers,

architects, educators, and individuals in the philanthropic community,” according to Arts + Public Life, the UofC organization that runs the Incubator. The reception began at 6pm; twenty minutes later, the gallery was packed as visitors milled around studying the models of proposed memorials that were mounted on pedestals in the center of the gallery. The six artists commissioned were

Monica Chadha and Nelly Agassi, Juan Chavez, Sonja Henderson; Andres L. Hernandez, Preston Jackson, and Patricia Nguyen and John Lee. Their designs encompassed a range of architectural styles and concepts. Juan Chavez envisioned a greenhouse-like glass structure with aloe vera plants in the center—a symbol of healing—and black-eyed Susans, which represent justice. Sonja Henderson’s design

PHOTOS BY ROD SAWYER

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featured rows of chairs, one for each known torture victim, arranged in a circular pattern around a central square with the parameters of a prison cell. Hannah Jasper, Arts + Public Life’s exhibition coordinator and the curator of “Still Here,” told me that some motifs, such as the chair, resonated with many of the artists who submitted designs as well as with the torture survivors and their families, who also gave their input. Another common theme was the site as a place of healing and moving forward. “They wanted it to be a place of reflection and peace for the survivors, and you can see that,” Jasper said. Andres Hernandez’s memorial was the most conceptual of the group. Titled “Evidence (Heard in the Light),” his memorial takes the form of an annual day of remembrance, to be observed at large, central locations such as Daley Plaza as well as each of the twenty-five CPD precincts.

He also hoped that the day would resonate with the worldwide fight against torture. “The idea is to use light and sound to actually gather people around to tell their stories of survivors that we know of, but also people who may have been torture survivors from other countries or areas that we know nothing about, that may have nothing to do with Jon Burge,” he said. At 6:30, visitors turned their attention to the front of the gallery, where the exhibition’s directors at Arts + Public Life recognized the artists, and Alice Kim, an organizer and co-founder of CTJM, spoke about the group’s ongoing struggle for justice and the fight for a public memorial. Then an elderly man stood up and introduced himself to the room. “My name is Anthony Holmes, and I’m a torture survivor.” Holmes thanked the organizers and attendees and acknowledged the progress made so far under the reparations

“The exhibition emphasizes that the wake of his crimes is living history; survivors are still fighting to be released from prison, still suffering from the trauma of what they have endured.” 12 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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ordinance. But there was still work to be done, he noted. “We continue to need y’all help, making whoever the mayor might be do what they’re supposed to do. They say they’re going to do it for us, so give us what we ask for. We don’t want much. We want a place where we can acknowledge ourselves and feel the sadness that we feel.” Joey Mogul, an activist and attorney with People’s Law Office who has advocated for the torture survivors for the past twentytwo years, echoed Holmes’s call to action. “I’m gonna ask you guys to do two things,” she told the crowd. “You need to call on both our mayoral candidates….and you need to call your alderpeople as well, particularly those in the runoffs, and say that you want them to publicly come out and insist upon this memorial.” Jon Burge was sentenced in 2010 to four and a half years in prison—not for his use of torture, but for lying about it under oath. He died last year. The exhibition emphasizes that the wake of his crimes is living history; survivors are still fighting to be released from prison, still suffering from the trauma of what they have endured. The memorial that will, as Mogul put it, “inscribe in the landscape of Chicago” the city’s history of racist police violence, has yet to be built. But there was a steady and tangible note of hope and optimism evident that evening, an acknowledgment of what has been won so far and what is still possible. The exhibition takes its name from the words of Holmes, whose mantra is “We’re still here.” ¬ “Still Here” will be on view through April 26 at the Arts Incubator, 301 E. Garfield Blvd., with free admission. Companion programming at the gallery will include workshops meant to involve the community in the movement for the public memorial. On Wednesday afternoons through April 26, survivors will be in the gallery to share their thoughts on the exhibition.

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Bad Fingerprint Work Undermines Chicago Property Crime Cases SOL LIEBERMAN/BGA; SOURCE IMAGES: ISTOCK

Experts and judges question the quality of fingerprint analysis by Chicago police forensics, hampering prosecutions in burglary and theft cases BY NICOLE WETSMAN FOR THE BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

E The Better Government Association is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization and civic advocate working for transparency, efficiency and accountability in government in Chicago and across Illinois. This story was originally published by the BGA on March 12, 2019. Reprinted with permission.

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yewitness testimony was shaky, so Cook County prosecutors relied on a fingerprint lifted from a laptop as their key evidence in the trial of a juvenile charged with robbery. The strategy did not go well. Presiding over the 2016 case, Judge Stuart Katz ripped into the competence of Chicago police sergeant Thurston Daniels III, the forensics expert who testified that he had matched the print to the defendant. “He seems oblivious and doesn’t seem concerned about educating himself as to what’s going on in his own field,” Katz said before finding the youth not guilty. He added that Daniels’ shortcomings were a symptom of a much bigger problem with Chicago police and fingerprints. “The Chicago Police Department

procedures, where they have no audits, no verification of their procedures, no participation—they don’t follow the FBI rules—casts a doubt on their whole departmental procedures,” the judge said. Chicago police have taken a reputational battering in recent years as they struggle with high numbers of murders and shootings, low rates for solving violent crimes and fallout from questionable use of deadly force. Getting far less attention is concern among experts about how police in the city process fingerprint evidence of non-violent misdeeds, including burglary, theft and other property crimes that collectively last year accounted for three of every four crimes reported in Chicago. Although they handle fingerprints

collected at crime scenes across the city, the Chicago Police Department’s fingerprint unit has severe deficiencies, according to an expert review commissioned by the Cook County Public Defender’s office and included in pre-trial motions the office says it routinely files in cases that turn on fingerprint evidence. The unit has no quality control and keeps poor documentation; examiners have minimal training and often testify in court using language discouraged by professional associations. The unit has not obtained accreditation from an outside group of experts, which the Department of Justice recommends as a signal that its procedures and documentation meet industry standards. The public defender’s office says that since 2016 it has called attention to those

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problems to successfully poke holes in testimony by the unit’s examiners, which has led to not-guilty verdicts in four property crime cases and favorable plea deals in nearly a dozen more. The public defender’s office told the Better Government Association that, going forward, it can likely use the noted deficiencies to undermine prosecutions in any property crime cases that turn primarily on fingerprint evidence—potentially leaving the crimes unsolved and unpunished. Chicago’s latent print lab has fallen far behind industry best practices, which have undergone significant revisions in the past decade. Some of those reforms followed a 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences that raised questions about the scientific foundation of all pattern evidence, including fingerprints. Pattern evidence, the markings or impressions left at crime scenes, has long been a staple of criminal forensics. It ranges from fingerprints and shoe prints to tire treads and handwriting. Experts say such evidence can be useful in the legal system but should not be considered infallible or treated as objective science—particularly if proper quality control measures are not taken. “When fingerprint analysis is done correctly, it’s valuable and powerful evidence,” said Glenn Langenburg, one of the fingerprint experts who reviewed the Chicago unit’s procedures. “The concern is we have no way of knowing how good the CPD is at what they’re doing. They’re not following standards.”

Bad science in the Chicago Police Department

here’s an irony to the weaknesses now plaguing Chicago’s fingerprint processing unit: Using fingerprints to help solve crimes was essentially born in the city following the 1910 murder of railroad clerk Clarence Hiller, who was shot during a burglary at his Southwest Side home in what is now the Beverly neighborhood. A jury found Thomas Jennings guilty of the crime based largely on prints lifted from a freshly painted porch railing. The conviction was upheld the following year by the Illinois Supreme Court, which found fingerprint evidence admissible. It was the first such ruling by an appellate court in the United States. Over the ensuing decades, Chicago police built a reputation for state-of-the-art forensics, and by the 1950s and 1960s the

According to an expert review commissioned by the Cook County Public Defender’s office, the Chicago Police Department fingerprint unit's understanding of procedures and science is at odds with industry standards, calling into question the accuracy of their analysis.

department became known for what was then a cutting-edge approach to analyzing crime-scene evidence. But a resource crunch left the department struggling to keep up with advances in forensic technology and the police crime lab became overwhelmed by a growing caseload. In the early 1990s, a deal was struck to outsource most of its responsibilities to a new, more advanced crime lab in Chicago operated by the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services. Mike Sheppo, the retired commander of the state police forensic services division, recalled that an expert evaluation of the Chicago police lab prior to the takeover found “a lot of concerns.” By 1996, the new state lab assumed most of the caseload from Chicago. Under the deal, however, the Chicago lab retained responsibility for analyzing fingerprints lifted by police evidence technicians. Today, the Chicago police latent print unit works on fingerprints from property crime cases and any other cases “they deem necessary for their department,” according to a statement from the Illinois State Police. City records show the Chicago police department currently is staffed by nine latent print examiners. The department did not respond to BGA questions about the fingerprint unit. Daniels did not return a phone message seeking comment. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, which uses fingerprint evidence from the Chicago police in the prosecution of crimes, also declined comment, citing pending litigation. Brendan Max, chief of the public

defender’s forensic science division, said fingerprints are sometimes the only evidence prosecutors have when bringing cases against suspects in burglaries and other property crimes. “There are a surprising amount of cases in Chicago where guilt or innocence hinges directly on the testimony of a fingerprint examiner,” Max said. “There are jurisdictions around the country where that little amount of evidence will not suffice. But in Chicago, those can move forward.” Max said he began raising concerns about the quality of fingerprint analysis by Chicago police after pre-trial interviews for a 2015 case revealed that an examiner lacked basic knowledge about his discipline. Along with colleagues at the public defender’s office, Max launched a deeper look into the department’s policies and practices by conducting interviews, examining casework, and subpoenaing the department for records from the fingerprint unit. What they found, Max said, was that the unit lacked written protocols for examining prints and possessed few written memos. Forensic science expert Cedric Neumann, who reviewed the public defender’s research for that office, was even more critical. “It is impossible that these collection of documents could guarantee any form of scientific rigor in the examinations performed by the latent print examiners,” wrote Neumann, who is on the faculty of South Dakota State University, in a report on his findings.

An excerpt from the Chicago Tribune, Nov 11, 1910, describing the first criminal trial to use fingerprints as evidence.

More broadly, the public defender’s office has said in court filings that its review of the unit revealed it does not have any written training materials. It also showed that the unit does not have a quality assurance program or error management system, something the FBI says is critical for any forensic lab. Experts say such programs serve as an important check on errors because examiners often look at the same print and disagree about whether it is of good enough quality MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15

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to evaluate. Examiners also often disagree on whether prints actually match, and scientific studies that looked to estimate the error rate in fingerprint analysis have found it ranges from one in twenty-four to one in 604. Even so, Chicago fingerprint examiners often testify in court that they are “one hundred percent” certain in their conclusions, a practice discouraged as misleading by professional associations. “That is what I would consider old school and inappropriate testimony,” says Heidi Eldridge, a research forensic scientist and former latent print expert at a North Carolina-based non-profit research institute, in an interview with the BGA. Some Chicago print examiners have testified in criminal cases they were unaware that asserting one hundred percent certainty was no longer acceptable in the forensic science community, according to motions filed by the public defender’s office. CPD examiners have also testified they do not use blind analysis to compare fingerprints, a technique also urged by experts. Blind analysis, which cuts down on the tendency to believe information that confirms pre-existing expectations, typically involves having an examiner scrutinize an unknown print before scrutinizing that of a suspect. That way they aren’t biased by the print they are seeking to match. They also don’t provide good documentation of the reasons behind their decisions, said Langenburg. Examiners should keep detailed notes on the points on a print that they looked at to make a match and on the logic behind their choices, so that

“There are a surprising amount of cases in Chicago where guilt or innocence hinges directly on the testimony of a fingerprint examiner. There are jurisdictions around the country where that little amount of evidence will not suffice. But in Chicago, those can move forward.” another examiner could easily look back and see how they came to their conclusion, he said. Langenburg said he reviewed a number of case files. “In some cases I viewed, we saw documentation that made zero sense to me,” he said. “It was really concerning in some cases.”

Hindering justice

he public defender’s office has increasingly invoked such problems to challenge the reliability of the evidence presented by the Chicago unit. The legal standards for forensic evidence to be admitted in court hinge on the idea that the evidence is reliable, said Langenburg: If labs don’t have standard operating procedures, they’re not documenting things properly and they’re not going through regular case reviews, their evidence doesn’t meet that standard. In a recent bench trial for a residential burglary, for example, Judge Cynthia Ramirez found that a fingerprint lifted from

Cook County Judge Cynthia Ramirez has called the Chicago Police Department’s fingerprint analysis into question, such as when she ruled against prosecutors in a recent case involving a juvenile accused of burglary. 16 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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a coin container at the scene and matched to a juvenile suspect was not enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt after hearing about problems with the fingerprint unit. In her decision, Ramirez both questioned the qualifications of the fingerprint examiner who made the match as well as the professionalism of the fingerprint unit as a whole. “I’m also concerned about the fact that the CPD lab has no accreditation, no auditing system, no quality review, no error check process, no written professional development benchmarks, that there’s no standard operating procedures or guideline,” Ramirez said in her ruling. The public defender’s office also has used challenges to the CPD’s fingerprint testimony to secure favorable plea deals for clients in about ten cases, Max said. In those cases, the public defender’s office filed motions before the trials to exclude fingerprint evidence from CPD examiners. “The prosecutor, rather than respond, will just reduce the case and offer clients a deal they can’t refuse. We know the plea offers are a direct result of the prosecutor not wanting to confront the fingerprint challenges,” he said. The same issues exist for all fingerprint evidence analyzed by the CPD. However, the public defender’s office can only point out those problems in cases without any other evidence. If, along with a print, the police collect DNA evidence, for example, it’s not credible to go in front of a jury and argue that the problems with the fingerprint lab matter. “We know we have a bad lab that shouldn’t be doing this work,” Max said. “In those cases, they get a pass because as a matter of strategy we can’t challenge them.” That’s why specific challenges in court have only been made a handful of times since 2015, even though Max estimates that the public defender’s office sees hundreds of cases that include fingerprint evidence analyzed by the CPD each year. Daniels, who

is no longer a member of the fingerprint unit (though he remains on the police force, the CPD confirmed), has said during testimony that he examined thousands of prints and made hundreds of matches in his career as a fingerprint examiner. He said he’s testified in court on more than ten occasions. Max said problems with the fingerprint unit may help the public defender prevail in more cases, but added that the downside of that is that victims are less likely to receive justice. “There is a higher risk of innocent people being caught, and there is also a risk of suspects who are guilty of burglary not being discovered,” he said. The problems in Chicago aren’t unique. The 2009 National Academy of Sciences report spurred a toughening of standards at many forensics labs, but responses to calls for reform have been uneven. Eldridge said there has been foot-dragging in many labs embedded in urban police departments. “The more traditional, more policebased laboratories tend to be more resistant to change,” Eldridge said. “[Examiners] say, ‘Why are you making me do all this extra paperwork? I’ve been doing this for thirty years, I’ve been doing a good job.’” Langenburg said police labs often only embrace change in response to scandal. “Suddenly, they fire all the people working at that agency, hire new people and consultants and turn the lab around,” Langenburg said. He pointed to the St. Paul, Minnesota Police Department crime lab, which was found to use poor practices for drug testing in 2012, but then turned things around and achieved accreditation only after the issues were revealed. It’s only a matter of time, he said, before each of the police department labs operating with poor standards and practices run into problems. “These large cities are just little time bombs waiting to go off.” ¬ Nicole Wetsman is a reporter based in New York City with a focus on science and public health.

EVENTS

BULLETIN A CLE on Restorative Justice & Abolition Grace Episcopal Church, 637 S. Dearborn St. Thursday, March 28, 5:30pm–7:30pm. Public event. bit.ly/CLERestorativeJustice The National Lawyer’s Guild of Chicago presents a continuing legal education on Restorative Justice and the abolition of police and prisons. Join Emmanuel Andre of Circles & Ciphers and Page May of Assata’s Daughters in a conversation moderated by Sharlyn Grace of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, about a justice practice that emphasizes healing and repairing harm as a foundation of true accountability. (Nicole Bond)

¡Votar no es Botar! Election Results Discussion Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, 2445 S. Spaulding Ave. Thursday, March 28, 6pm–7:30pm. Free with registration. lvejo.org Discuss why voter turnout was so low, and what the impacts of the election could be for Little Village, at this community conversation hosted by LVEJO’s voter engagement arm, Vota Con Granas. Refreshments will be served. (Sam Stecklow)

Chicago Reader and Lumpen Radio Election Party Marz Community Brewing, 3360 S. Iron St. Tuesday, April 2, 6pm–9pm. Free. chicagoreader.com, lumpenradio.com Join the Reader’s Ben Joravsky and Maya Dukmasova for live election coverage, plus live music and Marz beer at this free election night party in McKinley Park. (Sam Stecklow)

Chicagoland Cooperative Ecosystem Coalition Chicago Teachers Union Center, 1901 W. Carroll Ave. Thursday, April 4, 6:30pm–8:30pm. Free registration at bit. ly/2YooFSj. For any questions, please contact: chicagocoopecosystem@gmail.com This meeting is open to all with interest in and experience with worker cooperatives

and/or excited about contributing to building CCEC. This gathering will build upon their first meeting held in October, which began mapping the Chicagoland ecosystem and working to deepen relationships amongst participants and stakeholders. CCEC is driven by your voice, your ideas, and your energy. Childcare and food will be provided. (Nicole Bond)

Undesign the Redline Exhibition Opening National Public Housing Museum, 625 N. Kingsbury St. Thursday, April 4, 5:30pm– 7:30pm. Free. Register at bit.ly/UndesignRedlining All are invited to the opening events of an exhibition co-sponsored by the Chicago Fair Housing Alliance and the National Public Housing Museum, which will connect the intentional and systematic racial housing segregation of the 1930s to political and social issues of today. The exhibition runs through May 31 and includes a collection of the only known color photographs of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Chicago Freedom Movement, taken during King’s visit to Chicago in 1966. This event is wheelchair accessible. Individuals requiring sign-language interpreters, real-time captioners, or other accommodations should contact Mark Jaeschke at (773) 245-1621 or mjaeschke@ nphm.org by March 28. (Nicole Bond)

VISUAL ARTS General Body Meeting #1 Back of the Yards Coffeehouse and Roastery, 2059 W. 47th St. Wednesday, March 27, 10am–11:30am. bit.ly/GenBodyMeeting Hosted by Murals from the Yards, a community organization based in Back of the Yards, General Body Meeting #1 opens the floor for community members to gather and brainstorm the future of public murals in their neighborhood. This is also a public event, so those from other neighborhoods around Chicagoland are welcome to stop by and participate. Don’t forget to try one of the Back of the Yards Coffeehouse special blends! (Roderick Sawyer)

Fund the Burge Torture Justice Memorial with Persuasive Posters Arts and Public Life, 301 E Garfield Blvd. Sunday, March 31, 12:30pm–3:30pm. bit.ly/FundBTJM Through a workshop facilitated by William Estrada, create your own original poster to insist on city investment for building a memorial for torture survivors of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. Following the historic Reparations Ordinance ratified on May 6, 2015 by Chicago’s City Council, the promise for funding has yet to be carried out. The posters you create using letterpress and screen-printing techniques will be included in the “Fund the Burge Torture Justice Memorial” poster series. (Roderick Sawyer)

Writing through the Unthinkable: Spaces of Change Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Free. Geared towards 14+ but open to all. Tuesday, April 2, 6pm–7pm. bit.ly/SpacesofChange The Rebuild Foundation is hosting this workshop in partnership with 826CHI to explore the preservation of painful objects that investigate racism of the past and present. Attendees will look at objects from Ed J Williams’s collection “negrobilia” as well as other examples of tradition and literature that serve as vehicles for protest and healing. (Roderick Sawyer)

MUSIC Some Like it Black: Open Mic / Jam Session Some Like it Black, 810 E. 43rd St. Wednesday, March 27, 7pm–10pm. $10, free parking in side lot. (773) 891-4866. somelikeitblack.com On this Wednesday’s Young Lions Jazz Night, prodigious jazz drummer Jeremiah Collier and his band, Standard Form, will hold down an open mic and jam at Kenwood’s finest Black-owned venue and bar, Some Like it Black Creative Arts Bar. (Christopher Good)

THE ITTY BITTY

EVENTS CALENDAR 6100 S Blackstone (773) 627-5058 More info online at buildcoffee.org

Thursday, March 28 City Bureau Public Newsroom #101: Investigating Mexico’s Clandestine Graves 6:00 pm — 8:00 pm Nearly 40,000 people went missing in Mexico between December 2006 to October 2018, according to official records. These disappearances are largely attributed to the country’s drug war. This week at the Public Newsroom we’re hosting Mago Torres, a member of the team of independent Mexican journalists who sought to reveal how a decade of this drug war has turned Mexico into a burial ground.

Saturday, March 30 Maushéa SEEDS EP Release Party 7:30 pm — 9:30 pm Black Tide Entertainment presents a release party for SEEDS, a new EP by Maushéa dropping 3/30. Hosted by Pretty Riot, with performances by Ifeanyi Elswith, Asha Omega, LaJé, Dai, and Maushéa. BTE will be collecting supplies for the Chicago Period Project. $5 donation suggested.

Monday, April 1 The Experiment Open Mic 6:00 pm — 8:00 pm The Experiment is a free open mic at Build Coffee every first Monday of the month. Bring your songs, poems, music, stories, dances— whatever you can do in five minutes. Sign-ups open up at 6pm!

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EVENTS

Madd Crates: Bring Your Own Vinyl Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Sunday, March 31, 12pm–6pm. All ages, Free. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org Dust off your whitelabels and grab a crate, because DJ Sean Doe’s bring-your-ownvinyl series will return to the Arts Bank’s Johnson Lounge this Sunday. Whether you plan to spin your rarest bootlegs or just want to listen in and dance to some oldies, it’s the perfect way to add some wow and flutter to your weekend. (Christopher Good)

Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few Room 43, 1043 E. 43rd St. Sunday, April 14, 7:30pm–10:30pm. $10, $5 students with ID (773) 285-2222. bit.ly/2HSYrBB South Side saxophonist Isaiah Collier has toured all over the world and played with countless local legends, from Maggie Brown to Chance the Rapper. On Sunday, Collier and his “Chosen Few”—Ivan Taylor, bass, and Marcus Evans, drums— will bring their deeply felt and intensely performed jazz to Room 43. (Christopher Good)

Tribute to Phyllis Hyman featuring Norman Connors and Jean Carne The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park West, Friday, April 5, 7pm and 9:30pm. Doors open 30 minutes before each show. VIP seating with tables $60, reserve seating $45, bar seats standing $30 advance, doors $35. (312) 8012100 promontorychicago.com If you know exactly what I mean when I say Betcha By Golly Wow, Living All Alone, and Old Friend, chances are you already have your tickets for the Phyllis Hyman tribute next Friday, featuring Norman (You Are My Starship) Connors and Jean (Don’t Let it Go to Your Head) Carne, with special guests Marva King and Julia Huff. If you don’t have your tickets yet, everything you need to know is here in italics. If you have no idea who the incomparable Phyllis Hyman is, was, and will always be, aww bless your heart. (Nicole Bond)

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For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuff

panel with leaders from men’s and boy’s group discussing what it means to be allies to women, at Court Theatre.

Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Thursday March 14–Sunday April 14. $20–$74. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org

April 8, 6:30pm Spotlight Reading Series: A Tribute To Ntozake is a staged reading of Shange’s play Boogie Woogie Landscapes, at the Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave.

Court Theatre welcomes playwright Ntozake Shange’s most well-known work, from which the genre choreopoem was coined. Director Seret Scott, who performed in the original Broadway production from 1976-1978, weaves Shange’s heartfelt, slice-of-real-life poems, with music and choreographed movement to tell vivid stories through the characters of eight women of color navigating womanhood in sometimes painful yet always powerful ways. (Nicole Bond)

Beyond The Rainbow: Court Community Conversations Various South Side locations. March 14 through April 13. All events are free and open to the public with registration. Visit courttheatre.org to register. In conjunction with the production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuff, Court Theatre has curated a series of community engagement programming focusing on themes from the show. March 14, 5:30pm–7pm A laying on of hands: An Opening Ritual is an opening ceremony presented in collaboration with spiritual leaders from McCormick Theological Seminary and the Lutheran School Theological Seminary, at McCormick Theological Seminary, 5460 S. University Ave. March 24, 4:30pm Phases of womanhood: Dramatists Guild Panel moderated by Tracie Hall of the Joyce Foundation features five female playwrights of color discussing Ntozake Shange’s influence on their work, at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. April 1, 7pm Sing your song: A Night of Personal Stories, performers Emily Hooper Lansana, Ann Douglas, LaDonna Tittle, Kristiana Rae Colon and Kemati Porter present original work in the FCG set. April 5, 9:15pm there wuz no air: A Community Conversation, is a post-show

April 9, 7pm Exelon South Side Youth Performance – FC Girls Project is dedicated to student work and will be followed by a post show reception at the Smart Museum of Art (directly across the courtyard) catered by Piccolo Mondo. April 13, 11am–4pm Loving her fiercely: A Day of Wellness features a day of meditation, art, and reiki with a vendor fair of female-run businesses, presented in partnership with the national nonprofit A Long Walk Home, whose work is dedicated to end violence against women and girls. The location for this event is to be announced.

CommUNITY Café: Celebrating The Sacred Cypher Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 S. King Drive. Saturday, March 30, 6:30pm– 10pm. Free with RSVP, donations welcome. bit.ly/SacredCypher Inspired by the hip-hop cypher, said to be a circle that levels the playing field of all who enter it, Inner-City Muslim Action Network will present an evening of storytelling, inspiration, and healing aimed to foster connection and exchange between artists and community. Partake in wellness work and food during the pre-show café hour, followed by live performances from Maimouna Youssef, K-Love The Poet, and Zeshan B. Co-hosted by Authentic Aseelah and Damon Williams, with DJ Moz Def. (Nicole Bond)

40th & State – Film Screening and Discussion Lutheran School of Theology, JKM Auditorium, 1100 E. 55th St. Saturday, March 30, 10:30am–12:30pm. Free. RSVP required. (773) 947-6322. mccormick.edu Filmmaker and playwright Micah Ariel Watson will discuss her award-winning experimental documentary 40th & State, which asks what happens “when mourning becomes political and fighting becomes

spiritual,” prompted by the grief of an entire church in the wake of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. (Nicole Bond)

Star Wars Celebration McCormick Place West, 2452, 2301 S. King Dr. Monday, April 15, 10am–5pm. $75 adults, $35 children (all children six years and up need a ticket—children 13 and older need an adult ticket) bit.ly/2Wl7QWt Experience what aims to be the ultimate Star Wars fan extravaganza! The event is mostly sold-out with some tickets still available for the final day. Star Wars fans from around the globe will be able to see featured cast and crew members, enjoy live entertainment, screenings, behind the scenes panels, select exhibits and more. Go, and may the force be with you. (Nicole Bond)

FOOD & LAND Indoor Farmers Markets 61st Street Farmers Market: Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. The second Saturday of every month, 9am–2pm. experimentalstation.org Pilsen Community Market: Honky Tonk BBQ, 1800 S. Racine Ave. Sundays, 11am– 3:30pm. facebook.com/pilsenmarket Plant Chicago Farmers Market: The Plant, 1400 W. 46th St. The first Saturday of each month, 11am–3pm. plantchicago.org Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean your need for fresh produce, chef demonstrations, and shopping with your neighbors is gone. This winter, the three above-listed markets are sticking around and moving indoors to make sure your needs are fulfilled. Each market offers slightly different pleasures, and all are worth making a regular habit. (Sam Stecklow)

CCGA 7th Annual Conference: Gardening & Adapting to a Changing Climate Breakthrough FamilyPlex, 3219 W. Carroll Ave. Saturday, March 30, 9am–2:15pm. $25; $15 for students and children under 18. Meals included. bit.ly/2SIJynb Harboring questions about how the impact of climate change on the growing season? On seed viability? Indoor

EVENTS

container gardening? At the seventh annual conference of the beloved Chicago Community Gardening Association, expert gardeners and farmers will answer these questions and more. Word to the wise: free soil testing will be available after lunch, so if you’re curious about heavy metal levels in your garden soil, bring a baggie of soil for an on-the-spot analysis by UofI researchers. (Emeline Posner)

Volunteer Habitat Restoration Beaubien Forest Preserve, 13400 S. Doty Ave. Saturday, April 6, 10am–1pm. Free. For more information email calumet@fieldmuseum.org. bit.ly/2CzEFYk Itching to escape the apartment for a weekend morning? Curious about the animal and plant diversity to be found in the woods of Chicago? Join Field Museum and Forest Preserve staff for a habitat restoration workday in Beaubien Woods, a stretch of woodland, wet prairie, and savanna that curls around a bend of the Little Calumet River. Meet-up will be at S. Doty Ave., across from the Carver Military Academy athletic field. Accessible by the #34 South Michigan bus. (Emeline Posner)

how to incorporate these practices as you’re starting seeds and transplanting seedlings. (Emeline Posner)

UIC Heritage Garden Seed Swap Jane Addams Hull House Museum, 800 S. Halsted St. Sunday, April 7, 1pm–3pm. Free; you do not need to bring seeds to attend. bit. ly/2TNMVxK Presented by the UIC Heritage Garden, the fifth annual UIC Seed Swap will bring not only a plethora of Chicago seeds to your fingertips, but many of the individuals and organizations that grow and heal through gardening work. Swing by to swap seeds, chat, or learn from neighbors, the Chicago Community Gardeners Association, the American Indian Center of Chicago, the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and many others. (Emeline Posner)

Come learn fundamental journalism skills. All workshops are free and open to the public.

RSVP

bit.ly/sswworkshops

Free Weekend at the Field Museum 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr. Friday, April 5, through Sunday, April 7. 9am–5pm. Free for Illinois residents with valid proof of residency. fieldmuseum.org/freedays Whether you’re going solo or bringing the whole family, visits to the Field Museum add up quickly. If you missed free admission during the month of February— or if you’re just feeling that another visit to the newly returned Sue, the T. rex, is in order, stop by this weekend for not one but three days of free fun. (Ticketed exhibitions not included in free admission.) (Emeline Posner)

Spring Soil Health Workshop The Plant, 1400 W. 46th St. Saturday, April 6, 3pm–5pm. $15. bit.ly/2TAgI9b Artist and Chicago community garden manager Lora Lode is offering a notto-be-missed workshop on regenerative agricultural practices. Learn to test your soil for mineral levels and how to build the best soil environment for your plants—and MARCH 27, 2019 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 19

Logan Center Family Saturday: Go DJ

Sat, April 6 24:30pm FREE

arts.uchicago.edu/familysaturdays 773.702.ARTS LoganCenterCommunity Arts

This April, Family Saturdays will celebrate one of the most prominent elements of hip-hop: DJing. Families will learn the history of DJing, experiment with turntables, explore the science of sound, and learn the fundamentals of scratching. Rock out with us from the dance floor to the booth!

Logan Center for the Arts 915 E 60th St Appropriate for families with children ages 2-12. Registration is encouraged. Free parking in lot at 60th and Drexel.