SIDE WEEKLY IN CHICAGO
The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds.
Volume 12, Issue 1
Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato
Managing Editor Adam Przybyl
Investigations Editor Jim Daley
Senior Editors Martha Bayne
Christopher Good
Olivia Stovicek
Sam Stecklow
Alma Campos
Community Builder Chima Ikoro
Public Meetings Editor Scott Pemberton
Visuals Editor Kayla Bickham
Deputy Visuals Editor Shane Tolentino
Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma
Shane Tolentino
Director of Fact Checking: Ellie Gilbert-Bair Fact Checkers: Jim Daley
Patrick Edwards
Jinny Kim
Cordell Longstreath
Lauren Sheperd
Rubi Valentin
Layout Editor Tony Zralka
Executive Director Malik Jackson
Office Manager Mary Leonard
Advertising Manager Susan Malone
Webmaster Pat Sier
The Weekly publishes online weekly and in print every other Thursday. We seek contributions from all over the city.
Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to:
South Side Weekly
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We’re back!
Hello readers, we’re back from holiday break with our first print issue of the year. Just as a reminder, our paper hits newsstands every other Thursday, and we also publish continuously on our website (where you can also find a distribution map). Through our website, you can also subscribe to the paper, and for a small fee have it delivered right to your doorstep. Happy new year!
City-run Roseland mental health clinic re-opens
A mental health clinic in Roseland reopened last week after being shut down by former mayor Rahm Emanuel years ago. The reopening is part of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to reopen several shuttered mental health clinics, and follows clinics opening in Pilsen and West Garfield Park last year. The clinic will provide mental health services Monday through Friday, from 8:30am to 7:30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 8:30am to 4:30pm Wednesdays through Fridays. The clinic will also provide sexual health services, such as HIV medication and STD testing, three days a week. “We hope that this will be more than a clinic,” Johnson said at the reopening. “It’s true that this is a gathering space that will foster health and wellness.”
Chicago gets over $400 million for disaster relief from 2023/2024 storms $426 million in federal money is coming Chicago’s way, as part of a natural disaster recovery package from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The relief money is for recovery costs associated with storms and flooding from 2023 and 2024, and is meant for fixing up housing, strengthening infrastructure, and risk mitigation for future weather events. In July of 2023, Chicago and nearby areas were hit with record-breaking storms that caused massive flooding, especially in West Side neighborhoods like Austin. In July 2024, Chicago experienced more than forty tornadoes in a thirty-six hour period, also causing extensive damages. The funds will be distributed locally, after a needs assessment and at least one community meeting, but more details about whether that would happen at the City or ward-level were not available at press time.
Four medical conditions added to medical marijuana list
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced last week that four additional medical conditions could now be treated with medical marijuana. Endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids and female orgasmic disorder were the conditions added to the list, which includes dozens of other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, migraines, chronic pain, and many more. Patients with a valid medical marijuana card can avoid high recreational taxes and buy more cannabis, as well as cultivate up to five plants at home.
Derrick Rose jersey retired
Cover photo provided by Damon Reed
It’s official. The Chicago native, Derrick Rose, will always be the city’s number one Bull. The Chicago Bulls team announced on January 4 that the No. 1 jersey will be retired and hanging from the rafters next season. While Rose’s former jersey retirement follows other past legendary Bull members such as Jerry Sloan’s No.4, Bob Love’s No. 10, Michael Jordan’s No. 23 and Scottie Pippen’s No 23., his history in the league includes breaking records and leaving a long lasting impression on the Chicagoans rooting him on from home. Aside from playing on the Bulls for eight years, he’s played on five other teams, such as the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Not only is he the youngest MVP in NBA history, but he was the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft. Although Rose has played 723 games in fifteen seasons racking up 12,573 points with 3,770 assists, the number we’ll remember him most by will be number one.
IN THIS ISSUE
woes is pressing his luck
How graffiti writers, the internet, and brushes with danger shaped the rapper’s new album. francisco ramírez pinedo ..................... 4 special education aides can self represent at iep meetings
A new contract for Chicago Public School support staff allows special education classroom assistants to voluntarily attend meetings to discuss student needs. jewél jackson........................................... 5 mayoral working group recommended keeping shotspotter
A group of stakeholders discussed alternatives, and recommended ShotSpotter stay until a replacement could be found.
jim daley and max blaisdell .................. 7 illinois lawmakers say they’re ready to stand up for undocumented residents
State and federal legislators are preparing for the Trump administration’s plans to make Chicago “ground zero” for mass deportations. cesar toscano 9 legisladores de illinois se comprometen a defender a los indocumentados
Los funcionarios del estado se preparan ante los planes de Trump de convertir a Chicago en la “zona cero” de deportaciones masivas. por césar toscano traducido por alma campos 10 making it as a muralist
Well known for his restorations of iconic murals, Damon Lamar Reed’s art portfolio is a love letter to the children of Chicago.
jacqueline serrato ............................... 12 drilling into the culture
Jabari Evans, rapper and author of Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground, on women in male-dominated spaces and the streaming era.
evan f. moore 14 the exchange
The Weekly’s poetry corner offers our thoughts in exchange for yours.
chima ikoro ........................................... 17 second u. of c. student arrested, evicted for participation in pro-palestine protest
Mamayan Jabateh, a fourth-year student from Chicago, is banned from campus and from finishing their studies. zoe pharo, hyde park herald .............. 19 calls widen for police district councilor’s resignation
A citywide group of district councilors released a letter calling for David Orlikoff to step down, citing abusive behavior.
jim daley ................................................ 20 public meetings report
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.
scott pemberton and documenters .. 22 calendar Bulletin and events.
zoe pharo ............................................... 23
Woes Is Pressing His Luck
How graffiti writers, the internet, and brushes with danger shaped the rapper’s new album.
BY FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ PINEDO
It’s October 26 and a steady stream of people is trickling in and out of Pilsen’s inconspicuous Low Pressure gallery. Well-known street artists like Afrokilla and local brands like Uprise are selling their wares. Taco trucks are selling to a swelling crowd of smokers and skaters outside. Inside, someone is selling beers in Solo cups tapped from a keg, near a half-pipe painted like a pack of Newports.
Once the crowd has gotten fed and buzzed, Woes takes the stage. He performs directly beneath a bespoke mockup of an old ice-for-sale sign that reads: “IT'S A COLD WORLD OUT THERE” and “ICE SOULED HERE.” The venue and stage are a fitting tribute to the DIY space and to his lyrics: Heartbreak, the prospect of death, escapism, delivered with wordplay and an unfeigned hatred for the police.
Backed by a live band of collaborators, Woes’ raps get a rock treatment reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down— which is apt, since Serj Tankian and Woes share a proud Armenian heritage. (Woes’ Instagram profile even sports the Armenian flag.)
From the jump, the energy in the small space is tangible. The crowd sings along and moshes. One particularly unruly fan has to be reminded a few times to calm down. Others mention how they drove from the suburbs to catch his set. But after the show, Woes’ night is just getting started. He encourages the crowd to purchase merch so he can get gas money for a road trip to New York. Some of those fans give him cash without buying a thing—a vote of confidence in his come-up.
In New York, he promotes his new album, Pressing My Luck, with shows, a podcast appearance, and guerilla
messages on LED construction road signs. The DIY tactics are nothing new for him. Last summer, he pulled up outside Lollapalooza and Riot Fest in a box truck with some friends and performed. Once, he says, he got a call with Def Jam by pretending to be his own agent.
For our interview, I asked him to pick a spot that held personal significance. Woes suggested we meet at Chris’ Billiards, a forty-one-table pool bar in Portage Park made famous by Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money
“I’ve been coming here for so long,” said Woes, who grew up in the south suburbs and now lives on the North Side. “It was always a place that I could just kind of, like, exist in.”
Pressing My Luck, like Woes’ other projects, features a team of collaborators and producers including Goodboy, Hobbes, The Kid Rated R, and DJ Sun. (“I hear rappers that are like, ‘I produce and I mix and I master and I do this myself.’ It’s
like, well, good for you!” he joked.) Fitting enough, we were joined by long-time collaborator Bless 1, who produced some of Woes’ earliest work (including an early breakthrough, “Grandkids,” which Woes remembers hearing on Vocalo for the first time while driving Lyft). Miles Kalchik, another collaborator and musician in his own right, shot pictures.
We played a three-player version of pool, cutthroat, and talked about Pressing My Luck, how it came about, the process of songwriting, and where Woes got his start in music.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired this latest album?
Being in danger, honestly. And putting myself [in danger], like, literally. There’s not a hidden message. It’s called Pressing My Luck because that’s probably what
I’ve done since I moved here as an adult [and] for the last, like eleven years. When I moved to Chicago, back to Illinois. Just playing with fire and poking the bear and just [doing] dumbass shit.
How’s the reception been?
I’m grateful that it’s been received in a very good way. Which also is hilarious, because you make music and nobody hears it for a long time. At least, that was my fucking experience, and nobody hears it. And then you think in your head, like, how do you get people in front of your music, you know?
How did you start releasing music?
SoundCloud. I literally started fucking with releasing music, like, as a kid. I posted it on Yahoo! Answers. Yeah, literally posting it in, like, you know, Reddit threads and Yahoo! Answers and commenting on YouTube videos and being like, “I rap too, check [me] out, man.” Literally just on the Internet, anywhere that I could post a link. I’d be like, “let me know what you think of this.” And a lot of people were like, “Kill yourself. This is horrible.” You know? And I was like, I gotta get better at this. This sucks. I’m not made for this. The online comments. I would post that shit like crazy on Tumblr. I fell in love on Tumblr and that shit.
Who were your influences?
I take influence from graffiti homies. There was a lot of graffiti homies at that show. They do what the fuck they want to do, whenever the fuck they want to do it, and they live their lives exactly how they want to. I take influence from them. Dave Chappelle of, like, how to frame a line
Woes on the left, Bless 1 on the right, at Chris’s Billiards.
Photo by Miles Kalchik
you know what I mean? How to talk to people, Black Thought and the Roots, you know what I mean? Like, listening to The Roots, they were huge for me in terms of influences too.
But I grew up listening to Destiny’s Child and Aretha Franklin. Like, my mom would play all sorts of [music] and my dad would play classical music and Armenian music. Like, the oud and a drum called a dhal, which is a drum that you play between your legs. I don’t know if I would say that it was an influence, but more just a subconscious feeling I got as a kid, of listening to music that made you want to move. You know what I mean?
You also have a couple of videos up, right?
Yeah, we put a bunch of videos. That was the biggest thing last year that I realized that what made people pay attention is almost not even about the song. [I would have a] throwaway song that I would write one verse to. And then we’d go out and we’d think of a cool visual. And then I went to one of my old mechanic homies and was like, “you have a pile of tires in the back of your shop,” and he let us shoot the video in the back of it during the Puerto Rican parade. And it’s just like that, thinking about visuals that are actually intriguing and make people
Special Education Aides Can Self Represent at IEP Meetings
A
new contract for Chicago Public School support staff allows special education classroom assistants to voluntarily attend meetings to discuss student needs.
BY JEWÉL JACKSON
interested.
How long have you known that you wanted to do music?
This is the only thing that I’ve ever loved, making music and making this shit. It’s been the only thing that I’ve ever cared about. And the only thing where I’ve ever felt fulfilled in a sense where I was like, why would I do anything else? Like, I’m doing it now, and I’m just gonna keep doing it until I can make a living from it.
Clocking in at 30 minutes and 58 seconds, Pressing My Luck is available on all platforms for streaming and purchase. ¬
Francisco Ramírez Pinedo is a journalist based in South Chicago
Jerry, a special education classroom assistant, or SECA, in Chicago Public Schools, works with just three students. The individualized attention, he says, is an important part of his job in providing behavioral, personal and classroom aid to students with disabilities. It allows him to build strong relationships with his students.
“As a SECA my job is to mainly focus on you,” Jerry said about the students with disabilities he aids. “No matter what's going on around me, no matter what else I’m thinking about, my job is mainly to focus on you and that comes with building a relationship with you.”
Jerry did not want to include his last name out of fear of retaliation.
For years, parents, experts and local school communities have advocated for SECAs to be included in Individualized Education Plan Meetings—a legally required discussion to determine a plan of action for students with disabilities.
Previously, SECAs had to be invited by a member of a student’s IEP team such as a principal or classroom teacher, in order to attend these meetings. SECAs, parents argue, have unique knowledge about the students they aid and that knowledge should be shared during IEP meetings.
Now, thanks to a contract signed in October between CPS and Service Employees International Union Local 73, the union representing CPS support
staff, SECAs can request to attend those meetings.
“It gives us a lot of autonomy,” said Stephanie Tarr, a SECA at Southside Occupational Academy. “It gives validity to exactly what we’re doing and helps people take us a little bit more seriously and have an impact. I like the difference,” she said.
At Skinner North Classical School, Jerry aids his three students during specific time blocks of the day. Other SECAs may work one on one with a student that has severe disabilities.
Given the individualized attention he’s able to give, the relationship building between a SECA and student can look different than that of a classroom teacher who has to focus on multiple students, he said.
“Little things that I can pick up on… I can tell you if my students are having a bad day. I can tell you what he will do. I can tell you what he won’t do,” he said. “If he’s having a situation, I can go talk to him. I can work out something that [a teacher] possibly can’t do because we have a different relationship,” he said.
In 2022, the Illinois Answers Project reported that some special education parents were not aware of their right to request their child’s SECA during IEP meetings. Additionally, parents and teachers of special education students often faced challenges when requesting SECAs be present at IEP meetings due
Bless 1 and Woes at for Chris’s Billiards.
Photo by Miles Kalchik
to scheduling and staffing challenges, since the meetings occur during the school day.
“SECAs are integral to daily classroom operations, providing necessary support to students with individualized needs. Pulling them away from their primary role, even temporarily, can disrupt the continuous support those students rely on. Schools must carefully balance these requests with the ongoing need to provide uninterrupted services as outlined in IEP and 504 plans,” said CPS officials.
Close to 7,500 SECAs work in the district and over 350 additional positions remain vacant, said district officials in a written statement.
While the new contract allows SECAs to request to attend an IEP meeting, they must receive approval from their school’s principal or designee, “another CPS employee, such as the assistant principal or case manager,” said district officials.
The district has stated that schools will make “reasonable efforts” in providing coverage for SECAs to attend IEP meetings but noted that “there are a lot of circumstances that may impact a principal’s or their designee’s decision in response to a SECA’s request. Examples of these include whether the SECA is scheduled to be with another student, the SECA is scheduled to be supporting a group of students, the parent has requested the SECA not attend, etc.”
If a school can’t honor a SECAs request to attend an IEP meeting then their feedback has to be provided in an agreed upon format and the paraprofessional has to receive a copy of the finalized plan, reads the contract.
Tarr said the changes towards SECA representation gives her more confidence in speaking with parents about their child’s needs.
“Before we (SECAs) kind of felt like, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be in that meeting, I don’t get to say anything. So who am I? Where do I have a place to say anything?’” Tarr said. “But now I think it would leave us all with a little bit more ownership and just makes the whole process more inclusive,” she said.
Kalaveeta Mitchell, a former CPS parent and special education advocate, said the changes are excellent but wishes that SECAs were required to attend the meetings.
“It’ll serve a dual purpose; it will initially alert staff and the parents whether this SECA is doing their due diligence with the student, as well as give the parents and the IEP team the knowledge around what’s happening with the student,” Mitchell said. “You need the SECA report to know exactly how that child is functioning.”
The new contract also states that SECAs can request to stay with the student or classroom they were previously assigned to, a change that Mitchell fought for while her children were in CPS, she said. Her son and daughter graduated last June.
president of SEIU Local 73.
Included in the contract are designated professional development days for SECAS.
“That language is big because it signifies a transition in viewpoint of seeing special education classroom assistance as the professional educators that they are,” Scott said.
Previously, SECAs have been tasked with busy work like, “cleaning out storage rooms (and) assigned to help clerks with clerk duties. There’s been little to no intention around making sure that our SECAs are actually provided training (and)
“It’s really important for them to hear from the people that are working with their kids on a very direct and consistent basis, from day in and day out.”
“It was always a disruption to my daughter, changing the SECAs each year when the child went to another grade,” Mitchell said. She recounted her daughter having four different SECAs in elementary school and becoming dysregulated by the changes.
“It’s reflective in their behavior, as well as their academic performance,” she said.
The new four year contract for over 11,000 CPS support staff like bus aides, crossing guards and custodians also includes a $40,000 minimum salary for all full time employees and centralized training for new hires, said Stacia Scott, executive vice
for working with students with a variety of disabilities, proper methods for lifting and positioning non-ambulatory students, personal care responsibilities, and strategies for reinforcing instruction.”
For current and new SECAs, annual de-escalation training will be required.
Scott noted that these training changes are in response to a state complaint about time outs, restraints, and a lack of deescalation for students with disabilities.
“By the end of the current agreement, which concludes on June 30, 2027, CPS will also introduce training on physical restraint and time-out policies,” CPS officials said. “Moreover, the restraint and time-out policy will be made available electronically to SECAs at the beginning of each school year, providing easy access to these guidelines whenever needed.”
The contract, which provides clearer guidelines of the responsibilities that SECAs have, is also beneficial to those that help to advocate for special education families, said Amanda Klemas, senior attorney at Equip for Equality, an advocacy and nonprofit organization that provides free legal aid to special education families.
“The fact that these updates have been made, and getting that information out to parents is going to be important, because I just don’t know that the average parent is going to know that this is something that they can even ask for,” said Klemas.
“It’s really important for them to hear from the people that are working with their kids on a very direct and consistent basis, from day in and day out,” Klemas said.
professional development support for the difficult and necessary work that they do,” Scott said.
The union often surveys its members about their on the ground school experiences and will continue to do so as a way to track if CPS adheres to what they agreed upon in this contract, Scott said.
In a written statement, district officials recognized that the new contract “limits the use of SECAs for non-student duties or to cover for other staff.”
They also state that an updated training curriculum for new SECAs will include “de-escalation practices, an overview of IEP procedures, techniques
Scott said she wishes for all support staff to receive the respect they deserve but is excited that specifically SECAs will be able “to be present and advocate for the kids they serve.”
“They’re some of the fiercest advocates for the children that they work with and serve,” said Scott. “You want them in your corner.”
SEIU has recently raised concerns about the transfer and removal of SECA jobs to teaching assistants, due to ongoing contract negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the District. ¬
Jewél Jackson is an investigative, multimedia storyteller who reports on society, culture and youth.
SECAs—special education classroom assistants—will now be able to request to attend meetings to discuss student needs and progress thanks to a new contract.
Photo provided by SEIU Local 73
Mayoral Working Group Recommended Keeping ShotSpotter
A group of stakeholders discussed alternatives, and recommended ShotSpotter stay until a replacement could be found.
BY JIM DALEY AND MAX BLAISDELL
Chicago’s experiment with gunshotdetection tech is not over yet.
Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to renew ShotSpotter’s contract this year, and on September 23 the company stopped providing regular gunshot alerts to the police. That same month, his administration also issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a replacement “law enforcement response technology.”
Before the City issued the RFI, a group of City officials, activists and other stakeholders convened to discuss alternatives to ShotSpotter. Via a public records request, the Weekly obtained the self-styled Acoustic Gunshot Detection Alternatives Working Group’s meeting notes and other documents. The group was tasked with finding and presenting recommendations to the mayor about the City’s use of law-enforcement technology.
Scan this QR code to see Working Group meeting notes obtained by the Weekly
Ultimately, the group recommended Chicago keep some form of acoustic gunshot detection tech.
“We want to find a match between getting officers to a scene within a certain time and not endangering people and not costing millions of dollars,” said mayoral advisor Alyx Goodwin at the group’s first meeting, according to the notes.
The mayor decided to phase out ShotSpotter despite remaining open to a new gunshot detection system because he considered “the company to be profiting off of gun violence in [the] city,” Goodwin added. “As it relates to his vision, he is looking for something [that is] more community-centered and invests in people.”
The notes said that while the City
would be able to remove sensors located on public property after the September 23 deactivation date, those located on private property couldn’t be touched.
The working group hotly debated the question of ShotSpotter’s accuracy. Some members of the group voiced their support for the technology. One said, “Gun violence is personal to me,” adding that their house had been set on fire for reporting gunshots.
“We relied on ShotSpotter a lot, so we knew where to go when we heard a shooting,” they said, adding that the “community can call over and over and police do not respond, but with ShotSpotter the officers go immediately.”
Another added that their community is “overwhelmingly in favor of keeping ShotSpotter.” Others said that the technology “saves lives.”
But not all comments were positive. One attendee said they did not believe claims that ShotSpotter is “97% accurate and that they reduce crime,” adding that “they are marketing ploys.” Another member of the working group said, “The real discussion is that we just do not know, and [ShotSpotter] is not forthcoming.” Yet another proposed that the group find “a company that does [gunshot detection] and allows us to validate their evidence.”
At a subsequent meeting, the group discussed Flock, a ShotSpotter competitor, and that company’s Safety Raven tool, which according to its website provides “AIpowered gunshot detection, layered with [license-plate readers], video and analytics.”
A spokesperson for Flock confirmed the company submitted a response to the RFI.
SoundThinking, ShotSpotter’s parent company, has indicated it would submit a response as well.
The mayor was slated to attend the group’s final meeting in September so they could present their recommendations to him.Two working-group sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the press
said he did not show, and one said he sent Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Garien Gatewood instead. Earlier that day, Johnson presided over a contentious City Council meeting in which alderpersons passed an ordinance empowering CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling to circumvent the mayor and negotiate a new gunshot-detection contract. (Johnson has claimed that ordinance is unenforceable.)
Ultimately, the working group did not recommend the adoption of any specific technologies, according to the sources who were present at the meetings. Instead, they offered a set of “values” to guide the Mayor’s Office in evaluating potential replacements, as well as recommendations for immediate next steps.
“The solution should reflect the mayor’s values of investing in people, co-governance, public safety, avoiding disparity in use and deployment that would exacerbate harms, and does not prioritize profiting off of these harms,” the first value statement reads.
The second value statement says the “solution” should be transparent about “data collection, evaluation, and analysis,” in a manner that meets “standards of forensic and scientific evaluation,” and that it needs to be vetted before a new contract is signed. The other value statements stress transparency and community input, and note that the solution should support rapid responses to gun-violence victims, and “ensure first responders ‘do no harm’ in its use and deployment.”
The slide showing the group’s other recommendations was redacted in the documents the Mayor’s Office provided in response to our public-records request. The Weekly was able to independently obtain that slide, however. It shows that the group recommended the RFI be issued “to understand all existing technology solutions” available to the City.
They also recommended the City promote the use of 911 and support
community organizations that lead firstaid trainings.
The group also recommended the City “continue the current contract for gunshot detection until another option and alternative is ready to implement.” According to the slide, some workinggroup members refused to co-sign the recommendations without that one being included.
The slide also lists questions for the mayor, including asking Johnson if he would be open to renegotiating SoundThinking’s contract, and what his thoughts on the ordinance empowering Superintendent Snelling to negotiate a contract were.
Other questions asked whether the City could be sued by gun-violence victims after ShotSpotter was deactivated and whether the microphones would be turned off. (In April, the Weekly and WIRED reported that ShotSpotter continues to listen for gunfire even after its contracts expire.)
Johnson’s 2025 budget, which the City Council passed last week, included an amendment that boosted the Office of Public Safety Administration’s (OPSA) tech budget by nearly $10 million to fund initiatives related to the RFI, including acoustic gunshot detection.
ShotSpotter, it seems, is not entirely off the table.
“The group came to the opinion collectively that we need some sort of acoustic-gunshot technology, but that ShotSpotter as currently operated was not the move,” one working-group member told the Weekly. “ShotSpotter could fill that role—but was not currently fulfilling the role.” ¬
Jim Daley is the Weekly’s investigations editor. Max Blaisdell is a fellow with the Invisible Institute and a staff writer for the Hyde Park Herald
Illinois Lawmakers Say They’re Ready to Stand Up for Undocumented Residents
State and federal legislators are preparing for the Trump administration’s plans to make Chicago “ground zero” for mass deportations.
BY CESAR TOSCANO
Illinois lawmakers in predominantly Latinx communities vow to stand up for their constituents against President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Trump has appointed Thomas Homan, who was director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under his first term, to become the next “border czar,” an informal and unelected position that will monitor border security and make immigration policy recommendations. Homan, who also led ICE’s enforcement and removal operations under Barack Obama, was responsible for ushering policies that separated families at the border. At a December appearance in Chicago, he claimed Chicago would be “ground zero” for his deportation strategy.
Governor J.B. Pritzker indicated he would oppose any Trump policies that hurt Illinoisians at risk. “To anyone who intends to come, take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisians, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people, you come through me.”
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said the state will create legislation in response to any federal legislation that would target immigrants, but didn’t mention concrete measures. “We have proven for over 206 years to be a welcoming state,” Welch said in an interview. “We are going to continue to protect the values of Illinoisians. If we need to respond to what the Trump administration does we will be prepared to do that.”
Illinois lawmakers passed the Illinois TRUST Act in 2017, which restricts most of the local law enforcement agencies’ ability to work with ICE and its amendment. In 2021, legislators also passed the Way Forward Act, which provides worker security for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) recipients, prohibs ICE from holding detained immigrants in Illinois and prohibits contracts with detention centers in Illinois. Since then, lawmakers have focused on expanding bills such as the Human Rights Act to protect immigrants from employment discrimination due to status and the Illinois Identification Card Act to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.
Chicago has been a “sanctuary city” since 1982, when then-mayor Harold Washington signed an executive order prohibiting City workers from assisting immigration investigations. In 2006, the City Council codified its status by passing the Welcoming City ordinance, which was revised and expanded in 2011 and 2021. The law prevents the City from requesting immigration status, providing people’s immigration status to authorities, or withholding resources from someone due to them being undocumented.
Chicago’s “sanctuary city” status has been attacked in recent years by conservative politicians such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who bussed thousands of Venezuelan immigrants to Chicago
over the past couple years. The influx of asylum seekers strained City resources and heightened tensions between communities that had been asking for more housing and other kinds of support for years.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, two Southwest Side alderpersons—Ray Lopez (15th Ward) and Silvana Tabares (23rd)—will introduce an ordinance amending Chicago’s Welcoming City law that would permit local authorities to work with federal agents to find immigrants who have been suspected of crimes involving suspicion of “gang-related activities,” “drugrelated activities,” “prostitution-related activities” or “sexual crimes involving minors”.
“I oppose recent efforts to weaken our welcoming city,” said congressional Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia in a statement. “While I was Cook County Commissioner, I further strengthened protections by limiting local police coordination with ICE. Now, a group of misguided individuals attempt to undermine the community’s hard-fought protections under the pretense of public safety. We must oppose these attacks that will lead to enhanced racial profiling, separation
of families, and the violation of civil rights of both immigrants and U.S. citizens.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office is urging City Council members to vote against the measure, and reportedly argued it would lead to over-policing in Black and Brown communities. “We will not bend or break,” Johnson said at a November press conference. “Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years but we will not be stopped and we will not go back.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D–3), who joined Congress last year after serving in the state legislature, wrote in a Nov. 11 press release that she will fight any Trump policies that separate families.
“The Trump administration’s goal is to inflict maximum damage on diverse American families, our children, and our communities,” Ramirez wrote. “To that end, it is no surprise Trump wants Tom Homan at the helm. But let it be known, I will fight like hell to keep our families together, and our communities are ready to be an obstacle at every turn as he tries to implement his cruel, vile, gruesome plan.”
Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr (D–23) said Trump’s administration brings a deeper fear for his constituents. His Mexicanmajority district encompasses the Little Village and Brighton Park neighborhoods, and the Town of Cicero.
Gonzalez was a co-sponsor on the expansion of the Whistleblower Act which penalizes businesses for targeting employees who want to report violations to their boss.
Gonzalez said that the presidential election was a culmination of many different national Democrats’ failures but, most notably, for failing to connect with Latinx working-class voters and abandoning prior immigration policies. He said Illinois Democrats, especially those in
Community members and immigrant advocates protest against Trump’s threats and alderpersons who are against the Welcoming City Ordinance in Pilsen’s Plaza Tenochtitlan on Sunday, January 12, 2025
Photo by Paul Goyette
the Latino Caucus, have done a decent job of messaging compared to national leaders.
“Some of it I can blame on ignorance, especially from the older members of the party, but some of it is negligence,” he said. “The negligence is becoming more apparent because us as immigrants and as Latino Democrats, especially Latino Democrat officials in Illinois, right now, we have done a great job of securing rights for immigrants, for working families, protecting the environment, and reproductive health. The Latino Caucus has been the stalwart supporters of all these issues.”
State Senator Celina Villanueva (D–12), who has a district office in Little Village, echoed a recently released statement from the Latino Caucus, which featured support of protections for immigrants.
“Our greatest safety is in the community. As leaders of this state, we pledge to use every tool at our disposal— legislative, legal, and otherwise—to protect our immigrant families from the threat of mass deportation,” the statement read. “We will not be intimidated and will not allow our communities to live in fear. As the saying goes, el pueblo unido jamás será vencido—the people united will never be defeated.”
The caucus also suggested families create a family safety plan if there is a fear of ICE enforcement in their area. Such a plan could include having an immigration attorney on call and being ready to stay silent and not show documents to authorities before an attorney arrives. Know-yourrights cards are also available online to download and print in English and Spanish.
Gonzalez said the Democrats have to be ahead in organizing and working with immigration advocacy groups. “Republicans have given us a gift with Project 2025, the actual book, because it told us how to prepare ” Gonzalez said, referring to a 900-page blueprint for the Trump administration prepared by the right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation. “And a lot of folks, organizations, and advocacy groups have figured out how they’re going to prepare based on Project 2025.”
Project 2025 outlines a concerted effort to mass deport immigrants across the country and tighten security of the border. “To maximize the efficient use of its resources, ICE should make full use of existing Expedited Removal (ER) authorities,” Project 2025 states. “The agency has limited the use of ER to eligible
aliens apprehended within 100 miles of the border. This is not a statutory requirement.”
Expedited removal allows for ICE to deport immigrants who are apprehended within 100 miles of the border without proper paperwork. By removing this limitation, this could be applied across the country regardless of distance from the border.
State Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D–50) represents a community in which 25.4 percent of people are foreign-born and has an estimated 21,000 undocumented people. Hernandez said she and the Latino Caucus will work to defend immigrants’ rights ahead of any federal changes, such as by keeping money in the budget for immigrants and advocacy services.
Last year, the General Assembly worked to get $38 million for immigration services, but Hernandez said acquiring last year’s budget was already difficult. She is worried resource allocation will be more difficult as the 2025-2026 budget is estimated to have a $3.2 billion deficit.
“When it comes to funding, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be very hard for next year,” Hernandez said. “We’re going to do our best as a Latino Caucus members, as a Latino Caucus, and [state legislature] to try our best to advocate for people and their families that are out there, but it is going to be a hard push, especially because as we see the deficit is going to be big and we don’t have a lot of revenue coming in.”
While the calls for mass deportation have been difficult for communities in her district, Hernandez said being prepared is important too.
“In my area, we have World Relief, Family Focused, and ICIRR (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights),” she said, referring to proimmigrant organizations who are beginning to mobilize. “Talk to them about those legal questions you may have. What you should be able to start doing to protect your family. Know your rights and also keep in touch with us so we’re aware of what is happening in your household and how we can advocate for families.” ¬
Cesar Toscano graduated from Columbia Chicago with a B.A in Creative Writing and found love for journalism during his last year of college editing for the Columbia Chronicle. He is going to the University of Illinois Springfield to continue studying journalism.
Legisladores de Illinois se comprometen a defender a los indocumentados
Los funcionarios del estado se preparan ante los planes de Trump de convertir a Chicago en la “zona cero” de deportaciones masivas.
POR CÉSAR TOSCANO TRADUCIDO POR ALMA CAMPOS
Legisladores de Illinois de comunidades predominantemente latinas están alzando la voz para defender a sus constituyentes ante la inminente llegada al poder del presidente electo Donald Trump, que ha amenazado con deportaciones masivas de inmigrantes indocumentados.
Trump ha nombrado a Thomas Homan, que fue director del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) durante su primer mandato, como el próximo “zar de la frontera”, un cargo informal y no electo que supervisará la seguridad fronteriza y realizará recomendaciones sobre políticas migratorias.
Homan, que también dirigió las operaciones de control y deportación de ICE bajo el mandato de Barack Obama, fue responsable de poner en marcha políticas que separaron a las familias en la frontera. En una visita a Chicago en diciembre, afirmó que Chicago sería la “zona cero” de su estrategia de deportación.
El gobernador J.B. Pritzker dijo que se opondría a cualquier política de Trump que afecte a los habitantes de Illinois en riesgo. “A cualquiera que pretenda venir, quitar la libertad y la oportunidad y la dignidad de los habitantes de Illinois, le recuerdo que un guerrero sonriente sigue siendo un guerrero”, dijo Pritzker. “Si vienen por mi gente, vienen por mí”.
El presidente de la Cámara de Representantes de Illinois, Emanuel “Chris” Welch, dijo que el estado creará legislación en respuesta a cualquier ley federal que vaya contra los inmigrantes, pero no mencionó medidas concretas.
“Hemos demostrado durante más de 206 años ser un estado acogedor”, dijo
Welch en una entrevista. “Vamos a seguir protegiendo los valores de los habitantes de Illinois. Si tenemos que responder a lo que haga la administración de Trump estaremos preparados para hacerlo.”
Los legisladores de Illinois aprobaron la ley estatal TRUST ACT de Illinois en 2017, cuál limita la habilidad de la mayoría de las agencias locales de cooperar con ICE y su enmienda. En 2021, los legisladores también aprobaron la ley estatal Way Forward Act, que proporciona seguridad laboral a los beneficiarios de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA por sus siglas en inglés) y prohíbe que ICE utilice las cárceles locales para detener a inmigrantes y tener contratos con centros de detención en Illinois.
Desde entonces, los legisladores se han centrado en ampliar proyectos de la ley estatal Illinois Human Rights Act para proteger a los inmigrantes de la discriminación laboral debido a su estatus migratorio y la ley estatal, Illinois Identification Card Act, para permitir que los inmigrantes indocumentados obtengan una licencia de conducir.
Chicago es una “ciudad santuario” desde 1982, cuando el alcalde Harold Washington firmó una orden ejecutiva para prohibir a las personas empleadas por la Ciudad de Chicago que colaboren en investigaciones de inmigración. En 2006, el Concejo Municipal formalizó su estatus al aprobar la ordenanza “Welcoming City” (Ciudad Acogedora, o de Bienvenida), la cual fue revisada y ampliada en 2011 y 2021. La ley impide a la Municipalidad solicitar el estatus migratorio de las personas, facilitar esa información a las autoridades o negarles recursos por ser indocumentados.
El estatus de “ciudad santuario” de Chicago ha sido atacado en los últimos años por políticos conservadores como el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, que en los dos últimos años envió en autobús a Chicago a miles de inmigrantes venezolanos. La llegada de solicitantes de asilo sobrecargó los recursos municipales y aumentó las tensiones entre comunidades que llevaban años pidiendo más vivienda y otros tipos de apoyos.
En la reunión del Concejo Municipal del miércoles, dos concejales —Ray López (distrito 15) y Silvana Tabares (distrito 23)— introducirán una ordenanza para modificar la ley de Ciudad Acogedora de Chicago que permitiría a las autoridades locales coperar con agentes federales para encontrar a inmigrantes que hayan sido sospechosos de delitos que impliquen “actividades relacionadas con pandillas”, “actividades relacionadas con drogas” “actividades relacionadas con la prostitución” o “delitos sexuales con menores”.
“Me opongo a los recientes esfuerzos para poner en peligro nuestra acogedora ciudad", dijo el congresista Jesús “Chuy” García en un comunicado. “Mientras fui Comisionado del Condado de Cook, fortalecí aún más las protecciones al limitar la coordinación de la policía local con ICE. "Ahora, un grupo de individuos mal informados intentan debilitar las protecciones que tanto le ha costado a la comunidad bajo el pretexto de la seguridad pública. Debemos oponernos a estos ataques que conducirán a un aumento de la discriminación racial, la separación de familias y la violación de los derechos civiles tanto de los inmigrantes como de los ciudadanos estadounidenses.”
La oficina del alcalde Brandon Johnson está urgiendo a los miembros del Concejo Municipal a votar en contra de la medida, y según se informa que conduciría a un exceso de vigilancia en las comunidades negras y latinas.
“No nos rendiremos”, declaró Johnson en una rueda de prensa en noviembre. “Nuestros valores seguirán siendo fuertes y firmes. Nos enfrentaremos a probables obstáculos en nuestro trabajo durante los próximos cuatro años, pero no nos detendrán y no daremos marcha atrás.”
La representante Delia Ramírez (D3), que ingresó al Congreso el año pasado después de servir en la legislatura estatal, escribió en un comunicado de prensa el 11
de noviembre que se esforzará por combatir cualquier política de Trump que separe a las familias.
“El objetivo de la administración de Trump es infligir el mayor daño a las diversas familias estadounidenses, a nuestros hijos y a nuestras comunidades”, escribió Ramírez. “Con ese fin, no es de extrañar que Trump ponga a Tom Homan al mando. Pero que sepan que me esforzaré muchísimo para mantener a nuestras familias unidas, y nuestras comunidades están preparadas para actuar a cada paso que él intente implementar su cruel, vil y horrible plan.”
El representante estatal Edgar González Jr (D-23) dijo que la administración de Trump trae un miedo aún más profundo para sus votantes ya que su distrito de mayoría mexicana abarca los vecindarios de La Villita y Brighton Park, y el poblado de Cicero.
González fue copatrocinador de la expansión de la ley estatal Whistleblower Act que penaliza a compañías por acosar a los empleados que quieren reportar violaciones a sus jefes.
González dijo que las elecciones fueron la culminación de diversos fracasos de los demócratas nacionales, pero sobre todo por no haber sabido comunicar y conectar bien con los votantes latinxs de clase trabajadora y por haber abandonado las políticas de inmigración anteriores. Dijo que los demócratas de Illinois, especialmente los del Caucus Latino, han hecho un trabajo bien de difusión de mensajes en comparación con los líderes nacionales.
“En parte puedo culpar la ignorancia, especialmente de los miembros más veteranos del partido, pero en parte es negligencia”, dijo. “La negligencia es cada vez más evidente porque nosotros como inmigrantes y como demócratas latinos, especialmente los funcionarios demócratas latinos en Illinois, en este momento, hemos hecho un gran trabajo para garantizar los derechos de los inmigrantes, las familias trabajadoras, la protección del medio ambiente y la salud reproductiva. El Caucus Latino ha sido el apoyo incondicional de todos estos asuntos”.
La senadora estatal Celina Villanueva (D-12), que tiene una oficina de distrito en La Villita, expresó su acuerdo con una declaración recientemente publicada por el Caucus Latino, en la que se establece el apoyo a políticas como la Trust Act y la promesa de proteger a los inmigrantes.
“Nuestra mayor seguridad está en la comunidad. Como líderes de este estado, nos comprometemos a utilizar todas las herramientas a nuestra disposición — legislativas, legales y de otro tipo— para proteger a nuestras familias inmigrantes de la amenaza de las deportaciones, dice la declaración. No nos dejaremos intimidar y no permitiremos que nuestras comunidades vivan con miedo. Como dice el refrán, el pueblo unido jamás será vencido”.
El Caucus Latino también sugirió a las familias que crearan un plan de seguridad familiar en caso de que temieran la presencia de agentes de ICE en su zona. Este plan podría incluir tener un abogado de inmigración disponible, permanecer en silencio y no mostrar documentos a las autoridades antes de que llegue un abogado. También hay disponibles en línea tarjetas para conocer sus derechos, que pueden descargarse e imprimirse en inglés y español.
González dijo que los demócratas tienen que estar al frente en organizar y trabajar con grupos de defensa de la inmigración.
“Los republicanos nos han dado un regalo con el Proyecto 2025 porque nos dice cómo prepararnos”, dijo González, refiriéndose a un plan de 900 páginas preparado por el grupo de expertos de derecha, The Heritage Foundation, para la administración de Trump. “Y mucha gente, organizaciones y grupos de defensa han averiguado cómo se van a preparar basándose en el Proyecto 2025”.
El Proyecto 2025 describe un esfuerzo concertado para deportar en masa a inmigrantes en todo el país y para reforzar la seguridad de la frontera.
“Para utilizar sus recursos de manera más eficiente, ICE debería emplear plenamente las facultades disponibles bajo el programa de Expulsión Acelerada (ER, por sus siglas en inglés)”, indica el Proyecto 2025. “Actualmente, la agencia limita el uso de ER a los extranjeros elegibles que son detenidos dentro de 100 millas de la frontera, a pesar de que esta restricción no está estipulada por la ley”.
La expulsión acelerada permite a ICE deportar a los inmigrantes detenidos a menos de 100 millas de la frontera que no tengan la documentación adecuada. Al eliminar esta limitación, podría aplicarse en todo el país independientemente de la distancia a la frontera.
La representante estatal Bárbara
INMIGRACIÓN
Hernández (D-50) representa a una comunidad en la que el 25.4 por ciento de las personas han nacido en el extranjero y en la que se calcula que hay 21,000 indocumentados.
Hernández dijo que ella y el Caucus Latino trabajarán para defender los derechos de los inmigrantes ante cualquier cambio federal, por ejemplo, manteniendo fondos para los inmigrantes y los servicios de defensa.
El año pasado, la Asamblea General trabajó para poder llegar a $38 millones para los servicios de inmigración, pero Hernández dijo que obtener el presupuesto del año pasado ya había sido difícil. Le preocupa que la distribución de recursos sea aún más difícil, ya que se estima que el presupuesto para 2025-2026 tendrá un déficit de $3.2 mil millones.
“Cuando se trata de la financiación, va a ser difícil, va a ser muy difícil para el próximo año”, dijo Hernández. “Vamos a hacer nuestro mejor esfuerzo como miembros del Caucus Latino, y [la legislatura estatal] para intentar abogar por las personas y sus familias, pero va a ser una presión dura, sobre todo porque vemos que el déficit va a ser grande y no tenemos una gran cantidad de ingresos que vengan.”
Aunque las amenazas de las deportaciones han sido difíciles para las comunidades de su distrito, Hernández dijo que estar preparados también es importante.
“En mi área, tenemos a World Relief, Family Focused, e ICIRR (la Coalición de Illinois por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Refugiados)”, dijo, refiriéndose a las organizaciones pro-inmigrantes que están empezando a movilizarse. Hernandez sugiere “Hablen con [organizaciones] sobre las dudas legales que puedan tener y piensen en lo que deberían empezar a hacer para proteger a su familia. Conozca sus derechos y también manténgase en contacto con nosotros para que estemos al tanto de lo que ocurre en su hogar y cómo podemos abogar por sus familias.” ¬
César Toscano se graduó de la Universidad Columbia en Chicago con una licenciatura en Escritura Creativa y descubrió su pasión por el periodismo durante su último año de universidad como editor del Columbia Chronicle. Ahora va a la Universidad de Illinois en Springfield para continuar estudiando periodismo.
Making it as a Muralist
Well known for his restorations of iconic murals, Reed’s art portfolio is a love letter to the children of Chicago.
BY JACQUELINE SERRATO
Damon Lamar Reed, a forty-sevenyear-old acrylic painter living in South Shore who’s participated in the majority of mural restorations in Chicago over the last decade, was named the inaugural Artist of the Year in December by the leading public art group in the city.
Graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999, Reed was first introduced to the possibility of doing murals as a career after he met Bernard Williams, a member of said artist collective, the Chicago Public Arts Group (CPAG)—previously known as the Chicago Mural Group—who took him under his wing as an outdoor mural assistant.
Since then he has worked on hundreds of murals, independently and in collaboration with CPAG and CPAG artists such as veteran muralist John Pitman Weber.
Reed’s artwork is characterized by a palette of bright primary colors, symbols representing the city (think the L train, greystone houses, the skyline), and portraits of community members—especially children—interacting with or embodying a sense of hope and potential that is larger than life but not elusive.
One of his ongoing studio projects is a series of more than thirty portraits of women and girls who’ve gone missing in Chicago—often with the blessing and involvement of the victims’ families. “For more than twenty years, African American women and girls have gone missing across the United States, unprotected by law enforcement, the media, or the public,” CPAG said in a statement. “Reed is calling those Chicago victims to our attention with Still Searching.”
Reed calculates having done murals in more than eighty CPS schools, charter schools, and other school districts, as well as across state lines. He has recently found himself mentoring young artists and is
designing a course to teach other talented peers how to make their art sustainable. He also wants to keep experimenting with new mediums.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When did you paint your first murals?
I was either a junior or senior in high school. Once I was in college, I actually wanted to be a children's book illustrator. I was in my last semester at the Art Institute, in a history of mural painting class, and this artist, Bernard Williams, came in and he showed his artwork and talked to the class. And I was like, “Well, how much you get paid for that?” And then I'm like, “Okay, man, this is cool.” And we went on a field trip to see his murals, and I showed him my portfolio while we were on the train. And then he was like, “Okay, well, I may need an assistant for a project coming up.” And I would say, like, two months later, I was assisting him, and that was also my first project with the Chicago Public Art Group.
When it comes to murals, do you work on the painting off-site and then install it (as has become more commonplace) or do you work directly on the wall?
When I was first doing murals, we definitely did it on site. Now I'll maybe say like 80% of them I do on polytab and then adhere to the wall. So we are [still] on site, but not for as long. I actually first started using polytab when I was having my first daughter, and I wanted ways where I could be at home more, so now it kind of works out, because we can kind of work at all times. The weather doesn't restrict us, or like office hours, or sunlight, or anything like that. Sometimes we work all-nighters and then we don't have to kind of bother. If the mural is for a business or a school, those hours kind of don't matter as much. And then we can just go install it. And that could be either a few hours, or it could be some days, but it's definitely a shorter span.
What do you find appealing about doing restorations? Is it just bringing something back to life?
Beside being able to bring it back, an historic piece of art, especially like restoring a Calvin Jones or a Bill Walker piece, who are Chicago mural artists, who were, to me, like Picasso…it's [also] fun for me [because] a restoration is about matching the artist style. And that's real fun to me, just being able to like mix those colors or mimic the style that they did. And it makes you [learn] its techniques. You could even be like, “Okay, now when I do a mural, maybe let me try this technique or that technique…” because techniques they were using in 1975 a lot of times are different than things we are using now.
The point you’ve made about murals being fine arts, is that something that you saw at the Art Institute?
At the Art Institute, I didn't know anything about murals, literally, until that last semester. I never even knew you could make it a career in, like, being a mural artist or nothing. The Art Institute taught me a lot about conceptual art, which I don't say I'm anti conceptual, but to me, a lot of the art at the Art Institute was more ambiguous. And with all of my art, I have something that I want the viewer to get out of it.
Do you think the attitude toward murals is changing in art school, whether it's the Art Institute or in general?
I feel like it wasn't many students who really knew about… I mean, of course, people know about graffiti and things like that, but the fact that you can make a career out of painting murals, I still don't think that's really widely known. And I do know that they've had a mural painting class at the Art Institute before, but I don't think it's really taught that that can be a career. I actually had a mural master class that I led a few weeks ago that was based off of a grant I got from DCASE (Department
Chicago Boy, acrylic on canvas, by Damon Lamar Reed.
Photo provided
of Cultural Affairs and Special Events). It wasn't a skills class. So I kind of advertised it like, “this is not a learn to paint class.” It's for people who already know how to paint, but who want to actually figure out how they can make money doing murals. When I graduated, nobody taught me how to make money doing art. I actually took a business class at the Small Business Administration when I first graduated, about writing a business plan, things like that. And, more recently, I took classes at the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, which had a small business program. And then Sunshine Enterprises had a small business, or, like, an artisan program, and, you know, just constantly educating myself on marketing and things like that, even finding classes on YouTube. And I think that's kind of what's missing in the art field, it's a lot of good artists, but a lot of them maybe haven't learned, “How can I actually do this as a career?”
If you could give one free piece of advice to artists about how to market your art, or anything that might help them out, what would you say?
I'll say the biggest thing in marketing your art, is marketing yourself. It's about telling your story, like, each art piece can be its own story that you're telling. You gotta tell your story.
How would you describe your style?
I like it to be bold, normally colorful, but it can be bold without—I mean, you can have a kind of a minimal palette and be bold. But when I say bold, it's in a sense, like, I want every one of my murals and every one of my art pieces to be memorable, so I'm not like cookie cutter when I'm doing it. So I wanted to be bold. I want to tell a story.
I've noticed you're doing portraits within your paintings. There's references to sports, different Chicago things, or landmarks or icons.
I like to have contrast. And I feel like there's even a contrast, or a kind of duality even within the art itself, and I think that's part of the story. Like what's that saying? You can't really know the good without the bad type of thing. So, like every good movie, you got the protagonists and the
antagonists. Part of telling that story is kind of showing that whole thing.
What would you say are your most popular paintings?
The Chicago Boy painting, as far as canvas paintings, because that one, I don't know, it somehow connects with everybody, and that's why I even made prints and hoodies and stuff of that image. And then if we're talking about murals, I'll say I have this mural in Memphis that's real popular called the Sound of Memphis. And it's this guy holding a guitar, and on the guitar is like stickers of the history of Memphis. When I put it up, I did it in 2015, they said it was going to be up there like two years. And it's still up. I guess they call it one of the top Instagrammable spots in Memphis. Different TV shows have used it, this children's book just used it.
What does the Chicago Boy painting mean to you, or what did you hope it would mean?
On a mural we did in Woodlawn, we had put this Oscar Brown Jr. quote on it. And I'm not sure this is the exact quote, but it goes something like, “a small boy walked down the city street and hope was in his eyes.” So that kind of sums up my idea of Chicago Boy. It's this boy, and on one side you have the city lights, it's the Chicago downtown. But then on the other side, you got this basketball hoop with no net. And it's kind of like at that point in his life where he has to make a decision on what kind of path he is going to take. But he does have the stars of Chicago in his eyes. And also things that I thought about when I did that painting was, like, working in a lot of schools, it would be a lot of kids who had never been downtown or to Navy Pier before. And they're from Chicago, they grew up here, but they don't get outside of their own neighborhood, you know? So I was kind of thinking about all those things.
So has the boy in the painting already been downtown or is he dreaming of going downtown? Or you're not sure, he's somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, I think he's in the middle. I would say he, I mean, my optimistic self, I would say, yeah, he's been downtown and you know
he's gonna be a successful young man. Like I said, I'm an optimist.
I think the painting does transmit that energy. I saw hope in his eyes. And my other favorite element, I think, was the train, basically crossing the entire width of the painting.
And that kind of symbolizes, I mean, the train in Chicago is kind of like a symbol of movement, you know, like going forward. So that adds to that.
Are there other cities that you've gotten to where you have big works of public art?
I have works in Indiana; Gary, Indianapolis and Richmond. Actually, I have some work in Texas, at the University of Northern Texas. I have work in Florida at Gulf Coast University. I have something in Detroit, I think it's like a jazz museum. And Maryland, Arizona, at the South Phoenix Youth Center—I kind of grew up going there, and then they asked me to do a mural that was like my second out-of-college mural. Oh, and I have a big mural coming up in Alden City, Utah.
You also did a lot of work in schools, right?
Yeah, a lot of CPS schools, and in a few schools I've done a lot of murals. There's a school, John M. Smith, which is right off Roosevelt, and it's like, right by the old Maxwell Street. I think I have like maybe seven murals on that school, and it's like four of them on the outside of the school.
I am a vendor with Chicago Public Schools, so schools can just hire me. Before I was a vendor, I was working with other organizations, and they would hire me to do a project. Like, for instance, the principal at Smith saw me. I was actually across the street from the school doing a mural and he saw me, and he walked over, and he's like, “Hey, I want you to do something at the school.” And we built that relationship. There's another school called Aldrich. I have about ten murals there. And there was a principal there, we worked together a lot, and now the new principal, I've done a lot of work with her. I'm always trying to build relationships. Oh, this school, King Academy of Social Justice, I have probably nine or ten murals in there, too.
Tell me about the Artist of the Year award.
It’s the first Artist of the Year award that they're giving out, which is super cool. I'm really honored to be receiving it. And I would say, I'm a child of Chicago from the Public Art Group lineup. My first time assisting, like I said, was on this Bernard Williams mural project, and that was a Chicago Public Art Group project. When I started with them, they kind of had a system where you would be an assistant a certain number of times, and then I became a colead artist, and then I graduated to a lead artist. So, yeah, I learned a lot about doing murals from artists working with Chicago Public Art Group. And I started working with my first project in 2000 and from then, up until now, I still work with them. My art career kind of grew up with them to now where, like, I'm having my own assistants, and I'm doing my own projects, and kind of building up my own thing. And, yeah, I owe that a lot to Chicago Public Art Group.
So talking about the future, looking ahead. You mentioned that you are going to be working out of state. You’re also doing some sculptures. What do you think is coming for you in the next few years?
Definitely bigger projects, mentoring more artists. But one thing I want to do is establish myself as a leader in the mural movement. So maybe consulting more, training other young artists to do it. And then on the other side of the business, putting out different products that are just gonna kind of help me build my legacy and the art world.
I definitely want to experiment, I have a lot of ideas. I probably got like twenty ideas that I just haven't had time to do yet. Like, that's why I don't understand how people get bored. Because I'm always like, man, I need more time to do things. Like I’ve been wanting to do a fresco. I’ve done a small fresco [before], I learned how to do one. But I've never been able to make a fresco mural. That used to always be a goal. I want to take it back and do, like, you know, Diego Rivera, do a couple just of my own fresco murals. ¬
Jacqueline Serrato is the Weekly’s editor-inchief.
Drilling into the Culture
Jabari Evans, rapper and author of Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground, on women in male-dominated spaces and the streaming era.
BY EVAN F. MOORE
Black folks often set trends the rest of the world follows. Drill, the Chicago-curated rap subgenre known for hard beats and violent storylines that blur the line between entertainment and reality, is often branded as dangerous while spreading and influencing music around the world.
And as much as mainstream media maligns Black women who often create social and cultural movements, along with music and fashion, it practices erasure when it fails to credit them.
South Shore-raised scholar and rap artist Jabari Evans is here to “school” the masses with his book, Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground: (Clout) Chasing on Chicago’s Southside
The book describes how Drill artists, whom Evans calls “Drillers,” along with a network of women, including sex workers, utilize social media to influence the culture.
Evans, who goes by “Naledge,” is an assistant professor in the Journalism and Mass Communications department at the University of South Carolina. He’s onehalf of the rap duo, Kidz in the Hall, with Double-O, whom he met as an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania.
Evans, who was once named by Vibe magazine as one of the greatest rappers under thirty, is a part of a generation of artists who made waves in the early 2010s during the Blog Era, when artists controlled how and when their music was released to the masses, not industry gatekeepers. Local Blog Era success stories includes rappers The Cool Kids, Mic Terror, Million Dollar Mano, Hollywood Holt, Kid Sister, and Gary, Indiana’s Freddie Gibbs, among others.
“I realized, in dealing with these scenes outside of the studio, where these guys were
hanging out, where they were promoting their records. Even how they were sort of going about doing things on social media,” Evans said. “A lot of times it was women that were around them. They were conduits to getting their music heard.”
Jabari Evans sat down with the Weekly to discuss his research, how he became aware of Drill, what the sex workers he interviewed taught him, the negative stereotypes of Drill created by mainstream media, and his own culpability in maledominated rap spaces, among other topics from his book.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why a book about Drill, sex work, and online infamy?
The project happened in three different parts. The first part was being in grad school, working in and around CPS even before I entered grad school. Before I entered grad school, I was working for the Becoming a Man program at Bogan [Computer Technical High School], and in the process of doing that, I was running a studio with two of my homies on 75th and Stewart. So I’m spending my time between Bogan and the studio, and during that period of time, it was just very hard to ignore what was going on in the rap scene in Chicago, and that’s Drill. So trying to do hip-hopbased education through my nonprofit [organization], your entry point had to be different. Like hip-hop for me, the entry point for my generation is just much different from that generation that I was dealing with. I was writing a dissertation about the program that I was helping with. I became really fascinated with Drill,
and I became really fascinated with what students were doing outside of the building, and kind of coupling that with what I was seeing in the studio and the artists that were coming to the studio. The movement that was happening—and not only that, but just how it was being driven by social media, and so I took on a secondary interest and Drill’s sort of rise to prominence. Studying the ways in which these young people were using social media to forge their careers in ways that I thought were unprecedented. I took an internship at Microsoft based on that project, talking to them about what I just mentioned—this idea that tools that you intended for one type of user are being innovated by another type of user. And I wrote a couple of articles about it and presented at some conferences. And ultimately, a lot of the feedback that I got from those papers were that I didn’t talk anything about the women.
Drill as a subgenre is very masculine. It’s very male-driven. So I was like: I don’t know necessarily that there’s a space if I’m going to talk about just the artists—to necessarily talk about women. But then I realized, in dealing with these scenes outside of the studio—like where these guys were hanging out, where they were promoting their records, even how they were sort of going about doing things on social media—a lot of times it was women that were around them. They were conduits to getting their music heard. And specifically, I noticed that the influencer industry more generally is a woman-dominated industry. And so I noticed that a lot of the artists that I was talking to, they would use their songs, and give them to certain women influencers to sort of boost their own clout. And then with the advent of OnlyFans, specifically during COVID-19, I became real interested. At first, I was going to pursue doing fieldwork in the strip club, because I noticed that’s where a lot of these guys were going to get their music played.
I remember when I heard of you and heard your music, and you were from South Shore like me. What was it like being a part of the Blog Era but also being adjacent to Drill at the same time?
First off, there’s always been a dichotomy between the music, right? There was
always—and I think you’ve written about this beautifully—there’s always been a hardcore hip-hop underground backpacker, whatever you want to call it scene—and that’s even evolved. They don’t call it backpack no more. But it’s a more conscious, social justice-oriented, almost poetic type of rap that has a scene, right? And then there’s also this more street scene or party scene, and that’s its own thing as well. There’s overlap between the two.
But I feel like during my era, you kind of had to pick a side. You had to pick the side that was most authentic to you. You could like one side and listen and be around, but you had to pick a side if you were going to be an artist. And, you know, I came from that era, but with people like Andrew Barber [Fake Shore Drive] and Alex Fruchter [Closed Sessions] and Ruby Hornet,the culture was moving in a digital way. The Blog Era was influential because it tore down barriers and allowed folks who were from different areas of the city to see what other people were doing—and not just see what other people were doing, but really become fans of what they were doing. Those sites and those bloggers were conduits.
Oh ok. You’re sounding like an athlete that moves into the analyst space. Even then, they had to look at things differently.
We understood that we had to have constant presence on the Internet and constant presence on the blogs, and constant content needed to be churned out to gain the attention that we wanted to get. But our understanding of it was very archaic. It was like: let’s give away all this free content so that we could go do a show and get paid for the show. We weren’t getting paid on time from the actual music labels. Labels always were terrible with payouts, but we had an understanding that if we give out all this free content we can go on the road—and that was our goal. This newer generation has a keen understanding that: hey, you don’t even necessarily have to go on the road to monetize your content, right? There’s a lot of intricate aspects to YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, that allow you to get paid for content. And so one of the most important things I took from the conversation I literally had yesterday with [a friend] was like: we’re no longer in the music business. We’re in the audience business. And so if your audience can be sold to advertisers, that’s
all that matters. I think G Herbo has a song where he’s saying, like, “I get $10,000 off YouTube. I get $5,000 off something”; he’s basically breaking down his monthly earnings. And he’s saying: “That’s my play money. The internet allows me to have play money.” And I think that’s indicative of some of the things that I discovered doing this project, and how it differs from my era. I came along where we were transitioning from the Blog Era to the streaming era. The streaming era gives structure to what we were trying to do.
Explain the importance of including the voices of different demographics in your research. You mentioned earlier than your initial research, you got some critiques about there weren’t enough women. And obviously, in the book you’ve got the expertise from women, whether it was academics or sex workers.
I went and talked to a lot of the women scholars that I knew who were already doing that type of work. These are people who I respected, and I felt like I didn’t want to be mansplaining. This is what I was doing, especially with the initial way that the study was gonna move where I’m in the strip club studying women, right? And there’s a power dynamic with that … being a male researcher in a predominantly women-driven space, and trying to interpret what they’re giving to you or not, or just interpret the things that they’re saying to you. And so, yeah, I took that critique to heart, and I made sure that I talked to a lot of people before I even started that phase of the project—my wife included. It’s so fascinating when you’re not in the scene, but you’re there. You’re not there for the purposes of recreation, but you’re there as an observer. It becomes a whole different thing when you start noticing things that you never noticed before.
As I was reading the book, it reminded me of watching the HBO TV series, Rap Sh!tand basically the representation of it. [The main characters] took that narrative, but also at the same time they were victims of stereotypes and all these different things they dealt with over time.
It’s wild you mentioned that show, because
Rapper and Author Jabari Evans.
Photo provided
I wrote an op-ed about that show when it first came out—and that was one of the things that I noticed immediately, which is how central social media was to the visual of the show. Social media and storytelling [are] within scripts on television all the time. [But] Issa Rae made it to where you could see who they were texting, what they were texting, what they were tweeting, what they were posting, integrated that into the visual aesthetic of the show. And then you see how the sausage is made. One girl who could rap and she’s kind of conscious, and she’s fighting her kind of want to create a certain type of music. But then her homegirl, who’s more hood and is already doing sex work, and is doing hair, doing all these different side hustles. What’s authentic to her is a ratchetness, for lack of better terminology: “Girl, we got to use these n----s…” It’s a dramatization of how the City Girls were started. But if we think about it, the City Girls are an archetype for which a lot of women rappers have built their careers. And I think that it’s an interesting thing to look at, as much as we talk about women running the game of hip-hop right now. That much is true, but I think we’ve learned how to frame this sort of female empowerment around their
During my time as a bouncer, I noticed that when Black women would be out, they’d be viewed a certain way as opposed to white women. When a white woman was dressed really nicely, that would be it. But when it was a Black woman some folks assumed that she was “working”—I guess you might understand what I mean by that. What it was like to see that play out with your data and the research you’ve done?
A lot of the women that I talked to just mentioned that the erotic capital of the Black woman is, one on the one hand, in demand, but it’s also undervalued. There’s assumptions that Black women are more animalistic, more sexually available, more hedonistic, less human. And so that’s why there’s this division. Even when I talk to the girls where they’re like, oh, it’s like, if you work in a Black club, there’s a stigma on that. Not that you can’t get money in the Black club, but it’s like if you work in a Black club, you kind of getting it out of the mud, so to speak. You work in a Black club, you’re gonna have to work longer hours. You might be expected to do more for less. Your beauty or your worth is in your shapeliness, and that shapeliness is also
club, there’s a thought that maybe you have taken, like you’re a little bit more educated, You have the ability to talk to white men in a way that they can perceive you to be their fantasy or whatever. But that’s perceived as a skill, but it’s also perceived as a hierarchy, and that looks a lot different in the digital space and OnlyFans.
And to your point, I found that Blackness in both spaces was seen as like a cheap thrill. So it becomes devalued, the human aspect of who these women are, becomes like, in the way. It’s like: Girl, just turn around.
There may have been moments, especially for me, having been in the hiphop music industry where I was complicit in some of that. So it’s like, especially when you’re talking about hiring [music] video girls, a scenario in the culture where there’s a lot of stereotypes that I grew up watching before I got in the game—and then you as an artist, also wanting to sort of be one of the guys, and then feel like that’s what you supposed to be doing. But in reality, we’ve seen in recent years that a lot of that was wrong and erroneous.
I saw a couple local media outlets discussing Lil Durk’s arrest, and then
show—basically tying the two together. What are your thoughts when you see stuff like that?
It’s very reductive. I think it’s just easy to make hip-hop a target. It’s a very simplistic way…It’s a shortcut. I think it’s not doing due diligence to reduce anything that’s Black, male and violent to being hip-hop…I think that happens a lot for journalists that aren’t of the culture. I’ve done a lot of work recently with criminal cases, and I think I find it like those in law enforcement and those who work on the side of the judicial system. A lot of times they don’t have an understanding of the culture. So because they don’t have an understanding, it’s like, “Well, what’s the shortcut I can reach for?” And so they reach for these shortcuts because they’re easy; they’re low-hanging fruit.
Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground: (Clout)Chasing on Chicago’s Southside Jabari M. Evans. 162 pages. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, 2024. $105. Hardback. ¬
Evan F. Moore is an award-winning writer, author, and DePaul University journalism adjunct instructor. Evan is a
Our thoughts in exchange for yours.
The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
the
so what if you embark on a new goal and nobody is proud of you?
what if no one even cares or notices that you finished, that you stopped or started, that you made it out or made it in safe?
even the people you told they didn’t care.
i’m sure your lungs noticed. said the darkness has begun to fade. i bet your cuticles and nails noticed they were no longer on the menu.
your eyes and feet, rapid in motion, uninterrupted by the doom scroll. and
nobody was proud of you except for your body itself,
filled with water and food and freedom to recover.
i bet the white blood cells, who were not being paid time and a half to re-patch your skin, they noticed.
i bet your teeth noticed—discovered what it felt like to stop grinding and take the rest of your life off.
i bet your neck noticed you’re back your shoulders unhardened and made new. i bet the grass noticed something is standing here and it is alive. and
no one cared. and nobody said congrats, you did it, but your body said thank you.
THIS WEEK'S PROMPT: “WHO OR WHAT HAS GIVEN YOU THE STRENGTH TO PROTECT YOUR PEACE INSTEAD OF SEEKING APPROVAL?"
This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces. Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.
strength of will by chima “naira” ikoro
Our thoughts in exchange for yours.
The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
Happy BirthDay
It wasn’t until I became pregnant that I realized the magnitude and importance of preserving, seeking and keeping peace. At some point during my pregnancy something inside of me told me solitude was all I needed to bring my baby earth side, so that’s what I did. With only her father and my midwife by my side, I pulled my baby out and onto my chest in one fell swoop.
I needed the energetic space to be free and as large as my spirit needed to be, so that meant I needed to be alone.
As I transitioned from a “new mom” to that of a toddler, my tolerance for bullshit shifted, too.
Birth revealed the truth—that we are the co-creators of our life and we truly have the power to be, see and do whatever we choose.
That said, the clarity that came after childbirth let me see that so many of us consciously and unconsciously choose violence, confusion and fear to lead us.
It is a part of our programming. It is a part of our culture.
But it is in fact a choice.
And I knew that I didn’t want to make that choice for myself, my child or my future.
So I thank the miracle of birth for blessing me with new eyes, a new heart and a new outlook on life. It is because of this gift that I am renewed in my life’s walk. Affirming and attracting the abundance of life and all that it offers. Leaving fear, lack, pain and waste at the door.
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.
THIS WEEK'S PROMPT: “WHO OR WHAT HAS GIVEN YOU THE STRENGTH TO PROTECT YOUR PEACE INSTEAD OF SEEKING APPROVAL?"
This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces. Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com
by gabrielle pickens
Second U. of C. Student Arrested, Evicted for Participation in Pro-Palestine Protest
Mamayan Jabateh, a fourth-year student from Chicago, is banned from campus and from finishing their studies.
BY ZOE PHARO, HYDE PARK HERALD
This story was originally published by the Hyde Park Herald. Reprinted with permission.
University of Chicago students, faculty and community members are protesting the arrest and eviction of a second student over participation in a pro-Palestine protest this fall.
Mamayan Jabateh, a fourth-year student who uses they/them pronouns, was arrested, forcibly removed from their dorm room, interrogated and detained for 30 hours at a Chicago Police Department station in mid-December, they allege. Jabateh said they were placed on an indefinite involuntary leave by the university.
At a January 8 press conference, held on the Midway Plaisance, because they are banned from campus, Jabateh said that four officers from the University of Chicago Police Department and Chicago Police Department showed up at their dorm on Dec. 11, the Wednesday of finals week.
“They approached me with a printed photo of me, and then told me I was being arrested for my participation in a protest two months prior on October 11,” Jabateh said. The student was charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer and resisting/obstructing a peace officer, according to the university.
Jabateh also alleged that they were held in custody for more than thirty hours, from 5pm Wednesday through 11pm Thursday. They were then taken to Cook County Bond Court.
Gerald McSwiggan, director of public affairs for the university, said in a statement that on Dec. 11, CPD officers informed the university that they intended to arrest the student following an investigation the department conducted. UCPD officers “were present at the residence hall when CPD officers made the arrest.”
“The charges stem from the individual’s alleged actions during a protest on October 11 near 57th Street and Ellis Avenue,” McSwiggan said in the statement. “The University does not release information
about individual student disciplinary matters, in keeping with federal privacy laws.”
On October 11, more than 150 protesters from the U. of C. marched through campus calling for an end to university investments in weapons manufacturers arming Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon. The action was part of the “Week of Rage,” a week of protests on college campuses across the country called by the national Students for Justice in Palestine organization. During the march, several participants spraypainted statements such as “Free Gaza” and “Hands Off Lebanon” on sculptures and a few other structures.
Officers from the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) detained a protester, causing other marchers to surround a squad car to attempt to dearrest the detainee. Physical altercations between students and officers ensued. According to the Maroon, the campus newspaper, officers pepper-sprayed several students. The Herald also witnessed an officer attempt to drive through the group of protestors surrounding the car.
Jeremy Manier, the U. of C.’s associate vice president for communications and public affairs, said in a statement after the protest that three people— two undergraduates and one graduate student—were arrested. Two were charged with battery to a police officer and one was charged with criminal damage.
Jabateh grew up in Chicago and attended Chicago Public Schools. They matriculated at the university as a QuestBridge scholar, where they studied anthropology, race and indigeneity, as well as served as a resident advisor and co-president of the council on university programming, none of which they are now able to participate in.
“I can no longer be in community with my friends,” Jabateh said at the Jan. 8 conference, which was organized by the student groups UChicago United for Palestine and Fight Back UChicago, a group that protests campus evictions. As
a result of the arrest, Jabateh said, they were also prevented from completing their exams, graduate school applications and rest of the academic year, “with no evidence, no justification.”
Jabateh’s belongings are still in their dorm room. They said the university has requested Jabateh remove them, but not yet provided details on how to do so, as they are still banned from entering campus.
Jabateh’s arrest and eviction comes a little more than two months after another student was arrested and evicted for participation in the mid-October protest. On October 21, an Arab student, who preferred to remain anonymous due to his ongoing legal case and fears of retaliation, was also arrested and evicted from his dorm room. In late October, student activists delivered a petition signed by 1,500 individuals and 33 organizations demanding the university reverse its decision. This student was also banned from campus indefinitely and threatened with arrest if he returned.
Jabateh said that they feel pride in their decision to join “an on-campus protest to ask my university, which I think I have a right to do, to stop supporting the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.”
“It affirms my values, my education and my sense of justice, the very things this university claims to uphold, the very things I will not allow this university to take away from me,” they continued.
At the same time, Jabateh added, they feel “an overwhelming sense of dread and sadness.”
“(It’s) sadness at the institution I chose to provide me with education and safety is the same one punishing me for standing up for what’s right,” they said. “UChicago’s actions is a betrayal of the promises it makes (to) students like me and (on) Chicago’s South Side.”
If they were to return, Jabateh said they dread returning to a place where they have been labeled “a threat” and no longer feel safe.
“I want to graduate, but I want to return to a university that actually embodies the values it teaches,” Jabateh said.
Uday Jain, a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Committee on Social Thought and member of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, alleged Wednesday that the arrest of a Black, queer student “continues a pattern of structural anti-Blackness that the University of Chicago has perpetrated for decades.”
The second eviction of a U. of C. student comes after more than a year of proPalestine protests on campus and subsequent university discipline. At a sitin in October 2023 calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the university arrested twentysix students and two faculty members— the charges were eventually dropped that December. The administration also temporarily withheld the diplomas of four graduating seniors and a graduate student as part of disciplinary cases against ten students for their participation in a weeklong pro-Palestine encampment erected on the Main Quadrangle in late April of last year. The last diploma withheld was conferred in August.
Ahead of the fall quarter, the university introduced new policies that banned overnight stays in outdoor structures, required advance approval for construction on campus, limited sound levels during protests and regulated counter protests, signage, tabling and quad reservations.
At the same time, just weeks before classes resumed, the university also received a $100 million anonymous gift “to advance its commitment to free expression.” The majority of the funds will go to the university’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, which launched last October with the aim of promoting free speech and encouraging open debate on campus. Jabateh is now awaiting court proceedings and a disciplinary trial with the university. In the meantime, Jabateh is living with their grandmother. ¬
Calls Widen for Police District Councilor’s Resignation
A citywide group of district councilors released a letter calling for David Orlikoff to step down, citing abusive behavior.
BY JIM DALEY
Acoalition of Police District Council (PDC) members from across the city are calling on 14th PDC member David Orlikoff to resign, citing a pattern of troubling behavior. In December, nineteen council members representing thirteen of the city’s twentytwo police districts signed a letter asking Orlikoff to resign by the end of 2024. When he did not, several called for his resignation during public comment at a January 4 meeting of PDC 14. On Friday, the group made the letter public in a press release.
Orlikoff, who did not respond to the Weekly’s requests for comment, was not present at the January 4 meeting. According to the press release, he did not respond to the letter.
The district councilors join a growing chorus of progressive organizers who are calling for Orlikoff’s resignation. United Neighbors of the 35th Ward, the Free2Move Coalition, and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) have also urged him to step down.
Frank Chapman, the executive director of CAARPR’s national organization who was a leader in the push to establish Chicago’s district councils, said that the calls are not personal; they’re about maintaining unity within the movement for police accountability.
“My view of the movement is that unity is key,” Chapman said. “When you’re doing things that are creating disunity, and people are steady bringing it to your attention and yet you continue to do it, I don’t consider you to be respectful of the movement that you say that you’re in. We
have disagreements with abolitionists and abolitionists have disagreements with us. We don’t disrespect each other as a result of that.”
Last summer, the Weekly reported on tensions in the 14th PDC, which represents parts of Wicker Park, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park. (Each of the city’s twenty-two police districts has a three-member council, which were first elected in 2023.) At the time, formal complaints had already been filed against Orlikoff for his behavior.
In April, a PDC 14 meeting devolved into a shouting match between Orkiloff and members of the public. During the uproar, he attempted to grab Chairperson Chris Laurent’s gavel, and he kept arguing with attendees after the meeting.
In September, Laurent introduced a measure at a citywide meeting of district
council members calling on the CCPSA to formally censure Orlikoff. It failed to pass by a single vote.
Orlikoff has shouted down and insulted other district councilors in meetings. During a phone call last year, he cursed at a Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) staffer. During another, he berated a staffer for Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) and cursed out the alderman.
After CCPSA president Anthony Driver texted him about his behavior last May, Orlikoff replied with an expletiveladen barrage that called Driver a “stooge” and accused him of inaction that led to the police killing of Dexter Reed.
“Councillor Orlikoff is a person who disrespected CCPSA team members, disrespected aldermen and their staff—
all under the umbrella of ‘solidarity,’” Driver said. “I fully support the district council members who are calling for his resignation, and I believe he should have resigned yesterday, and I hope that he gets the support that he needs to figure out where all his misplaced aggression comes from.”
The district council members who signed the letter describe themselves as “a coalition of progressives, leftists, and abolitionists,” and are political allies of Orlikoff, who also considers himself a police abolitionist.
“Some of the undersigned have personally witnessed your use of aggressive language and charged tones in interactions with elected officials and public figures, at times justified through advocacy while other times unjustified based in reaction,” the letter reads. “However, it is a far greater concern when such language and demeanor are directed toward the very community members we are elected to serve.
“Your role on the District Council places you at the forefront of accountability and safety efforts,” the letter reads. “It is therefore critical that you reflect the values of restorative justice and community trust. By resigning, you can take an important step toward repairing the harm that has been caused and demonstrate your commitment to these principles.” ¬
Jim Daley is the Weekly’s investigations editor.
David Orlikoff (left) attempts to grab the gavel during an argument with audience members at an April meeting.
Photo by Jim Daley
BY JAMES IJAMES DIRE C TED BY TYRONE PHILLIPS A CO - PRODUC TION WITH
A boisterous Southern co okout se ts the scene for a Black, queer discovery of self and resilience in this Pulitzer Prize-winning , five- time Tony nominated “uproarious reimagining of Hamle t” (The New Yorker).
“ This is what I was raised in: pig guts and bad choices. ” As Juicy grapples with his identity and his family at a backyard barbecue, his father’s ghost shows up asking for revenge—on Juicy’s uncle, who has married his widowed mom—bringing his quest for joy and liberation to a screeching halt James Ijames has reinvented Shakespeare’s masterpiece, creating what the New York Time s hails as “a hilarious ye t profound tragedy, smothered in comedy, ” where the only death is the patriarchy. Tyrone Phillips, Founding Ar tistic Director of Chicago’s famed Definition Theatre, directs.
NO W THRU FEBRUARY 23
Public Meetings Report
illustration by Holley Appold/South Side Weekly
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.
BY SCOTT PEMBERTON AND DOCUMENTERS
December 4
At the Chicago City Council Budget Hearing for the Department of Procurement Services, procurement commissioner Sharla Roberts, who was appointed in July of last year, explained her strategic plans and goals. Focusing on a hiring freeze that left the department with several vacancies, much of the meeting dealt with how Roberts would reorganize the department, its roles, and how she planned to fill vacancies. Council members noted that more resources and staffing would be needed. Roberts also said she wants to increase the number of women and minority-owned businesses that work with the city by removing barriers to certification and centralizing various data and compliance requirements for contracts. She pledged to realize her strategy efficiently by streamlining procurement procedures, hiring adequate staff, and standardizing operating procedures. The technology used by the department (Certification and Compliance Network System) was reviewed and plans for updating it discussed. Their goals are to streamline processes, create transparency, and expedite services.
At the Chicago City Council Budget Hearing for the Department of Law, the city’s corporation counsel, Mary B. Richardson, introduced the office’s fourteen staff members attending. Her presentation noted that the 2025 budget was reduced by $45.9 million from 2024, the number of full-time employees by twenty-one (to 406 from 427), and personal services cost by 1 percent. The department staff is fifty-five percent female or non-binary, fifty-one percent female attorneys, sixty-one percent female senior management, forty percent ethnically diverse staff, and seventy-five percent ethnically diverse senior attorneys. Forty-four vacant positions have been reduced to eighteen; inclusivity and recruitment are being prioritized. Attorneys have opportunities for education and skill development. Richardson also reviewed a number of the department’s responsibilities, which include consumer protection, special collections, risk mitigation (a new division) focusing on forecasting financial exposure and assessing risk, and building and license enforcement.
December 9
At its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards approved a CTA request to rezone properties for the Red Line Extension, which was described as a significant investment in the South Side with a positive impact. The committee also heard from thirteen public commenters. Concerns included rezoning issues in connection with a train project affecting a commenter’s home on West 99th Street; the commenter asked for clarity on whether she will be able to stay in her neighborhood. A self-identified third-generation resident of the 10th Ward said he favors rezoning the South Works steel mill for a proposed multibillion-dollar quantum park. Citing vacant lots and an absence of small businesses, he stressed the need for economic development in the area. Steve Simmons, director of
business and economic development for the North Branch Works, supports Chicago Planned Development No. 1399 for property on or near 700 West Chicago Avenue. He asked that transportation be emphasized. The proposed development calls for 2,451 residential units and 1,950 parking spaces along with retail space. A member of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council supported the development because it would provide some 1,400 construction jobs, including local hires. The committee also passed a Municipal Code Amendment that modified sections concerning the right of first refusal in the Block 606 district pilot program.
December 12
During a thirty-minute meeting of the Chicago City Council Committee on Real Estate, members signed off on a single agenda item: the acquisition of twelve properties in the 34th Ward to build a bridge and viaduct along Taylor Street connecting Canal and Wells streets across the river. The “total project cost” is estimated to be $93.5 million. (The published agenda showed an incorrect cost.) The project would receive up to $3 million from the Roosevelt/Clark tax increment financing (TIF) district. Presenting for the Chicago Department of Transportation was William Higgins, an assistant commissioner. Here are some of the properties to be acquired: 805, 807, and 900 South Canal Street; 413, 415, and 463 West Taylor Street; 880 and 976 South Wells Street. “Rail” is listed as the “current use” for seven of the properties, “utility” for three. The properties are scheduled for acquisition by June 1; for bidding to be completed by June 1, 2027, and construction by September 1, 2027. Separately, two public speakers advocated for more minority hiring by the city.
At its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Finance reviewed planned housing for working families and individuals and lifestyle and entertainment for visitors. Public speakers included a diverse group of residents, elected officials, and contractors. As much as $5.5 million in tax increment financing funds could go to redevelopment of LeClaire Courts, a former public housing site in Garfield Ridge. The overall LeClaire Courts plan, first approved in 2021, provides for about 440,000 square feet of commercial space, open space for public use, multiple mixed-use buildings, up to 700 residential units located at 4400 South Cicero and 4458 South Cicero, and parking. The site is bounded by South Cicero Avenue, West 45th Street, South Lavergne Avenue, and the Stevenson Expressway. The City Council is winding down TIF districts, which are designated areas in which the city funds development by borrowing against future tax revenue. The 2025 budget projects $570 million in TIF funds, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Office.
December 16
At its meeting, the Chicago City Council approved the city’s 2025 spending plan by a close vote of twenty-seven to twenty-three, which is just one vote over the minimum needed for passage. Council members saw the final version of the budget less than twenty-four hours before the vote. The approved budget does not include a property tax increase, instead adding smaller taxes on other services. It also includes plans to ask large event planners to reimburse the city for police overtime and identifies other efficiencies. Those measures would reduce the number of mayoral staffers and pursue innovative efforts such as a guaranteed income program relying on COVID-19 relief funds. During the four-hour meeting, some alderpersons commended Johnson for his compromises; others chastised him for a lack of transparency, collaboration, and expediency. “I’m sick and tired of coming down here [to City Hall] myself,” said Council Member Emma Mitts (37th Ward), adding that she has lost critical time with her constituents. Included in the budget are the “largest city-funded youth jobs program in Chicago’s history,” according to a press release, with 29,000 summer jobs slated. Also provided for is a program that moves responsibility for responding to “individuals in crisis” from police to mental health care professionals.
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.
2025 Certificate Program: Introduction to African American Studies
Thursday, January 9–Sunday, February 9. Free. bit.ly/dusablecertificate25
This free community course introduces students to major events, movements, figures, issues, terminology and ideology related to Black life and culture, and examines the productions and representations of African people in the arts, humanities, politics, spiritual traditions and entertainment. Students will get to “explore and interrogate worldviews and paradigms and how important they are in shaping how we think and act.” Register in advance. (Zoe Pharo)
Civic at South Shore Cultural Center: Coleman, Montgomery & Rachmaninov 2
South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Dr. Sunday, January 19, 2pm. Free, reservations are required.
After a “crisis of confidence,” Sergei
Rachmaninov delivered one of classical music’s “most triumphant returns,” his Second Symphony. The Civic Orchestra of Chicago will also be playing pieces composed by Valerie Coleman and Jessie Montgomery. (Zoe Pharo)
Echoes of Freedom
MLK Day 2025
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Monday, January 20, 11am–4pm. Free. bit.ly/MLKDayHPAC
The Hyde Park Art Center is presenting a day-long schedule of activities celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Attendees can enjoy live music, film screenings, interactive art activities, a zine-making workshop and creative writing activities inspired by Lorraine Hansberry and the Black liberation movement. (Zoe Pharo)
U. of C. Folk Festival
Mandel Hall and Ida Noyes Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. and 1212 E. 59th St. Friday, February 7–Saturday, February 8,
4:54pm–4:54pm. Free. uofcfolk.org/workshops.shtml
The University of Chicago Folk Festival returns for its 65th year. The schedule and workshops are pending, but concerts both nights will be held in Mandel Hall and workshops will be held in Ida Noyes Hall. (Zoe Pharo)
Free Blues Friday featuring Freddie Dixon Band
Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave. Friday, February 7, 8pm. Free. https://bit.ly/FreeFridayBlues
Freddie Dixon, the son of Willie Dixon, has been surrounded by the Blues all his life. His father is a blues legend as a songwriter, producer and musician and was at the helm of Chess Records. Since playing with his father’s band, The Chicago Blues All-Stars, he is now carrying the torch. Friday, February 7, 5pm for “Golden Hour,” with drinks and light bites, 8pm showtime. (Zoe Pharo)
Chicago South Side Literary Bus Tour
Bus departs from and returns to Douglass Park Cultural and Community Center, 1401 S. Sacramento Dr. Saturday, February 15, 10am–12pm. Costs for the entire day, including snacks, is $60. https://bit.ly/SSLiteraryBusTour
This five-hour tour of Chicago will visit sites associated with events like the Great Chicago Fire and Leopold & Loeb Murder; places like “Millionaire Row” and Camp Douglas; institutions like the old “The Defender” building and Third World Press; important authors ranging from Lorrainge Hansberry to James T. Farrell; monuments to Gwendolyn Brooks and Ida B. Wells; and mural depicting Sandra Cisneros and Carlos Cortéz. The tour moves between various South Side neighborhoods, including Little Italy, Pilsen, Little Village, Bridgeport, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Kenwood and more. A reading list will be provided, for those who want to learn more, and the group will stop for lunch at Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap. (Zoe Pharo)
Extended through February 15, 2025
