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 6
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
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales
Community Builder Chima Ikoro
Public Meetings Editor Scott Pemberton
Deputy Visuals Editor Shane Tolentino
Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma
Shane Tolentino
Director of Fact Checking: Ellie Gilbert-Bair
Fact Checkers: Bridget Craig
Jim Daley
Patrick Edwards
Alani Oyola
Kateleen Quiles
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
6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637
For advertising inquiries, please contact: Susan Malone (773) 358-3129 or email: malone@southsideweekly.com
For general inquiries, please call: (773) 643-8533
IN CHICAGO
The State of Journalism in Chicago
Last week, the Sun-Times announced buyouts for thirty employees representing about 20% of the paper’s staff. The departures include longtime political gossip columnist Michael Sneed, sportswriters Rick Telander and Rick Morrissey, advice columnist Ismael Pérez, and most of the paper’s editorial board. Chicago Public Media (CPM), the nonprofit that owns the Sun-Times and WBEZ, said five more employees at the public radio station are also leaving. In a letter to supporters, CPM CEO Melissa Bell said the buyouts were necessary to address a “significant budget gap and our long-term financial sustainability.” The departures come nearly a year after CPM laid off fourteen employees at WBEZ and discontinued radio programming for Vocalo, the station’s R&B, hip hop and house music station.
It’s tough times for local journalism. In January, the Chicago Reader announced layoffs, furloughs, and other cost-cutting measures amid “a combination of financial losses, operational challenges, and external pressures.” Editors and columnists have valiantly organized to raise funds while still doing their day jobs, which is no easy feat.
Locally and nationally, print journalism has been declining for decades. According to research published by the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, 200 U.S. counties have no local newspaper, and about half have only one, which is typically a weekly. Where local newspapers close, local government is less likely to be held accountable, residents are poorly informed, and misinformation spreads.
In 2021, the Washington Post reported that some 2,200 local newspapers in the United States had closed since 2005. Now, even that venerable institution is hemorrhaging subscriptions and losing columnists. Their loss is due not to financial constraints, but to the capitulating stance the Post’s owner, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, has demanded its editorial board adopt regarding the current president. (Katherine Graham, the former Post owner and publisher who stood up to Richard Nixon, was apparently made of more mettle than Bezos.) Similar winds blew through the Los Angeles Times late last year when its billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong fired that paper’s editorial board and announced it would hire more right-wing columnists.
President Trump’s animosity toward the free press is no secret. The former reality-television star has long bashed any negative story as “fake news” even as he’s relied on the media to raise his profile and sane-wash his worst excesses. During his first term, Trump’s anti-press rantings were merely gauche. Now, with Trump emboldened by his reelection, they’re downright dangerous. The president banned Associated Press reporters from the White House because they wouldn’t follow him in neologizing the Gulf of Mexico and dropped HuffPost and Reuters journalists from the press pool. He canceled federal subscriptions to media outlets. He sued CBS News and ABC News over interviews. Chillingly, Trump’s FBI Director Kashyap Patel, threatened to “come after people in the media.”
Now more than ever, your support of local (and national) journalism is essential to defending our democracy. Subscribe, donate, and share local media— whether it’s our own or that of our colleagues. In the meantime, we will keep doing the job of keeping you informed.
Note: The Weekly’s editor-in-chief Jackie Serrato is also the editor of La Voz, the Spanish–language section of the Sun-Times.
IN THIS ISSUE
quantum site met with opposition at southeast side meeting
At a city-led meeting last week, residents demanded more transparency around job creation and environmental impacts in the form of a CBA. jacqueline serrato ................................. 4 healing community with sound on the anniversary of breonna taylor’s death
Local social justice exhibition hosts artists BSA Gold and D-Composed for the aural healing event. jewél jackson 5
police district councilor threatened
The threat came after Alds. Scott and Tabares copied the police union on a complaint to the president of the civilian oversight commission.
jim daley
she hustle captures the journey of chicago’s black women entrepreneurs
7
The Weekly interviewed three business owners featured on the upcoming show..
kristian parker ....................................... 8
the golden rule of afro sheen
Black hair care entrepreneur George E. Johnson shares the story of his company in new autobiography. evan f. moore 10
no neat answers
“Really, theater, like all art forms, should be trading in sensation.”
charlie kolodziej
colibrí coffee hums along
East Side gains a locally owned coffeeshop that also seeks to be a community space.
12
francisco ramírez pinedo ................... 14
chicago irish protest for palestine
About a dozen demonstrators picketed a Union League Club breakfast with Ireland’s health minister over U.S. military flights passing through Shannon Airport. leigh giangreco 15 showcasing chicago’s cinematic potential with kin marie
The South Side film producer and director speaks about sustaining her creative practice.
arieon whittsey 17
abre el café colibrí y busca ser un espacio para la comunidad
La única cafetería local e independiente llega al vecindario de East Side. por francisco ramírez pinedo
traducido por alma campos ............... 19 the exchange
The Weekly’s poetry corner offers our thoughts in exchange for yours.
chima ikoro, harlem west .................. 21 public meetings report
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.
scott pemberton and documenters 23
Cover photo: Anthony Arroyo
Quantum Site Met with Opposition at Southeast Side Meeting
At a city-led meeting last week, residents demanded more transparency around job creation and environmental impacts in the form of a CBA.
BY JACQUELINE SERRATO
Last Tuesday evening, several dozen people gathered in the auditorium at Bowen High School for another meeting on the proposed billion-dollar development of a quantum computer complex on the Southeast Side. The fifth city-led public meeting since August was disrupted by residents who refused to split into breakout rooms and requested their questions be addressed in the open, some chanting “Don’t poison us! Don’t displace us!”
“We get concerned when the people in the community who have been asking questions are getting met with the same answers at every single one of these meetings,” said twenty-three-yearold Isabela Jaimes. She pressed Tom Anderson, the meeting host and city’s economic development director, for more transparency.
The land hasn’t been acquired yet, Anderson said, but the PsiQuantum facility is expected to take up about 128 acres of the lakefront. Related Midwest, the developer behind the proposal, is also developing the USX site in parallel, which according to Crains, will take up an additional 312 acres near the Calumet River. Combined, residents fear they’ll lose access to the shore.
In a press release, Gov. Pritzker’s office said about 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive: “its strategic location will provide the water sources needed for cooling, and the site can accommodate the large power needs. The park is strategically located to take advantage of Illinois' top tier infrastructure with interstate, rail and water access along with
close proximity to partners including the University of Chicago and the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE).”
The Alliance of the Southeast (ASE) is a coalition working together to address the challenges facing the neighborhoods of the Southeast Side. They say the development has received rushed approval from all levels of government. “This construction and this project got pushed through, zoning got pushed through, the budget got pushed through, everything. And now, although groundbreaking has been pushed back, it’s happening less than a year after the project was announced,” Jaimes said.
When it was announced last summer, the state said it will provide $200 million to PsiQuantum. The state
has also committed $300 million to build out the campus, the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park (IQMP), to house a cryogenic facility and additional tenants.
Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, to compute operations many times faster than traditional computers, which rely on binary 0’s and 1’s. A technology first established in the 1990s, scientists have since managed to create quantum computers with around 50-100 qubits, capable of outperforming supercomputers on certain calculations.
PsiQuantum claims it will build the U.S.’s first commercially useful computer with over 1 million qubits, a feat which may take years or decades to accomplish— if it’s even possible. The first phase of the
development, approximately thirty acres, is set to be completed in 2027. Anderson, unable to contain individuals who spoke up with or without a microphone, allowed a question-andanswer session for the rest of the meeting.
Felena Bunn said that, despite living down the street from the development site, she has not received mailers, phone calls, or door knocks related to the project. “My understanding is that they’re going to get this huge tax break for thirty years... I’m not getting that tax break... They should pay their taxes so that goes back into my community,” she said.
Multiple people at the meeting wanted the specifics on job creation because project managers have said 150 jobs will be created in the first five years, but not how many jobs will go to local residents, who are predominantly blue collar workers.
In a statement to the Weekly, a spokesperson cited a recent report from the CQE that found that about twothirds of jobs in the quantum industry are open to those with a bachelor’s degree or less. However, an Illinois Answers Project evaluation found that opportunities for jobs for high school graduates in the quantum industry are very much limited.
Anderson touted a program for high school students they’re calling the Saturday Morning Quantum, a tenweek course designed by Fermilab for CPS students to equip them with the foundational knowledge to explore careers in quantum. “We are also working with City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago State University and other postsecondary
Photo by Jacqueline Serrato
institutions, who are represented on the IQMP’s Board of Managers, to build the talent pipeline and remove barriers for non-degree holders to enter the quantum workforce,” the IQMP spokesperson said.
Jaimes, who is organizing with ASE, said the industry will attract physicists and other industry insiders that could spur gentrification in the East Side neighborhood.
Further, there are environmental concerns that haven’t been substantially addressed. For example, there’s worry that the amount of power necessary to operate the machines could contribute to a heat island, and post-industrial South Chicago already has a significant heat index.
“My biggest concern when it comes to the lakefront, if they actually do discharge into a lake, is how the water would then be [affected]. We heard people fish along that lakefront all the time. But if algae blooms are happening, if heated water is killing the animals in that area, the water in that area is going to be subpar. Algae blooms are so detrimental to the ecosystems in a body of water. And we know that adding hot water into cold water like that increases the [probability] of that happening,” Jaimes said.
IQMP told the Weekly there will be no water pollution, and it is “increasingly likely that there will not be a need to draw water” from Lake Michigan or the Chicago River.
“All last year, they were saying, ‘We’re building this plane as we fly it,’ and that doesn’t give the community any certainty
Healing Community with Sound on the Anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s Death
that what they say at one meeting won’t be completely different at the other,” Jaimes said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a Department of Defense technologies agency, said it will commit up to $140 million to its quantum proving ground, matched by $140 million from the state.
“People brought up questions about what this technology is actually going to be used for,” said a spokeswoman for Southside Together (SST), a South Shore-based group that has expressed skepticism toward the development.
“Given that this is like a military technology facility, how much access folks will actually have to the parks that are around the facility? This is a primarily Black and brown community, and there’s [presumably] a super heavily policed facility right on the lakefront. Like, how much access will folks actually have?”
The former site of the U.S. Steel South Works once employed tens of thousands of residents and immigrants. Since its downsizing and eventual closure in 1992, multiple bids for development have not materialized. While the quantum park is supported by city, county, and state elected officials, nearby residents want to build upon their Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) published in 2017 with commitments in writing from Related Midwest or any potential developers. ¬
Jacqueline Serrato is the Weekly’s editorin-chief.
Local social justice exhibition hosts artists BSA Gold and D-Composed for the aural healing event.
BY JEWÉL JACKSON
At the Chicago Justice Gallery, over one hundred names of Black Americans who have died from police brutality since the 1980s are listed on a wall as part of an ongoing photo exhibition, Echoes of Ferguson, at the University of Illinois, Chicago. On March 13, that wall was projected with pictures of Breonna Taylor, a twenty-six-year-old Black woman who was killed in her sleep after Louisville Metro police executed a no-knock warrant on her apartment.
“This is the day Breonna Taylor became an ancestor,” said Lola Ayisha Ogbara, program director and curator of the exhibit. “Our ancestors are with us, they’re looking over us and they are here every step we take.”
Taylor’s death sparked a summer of protests and increased recognition of #SayHerName, a national movement that recognizes the often overlooked police violence that is perpetuated onto women, and specifically Black women.
Since August, the Echoes of Ferguson exhibit has explored and commemorated the ten year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death and the racial justice protests that followed. Brown was eighteen years old when he was shot and killed by police after an altercation in Ferguson, Missouri. On the five-year anniversary of Taylor’s death
and in honor of Women’s History Month, the exhibit hosted a sound healing event called Echoes of Healing.
“Sound or music has always been a playlist to insurgency,” said Ogbara about the choice of creating an event related to sound. She listed Black artists such as N.W.A, Queen Latifah and Billie Holiday, who have all used music to talk about oppression.
To explore the emotions surrounding Taylor’s death, the event fused electronic music, audio of social justice activists speaking about Ferguson, and musical performances from local artist and flute player Barédu Ahmed, whose artist name is BSA Gold, and local Black musical chamber D-Composed.
The all Black musical chamber, made of eight classical musicians, “exclusively play the works of Black composers,” said Khelsey Zarraga, a violinist of D-Composed.
With four members at the event—two violinists, one cellist and one violist—the musicians, a drummer, and BSA Gold, who played keyboard, flute and synthesizer along with slight harmonizing vocals, gave a journey that aimed to reflect the emotions of the racial justice work and community healing.
According to a 2007 article in the International Journal of Healing and
City Bureau hosts a Documenters training in January 2024.
Photo by ASE
Caring, “sound healing is the therapeutic application of sound frequencies to the body/mind of people with the intention of bringing them into a state of harmony and health.” This can be achieved in multiple ways like singing, using sound bowls to release specific frequencies, or listening to instruments.
“Sound and music is so important to the Black community,” Zarraga said. “It’s the way that we connect with each other, with ourselves. That’s not just exclusive to the Black community, but the way that happens for Black folks is in a way that hits on our identity in a very important and kind of focused way. And so because of that, there’s no limit to the power of healing.”
Gold, who composed the performance, said that over the years she has increasingly understood how music connects and impacts people. “It’s something you feel, it’s not something you can see, and that’s a really mysterious, mystical, incredible, cool thing to be a part of,” she said.
In a low-lit room that hosted a crowd of nearly forty people, the event began with a three-minute breath exercise to help “reset us as a site of respite, as a site of reflection, but also a side of decompression,” Ogbara said. Afterwards, the musical performance opened with audio from Brittany Ferrell, a Ferguson activist who spoke about their reflections.
“My time on the ground in Ferguson, my very early days is when I came into my identity as a Black feminist. It’s when I came into my identity as an anti capitalist. It’s when I really began to develop a queer politics. It is when I began to develop a language.”
As the audio played, the strings and drums of D-Composed began to creep into the background to create a rising tempo. But as the clip came to an end, the room was immediately filled with the high-pitched strikes of a violin and deep undertone of a cello.
“We broke the performance up into four acts to tell a story,” Gold said. “The first act was about the boiling tension that was happening beneath the surface in regards to police brutality and how it exploded into what we know as the Ferguson uprising.”
Gold, who uses electronic music along with playing the flute and piano, said that using electronic sounds “allows for limitless
possibilities.”
“I started with a drone sound that was coming from my electronics and then the strings layered on top of that. Then we had the drums to create this overall soundscape that you understood to be a sense of rage or a strong emotion,” Gold said about the opening act. As the act continued, the sound of tornado sirens from Gold’s synthesizer engulfed the room as the drums
of D-Composed increased in momentum. Gold said that marrying her typical percussion sounds with the strings of D-Composed presented a new opportunity of how the performance could sound. “The audio was going to tie us together,” she said about the voice recordings of Ferguson activists. “But the way that we wanted to use the audio was that we would layer it over the music, or under the music, or
maybe the music would have a moment by itself.”
As the performance continued, tears, nods, and smiles floated over audience faces as the three following acts explored grief and sadness, community spirit, and release. The voices of Ferguson activists weaved throughout the performance to provide narration and reflection.
As the night ended with a song written for Taylor by Gold, water sounds flowed throughout the speakers.
“We have a bunch of pictures of Breonna Taylor smiling, and if there’s any clue as to what kind of person she might be, it’s her smile. And so I decided to make a song thinking of Breonna’s smile,” Gold said. “I still wanted to honor it with the sadness, a more somber tone, but also mixed in with just a celebration of her.”
After the performance, a microphone was passed around the room to allow audience members to discuss reflections of the performance.
“I definitely felt a shift when I sat down, just even telepathically I could just feel it,” said one. “It felt very sacred, it felt like something I’m going to take with me for a long time.”
Another spoke about the range of emotions they felt throughout. “When I think of sound healing, I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be sweet. It’s gonna be soft.’ And then it started out not either of those things,” they said. “I think the second song with a lot of violin felt like a lot of anger to me and was very activating in my body. But then being able to have that followed by water was really moving.”
Messejah Washington, a student at UIC, said he could feel some of the sound healing properties after the event. “It was a beautiful event,” he said. “I feel relaxed but at certain points, especially when the music began it was very intense and you could tell, just from the melody, that there was a statement to be made.”
The Echoes of Ferguson exhibit is open Wednesday-Friday, 12-4pm, and additional appointments can be scheduled on Tuesdays. It runs through May 25. ¬
Jewél Jackson is an investigative, multimedia storyteller who reports on society, culture and youth.
From left to right: Anya Brumfield (violin), Wilfred Farquharson (viola), Khelsey Zarraga (violin), Kori Coleman (founder/executive and artistic director), BSA Gold, Frank J. Morrison (Drums), Tahirah Whittington (cello).
Photo by Alonso Vidal
Audience members listening to the performance at Echoes of Healing on Thursday, March 13.
Photo by Alonso Vidal
Police District Councilor Threatened
The threat came after Alds. Scott and Tabares copied the police union on a complaint to the president of the civilian oversight commission.
BY JIM DALEY
Asocial media post that a 10th Police District Council member made about a police-involved killing has sparked complaints and recriminations between her and two alderpersons. The district councilor, Kiisha Smith, said that a letter Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) and Ald. Monique Scott (24th) disseminated about the post led to her receiving an anonymous threat. Scott, who also told a pastor he shouldn’t host the district council’s meeting at a Lawndale church, denied the threat was connected to the letter.
In the early morning of January 6, Chicago police officers responding to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance in the Albany Terrace Apartments shot and killed Timothy Glaze, a fiftyeight-year-old man. Body-worn camera video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on February 4 shows Glaze exited the apartment and approached the responding officers while holding a knife. Two officers fatally shot him.
me saying all police are murderers or anything,” Smith said. “It was simply the verbiage that the community had—like in our January [district council] meeting, they were like, ‘The police keep murdering us; they keep killing us, and they killed that man.’”
Driver sent Tabares and Scott a response that noted that police district council members are independently elected and don’t report to the CCPSA. “Like all elected officials, district council members have the authority and autonomy to promote their public meetings and engage with stakeholders as they see fit,” he wrote. Driver declined to comment for this story.
Glaze’s family released a statement that said he was “experiencing a mental health crisis, [and] deserved help, compassion, and care—not bullets. The Chicago Police Department’s decision to fire twenty-eight shots at a vulnerable individual in distress, when non-lethal options were available, is not only a tragedy but also a profound failure to serve and protect.”
On February 8, Smith posted in a North Lawndale community Facebook group about that month’s district council
meeting. “Come out and join us to address all of your community concerns! COPA will be present to answer your questions, and to address your concerns regarding the Police Murders in the 10th District!” the post read.
That prompted Scott and Tabares to send a letter to CCPSA President Anthony Driver calling the use of the term “police murders” in Smith’s post “deeply troubling” and requesting Driver share whatever guidelines CCPSA has established about district councilors’ “rhetoric and professional conduct…
especially with regards to public meetings and their promotion.”
“We have a fiduciary duty as an elected official, and [Smith] is an elected official too,” Scott told the Weekly. “She has to have the same kind of decorum.”
Smith told the Weekly her post was merely reflecting the attitudes in the community surrounding the shooting of Glaze and another man, Kurt Kilbert, who was killed in North Lawndale on February 2 after allegedly exchanging gunfire with officers.
“When I posted that, it wasn’t
Smith said she doesn’t know Tabares, who declined to comment. She does know Scott: the alderperson, whose ward includes the 10th District, backed Smith’s candidacy and attended the council’s first public meeting. “She could have basically called me if she felt some type of way” about the Facebook post, Smith said. “She has my number.”
“If Kiisha wanted to sit down and talk to me, of course, there’s no malice there,” Scott said. “This was just to tell you, ‘Hey, you made a mistake. Watch the words that you choose.’ I mean, you can say freedom of speech. But freedom of speech is not always the best.”
Tabares and Scott copied Smith’s fellow 10th District Council members on their letter to Driver, as well as other CCPSA commissioners, the commission’s executive director, then-COPA chief Andrea Kersten, CPD Superintendent
Alds. Monique Scott and Silvana Tabares at March’s City Council meeting.
Photo by Jim Daley
Larry Snelling, and Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President John Catanzara.
The next day 8th District Council members, two of whom were endorsed by the FOP, posted the alderpersons’ letter on Facebook and called for Driver to demand Smith’s resignation. Jason Huff, the 8th Police District Council chair, did not respond to a request for comment.
The day after that, Smith got an anonymous email that directed racist and misogynist slurs at her. The author threatened to show up at the next district council meeting. Smith blames the alderpersons’ dissemination of their letter for the threat, a charge Scott denied. “She posted it on social media,” Scott said. “You did that to yourself. The letter was addressing what you did.”
Smith acknowledged that she posted a public status on Facebook, but that it was via her own campaign page, not an official district council page. “Had the police seen it themselves and felt the need to comment? That’s one thing, but for you to include them and introduce [the FOP president in the email], that means you’re stirring the pot.”
Eighteen police district councilors signed on to a complaint to the Office of Inspector General accusing Tabares and Scott of violating a part of the ordinance that established the district councils and CCPSA prohibiting anyone from retaliating, intimidating, discouraging, or threatening district councilors. The OIG complaint, which the Weekly obtained a draft of, claims Tabares and Scott’s letter “directly targets” Smith.
CAARPR activists, some of whom are regulars at 10th District Council meetings, also came to Smith’s defense, creating a web page with a petition supporting her. On March 13, Smith shared a Facebook post from CAARPR promoting that month’s district council meeting, scheduled to be held the next day at St. Agatha, a Lawndale church that’s been a regular location for 10th District Council meetings. The post included a flyer that said Smith “is facing attacks by alder people Silvana Tabares and Monique Scott for bringing light to the police murder of Timothy Glaze.”
Scott, who has attended St. Agatha for her entire life, texted an image of
the flyer to Father Larry Dowling, who led the church until retiring last year. “Morning. The pastor shouldn’t allow this,” the accompanying text message read. “She called cops murderers. I spoke on it. Her position is to support the police not attack them.”
Dowling referred Scott to Father Thadeo Mgimba, the current pastor of St. Agatha. Scott said she didn’t contact Mgimba about the meeting. According to Smith, Mgimba told her the March meeting could be held at the church, but that she would need to meet with him and a police representative before the next one. Mgimba declined to comment.
Scott said she texted Dowling about the March 14 district council meeting because it was a “hate” meeting. “Do you think that a hate meeting should be held within a church?” she asked. “That’s my church that I was born and reared in, and so [Smith] is gonna have somebody come in and bash me as somebody in my church?”
Smith said Scott is interfering with the district council. “She doesn't want me to host meetings in the community, but that’s my job,” she said. “It’s in the ordinance that I’m required to hold these meetings.”
COPA’s investigation of Glaze’s death is ongoing. ¬
Jim Daley is the Weekly’s investigations editor.
She Hustle Captures the Journey of Chicago’s Black Women Entrepreneurs
The Weekly interviewed three business owners featured on the upcoming show.
BY KRISTIAN PARKER
She Hustle, a reality series that premieres March 31st on IHQ Network, shines a spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women entrepreneurs in Chicago. The show captures the struggles and triumphs of its cast while highlighting the unfiltered, real-life grind of Black women balancing multiple roles in business and their communities. The five-person cast of She Hustle includes South Side-based business owners Ronneisha Foots, Shatara Connor, and Mona Skye.
The show highlights the diverse paths women can take to succeed in business. By sharing these stories, She Hustle hopes to create a sense of community among women entrepreneurs in Chicago, encouraging women-led businesses to support one another, share knowledge, and keep pushing forward.
After losing her father, Mona Skye, a young Black woman from the West Side, found herself motivated to build a legacy for her family. Breaking away from traditional business models, she opted to go for commercial real estate instead.
“I knew my business would take off when I discovered it,” she said. “I just didn’t want to be stagnant anymore. So that turning point for me probably would have been when my father passed away. He pretty much left us with nothing. So I knew at that point like I wanted something more in life. I wanted to build a legacy.”
Skye owns a strip mall, Skye Plaza, located off 93rd and Ashland in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The plaza houses luxury salon suites, a beauty supply store, a nail salon, aftercare, and a gift shop. Skye’s other ventures include a transportation company and a credit business focused on financial literacy and credit repair.
Skye credited her faith with playing a role in her success and remaining focused amidst the challenges that come with running a business. “My relationship with God keeps me grounded no matter what,” she said. “I think that first and foremost, and then on top of that, you have to have thick skin. You cannot expect to have any level of success without having some sort of thick skin.”
Skye also shared her intentions behind
what she wants viewers to see. “I think we all have those little things that we’re fighting,” she said. “And I think for the world to be able to see that it’s not about the ratchetness. It’s about girls coming together and striving to get there.”
She encouraged young women who are aspiring entrepreneurs to “always remain true to who you are. Don’t get suckered in by the naysayers, the negativity, and the haters. Have tunnel vision, and remain focused on what you want to do. Don’t let anybody stop you, and don't ever give up.”
Ronneisha Foots, a Bronzeville native, started her entrepreneurial journey after transitioning from nursing school to selling weave extensions in 2012. What began as a side hustle selling hair out of her car evolved into a full-fledged business. By 2015, Foots opened a salon, and in 2020 expanded her business to include twenty-four salon suites in a new location.
“Once I launched my website, and I saw people out of state ordering, I opened up my small commercial space at La Lacuna Lofts” in Pilsen, she said. As her business expanded, she quit her job and focused on running a business full-time. “I decided to go get my EIN number and start doing the legit logistics of the business by getting all of my legal documents together and trying to get the business trademark.”
Foots has faced her share of challenges, from managing taxes and navigating a recent break-in at her salon to dealing with difficult personalities. Yet she remains undeterred, driven by a desire to break the generational curse of poverty and provide a better future for her children, she said.
Foots sources motherhood and her upbringing as motivation to remain successful with her businesses. “I feel like they look at me as inspiration,” she said. “I’m their muse when it comes to working. I want them to see me as a mom, entrepreneur, and a woman.”
“Stay consistent and do what’s best for you,” she advised aspiring entrepreneurs. Her story is a testament to the power of consistency and the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who can offer guidance. “Don’t let nobody get in your ear and tell you no. I say go after your dreams. Whatever it is you want to do, do it.”
Thirty-year-old Shatara Connor
is from the Low End and has built her business empire on hair. Known for her signature ponytail styles, Connor’s rise to fame came in 2017 when a video of her creating a ponytail in a bathroom went viral, attracting the attention of influencers and celebrities alike. Her viral moment led to an influx of clientele, and by 2018, she was running two salons and launching a hair product line.
In addition to her Pretty Hair Boss Salon and hair product line business ventures, Connor runs the Pretty Her Boss Mentorship Academy. “I put people in a position to build their business,” she said. “So whatever that they want to do…or if they already are doing it and at a standstill, I give them a strategy, like a marketing strategy, for them to stay consistent.”
Through the series, she hopes to redefine how people see her. “I’m trying
office in downtown Chicago. I’ve helped like six other businesses start their own business.”
Grant had been pursuing music for over a decade when she saw an unexpected opportunity. “Back in 2019, I signed a deal with a major label, Island Records. I won the deal through a rap contest,” she said “I competed against over 700 contestants and ended up winning.”
The competition took place during the BET Awards weekend in Los Angeles, where she originally traveled to promote her invention, the Snap & Go hat. Her determination led her to enter the rap contest at the last minute. That moment catapulted her into the industry, securing an EP deal and a feature in a BET Hip Hop Cypher.
However, her momentum was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “When it was time for me to release my project, COVID hit. And so I was sent back home….” Rather than seeing this as a failure, Grant pivoted her experience into mentoring other artists. “Now, I have a creative space where I manage artists, I manage brands, I help them with PR and I help them with funding, with grants and loans.”
to let the world know that whatever y’all have to say is not me,” she said. “I can make amends with people that I never thought I would. I'm a hard-working woman. All I am focused on is getting money, my craft, and my dreams.”
She Hustle aims to highlight the determination and innovation of Chicago’s women entrepreneurs. Shadae “Dae” Grant, the show’s creator, set out to create a platform that would offer visibility to the struggles and successes of women in business, especially those from underserved communities.
Born and raised in Cabrini Green, Grant began her career in marketing and business management, later branching out into accounting and eventually tax preparation. “I’ve been doing tax preparation for, like, over twelve years,” she said. “Now I have an office… and a virtual
Grant’s business acumen allowed her to sustain herself despite the setback. Now, with She Hustle, she’s blending her experience and creative skills to empower others. “This is what the hustle is about. It’s about entrepreneurship,” she said. “I want this to be different from your reality shows, where people don’t walk away with anything. I want them to walk away powerful, strengthened.”
Her story is about turning challenges into stepping stones and using her platform to uplift others. “In every L that I took, I was able to turn it into a W in my heart and my eyes,” Grant said. “This isn’t just about showcasing my business—it’s about showing that no matter what comes at you, you can pivot, rebuild, and come back stronger. It’s about making sure the next woman doesn’t have to go through the same struggles alone.” ¬
Kristian Parker is a creative writer and visual storyteller whose work is rooted in intentionality and excitement for sharing keen observations about the world around her. She last wrote about Black Panther in Concert.
The Golden Rule of Afro Sheen
Black hair care entrepreneur George E. Johnson shares the story of his company in new autobiography.
BY EVAN F. MOORE
Famed entrepreneur George E. Johnson, best known for being the founder of Johnson Products Company (JPC) in 1954, which manufactured premium Black hair care and cosmetic products including Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, did not want to write a book about his life—until he had an epiphany.
JPC products became a staple in many Black barbershops, beauty shops, and households all over the country for generations. JPC-produced shampoo, conditioners, hair relaxers, and blowout kits were designed to create Black hairstyles.
For decades, JPC operated at a facility near 87th St. and the Dan Ryan Expressway. JPC employed many Black folks while teaching the immediate community—mainly hairdressers and barbers—to go into business for themselves. Along with being the first Black-owned company to trade on a major stock exchange, Johnson maintains that the “Golden Rule” has always applied.
Johnson details his experiences and more in the book, Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street, along with Hilary Beard, coauthor of the book, Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys in School and In Life.
Outside of the instances of Black Chicago history and the name-dropping of prominent Black Chicagoans—some notable people who’ve called Bronzeville home include journalist Ida B.Wells, musician Quincy Jones, Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, and historian Margaret Burroughs—the book offers sage, sometimes brutally honest advice regarding entrepreneurship in the
Black community.
Johnson openly discussed his experiences juggling his place as an upwardly mobile Black businessman and participating in the uplift of the broader Black community—a predicament many in his position continue to reckon with.
For instance, as JPC grew in stature and profit, Johnson moved from Chatham on the South Side to Glencoe, a north suburban predominately white enclave.
Johnson’s most influential contribution to the uplift is his company’s sponsorship of Soul Train, an iconic TV dance series based in Chicago that launched the careers of many Black artists.
“In the community, every worthy organization that ever asked Johnson Products Company for money got it,” Johnson said.
JPC’s contributions to American history have not gone unnoticed as one of their blowout kits is displayed in the National Museum of American History.
With the Trump Administration targeting companies and corporations’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, many in the Black community are rethinking their consumer support by reupping engagement of businesses that have historically respected their buying power, making Johnson’s book more relevant than ever.
Johnson, ninety-seven, sat down with Weekly to discuss his upbringing, kick starting his dreams, his faith, the power of the Black dollar, and wisdom he’d like to share with the current generation of Black entrepreneurs.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about the journey of writing a book like this, and why you decided to do it at this point in time, in juncture
and in our community.
People asked me when I was gonna write my book, and I always told them I had no intention to write a book because I don’t like to talk about myself. When I have tried to tell my grandkids how the company got started, I think about all the lessons that the Lord bestowed upon me that took me into the business. It makes me so grateful to God, it just makes me cry—and I cry a lot. So for that reason, I didn’t really want to write a book after I retired. But on November 21, 2021, Sunday morning, I was watching TV, and all of a sudden I couldn’t see the television. The room was cloudy. I tried to get up to see what was going on, and I couldn’t get up. And at one point I heard five words. I clearly heard five words: you must tell your story. And when I heard those words, it scared me to death. I thought it was the Lord asking me to write, to tell my story. And I believe that. So I made a 180-degree turn in my attitude and immediately started looking for a professional writer who could do the book with me.
Why was it important to seek out a Black author to tell your story?
I wanted someone who had an understanding of our community and of Black people—somebody Black themselves. And the most important thing was that [the person] was spiritual; they could understand why some could be sympathetic in my attitudes.
Let’s say that someone is reading your book, and they already have the interest in starting their own business or being an entrepreneur as you are. What advice would you give them?
The best thing you can do [is] when you got something that never has been made before, and remedied a lot of drawbacks for a product, and did the job you wanted to do. [We did that with our] product, which we call Ultra Wave Hair Culture (a hair relaxer for men). I mean, it just about sells itself to barbers who’ve been using
other products that were not emulsified. So it wasn’t that difficult for me to get the business going, but my advice to an entrepreneur: you got to have something that people need, that people want, and that is it’s superior to the competition. If you don’t do that, you just got a “me-too” product, and that's going to be very hard to sell unless you got a lot of money to advertise, especially on television. But you got to have something that is worthy of the market and worthy of people, and you got to have a burning desire to succeed and be willing to work your butt off. You got to be honest. You got to love people,
while finding ways to participate in the uplift of Black communities?
I’ve always been concerned about other people… I was starting school at a Catholic school and that kind of gave me a grounding in that area. My attitude about businesses is that when you help people, you help yourself. And that was my focus on helping people help me. That’s the golden rule, and that’s what I did throughout my career; try to help find ways to help people. You help yourself more than you help other people. Plus, they build your reputation. When you’ve done something good for another person, and when your name comes up in a conversation, they only have something positive to say about you. So when the people they’re talking to hear positive remarks about you, that gives them a positive attitude towards you and they never met you.
When someone is in a bookstore or they’re looking online, they see your book, they pick it up and buy it, take it home and read it. What do you think they’ll get out of it?
I hope they’ll be inspired. I hope [the book] will uplift them—that’s what I hope. And if they have children, I hope if they read it, they give it to the children and have them read it.
and you got to put their interest ahead of yours. And if you serve people and serve them well, they will make you successful. So treat them like you love them, and do as I did, follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. The Golden Rule is an edict from Jesus Christ, as well as he said: Love your neighbor as yourself. It’s the same. Do unto others as you have others do unto you. That was what I did throughout my career, and we were very successful.
Can you explain what it’s like being a Black businessman and making money and doing all these different things
Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street. George E. Johnson with Hilary Beard. 320 pages. Little, Brown and Company, 2025. $30 Hardcover. ¬
Evan F. Moore is an award-winning writer, author, and DePaul University journalism adjunct instructor. Evan is a third-generation South Shore homeowner.
Famed entrepreneur George E. Johnson.
Photo provided
No Neat Answers
Fiction stalks reality in director Ricardo Gamboa’s “revitalization” of modern classic The Pillowman.
BY CHARLIE KOLODZIEJ
An adaptation of The Pillowman from Ruth on the Rocks director Ricardo Gamboa, is drawing crowds to Humboldt Park’s AfriCaribe Cultural Center. Led by Englewoodraised actors Omari Ferrell and Tyran Freeman, Gamboa’s take on the modern classic replaces the play’s dystopian setting with Chicago, offering unique parallels between the script’s treatment of police brutality and the city’s own history of state violence.
Written by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman place in a totalitarian police state in which two brothers, the writer Katurian (played by Ferrell) and his brother Michal (Freeman), are tortured for their alleged connections to a series of disturbing child murders. The story is told in part through glimpses of Katurian’s short stories that bear an eerie similarity to the killings plaguing the town. Since its premiere in 2003 at London’s Royal National Theatre, the play has received critical acclaim for its complex depiction of the choices we are forced to make under the threat of fascism. Gamboa’s production features a cast that is entirely Black and Latino—a change from most productions of The Pillowman, which typically cast white actors for the play’s lead roles, Gamboa said.
police history. It’s actually the norm,” said Gamboa, who after hearing the brothers’ story was reminded of The Pillowman<.
Chicago Police Department from 1972–1991 under then-CPD commander Jon Burge. Gamboa’s play falls on the
meant to provide financial redress and counseling, among other services, to survivors of Chicago police torture. Notably, the ordinance also promises to create a memorial for survivors of police torture, which has yet to be built.
Gamboa wanted to engage with Chicago’s history and present of police violence through their staging of The Pillowman, which they describe as less of a reimagining and more of a “revitalization.” Gamboa made no edits to the script itself; instead, many of the updated elements come from directing choices, most visibly the set design and costuming, executed in partnership with collaborator Sol Cabrini de la Ciudad. Katurian’s character, who in other productions of the play often dresses in a preppy look with a collared shirt and slacks, instead wears a hoodie and Champion sweats.
“I think racially re-coding the play, a play that’s written by a white playwright… what I think actually happens is we don’t have to do much to it. Casting two young Black men from the South Side of Chicago, saying those words in their tongue and their tone automatically changes it,” Gamboa said.
Gamboa first developed the idea to stage The Pillowman after interviewing brothers Sean Tyler and Reginald Henderson on Gamboa’s talk show The Hoodoisie. Tyler and Henderson were wrongfully incarcerated for twenty-five years after surviving torture at the hands of Chicago police as teenagers.
“What happened to Sean and Reggie is not an aberration in Chicago
“At the end of it, I don’t feel weighed down or drained because of how emotional the play is. I feel much better, actually.”
Over 120 people, predominantly Black men, were tortured by members of the
ten-year anniversary of the passing of Chicago’s 2015 Reparations Ordinance,
The show’s leads, Ferrell and Freeman, don’t just play brothers on stage; they’re practically brothers in real life. The duo has been friends since the fourth grade and met Gamboa while just entering high school. Both Ferrell and Freeman participated in Gamboa’s youth theatre program Commercial Free at Pilsen’s National Museum of Mexican Art.
“I don’t think there could be two other people to do this play in my mind,” said Gamboa. “I’m just so proud of how talented they are. Seeing them be the
Sonny steps onto the stage, greeted by a packed loft at the Ramova.
Photo Anthony Arroyo
artists that I feel at least that they were meant to be is amazing.”
Years after Gamboa met Freeman and Ferrell, the actors are all grown up. On top of working full time, they are also fathers to young children. Gamboa has been particularly accommodating of his busy schedule, which is not common in the wider Chicago theater scene, Ferrell said. This isn’t just kindness, although it is kind—it’s also Gamboa’s way of making space in an industry that usually favors classically trained actors with more time and resources. Gamboa wants the stories they tell to reflect Chicagoans’ lived realities, and that starts first and foremost with the ways they create theater.
Acting, said Freeman and Ferrell, is also a way for them to release the stress from their daily lives, even as the play’s themes of police violence are also a stark reminder of their lives beyond the stage.
“I think, as a Black man, it’s sometimes the duty of us to kind of check our emotions before they become too visible. This play allows me a space to not do that, to just allow whatever emotions I have be the emotions that I have, and bring them to the character,” said Ferrell.
“This is really my outlet,” said Freeman. “All of the pent-up stress, all of
to mimic the ways in which violence against children is communicated to the wider world through screens: our televisions, phones, and laptops. Gamboa also began thinking about the sort of media we give to children. The play’s eponymous Pillowman figure is reimagined in Gamboa’s production as a large puppet, made in collaboration with Chicago-based puppeteers Chio Cabrera, Agnotti Cowie, and Jordan Paine.
These aspects of the play’s production interact with and reflect the rising tide of fascism nationally and internationally, from the U.S.-backed genocide of Palestinians, to ongoing ICE immigration raids and the recent alleged extralegal kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil. However, Gamboa isn’t interested in offering the play’s audience a neat way to feel about these global events. Instead they hope The Pillowman provides a route for the audience to feel their way toward their own conclusions.
inspire?” they said.
“This play, we hope it brings people to realization, it brings them to commiseration, and it works to start motivating conversation and action.”
The Pillowman, AfriCaribe Cultural Center, 2547 W. Division St. March 7 through April 12. Fridays and Saturdays, 7pm. Tickets are priced by sliding scale donation, starting at $10. tickettailor. com/events/thepillowman/1549791.
The Pillowman was produced under Concrete Content, Ricardo Gamboa’s theater production company that brings radical aesthetics and politics to Chicago’s theater scene. Gamboa recently wrapped an approximately fifteen-week sold-out run of their production Ruth on the Rocks, which premiered as part of the seventh annual Destinos, a citywide theater festival dedicated to raising the local, national, and international profile of Chicago’s Latino theater scene. ¬
the pent-up anger, the self-hate, the selfdoubt: I let it flow through the character. In that way, [the performance] is honest. At the end of it, I don’t feel weighed down or drained because of how emotional the play is. I feel much better, actually. I feel lighter at the end of it.”
Ferrell and Freeman were first introduced to The Pillowman at a reading Gamboa hosted in September 2023 that included actors from their recent play The Wizards. While many of Gamboa’s collaborators at the reading liked the play itself, they also expressed concerns about whether the world needed a staging of a play that centers on heavy themes like child abuse and police violence.
“A few weeks later, October 7 happened with the al-Aqsa Flood operation. And then October 8, Israel began its genocide. All of a sudden, this idea of, we have to shield the violence that happens against children—even though in the U.S., we had been seeing it happen to Black kids, to brown kids, by police or school shootings—was thrown in our faces, and we were intimate with it, with the genocide of Palestinians,” Gamboa said.
Gamboa’s version of The Pillowman incorporates projected short films meant
“We always think that theater trades in representation, right? Like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna show you this thing that I’m trying to say.’ But really, theater, like all art forms, should be trading in sensation, and what are the feelings that they produce, and what is the kind of emotional impact of [the] work. What does it emotionally
Charlie Kolodziej is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in South Side Weekly, Chicago Reader, and the New York Times
Sonny steps onto the stage, greeted by a packed loft at the Ramova. Photo Anthony Arroyo
Sonny steps onto the stage, greeted by a packed loft at the Ramova. Photo Anthony Arroyo
Colibrí Coffee Hums Along
East Side gains
a locally owned coffeeshop that also seeks to be a community space.
BY FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ PINEDO
An East Side building that once housed tax preparation services and a pet grooming salon will now host the neighborhood’s only locally-owned coffee shop after more than a year of menu work, furniture carpentry, and license haggling. Colibrí Coffee—named after the Spanish word for hummingbird—soft-opened last Friday and is preparing for an official grand opening on Saturday, March 29.
Owner Anaís Robles’s mom, María, had the idea to open the cafe after she noticed that there were no local coffee shops in the neighborhood, other than chains like Dunkin’ and Starbucks. The closest local cafe, Sol Y Luna Café near the 92nd Metra Station stop, closed in 2007 after being open for less than ten years. María also noticed that a nearby coffee shop in South Chicago, Dulce’s, across the street from Immaculate Conception Church, had a lot of business and foot traffic and hoped that it could be replicated in East Side.
Friedman, runs the food program.
Robles and partner, Juarez Monegain, had experience running a restaurant, called Notcho Fries, near the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus between 2022 until they moved back to Chicago in 2024. Robles is owner and general manager, sister Idaima handles operations and accounting, brother Jaime was in charge of interior design and making the tables, and Monegain, who is a back of the house veteran and worked under the mentorship of Chef Cleetus Friedman, runs the food program.
Colibrí is truly a family effort. Robles is owner and general manager, sister Idaima Robles handles operations and accounting, and Monegain, who is a back of the house veteran and worked under the mentorship of Chef Cleetus
The owners of Colibri want as much of the work to be done by them, from the tables they made from locally-sourced lumber, to the menu, which seeks to minimize as much food waste as possible. The coffee syrups use nuts that can be sold as snacks, orange peels for another syrup can be candied, and stale bread can be used to make French toast. Food offerings will include a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, a spicy ham sandwich (which has already proven to be a hit with customers) and a turkey basil sandwich.
Their Girasol coffee is a unique blend offered by Ixxa Coffee, based in Whiting, Indiana, another womanand minority-owned business. “They’re great coffees from Chiapas,” said Ixxa’s roaster Jose Marin, who was a customer during Colibrí’s soft opening. “From the Mexican side, Chiapas, and then from
Huehuetenango on the Guatemalan side.”
They’re using their unique blend to make drinks such as a latte with cajeta, a Mexican goat’s milk dulce de leche that they make in-house, and a cococinnamon latte.
One of the challenges that come from opening ambitious projects like these is that they often take a lot of time, capital, and personnel to ensure success. Both East Side Tap, which has been renovating an old Schlitz tied house for a new bar, and Skyway Coffee nearby, have pushed back openings since they announced their businesses in 2023.
Colibrí has had help from Dishroulette Kitchen, a city-funded nonprofit that helps BIPOC- and womenowned businesses focusing on hospitality and which has helped businesses like Smash Jibarito via grants, workshops, and how-to guides. Anaís saw an Instagram
post and attended a workshop on menu pricing and marketing. Colibrí has also been featured on their page.
The buzz has been widespread. Their soft opening on March 21st generated between 150-200 customers in the first two days. “We were slammed. It was insane for a soft opening,” said Robles.
“We’ve never really had anything like this before, so I wanted to make sure to make my presence known and come,” said Erika Gonzalez, who was the first customer to come in on their soft opening date. “That makes me really excited.”
The East Side contains a limited number of “third spaces,” areas outside home, work, and school, where community members come together. These include parks like Calumet and Rowan and the Vodak-East Side branch library, as well as nearby bars Crowbar and O’Hara’s (which also regularly host events) and barbershops, though these primarily serve male-presenting clientele.
Colibrí is a new option for people of all expressions who do not drink alcohol.
“I’ve been following them on Instagram. I’m a huge coffee shop fan, but I just think they’re important for community and for a place to gather,” said Davis Brown, another customer from their soft opening. “I was a teenager when they kind of became big in the States, when it wasn’t just Dunkin Donuts. [I] spent a lot of time in school, doing homework, catching up with friends, just an important place for people to be.”
Along with the coffee and food offerings, Robles hopes to transform the location to host community events, such as a potential meeting spot for a local run club, paint and sip events, and a book club.
In addition, they hope to showcase
Owner Anaís Robles, barista Lina Jaquez, and first customer, Erika Gonzalez, during the soft opening on March 21st. Photo by Francisco Ramírez Pinedo
and sell art from local artists, such as Nathalie Sánchez, who painted their mural inside, and barista Lisette Zetina.
March 29 from 8am–4pm, with a ribbon
Chicago Irish Protest for Palestine
About a dozen demonstrators picketed a Union League Club breakfast with Ireland’s health minister over U.S. military flights passing through Shannon Airport.
BY LEIGH GIANGRECO
As St. Patrick’s Day weekend kicked off on March 14, business leaders and politicians wearing staid suits with emerald ties filtered into the Union League Club for the Irish American Partnership’s private breakfast with Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Ireland’s health minister.
Many of the well-heeled attendees ducked into the club’s entrance flanked by Chicago Police officers while about a dozen protesters from Chicago Irish for Palestine (CIFP) chanted “Jennifer MacNeill, you can’t hide. You’re complicit in genocide!” outside. The local grassroots organization, which formed ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last year to oppose thenPresident Joe Biden’s support of Israel, has protested what it contends is Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. During Friday’s demonstration, CIFP called on the Irish government to block American military and civil aircraft carrying weapons to Israel through Irish airspace and Shannon Airport.
After this story was published online, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs provided a statement that read in part: “For military and state aircraft there is a long-standing principle of
customary international law that a state may not exercise its jurisdiction in respect of another state or its property. This means foreign military aircraft that are permitted to land in Ireland are not subject to inspection. That long-standing principle applies to foreign state and military aircraft overflying or landing in Ireland, just as it applies to Irish State and military aircraft abroad.”
Although pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong in Ireland, CIFP argues the Irish government is trying to play both sides of the conflict as it placates Irish citizens who call the war in Gaza a genocide while also appeasing the U.S. government with policies that benefit Israel.
“We’re here because there is a representative of the Irish government inside this building,” said Ryan, a CIFP member who led Friday’s protest. “So our goal is to make our presence known to her and to make sure that we have eyes on the Irish government's complicity in genocide.”
Though most people who exited the Union League Club refused to talk to the Weekly, at least two attendees expressed dismay at the protest.
“I don’t agree with what they’re yelling about Jennifer MacNeill. She
Francisco Ramírez Pinedo is a journalist, photographer, and artist based in South
Juarez Monegain, Anaís Robles, and María Robles; team of Colibrí Coffee.
Photo by Francisco Ramírez Pinedo
Colibrí Coffee’s storefront at 3639 E 106th Street. Photo by Francisco Ramírez Pinedo
didn’t do anything, she’s here from Irealnd,” said Cliff Carlson, who publishes Irish American News, a Chicago-based newspaper serving the Irish American community in the Midwest. “I believe Palestine should be free and so should Israel and I also think it’s not antisemitic to say ‘stop killing each other’ and find a way by talking it out.”
Meg Buchanan, who attended the event and visited Ireland in January, said she didn’t agree with the use of Shannon Airport but pointed to the Irish government’s support of Palestine.
“I would say Irish Americans may not always be on the side of Palestine, but Ireland, for years, is unique in the international community in their support for Palestine and Palestinians,” said Buchanan. “So this is a weird place for [the protesters] to be.”
The weekend demonstrations in Chicago mirror those in Ireland, where hundreds of activists have regularly gathered outside the airport since 2023. Politicians from People Before Profit, a socialist party in Ireland, have demanded that the Irish government inspect planes suspected of carrying weapons to Israel after The Ditch and Drop Site News reported arms were flowing through Irish airspace for the war in Gaza. But just this week, the Irish Times reported that plans to inspect aircraft have faltered.
Shannon has long served as a hub for the U.S. military, which used the airport throughout the Gulf War and the Iraq War. That’s chafed activists who say the U.S. flights violate Irish neutrality.
“I think that it is morally wrong that [the United States] use Shannon Airport as a stopping point on their way to drop bombs on other people. And I think that it’s just wrong that Ireland lets that happen,” said Mary Coleman, who held a cardboard sign stating “Saoirse don Phalaistín” or “Freedom for Palestine” in Irish. “We’re kind of using the country of Ireland for our own gain, which Ireland doesn’t deserve. The people of Ireland don’t deserve that. They deserve full autonomy over their land and sovereignty.”
The protracted conflict in the Middle East reached a fever pitch on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the paramilitary organization that is the governing body of Gaza, launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel, killing over 1,200 people and
kidnapping more than 200 Israelis. Since then, the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel’s military has claimed more than 46,000 Palestinian lives, according to Palestinian health authorities, and those of at least 400 Israeli soldiers.
On January 15, the Israeli government and Hamas agreed on the first part of a multiphase cease-fire deal that would end the war. The first phase would free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for thirty-three Israeli hostages. But recent efforts to extend the cease-fire have stalled, leaving twenty-four hostages behind and Palestinians once again threatened by famine with new Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza.
The humanitarian crisis has reverberated in Chicago and Cook County, which is home to the largest Palestinian American community in the country. Weeks after the October 7 attack, thousands marched along Michigan avenue to demand an end to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. The demonstrations teed up a contentious City Council vote in January 2024 calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The symbolic resolution sparked a raucous public meeting and deadlocked council members in a 23-23 vote, forcing Mayor Brandon Johnson to cast the tiebreaker in favor. With Johnson’s vote cast, Chicago became the largest city in the country to endorse a cease-fire. The conflict has also
colonial officers who had once policed Ireland and sent them to quash any uprisings in Palestine. Those men included the Black and Tans, a notorious group of police who imported their ruthless methods from Ireland to the Middle East.
That history inspired some demonstrators like Kit Reidy, whose family fled Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine, to attend her first CIFP on Friday.
“I feel a connection to Palestinians around colonization, imperialism, famine and genocide and everything,” Reidy said. She added that growing up, she learned about British soldiers in Ireland who had subjected her family and friends to violence. “It makes me feel like we need to speak out about the violence happening to the people in Gaza. It just feels very similar to me.”
shed light on deepening foreign policy rifts within the Democratic party in the DNC’s host city just months before the convention.
CIFP points to the Irish and Palestinian people’s shared history of colonial oppression under British rule. In addition to protests, the group has organized benefit concerts for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, Irish sessions at Palestinian Nabala Cafe in Uptown and teach-ins on the shared history of Ireland and Palestine.
“There's lots of blame-casting going around for what’s happening in Palestine. I blame the Brits! That was their colony,” said Jerry Boyle, a Canaryville native who sported a dark blue tweed jacket and red vest. “After World War II, the Western powers divvied up the Middle East in a way that was designed to create conflict. So I think British imperialism is directly responsible for what's going on.”
Palestine and Ireland’s histories were intertwined beginning in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, the letter signed by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour supporting the establishment of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine.
As chief secretary of Ireland in the late 1890s, “Bloody Balfour” cracked down on Irish rebels after the Royal Irish Constabulary shot and killed three men during a demonstration in County Cork.
As colonial secretary in the 1920s, Winston Churchill plucked the former
At least one person at the event stopped by for a few minutes to join the protesters. Rev. Dr. Bill Shaw, director of the humanitarian and social-justice organization 174 Trust in Belfast, chanted with the protesters before heading into the Union League. Back home in Northern Ireland, which is governed by the United Kingdom and separate from the sovereign Republic of Ireland, he has protested nearly every weekend since the October 7 attacks. His activism began twelve years ago after his first trip to Palestine.
“I don’t think, once you’ve been and seen, I mean any person with even an ounce of empathy, it’s unmistakable, the apartheid system, the oppression, the brutalisation that the Palestinian people have suffered for, well certainly since the Nakba, but even before the Nakba,” he said.
Shaw, who is a Presbyterian minister in Northern Ireland, maintained that Irish sympathy for Palestinians doesn’t boil down to a Protestant or Catholic issue.
“It’s basically a humanity issue,” he said. “It’s standing with the oppressed against an oppressor that is all powerful because of America.” ¬
Leigh Giangreco is a freelance reporter based in Chicago. You can follow her work on Twitter @LeighGiangreco and at leighgiangreco.com.
A protester stands outside the Union League Club during a March 14 visit with Ireland’s health minister.
Photo by Paul Goyette
Showcasing Chicago’s Cinematic Potential with Kin Marie
The South Side film producer and director speaks about sustaining her creative practice.
BY ARIEON WHITTSEY
Kin Marie is a film producer, director, and editor who has spent most of her life on the South Side, including South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, Bronzeville, and Hyde Park. Her artistic work is deeply rooted in her upbringing and an acute understanding of Black queer life in Chicago. My first introduction to her work was the 2023 music video CHAOS that she made for Chicago artist J Bambii. The music video was Afro-surrealist in nature, entangling the viewer in the bizarre experience of Black girlhood and complicating ideas of self-image, racism, and desire.
With films like CHAOS, Kin Marie follows a line of budding Black filmmakers communicating Black struggle, joy, and life, while avoiding exploitation and reaching for imaginative storytelling in which Black people get to see their present and their future. While we talked, Marie noted a sense of protection over the types of people she writes about. This can be felt in every film, whether they feature arguments over coleslaw in LIBIAMO! or friends grieving over chitterlings in For Genesis. Marie depicts Black people tenderly even in their worst moments and avoids the tendency to lean towards the graphic, obvious, or violent when translating Black life. As someone who lives in Chicago, it was a special treat to dig into her filmography. Her films don’t just take place in Chicago; they foster a sense of home within it, featuring recognizable spots like Maxwell Street, brands like Party Noire and their “Here for Black Joy” shirts, and Black Chicago events like the Afro Disco Social. Black life feels full, alive, and incredibly special in Kin Marie’s world.
I spoke with Kin Marie about growing
up on the Low End, going from making commercials to films, and her production studio. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You describe yourself as a producer, director and colorist. What do these titles actually mean to you?
I’m a producer, director, and editor, and honestly, these things—they’re my job, but they’re also my tools. I see them as tools for larger forms of communication that I find can be harder to express or share with other people.
How has growing up kind of Low End on the South Side influenced your work?
I’m a Low End shorty. I’ve been on the Low End my whole life. After living in South Shore, I’ve pretty much just pinged between Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and
I actually grew up going to Catholic school—private Catholic school up north. It used to be a high school, and that’s where my parents met; they’re still together to this day. But then halfway through, I went to another Catholic school in Boystown, ironically. And I was the only Black girl, for real. My entire middle school class was really small—our graduating class was like six people. I’d say I had a very well-rounded, yet polarizing experience. I was learning so much—culturally and just inherently— within the place where I lived. I was raised in the same house my father and his family grew up in. It was very family-oriented.
I was a theater kid, so I was definitely in the arts. I think it was a safe space to expand and grow into who I am and discover myself. But at the same time, I was dealing with a lot of assimilation and Black girl survival—trying to feel safe and aligned with people who were nothing like me.
You’re seeing a lot of the city (growing up), do you feel like there are any motifs or, like, obsessions that you developed?
Chicago is always a constant foundation in my work, even when it’s not the direct focus. Last year, I took part in this film challenge called the Filmmaker’s Mixtape Challenge, where I had to make a film every month of the year. One of the few rules I set for myself was that there had to be some element of Chicago in each film. It’s an influence in everything I do. I focus on how we authentically communicate with each other—what our dialogue and dialect sound like when we’re authentically in a place.
A big objective I always have is showing the versatility of Chicago and how much cinematic potential exists here, in areas you wouldn’t expect. Or you wouldn’t assume, if you’re not from them, would have that potential.
You get a lot of energy from the city. Is there anything else that is sustaining your creative practice?
I really just pull from my friends and my experiences. I feel like a lot of my work is very conversational. I like to believe my work serves as an observation—an invitation to see, to witness, but also to be dropped right in the middle of these
Kin Marie poses for a headshot.
Photo provided
experiences.
Even though it is an invitation, these people don’t owe you their souls or their stories. They don’t have to tell you all their business—especially because the main characters in my films are often Black women and queer people. Right now, they are at the forefront of my work, and honestly, they probably always will be, even as I change and experiment with different things. I think, at its core, my work is about understanding the nuances of our relationships with each other—how we hold each other through grief, how we make each other laugh, how we fall in love, how we celebrate holidays.
When did you start to identify as an artist?
I feel like my community has kind of been the positioning factor that has helped me really fine-tune what I’m even doing. I had no plans on becoming a filmmaker or anything like that. Even to this day, honestly, when people ask me what I like to watch, I really only watch Real Housewives of Atlanta. I’m not a cinephile or anything like that.
I think how I even got into film was really through—I went to school for marketing and communications, and I chose that major to help my friends market their work, their collectives, and stuff like that. I was making commercials and shortform content for people. Somebody really liked what I was doing, and he asked me to direct one of his first music videos. I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t direct. I don’t know why you’re asking me to do that.’ But I did it anyway, and I really enjoyed the feeling of it. It was really well received.
I think because of all the stuff I was doing in marketing—short-form commercials and content—people were picking up on a lot before I even saw it for myself. It was really just people instilling confidence in me to keep going. I would say I got more formal with film around 2022 or 2023 when I started working for HANA—Hana Beauty—which is this shea butter company in Chicago. I kind of leveraged my shipping and packaging job to tell them, like, ‘Hey, I have a little experience in film.’ And I was like, ‘If you guys want to start producing more content,
Brendan was a large reason I’m able to do most of what I’m doing today. When I needed to edit or started taking on clients, he would let me come to his house and edit on his computer in his room for hours. He would stay up with me—I’d be editing something until four or five in the morning, and he’d stay up playing video games.
really don’t see a point in leaving. There’s so much creativity here. Obviously, every city has its quirks, so I’m not going to sit here and pretend Chicago is perfect. But our creative spaces make sense to me. A lot of us operate with grassroots ideologies—our work isn’t just about access or chasing larger industry spaces hovering over us.
more commercials…’
We started really small, and then I feel like they put more trust in me, and we were able to do more campaigns and higherscale commercials. That’s when I felt more confident calling myself a producer. I used that confidence to allow myself to understand the process of film a bit more. And then I kind of—I think once I directed the J Bambii music video CHAOS, that was the moment I felt like, ‘This is something I feel 100 percent proud of.’
You started Brain Studios. How did you decide to start it and to do that with friends?
For me and him, we just get it. We’re both Sagittariuses, we’re both Virgo risings, and we’re very close. We just fill in each other’s gaps. I had brought him to codirect with me for CHAOS. I needed the production to show people what I could do. I need people—I have a community of people that have always loved and supported me. I felt like, to get to the next step I wanted to go to, I needed to enter spaces where people could just take me a bit more seriously. I think me and Brendan fit really well because I’m a very strong, strategic, and conceptual person, and Brendan is more technical—he comes from a broadcast TV background. He’s an editor, like a very prolific editor. I think our puzzle pieces match because we have so much care for each other. It’s easy for us to be transparent with each other because— yeah, we’re both Sagittariuses.
Now you have this company together. Y’all are finding your flow. If things go really well would you relocate to LA or
I think about so many different amazing brands that have been working, integrating their work with how they serve their community. I think that’s something that’s just so rare and rich. We have so much history here in Chicago that’s untapped, there’s just no reason for me to go to LA. There’s really no reason outside of this idea that there's something in LA that I can’t attain here, I definitely would travel to work in LA. I feel like, for me, it’s Chicago or nothing. If I’m not living in Chicago, I’m not living in the US.
What goals do you have for your work?
I am a true-blue Chicagoan, for real. I
I feel like right now, I’m just really in a maintenance period. I think my goal is to get my web series going, which will be a mixed-media series combining narrative and documentary. I’m just trying to get as many eyes on For Genesis as I can—really trying to have it do as well as possible in the film festival circuit. I’m going to be doing a lot of things like crowdfunding, fundraising, and event activation because I’m trying to take my cast—my queer queens—around the world. I think I really do want to prioritize providing networking opportunities for them and allowing them to see themselves on larger screens in different cities. I want them to have the opportunity to really see how people receive the work they put into it. So that’s really where I’m trying to focus—on elevating, promoting, and pushing For Genesis while connecting with different forms of Black media. ¬
Arieon Whittsey (they/them/theirs) is a storyteller who has recently made their home in Chicago. They are an enjoyer of all forms of media, especially contemporary novels that make them cry and music that makes them dance.
Kin Marie directing actors on set.
Photo provided
Exposition shot from Kin Marie’s short, LIBIAMO!
Photo provided
Abre el café Colibrí y busca ser un espacio para la comunidad
La única cafetería local e independiente llega al vecindario de East Side.
POR FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ PINEDO TRADUCIDO POR ALMA CAMPOS
Un edificio en el vecindario de East Side que ofrecía servicios de preparación de impuestos y una peluquería para mascotas, ahora será la sede de la única cafetería local del vecindario. El proyecto tomó más de un año de trabajo entre el diseño del menú, la carpintería de los muebles y la gestión de permisos. Colibrí Coffee abrió parcialmente el viernes pasado y se prepara para una gran inauguración oficial el sábado, 29 de marzo.
María, la mamá de la propietaria Anaís Robles, tuvo la idea de abrir la cafetería después de darse cuenta de que no había cafeterías locales en el vecindario, fuera de cadenas como Dunkin’ y Starbucks. La cafetería local más cercana, Sol Y Luna Café, cerca de la parada de la estación 92 de Metra, cerró en 2007 después de estar abierta menos de diez años. María también notó que una cafetería cercana en Southel sur de Chicago, Dulce’s, al cruzar la calle de la Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción, tenía mucho negocio y tráfico peatonal y esperaba que pudiera replicarse en East Side.
Robles y su pareja, Juarez Monegain, tienen experiencia en manejar un restaurante. Entre 2012 y 2024, el dúo manejó Notcho Fries, cerca del campus de la Universidad del Sur de Illinois en Carbondale. Han contado con lo que aprendieron allí para dar vida a Colibrí Coffee.
Colibrí es realmente un esfuerzo familiar. Robles es la propietaria y directora general, su hermana Idaima
Robles se encarga de las operaciones y la contabilidad, y Monegain, quien trabajó bajo la tutela del chef Cleetus Friedman, dirige el programa de comida.
Los propietarios de Colibrí quieren hacer todo el trabajo posible, tanto en las mesas que hicieron con madera de origen local, como en el menú, que busca minimizar el desperdicio de alimentos lo más posible. Los jarabes de café usan nueces que se pueden vender como bocadillos, las cáscaras de naranja para otro jarabe se pueden confitar y el pan duro se puede usar para un desayuno de French toast.
Las ofertas de comida incluirán un sándwich de desayuno de tocino, huevo y queso, un sándwich de jamón picante (que ya ha demostrado ser un éxito entre los clientes) y un sándwich de pavo con albahaca.
Su café Girasol es una mezcla única hecha por Ixxa Coffee, con sede en Whiting, Indiana, otro negocio propiedad de mujeres y minorías. “Son cafés excelentes de Chiapas”, dijo el tostador de café José Marín, que fue cliente que asistió a la inauguración de Colibrí. “Del lado mexicano, Chiapas, y luego de Huehuetenango, del lado guatemalteco”.
Utilizan su mezcla única para hacer bebidas como un café con leche con cajeta, un dulce de leche de cabra mexicano casero, y un café con leche de coco y canela.
Uno de los retos que conlleva la apertura de proyectos ambiciosos como estos es que a menudo requieren mucho tiempo, capital y personal para garantizar
el éxito. Tanto East Side Tap, cuyo objetivo es renovar una antigua casa cervecera de Schlitz para convertirla en un nuevo bar, y Skyway Coffee, han retrasado su inauguración desde que anunciaron sus emprendimientos en 2023.
Colibrí cuenta con la ayuda de Dishroulette Kitchen, una organización sin fines de lucro financiada por la Municipalidad que ayuda a las empresas propiedad de mujeres y de personas negras, indígenas y de color (BIPOC, por sus siglas en inglés) centradas en la hostelería y que ha ayudado a empresas como el restaurante Smash Jibarito a través de subvenciones, talleres y guías prácticas. Anaís vio una publicación en Instagram y asistió a un taller sobre precios de menú y marketing. Colibrí también ha aparecido en su página de Instagram.
La noticia de Colibrí ha corrido como la pólvora. Su apertura el 21 de marzo atrajo entre 150 y 200 clientes en los dos primeros días. “Estuvimos abarrotados. Fue una locura para una apertura”, dijo Robles.
“Nunca hemos tenido nada parecido antes, así que quería asegurarme de hacer presencia y venir”, dijo Erika González, que fue la primera clienta en entrar el día de la inauguración. “Eso me emociona mucho”.
El vecindario East Side contiene un número limitado de lugares donde los miembros de la comunidad se reúnen fuera del hogar, el trabajo y la escuela. Estos incluyen parques como Calumet y Rowan y la biblioteca de la sucursal
Vodka-East Side, así como los bares cercanos Crowbar y O’Hara’s (los cuales también organizan eventos regularmente) y peluquerías, aunque estos sirven principalmente a una clientela masculina. Colibrí también es una nueva opción para las personas que no beben alcohol.
“Los he estado siguiendo en Instagram. Soy un gran fanático de las cafeterías, creo que son importantes para la comunidad y como lugar de reunión”, dijo Davis Brown, otro cliente del primer día. “Yo era un adolescente cuando [las cafeterías] comenzaron a hacerse grandes en Estados Unidos, cuando no solo existía Dunkin Donuts. [Yo] pasaba mucho tiempo en la escuela, haciendo la tarea, poniéndome al día con los amigos… [las cafeterías] son un lugar importante para que las personas se reúnan”.
Además de café y comida, Robles espera transformar el lugar para tener eventos comunitarios, como un club local de corredores, eventos de pintura, y un club de lectura.
Además, esperan exhibir y vender el arte de artistas locales, como Nathalie Sánchez, que pintó un mural en el interior, y la barista Lisette Zetina.
Colibrí hará su gran inauguración el 29 de marzo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m., con un corte de listón al mediodía. ¬
Francisco Ramírez Pinedo es periodista, fotógrafo y artista y reside en South Chicago.
Our thoughts in exchange for
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.
rushed to everything and ran out of breath before i turned 23 my core memories are ones we all recall differently. maybe time has begun it’s ripening. all the places we ate at had one dollar sign on google maps. no, it wasn’t even that good for real. yes, we were just high, i checked.
although severed from the joint i still eat with my eyes closed sometimes. in an attempt to escape, i accidentally taught myself how to shrink so small every crystal of salt and drop of butter is a world of its own.
i’d close my eyes and forget what was hard to look at anyway. maybe it’s not that good but it is okay and that’s enough. stopped feeling everything and started tasting it to bide my time while i waited for time to spoil me.
started spoiling myself and grew ripe.
if i really escape i’d have to give up cheese fries so i’ll stay. life is that bad but let me have a snack first, give myself what knees on hardwood never earned me
parted ways with begging but stayed low. started crouching, instead, to pray since i was down there anyway.
in a parking lot behind the mall somewhere i used to exist i am hungry excited to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings even though I’m vegetarian and i fall in love with fries covered in cheese all over again. excited by memories i cannot recall, i close my eyes, this time, to be more present.
walking now, catching my breath.
THIS WEEK'S PROMPT: “WHERE DID YOU FIND YOURSELF? WHAT ELSE DID YOU FIND THERE?”
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.
the quantum realm is fried by chima “naira” ikoro
Public Meetings Report
illustration by Holley Appold/South
Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners (MWRD) meeting opened with a performance by the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band. Jim Coyne of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA spoke at the meeting. The union is responsible for dyeing the Chicago River a rich emerald green each year. Part of the meeting concerned Chicago’s water issues in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that, according to the news site Mic, will “allow cities like San Francisco [and Chicago] to increase their sewage discharges without facing significant federal oversight.” Said Finance Committee Chair Marcelino Garcia, “We need to be committed to the current standards.” The Board’s consensus seemed to be to uphold Chicago’s water treatment standards.
March 11
and state level.
BY SCOTT PEMBERTON AND DOCUMENTERS
March 4
Victims of sexual assaults shared their personal experiences during a meeting of Police District Council 14—Shakespeare (Humboldt Park, Avondale, Lincoln Park, West Town, Logan Square), including how police in the district have dealt with their cases. Some victims and their loved ones said they felt the cases were mishandled. 14th District Commander Melinda Linus responded to concerns about investigations in Logan Square dating back to 2022. After reading a statement about an allegedly mishandled case in December, one attendee asked: “My question is, how is that possible, with any kind of training, that something was mishandled so incredibly? And what is being done to rectify that so these things don’t happen in the future?” Linus said she could not discuss the details of specific investigations because they are handled by the Bureau of Detectives. “Clearly this is a primary concern of the district and the department right now,” she said. “We have increased our patrols, both uniform and covert operations in the area, and we continue to work with the Detective Division on any leads [and] assistance that they may need.” Council members also explained police protocols if they are contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The district does not assist with enforcing civil immigration law, said Linus, in accordance with Special Order S06-14-03. “Department members will not threaten to deport or verbally abuse someone because of their immigration status,” Linus said.
March 5
Affordable single-family homes and a community arts center are coming to East Garfield Park. At a meeting the Chicago City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate passed an amendment for the sale of nine lots on the 3200 and 3300 blocks of West Walnut St. under the City Lots for Working Families program. The project developers have already built two other affordable homes on the 3200 block,which they said were built for $340,000 with a market-rate sales price of $390,000. Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said community members are seeing the effects of gentrification in many areas of East Garfield Park. “This product they have built is affordable,” Ervin said, “and will keep families intact in the community.” Retail space, classrooms and meeting rooms, glass-blowing and ceramics studios, outdoor workshop spaces, an arts garden, and parking lot are included in the design of the Firebird Community Arts Support Corporation project. The Committee approved the sale of nine lots from 3312 to 3344 Lake St. to the organization for the $6.7 million development, which is about a half block from the Kedzie Green Line station.
March 6
Plans to rehabilitate Logan Square’s ninety-nine-year-old Congress Theater are moving forward. At their meeting, members of the Chicago City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development approved a tax incentive for the historic landmark building as a component of a larger redevelopment that makes use of $27 million in TIF funds. The renovated theater is to become a music venue with sixteen affordable residences and commercial space. The building is slated to open in 2027 and to cost $87.8 million. “Even beyond what we might consider the tax savings here,” said Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), a committee member. “I think it is more than made up for with the benefit that this project brings and the interest that it brings to the parcels around it.”
Getting a head start on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) the Metropolitan Water
At its meeting, the Public Building Commission of Chicago Board selected two Chicago firms to design and build a $20-million senior center planned for 4711-4755 South Calumet Ave. in Bronzeville. The woman-led RADA Architects Ltd. was chosen to work with minority-owned Milhouse Engineering and Construction. Commenting on South and West Side development, Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “We want to continue to drill down to make sure . . . that those who are participating in that development actually reflect the values of the community.” The Commission is also working with the City Colleges of Chicago on a $17-million Malcolm X College West Campus addition and renovations at 4624 West Madison St. Johnson touted the work as an investment bringing “great economic opportunities for the West Side.”
During its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards designated one building an historic landmark and approved AdoptA-Landmark grants for two others. Built in 1905, the Rector Building, 79 West Monroe Street, received landmark status in connection with a $64.2 million renovation project. The oldest surviving commercial high-rise designed by Jarvis Hunt, according to a City press release, the fourteen-story Rector Building is being redeveloped as mixed-income residential units and retail space. The committee also approved Adopt-A-Landmark grants for two historic Near West Side churches to support preservation projects. The First Baptist Congregational Church is to receive $1.46 million and the Greater Union Baptist Church $750,000.
March 12
A $280,000 settlement approved by the Chicago City Council ended a lawsuit filed against police by Miracle Boyd, who was injured during a July 2020 protest in Grant Park. Boyd was eighteen at the time. A public commenter who supported the settlement said that it “ain’t enough for what she endured.” An organizer with GoodKids MadCity, Boyd was filming when an officer knocked the phone out of her hand, causing it to hit her face and knock out a front tooth. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had recommended that the officer be fired for using excessive force and filing a false police report. He resigned in 2022. GoodKids MadCity, a youth-led anti-violence nonprofit, supports the Peacebook Ordinance, which calls for police funding to support alternate violence prevention measures. “We have to do more,” said Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward). "We have to pass the Peacebook here in the city of Chicago.”
Buses on eight of twenty planned new CTA bus routes—the “frequent bus network”—are set to make their first runs on March 23, the Chicago Transit Authority Board learned at its meeting. The network routes are designed to reduce wait times to ten minutes or less. “Enhancements like this are what you would see if CTA continues to be funded at the level it should be,” CTA acting President Nora Leerhsen told the Board. “We’re continuing to advocate fiercely for transit funding for CTA in the region and to continue to highlight the inequities in the current funding structure.” Leerhsen also announced two public engagement initiatives, The CTA Connection newsletter and a podcast. The monthly publication will provide information relevant to transit riders. As part of a funding initiative, a podcast is also planned, Leerhsen said.
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This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.
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Major suppor t for Fr ida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds is provided by th e Ze ll Family Foundation , Pat an d Ron Taylor, Co nstance an d Davi d Coolidge, Th e Donnelly Family Foundation , an d Natash a Henner an d Bala Ragothaman
