June 1, 2023

SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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 10, Issue 18

Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato

Managing Editor Adam Przybyl

Senior Editors

Martha Bayne

Christopher Good

Olivia Stovicek

Sam Stecklow

Alma Campos

Section Editors Sky Patterson

Wendy Wei

Jocelyn Martínez-Rosales

Community Builder Chima Ikoro

Public Meetings Editor Scott Pemberton

Contributing Editors

Jocelyn Vega

Francisco Ramírez Pinedo

Visuals Editor Bridget Killian

Deputy Visuals Editor Shane Tolentino

Staff Illustrators

Director of

City and HUD reach agreement on environmental racism investigation

The City has until September 1 to come up with an action plan on how it will change its approach to zoning and land-use practices to address disproportionate environmental impacts on communities of color on the South and West sides. Last year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said the City was discriminating against Black and brown communities by helping place polluters in those neighborhoods. Notably, the HUD investigation drew on community complaints about the City’s plan to move the General Iron scrap metal recycler from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side. (The plan was eventually defeated by a concerted community organizing effort, which the Weekly covered extensively.) While former Mayor Lori Lightfoot fought HUD on the investigation for a year, in one of her last acts in office, her administration agreed to drop the fight and take steps to identify and reduce the environmental burden faced by communities of color. The agreement was praised by environmental justice advocates, such as Cherly Johnson of People for Community Recovery, who said it was “a new roadmap to fight back against environmental racism.” It will be up to Mayor Brandon Johnson to oversee its implementation. Earlier last month, he said, “I will always be steadfast in my commitment to advancing environmental justice and improving the health of our residents and communities.”

Some migrants housed in City Colleges while South Shore residents sue

survivor of sexual and domestic abuse faces deportation

A Chicago woman endured sexual abuse, domestic violence, and prison. Now she faces deportation.

alma campos

packingtown museum immerses visitors in the history of the stockyards

The one-room museum took more than a decade to put together.

maureen kelleher ..................................

public meetings report

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.

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6

Mell Montezuma

Shane Tolentino

Fact Checking: Sky Patterson

Fact Checkers:

Alani Oyola

Kelli Jean Smith

Yiwen Lu

Christopher Good

Layout Editor Tony Zralka

Special Projects Coordinator

Malik Jackson

Managing Director Jason Schumer

Office Manager

Mary Leonard

Advertising Manager Susan Malone

Webmaster Pat Sier

The Weekly is produced by a mostly all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We publish online weekly and in print every other Thursday.

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

More than 300 migrants are now being housed in Wilbur Wright College, located at 4300 N. Narragansett Ave. on the Northwest Side. This comes after hundreds of residents of the area held a meeting with split sentiments over migrants being moved to Wright’s gymnasium for the summer. The migrants were moved to the college on Memorial Day Eve and are expected to stay until August 1 before classes resume. This still leaves more than 500 migrants in police stations. Across the city, in South Shore, residents filed suit in early May against plans to turn vacant and shuttered old South Shore High School into a migrant respite center. The community expressed lack of input and fear for their safety. The City Council is set to vote on a $51 million plan to fund not only shelters but also resources for around 9,000 migrants currently residing in Chicago.

Beaches open for the summer

As usual, beach season started on the Friday before Memorial Day and goes through Labor Day in all twenty-two Chicago beaches. But the mood was interrupted by a shooting at North Avenue Beach when dozens of teenagers gathered that morning. A fifteen-year-old was charged with discharging a gun during a scuffle, but thankfully nobody was hurt and the beach reopened that afternoon. The Chicago Park District claims it has resolved its lifeguard shortage—though they are accepting applications until June 3—and will be adding thirty ambassadors to help out at the busiest beaches. Pools are scheduled to open on June 23.

scott pemberton and documenters 8

writers strike for equity in film and tv industry Hundreds join picket lines in Chicago to support the Writers Guild of America. alycia kamil moaton .............................. 9

sense of unity felt at sueños 2023

Mix of Mexican music and reggaeton fosters cultural exchange.

mateo zapata

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a time machine in the heart of pilsen ‘El Anticuario’ antique shop is sticking around while a brow laboratory opens up behind it. hillary flores ...................................... 14

una máquina del tiempo en el corazón de pilsen

La tienda de antigüedades

Cover photo by Jocelyn Martínez-Rosales

Survivor of Sexual and Domestic Abuse Faces Deportation

A South Side woman endured sexual abuse, domestic violence, and prison. Now she faces deportation

BY ALMA CAMPOS

Trigger Warning: Domestic and sexual violence

ASoutheast Side resident and abuse survivor is facing deportation despite being eligible for a U visa. Attorneys from the National Immigration Justice Center in Chicago (NIJC) say Ana Navarro, thirty-one, qualifies for a U visa because she is a survivor of child sexual abuse and gender-based violence and has cooperated with law enforcement. With a U visa, she would be granted permission to stay in the U.S., work, and have the ability to apply for lawful permanent residency.

Navarro was born in Mexico, but has been living in the U.S. since she was two years old. She has been detained in Wisconsin since February awaiting a hearing on May 30 and could be deported as early as this summer. Local and national immigration advocates are calling on Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release her because Navarro has had a U visa application pending since February 2022.

According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a U visa is “set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.”

To tell Navarro’s story, it is important to trace the story of her sexual abuse as a

child, her attorneys say. She was in second grade when she confided in a teacher that her stepfather had been sexually abusing her since she was five. Her mother was also physically abusive. The Weekly has withheld their names at her attorney’s request.

According to Olivia Abrecht, the immigration attorney on her case, Navarro

cooperated in the police investigation, resulting in the arrest and conviction of both her stepfather and mother who both served time for these crimes.

After she was released on probation, Navarro’s mother took parenting classes which allowed her to gain permission to see Navarro, including her three younger sisters.

Growing up, Navarro said she struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression due to the abuse. She said she attended some therapy sessions, but she felt like she couldn’t open up with her grandmother present, who she loved very much. “I couldn’t have one-on-one sessions. My grandma was always there. So I never felt comfortable opening up about what I was really feeling.”

At sixteen, Navarro became pregnant while she was in a consensual relationship. Two years later, she said that her mother sent Navarro and her daughter to live with a man in his twenties, a situation in which Navarro experienced more abuse.

Navarro said the man was controlling and physically and verbally abusive towards her and her daughter for the four months they lived in his home. “He controlled how I dressed, he never left me money for the most basic things. He had many expectations of what time I could go to sleep, and whenever he got up, I had to get up with him. I just had nowhere to go to provide for my daughter, until he turned around and abused her.”

Navarro is referring to a day when she found her then two-year-old daughter beaten up inside a toy closet in the apartment. “I remember running from him because he was trying to snatch her from me,” she said. “Because he found out that I found her [in that state]. And from then on, his family got involved because they heard all the commotion.”

despite a pending U visa application.

ILLUSTRATION OF ANA NAVARRO COURTESY OF OCAD

According to her case summary, Navarro tried to take her daughter and leave, but could not escape as he and some members of his family kept her from leaving the apartment for fear that she would report the abuse.

For a period of two weeks, Navarro and her baby were held captive in one of the bedrooms of the apartment. The family watched their every move, she said. During this time, Navarro was asked to tie up her daughter with scarves so she wouldn’t attempt to leave. The man made threats that he would hurt them both if she did not comply, so she did, she said.

Navarro said she was able to escape by eventually convincing the family that she wasn’t going to report him to the police. Her cousin and best friend took Navarro and her daughter to the hospital. However, Navarro was arrested shortly after.

“They arrested me because they said I was accountable for his actions,” Navarro said. “Because they said I wanted to live with him and I thought it was okay.”

Navarro’s attorney, Abrecht, said that prosecutors charged Navarro as a co-defendant for the harm done to her daughter and she was convicted along with him.

Abrecht said that not having been counseled about her rights and the possibility of deportation, Navarro pled guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to fifteen years. She later tried to appeal her sentence, but did not have a lawyer for the case and the appeal was filed too late.

Navarro said she gave up her daughter for adoption when she knew she had to serve time in prison. “It was the right thing to do,” she said. “My daughter was such a sweet, loving child. She gave me a reason to live when I got pregnant with her.”

“The fact that someone is undocumented is often used against them to keep them captive in abusive relationships,” said Alexis Mansfield, senior advisor at the Women’s Justice Institute and director of the Incarcerated Survivors Project. “And yet, that is not a factor that’s considered when somebody is being charged or sentenced.”

Mansfield met Navarro when she

was at the Logan Correctional Center with her organization for an event during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. While there, she learned that Navarro was a criminalized survivor.

At Logan, where Navarro served her sentence, she became an advocate and mentor for other victims of violence. She taught inner circle, conflict resolution, art classes, and art therapy, and she was also part of a horticulture program.

Navarro is proud of an art project she partook in while there. “I was able to help paint and decorate the visiting room at Logan to make it a more friendly place for the children to come visit their mothers. We painted different cartoon characters to make it a more welcoming place,” she said.

In November 2022, Navarro was released early due to her good behavior.

Mansfield and Navarro continued to work together after her release. “Ana got involved with the Women’s Justice Institute right away because she wanted to help other women,” Mansfield said. “She’s an amazing artist. She encouraged her friends to come and to take part in activities, including our reclamation circles, which are our monthly circles, led by and for formerly incarcerated women to reclaim their lives.”

But in February of 2023, just a few months after her release, ICE tracked Navarro down at Hardin House, a home for women recently released from prison. She was living there to receive services to help her re-enter society.

Navarro was supposed to join the Women’s Justice Institute as a policy fellow this year to advocate for state legislation on behalf of survivors. She was also a women’s coach through the Women Initiating New Directions Program, funded by Northwestern University.

Now Navarro awaits trial at the Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin. At the jail, she shares a unit with sixteen others. She is not allowed to go outside for fresh air. “The windows are covered where you can’t see outside. You don't see anything but maybe the sky.”

From the time she wakes up at 6:30 am every day, besides limited recreational time with others, she says she sits alone in a room with nothing to do. Mental health

services are not offered at the facility and Navarro said the jail doesn’t offer fresh food. Everyday foods include canned or frozen fruit.

On March 10, the immigration agency issued a Final Administrative Order of Removal (FARO) by ICE, Abrecht said. A FARO allows ICE to deport someone without having to appear in immigration court. ICE issued Navarro a FARO because her conviction is considered an aggravated felony under immigration law.

But her attorney explained that because Navarro has a fear of returning to Mexico, she was placed in “withholdingonly proceedings”, which are limited proceedings before an immigration judge. In this situation, Navarro may present a claim based on her fear of return to Mexico that could allow her to stay in the U.S. The Convention Against Torture is a UN human rights treaty that demands that signatory countries investigate all allegations of torture, to “bring to justice the perpetrators, and to provide a remedy to victims of torture.”

“If Ana were in regular removal proceedings,” Abrecht explained, “the immigration judge would be able to adjudicate the waiver necessary for her U visa application to be granted and she could be released pending USCIS’s grant of her application. But the judge does not have the authority to grant that waiver in withholding-only proceedings.”

Navarro’s attorneys and immigration advocates point out that under ICE Directive 11005.3, ICE is supposed to look at these types of cases with a “victim-centered approach” and consider prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutorial discretion refers to the power that U.S. immigration agencies such as ICE have to determine the outcome of an immigration case.

This means ICE could drop the FARO and place Navarro in regular removal proceedings, but ICE declined, according to Abrecht.

The Weekly reached out to ICE regarding Navarro’s case and how they use their discretion in these types of cases. A spokesperson replied, “Due to privacy, we are unable to comment on this case.”

“The U.S. doesn’t invest in systems to

adequately support and not criminalize survivors,” said Karina Solano Suarez, the anti-deportation coordinator with the organization Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD). “It’s an immense problem that immigrants, like Ana, who were imprisoned and served their time can face additional carceral time by being taken into ICE custody due to their status.

“ICE’s enforcement is arbitrary and exacerbates cycles of violence. We cannot trust an agency that does not follow its own memo for enforcement priorities. OCAD stands in solidarity with Ana who is fighting for her freedom, healing, and the ability to support other survivors like herself.”

“I know that a lot of people don’t tell the story, especially immigrants that are victims of domestic violence,” Navarro said over the phone. “They’re afraid because they think they’ll get in trouble here and not get the help. I feel like those three months when I did get to be at home, I got a little taste of what my life could be if everything goes well, and if I get the blessing of staying here.”

Mansfield told the Weekly that Navarro cared very deeply, not just about her own life, but about changing things for those around her. “We need her back in the community to continue fighting for a better Chicago and a better Illinois.”

Navarro hopes to be released and continue her work in helping survivors of gender-based violence and sexual abuse. “I want to help people that have gone through or are going through what I went through and help them heal. I have a purpose and I know that God’s not just gonna take me away from it.”

OCAD is asking people to support Navarro’s release from ICE detention through an online petition. ¬

Alma Campos is a senior editor at the Weekly and a freelance journalist.

Packingtown Museum Immerses Visitors in the History of the Stockyards

The one-room museum took more than a decade to put together and is working on engaging the Back of the Yards community.

BY MAUREEN KELLEHER

JohnEdel first fell in love with Chicago’s industrial history—“factories and railroads and ships,” he said—as a boy growing up in Rogers Park. He spent his youth following that curiosity, whether he was reading classic histories of the city or exploring abandoned factories in Skokie and Lincolnwood. Later, he discovered books like William Cronon’s Nature’s Metropolis and Louise Carroll Wade’s Chicago’s Pride: The Stockyards, Packingtown and Environs in the Nineteenth Century, which explored the ties between Chicago’s environment and its economic development.

This early love of industrial history, coupled with an MFA in industrial design from the University of Illinois at Chicago, led Edel to found Bubbly Dynamics, a limited liability corporation with a social mission: to renovate dilapidated manufacturing facilities in environmentally responsible ways and create sites for small and emerging businesses. His first project, the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center—better known as Bubbly—now houses about a dozen light-industrial manufacturers in an affordably renovated Bridgeport building with a green roof.

In 2010, Bubbly Dynamics bought the old Peer Foods pork processing plant located at 1400 W. 46th Street. The goal was to house modern food-producing businesses in an energy efficient and low-waste building with a closed-loop approach to agriculture. Edel’s vision for the building—today known as The Plant—also included a museum “about the history of the area and the building of

the Stockyards.”

It took a bit more than a decade, but the pocket-size Packingtown Museum now sits deep within The Plant. With the help of curator Dominic Pacyga, author of Slaughterhouse: Chicago’s Union Stock Yard and the World It Made;

curatorial assistant Ivan Guzman; and others on a small committee, the Packingtown Museum opened in 2021.

The free museum, housed within just one room but extended by hallways, pays tribute to the waves of workers that arrived in the neighborhood across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through immigration and the Great Migration. Attracting visitors from both down the street and around the world, the Packingtown Museum also serves as a gathering space for community groups, including the Back of the Yards Peace and Education Coalition and the Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange.

Today, Dominic Pacyga is professor emeritus of history at Columbia College. But back in 1969, he was a livestock handler, working second shift in the waning days of the Union Stock Yard

before its closing in 1971. Pacyga grew up at 45th and Wolcott and knew Back of the Yards well. But he studiously avoided the Peer Foods building, which had brought tragedy to his Polish immigrant family.

“My grandfather got hurt at the plant in 1948, and later died of his injuries. I stayed away from the area,” he said.

But later, a film crew persuaded Pacyga to discuss the history of the Stockyards at The Plant during the early days of redevelopment. Pacyga and Edel met and quickly became friends.

“When it was time to get serious, Dominic was the logical choice” to curate the Packingtown Museum, Edel said.

“It’s a small museum, but I think it tells a powerful story and [offers] a rich history of the neighborhood,” said Pacyga. Many of the photographs come from his personal collection, including a picture of his grandfather.

In Pacyga’s view, two overarching themes run throughout the history of the Stockyards: the innovation, and the spectacle. Today, the Stockyards Industrial Park is an imposing site from most angles—and especially near 47th and Racine, where Testa Produce’s wind turbine sits just a few hundred yards from a large, smoke-spewing plant that looks straight out of a <i>Simpsons episode</i>. But there are large areas of vacant space.

Not so in the glory days between 1865 and 1971. “It was a big tourist attraction,” Pacyga said. “Half a million people a year were coming every year to see the Stockyards and the killing floors.”

At Peer Foods, pig carcasses were hung on the meat rail and sent down

A historical poster at the museum. PHOTO BY MAUREEN KELLEHER

the packing line to be carved up and sold, whether in products like bacon and sausage or in pieces. As Pacyga tells the story, a kosher butcher from one of the meat companies would carve artisan works out of bones, “like a cane and a jewel box.” Those items are now part of the museum’s (deliberately small) collection.

Pacyga knows all the fun details you might never have guessed about the Stockyards—from the fact that the Chicago White Stockings, predecessor of the Cubs (not the Sox!) played their first game in Dexter Park on 43rd Street just off Halsted, to the trivia-worthy date of Christmas Day 1865, when the Yards first opened to the public and crowds jostled to see cattle being slaughtered and butchered.

Pacyga noted, wryly: “What better way to celebrate Christ’s birthday in the most capitalistic city in America?”

Ivan Guzman joined the Packingtown Museum effort in 2017. Previously a high school teacher, Guzman was then attending grad school at UIC for museum studies. “Creating a museum from the ground up seemed really enticing,” he said.

Building a museum inside The Plant, a historic packing plant being remade for modern food businesses, was also a draw. “The space we had was very unique, different from a traditional museum or gallery space,” Guzman said. “I enjoyed how the history was embedded in the space.”

The committee considered how to use the room’s unique elements, like the large cooler door in the back corner, to tell the story. “How do we use that, how do we embed that in the exhibit?” Guzman recalled them wondering. Their answer: the door opens to reveal an enlarged photo of a butcher on the line.

Edel said he deliberately left the meat rails on the ceiling in the space to enhance visitors’ understanding of the original building.

To enhance the immersive feel, Pacyga, Guzman and others are collecting stories from families who arrived in the Stockyards from elsewhere. Guzman is working on translating all the stories into Spanish. “We want to make sure the museum is language-accessible to

Spanish speakers, given the makeup of the neighborhoods” nearby, he said.

The museum team acknowledged that it hasn’t always been easy to coax stories out of people. “Mexican families’ [stories] were a little easier to obtain because of the number of families living in Back of the Yards,” said Guzman. Though they have leads, he added, “We’ve struggled to find a German family story.”

Edel acknowledged the problem runs deeper than just finding the storytellers. Many people with great stories to tell turned silent when asked to record their tales for posterity. “People love to talk, but they’re too self-conscious about it to leave a record.” That was true of Jaime, a Peer Foods worker living down the street, who sent his children to college on the backs of the pigs he cut up. It was also

businesses providing 105 full-time jobs. According to Eden, more than half the businesses are women-owned, and a third are owned by people of color.

Local coffee shop owner Jesse Iniguez, who grew up in the neighborhood, takes a nuanced view of the museum. “It’s a great opportunity to highlight the history and culture of Back of the Yards, both past and present,” he said.

At the same time, he and others in the neighborhood would like to see the museum, and The Plant, get more deeply connected to the community. “Maybe it’s because of the pandemic, but I think more could be done to invite the community.”

When asked directly about local concerns that a white North Sider showed up in the neighborhood, bought a building and is creating something that

meatpacking and its role in creating industrial processes. Another historical fun fact offered by Edel: Henry Ford’s car production line was just a riff on the template created by the meatpacking industry.

Though hosting school groups can be challenging, given that The Plant is an active industrial facility, Kokola mentioned that the museum recently hosted the eighth-graders from San Miguel School, a Catholic middle school in Back of the Yards. “We had like forty-something eighth-graders,” she noted. Many didn’t understand what the neighborhood name meant before their visit.

The museum already hosts some events, like April’s Reuse-a-palooza, and recurring meetings, like a recent gathering of the Back of the Yards Peace and Education Coalition. Edel wants to expand the museum’s programming to hold more lectures, film screenings and poetry readings with local and citywide organizations.

Guzman offered some advice to first-time Packingtown Museum visitors: “Before even stepping into the building, I would say, just take in the neighborhood.”

true of Wanda Kurek, the beloved owner of Stanley’s Tavern, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 95.

“She would tell stories all day,” recalled Edel. “Then, when we finally came into the bar to record her, she was angry. We got one-word answers.” As soon as the recorder disappeared, she became her usual, talkative self.

Though the work has been difficult, the team continues to gather stories and plans to build an immigrant timeline featuring these stories both in the physical museum and online, at the museum’s website.

Pacyga noted that innovation and spectacle continue to play a major role in today’s Back of the Yards. Testa Produce, in the Stockyards Industrial Park, relies on a wind turbine to provide thirty-five percent of its energy. Surrounding the Packingtown Museum, inside the Plant, are a host of small

could change the character of the area, Edel spoke candidly. “That has, from the start, weighed heavily on my mind,” he said. “I’ve never had the intention to be a spaceship from the North Side showing up to gentrify the neighborhood.”

But growing really deep roots in the community isn’t easy. Edel, the Plant and the Packingtown Museum have made some headway, but with scarce resources, ensuring the museum is widely known throughout the neighborhood has been a lesser priority. “If we had a little bit more resources, I would love to have somebody whose job it was to shepherd school groups” through the working industrial site, Edel said.

For now, that task falls to Carolee Kokola, The Plant’s operations director, who joined the team in 2013. “I kind of have [an]ear to the ground as far as who is visiting,” she said. She said more than a third of visitors come either out of interest in Chicago history or in the history of

You can see—and often smell—the Chicago Meat Authority, still packing beef, pork and poultry, on 47th Street just east of Racine. Or grab a taco from La International, a grocery store at 46th and Ashland, at Paco’s Tacos in the back. Guzman advised: “Appreciate the neighborhood and the surrounding environment to understand the history that’s being presented in the exhibit.” ¬

The Packingtown Museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9am. to 4pm, or by appointment. You can also visit the museum during tours of the Plant building, which are held every Saturday during the summer farmers’ market season. Or visit online at www.packingtownmuseum.org.

Maureen Kelleher is a writer who lives in Back of the Yards. Find her: @KelleherMaureen

Edel said he deliberately left the meat rails on the ceiling in the space to enhance visitors’ understanding of the original building.

Public Meetings Report

ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLEY APPOLD/SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.

BY DOCUMENTERS AND SCOTT PEMBERTON

May 10

About sixty-five to seventy people attended the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability CPD Superintendent Public Forum #5 meeting, including several City Council members who commented on the selection of a new CPD superintendent. Public commenters, police officers, and news media were also present. Citing a goal of a “transparent, collaborative, [and] open” hiring process, the commission provided some information on current applicants. The total of fifty-three is about twice the number received the last time the superintendent’s position was open. The current applicants include eleven women, forty-two men, twenty-two Black people, twentyfour white people, and seven Latinx people. Fourteen have experience as police chiefs, and the applicants represent ten states, Washington, D.C., and one foreign country. The commission must present the mayor with three choices for the position by July 14. The mayor then has thirty days to select one of the finalists or ask for three new names.

May 12

The main topic considered by the Cook County Board of Commissioners Justice Advisory Council at its meeting was the actions and results of the county’s postincarceration re-entry program. The Justice Advisory Council (JAC) coordinates and implements criminal and juvenile justice reform efforts and community safety policy development, according to its website. The JAC has grown to seventeen members from five last year and hopes to reach the full participation of twenty-five, according to county official Avik Das. Service Coordinator Faith Hong reported that JAC “placed 2,000 people into housing, 1,500 males and ninety females” in 2021-2022 as well as “transgender-identifying participants.” Saint Leonard’s House provides interim housing and services for previously incarcerated individuals identifying as men re-entering communities from Illinois prisons, a representative reported. The program has beds for thirty-six individuals. Saint Leonard’s offers a holistic programming approach, in part because two-thirds of its employees have been incarcerated themselves. The organization, under the name Saint Leonard's Ministries, provides services for men and women.

At its first meeting the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability Police District 19 Town Hall focused on ways to connect and communicate effectively with the district police and with organizations that can impact community safety. “The more of us having conversations with them [police] the better,” said one council member. Suggestions for learning about the community’s policing issues included ride-a-longs with patrol officers and with a “crisis assistance response and engagement,” or CARE, team.

Launched in September 2021, CARE teams have various configurations—for example, a multidisciplinary team includes a paramedic, mental health clinical professional and a police officer trained in de-escalating mental health crises. The CARE program is designed to “ensure that individuals experiencing a mental health crisis are assisted by teams of behavioral health professionals, with resources to address their unmet health and social needs,” according to the City’s CARE web page.

May 16

At a meeting of the Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, CEO Tracey Scott reported that 1,650 mixed-income units are under construction by the CHA and its partners. Five hundred households are on a waitlist for those units out of a total of 44,000 families. In 2021, the City reported a shortage of 120,000 units. Public commenters complained of quality issues. One resident described CHA work as “inadequate,” amounting to “senior abuse,” and suggested that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigate. Another commenter noted a lack of security in some senior buildings that allowed drug dealing and the use of laundry equipment by non-residents in unsecured buildings. The board authorized $28 million for “integrated pest management” services at the discretion of the CEO.

May 18

At its meeting, the Chicago Police Board heard a report from Damon Smith, deputy director of Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, who oversees the newly elected police district councils for the commission. He described the nature, purpose, and structure of the councils. The CPD will ensure that district commanders or other police leaders in each district will attend council meetings. Council members, who number sixty-six with three for each of the CPD’s twenty-two districts, received three days of training on current police and accountability structures. The members are charged, in part, with implementing restorative justice practices and identifying other potential changes to local policing. They are elected every four years.

May 22

At the first regular meeting of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability 18th Police District Council—Near North, Council Chair Brad Kessler reported that sixty-seven migrants had been housed in the police district’s station to date. Currently, twenty-one adults and nine children, mostly Venezuelans and Colombians who arrived from Texas, are at the station, which has one bathroom and no showers. The council has organized restaurants and volunteers to provide lunches and dinners each day. Migrants generally move to shelters or respite centers within three weeks. Members heard several public commenters, some representing organizations and others speaking for themselves. Topics included encouraging police to hold bar and restaurant owners accountable for public disturbances related to their businesses, protecting school personnel and students from gun violence, and controlling crimes and gatherings prompted through social media with gang members coming from other areas. Council members also elected officers, outlined police council responsibilities, and designated the fourth Tuesday of each month as their regular meeting date. Newly instituted this year, the twenty-two councils represent each of Chicago’s police districts; each council’s three members are elected every four years.

This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.

Writers Strike for Equity in Film and TV Industry

Hundreds join picket lines in Chicago to support the Writers Guild of America in fight for better wages and work conditions as streaming companies rake in millions.

BY ALYCIA KAMIL MOATON

On May 2, after more than six weeks of negotiations, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), representing some 11,000 writers of film, TV, and digital media productions, went on strike for better wages and work environments, among other issues. It’s the first writers’ strike since 2007, which lasted one hundred days. The ripple effects of this strike have impacted many other cities where production happens, including Chicago.

Chicago-based shows such as The Chi have paused production amidst the current strike. In addition to lost income for striking writers, workers from unions that are showing up in solidarity and not crossing the picket line, such as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), could also be affected.

On May 17, union members from across all sectors picketed outside NBC Tower in Chicago in solidarity with strikers on the West and East coasts and created their own picket lines outside of Chicago’s Cinespace Studios a week earlier. Many echoed, “Chicago’s a union town” at both of these events, touching on Chicago’s history of unions and individuals standing up to fight for better wages, working environments, and equitable spaces.

The conditions that led to the WGA strike have been brewing for years. The WGA has identified a number of reasons for these growing disparities and is fighting to address them. In the last decade, residuals—the money writers are paid when a show has reruns—have been sliced. Mini rooms are replacing standard writers’ rooms, meaning fewer writers doing the same work in less time.

The WGA is fighting the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replace writers and the common practice of canceling a show prematurely to avoid pouring money into its production.

Since 2013, Netflix has gained 200 million subscribers, and its numbers are still growing; in the first quarter of 2023, it gained another 1.75 million subscribers. Disney Plus gained over 130 million subscribers just in the last three years. Despite streaming being a lucrative business, writers are hardly reaping what they sow.

“Since 2017, streaming businesses have garnered approximately $30 billion a year on average,” said Ricardo Gamboa, South sider, professional screenwriter, and member of WGA East and Screen

Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAGAFTRA). “During these same five years, compensation for writers went down by twenty-four percent.” Gamboa worked on seasons three through five of The Chi as a staff writer, story editor, and producer, and has created plays The Wizards, BRUJOS and Meet Juan(ito) Doe, as well as the news show and podcast The Hoodoisie

The CEOs of streaming platforms such as Discovery, Disney Plus, and Netflix make upwards of $30-40 million a year. Meanwhile, many writers are barely making enough to cover rent, and some are having to pick up multiple jobs on the side while awaiting other gigs. For those who are on the opposite side of the screen, the consumers, what goes into the creation

of our favorite shows is often left to be a mystery. Those bringing in big checks are actually a very low percentage of screenwriters. Alex O’Keefe, a staff writer on the award-winning Apple TV series The Bear, shot and based in Chicago, told the New Yorker that he attended the WGA awards ceremony with a “negative bank account [balance] and dressed in a bowtie purchased with credit.”

The WGA’s proposals to alleviate these issues during negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) were countered with meager offers or rejected. The WGA wants to increase weekly rates of staff writers, story editors, and executive story editors— some of the lowest paying positions and mostly occupied by BIPOC—by six percent, five percent, and five percent respectively. The AMPTP countered with four percent, three percent, and two percent. WGA’s ask for an increase in the duration of employment by ensuring they are guaranteed at least ten weeks for pregreenlit rooms and up to fiftytwo weeks for postgreenlit rooms—was also rejected. A proposal for AI to be regulated on MBA (master of business administration) projects and for it to not be used to create or rewrite material was rejected; instead, the AMPTP offered “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.”

For many writers, depending on factors such as accurate residuals and fair compensation can be the difference between making a living or struggling. Residuals provide a large sum of a writer’s income and often keep them afloat while awaiting their next project. Residuals are union-negotiated payments that writers

Lilly Wachowski, Chicago resident and filmmaker, speaks at the WGA protest outside the NBC Tower on May 17, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

PHOTO BY JOCELYN MARTÍNEZ-ROSALES

receive when the production they worked on is played again after its initial release. However, reruns or “reairs” seem to almost be a thing of the past now. You can catch up on or binge shows in one sitting, and writers aren’t making anything off of an episode getting streamed more than once.

When streaming was initially brought on the scene, there was justifiable pushback toward how this new method would impact the way writers would get paid. “We agreed at the time [of the 2007 strike] to take a lower residual rate because streaming was so new and the studios argued they didn’t know if it was going to be profitable or not. Now it is profitable, so they need to give us the same amount we would be getting for broadcast or cable— they are refusing to do that,” said Kyra Jones, an award-winning Chicago/LAbased artist, educator, activist, professional screenwriter, and WGA/SAG union member. Jones is a staff writer on Hulu’s original series Woke as well as ABC’s Queens and the creator of The Right Swipe, Good Vibes Only, and Go To The Body Mini-rooms being utilized over standard writers' rooms have ultimately shortened the writing time by not only reducing the number of writers on the team but also shortening how long they are working on the show. A standard writer’s room is ten or more writers working on a show’s full season pre- and post-production; now it’s common for that to be reduced to maybe five working on a show preproduction, and they may not even be called back for the rest of the show. “There are some writers’ rooms that the studios expect you to write a whole season of TV in like five or seven weeks,” said Jones. “You’re hustling to get the season done, and you’re getting less pay.”

The lack of livable wages in the industry is a deterrent for writers who don’t live in industry-dominating cities, such as LA or New York. “I do think that the centralization of writers’ rooms in Los Angeles is a detriment,” said Jones. “It’s cutting off talent from other cities and cutting off talent who might not have the privilege to be able to pick up and move to Los Angeles.”

That means writers’ rooms for shows based in Chicago are mostly happening in New York or Los Angeles, with few, if

any, Chicago voices at the table to factcheck. Chicago-themed shows such as 61st Street and South Side also fell victim to the practice of producers pulling the plug on shows to avoid pouring money into their production. South Side, in particular, was a part of the wave of cancellations orchestrated by Max (formerly HBOMax) that took away shows like Legendary, Love Life, and Westworld Gamboa argued there should be just

shows under production has deleted all production information and its place reads a message, “postings will be listed on this page when they are available. Please check back with us.” Showtime series The Chi attempted to continue shooting the show’s sixth season despite the picket lines, going so far as to tell workers to show up to movie and film studio Cinespace by 4am to avoid picketers. Many union members from IATSE, SAG/AFTRA,

where communities, residents, and local businesses, benefit with the money spent in the local economy and the jobs created by their projects.”

Other issues many strikers are fighting against is the overall lack of diversity in writers’ rooms and the overt racism perpetrated by studios. In 2020, white men held the largest share of TV employment (37.4 percent), with white women (25.9 percent), BIPOC women (21.4 percent), and BIPOC men trailing behind (15.3 percent). Oftentimes writers of color will be kept in the staff writer position, the entry-level role with the lowest pay, for multiple projects they work on.

“BIPOC women make up significant shares of lower-level writers. BIPOC women writers make up the smallest share of EPs [executive producers] and showrunners at 7.4 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively,” stated an inclusion report done by the WGA. The report found that in 2020, white men made up 63.8 percent of executive producer roles, one of the highest-paid positions which can pull in an average salary of over $100,000, while BIPOC only held 6.9 percent of those positions. Non-Black writers, particularly white men, left entry-level positions and climbed up to some of the higher roles more often than other groups.

as many opportunities to work on shows in cities like Chicago as there are in New York or LA. “The creativity and ingenuity of Chicago’s communities of color are often overlooked for transplant artists or credentialed creatives that have been sanctioned by institutions. So, I say support the creator down the block—listen to the storytellers on your block,” they said.

The strike could affect Chicago writers, and the city’s broader film industry, in a number of ways. The Chicago Film Office that normally lists current

and Teamsters Local 727 were out as early as 3am outside the studio in Little Village, holding down the picket line and shutting down production.

This pause in production could have an impact on the city’s revenue and business sector. Just in 2021, film and TV production revenue cultivated in Illinois from different fees, permits, and set hiring hit a record high of $630 million. The official Chicago government site states, “Film, TV, and media projects provide an economic impact to the state,

Writers of color see a stark difference in the range of opportunities available to them and the chance to advance in their careers. “If you’re Black or a person of color, you stay at the bottom. With no promise of elevation. Just grind and be quiet,” said Sydney Charles, a multidisciplinary artist, actor, and member of SAG-AFTRA and the Actors Equity Association. “Unless you are asked what can they do to not look racist or sexist or homophobic or transphobic, knowing damn well the global majority are the ones moving and shaping society and culture,” she added. Aside from her myriad award-winning theatrical performances, Charles has also been in many Chicago-shot shows such as Southside, The Chi, Empire, and Shameless.

As striking writers risk losing work opportunities, unemployment benefits, and healthcare, they’re asking for support from media consumers. “I think that the best way right now to help the writers is to spread awareness and to spread accurate

19-year-old AJ White from Oak Park, Illinois wears a shirt that reads "Dope Black Writer," at a WGA protest outside the NBC Tower on May 17, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

PHOTO BY JOCELYN MARTÍNEZ-ROSALES

“If you’re Black or a person of color, you stay at the bottom. With no promise of elevation. Just grind and be quiet.” —Sydney Charles

information because a lot of the publications like deadline or variety, they have vested interests in the studios and their success,” said Jones. “So if you're going to look for accurate information, follow WGA on Twitter, go on the WGA website, follow actual WGA writers on social media, and try to amplify those messages and that information rather than the confusing inaccurate kind of scare tactics that we’re hearing from the studios.”

The last strike lasted one hundred days, and many WGA members expect to be on strike for as long as possible until their demands are met. Many WGA members have asked the public for support by joining those on the picket lines if you are in New York or LA, or keeping up with what’s going on in your city if protests are happening there. Uplift their voices by circulating their demands on socials and reading up on updates listed on the WGA strike website, including their demands, their proposals to AMPTP, and more ways you can get involved.

In the end, writers are striking to make studios recognize the value in their work and move away from a system that prioritizes who can put out a product the fastest and bring in the most revenue. “As a society, we have removed the humanism of art. The general public no longer sees it as a means of forming awareness of self or shaping the collective memory. Now it’s just how fast you can make it and how much money it can make,” said Charles. “Completely abandoning what makes art such a necessary part of life, the connection to the soul.

“That’s why artists are necessary. That’s why truth is necessary. I truly desire for all artists and art supporters and art investors to go back to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Without it, society as we know it, will die.” ¬

Alycia Kamil is multi-medium artist, educator, and freedom fighter from the South Side

Sense of Unity Felt at Sueños 2023

Mix of Mexican music and reggaeton fosters cultural exchange.

BY MATEO ZAPATA

Sueños Music Festival in its second year was a reminder that the descendants of immigrants from across Latinoamérica are very much here and that this city is also our home. Despite the historic segregation of Chicago and the divide among Latino/ a/x people based on nationality, the younger generations are beginning to understand, accept and learn from each other’s cultures.

The festival at Grant Park saw Mexican youth in cowboy boots and embroidered hats juking to Afro-Puerto Rican reggaeton. Wisin & Yandel wrapped themselves in various flags. Nicky Jam dedicated a song to Medellin in gratitude to his Colombian fans. Myke Towers, wearing a Jeff Hamilton Chicago

Bulls leather jacket, took off his Air Jordan Bred 1s on stage mid-set, gifting them to a young fan in the crowd. Eduin Caz of Grupo Firme demanded to hear the audience yell “el grito Latino” during his set closing out the festival. Time will tell if the force of our rhythms can break through other barriers our community faces every day, but the ability to come together and celebrate each other serves as a foundation as our presence in Chicago becomes stronger than ever.

Mateo Zapata is a South Side-raised creative of Colombian/Chilean descent working at the intersection of photojournalism, film, art production and hip-hop. He photographed the inaugural Sueños for the Weekly

of Chicago.

Multiple protesters hold SAG-AFTRA solidarity posters at WGA protest at the NBC Tower on May 17, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

PHOTO BY JOCELYN MARTÍNEZ-ROSALES

Wisin & Yandel return for the second Sueños.

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

A festival goer shows off tattoos. PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

Young Miko

Eladio Carrión

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

Nicky Jam

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

Becky G

Junior H

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

Eduin Caz of Grupo Firme.

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

Festival goers dancing to the music.

PHOTO BY MATEO ZAPATA

A Time Machine in the Heart of Pilsen

BY HILLARY FLORES

When clientele step into El Anticuario on 18th Street, in the heart of Pilsen, their five senses are set in motion as they navigate a collection of memories: the smell of baked goods, jazz music blaring from the record player, an assortment of vintage postcards with photos of classic Hollywood films, antique dolls, and even the so-called ‘cemetery of books.’

At least, that is the mission of coowner Francisco Orozco, when he began the family business with his daughter, Gibby, and wife Alex six years ago. Now, they are preparing for change.

Right outside the shop, at 1425 W. 18th St., residents have been seeing a public notice that has caused a bit of confusion

and raised rumors over the possibility of El Anticuario closing down. One interpretation of the notice is that a makeup business will be replacing the antique shop.

The family denies this will happen anytime soon.

“People come in here all the time and ask about it,” Gibby said. “The door is always open.”

She said that the upcoming semipermanent make-up business, or “brow laboratory,” has been in the works since the antique shop reopened after the pandemic. She noted that the new makeup business will work separately from the antique shop—it will be located behind the building, through a separate entrance, and

run by a different owner.

She mentioned that she was curious as to what changes this new brow laboratory will add on, but mentioned that she “knows it’s all for good, because [they’re] different businesses.”

The listed owner of the new business, “J.Huerta,” could not be reached for comment.

One thing is for sure, Alex’s weekend tradition of baking goods for the shop, inspired by the recipes of the Mexican poet and scholar, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, will continue.

“I make goods at home for us to eat, but also for others to come and eat with us,” she said. “I’m always doing something different.”

The goal is to create organic conversations with their visitors, while enjoying the pastries. Alex works to diversify these recipes. “I’m always aspiring to make something different...to make something from Mexico, like Mexican wedding cookies.”

Alex says that clients bring a piece of their own culture to the shop as they get a taste of the family’s home and roots. The mom and co-owner of El Anticuario shares that the business unites people from all different backgrounds.

“They come from all over,” she said.

“When they come here, they talk to us first to see if we are going to stay open... there are people that we’ve had as customers for years.”

She wants every single work day to be a beautiful day filled with hope. She says this hope derives from the opportunity of being able to share her love language: food, according to her daughter Gibby.

“We’ve been encouraging her that it’s her time to do something that she really loves to do,” Gibby says. “She loves to cook and she loves to bake.”

Gibby, a former teacher, says that prior to coming into the business full-time, her entire world revolved around teaching until the pandemic caused a shift.

This proud daughter of Mexican immigrants expressed that the business is a “connection to the outside world.”

But, it hasn’t always been smooth. The pandemic was a challenging time that left her whole family, “in limbo.”

“It was very strange for us as a family,” Gibby said. “It impacted us because we didn't know what was happening[...] and so we're kind of like, well, ‘do we stay? or ‘do we leave?’”

Gibby said that despite the bumps on the road, she always knew that the world for her and her family was their oyster.

The family ultimately decided to

‘El Anticuario’ antique shop is sticking around while a brow laboratory opens up behind it.

Alex Orozco(left), Francisco Orozco(center), and Gibby Orozco(right) are owners of 'El Anticuario' located in the heart of Pilsen.

PHOTO BY HILLARY FLORES

renew their lease and stay in Pilsen. “This is always home for us,” Gibby said.

Her father Francisco agrees. “It’s a concept made by the community for the community,” Francisco said. “We want them to come and enjoy an experience.”

The experience that arose from a hobby right before he married his wife, Alex Orozco. Alex says that her husband began collecting antique goods from local sales or even from items that were thrown out by other residents. This was something that deepened their connection as a couple altogether.

“He had his collection of antique

Una máquina del tiempo en el corazón de Pilsen

POR HILLARY FLORES

just comes out naturally. You’re more at peace—I hope that we can give that peace and love towards people.”

She wants Chicagoans to see that every item within the shop has a life of its own.

“A lot of these items carry memories and history and connections to other people,” Gibby expressed. “You come in here and you feel like just stepping back into history.”

For Gibby’s father, Francisco, the goal is for residents to understand that they have just stepped into a fictitious reality. A reality that will open the space for new

Cuando los clientes entran a El Anticuario en la calle 18, en el corazón del barrio de Pilsen, se activan sus 5 sentidos mientras navegan por una colección de recuerdos: entre el olor de sus postres, la música de jazz de vinilo, tarjetas postales de la época de oro de Hollywood, muñecas antiguas, e incluso el llamado 'cementerio de libros'.

Por lo menos, esa era la misión del copropietario, Francisco Orozco, cuando inició el negocio familiar con su hija Gibby y su esposa Alex hace seis años. Ahora se están preparando para algunos cambios.

Justo afuera de la tienda, en el 1425 W. 18th St., los residentes han estado viendo un aviso público que ha causado un poco de confusión y ha generado rumores sobre la posibilidad de que El Anticuario cierre. Una interpretación es que un negocio de maquillaje reemplazará a la tienda de antigüedades.

Pero la familia niega que esto vaya a suceder.

No se pudo contactar al propietario del nuevo negocio, "J.Huerta", para hacer comentarios.

Para Alex, la tienda es mucho más que un negocio, ya que inicia una entrada para que las personas conozcan más sobre su hogar. Todos los fines de semana, hornea postres inspirados en las recetas de la poeta y académica mexicana Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

“Porque lo que hago en la casa nos sirve para comer nosotros y también para que la gente coma con nosotros”, dijo. “Siempre estoy haciendo algo diferente”.

El objetivo, como mencionó la pareja, es crear conversaciones con sus clientes orgánicamente, mientras disfrutan de los postres. Alex intenta diversificar las recetas. “Siempre estoy haciendo algo diferente[...] algo mexicano, como las galletas mexicanas para bodas”.

items and I always liked knowing about the past,” Alex remarked.

For Alex, the shop opens up a gateway for people to get a sense of their family home.

While the family waits for this new business to open up, they say they hope more people come to the shop and become part of their community.

“It really is open for everyone and anybody and I just think my emphasis is that everyone feels the love,” Gibby says. “When you love the work that you do, it

residents of the community that will place them in two different worlds: the art of make- up and the art of vintage treasures. This hybridity is a concept that has become a normality in the Pilsen neighborhood.

“That’s the ultimate idea,” he said. “That it won’t only bring them nostalgia, but is able to immerse them in a different world.” ¬

Hillary Flores is a first-time contributor to the Weekly.

“La gente viene aquí todo el tiempo y pregunta al respecto”, dijo Gibby. "La puerta siempre está abierta."

Ella dijo que el próximo negocio de maquillaje semipermanente o “laboratorio de cejas” ha estado en proceso desde que reabrieron después de la pandemia y que operará por separado bajo otro dueño.

Mencionó que tenía curiosidad sobre los cambios que vendrán con este nuevo negocio de maquillaje, pero dijo que "sabe que todo es para bien porque son negocios diferentes".

Alex dijo que los clientes traen una parte de su propia cultura a la tienda mientras conocen las raíces de la familia. La madre y copropietaria del Anticuario comparte que el negocio une a personas de diferentes orígenes.

“Vienen de todas partes”, dijo. “Cuando vienen aquí, [llaman] para ver primero si vamos a estar abiertos… hay personas que ya las hemos tenido como clientes desde hace años”.

Ella quiere que cada día laboral sea un día hermoso lleno de esperanza, la cual proviene de la oportunidad de poder compartir su “lenguaje de amor”: la comida, según cuenta su hija Gibby.

“La hemos estado animando de

“It’s a concept made by the community for the community. We want them to come and enjoy an experience.”

—Francisco Orozco, Anticuario co-owner

El Anticuario PHOTO BY HILLARY FLORES

La tienda de antigüedades permanece mientras un salón de cejas abre atrás.

que es su momento para hacer algo que realmente le encanta hacer”, dijo Gibby. “Le encanta cocinar y le encanta la repostería”.

Gibby, una ex maestra, dice que antes de ingresar al negocio a tiempo completo, todo su mundo giraba en torno a la enseñanza hasta que la pandemia provocó un cambio.

Es una orgullosa hija de inmigrantes mexicanos, y expresó que el negocio es una “conexión con el mundo exterior”.

Pero no siempre ha sido fácil. La pandemia fue un momento desafiante que dejó a toda su familia “en el limbo”.

“Fue muy extraño para nosotros como familia”, dijo Gibby. “Nos impactó porque no sabíamos lo que estaba pasando... y entonces pensamos, ‘bueno, ¿nos quedamos o nos vamos?’”

Gibby dijo que a pesar de los desafíos, la familia decidió renovar su contrato de arrendamiento y quedarse en Pilsen. “Este es siempre nuestro hogar”, dijo Gibby.

Su papá está de acuerdo. “Es un concepto hecho por la comunidad

para la comunidad”, dijo Francisco. “Queremos que vengan y disfruten de una experiencia”.

Una experiencia que surgió de una afición justo antes de casarse. Alex dice que su esposo comenzó a recolectar artículos antiguos de las ventas locales o incluso de cosas que otros residentes tiraban. Esto fue algo que profundizó su conexión como pareja.

“Él tenía su colección de cosas antiguas y a mí siempre me ha gustado mucho saber el pasado”, comentó Alex.

Mientras la familia espera que se abra este nuevo negocio, dicen que todavía tienen mucho por hacer en los próximos meses. Gibby dijo que quiere que más personas vengan y sean parte de su comunidad.

“Realmente está abierto para todos y cualquiera y creo que mi énfasis es que todos sientan el amor”, dice Gibby. “Cuando amas el trabajo que haces, te sale naturalmente. Estás más en paz… Espero que podamos dar esa paz y amor a las personas”.

Ella quiere que los habitantes de Chicago vean que cada artículo dentro de la tienda tiene vida propia.

“Muchos de estos artículos llevan recuerdos, historia y conexiones con otras personas”, expresó Gibby. “Entras aquí y sientes que estás viviendo la historia”.

Para Francisco, el objetivo es que los residentes entiendan que acaban de entrar en una realidad de fantasía. Una realidad que abrirá el espacio a nuevos habitantes de la comunidad que los situará en dos

mundos diferentes: el arte del maquillaje y el arte de los tesoros de antigüedad. Esta hibridez es un concepto que se ha convertido en una normalidad en el barrio de Pilsen.

“Esa es la idea central de la tienda”, dijo. “Que les traiga no solamente nostalgia, pero un mundo diferente”. ¬

Hillary Flores es contribuyente primeriza del Weekly

El 'cementerio de los libros' or the 'cemetery of books' is a collection compiled from owner, Francisco Orozco.

PHOTO BY HILLARY FLORES

PHOTO BY HILLARY FLORES

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Our thoughts in exchange for yours.

The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.

Where The Algae Grows

by chima “naira” ikoro

my hands clasped around you like a firefly and suffocated all your patience in an attempt to save whatever little light you brought to my face— the buzzing, a whisper calling me to flee towards the heavens with you.

musta saw me and thought “she is so beautiful she must have wings, all of the beautiful things do.” so what did it mean when you looked back, saw me

still sitting on the ground looking up at you? either that i was not beautiful, or that i’m broken, or that angels and butterflies and birds are not the pinnacle of grace— don’t roaches fly? won’t the rocks cry out if God decides we are not loud enough? doesn’t every still pool of water with trash in it grow moss or algae, or an ecosystem of mold if it’s left unbothered long enough? won’t something come of this mess if i wait?

THIS WEEK'S PROMPT: “WHAT HAS WAITING TAUGHT YOU ABOUT

YOURSELF?”

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.

Our thoughts in exchange for yours.

For my grandmother

by rosemary’s kt

She’s up when I’m down She’s in the clouds for all time I walk the streets of this earthly presence She shows me the answers to the questions I’ve been seeking. It hurts to think of, it hurts to swallow The pains of losing her is too much to bother Thinking of her, on this day of all days.

I’m glad that we spent the time that we did.

You wouldn’t understand Just how much it hurts

To have the vision of your life

Erased entirely

But “it’s probably for the best” as people love to say. They wouldn’t understand How you’ve kept all these feelings at bay

It probably is for the best, statistically speaking Heartbreak is for the foolish Even me, here I am, Drinking.

I sit here alone and I’m not Afraid. Brave enough to start again in this world of fakes. I’m not ashamed of my losses, not worried about my failures. I don’t need to worry about meeting the right guy—he’s somewhere out there, no doubt, it’s possible.

You wouldn’t understand by rosemary’s kt

Afrofuturism and the Environment

South Side artist Kee Merriweather’s collages depict a future free of environmental racism.

BY TINA JENKINS BELL

Ijumped at the opportunity to review Garfield Park Conservatory’s art exhibit, “An Otherworldly Existence: Afrofuturism and the Environment.”

The solo exhibition of twelve collages created by Black, queer, South Side artist and educator Kee Merriweather explores the intersections between Afrofuturism, environmentalism, and the survival of people of color. Beyond survival, Merriweather imagines empowered existences, free of systemic and environmental restraints.

Curiosity fed my enthusiasm, even though recent and past injustices had dimmed my once sunny views of the world. Roe v. Wade had been reversed—now a woman and her doctor could go to jail if she exercised her choice not to bear a child. The Voting Act had been diluted and downright dismantled in some states. The number of targets on Black people’s backs had now escalated from walking and driving while Black to knocking on the wrong neighbor’s door while Black. Some cities run by Black mayors, like my husband’s hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, had been seized by their state governments.

Environment-wise, particularly in Chicago, Black neighborhoods were being swallowed by dilapidated or boarded-up buildings, vacant lots, and brownfields left behind by former industrial neighbors.

My belief in a future without struggle was filed somewhere with things I had once thought to be possible, like Santa, the

Easter Bunny, or the tooth fairy.

And as a speculative literary writer, I just couldn’t see a future free of historical struggles with roots so deeply ensconced in systemic racism that they were invisible. But I could see a future where Black people, as we have in the past, were survivors who prevailed, despite the continued existence of systemic and environmental racism. My characters might have to do some finagling or flee the earth to live well, but I definitely see our continued presence in the distant future.

Other artists have addressed the dilemma of where Black people will be in the future. Utopia or dystopia?

Renowned sci-fi author Octavia Butler, who passed away in the winter of 2006, didn’t seem to believe in utopias either. Instead, she wrote about dystopian worlds where only resourceful individuals with a high capacity to persevere survived. The environments in her novels were far from perfect and constantly evolving.

On the other hand, Afrofuturist musician and artist Sun Ra, popularly known for the song “Space Is the Place,” represented himself as a citizen from another planet and inspired Merriweather’s art and interest in Afrofuturism. He was also known for his nonconformance and his musical blends of Charlie Parker’s bebop with a hint of New Orleans jazz— at least to my ears. His songs painted a galactical utopia for Black people who had been oppressed on Earth.

I lean more toward Butler’s fictional philosophy, which seems to question if our future selves could survive our former worst sins. Still, I was intrigued by Merriweather’s artistic portrayals of African descendants evolving and thriving in clean and just environments free of racist systems and policies. Their “Otherworldly” collages portray a future in which Black people are empowered by the environment and themselves, based on their past and current practices.

“Black people have always been environmentally conscious. Before I knew the word recycle, I was taught practices on how not to be wasteful. My family saved plastic bags, food containers, and recycled oil and water. I was taught to be conscious of food waste,” Merriweather said.

“I believe Black people will continue to be environmentally conscious in the future. However, as climate change impacts many communities of color, I hope as a society we are able to think more sustainably about our future of the planet,” they added.

Each collage in “An Otherworldly Existence: Afrofuturism and the Environment” juxtaposes African people from Nigeria, Benin, and other West African countries with lush ecological scenes. Images of African men and women dressed in cultural garb abound. They use portraits of women, their heads wrapped in African cloths or adorned in various braided styles. Behind them are photos of nature at its best. Seemingly untouched by existing environmental and climate scars are photos of waterfalls, galaxies, clear blue skies, star-covered nights, grassy terrains, forests, mountains, and unpolluted waterways.

Onyx Engobor, Garfield Park Conservatory’s Exhibition Specialist, felt Merriweather’s use of African people and a virgin environment was intentional.

Prior to curating this exhibit, Engobor had been tasked with putting together an art exhibit that spoke to “Earth Month,” and one that would demonstrate the intersection between Afrofuturism, the environment, and Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.

Engobor was familiar with Merriweather’s work as a collagist and digital artist and invited them to create work for a solo exhibit based on those intersections.

policymaking.” She found it in Merriweather’s work.

that are already at your disposal,” she said, adding that accessibility and empowerment

neighborhood icons and cultural venues from the West Side of the city.

Though I grew up in Gary, Indiana, and live on Chicago’s South Side, I have roots on the West Side. My father grew up on the West Side. My three older siblings grew up in Austin, where I too spent my summers while in college. I saw friends get married at the Garfield Park fieldhouse.

The community-made collage warmed my heart with images of a man teaching a boy to ride a bike, the iconic Pink House (which is no longer pink but recently avoided being demolished after its new owner purchased and renovated it), the beautiful Garfield Park fieldhouse on Central Park Avenue near Washington Park, two siblings posing for a camera, wellkept apartment buildings, and manicured business districts.

I know these places. They comprise a home away from home, and in Merriweather’s art, if you just allow yourself, you might embrace their “otherworldly” mission and see yourself—whether a person of color or disenfranchised in other ways—as deserving of quality lives and healthy, safe, and sustainable environments.

“In Merriweather’s world, there is a reclamation of resources and reparation of sorts. Black people rediscover their sense of agency and autonomy and place in the world,” Engobor Said.

If you want to see that world or talk about it with friends or other spectators, visit “An Otherworldly Existence: Afrofuturism and the Environment.” The exhibit will remain open in the Garfield Park Conservatory community room until June 30, 2023. For exhibit hours, refer to the Garfield Park Conservatory website, garfieldconservatory.org.

According to Engobor, Merriweather’s use of African people and landscapes was symbolic of a future in which Black, African, and other people of color who had once been victimized and marred by oppression could return to their precolonized or pre-slavery selves with innate senses of agency and autonomy. This future would also include people of color living on a restored Earth.

were necessary for West Siders who had often been disenfranchised. From experiencing illegal dumping, higher rates of air pollution, and a lack of green spaces and tree canopy, West Siders can often feel as if the city has forgotten them.

In addition to Merriweather’s solo exhibit, the Garfield Park Conservatory hosted a reception for community residents. Participants collaborated to create a postersized collage, depicting ways of life and

For more information on Kee Merriweather, their collages, digital work, and other projects, follow them at @KeeMerriweather, @Homagetoblkmadonnas, @ crunkmusicarchive, and Substack. Homagetoblkmadonnas. ¬

Tina Jenkins Bell is a published creative writer and freelance journalist who has written for numerous local and national organization publications about economic and community development in addition to the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago, Shareable.net, and others.

Kee Merriweather (left) and Onyx Engobor (right) stand in the Garfield Park Conservatory Palm House during the “Otherworldly” gallery opening.

PHOTO BY TINA JENKINS BELL

“In Merriweather’s world, there is a reclamation of resources and reparation of sorts. Black people rediscover their sense of agency and autonomy and place in the world.”

—Onyx Engobor

One Summer Chicago Application

Various locations, Various locations. Friday, June 2, 1:08pm. Free. bit.ly/OneSummerChicagoapp

One Summer Chicago, an initiative by the mayor’s office and Chicago Department of Family and Support Services to provide in-person job and life-skills training for youth ages fourteen to twenty-four have opened their applications. The program take place from June 26 to August 4. Participants earn $15.40 an hour within all Chicago Departments and most programs are between twenty to twenty-five hours per week. Young people can apply at OneSummerChicago.org. Deadline of June 2. (Zoe Pharo)

West Side United Annual Meeting and Five Year Anniversary Celebration

Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Jackson Blvd. Tuesday, June 6, 5pm–7pm. Free. bit.ly/WestSideUnitedmeeting

West Side United, which aims to address health and economic equity on Chicago’s West Side is hosting its annual meeting, celebrating its five-year anniversary and sharing out its plans moving forward.

(Zoe Pharo)

SCNN Monthly Collaborative Meeting

South Chicago Salud Center and Senior Housing, 3039 E. 91st St. Thursday, June 15, 11am–12:30pm. Free. bit.ly/ NeighborhoodNetworkMonthly

The South Chicago Neighborhood

Network, one of ten networks run by Claretian Associates across the city, has an agenda of creating a trauma-informed community to advance wellness, including physical and mental health, to improve quality of life. The monthly collaborative meetings serve to learn about community partners and how to create a traumainformed community together. SNCC also runs the UNITY Squad fall and summer institute and H.Y.P.E. (Helping Young People Excel), among other support groups and sessions. (Zoe Pharo)

and other country connoisseurs at this event about Chicago’s Broken Arrow Horseback Riding Club, which for three decades has held its annual flagship events, the Speed and Action Rodeo and Horse Show. The South Shore riding club puts a spotlight on the city’s cowboy scene and the often-overlooked contributions of Black cowboys. (Zoe Pharo)

Beverly Arts Center: Pinocchio

Beverly Arts Center,, 2407 W. 111th St. Tickets range from $12 to $20. bit.ly/ beverlyartscenter

Reset

on the Road: Broken Arrow Rodeo

South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Dr. Sunday, June 18, 3pm–5pm. Free. bit.ly/WBEZBrokenArrow

WBEZ Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons will talk with rodeo organizers, riders

The Beverly Arts Center presents Pinocchio, a family-friendly musical adaptation intended for ages 2 through 10 and open now now through August 4. Various times and dates. (Zoe Pharo)