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SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent nonprofit newsprint magazine written for and about neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. We publish in-depth coverage of the arts and issues of public interest alongside oral histories, poetry, fiction, interviews, and artwork from local photographers and illustrators. The South Side Weekly is dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists.
THE HOLIDAY ISSUE
Volume 5, Issue 11 Editor-in-Chief Hafsa Razi Managing Editors Julia Aizuss, Andrew Koski Directors of Staff Support Baci Weiler Community Outreach Jasmin Liang Senior Editor Olivia Stovicek Politics Editor Adia Robinson Education Editor Rachel Kim Stage & Screen Editor Nicole Bond Visual Arts Editor Rod Sawyer Food & Land Editor Emeline Posner Editors-at-Large Christian Belanger, Mari Cohen Contributing Editors Maddie Anderson, Mira Chauhan, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Sam Stecklow, Margaret Tazioli, Yunhan Wen Data Editor Jasmine Mithani Radio Editor Erisa Apantaku Radio Hosts Andrew Koski Olivia Obineme Social Media Editors Bridget Newsham, Sam Stecklow Visuals Editor Ellen Hao Deputy Visuals Editor Lizzie Smith Photography Editor Jason Schumer Layout Editor Baci Weiler Staff Writers: Elaine Chen, Ashvini Kartik-Narayan, Michael Wasney Fact Checkers: Abigail Bazin, Sam Joyce, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Hafsa Razi, Sam Stecklow, Rebecca Stoner, Tiffany Wang Staff Photographers: Denise Naim, Jason Schumer, Luke Sironski-White Staff Illustrators: Zelda Galewsky, Natalie Gonzalez, Courtney Kendrick, Turtel Onli, Raziel Puma Webmaster
Pat Sier
Publisher
Harry Backlund
Business Manager
Jason Schumer
catapulting a conversation
“I have two sets of limbs–– Korean and Black––and grew up stuck between those limbs.” thea smith............................4 chicago public libraries, uncovered
S-H-A-K-S-P-E-R-E. rod sawyer............................5 holiday histories
“We’d try to make our own holiday, make it work out.” bridget gamble & kiran misra........................6 holiday recipe: ginger chip cookies
Lots of dried fruit to play with. leslie travis & lizzie smith.......................8
holiday recipe: home sweet home pecan pie
The winner of this year’s South Side Pie Challenge. susan carton & katie hill..........................9 holiday gift guide...................10 holiday poems.........................14 holiday recipe: wintry chocolate cake
You should be thinking, “Did I butter this too much?” rachel mccauley & siena fite..................16 a holiday comic
We’re all looking for safe haven. We must be that for each other. mike centeno......................17
The paper is produced by an all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We distribute each Wednesday in the fall, winter, and spring. Over the summer we publish every other week. Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to:
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Cover design by Jason Schumer, Ellen Hao, and Lizzie Smith
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Support the Weekly southsideweekly.com/donate
The Weekly will publish its last issue of 2017 on Wednesday, December 20. We will resume regular publication on January 10. DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 3
STAGE & SCREEN
Catapulting a Conversation Patti Kim Gill on growing up to write “BlacKorea” AS TOLD TO THEA SMITH
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y name is Patti Kim Gill. I’m originally from New Orleans. I moved to Chicago when I was twelve, to Englewood. I have four children. I’ve been married for almost twenty years. I’m a writer, I’m an artist, and I’m a creator. She laughs, quickly aware of how her laundry list of descriptors starts to sound like a résumé. Gill is the creator, writer, and producer of the new short film BlacKorea, which tells the true story of her life as a mixed race—Black and Korean—child living on the South Side. It touches on abandonment, domestic abuse, and issues surrounding race relations. It premieres at the University of Chicago in January. When I moved from New Orleans, it was 1986 and the Bears had just won the Super Bowl, so it was like Super Bowl shuffle on heavy rotation! And I was clueless. I didn’t know anything about football or Chicago, but there was such pride in the city when I arrived. I moved to West Englewood—59th and Wolcott. There were drug dealers on every corner, but I hadn’t lived in a Black neighborhood in New Orleans, so I was excited to come to Chicago and experience that. I learned how to jump Double Dutch, and there was a candy store on the corner. These were just things that I hadn’t experienced before and that I wouldn’t have experienced anywhere else. West Englewood was a beautiful neighborhood, but it was just poor. There were drugs and crime, things of that sort. There were moments when I’d have to drop to the floor because someone was shooting in our backyard. I didn’t know that I lived in a bad neighborhood until I was a senior in high school and started dating. When guys found out where I lived, they’d be so taken aback and told me I looked like I lived in Hyde Park! The South Side of Chicago gave me toughness. I wouldn’t be who I am without it.
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I started a blog about six years ago and that was my therapeutic outlet initially. Before that, I used to write poetry. I had huge writer’s block because I wanted to write a novel based on my life but never could find the time to do it. So I started blogging. It was totally personal. What really prompted the blog was that my kids were getting older, and they knew that I was mixed but kept questioning it. So that made me look at my own life and start to deal with my feelings of abandonment. I’m a transparent person naturally, so I started sharing. I think the blog prepped me for telling my story to a wider audience. I carried a lot of shame throughout my life, and that can be draining. I always loved to live my life out loud, and the shame was crippling me. The support I got on the blog was so encouraging that it helped me see the bigger picture. I felt more empowered and prepared to take any hits. Then when I became a talent agent, I really got into the world of television, film, and entertainment. Those two worlds—my life and my work–– just collided. It all happened organically. BlacKorea is about a subculture. It’s my story, but it’s also the story of so many others. There’s never been anything on the screen like it, and it is definitely a Black perspective that’s never been told. Everything was black and white before, but then we got color. Rarely do we even talk about Blacks on television. And when we talk about being mixed-race, we talk about being Black and white. But being mixed-race is so much bigger than that. We have so many cultures out here that are mixed with Black. I can’t think of any other film or television that even scratches that surface. It’s a discussion that needs to be had. There’s a lot of misunderstanding on both sides, and this film can start a conversation between cultures in general. Koreans had the same kind of history as Blacks, but Blacks don’t even know that. There are so many things that haven’t been discussed, and this film is a great catapult for that to happen. Since there are so
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ELLEN HAO
many layers, I really want a television series, and I know that a documentary is needed. 2018 will really be the year where we’ll see the fruit of what the film can do. I’ve always felt that being mixed-race gave me too much compassion. I’m like an impasse. I have two sets of limbs––Korean and Black––and grew up stuck between those limbs. So I always give people the benefit of the doubt because I know that people can be misunderstood so quickly, since I was always misunderstood myself. I’m constantly thinking that I don’t know the whole story. People oftentimes just don’t know any better. It’s just ignorance. I recognized that I had more compassion and I knew I needed to use it. So I made this film. AZ Yeamen [a screenwriter] and I collaborated to make the first draft of the film. Having a seasoned writer help me was important because I was too close to it. The director Christine Swanson is also Korean and Black, so her life story is very similar to mine. We both believe that it was not a coincidence. We didn’t force anything. It all just came
naturally. For the cast we have Jason Weaver—a South Side living legend—playing my father. Jason was significant not only because he’s a ridiculously talented actor and is from Chicago, but also because he has a child by a Korean and Black woman. There are just so many ties, so when I sent him the script, he was already intrigued. We have Erica Watson, who is phenomenal and plays my grandmother Miss Pearl. It was a really challenging role for Erica because she’s a comedian, but she’s a strong actress. I can’t forget the two leads: my children! Bella Gill and Lincoln Gill play my brother and myself, and they’re the same age my brother and I were when we came to Chicago. The reception of the trailer has been unbelievable! I’ve been getting responses from people around the world. It’s not even just my story, but it’s the story—and an international story at that. It crosses borders. But also it hits on human emotion.... As humans, we connect with someone’s truth when there’s vulnerability. ¬
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Chicago Public Libraries, Uncovered Anne Keough on the hidden archives in the Blackstone Branch BY ROD SAWYER
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hen Anne Keough, the branch manager at Blackstone Library, looked in the cabinets behind her desk during recent renovations, she didn’t expect to find a treasure trove of historic documents. Blackstone Library opened in Kenwood in 1904 as the first branch of the Chicago Public Library system. In Keough’s office sat volumes of Shakespeare from the late 1800s, old copies of the Hyde Park Herald, and decades-old library policies. Weekly editor Rod Sawyer spoke with Keough about her discoveries, the history of the Chicago Public Library System, and the importance of time capsules. To additional segments of this interview, visit southsideweekly.com/category/radio. When we reopened, I told the workers who were putting the furniture back that I wanted my desk not in the southeast corner of my office but the northeast corner of my office. And that left a couple of cabinets open, and I was wondering what was in those cabinets all these years. And when I opened the cabinets I found all of this material that we have in front of us here. This large two-volume set of works by Shakespeare, given the binding obviously [is from] sometime in the 1800s, but we have been unable to find the year. And also they have Shakespeare misspelled. They spell it S-H-A-K-S-P-E-R-E and it should be S-HA-K-E-S-P-E-A-R-E. But, I digress. There were some press binders and loose paperwork from library policies of years past. I’m looking at one here that’s from August of 1971 [on] the handling of fines under extenuating circumstances. Some things from National Library Week in 1997. Some pamphlet on the fifty-year anniversary of what is now the Cultural Center. That was October 9 of 1947. Can you tell us a little bit about the Cultural Center and its history? The Cultural Center was the original main library for the Chicago Public Library. And once upon a time it was the only Chicago
Public Library facility in the city. It opened on October 9, 1897. [Then-mayor] Carter Harrison Jr., he was [quoting from the fiftieth anniversary pamphlet] “unavoidably absent but an impressive oration was given by Emil G. Hirsch, former president and a member of the library board during the whole construction period. The corner stone was laid for it on Thanksgiving Day, November 30th, 1893, when Dr. Hirsch, then president of the board likewise delivered the principal address.” The original public library had been an old water tank in 1873, so this building was built to house it and it had all those beautiful old mosaics and quotes about the importance of reading and names of famous artists or writers of centuries past.
a set of clippings, newspaper clippings, from Chicago newspapers on the dedication of the main library on October 9, 1897. Along with illustrations, okay, I opened a page and the first thing is from the Chicago Daily Tribune, dated September 11, 1897, so that was the month before the library opened. And it had librarian Frederick H. Hild, a sketch of the new main building, and then an article: “Chicago library soon to be opened, gem of art fitted with every known convenience and ready for inspection in four days next week, will be dedicated on October 9. Cost: 2 million.” Of course it would cost multiple times that these days.
So when did the Cultural Center turn from the Library into the Cultural Center? Well, some of my former coworkers in literature and language say that was a gradual process, but it happened in 1991 when the library finally moved the last few of its departments from what is now the Cultural Center to the Harold Washington Library Center in the South Loop. That was when the Department of Cultural Affairs came into full ownership of the Cultural Center.
Let’s talk about some more of the contents in this box. What’s in the box and what’s probably the oldest document in here? The oldest document in here appears to be
Here’s a section that dates itself: restricted books. “Certain books, because of their nature or content, are reserved for restricted circulation. These books are issued to adults only, not to young adults, upon the approval of the person in charge of the agency. Such books will, in most cases, be sent on short loan but only when the request bears the initials and approval of the branch librarian”—what we would now call the branch manager— “where the request was filled. When it seems advisable, restricted books are wrapped when sent through interagency delivery. Books on sex education for children are issued only to parents.” So, that’s an interesting page to turn to there. The library has loosened up its restrictions a bit since then. What’s your favorite document in this collection?
So is Blackstone the oldest library preceding the Cultural Center? We don’t precede the Cultural Center at all in age. They opened in October of 1897 and this library opened in January of 1904. Now, Walker Branch Library is older than either Blackstone or I believe the Cultural Center, but when Walker Branch library was first opened, Morgan Park was a separate city and was not part of Chicago.
This one is titled Privileges and it’s a much shorter smaller pamphlet. Elsewhere in this box we had, let’s see... This book, titled Early Social Life in Chicago by Sarah Seymour Blair, it’s a 1916 book but it’s actually holding together in quite good shape. I’m thinking special collections might be interested in that.
January 8, 1904. That was when Isabelle Farnsworth Norton Blackstone handed over the keys. There are several newspapers, a few of which are no longer in use, about the main library opening....The Saturday Evening Herald had a picture and an article on the Timothy Blackstone Library dated January 2, 1904. “It is to be formally dedicated at 2 o’clock this afternoon...at 3 o’clock it will be open to the public.” Well that was pushed back a week, it was actually handed over on the eighth and it opened to the public on January 11. She had it built as a memorial to her husband, and the article takes note of that.
It’s going to be either these newspaper clippings of the dedication of the big library on October 9, 1897, or the newspaper clippings about the opening of Blackstone Branch Library. These were the first two facilities of the Chicago Public Library, and it’s just amazing to be holding these better than hundred year old newspaper clippings and documents and to look at this picture of the rotunda and say, “Yeah, that’s my branch when it was brand new,” that’s really quite something, to be just holding this in my hands. And the other things that I like are the, the staff manuals that explain library policy to staff because there’s something about the antiquated language that I kind of like. This one staff manual from—God, what is it—1962, 1963, explains about what’s expected of staff in a manner that these days DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5
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could be seen as quite prissy, but back then was expected. “The success which the library enjoys in developing its program of service and carrying out its policy and objectives is dependent upon its staff. In accepting an appointment to a library position, each staff member becomes, in that position, an official representative of the library. The entire library organization may at times be judged by the work and manner of a single staff member, or by what that staff member says or implies.” I like that phraseology because that’s still true. It may or may not be repeated in quite the same way, but that is still true that people see all the library staff as being representative by one person. That means we all have immense power, we can either have the library seen as great or as terrible just based on our interactions with people. So I’m glad the early-1960s staff manual mentioned that.
I’m guessing the date of these would probably be around 1890, 1891. Possibly the late 1880s. They’re eleven- by seventeen-inch books. The funny thing is I’ve seen some of the illustrations in this book, and I recognize them as illustrations that had in fact been on sale in a college bookstore when I was in college. I may have even had one or two of them, and I was always wondering where they came from. Well, now I know. Beautiful nineteenth-century woodcut illustrations. The duel from Twelfth Night. Audrey, that’s from As You Like It. Queen Isabella and her ladies, I had that illustration once. I got rid of it because she was brooding. It’s done in the original language. I mean it’s not one of these books where they have the more modern translation on one side. And the problem is, we see no name on these books so we don’t know who owned these. I don’t know if these belonged to Mrs. Blackstone.
In front of us we have two gigantic volumes of Shakespeare. What would you guess would be the date of these?
What’s the importance of keeping these relics? The importance of keeping these relics is because they’re both local history and they’re Chicago Public Library history. They serve as markers of how far we’ve come as a society, just from the language we used in the local paper to the instructions for staff and how to do their jobs in decades past. What I found in my office cabinets that have been blocked by this desk for years is a time capsule, no less than the time capsule that was planted out there in front in 2004, the anniversary, the centennial anniversary year. This has also been a time capsule into, you know, what the library had and what the library was about and how the library operated. ¬
s December comes around again, many people put up a Christmas tree, go to White Castle, and watch terrible television. Yet most people have unique traditions that make the holidays special as well. The Weekly caught up with a few South Siders this week to find out what makes the holidays special for them. AS TOLD TO BRIDGET GAMBLE AT HYDE PARK DUNKIN DONUTS & KIRAN MISRA AT KUSANYA CAFÉ
Grace Brent and LeRoy Boyle, family friends Leroy: My favorite Christmas albums are Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke. “Silent Night” is my favorite carol. We sing it every year. [Since growing up in Hyde Park] the Christmas spirit is still the same. I used to like to go out on Christmas Eve around eight in the evening in the Loop and get bargains. You could park on the street—I used to get a kick out of that. Marshall Field’s was my favorite place to shop. Smokey Joe’s too. It was a men’s clothing store. You could buy Stacy Adams shoes for $39.99 back in the eighties. Grace: My mom used to take me to Marshall Field’s to get my picture taken with Santa. That was always the tradition. Leroy: We love exchanging gifts. We always do that with the family and set a price limit. I’ve gotten things I never would’ve imagined—a tweed jacket, watches, and stuff. Grace: I remember as a kid waking up real early trying to catch Santa Claus. When we came down in the morning, all the gifts were there. My parents put so much into it to make sure we had a merry Christmas. A nativity scene, elaborate dinners—just beautiful. Those are memories I have forever. Leroy: Everyone is so friendly at Christmastime. I wish Christmas would last all year long.
Lakina Statam, from Englewood (currently lives near Bronzeville)
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Every single year, my mother cooks whether we’re at her house, my auntie’s house, or whoever’s house. It’s not a holiday unless we play spades. My family plays spades all the time. Sometimes, there will be like three games going on at the same time because everyone wants to play at once. The most important thing to us is really just anything that allows us to spend time with family.
HOLIDAY HISTORIES
Cordell Payne, from Roseland (originally from Lincoln Park) Payne: I go to my great-grandmother’s house for the holidays every year and my family barbecues no matter how many degrees it is outside. Instead of frying a turkey or anything, we’ll just grill. It’s always nice because sometimes it will get really, really cold in Chicago, but when we’re barbecuing food outside, we can have a whole party outside while there’s snow on the ground. The heat of the grill will just keep everybody warm. Afterwards, we all play games like bingo for money. You can potentially walk away with a hundred dollars in money that you won in prizes. KM: Doesn’t someone have to lose that money for someone else to win it? Payne: Nope, someone in our family will come up with a game and provide the money for the prizes. Entry into the games is free and if you win, you can win five dollars, ten dollars, trinkets, snacks, little gifts. The games are set up to be fair for anyone to win, so if you win multiple times, you can walk away with sixty dollars, seventy dollars.
Brent Fergusson and daughter Lily Fergusson, 4 years old Brent: I’ve been here with my wife nine or ten years. We’re kind of developing special traditions now since the kids are young. We did the Polar Express train last year. We get on at Union Station and it basically drives back and forth for a while and they put on a show with lights. Santa does pictures at the aquarium, so we’ve seen him there for a couple of years. Lily was not a fan—I can’t really blame her. Lily: I can’t remember meeting Santa. Did he give us presents? Brent: Yep. Lily: Can we put up our Christmas tree? Brent: Yes. Lily: I decorated the tree with my grandma before. Did I put the star on? Brent: Yes, you did. I can’t believe you remember that.
Pierre Washington, from Kenwood I’ve missed a lot of Christmases because I’ve been locked up for the last four holidays. Before that, I had some decent holidays, but I don’t really remember any of them. When I was locked up, holidays were pretty bad. You didn’t get any of the good food, and you didn’t get to see your family. You could still make phone calls and stuff and there was a sense of camaraderie, everybody on deck—we’d try to make our own holiday, make it work out—but it wasn’t the same because your family wasn’t there. When I’d call home, my whole family from Louisiana, from Tennessee, from Texas was together, but I wasn’t. I’d hear their voices, but I couldn’t see them. I’m going to see them this year, though, and I’m really excited because I haven’t seen them in a minute.
Eleanor Thomas, from Englewood My holiday tradition is to go to church, first of all, then go home and meet with family. The most important thing for me is to spend time with family because I believe these holidays have become too commercialized. Oftentimes, people are working two or three jobs, so Christmas is a good gathering to let everyone come together. Sometimes people don’t even know how to set the table because they’re so used to having a TV tray in one room and a TV tray in another room. So the holidays are time for families to come together because a lot of the time, the only occasion families are getting together for are funerals. This is a good time for everyone to come together to share ideas, complaints, everything. We can disagree, but we still need to spend time together. It means a lot to be able to get together and talk around a table.
Joseph Beard and son Justin Beard, ten years old Joseph: We always go for the Thanksgiving Day Parade on State Street; that’s a family tradition for us. We visit family members around the city the day before Christmas or the day after. Christmas Day, it’s just my family—a small family of five here in Hyde Park. We love to cook and play games. We’re Monopoly fanatics, unfortunately. It can go on until someone has to go to work or we fall asleep. I have twins—they’re seventeen— and my youngest is Justin. Justin: My favorite thing to do after I open my presents is actually to read the box to see what the toys can do. I actually do that. I also like visiting my cousins because they are really fun. A few days ago, we visited them for Thanksgiving. We were playing hideand-go-seek in the dark. Someone popped out of the closet and they fell. Everything in the closet came out and we all had to put it back in. Joseph: It’s about twelve of them, all the same age. We also go ice skating the week of Christmas right at 55th. It’s nice. The kids have a ball. Plus I get to have my favorite beverage out there; I drink my coffee and watch them. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON SCHUMER
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Ginger Chip Cookies
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RECIPE BY LESLIE TRAVIS COMIC BY LIZZIE SMITH
HOLIDAY RECIPES
Home Sweet Home Pecan Pie
RECIPE BY SUSAN CARTON COMIC BY KATIE HILL
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FOR THE ASPIRING CRAFTSPERSON
MAKE! Chicago classes
Do you know someone who has always dreamt of learning to upholster their own ottoman? Or possibly refinish that cool little table they found in the alley? Then MAKE! Chicago classes are likely the perfect gift for them. MAKE! Chicago, a maker space located in Bridgeport, offers a variety of classes ranging from furniture restoration to welding 101. Their classes are designed for beginners, and run anywhere from an evening to six weeks long. As for those who aren’t DIY dreamers but already doers—the 24/7-access monthly membership may be just the thing. (Bridget Newsham)
FOR THE KERNEL COLLECTOR
Popacorn Popcorn, Herby PoP, Let’s Get Poppin’ There are those of us who buy popcorn at the movies and dedicate the holidays to seasonal sweet consumption—peppermint bark, say. These shops are not for those people. Whatever the taste of the popcorn fan in your life, these South Side shops will cover it. At Bronzeville’s newly opened Popacorn Popcorn (which, we acknowledge, does have a twenty-seat movie theater), you can snag a six-gallon Popacorn Holiday Tin in a variety of classic flavors with South Side– flavored names, from The Harold Washington to Chatham Cheese. Herby PoP, the online company run out of South Shore, is a standby for flavors off-the-wall enough to serve as a gift: Masala Crunch, Moroccan Mint Crunch, even Pink Himalayan Salt. And with Let’s Get Poppin’, the Beverly and Morgan Park shop that’s been poppin’ since 1995, put the power in your popcorn fan’s hands with a twenty-five-, fifty-, or—why not go all out?—hundred-dollar gift card. ( Julia Aizuss) Popacorn Popcorn, 4645 S. King Dr. Monday–Sunday, 11am–7pm. (312) 451-2478. orderpopacornpopcorn.com Herby PoP, (312) 221-7867. herbypop.com Let’s Get Poppin’, 11758 S. Western Ave. Monday–Friday, 10am–8pm; Saturday, 10am–7pm. (773) 779-6132. letsgetpoppin.com
MAKE! Chicago, 1048 W. 37th St. (312) 925-2627. make-chicago.com
FOR THE THRIFTY BOOKWORM
Open Books Pilsen
Don’t be fooled by its nondescript black brick exterior—the Pilsen branch of Open Books, the beloved nonprofit whose proceeds fund literacy programs across Chicago, features a huge selection of books for sale, a large children’s collection with beautifully illustrated classics and foreign language picture books, and wallet-friendly prices that start at one dollar. Better yet, for forty dollars during its holiday “box” sale this weekend, you get to carry away as many books as you can stuff in a 17¼- by 11¼- by 10-inch box—about forty paperbacks, “depending on how good you are at Tetris.” Gift cards are available online. (Tammy Xu) Open Books Pilsen, 905 W. 19th St. Open Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–4pm; December 9–10, 10am–5pm. (312) 243-9776. open-books.org/shop/open-books-pilsen
FOR THE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS COFFEE ADDICT
Back of the Yards Coffee Club
This May, the Back of the Yards Coffeehouse and Roastery opened its doors to bring affordable coffee and locally sourced snacks to their community. This holiday season, gift your loved ones a year, six months, or three months of delicious coffee grown in Chiapas, Mexico and roasted right here on the South Side. Choose between their signature 47th Street Blend, which has fruit notes, and hints of chocolate and caramel, and their Butcher’s Blend Espresso. You can also choose how finely ground you’d like your coffee and how often you’d like your loved ones to receive their twelve-ounce bag of coffee. Shipping is included, and Back of the Yards Coffeehouse invests one dollar from each bag into their social impact fund that benefits youth in the neighborhood. (Adia Robinson) Back of the Yards Coffeehouse, 2059 W. 47th St. Monday–Friday, 6:30am–7pm; Saturday–Sunday, 9am–3pm. Subscriptions starting at $71 for three months. (312) 487-2233. backoftheyardscoffee. com
FOR THE MUSICMAKER
Sounds About Write Music Lessons Give the gift of music by getting the budding musician in your life music lessons from Sounds about Write, the school of music founded by South Chicago musician JoVia Armstrong, with the goal of improving mental health and cultivating the arts community in Chicago. Choose between their Sounds About Write Workshop, which lasts eight weeks, for those looking to combine instrumental music lessons with songwriting and production, or general private lessons in a variety of instruments and basic music recording. (Adia Robinson) Sounds About Write, 9140 S. Baltimore Ave. Monday–Saturday, 10am–8:30pm. (312) 999-0580. sawmusicschool.com 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
FOR THE ARTIVIST
Prints by Monica Trinidad Treat the art and activism lover in your life to a print from Monica Trinidad, the cofounder of both the Brown & Proud Press and For the People Artists Collective. Her thought-provoking prints, most of which are watercolor and ink, depict scenes of protest, resistance, and community uplift. For some of her prints, a portion of the proceeds go towards supporting South Side activist organizations, like Assata’s Daughters and Kuumba Lynx. (Adia Robinson) Shop at monicatrinidad.bigcartel.com. monicatrinidad.com
FOR THE K-POP OBSESSIVE
K POP of Chinatown
For anyone in your family obsessed with Korean pop, K POP of Chinatown—a small store nestled away in Chinatown—has everything you need—from CDs and DVDs to dolls and socks imported straight from South Korea. Fighting! (Rachel Kim) K POP of Chinatown, 2223 S. Wentworth Ave., Monday–Sunday, 11am–7pm. (312) 526-3744.
FOR THE BIG PLANNER
FOR THE HOME COOK HOPEFUL
A small business just opened in October and dedicated to “styling the man who is building a legacy,” Legacy Men’s Boutique in Bronzeville promises high-end menswear at thrift store prices. Stop by and, with the help of owner Mandene T. Muhammad, let a loved one dress to impress. Clothing donations also welcome. (Rachel Kim)
A Hyde Park stalwart for forty-three years, the owner of Freehling Pot and Pan Co., Susan “Sue” Freehling, recently announced that she’s closing up shop. Starting Wednesday, December 6, every item in the store—cookware and household appliances, cookbooks and baking supplies— is forty percent off until everything is sold. Whether you know someone moving into a new place or looking to take their “Great British Bake-Off ” fandom to the next level, this is the time to gift cookware of boutique quality at a friendlier price. (Rachel Kim)
Legacy Men’s Boutique
Legacy Men’s Boutique, 4655 S. King Dr., ste. 103. Tuesday–Friday, 5:30pm–8pm; Saturday, 11am–6pm. (872) 228-1871. facebook.com/legacymens1
FOR FURRY FRIENDS
Bark N’ Bites
Don’t furget the four-legged friend in your life this holiday season! Still hounding for the right gift to make their tail wag? If you check out Bark N’ Bites in Bridgeport, you’ll be barking up the right tree. Fetch some organic pet food and freshly baked treats to give your pooch a special holiday dinner of their own. You can also retrieve collars, leashes, and other supplies, “many of which are made right here in Chicago.” Whatever you need, they’ll have something that will be just pawfect. (Andrew Koski) Bark N’ Bites, 702 W. 35th St. Monday–Friday, 10am–7pm; Saturday, 10am–5pm; Sunday, 11am–5pm. (312) 265-1205
FOR THE NOSTALGIC SWEET TOOTH
Dulcelandia
With its dizzying array of Mexican candies, Dulcelandia has been, as it boasts, “Proudly Importing Nostalgia Since 1995.”They have everything—from chocolates and dulce de leche, to dozens of types of tamarind candies, to Alvbro’s pollito asado (roast chicken) lollipops. Whether you want to give someone a sugar high or a taste that reminds you of home, Dulcelandia is worth a visit. Bring your kid along, or bring Dulcelandia to them—the store also has shelves of decorations perfect for an all-ages holiday party. (Hafsa Razi) Dulcelandia. Brighton Park location: 4616 S. Kedzie Ave., (773) 247-4355. Little Village location: 3253 W. 26th St., (773) 522-3816. Monday–Friday, 10am–8pm; Saturday, 9am–8pm; Sunday, 10am-7pm. Christmas hours: December 13–December 24, 10am–8pm. dulcelandia.com ILLUSTRATIONS BY LIZZIE SMITH
Freehling Pot and Pan Co.
Freehling Pot and Pan Co., 1365 E. 53rd. St. Monday-Saturday, 10am–6pm; Sunday, noon–5pm. (773) 643-8080.
FOR THE T-SHIRT-WEARING VISIONARY
TRAP House Chicago
Located in Auburn Gresham, Mashaun Hendrick’s streetwear brand, TRAP House, bridges his love for graphic T-shirts and restorative justice. All profits go to his nonprofit TRAP (Teens Reaching All Potential), with which he aims “to raise awareness of an invisible system—that awareness hopefully leads to an actual crime strike, which will lead to a crime drought in Chicago.” Grab a T-shirt emblazoned with stunning sayings to support a good cause. (Rachel Kim) TRAP House Chicago, 7955 S. Ashland Ave. Monday–Saturday, noon–8pm; Sunday, 1pm–6pm. (773) 952-4765. traphousechicago.us.
FOR THE CHICAGO DIASPORAN
Vienna Brand Care Package
For the far-flung native Chicagoans in your life, a box full of bubble-wrapped meats and other treats should warms their hearts. The Vienna factory store in Bridgeport is a one-stop shop to pick up all hot dogs and accoutrements necessary for a Chicago-style care package: beef franks, pickles, peppers, giardiniera, and more. While you’re there, get a hot dog for yourself. (Sam Stecklow) Vienna Sausage Factory Store, 3847 S. Morgan St. Monday–Friday, 9am–4pm; Saturday, 10am–4pm. (773) 435-2217. viennabeef.com DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11
Bronzeville Holiday Bazaar
Bridgeport Art Center Holiday Night Market Looking for something to break up the monotony and corporate consumerism of the holiday shopping season? Head to the Chicago Ceramic Center on the Bridgeport Art Center’s fifth floor during 3rd Fridays for a gift for the art lover in your life that’s a bit more unique—you can peruse art from the resident artists of the Bridgeport Art Center and artists from around the Chicagoland area, while enjoying complimentary drinks and music! (Andrew Koski) Bridgeport Art Center, 5th floor, 1200 W. 35th St. Friday, December 15, 7pm–10pm. bridgeportart.com
Vends + Vibes: An Arts Marketplace It would be fair if you end up distracted from the rich array of South Side vendors (from children’s books to stained glass to zines) at the annual Vends + Vibes market: the vibes include DJs (Duane Powell, AfroBang, Selah Say, and more), a photobooth, healthy holiday food demonstrations at KLEO, open studios with the Arts Incubator’s artists-in-residence, cocktail demonstrations, and holiday-themed home movies screened by the South Side Home Movie Project. With festivities like this, who needs the actual holidays? ( Julia Aizuss) Along Garfield Blvd: Arts Incubator, Currency Exchange Café, BING Reading Room (301–307 E. Garfield Blvd) and KLEO Community Family Life Center (119 E. Garfield Blvd). Saturday, December 9–Sunday, December 10, noon–5pm. (773) 834-5414. vendsandvibes.com
After a strong debut last year (as well as a feature in last year’s Holiday Issue), Absolutely Anything Essential returns with a second holiday bazaar featuring twenty-some local vendors throughout its three-level space. Amid the hubbub of searching for the perfect vegan hair product or scented candle or glitzy T-shirt for a loved one—to name just a few options—there will be gift-wrapping and even craft classes, making this a bazaar you just might want to spend all six hours at. ( Julia Aizuss) Absolutely Anything Essential Gift Shop, 3521 S. King Dr. Saturday, December 16, noon–6pm. (312) 238-9447. absolutelyanythingessential.com
La Cultura Cura: Cooperative Market in Pilsen Hosted by art-focused organizing group ChiResists along with La Catrina Cafe and local artist Amara Betty, La Cultura Cura is intended to uplift Black, brown, and indigenous peoples by selling and sharing their goods. Some of the offered items include: art, zines, jewelry, botanicals, prints, and even a graphic novel (Bria Royal’s Black Girl Mania). The event will also feature several live musical acts and a fundraiser to support ChiResists in the coming year. (Bridget Newsham) La Catrina Cafe, 1011 W. 18th St. Saturday, December 9, 2pm–10pm. (312) 532-6817. bit.ly/LaCulturaCuraMarket
Soulful Chicago Kwanzaa Book Fair Celebrate Kwanzaa with the Soulful Chicago Kwanzaa Book Fair, which will feature storytelling, fifty different Black authors, music, great food, a Kwanzaa celebration, and over one hundred different books for you to browse through and maybe take home to someone special. The Soulful Chicago Book Fair celebrates literature from the African diaspora and highlights creators who are often overlooked. (Adia Robinson) AMC Center, 4421 S. State St. December 16, 10am–6pm. $5 suggested donation. (646) 359-6605. soulfulchicagobookfair.com
Kwanzaa POP UP Marketplace Celebrate Kwanzaa at the Kwanzaa POP UP Marketplace at Little Black Pearl on East 47th! The principles of Kwanzaa will be in full display: showcasing the creativity (kuumba) of the community and supporting a curated set of local artists and entrepreneurs (ujamaa). There’s a $5 entrance donation for adults, but kids ages twelve and under get in for free. Organizers encourage you to come early and stay the whole day. (Erisa Apantaku) Little Black Pearl, 1060 E. 47th St. Saturday, December 30, 11am–4pm. blackpearl.org
Hyde Park Handmade Holiday Bazaar Still looking for that perfect holiday present for your family or loved one? Want to get a gift that says “I thought about you” more than some money in a card? Check out the Hyde Park Handmade Holiday Bazaar—a seasonal twist on Hyde Park Handmade’s ever-reliable monthly one-stop-shop (or one-stop-bazaar) for artisan goods. Enjoy tracks spun by DJ Sean Alvarez while browsing a selection of handmade art by neighborhood artists from Hyde Park, Kenwood, Woodlawn, Bronzeville, and more. (Roderick Sawyer) The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Sunday, December 17, noon–4pm. facebook.com/hydeparkhandmade 12 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
BYNC Christmas Toy Drive Over the next couple of weeks, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council will collect toys and work with schools, community organizations, and local businesses to identify children in need through their “Letters to Santa” program. Unfortunately, the demand for toys always exceeds donations received, so the BYNC relies on monetary contributions to purchase additional toys—donate monetarily or coordinate a toy pick-up online today! (Andrew Koski) Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. Donations accepted through December 15. Monetary donations accepted online or submit contact information to coordinate a toy donation pick-up at bync. org/post/christmas-toy-drive .
Saint Sabina Christmas Feast for the Homeless and Elderly Friends are cooking now in preparation for The Faith Community of St. Sabina’s annual Christmas Day Feast to serve and welcome our homeless and elderly. The food is always hot and delicious and the fellowship is warm and sincere. Transportation to and from city shelters is provided. You can also contact St. Sabina to donate food, toiletries, decorations, or your help at the feast. (Nicole Bond) St. Sabina Academy Bethune Hall, 7801 S. Throop St. Monday, December 25, noon–2pm. For more information contact the church office (773) 483-4300 or April Dumas (773) 603-1167 or Norma Bradley (773) 723-7935.
Toy Drive & Santa Pics at Currency Exchange Santa and Mrs. Claus are stopping by Currency Exchange Café to spread holiday cheer. Bring your holiday spirit and a toy for a child from three to twelve years old. This second annual toy drive will distribute gifts to the nonprofit Chicago Youth Programs and Future Ties. Photographer Richard Pack will be there to take pictures with Santa, prints of which will be available for $10. The café will also be serving milk and cookies. (Adia Robinson) Currency Exchange Café, 305 E. Garfield Blvd. Saturday, December 16, 9am–noon. (773) 8559163. currencyexchangecafe.com
Holiday Stocking Stuffers for Diane Ellis From now through New Year’s Eve (and beyond), you can donate to the medical fund of Diane Ellis, a renowned jazz saxophonist and teacher. Ellis, also known as “Lil Sax,” suffered a stroke while performing the Jazz Institute last year and her friends are raising money to help pay for ongoing medical expenses and much-needed therapy. For the Weekly, I spoke to Diane Ellis in 2015 after she won an OPPY Award for Education in recognition for her work as the band director of Chatham’s Dixon Elementary. She talked about her love for her students, from sixyear-olds just starting on the trombone, to rising stars in high school, to now-professional jazz artists—all her “musical sons and musical daughters.” Ellis’ band family is as big as her heart, and now it’s coming together for her. (Hafsa Razi) facebook.com/LilSaxEllis
Second Annual KID Holiday Gift Drive Kindness In Doing (KID) is hosting their second annual KID Holiday Gift Drive. The KID Holiday Gift Drive supports families by helping to provide gifts for the holidays. You can donate new and unwrapped toys, clothes, giftcards, and other gifts for families, especially children. Drop-offs can be made on site or gifts can be purchased via charity donation through Target. (Roderick Sawyer) Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, 1159 W. 79th St. Tuesday, December 5– Friday, December 8; Monday, December 11–Friday, December 15. 8am–5pm. (312) 752-5022. chris@thecwinitiative.com. bit.ly/KIDHolidayGiftDrive
Southside Community Holiday Jamboree Learn what the spirit of the holidays really means by joining the South Shore United Methodist Church for a day of art and crafts, music, food, and service. The KidsWorks Touring Theatre Co. will be performing “Holidays Around the World.” There will also be community service projects, a toy give-away, and holiday-themed face painting. Families with children are especially encouraged to come. (Mira Chauhan) South Shore United Methodist Church, 7350 S. Jeffrey Ave. Saturday, December 23, 3 pm–6:30pm. Free. bit.ly/SouthsideJamboree DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 13
miseducation JACK MURPHY
Thanksgiving Still Life DIANE O’NEILL My dad’s blue eyes stare at me from coffee-stained photo on my refrigerator while my son still eight years old sleeps on his lap. Aromas of pumpkin pie and turkey hover dishes still unwashed and we’ve just put up the tree hanging ornaments my dad brought: wooden rocking horses and nutcrackers Santas and snowmen maybe left over from my half siblings’ separate childhoods; tinsel sparkles from the first tree we’ve ever put up together. He holds my son, his first grandchild, who has his broad forehead and sharp mind, my little boy’s arm flung about his grandpa never letting go—
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¬ DECEMBER 6, 2017
in mid-november fully awoken from the dream of summer
hair disheveled and empty handed no spiral no pen nothing
with the dread of the school year fully realized and
who hearing the music drifting from my speakers in the corner mostly
the holidays upcoming no longer for them if they ever were
obscured by papers stops looks at me for seemingly the first time really looks
my students file in some wild some lethargic but all
at me in my grey suit green tie and pocket square my scruffy fall beard
carrying some load as they pass resigned to the morning’s work
looks as if to say what are you doing here how did you find this place
except for one a Girl who manages to sleep in back whenever
and she does not mean room 1947 means neverland places hands on my desk suspicious
my back is turned deep sleep rem sleep whose grade report
asks demands really what you know about Lauryn Hill? then in a new voice
shows neat zeroes across little boxes of an excel spreadsheet
wistful and lovely like reminiscing of a dream she longs to return to says
who is out of uniform again with headphones dangling out her pocket
My mother used to play this song for me to help me sleep.
HOLIDAY POETRY
Chicken Soup for Santa O. A. FRASIER Sarah drove north on Cottage Grove Avenue wanting chicken soup, and a good cry. The light, late December snow flecked her silver Prius. She glanced eastwards at the long, stone wall protecting Oak Woods Cemetery from vandals, the living from the dead. It haunted her two blocks to East 69th Street, this strange, long way home from Urban Prep Academy to Hyde Park. A pilgrimage that began at 62nd and Stewart. She felt the bullet hole in her heart, saying goodbye again to the beautiful boy she once tutored in trigonometry, as he tried to teach her about life. She could hear his sweet voice sailing in the soft wind from behind the limestone wall, above the swishing of the wet windshield wipers. “Look,” he said, “Kwanzaa is the new thing, Ms. Cohen. It’s like Christmas for Black people. The same way Chanukah is Christmas for Jews.” She hadn’t known where to begin; how to explain. Until looking at her golden Empire State license plate after school he asked, “how many days will it take you to drive from Chicago to New York in time for Christmas?” Then she answered, “Jews do not go home for Christmas, Deonte.” It was sine and cosine in his eyes, a slow smile. The “you think I’m not smart enough” look. But he wasn’t going to let her run game. This was extra credit, and he’d have the answer. “What a life,” she said to herself. “Damn Englewood, and this city of guns, guns, guns.” Her student was now a figurehead in a tarnished, pagan trinity: Malik, Deonte, and Yuri. A triad that did not ascend into the heavenly mountains of Tabor, Sinai, or Hera. No faithful following their forgotten footsteps into millennia. Oh Jesus, Moses, Muhammad descending the thin alpine air, transfigured to comfort the broken, rolling giant boulders from death’s door like Lazarus. The Prius was shooting towards 60th Street, along the snow-slicked road. The Midway Plaisance a welcome moat dividing her life from the losing struggles of her children.
It was time to peel away the damp, black leggings and curl with the grey cat fur on the lumpy blue sofa in the living room. The aroma of root vegetables, celery, and rosemary steaming away sorrow and hurt, and soul swallowing emptiness. “Even the graveyard has partitions,” she reflected, “the Jewish section, and the Confederate dead.” Behind her now Harold Washington and Bernie Epton, firebrand and foe, their hearts failing weeks apart, laying in Oak Woods, almost side by side, eternally like two messiahs in the dusky quiet of the gun trigger city. She wanted to lay against the steering wheel, let the world come crashing in. “What’s the point,” she thought, “going on?” It wasn’t enough. An auditorium of tearful students. Faculty talks on violence prevention. Two hours eulogizing in Leak and Sons Funeral Home. She needed shiva. Five, five more blocks to the neighborhood grocery store. The proprietor, a Jordanian with nowhere to go amid the sea of Christmas lights, pine wreaths, and occasional menorahs adorning living room windows. She was here now. The parked snow covered Prius, a wooly white sheep. The back seat a mound of schlepped Christmas party treasure: 25 gifts wrapped in shiny paper; 3 boxes of unwanted Dunkin’ Donuts; 50 Christmas cards. It was the only store still open. The small, clean shaven man. His accent slowly fading like the yellow linoleum tiles cracking in the well lit aisles. Their usual banter: fresh hummus and tabbouleh; talk of good, beef bone; red shank for chicken soup starter. The shopping done. Sarah sighed, a passing thought of Deonte. “If only they had died like Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney.” She extended her VISA card to check out. The Arab man never looked up, suddenly intent on watching videos on his smartphone. Never raising his head or lifting his eyes to hers, only waving his right hand like a dove’s wing to the door. Finally, he spoke: “Shalom!”
DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15
HOLIDAY RECIPES
Wintry Chocolate Cake
RECIPE BY RACHEL MCCAULEY ILLUSTRATIONS BY SIENA FITE
This chocolate cake recipe nearly has the consistency of a brownie—there’s dense, chocolatey goodness in each bite. I find it particularly great as the base for a winter pinecone decoration because the cake is so flat. Also, without those pinecones, this cake is a squat little thing, so the pinecone decorations and the cake are like in a symbiotic relationship. Ingredients Cake: • 8 ounces dark chocolate • 1 ½ sticks butter • ¾ cup pistachio nut meats • 1 teaspoon salt • 5 eggs • ¾ cup sugar • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Chocolate glaze: • 5 ounces dark chocolate • ½ cup heavy cream Pinecones and wreath: • 5 madeleines (or pound cake) • ½ lb. sliced almonds • 5 sprigs of rosemary • A handful of cranberries Filling: • Whatever you like: sometimes I use lemon curd or raspberry preserves. Chocolate pairs well with anything! Just stick something tasty between the two cakes.
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Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour your cakebaking dishes. And I mean really butter those babies up! These cakes can really stick into their pans after baking. Once you finish buttering you should be thinking, “Did I butter this too much?” After buttering, add a spoonful of flour to the dish. Swivel the dish around so that the flour coats all surfaces. Then turn the dish on its side and tap the dish so any excess flour falls out. Making the chocolate glaze: Melt the chocolate with the butter. The proper technique is to add about an inch of water to a sauce pan, bring it to a simmer, and then melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl above the water (i.e. double boiling). If you’re like me and like to live on the edge and/or don’t have a dishwasher and don’t feel like washing an additional thing (i.e. lazy), then melt the chocolate and butter on the stove on the lowest heat setting, stirring constantly. Note: THE LOWEST SETTING. Overheating chocolate can cause it to seize, which is basically when it forms a gritty paste. It looks like chocolate that came from prehistoric times, frankly. If this happens then you just have to start over. After melting, turn off the heat and just leave it alone while you move on to blending like you’ve never blended before.
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Making the cake: This recipe is great for people who love to just blend the sh*t out of things. Blend the pistachios, flour, and salt in a food processor. Make sure the nuts are really finely ground. Pour this out into a bowl. Next up on your blending spree are the eggs. Add the eggs and blend those for a few minutes. Then add sugar and vanilla. Blend some more! (More = 1 minute) I hope you enjoyed all that blending because we’re done now. Next, gently fold the egg mixture into the chocolate. After that, gently fold the nut mixture into the rest. Pour into the two cake pans. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Assembly: Layer the two cakes with the filling in the middle. Spoon the glaze into the center of the cake and cover the cake. Pinecones: Place the madeleines onto the cake in a ring. Cover each madeleine with the chocolate glaze. Place the almond slices onto each madeleine, starting from the bottom, then going up and around. Finish the cake off by placing the cranberries and rosemary around the cake.
HOLIDAY COMIC
A Holiday Comic BY MIKE CENTENO
DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 17
HOLIDAY COMIC
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EVENTS
BULLETIN “I Am Enough” Healing Workshop Series The R.J. Cafe, 1238 W. 51st St. Saturday, December 9, 10am–2pm. Free. 21+. Register online at bit.ly/AmEnough The Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices has developed a six-month workshop series to help women overcome the trauma of the loss of a loved one as a result of gun violence or the incarceration of a loved one. (Samantha Smylie)
The Dovetail Project 16th Graduation DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. Thursday, December 14, 7pm. RSVP at info@thedovetailproject.org by December 12. thedovetailproject.org The Dovetail Project, a twelve-week program for young fathers to learn parenting and life skills, will be graduating its sixteenth class. The event will feature a keynote speech from Jahmal Cole, the founder of the nonprofit My Block, My Hood, My City. (Rachel Kim)
Unidos por Pilsen Oasis Banquet Hall, 2053 W. 18th St. Friday, December 15, 7pm–midnight. $25 suggested donation. bit.ly/PilsenUnidos The nonprofit Pilsen Alliance will be hosting a celebration commemorating nineteen years of grassroots organizing in the community. With a star-studded lineup including Alderman Carlos Rosa as the keynote speaker, comedy from Jaime de Leon, and music from Son Monarcas and DJ El Rebel X, the event promises to be a night of celebration and inspiration. (Rachel Kim)
Melanin Voices for Puerto Rico The Breathing Room Space, 1434 W. 51st St. Friday, December 15, 8:30pm– 10:30pm. Tickets $10–$20. bit.ly/MelaninVoicesPR
DECEMBER 6, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 19
EVENTS A g Thing!, #LetUsBreathe Collective, and the Chicago Boricua Resistance are hosting a fundraiser to support folks in Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Maria. The event promises a series of poetry and literature from “unsung voices.” (Rachel Kim)
Hashtag Lunchbag Chicago The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday, December 16, 10am–noon. $10 suggested donation. promontorychicago.com Join Hashtag Lunchbag Chicago at the Promontory to prepare and distribute a thousand lunches to Chicago’s homeless community. It’s a fun easy way for all ages to volunteer. (Samantha Smylie)
VISUAL ARTS YCA On The Block: Pilsen La Catrina Café, 1011 W. 18th St. Friday, December 8, 6pm–8pm. Free. bit.ly/YCAOnTheBlock In collaboration with Yollocalli Arts Reach and La Catrina Café, Young Chicago Authors has been hosting free open mics and workshops every Friday. Come through and learn how to write poems and hear others perform. (Roderick Sawyer)
Crafts and Storytime with Author Pam Saxelby! 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th St. Saturday, December 9, 10:30am–11am. Free. 57th.semcoop.com Saturday is storytime day this week at 57th Street Books. Author Pam Saxelby will be reading her book Max and Bear, “a story of patience and friendship about the importance of waiting for things to come.” After the storytime, children can stick around to make a bear of their own! (Andrew Koski)
Discussion with Lynne Tillman UofC Classics Building, 1010 E. 59 St., Room 110. Wednesday, December 6, 6pm. Free. (773) 702-8670. renaissancesociety.org Lynne Tillman, author of What Would Lynne Tillman Do? and the forthcoming novel Men and Apparitions, talks with artist Alejandro Cesarco about narrative tropes and playing with genre. (Adia Robinson)
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People’s School: The Art of Storytelling Port Ministries, 5013 S. Hermitage Ave. December 9–February 24, Saturdays, 9:30am. 19+. Free. (773) 778-5955. facebook.com/theportministries This bilingual workshop, aimed at women, is an open studio where participants can work on their personal art projects and share their stories. Discussions will focus on current social issues and personal narratives. (Adia Robinson)
Prints of Unusual Size Hoofprint Workshop, 2433 S. Oakley Ave. Saturday, December 9, 7pm–10pm. Free. (773) 896-4326. facebook.com/hoofprintChicago In their last show before they move to a new location and in their last show of the year, Hoofprint Workshop will feature seven “enormous” woodcuts, which they call some of their most ambitious to date. There will be a live writing demonstration, a holiday bazaar, snacks, and libations. (Adia Robinson)
MUSIC Rai Presents: Luz y Sombra EP Release The Dojo, message on Facebook for address. Saturday, December 9, 8:30pm. $5 donation. thedojochi.com Contrasting the “stellar melodies of hope” with the “dark sounds of reality,” Luz y Sombra is a dynamic and long awaited EP by Rai, Décima, Lester Rey, and Swooning. Come to the Dojo to be the first to hear it and also enjoy live art by Meli Alvarez Juarez and Ariana Romero. (Maddie Anderson)
Chicago Afrobeat Project Album Release Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Saturday, December 16, 8pm. $13/$15, vinyl + ticket $30. 17+. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com This fifteen-year veteran group of the North American Afrobeat scene comes to Reggies to celebrate their new album What Goes Up and their new vocal approach.
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Come to Reggies yourself to celebrate some of these vocalists—Akenya, Ugochi, JC Brooks, and Legit among them. ( Julia Aizuss)
International Anthem Winter Solstice Logan Hardware Records, 2532 W. Fullerton Ave. Sunday, December 17, 5:30pm–9pm. intlanthem.com Yes, we know, this is in Logan Square— but the Bridgeport-based label’s third annual “observation of soup, solstice, and psychedelic sound” seems worth the trek. Come early for soup from the crockpot; come whenever for solo cornet by Ben LaMar Gay (accompanied by “live quadrascopic video manipulation”), an animated short film, and two yet-to-be-announced guest performances. ( Julia Aizuss)
Roy Ayers The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Wednesday, December 20, 9pm. $25–$55. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com The Godfather of Neo-Soul, Roy Ayers, comes to the Promontory this December with his generation and genre bridging hits, such as “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”, “Searchin’,” and “Running Away.” (Adia Robinson)
Party Noire presents Black Metropolis New Year’s Eve 2017 The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Wednesday, December 31, 9pm. $75–$100. 21+ (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com This New Year’s Eve, the hottest party in Hyde Park will be at the Promontory. “The Black Metropolis is an Afrofuturistic haven where politics dissolve, and the people unite. Step into space with us, create your own orbit of joy, and cultivate a frequency of love.” Special guest artists will give live performances, surprise artists will be making appearances, and there will be music curated by DJ Rae Chardonnay and Party Noire resident DJ Lisa Decibel. Make sure to snag a ticket because you’ll get “tasty hors d’oeuvres, a two-hour open bar, a midnight champagne toast, and an assortment of goodies from local Hyde Park favorites.” (Andrew Koski)
STAGE & SCREEN A Different World Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Friday, December 8, 7pm–9pm. Free. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org Black Cinema House partners with Black millennial marketing agency, Afrotrak, to screen four episodes of everyone’s favorite Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World. The eighties/nineties TV show will spark discussion afterwards on issues relevant both then and now: rape culture, HIV stigma, black womanhood, and more. ( Julia Aizuss)
Deeply Rooted: Deeply Free 20th Anniversary Finale Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. INDUMBA, Friday, December 8, 7:30pm– 9:30pm; Repertory Classics, Saturday, December 9, 7:30pm–9:30pm and Sunday, December 10, 2pm–4pm. $45. bit.ly/DeeplyRooted20 Deeply Rooted Dance Theater will be celebrating their twentieth anniversary with a special show and two nights of classic performances from their repertoire. Come on Friday for the premiere of INDUMBA by South African choreographer Fana Tshabalala and on Saturday and Sunday for Femme by Nicole Clarke-Springer, Desire by Gary Abbott, and In A Child’s Eye and Church of Nations by Kevin Iega Jeff. (Andrew Koski)
“The 90’s”: Architecture and Design Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Sunday, December 10, 2pm and 3pm. Free. southsideprojections.org This week at HPAC, catch an architectureand design-themed episode of The 90’s, an award-winning Chicago-based PBS series that an August 1990 issue of Billboard described as: “easily the most important and innovative news show on the air, a show that does all the things that television was born to do but never does.” Each episode featured short videos produced by filmmakers across the country that focused on a particular topic; this episode includes panhandlers in Philadelphia, a man who built a bicycle-towed tent for the homeless,
the first McDonald’s in Moscow, and the Granada Theater’s demolition in Chicago, among others. (Andrew Koski)
Hot Kitchen: Teen Heat High Concept Labs, 2233 S. Throop St. Friday, December 8–Sunday, December 10, 8:30pm. $10 suggested donation. highconceptlaboratories.org Although not intended as such, the driving question of the performance collective Hot Kitchen’s newest piece—“How do we resist home, and how do we also miss it so dearly?”—may well have extra resonance during the onset of the holiday season. Although formed in and based out of Chicago, the collective’s members will here explore their Floridian roots. ( Julia Aizuss)
Mrs. Claus! A Holiday Musical Beverly Art Center, 2407 W. 111th St. Tuesday, December 6–Friday, December 8; Monday, December 11–Saturday, December 23, various times. $12, $8 each for groups. (773) 205-9600. chicagokidscompany.com
The show that “always sells out” is back for its nineteenth year, this time at the Beverly Art Center. Children ages two through ten—and hopefully their parents—will surely love this colorful “Holiday Classic” that, naturally, celebrates the holiday spirit, and also elves. ( Julia Aizuss)
Meet Juan(ito) Doe Free Street Storyfront, 4346 S. Ashland Ave. Through December 15. Mondays and Fridays, 7:30pm. Free or pay-what-you-can; advance tickets starting at $5. (773) 772-7248. freestreet.org Free Street Theater’s latest play, created by multidisciplinary artist Ricardo Gamboa in collaboration with Ana Velasquez and “an ensemble of brown and down Chitowners.” It was supposed to close in November, but now that its run has been extended for a month, you have no excuse for missing out on this play based on the true stories and input of Back of the Yards residents—you won’t find anything like it anywhere else in the city. ( Julia Aizuss)
Point-In-Time Homeless Count 2018 Join the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services from 8 PM to 2 AM on Jan. 25-26 for the annual Homeless Count. The Count provides the city with a snapshot of its homeless population. The data gathered acts as a marker for federal funding, service, and resource planning. Left: Mariia Feliksovna Bri-Bein, Woman Worker and Woman Collective Farmer, Join the Ranks of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, 1934, lithograph on paper, Ne boltai! Collection. Right: Olga Chernysheva, March, 2005. Courtesy: Diehl, Berlin; Pace, London; Foxy Production, New York.
To find out more and register to volunteer, visit
www.surveymonkey.com/r/2018COUNT
Smart Museum of Art The University of Chicago 5550 S. Greenwood Avenue smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
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EVENTS 612-7271. illinois.sierraclub.org/chicago
eta Family Theatre Initiative: “The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves” eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Through Saturday, December 23. $40, discounts available for seniors and students. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org Nora Brooks Blakely’s musical adaptation of a book by her mother Gwendolyn Brooks was already a fitting choice, in the year of the Brooks centennial, to start off eta’s 2017–18 season. Even more fitting, given Brooks’s dedication to youth poetry, is that the musical will launch eta’s partnership with the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation. The initiative will encourage Chicago students to read the book and then to see the musical. ( Julia Aizuss)
FOOD & LAND Clean Water Open House Chicago Group of the Sierra Club, 70 E. Lake St. Wednesday, December 6, 6pm–8pm. (773)
Interested in hearing about the Chicago Sierra Club’s past and ongoing efforts monitoring pollution in local waterways, campaigning to preserve funding for the EPA and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and planning educational events? This meeting will get you up to speed and no doubt connect you with like-minded people. Snacks and drinks provided. (Emeline Posner)
South Lakefront Framework Plan Meetings South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Dr. Thursday, December 7, 6pm–9pm, and Monday, December 11, 6pm–9pm. bit.ly/FrameworkPlanMeeting At this first of two collaborative meetings, hosted by the Chicago Park District, South Shore residents will hear from planners about the three potential plans that have been developed for the Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center. Questions and comments are strongly encouraged, as “insights from park users will be
instrumental” in moving forward with the planning process. (Emeline Posner)
Healthy Eating Active Living/ Vivendo Una Vida Saludable y Activa Dvorak Park, 1119 W. Cullerton St. Saturday, December 9, 2pm–5pm. Free. (312) 243-5440. bit.ly/VivendoUnaVida Come by Dvorak Park for an afternoon hosted by Pilsen Alliance of free education and information about health and wellness resources, health practices from the Ayurveda tradition (a holistic healing system originating in India), and marketplace insurance. There will be yoga, reiki, and refreshments available at the event, as well as free childcare. (Emeline Posner)
Starting a Food Business The Hatchery, Industrial Council of Northwest Chicago, 320 N. Damen Ave. Monday, December 11, 6pm–8pm. $40. RSVP required. (312) 421-3941. thehatcherychicago.org
So, you want to start a food business. What sort of license will you need? Do you structure your business as an “S” corp or a limited liability company? How will you brand your business? This short seminar will cover all these questions, and more, and a business attorney will be present to answer any thorny legal questions that arise. (Emeline Posner)
Beginning Farmer of the Year Nomination Submission due by January 12 to Advocates for Urban Agriculture, info@auachicago.org. (773) 850-0428. Details: bit.ly/FarmerOf2018 New to sustainable farming, and want to share your accomplishments to date? The Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) wants to hear from you in the form of three-minute video submissions. All videos received will be posted on the AUA website and voted on by viewers. The winning submission will be nominated by AUA for a $1,000 prize. (Emeline Posner)
Monday-Saturday, 8am-5:30pm 6100 S Blackstone Ave Chicago, IL 60637 buildcoffee.org
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photo: jason schumer
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Sculptor and Storyteller Now Open
Celebrate the holidays at the Art Institute. Auguste Rodin. Adam, modeled 1881, cast about 1924. Gift of Robert Allerton.