THE PUBLIC NEWSROOM Once a week, City Bureau and the South Side Weekly turn our Woodlawn office into an open space where journalists and the public can gather to discuss local issues, share resources and knowledge, and learn to report and investigate stories. We bring in guest speakers and host hands-on workshops on things like how to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain government records, how to find and analyze public data, and how to tell your own audio/video stories. For working journalists, the public newsroom is a place to find and shape stories in direct conversation with readers. For the public, the newsroom is a front-row seat into how journalism gets made, and a chance to impact the way your community is covered in the media. The #PublicNewsroom is always free and always open to the public.
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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS Thursday, April 27 4pm–8pm Public Newsroom is open 6pm Event: 90 Days, 90 Voices—Telling Immigrants’ Stories Led by Sarah Conway, Alex Hernendez, and Nissa Rhee Thursday, May 4 4pm–8pm Public Newsroom is open 6pm Screening: Another Life—a docupoetry series on trauma and mental health Led by The TRiiBE Thursday, May 11 4pm–8pm Public Newsroom is open 6pm Workshop on Photography and Narrative Led by Englewood Photographer Tonika Johnson CITYBUREAU.ORG/PUBLICNEWSROOM THE EXPERIMENTAL STATION 6100 S. BLACKSTONE AVE
SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent nonprofit newsprint magazine written for and about neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. We publish in-depth coverage of the arts and issues of public interest alongside oral histories, poetry, fiction, interviews, and artwork from local photographers and illustrators. The South Side Weekly is dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists. Volume 4, Issue 27 Editor-in-Chief Hafsa Razi Managing Editors Julia Aizuss, Andrew Koski Director of Staff Support Baci Weiler Deputy Editor Olivia Stovicek Senior Editor Emeline Posner Politics Editor Adia Robinson Music Editor Austin Brown Stage & Screen Editor Nicole Bond Visual Arts Editor Roderick Sawyer Editors-at-Large Maha Ahmed, Christian Belanger, Jake Bittle, Mari Cohen, Jonathan Hogeback, Ellie Mejía Contributing Editors Maddie Anderson, Maria Babich, Mira Chauhan, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Carrie Smith, Sam Stecklow, Margaret Tazioli, Yunhan Wen Video Editor Lucia Ahrensdorf Radio Producers Andrew Koski, Lewis Page Social Media Editors Emily Lipstein, Bridget Newsham, Sam Stecklow Visuals Editor Ellen Hao Deputy Visuals Editor Jasmin Liang Photography Editor Jason Schumer Layout Editor Baci Weiler Staff Writers: Sara Cohen, Christopher Good, Rachel Kim, Ashvini Kartik-Narayan, Michal Kranz, Anne Li, Michael Wasney Fact Checkers: Eleanore Catolico, Sam Joyce, Rachel Kim, Adam Przybyl, Hafsa Razi, Carrie Smith, Tiffany Wang, Baci Weiler Staff Photographers: Denise Naim, Jason Schumer, Luke Sironski-White Staff Illustrators: Zelda Galewsky, Natalie Gonzalez, Courtney Kendrick, Turtel Onli, Raziel Puma, Lizzie Smith Data Visualization: Jasmine Mithani Webmaster
Sofia Wyetzner
Publisher
Harry Backlund
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: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773) 234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly.com
Cover illustration by Lizzie Smith
IN CHICAGO
A week’s worth of developing stories, odd events, and signs of the times, culled from the desks, inboxes, and wandering eyes of the editors
The Michelle Obama Mural Debacle On November 8, that unforgettable election day, Chris Devins, a local “Artist/Urban Planner known for large, outdoor murals” and self-described “placemaker,” created a GoFundMe page for his next project: a large-scale outdoor mural of then-First Lady Michelle Obama. Five months later, on April 21, Devins finished his project, and people were astounded... by Devins’s blatant plagiarism. The black-and-white photo of Obama included in the GoFundMe page did not appear on the mural; instead, she was shown as an Egyptian queen, an image originally created by Ethiopian-born artist Gelila Lila Mesfin. Mesfin politely called the reaction “disheartening” and encouraged her angry fans to “keep this positive” in their treatment of Devins. Devins told DNAinfo offered licensing fees and “apologized,” but only went so far as to admit what he did was “sloppy,” since, according to him, Mesfin had no legal grounds for accusing him of copyright infringement, since Mesfin’s work itself was created by digitally painting over a photo taken by someone else. “You can’t appropriate a bike then sue someone for riding it,” Devins said, a simile we’re still figuring out. Legal nuances aside, at least Mesfin remembered to credit Collier Schorr for the original photo. Devins did not bother to find out who the source of his “inspiration” was, including, at first, even her name (“Thank you east african girl,” he tweeted, a reference to Mesfin’s Instagram handle). The true irony, however, lies in the mural’s purpose—to “give today’s children someone they can literally look up to and to celebrate Mrs. Obama’s life and accomplishments,” according to the GoFundMe page. Celebrate how, Chris? With “sloppy” plagiarism? Pollution in the Park A major cleanup of “decades’ worth of hazardous materials” at the Pullman National Monument will need to be done before the monument can officially open, according to a report by the Tribune. It’s not shocking that there’s soil contamination at a former manufacturing center, but considering that the monument is part of the National Park Service, this isn’t great. Plans have just been announced to revitalize the former factory site’s nearly thirteen acres, but the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, with help from the National Park Service and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, will need to ensure that the site is not a health hazard before the completed park is slated to open in 2019. The issue, now that contaminants—such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and chromium—have been identified, is figuring out the best way to deal with affected soil. Nevertheless, Pullman advocates won’t let this bump in the road spoil the success of securing a national designation for the historic site. “It really tells a story of the urban grittiness of it all,” Kathy Schneider, superintendent to the monument, told the Tribune last week. “And I love it.”
IN THIS ISSUE the past and future of the secc
A selection of newspaper article excerpts that highlight the SECC’s activities in Hyde Park since its founding. anne li & mari cohen.......................4 leveling the playing field
“The game has not become too expensive, it’s the whole travel ball, pay for play that has.” henry bacha......................................8 at the vanguard
The success of the International Anthem Recording Company has larger implications for the South Side’s music scene. brandon payton-carillo...............10 introducing smino
Why the St. Louis-born, Chicago-made rapper Smino is such a perfect fit in Chicago’s hip-hop scene. efrain dorado.................................12
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Pilsen, Property, and Public Relations This past Monday, Property Market Group (PMG), a New York–based developer, released new plans for its proposed, controversial mixed-use project in Pilsen. Dubbed ParkWorks, the development—located on a little less than a mile south of UIC—will contain affordable housing, retail projects, and an art walk, according to a promotional video. It’s not clear, however, exactly what proportion of the units will be affordable; an earlier plan from PMG was shot down by the Pilsen Land Use Committee for failing to provide the minimum percentage of affordable housing units required in the neighborhood. Noah Gottlieb, PMG’s principal, declined to tell Curbed whether the new plan met the twentyone percent requirement... which might reasonably suggest that it does not. In that case, the plan and video might be seen as a PR push designed to win over Alderman Danny Solis, who opposed past incarnations of PMG’s plan, and local residents, many of whom are worried that the project will contribute to the neighborhood’s gentrification—in January, a group of community organizations referred to Gottlieb, in an open letter, as “Trump Junior” (In response, Gottlieb said he finds Trump “absolutely disgusting.”) APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 3
THE FIFTIES
The Past and Future of the SECC Looking back on the South East Chicago Commission’s past as it enters a new era BY ANNE LI & MARI COHEN
T
he University of Chicago announced on January 26 that over the course of this year, the nonprofit South East Chicago Commission (SECC) will gain considerable independence from the university. Much of the SECC’s university funding will be cut, and the university will no longer be able to appoint or approve the organization’s board members. According to both parties, the move reflects the SECC’s need to reevaluate its direction as an organization. The SECC was created by the University of Chicago in 1952, in response to concerns about high crime rates and deteriorating housing. The group worked with the criminal justice system to ensure that witnesses and victims made it to court dates so that trials could proceed. It has also undertaken other initiatives on crime, such as publishing public advisories on how to stay safe and creating designations for which stores police were welcome to use as rest stops. Much of the SECC’s more controversial legacy relates to its work on housing and urban renewal. Funded by and closely tied to the UofC, the SECC was often perceived to be carrying out the University’s wishes by pushing policies to drive Black people out of the Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn neighborhoods around the University. In recent years, however, the SECC has focused more on beautification projects and other less controversial developmental initiatives. Here, the Weekly presents a selection of newspaper article excerpts that highlight the SECC’s activities in Hyde Park since its founding.
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AUGUST 6, 1952 HYDE PARK HERALD
South East Commission Finance Drive Opens Plans for a South East Chicago Commission finance campaign, to begin immediately in Hyde Park, were announced Thursday by Howard Goodman... The finance campaign in Hyde Park, in which Oakland-Kenwood and Woodlawn will join shortly, is one of the final steps of the process of getting the Commission into full operation on its program. … Under the “constitution” provided by the by-laws recommended for approval, the South East Chicago Commission will be a democratically controlled organization. Membership will be open to all adults in the Commission’s area, through a committee on membership. [Advertisement] Help give the S.E.C.C. the necessary funds to pitch into the fight against Crime, illegal property conversions, and area deterioration. Make your influence felt at home! Send whatever financial contribution you can to the South East Chicago Commission, 1400 E. 53rd, or drop in at the Herald office, 1223 E. 55th, where we will furnish a pledge or enclosure envelope and mail it for you. Don’t wait—crime doesn’t.
NOVEMBER 15, 1952 CHICAGO DEFENDER
Seek to Close Chicago ‘Dope Center’ Hotel: Raided 68 Times, Crime Group Acts Chicago’s oft-raided Graymont hotel on the city’s Southside, reputed center for dope peddlers and addicts, may be closed as a result of strong pressure from an anti-crime organization. Leading the fight to smash the alleged drug center is the South East Chicago Commission, a citizens group pledged to stamp the heavy crime rate in areas of the Southside. ... A report by the commission revealed that 119 persons have been arrested in connection with raids on the Graymont.
JULY 20, 1957 CHICAGO DEFENDER
Put Negroes Out, Orders to Realtor Charges that Julian Levi, director of the South East Chicago Commission which is headed by Chancellor Kimpton of the University of Chicago, personally ordered a landlord to oust Negroes from his property, were flatly denied by Levi Thursday. The charges were made by Robert David Golden, vice president of the Liberty Building Management Co. The property involved is located at 6126-28 S. University ave. … Levi asserted: “I don’t care who lives there. It doesn’t make any difference to us. The charge of racial prejudice is frequently made as a smoke screen by owners of substandard property. The South East Chicago Commission is completely color blind.”
POLITICS
MAY 26, 1958 CHICAGO DEFENDER
Urban Renewal for Whom? There is general agreement that our housing dilemma has its origin in two inescapable facts. First, low and middle income housing, both private and public, is in short supply in the city of Chicago and secondly, the prevailing patter of segregation denies Negroes free access to the housing market. The present Urban Renewal plan for Hyde Park and Kenwood seems to make very little contribution to a solution to our difficulties. ... 3. The lily-white islands east of the University of Chicago must remain lily-white according to the dictates of Julian Levi of the South East Chicago Commission and Chancellor Lawrence Kimpton of the University of Chicago. The Urban Renewal plan which they are demanding will, as a matter of course, serve to thin out Negroes in the other areas. The University officials, as we have stated before, have shown by their past actions over a long period that they are more interested in Negro clearance than land clearance. 4. The whole Urban Renewal plan is based on the use of tax dollars which are collected from citizens of all races. The new housing, however, will go mainly to the upper income whites who can best afford to pay the high rents. Thus, the people who need federal assistance least to obtain good housing will get most of the benefits. There are many aspects to this Hyde Park-Kenwood plan which disturb us although the points enumerated above rank among the foremost.
OCTOBER 1, 1958 HYDE PARK HERALD
Letters to the Editor
GLOSSARY Julian Levi Director of the South East Chicago Commission from 1952 to 1980 Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HPKCC or “The Conference”) The Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference was formed in 1949 as Hyde Park began to integrate. The HPKCC hoped to avoid the racial turnover experienced by other neighborhoods by creating an interracial neighborhood, and also hoped to prevent crime and deteriorating buildings to keep white residents from leaving. Although its goals were similar to those of the SECC, the HPKCC was often perceived as the more community-based organization that had more trust from community members. The HPKCC was thus often placed in the position of presenting and defending the proposals put forth by the SECC.
... Turning our backs on the beautiful monument to science, we plunge into the dark alley. Two minutes, one block away, the primitive beat of the tom-tom and the agonized wail of a saxophone in pain rises over a clutter of constipated garbage cans behind the “Congo Village and liquors” a rendezvous for the low incomes of our solicitude, that are packed into the decaying warrens above the rat and vermin infested commercial properties along 55th St., half of them iron barred against depredation and the other half blinking empty-eyed with a “for rent” sign the only clean spot in the window. … There is room in the world for savage and savant, one supposes; but why must a foul sexpool of malignancy snuggle up to the throbbing center of man’s highest intellectual ambitions? Is it too much to ask that a community centered about a world famous University be allowed to scrape off the effluvia of the spilling slums, to provide clean beautiful sanctuary for those to whom life is a search for meaning, uncontaminated by the screechings, brawling, whining “low incomes” who make a slum of wherever they light? —“Betwixt”
Urban renewal When Black people began moving into Hyde Park as Chicago’s racial boundaries began to change, the SECC, representing the interests of the UofC, undertook a series of demolition and construction projects to prevent the neighborhood from turning all-Black. Proponents of Hyde Park urban renewal argued that it would help create a stable interracial neighborhood; opponents argued that urban renewal was a plot to remove Black and low-income families from Hyde Park. The final urban renewal plan, approved by the City Council in November 1958, called for the demolition of 638 structures and building 2,100 new dwelling units, over half of them in high-rises. The plan required 4,097 families—forty-one percent white and fifty-nine percent people of color—to relocate.
OCTOBER 11, 1958 CHICAGO DEFENDER
The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) The Woodlawn Organization was formed in 1960 by Woodlawn residents, clergy, and businessmen to address neighborhood concerns and social problems. It adopted the organizing style of Saul Alinsky, a radical community activist. When the UofC tried to expand south into Woodlawn in the sixties, TWO organized a successful campaign to block the university’s plans. TWO would later form a friendly relationship with the university.
Use Race Smear to Push Housing Plan An anonymous attack on Negroes, calling them “savages” and “screaming, brawling, whining ‘low incomes’ who make a slum wherever they light,” was being circulated in Hyde Park this week by supporters of the Hyde Park Urban Renewal plan. This racist, smear attack was published as a letter to the editor in the October 1 issue of the Hyde Park Herald. The weekly newspaper, which has defended the Hyde Park plan against its critics, is published by Bruce Sagan. When questioned by the Chicago Defender, the Hyde Park Herald denied that the smear letter was written by any officials of the South East Chicago Commission, headed by Julian Levi. The newspaper said the letter was signed but they refused to divulge the name of the author.
NOVEMBER 7, 1958
City Council passes Hyde Park urban renewal plan in unanimous vote.
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THE SIXTIES FEBRUARY 27, 1963 HYDE PARK HERALD
Two Civic Groups in Merger Talks Merger talks between the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community conference and the South East Chicago commission are about to begin. The shift in the alignment of the two Hyde Park civic action groups follows closely on the heels of the resignation of Irving Horwitz, 5200 Harper, from the post of the conference’s executive director. … The move apparently is preempted by a feeling on the part of some officials at the University of Chicago—which has been the major source of support and guidance for SECC—that the commission has fulfilled the role it was designed to play. At the same time, the university’s relationship with the community has so changed that the conference is no longer opposing U of C actions and policies on an almost day-to-day basis, as was the case when HP-KCC was formed in the early 1950’s.
1964
The Woodlawn Organization ends protests of the UofC’s South Campus Plan—a plan to demolish buildings between 60th and 61st and construct university properties in their place, including the law school—after the UofC promised not to acquire property south of 61st Street and to support the subsidized Grove Park development.
AUGUST 22, 1965 CHICAGO TRIBUNE
3 Millions Sought by University, Plans Center for Research Federal funds to finance the building of a proposed 3-million-dollar national educational research center on the University of Chicago’s south campus are being sought from the United States office of education. The proposed site for the center is bounded 60th and 61st streets and by Stony Island avenue and the Illinois Central railroad, according to Julian Levi, committee member and executive director of the South East Chicago Commission. … “Slum clearance will have to come before construction can begin,” Levi said. “The site is included in the area of the 60th street-Cottage Grove avenue plan, which was approved in June by the department of urban renewal.”
NOVEMBER 13, 1968 CHICAGO DEFENDER
TWO Urges New Model Cities Program The Woodlawn Organization announced Tuesday that it will ask city officials to approve a bold “Peoples Plan” designed jointly by TWO and the University of Chicago as the Model City program planned for the Woodlawn community. The Rev. Arthur Brazier, TWO president, said in a news conference that the plan, when completed, will be offered as a replacement for any submitted by a cityappointed planning council. … One-time critic of TWO, Julian Levi of the University of Chicago, hailed the “Peoples Plan” as “exciting” and unique. 6 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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THE SEVENTIES NOVEMBER 17, 1971 CHICAGO DEFENDER
Julian Levi hits FHA on bias rap At a recent meeting of the South Side Planning Board, held at Illinois Institute of Technology, Julian H. Levi, executive director of the South East Chicago Commission, launched a damaging broadside against the Federal Housing Authority for its “preservation of segregated residential patterns” in Chicago in the past and its present rehabilitation program. The South Side Planning Board, a 25-year-old agency, represents some of the large business and educational institutions on the South Side. Although many groups have praised FHA for enabling black families to secure housing otherwise denied them by private financial institutions, Levi found it seriously at fault. Said Levi, “No agency of government, federal, state, or local, has done more to create division in American society than the FHA. For most of its history, the agency red-lined districts and neighborhoods in cities, which is a polite way of saying that no matter what the credit or collateral value offered was, FHA would simply, on the basis of race and location, refuse to even consider loan insurance.”
JUNE 5, 1973 CHICAGO DEFENDER
Levi: Hyde Park crime dips Crime has decreased significantly in the Hyde Park and Kenwood area in 1973 while it has increased 12.8 per cent in the city as a whole, Julian Levi, executive director of the South East Chicago Commission, will report at the Commission’s annual meeting tonight.
1974
SECC creates a “witness notification system” so that witnesses will be notified when they are expected to appear in court.
FEBRUARY 3, 1974 CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Hyde Park gets him to court on time: Solving case of missing victim A 25-year-old medical student is stabbed in the neck and robbed, and less than a month later charges are nearly dropped against his accused assailant because police can’t locate the victim. A South Side police commander is shot while attempting to apprehend a robber and is not told that the case was settled in out-of-court plea bargaining until two weeks after it was over. These are just two examples of why John Beal, a lawyer for the South East Chicago Commission, has set up a witness service for the Hyde Park-Kenwood area. But he says the service should be provided by the Cook County state’s attorney office.
POLITICS
NOVEMBER 10, 1975 CHICAGO DEFENDER
An insult to blacks The briefs filed in federal court last week by four influential Chicago organizations represent an insult to the court and to the black people of Chicago. The four groups: the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Crime Commission, the Civic Federation, and the South East Chicago Commission, all asked U.S. District Judge Prentice Marshall to hand over the $76 million in revenue sharing money denied to the city this year because of Marshall’s finding of racial discrimination on the Chicago police force. These prestigious groups chose to ignore the complex issue of long standing racial bias on the police force and what the city is going to do about that. In effect, they said, “Ignore all that, judge, give us the money. That’s the only important thing here.”
THE EIGHTIES JANUARY 7, 1987 HYDE PARK HERALD
SECC: Serving the community? The South East Chicago Commission, the community arm of the University of Chicago, recently submitted a proposal to the federal department of Housing and Urban Development for a two-year technical assistance grant for $325,950. According to the application, the grant would enable the commission to buy and rehabilitate buildings through a neighborhood development corporation, and coordinate current programs of the city and other community organizations in crime prevention and other aspects of neighborhood sustainability. The application, now pending in City Hall, neglects to mention, except in passing, the university’s role in its structure, financing and policies. Is an organization receiving 90 percent of its funding from the university representative of the community or the bankroller? Has the commission, since its establishment by the university in 1952, ever held a position not dictated by the university? ... “But the stronger the community becomes, the less the university’s role as “Big Brother” is appreciated, whether it calls itself the South East Chicago Commission or not.”
JANUARY 14, 1987 HYDE PARK HERALD
South East Chicago Commission responds to editorial I read more in sorrow than in anger last week’s editorial attacking the South East Chicago Commission and the University of Chicago. It was inaccurate in its central premises. More importantly, it undercuts a major, good faith effort to strengthen the special, integrated character of the Hyde Park-Kenwood community. … The program under the grant would bolster the commission’s ability to promote the rehabilitation of rental housing. This would increase the supply of safe, attractive, low- and moderate-income housing in the neighborhood. The program also would seek to improve the delivery of city services to the community in areas where the commission has expertise and a record of accomplishment, such as crime control. There is no intention to take over the functions of other groups or to serve “as an umbrella for them.”... —John M. Beal, Executive director, South East Chicago Commission
APRIL 26, 1984 CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Businesses to give police a break T.J.’s Restaurant doesn’t look like the usual rest stop for a cop on the beat. Inside the swank, South Shore Drive eatery, faculty from the nearby University of Chicago munch broiled swordfish and drink from crystal glassware. ... But owners Neil O’Brien and Tom Ward want police officers from the Prairie Avenue Police District, which includes Hyde Park, to use their restaurant for just that purpose. They have agreed to take part in a new program that’s designed to lay out the welcome mat for police officers who need to take a break from the beat. The program, dubbed the “Police Welcome Station Program,” is being sponsored by the Prairie Avenue District, the University of Chicago security department, the South East Chicago Commission, the Hyde Park Business & Professional Association and the Hyde Park Kiwanis Club. Participating businesses will display a yellow, star-shaped decal, resembling a police badge, embossed with two shaking hands and the emblem, “Welcome Police Station.” Local police officers will be encouraged to stop in at those businesses to use the phones and washroom when the need arises.
THE NINETIES AUGUST 1994
SECC launches committee to rid 53rd Street of panhandlers, including through posting signs that say “say no to panhandlers.”
THE AUGHTS APRIL 10, 2004
In a speech, UofC President Don Michael Randel admitted that “terrible mistakes were made” in the university’s approach to urban renewal and called for a new strategy of community “engagement.”
THE TEENS MAY 27, 2014 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
Building a Bronzeville Cooperative Kizaire-Sutton, who, along with husband Charles Sutton, runs the Bronzeville Urban Development nonprofit, has long wanted to use [the abandoned Commonwealth Edison building] as a center for environmental education in conjunction with BUD’s bigger plan: to put solar panels, greenhouses, and a mushroom farm on the railroad embankment, creating a hub for locally grown, sustainable, urban agriculture ... In general, financing the project is a major issue for BUD; an energy company they brought in gave them an estimate of $60 million for the full scope of their plans, though an independent assessor, in a separate estimate, later said that price would only be around $3 million ... While almost any figure might seem too much for the organization, they’re still exploring several avenues of potential funding. One of the more promising right now is the University of Chicago, where they’ve met with Wendy Walker-Williams, executive director of the South East Chicago Commission, who, according to Kizaire-Sutton, seemed very excited about the project. (Their second meeting took place last Friday.) This would appear to be a mutually beneficial transaction—BUD would receive funding for its project, and the UofC would make some headway in rehabilitating its image on the South Side. Kizaire-Sutton proposes that the UofC could then function as a sort of “anchor institution” for the project, providing financial support in return for fruits, vegetables, and other products that would be grown there. APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 7
Leveling the Playing Field
RON VESELY/CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Youth baseball initiatives increase accessibility for underserved kids and communities BY HENRY BACHA
O
ne wouldn’t have needed to be in Wrigleyville on the early morning of November 3, 2016—when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, igniting a citywide celebration more than a century in the making—to know that Chicago loves baseball. That championship team was notable not only for its Series victory but also for the four African-American players who played major roles throughout the 2016 regular season and playoff run. In an era of a well-documented dearth of Black players in Major League Baseball (MLB) compared to previous decades, center fielder and leadoff 8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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hitter Dexter Fowler (now with the rival St. Louis Cardinals), right fielder Jason Heyward, shortstop Addison Russell, and relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. represented a noteworthy exception to a sport-wide trend. In many ways, it’s fitting that a roster with four Black players—tied with the Boston Red Sox for the most in the MLB—took part in bringing a championship back to Chicago, a city that has played such a major role in the history of baseball in the African-American community, and that is spearheading the MLB’s efforts to revive baseball participation in inner cities
nationwide. April 15 marked seventy years since Jackie Robinson started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Although it would take until 1959 for every MLB club to integrate, the following decades would see many Black players ascend to superstardom. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, African-American players consistently made up at least seventeen percent of all players in MLB, and players such as Darryl Strawberry, Willie Stargell, George Foster, and Joe Morgan were among the most-feared hitters of their eras. Even through the 1990s, a steady
stream of African-American stars—like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., and former White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas— anchored strong Black participation in baseball from the majors to Little League. But by the turn of the century, it was clear that something had changed. The percentage of African-American players in MLB was down to twelve percent by 2001 and falling fast; according to the Society for American Baseball Research, only 6.7 percent of MLB players were AfricanAmerican during the 2016 season. Some of that decline can be explained purely
SPORTS
MATT MARTON/CHICAGO WHITE SOX
through numbers: as the percentage of African-American players was halved, the percentage of Latino players was doubled. In 1989, thirteen percent of MLB players selfidentified as Latino; that proportion was over twenty-seven percent in 2016. As MLB expanded their talent searches southward to the nations of Cuba, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, scouts were able to find thousands of players, many as young as sixteen, who could be signed cheaply under league rules as international free agents. Statistics at least somewhat illustrate that MLB and other baseball officials have shifted their recruiting efforts away from African-American communities. To David James, however, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. As Vice President of Youth Programs for MLB, James oversees the league-administered Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) initiative. Founded in 1989, RBI now sponsors programs in some 200 cities across the United States through partnerships with all thirty MLB teams, serving 200,000 children annually. According to James, the cost of playing baseball—especially when compared to basketball—“is the number one issue” that hinders kids in underserved communities. “The game has not become too expensive; it’s the whole travel ball, pay-for-play that
has,” James said, explaining how the rise of the travel baseball industry impacted overall youth access and participation. “Grassroots, local league play got hit hard by the better kids who felt that the competition wasn’t where it should be, so if they had the means, they went and played for another program, and ultimately the grassroots communitybased local leagues started to diminish.” Also citing shrinking parks and recreation department budgets as a barrier to access, James notes how RBI prioritizes providing affordable opportunities to play baseball to what he calls “underserved kids, underserved communities” across America. James is aware of the uphill battle faced by MLB and other proponents of youth baseball. As he said with regard to the decline in the percentage of African-American players in MLB, “It took a long period of time for the number to drop, we’re not going to be able to turn it around overnight.” But pointing to recent successes of the RBI initiative—ninety RBI alumni have been drafted in the MLB first-year player draft over the past nine years, and established players CC Sabathia, Yovani Gallardo, and Justin Upton all count themselves as RBI grads—James said, “I’m confident that there is an upswing in participation of AfricanAmerican youth in locations across the
country.” Chicago, in particular, “is one of the best-kept secrets in the country with regard to African-American kids playing,” said James. Lauding the White Sox and the Cubs for their model efforts in promoting youth participation through league-sponsored programs, James said that opportunities provided to Chicago youth over the past decade are beginning to show dividends. Referencing South Sider Corey Ray, who played for the White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) team as a teenager and collegiately at the University of Louisville before being selected fifth overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2016 MLB draft, James said that “over the next four, five, six years, you’re going to see a lot of kids that potentially are Major League-caliber players that are going to come out of the city of Chicago.” Still, James maintains that the primary intention of RBI and other league efforts is to instill positive values and teach life skills through baseball. “Our first responsibility is to create major league citizens. If we get Major League players out of it, that’s a bonus.” To Coach Kenny Fullman, his job is “to try and get more inner city and AfricanAmerican players from the city of Chicago playing baseball at a high level.” Fullman says he began his career in youth baseball at the
age of fourteen, when he started coaching his younger brother’s peewee league team at the request of the president of the Washington Heights-based Jackie Robinson West Little League. In the years since, Fullman, who played baseball at Mendel Catholic High School in Roseland and at Kentucky State University, has become a leading figure in the revitalization efforts of youth baseball in underserved parts of Chicago. In his twentyfive years of coaching at Harlan Community Academy High School in Chatham, thirteen of his players have been selected in the MLB draft. In addition to working as a scout for the White Sox since 2003, he also recently became the second Black person to be inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. However, it is arguably Fullman’s work with the White Sox’s ACE program—the crown jewel of Chicago’s youth baseball revival—that will prove most influential to the resurgence of youth baseball in Chicago. Alongside Nathan Durst, Fullman founded the ACE program ten years ago in response to what they saw as a troubling lack of access and exposure to college and pro scouts for Black players from underserved neighborhoods. With the blessing and support of the White Sox, the ACE program has offered an opportunity for hundreds of APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 9
SPORTS
Percentage of Major League Baseball Players by Ethnicity
Black
DATA FROM SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN BASEBALL RESEARCH DATA VISUALIZATION BY ELLEN HAO
kids—at least seventy percent of whom live in low-income areas—to play elite, travel baseball year-round, with professionalcaliber facilities and instruction. To Fullman, who serves as director, the ACE program has a simple objective: “We’re leveling the playing field.” Fullman mentioned many of the same hurdles to participation as James, cost being chief among them. “Money is a big thing about baseball now. The grassroots programs are getting watered down and travel baseball has become big. A lot of times, our kids didn’t have accessibility to the tournaments, or the equipment, or the uniforms that a lot of the affluent kids did. Baseball is becoming an affluent kid’s sport.” Since the program began in 2007, over 130 ACE alumni have received college scholarships to play baseball, said Kevin Coe, Director of Youth Baseball Initiatives for the White Sox. Fullman notes with pride how many of his ACE players have gone on to “schools we would never have imagined them going to...in the SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten...all across the country, we’ve got kids playing baseball from the inner city of Chicago.” This is no small feat, considering that the declining numbers of AfricanAmerican players in the major leagues have extended to the college ranks as well; in 2015-2016, only 3.3 percent of Division I baseball players were African-American. One ACE alumnus, Corey Ray, already has 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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a clear path to the majors, and according to Coe, others shouldn’t be far behind. “We have several young men that are playing in our program right now that...have the potential to play some high level baseball. We have several [players] who are playing in college right now that might have the opportunity to play professional baseball.” The current renaissance of baseball programs in African-American communities in Chicago has deep historical roots. In the decades before the integration of the major leagues, Chicago was a hub for Black baseball in America. African-Americans on the South Side played on “industrial league” teams operated by Black-owned businesses throughout the 1910s and 1920s, and some of the first attempts at establishing a formal Negro League came out of Chicago, according to Dr. Leslie Heaphy, history professor at Kent State University at Stark. When the Negro National League was founded in 1920, it was due to the efforts of Rube Foster, a longtime Chicago resident and “the father of Negro League baseball.” Foster’s newfound league would include two Chicago-based teams, the Chicago Giants and the Chicago American Giants, both of which played on the South Side. Further demonstrating this connection, Schorling’s Park—now the site of Wentworth Gardens in Bronzeville—hosted the 1924, 1926, and 1927 editions of the Colored World Series,
while throughout the 1940s, Comiskey Park hosted the East-West Negro League AllStar Games, which regularly drew upwards of 45,000 spectators. Certainly, Chicago’s relationship with Black baseball has at times been fraught. The White Sox wouldn’t debut an AfricanAmerican player until 1951, four years after Robinson’s first appearance with the Dodgers; the Cubs would even more stubbornly resist integration, as an AfricanAmerican player would not wear a Cubs uniform until shortstop Ernie Banks made his debut in 1953. (Banks, “Mr. Cub,” would have an illustrious career and is now regarded as perhaps the greatest Cub of all time.) Even after Banks had established himself as a franchise player, both internal and external barriers to further racial integration persisted. Buck O’Neil, himself the Cubs’ first African-American scout, was responsible for the signings of many black players throughout the 1960s, including promising outfielder Lou Brock. Reflecting on the difficulties still faced by African Americans in baseball nearly two decades after Robinson broke the color barrier, O’Neil wrote in a 2002 essay, “There was an unwritten quota system... They didn’t want but so many black kids on a major league ballclub.” One only needs to look to Brock to see evidence for O’Neil’s claim. Brock was
traded to the Cardinals in 1964 amid rumors of racial discontentment among the Cubs’ largely white fanbase, as part of a package that netted the Cubs pitcher Ernie Broglio. Brock and the Cardinals would go on to win the World Series that year, and over the next fifteen seasons, he would play his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, while Broglio would be out of the league by 1966. The recent accomplishments of the White Sox ACE program, the MLBsponsored RBI initiative, and young players like Corey Ray all represent a citywide renewal and rejuvenation of baseball. And there are signs of progress on a wider scale, as well: over twenty percent of first round draft picks over the past five years have been African-American players, and three African-American players—Hunter Greene, a high school shortstop and pitcher from California; Kentucky high school outfielder Jordon Adell; and Jeren Kendall, a Vanderbilt University outfielder—are among the top prospects for the 2017 MLB draft. Through it all—through the decades of outright segregation, the long and difficult path toward integration, and, now, the declining numbers of African-American players at all levels of the game—baseball has survived in the underserved and AfricanAmerican neighborhoods of Chicago. ¬
MUSIC
At the Vanguard International Anthem brings avant-garde jazz, and more, to Bridgeport BY BRANDON PAYTON-CARILLO
W
ith the release of the self-titled album by Bottle Tree last week, the International Anthem Recording Company continues to build its reputation as one of the South Side’s most adventurous record labels. Founder Scottie McNiece, along with his partners David Allen and Joe Darling, have built a catalog of outsider music that stands up to the best that has ever come from Chicago. Although the Bridgeport-based label has developed a reputation for releasing great avant-garde jazz, their sound is less predictable, dabbling in funk, electronic, noise, and singer/ songwriter music. Renowned artists on the label’s roster include post-rock, free jazz guitarist Jeff Parker (of Tortoise fame), the Nick Mazzarella Trio, and hip-hop-inspired drummer Makaya McCraven. As every example of success, such achievement first started as an idea—an idea that suddenly came to Scottie McNiece. Hailing from Northwest Indiana, McNiece took a long and twisted path toward running a label. A lifelong musician, McNiece began playing piano during his elementary school days but eventually moved on to drums, which he played in his high school band. After a couple of aborted attempts at higher education, McNiece discovered his true calling in the music industry. He played drums in bands all throughout Indiana but was based primarily in Bloomington. Eventually he made it to Chicago on the premise of pursuing music while getting a teaching degree (another failed attempt). Along the way, McNiece worked in various restaurants and bars to make ends meet. It
KARI SKAFLEN
was in one of these bars that his life changed. “I was working at this bar and the owner knew that I was a musician so he asked me to help him with music programming,” McNiece explained. “Slowly but surely that became my full-time job for him. But at one point this musician, Ian Springer, came and said, ‘you guys should have some live jazz in this bar.’ And I was like, I’m down with that.” That chance meeting led to the creation of a jazz night at Curio (a basement space underneath Gilt Bar in River North, now called the Library) based in the avant-garde, free jazz that is unique to Chicago. The acts that played those nights were encouraged to play original music tailored to the host location. Eventually, McNiece called up his old friend David Allen, a recording engineer living at the time in southern Illinois, to record some of these acts. That was the beginning of International Anthem Recording Company. In December 2014, the label released “Alternative Moon Cycles,” an auspicious start—its bubbling synth lines and daring textures both intrigue and challenge the listener. The gentle acoustic guitars, along with the album’s subtle vocals, create a level of intimacy you might typically expect only from a lifelong partner. The name International Anthem Recording Company came from an improvised music project with Becky Levi entitled “International Anthem.” “It was an idea I had at the time that really stuck with me, and I knew I wanted to name something really important that,” McNiece said. “I liked the idea of unity and diversity in the name of it.”
So what kind of record label is International Anthem? “We want to put a big flag up to where everybody can come together around unity,” McNiece said. “We work with some pretty obscure music but we don’t want to be one of those alienating, cooler-than-you, youdon’t-get-it type of labels in which a lot of labels love that. We like boundary-breaking, cutting-edge music but we want to make it more appealing.” That appeal is present at every level— picking up a release from International Anthem, one will soon discover the quality of the product. For example, the 2015 release, “Ultraviolet,” by the Nick Mazzarella Trio, exemplifies the pride International Anthem takes in its vinyl and its ornate, detailed packaging: a vibrantly colored tropical forest contrasts with a tasteful sans serif font designed by Damon Locks. From the sash around the outside bearing the label’s Buckminster Fuller-influenced logo, the liner notes, to the weight of the vinyl, it is undeniable that a lot of thought has been put into each product. Luckily, the artists themselves receive the same level of attention, in McNiece’s opinion. “I think one of the things that’s been unique about our label compared to a lot of other labels... is that we are involved from the ground up,” McNiece said. “We meet an artist, and we are inspired by them. They have an idea, they want to achieve something but they need support. They need money to pay people to play their music, they need a venue to work out their ideas, and they need somebody to record them. A lot of labels
don’t do that. In general, we try to be involved through composition, through recording and presentation. For a couple of artists we booked and managed tours for them.” Now that International Anthem has established itself as a player on the jazz and avant-garde scene, McNiece has an eye toward the label’s future. “We’re gonna keep producing records the way we like to by working with the artists from concept, composition, to touring, presentation, to promotion. Eventually having a centralized venue space is really important to us. A place we can grow a community around,” McNiece said, growing contemplative. By creating a venue on the South Side, International Anthem would both play upon the history of the jazz scene that originated here with Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, while at the same time build a connection to the larger scene that is based out of North Side venues such as the Hungry Brain, Constellation, and the Hideout. It would also cater to a large jazz fan base that enthusiastically turns out for events like the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. “Audiences are more engaged, diverse, and the vibe is just better on the South Side,” McNiece said. International Anthem’s mission is an ambitious one, and will center on building up an even bigger roster of colorful, experimental artists. One conclusion is clear—if they are able to stay the course and nurture a community for Chicago jazz of all kinds on the South Side, the whole city stands to benefit. ¬ APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11
MUSIC
Introducing Smino A “blkswn” earns his wings BY EFRAIN DORADO
T
he various sounds across the hiphop landscape are often regionlocked. Describing a singular artist as either East or West Coast can simplify them to a certain sound and aesthetic. The recent burst of Chicago’s rap bubble has been a breath of fresh air for modern hip-hop. For possibly the first time, Chicago has a definite scene. The recent exposure is so rejuvenating because a singular idea, sound, or style didn’t follow with its fulfillment. Chicago’s scene is enigmatic because it isn’t locked by a singular approach, possibly due to its youth. No two artists are doing the same thing and every young MC has something distinct to offer to Chicago’s palette—which is why the St. Louis-born, Chicago-made rapper Smino is such a perfect fit. Smino’s debut album blkswn behaves like a love letter to both cities he calls home. Smino, who is performing a sold-out show at Bottom Lounge on April 26, has spoken at length to say that just because he belongs to the Chicago scene, it doesn’t mean he’s going to leave St. Louis behind. He declared as much even with his album’s release date, March 14—or 314, which is the area code of his hometown. Smino’s manner of rhyming and general style don’t necessarily evoke the vibe of either city. It feels like an amalgamation of influences; trying to define it would limit its prowess. Like the Midwest itself, Smino’s music is a combination of cultures. Every track or project Smino has released so far usually credits its production to Monte Booker in the liner notes. Smino
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and Monte are each other’s secret weapons. Both have made laudable music on their own, but together they are a force to be reckoned with. Monte himself is producing some of the most engrossing beats across the city. As much as this album is Smino’s chance to prove himself, it is also Monte’s. The songs produced together offer more of the same, but that is in no way a shortcoming. If something isn’t broken, why fix it? And that mentality is exactly what Smino and Monte follow on blkswn. At certain key moments, blkswn does find Monte and Smino branching out and testing the waters for possible new directions. The title’s eleventh track, “B Role,” takes the two on a detour from their signature dreamy style and down a more nightmarish path. The track opens with lyrics that are quickly darker than what we’ve heard prior: “I just wanna feel / Like my favorite artist still real / Like my daddy still a superhero.” Smino and Monte pollute their trademark future funk with heavy guitar loops and bombastic production. It elicits a corruption in their harmonic system as Smino’s sing-song affectation battles against Monte’s rolling drums. By the time the second verse rolls around, it seems as if Smino gets frustrated and weary as he powers through his words with an energy contrary to blkswn’s gentle ambience thus far. It’s a trial of experimentation, a welcome departure that quickly fits into the rest of the album, as Monte and Smino use the following track, “blkoscars,” to audibly regain their footing.
Self-pride gleams throughout blkswn. Smino, often referring to himself in third person, sings his own praises, but he never threatens arrogance. As his wordplay excels in each track, his pride feels more than deserved. And any brashness is abated by the sense of camaraderie that Smino never forgoes. The entire album already exemplifies how much he and Monte complement one another. Yet in his lyrics there are numerous reminders of the friends and family he wouldn’t be here without. On the title track he sings, “Stick with my familia / We go back like Girbauds and wife beaters / Back in the space when they tried to delete us / We blew G’s and stay G’d up.” The album’s features do more than enough to solidify this. In the opening of the lively “Innamission” he guides a crowd in a chant of his crew Zero Fatigue, comprised of Smino, Monte, singer Ravyn Lenae, and rapper Jay2, who both feature on blkswn. In conjunction with his Zero Fatigue compatriots are Akenya, theMIND, Bari, Via
Rosa, Drea Smith, Jean Deaux, and Noname. As much as Smino uses blkswn as his formal introduction, he also makes it one for his friends. There’s a new wave of Chicago MCs breaking out into the world, and blkswn is a more than satisfactory inauguration for them. If there is anything to dislike about the album, which is hard to find, it would be that Smino and Monte’s sound is sometimes too uniform. It often becomes difficult to distinguish when one song ends and another begins. But that’s also what allows the listener to just waltz right through blkswn’s eighteensong tracklist. Yet throughout its runtime, blkswn never seems to concentrate on a central idea or thesis; whether this is a fault or not is up to the listener. Some might prefer an album with a concentrated message, but to me, blkswn never feels like it needs one. blkswn should be seen as a profile of its creator and his many facets. After two EPs and multiple singles on SoundCloud, blkswn is Smino’s
EVENTS
BULLETIN South Shore Community Conference
Smino’s debut album blkswn behaves like a love letter to both cities he calls home. introduction to the wider world. There has always been this notion about Blackness being synonymous with things dark or morose, a starless sky or a room devoid of all color. Even the character of the Black Swan in Swan Lake is famously portrayed as being antithetical to its far more revered White counterpart. On his debut, Smino subverts the notion of Blackness as something inherently wrong. When talking about the song “blkoscars,” Smino told Vibe.com that “The coldest shit about being Black is you’re kind of just ahead of the curve naturally... Your access to cool shit just comes out of the air... It’s already through our ancestors, the music and different crazy styles.” He embraces the image of the Black Swan and brings forth the inherent beauty in Blackness. blkswn is not a perfect record; it’s highly ambitious and there are flaws to be found within those yearnings. But when it shines, it shines bright. Such an alluring sense of Smino’s personality is imbued throughout blkswn. There’s an ambience of youthful energy that keeps you eager for what he’s going to do next. Smino is out here spreading love and beauty and breaking down barriers. Chicago is full of young visionaries on the verge of making it big, and Smino feels right at home among them. ¬ Best tracks: Glass Flows, Spitshine, Anita, Blkoscars, Innamission, Amphetamine.
Powell Elementary School, 7511 S. Shore Dr. Saturday, April 29, 8am–1pm. RSVP at bit.ly/2pWJeUz Get information and give input on future planned developments in the South Shore/ Washington Park/Woodlawn areas. Topics include the Obama Presidential Center, the Jackson Park-South Shore golf course project, South Shore Cultural Center restoration, and more. (Roderick Sawyer)
Raise the Barn Crop Mob! South Merrill Community Garden, 7032 S. Merrill Ave. Saturday, April 29, 9am–5pm, with preferred work shifts 9am–noon and 1pm–5pm. No experience required. Wear gardening clothes and closed-toe shoes. RSVP at info@auachicago.org. bit.ly/raisethebarn A firebrick oven and cooking pavilion are coming to an intergenerational community garden in South Shore, but only with your help! Get your hands dirty this Saturday at the first event in a yearlong collaboration between Advocates for Urban Agriculture and Slow Food Chicago to give back to the community in local gardens and parks. (Emily Lipstein)
Make Love Boombox Plaza, 833 W. 63rd St. Saturday, April 29, 11am–3pm. movingdesignmakelove.eventbrite.com Stop by Boombox Plaza this Saturday to transform the space into a memorial garden dedicated to Chicago gun violence victims. Real and paper flowers welcome at this therapeutic and loving event. Tunes, food and beverages will be provided. (Bridget Newsham)
New Era Chicago Open Meeting C.B.U.C., 300 E 27th St. April 27, doors 6:30pm, meeting 7pm. (872) 212-6026. chicago.neweradetroit.org At this month’s open meeting, New Era Chicago asks: What is Black power and how do we get it? Learn about the Chicago chapter of New Era Nation while joining
in on this roundtable discussion. Donations for their next Hood2Hood community clean-up welcome. (Adia Robinson)
Project Gentlemen 2017 Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Upper Wacker Drive. Saturday, May 27, 8am–4pm. Free. (773) 531-7719. Register at iamagentleman.org/pg-chicago This full-day interactive event aims to prepare young men graduating from high school for successful careers, healthy lifestyles, marketable skills, and balanced relationships. How? Through workshops, guest speakers, networking and on-site personal grooming, to name a few of the scheduled activities. Each gentleman attending will have the opportunity to leave with a complete business outfit from suit to shoes, as inventory permits. (Nicole Bond)
VISUAL ARTS Geometric Expressions Zhou B Art Center, 1029 W. 35th St. Friday, April 28–Friday, June 9. (773) 523-0200. zhoubartcenter.org The Zhou B Art Center will host an exhibit entitled “Geometric Complexions,” featuring thirteen artists working within a visual tradition originating as early as 1908 with Cubism. The exhibit will showcase a range of techniques and approaches to the medium. (Bridget Newsham)
BLOOM: A Community Project Port Ministries Family Center, 5013 S. Hermitage Ave. Saturday, April 29, noon– 6pm; Sunday, April 30, 1pm–5pm. bit.ly/BLOOMproject Let the artist in you blossom this weekend. Join community members and local artists in painting flowers on the exterior of The Port Ministries’ Family Center. While painting, attendees can enjoy artist talks, a “seed bomb”-making workshop, short film screenings, and several vendors. Sunday will include live music and a discussion of how women can plant resistance. (Adia Robinson)
Running Street Art Tour / Re-corriendo el barrio National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. Saturday, April 29, 10am–1pm. (312) 738-1503. nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org Multitaskers, get your daily steps in and get your culture on in the Running Street Art Tour of Pilsen. Miguel “Kane One” Aguilar will lead a run for all levels, taking joggers on a tour of the nonpareil public art splashed across the neighborhood. Improve your cardiovascular health and your aesthetic appreciation. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Public Art from Pavement to Policy Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Tuesday, May 2, 5pm–8pm. Free. (773) 3245520. hydeparkart.org Desi Mundo, founder of the Community Rejuvenation Project, will spend this evening leading a “self-education forum” on the role of public art. He will screen the Alice Street Film Short and share stories alongside statistics to explain the function of art in policy through his experience as a professional muralist and educator. (Ashvini Kartik-Narayan)
Lesley Jackson: Walking with Rilke 4th Ward Project Space, 5338 S. Kimbark Ave. Through Saturday, May 6. Saturdays, 1pm–5pm, or by appointment. Free. (773) 203-2991. 4wps.org Multimedia artist Lesley Jackson uses objects like gathered leaves, a rubber band, and tree bark to evoke the “romantic struggle with mortality” of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke at this month-long exhibition in Hyde Park. ( Jake Bittle)
BURN353 Elephant Room Gallery, 704 S. Wabash Ave. Through April 29. Saturdays, 11am–5pm, or by appointment. (312) 361-0281. elephantroomgallery.com This solo exhibition by artist BURN353, a graffiti and mixed media artist from downstate Illinois, looks back on a childhood spent spray-painting freight trains APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 13
EVENTS
and watching hip-hop films, and showcases pieces from his extensive painting and design work. ( Jake Bittle)
Closing Reception: Aspects of the Whole Studio Oh!, 1837 S. Halsted St. Through April 27. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 1pm–6pm, or by appointment. Free. (773) 474-1070. art-studio-oh.com “Aspects of the Whole,” curated by Studio Oh!’s Lisa Stefaniak, uses grid patterns to cut through and segment the work of four photographers and artists (Adam Lofbomm, Otto Rascon, Robert Tolchin, and Stefaniak herself ), breaking down images and putting them back together in strange and captivating ways. (Hafsa Razi)
Intercessions: Art as Intervention and Prayer Rootwork Gallery, 645 W. 18th St. Through May 21; see website for performance schedule. (917) 821-3050. facebook.com/rootworkgallery “Intercessions” brings together visual and performance art to contemplate “the body and the spirit; the sacred and the profane.” The opening reception features the work of painter, sculptor, and performance artist Maya Amina, as well as percussion and mixed media artist Xristian Espinoza. (Hafsa Razi)
MUSIC Stalley The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Friday, April 28, 9pm doors, 10pm show. $22 general admission, $35 per seat for tables. 21+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com See Ohio native Stalley and Philadelphia legend Beanie Sigel perform at the Promontory to celebrate Stalley’s fulllength debut—titled, yes, Ohio. Find out
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what Stalley means by “Intelligent Trunk Music” this Friday. (Roderick Sawyer)
Hill, Herbie Hancock, and more. (Roderick Sawyer)
Jucifer Reggies Music Joint, 2105 S. State St. Saturday, April 29, 8pm. $12. 21+. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com Jucifer, one of the earliest two-piece heavy metal groups, will be making a tour stop in Chicago. They’ve been on tour nonstop since 2001, bringing their “odd compositions” and “on-stage improvisations” to more than twenty countries each year. Come see a band that’s been compared to everything from Slayer to Neurosis. (Adia Robinson)
The Jayhawks Thalia Hall, 1708 S. Allport St. Saturday, April 29, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $26–$360. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com. “Alt-country,” born in the nineties, eventually grew large enough to spawn the still-running magazine No Depression. Acts like The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, and Chicago’s own Wilco offered an edgier, lo-fi alternative to Nashville’s mainstream balladeers. Coming out of Minneapolis, the aforementioned Jayhawks swing through Pilsen this Saturday in support of their new album Paging Mr. Proust. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Mining the Tradition: Modern Voices Reanimate Historic Jazz Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. Sunday, April 30, 4pm–6pm. Free. (773) 702-2787. bit.ly/ReanimateJazz The UofC hosts a concert and conversation on the exploration and recontextualization of the work of historic jazz figures. Performers include drummer Dana Hall, bassist Clark Sommers, woodwind player Geof Bradfield, and pianist Ben Waltzer. Musicians will discuss the work of historic jazz figures like Melba Liston, Andrew
STAGE & SCREEN Moving Images, Making Cities Film Series: This is the Life Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Wednesday, April 26, 6:30pm–9:30pm. RSVP online. Free. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org Place Lab and Black Cinema House’s year-long film series continues with Ava DuVernay’s 2008 documentary on the Good Life hip-hop scene in South Central LA, a group of collectives that included DuVernay herself. “It was perfect,” recalls one artist in the film—to dig deeper, a discussion will follow with Tayyib Smith, founder of the Institute of Hip-Hop Entrepreneurship, and music journalist Briahna Gatlin. ( Julia Aizuss.)
Karaoke for Kidneys Mercy Hospital, 2525 S. Michigan Ave. Saturday, April 29, 4pm–10pm. $50 suggested donation. lisa@morethanyourkidneys.org morethanyourkidneys.weebly.com Darvece Monson—who founded the 501(c) (3) More Than Your Kidneys—is partnering with Mercy Hospital to host Karaoke for Kidneys, the first of what will hopefully be an annual event, commemorating the legacy of Takiya Holmes. After Holmes was killed by a stray bullet in February at the age of eleven, her organs were donated to six people, including one kidney to her cousin, Monson. Proceeds will go to supporting patients and family members affected by CKD/ESRD/dialysis/kidney transplantation. (Michael Wasney)
NAJWA Dance Corps: Masks DuSable Museum of African American
History, 740 E. 56th Pl. Saturday, April 29, 7pm–9:30pm. $15–$25. (773) 727-1773. najwadancecorps.org African dance and ceremonial masks combine in Najwa’s annual spring concert showcasing the dynamics of masks and maskmaking through the ages, whether as cultural ritual or as a retreat from personal truths. (Nicole Bond)
The Artists Lounge Open Mic South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan Ave. Every first and third Friday until June 30, 7pm–10:30pm. $7, $5 performers. (773) 373-1026. sscartcenter.org This multi-genre open mic is the 2015 collaboration of wordsmiths Dometi Pongo and Johnetta “Awthentic Poetry”Anderson. Poets, singers, emcees, musicians, and visual artists alike can showcase their talent every first and third Friday of the month, at the open mic’s newest home, the historic South Side Community Art Center. (Nicole Bond)
(In)Justice For All Film Festival Venues across the city. Through April 29. All screenings are free and open to the public. (847) 922-3361. injusticeforallff.com Presented in conjunction with Trinity United Church of Christ and The Next Movement, over fifty films from socially conscious filmmakers are featured to raise awareness and inspire action to combat social ills leading to mass incarceration, many with conversations or panel discussion following. Highlights include Generation Revolution, chronicling the Black Lives Matter organization, at the Chicago Cultural Center; Dispatches from Cleveland and State of Fear: Murder and Memory on Black Wall Street—both adding to the conversation around police misconduct—at the South Shore Cultural Center; and Saving Barbara Sizemore, focusing on CPS closures, at Chicago
State University. Visit the website for the complete schedule of films. (Nicole Bond)
Dance4Peace Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 S. King Dr. Saturday, May 6, 5:30pm–7pm. $15, $10 students and seniors, $8 groups of ten or more pre-sale only. (773) 624-8411. redclaydance.com Red Clay Dance Youth Ensemble and Academy present their fifth annual Dance4Peace concert to celebrate youth committed to creating works about “peace and positivity.” This year’s event explores global citizenship and will include their Community Hug Award ceremony recognizing a local hero, culminating with the announcement of winners for their 2017 college and summer scholarships. (Nicole Bond)
Harvey Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. May 11–June 11. $15-$68. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org
Long before there was Donnie Darko or Wilfred, there was Mary Chase’s 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Harvey. The titular character is an invisible rabbit that stands six feet and three inches tall and may end up imprisoning the “carefree and kind” protagonist Elwood P. Dowd in a sanitarium. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Never the Milk & Honey The Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Through Sunday, May 28. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 8pm; Sundays, 3pm. $21-$37. (773) 609-4714. mpaact.org It is written that there is a land of milk and honey, promised as respite for the faithful when the world ends. Explore what happens as covenants and faith are broken, when the world doesn’t end as expected, in Joseph Jefferson Award winner Shepsu Aakhu’s newest play, directed by South Shore native Carla Stillwell. (Nicole Bond)
APRIL 26, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15