February 10 - 16, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 6
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Calendar
Beat the cold with these hot events!
SportsWise
The SportsWise team remembers Kobe Bryant.
Cover Story: Black History Month
StreetWise marks Black History Month with a discussion and interview on Timuel Black's newest book, "Sacred Ground," which details his 101 years in Bronzeville: from his high school days with Nat "King" Cole at DuSable High School to his University of Chicago postgraduate degree and work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Harold Washington and Barack Obama.
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From the Streets
14 15
The Playground
The world of Chicago's underground punk music is explored in the film "You Weren't There." In addition, the "Dollars & Sen$e" program helps explain Chicago's portfolio to citizens, and construction starts on the CTA Red and Purple Line's modernization project.
inside streetwise
StreetWise collaborates with Notre and artist Cody Hudson to celebrate his work on Nike's 8x8 Unite project. The release of the collaboration and the StreetWise issue was celebrated with a party on January 24. THIS PAGE: Historian and former CPS teacher Timuel Black, Jr. honored by his alma mater, the University of Chicago. CPS photo.
Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
dhamilton@streetwise.org
StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI
Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Julie Youngquist, Executive Director
jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Amanda Jones, Director of programs
ajones@streetwise.org
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photo by flickr user Jerseyjarzy
Black History Month Concert Series: See February 10 - 12
FEBRUARY 10
Food is Family History When: 6 - 7:30 p.m. Where: Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. What: Chef Lamar Moore, Constance Simms-Kincaid, and Robert Kincaid (owners of 5 Loaves Eatery), as well as Batter & Berries executive chef Ken Polk, discuss the art of preserving family history, traditions and memories through cooking. More information at chipublib. org. FREE.
FEBRUARY 10 - 12
Black History Month Concert Series When: 11 a.m. Where: Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. What: 4,200 Chicago Children’s Choir singers from every ZIP code in the city will be performing together in an educational program honoring black culture. The series will feature the Choir’s world-renowned Voice of Chicago performance ensemble, along with thousands enrolled in the in-school program. More information at cchoir.org. FREE.
FEBRUARY 12
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert When: 12:15 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: Thai-Chinese-American pianist Mayta Liu. More info at imfchicago.org. FREE.
The Latino Comedy Film Series Screenings When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: The Cultural Center will be showing "Corizon de Leon (Heart of Lion)," a romantic comedy that celebrates inner beauty. A tall and beautiful woman named Ivanna falls in love with a man over the phone, only to find out that he is very short when she meets him in person. She soon learns that height is not a barrier when it comes to love. More information at latinoculturalcenter.org. FREE.
FEBRUARY 12 - 23
The Times Are Racing When: Wed - Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun 2 p.m. Where: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive What: The Joffrey Ballet’s latest show is a mixed repertory program featuring choreography from four of the most influential artists working today. The show is named after a piece by Justin Peck, which channels the power of protest and the process for creating change. Another piece will feature music by Grammy Award-winner Tom Waits. Both of these pieces will be making their Chicago premiere. Tickets start at $35 on Joffrey.org.
FEB 13 - MARCH 14
Titus Andronicus When: Thurs - Sat 7:30 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m. (March 14 at 3 p.m.) Where: The Den Theatre,
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. What: Haven Theatre Company is putting on Shakespeare’s revenge-tragedy, promising a thrilling and bloody marathon. The show is about a Roman general who captures a queen and brings her back to his kingdom, but then she plots many terrible things including the murder of his children. Director Ian Damont Martin centers this production on the voices of marginalized people too often excluded from classical theater performance. It explores the impact of vengeance across the intersections of family, power and race. $35 at havenchi.org.
FEBRUARY 14
Champagne and Sparkling Wine Fest When: 7 - 11 p.m. Where: I|O Godfrey Rooftop, 127 W. Huron St. What: The panoramic skyline views, fire pits, and shimmering water elements make this the perfect location to enjoy an evening of sipping champagne and sparkling wine. More info at chicagochampagnefest.weebly. com. Tickets start at $59. Love and R&B Tour When: 8 p.m. Where: The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St. What: This concert features Tank, Eric Benét, Kelly Price, After 7 and Troop. The lineup is subject to change. Tickets start at $60 on msg.com.
'Mortified' When: 8 p.m. Where: Sleeping Village, 3734 W. Belmont Ave. What: Featuring everyday people reading aloud their most embarrassing, pathetic and private notes in front of total strangers. Witness “personal redemption through public humiliation.” $20 at sleeping-village.com. My Funny Valentine When: 8 & 10 p.m. Where: Laugh Factory Chicago, 3175 N. Broadway What: Both shows will feature separate all-star comedian lineups. Comedians who have already been announced include Tim McLaughlin, Sarah Perry, and Daryll Schmitz. $30 at laughfactory.com.
FEBRUARY 14 - 15
Valentine’s Day Dance Party When: Fri 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.; Sat 4 & 6 p.m. Where: Duet Dance Studio, 2412 W. North Ave. What: Two different dance parties created for couples to celebrate the holiday together, one called “Dirty Dancing” and one “Tango for Lovers.” The first class will teach moves inspired by the movie and will include hors d'oeuvres. The second will teach the sensual movements and dramatic poses of tango. Sign up online at duetdancestudio.com. Each class is $90 per couple.
Folk Festival When: Fri 8 p.m.; Sat 7:30 p.m. Where: Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. What: The University of Chicago will have two concerts with many folk performers on Valentine’s Day weekend. Performers include Bill and the Belles, Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass, and the Mariachi Sirenas. In addition to the concerts, free workshops will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. A schedule can be found at uofcfolk. org. Tickets start at $25.
FEB 14 - MARCH 1
Legally Blonde The Musical When: Thurs-Sat 7:30 p.m.; Sun 2 p.m. Where: Northwestern University’s Wirtz Center, 1949 Campus Dr., Evanston What: America’s beloved blonde law student takes the stage at Northwestern’s campus starting on Valentine’s Day. The show is based on the 2001 movie, but according to director Chase Carter is still relevant today because the story continues to break down stereotypes. The play is complete with real canines. $30 at wirtz.northwestern.edu.
FEBRUARY 15
Pantyhose Puppets When: 1 - 4 p.m. Where: Smart Museum of Art,
5550 S. Greenwood Ave. What: This family event is a drop-in puppet-making workshop. It is inspired by the work of Ma Qiusha, one of the artists of “The Allure of Matter,” which is currently showing at the museum. Participants are taught to use nylons to make puppets and are invited to a Pantyhose Puppet show. Supplies are provided. More information at smartmuseum.uchicago.edu. FREE. Dances from the Heart When: 8 p.m. Where: Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. What: Showcasing the most romantic works from Dance Chicago performers, this piece features an array of dance styles such as aerial, tap, urban fusion, jazz, contemporary, Irish, Mexican folkloric, hip-hop and more. Audience members will receive complimentary treats courtesy of Eli’s Cheesecake Company. Tickets start at $18 on athenaeumtheatre.org. Happy Together When: 8 p.m. Where: North Shore Center, Skokie Blvd., Skokie What: Chicago’s own married musical stars Michael Ingersoll (Jersey Boys, Under the Streetlamp on PBS) and Angela Ingersoll (End of the Rainbow, Get Happy on PBS) sing together. Witness spousal shenanigans and hear signature
songs. Tickets start at $34 on northshorecenter.org.
FEB 15 - MAY 10
In Flux: Chicago Artists and Immigration When: Mon - Fri 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Sat & Sun 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: This large-scale, multidisciplinary exhibition highlights the influence and impact immigrant artists have on Chicago, and responds to the current political climate. It features over 20 contemporary artists and illustrates a living and evolving legacy. Find out more at chicagoculturalcenter.org. FREE.
THROUGH FEB 23
'Roe' When: Various Where: The Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. What: Conceived in a pizza parlor and argued in the highest court, 1973’s Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, which is a topic still hotly debated still today. The young women behind the trial attorney Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) - embark upon separate journeys that mirror the current polarization over the landmark decision. The show illuminates the heart and passion that each side has for their cause. Tickets start at $20 on goodmantheatre. org.
THROUGH MARCH 15
'Emma' When: Various Where: Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave. What: Jane Austen’s beloved novel is now a musical! Tony Award-nominated composer Paul Gordon and artistic director Barbara Gaines are reunited following their collaboration on "Sense and Sensibility." Privileged, pampered, and preoccupied with romance, Emma Woodhouse indulges in her pastime of misguided matchmaking, but remains quite clueless when it comes to her own feelings - and a gentleman named Mr. Knightley. Lora Lee Gayer stars as this imperfect heroine who learns that love defies prediction. Tickets start at $35 on chicagoshakes.com.
THROUGH MAY 31
Growing Community When: Mon - Fri 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Sat & Sun 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Where: Chicago Water Tower, 806 N. Michigan Ave. What: As part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, NeighborSpace is highlighting many of the city gardens’ unique community stories in a public photo exhibit in one of the city’s most familiar and treasured landmarks. More information at neighbor-space.org. FREE.
-compiled by Rachel Koertner
The Times Are Racing: See February 12 - 23
Roe: See Through February 23
Cheryl Mann photo
Liz Lauren photo
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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards about the world of sports.
SPORTSWISE
The
tragic loss of sports icon Russ: My condolences to the Bryant family and to everyone who lost their lives in this tragedy. When Kobe was drafted in 1996, I already felt he was a special guy as not many players come out of high school straight to the NBA. Even though I was a Bulls fan, I still liked him, because he competed, y’know? Patrick: He wasn't scared. Russ: Exactly. The thing about Kobe, he challenged you. Magic said it best: Kobe was the greatest Laker ever. I thought Magic was, but I've changed my mind, Kobe is the greatest. Donald: Kobe Bryant was an astounding player. He inspired people; he also learned how to teach the game: how to win, the no-look pass, the focus, all of that. MJ, Magic, Allen Iverson - they were all in his mix. In his final 48 game-minutes, he hit 60. If an opponent ran out to a huge lead, Kobe still brought it. Off the court, he was a family man. He taught his daughter (and others) to do it in ways that were important: how to speak to people - including the media - how to dress, etc. He eventually got to where he could say "I stand alongside the greats" such as Wilt, Magic, Jordan, Bird... Also, he spoke many languages fluently, expanding his range. Patrick: Donald, your mention of how Kobe spoke to the media reminded me of Coach Phil Jackson’s teachings. How much more was involved than, simply, scoring a bucket. Both influenced by Phil,
Kobe’s and MJ’s professionalism were very similar. Things of this nature simply elevated what he accomplished on the court. I've been a Lakers fan for a long time, the Magic era, the Eddie Jones era... Donald: James Worthy up in there... Patrick: A.C. Green, Nick Van Exel--all of ’em. When Kobe arrived and began handling business, it only increased my Lakers-love. It’s messed up, this accident. The lives lost, young and older. It's bittersweet discussing him, but.... John: Kobe had two phases in his career: early-on Kobe, son to ex-NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a flashy, skinny kid from Philadelphia; Later-on Kobe, with Shaq, and coached by Phil, blossomed. When Shaq was traded, it forced Kobe to mature; he accepted the challenge and
Kobe Bryant
became a leader. In regard to basketball, he developed a jump shot—a definite boost. I was lucky to see him play in person--in L.A—amazing. It really hurt to hear about the accident. Russ: Kobe now belongs on my team: Jordan, Duncan, Magic, Bird, and Kobe. I'm going to miss him. Only 41-years old, he did tons for the game. It's hitting me hard, and I'm gonna dedicate the upcoming All-Star game to him. I love what teams are doing to honor him. The United Center tribute, players taking 8- and 24-second violations…I'll never forget you, Kobe. Donald: Many don't know Kobe took language lessons and stayed on YouTube learning all types of [stuff]. The accident was a shame: He had a lot more to give.
It was beautiful seeing his wife, Vanessa, tell him on the Kimmel show "I want a son!" Playfully ordering him not to speak bringing another daughter into existence. Hilarious. Patrick: Like John, I once saw Kobe play live. I’d struggled with watching him play at the stadium at which I'd only cheered on our Bulls. I finally broke down...I felt horrible... but I cheered for my man, though, and wouldn't have had it any other way: I saw Kobe do it in-person. My condolences to the family. To you, Kobe: Too young you were...and “Kudos” for grasping your opportunity. John: During the All-Star game, I have one hope: One team wears purple and the other gold.
Sacred Ground
Historian Timuel Black takes us on an oral history of Chicago's Bronzeville since the great migration by Suzanne Hanney
Bronzeville is “Sacred Ground” to historian and social anthropologist Timuel Black, not so much for its brick and mortar, but for its oral histories, its networking and its music: “jazz with an African beat and a European melody line that affirms we are all sharing this Earth together and that there is no monopoly on joy.” Black, age 101, came up from Birmingham, Alabama as a baby with his parents shortly after the Race Riots of 1919 intensified the neighborhood’s segregation, so that residents were forced to develop their own businesses and to rely on each other. When he was growing up in the 1920s and ’30s, “Bronzeville was a place of much poverty and some wealth, a center for music and sports, and a terrain where demonstrations could break out at any time,” according to his archive at the Carter G. Woodson regional library. “Even when the Depression was at its worst, the sense of poverty never seemed that overwhelming,” Black wrote in “Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black,” as told to Susan Klonsky, edited by Bart Schultz and published last year by Northwestern University Press. “We always lived
in and around fairly prosperous neighbors, among doctors, lawyers, railway porters and postal workers.” The Great Migration of African Americans from the South during World War I meant that the area between 22nd and 55th Streets doubled in population between 1910 and 1920, with small families crammed into kitchenette apartments. Mom-and-pop stores provided first jobs for teenage delivery boys. “Pearl’s Kitchens” -- independent restaurants -created places for conversation between people as seemingly far apart as gamblers and preachers. Always, there was music. In the 1910s and '20s, “The Stroll,” or State Street between 26th and 39th Streets, was so thick with nightclubs that it was said a musician could just hold a cornet in the air and it would play itself. Before air conditioning, there was not only music in the air, but coming out of neighbors’ windows, Black said. In 1927, the opening of the Savoy Ballroom at 47th and South Parkway (later known as Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) moved the entertainment area farther south.
Bronzeville section of Chicago, 1941. Photo: Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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Left Top: "Mama (Mattie Hardin McConner Black) and Daddy (Timuel Dixon Black) had their photo taken to send to me while I was serving in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, to assure me they were alive and well back home." - Timuel Black Left Bottom: A postcard of the Wendell Phillips High School in 1919. Above & Top row: A button featuring the image of Captain Walter Dyett, courtesy of the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Nat King Cole; Dinah Washington; Joseph Jarman; and Gene Ammons, all photos from the Library of Congress. Bottom Row: Harlem Globetrotters team owner Abe Saperstein recruited most of his players from Chicago’s Wendell Phillips High School. The 1930–31 team included (from left) Abe Saperstein, Toots Wright, Byron Long, Inman Jackson, William Oliver, and (seated) Al “Runt” Pullins. Each played against my brother, Walter, on the Tilden squad. But Walter went off to college instead of signing with the Globetrotters. - Timuel Black The Savoy Ballroom featured on a postcard in 1927. "My military discharge papers from 1945. After I was framed and court-martialed, the charges against me were dropped, and I received an honorable discharge, three Overseas Service bars, the European–Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with four Bronze Battle Stars, a Good Conduct medal, a World War II Victory medal, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm from the government of France." - Timuel Black Here’s “Mr. Black” in the 1956 yearbook of Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, one of my first teaching jobs. I taught social science and introduced black history. - Timuel Black
The school system itself reinforced the music culture, thanks to Capt. Walter Dyett, first at Wendell Phillips and then at DuSable High School, 4934 S. Wabash Ave. Between 1931 and 1961, Dyett trained more than 20,000 musicians, including vocalist Dinah Washington, saxophonists Gene Ammons and Von Freeman, drums/multireed player Joseph Jarman and pianist/vocalist Nat “King” Cole. Black sat alphabetically in front of Cole at Wendell Phillips and then DuSable until Cole dropped out of school during junior year in 1934. Cole had been playing the piano until early in the morning at a club to help support his family. However, because of restrictive covenants that prevented blacks from moving out of the community, DuSable was extremely overcrowded and went to double and triple shifts; Cole was assigned to an 8 a.m. school day instead of one that began at 9:30 or 10 a.m. “Our division teacher refused to let that happen,” Black said in a telephone interview. “He said, ‘you didn’t come here to play music, you came here to learn.’ [Cole’s] father was so disappointed, but it’s a practical fact in those days money was very important to the welfare of the family, so Cole dropped out of school. I said to myself, ‘My god, how is he going to make it?’ He was not singing then because he played piano with younger people like Dorothy Donegan and Dinah Washington, who could sing. He was such a fantastic pianist that when we were having teachers’ meetings, we had a piano in almost every room, and we would put a card on the door and
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charge people who wanted to hear Nat “King” Cole play. He didn’t start singing until he left Chicago with the big bands, when he had to make a living in California. It wasn’t that he didn’t like school. When he would come back to Chicago for any reason he would stop at DuSable and talk about his experiences there.” Dyett had been attending Illinois School of Medicine when he started performing with local orchestras led by Erskine Tate at the Vendome Theatre and by Carroll Dickerson to help pay family medical expenses, according to his archive at the University of Chicago. Dyett finally left medical school and worked as a musician for a decade before he was hired at Phillips in 1931. He later received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and served on both the black musicians’ Local AFM 208 and then the merged AFM Local 10-208. He acquired the “Captain” title as bandmaster for the Eighth Regiment Infantry Band of the Illinois National Guard. Saxophonist Jimmy Ellis said in Black’s earlier book, “Bridges of Memory: Chicago’s First Wave of Black Migration” that Dyett’s students were already good musicians by the time they graduated. “[Dyett] had the awareness to know that, ‘Hey, I don’t care if you don’t like me. If you want to play the horn, then you’ve got to practice and do what I say.’ Total discipline was required. And you’ve not only got to be able to play the music –it's also how you looked, how you dressed – everything. ‘Whatever you’re doing, if it’s not in order, get out of here.’”
Black noted that he had always wondered how anyone could stay in Dyett’s class, yet students would beg to get back in after Dyett had kicked them out. Besides leading various bands at the school in the daytime, Dyett wrote and arranged music for the singing, dancing and skits in the annual Hi-Jinks show that he rehearsed at night. “Hi-Jinks was a community event and bandleaders would come like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington in order to find some of these young musicians to be in their bands,” Black said. “Yes, it was a talent search, and the search was concentrated. Most of the African-Americans of the period had formal musical training in symphonic and classical music but since they couldn’t get jobs in Chicago, they turned their talent to jazz and blues. Benny Goodman also came looking for talented musicians for his racial orchestra.” Black's other DuSable contemporaries, meanwhile, included Ebony magazine publisher John Johnson, realtor/author Dempsey Travis and the Rev. Abraham Patterson, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church. World War II began on Black’s 23rd birthday: Dec. 7, 1941. He served with an Army supply unit that landed on the beach at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. However, a visit to the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald in central Germany in 1945 was a life-changing event. Nearly 250,000 people had been imprisoned at Buchenwald – Afro-Germans, gyp-
sies, homosexuals, Jews – and nearly all had died of disease, starvation, medical experiments or executions. Black was overwhelmed by the smell and by the sight of the remaining skeletal prisoners. Coming home to a segregated Chicago, Black earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Roosevelt University and a master’s degree in sociology and anthropology from the University of Chicago. He taught at DuSable, his alma mater, and at Farragut and Hyde Park High Schools. He was an assistant director for the federal Chicago Teacher Corps and a dean and vice president for academic affairs at Wright College and Olive Harvey College, respectively. As a teachers’ union activist, Black was elected president of the local Negro American Labor Council (NALC), which was headed nationally by A. Phillip Randolph, who picked him to be the Chicago coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Black wrote in “Sacred Ground” that as an activist, he needed the leadership of someone like King. “He articulated the feeling that many of us carried from our childhood to our young adulthood: ‘I’m tired of the segregation,’ as Rosa Parks said,” Black recalled. “By that time I had been in World War II and had seen what can happen to human beings shooting each other. I had seen Buchenwald and had the feeling that across race lines we were going to return home and bring about peace on Earth. Dr. King articu-
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THIS PAGE: Left: The Vendome Theater in 1944, photo by Hansel Mieth/ The Life Picture Collection. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in Chicago in 1966, Bob Fitch photography archive, © Stanford University Libraries. BELOW: "A Bronzeville Saturday" acrylic painting by Greg Spears, featured in the Chicago Public Library Bee Branch. OPPOSITE PAGE: With my wife, Zenobia Johnson Black. We met while campaigning for Harold Washington in 1982. - Timuel Black My children, Timuel Kerrigan and Ermetra. - Timuel Black At the RainbowPUSH Coalition with the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. in 2018, on the annual Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tour, sponsored by the University of Chicago Civic Knowledge Project and Alumni Association. - Timuel Black. Photograph by Bart Schultz.
lated those feelings so early in my teaching career. I heard this handsome young man from a very upper class African American family identify his tiredness with the opportunity for equality and so I went South for the various marches. He was an inspiration because he was universal.” President Lyndon Johnson had encouraged Dr. King to bring his campaign to a Northern city in order to break housing segregation, Black said. One of Black’s own DuSable classmates, the Rev. Patterson of Liberty Baptist Church (4849 S. King Drive), had been a few years ahead of Dr. King at Morehouse College and particularly wanted him to bring his mission to Chicago. Black was also among those who encouraged King to come to Chicago in 1966 to help tenants organize against slums, although he had misgivings about the danger. Dr. King was hit in the head by a rock during a fair housing march in Marquette Park on the southwest side – a level of violence he said he had not even seen in the South. “There were people who were white and black and Asian who could support Dr. King’s nonviolent resistance in the South, but they were not going to do that in the North,” Black said. “They were not going to take a beating and not retaliate. Marquette Park and Cicero would be too violent against Dr. King.” Nevertheless, Black said that he didn’t think another northern city could have given Dr. King a better outcome. “He would not have had the kind of support from the leadership – political and religious – in any other city that he had in Chicago.”
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Dr. King’s 1966 campaign ended with a summit in which the Mortgage Bankers Association agreed to make loans regardless of race, and city officials agreed to build housing of limited height. However, by March 1967, Dr. King called a press conference to say that city officials had reneged, according to his Stanford University archives. World War II and the 1950s had brought a second wave of the Great Migration. Just as with the first wave, war prevented European immigration, so jobs in steel mills, stockyards and war production had to be filled domestically. Mechanization had begun to reduce farm jobs in the South and blacks were eager to leave racial discrimination behind, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s American Experience website. This second wave, however, “had been deprived of the opportunity to get a good education, to be able to vote and to organize because most of them were from plantations,” Black said in the telephone interview. “There was a separation classwise.” Simultaneously, in 1940 the U.S. Supreme Court banned restrictive covenants (thanks to the father of “A Raisin in the Sun” playwright Lorraine Hansberry). African Americans could now move out of crowded Bronzeville and find more space in South Shore, Hyde Park or Kenwood, and that’s just what he and other returning veterans did after World War II when they wanted to start families, Black said. An unintended effect of this new mobility, however, is that “now young people in Bronzeville were not growing up with doctors
and lawyers and other successful people around them, the way I did,” Black wrote in “Sacred Ground.” “Those successful people were moving out. My generation could have done more to welcome these later arrivals from the South.” What did he wish the Great Migration’s first wave had done for those who came North in the 1940s and ’50s? “We integrated too fast,” Black said in the telephone interview. “An example of solidarity continuing despite class is Chinatown. They continued to have their political and economic base despite the fact they had been isolated since the 1890s.” Just the same, the networking came together for the election of Harold Washington as the first African American mayor of Chicago in 1983. Washington was a few years younger than Black, another DuSable graduate and a returning World War II vet who also attended Roosevelt University with Black. When Mayor Richard J. Daley died in 1977 after 21 years in office and Ald. Wilson Frost, the black president pro tem of the Chicago City Council, was kept out of the mayor’s seat, blacks began to seek more power, Black wrote. In 1982, Washington agreed to run – if the community could register 50,000 new voters and raise $100,000. Black and Renault Robinson, founder of the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League, visited Ed Gardner, the founder and owner of Soft Sheen hair products, (whose wife was a DuSable grad) and Gardner committed $250,000. Johnson
Publishing’s John Johnson and real estate magnate Dempsey Travis raised $1 million more from smaller black businesses: car dealers, gas station owners, insurance executives. With support from Hispanic leaders like Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Luis Gutiérrez, and white community organizers like Slim Coleman and Helen Shiller on the North Side, Washington beat the white, Republican candidate for mayor. Black's role had been to help craft Washington’s platform and to organize young people to carry out voter registration. In the process, he met, courted and married Zenobia Johnson, “the lasting love of my life,” who had been on Washington’s congressional housing task force. The cycle begun with Washington’s election continued with the election of Carol Moseley Braun as the first African American woman senator and then Barack Obama as the first black president, Black said. He is proud that the Obama Presidential Library is coming to the South Side, although he says he wished its location was not Jackson Park but Washington Park, “where Michelle Obama and I helped her husband, where Harold Washington and Carol Moseley Braun were inspired by the leadership in that area around Washington Park.” “Change is going to come. What role will you play?” Black said. “Obama is a dramatic example, as is Carol Moseley Braun, and the breakthrough of the early restrictive covenants. I want the reader to be optimistic through the history of one man who lived 101 years in the community he talked about.”
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'You weren't there' A History of Punk in Chicago by Lily Martinez
Silverio performs at SubTeranian in Chicago. Photo by Cristóbal Mora. The promotional artwork for the film "You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984."
Leather jackets with grey hair draping over the shoulders, arms covered in fading tattoos now a seaweed green, a few pairs of youthful eyes, and faces with fresh piercings - the bunch who gathered at the Independence Branch of the Chicago Public Library on a recent winter evening were eclectic and diverse in age, but similar because they all had a love for punk. The Independence Branch screened the documentary “You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk,” which ironically communicated that no one was really there, because the Chicago punk scene had ended where it began: underground.
FROM THE STREETS
Geographical location plays a large role in finding stardom, but perhaps these bands remained underground for other reasons, such as their questionable content. For example, in the late 70’s a band named Silver Abuse released a song titled “All Jews Must Die.”
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When Camilo Gonzalez was interviewed about the song for the documentary, he explained “it was actually satirical at the time. The Nazis were marching in Skokie. So, we had that song and unfortunately, the lyrics were not as intelligible as they could have been.” Despite the absolute distain and disregard for social implications, that song is an example of what punk is. Punk goes beyond being a genre of music. It is a mindset focused on deconstructing social structures and institutions through absurdity, and maybe causing a little mayhem. As Timothy Powell from Metro Mobile Recording explained, “Punk is about being pissed off at the general condition.” When the interviewees were asked about punk today, their responses gestured that there were no real punk rockers left. Dave Springer from Tutu and the Pirates said, “We were all angry. I wonder what happened to all the anger.”
However, on December 18, not long before the library presentation, a middle-aged man disproved these accusations -- all while sporting a Speedo despite his ballooning beer belly. Silverio, an electric punk artist, graced the stage of The Subterranean in Wicker Park exemplifying that punk is alive and well, and still angry. Silverio’s performances consist of people throwing things such as beer cans and middle fingers at him while he says bad things about their mothers. As this may look idiotic and pointless, it’s important to acknowledge his performances are well curated. His music is intended to be heard live, reconnecting the audience to the experience of going out to shows. He aims to make people uncomfortable and to bring out their primal instincts. Jann Diaz from Chicago says she went to his show “to see the reaction of people who never heard of him before” and “el dismadre” (the riot). “The point of the show is to shake up all these people walking around like mindless imbeciles,” Silverio (aka Julian Lede) told Richard Villegas four years ago on Remezcla.com, a digital publisher, creative agency and entertainment company for Latino millennials in the U.S., Latin America and Spain. Lede compared his improvisation-heavy shows to those of television evangelists in the United States, “who congregate hundreds of people and make a spectacle of the whole thing. I’d go so far as to say those preachers are more intelligent than most rockers today. It’s important to remember that what elevates a show to spectacle is the audience.” Lede reflected that truth is often stranger than fiction. During this jarring political era, who better than punk artists to challenge the confines of society, to show the social progressions that have and haven’t - been made?
Dollars & Sen$e program aims to educate chicagoans on the city of chicago's Portfolio Chicago Treasurer Melissa ConyearsErvin is hosting “Dollars & Sen$e” town halls across the city to engage citizens about the City of Chicago’s investment portfolio and to introduce them to banking and economic development resources. There will also be an overview of the 2020 Social Impact plan that encompasses all 77 neighborhoods in the city. The South Side program will be 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, February 22 at Englewood STEM School, 6835 S. Normal Blvd. Guest speakers on community lending from Fifth Third Bank, LISC and SomerCor will offer both tried and true and new information on personal finance and small business growth. The North Side program will be 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, February 29 at the Albany Park Branch Library, 3401 W. Foster Ave. Speakers from US Bank, LISC and Accion will offer tips on how to grow your money and land small business loans. Earlier programs included speakers from JPMorgan Chase, LISC and SomerCor on community lending, February 8 at the West Side’s Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet HS. David Casper, CEO of BMO Harris, led a Central city discussion on community impact banking February 4 at city hall, which included a list of approved broker dealers selected by an historic process that includes diversity, inclusion and social responsibility metrics. -Suzanne Hanney, from email sources
CTA Red & Purple Line modernization begins
A rendering of the future CTA Red Line Bryn Mawr stop. Courtesy of CTA.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has begun Phase One of its Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) -- the largest capital project in CTA history -which will involve rebuilding century-old track and constructing new, elevatoraccessible stations at Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr. Preliminary work between Montrose and Thorndale will include new rail interlockings to allow trains to safely switch tracks and new signal equipment to regulate traffic as Red and Purple Line trains run on two of their four tracks. Later this year, CTA will build temporary stations at Argyle and Bryn Mawr so that riders can still access trains when the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations close by early 2021 for construction. The preliminary work, which will continue until spring, will be undertaken on weekends, when ridership is lower, CTA officials said. Work will begin late Friday evenings and end before the Monday morning rush. If trains bypass stations between Wilson and Howard, passengers will have to skip stations and then transfer to a train operating in the opposite direction to go back to their stop. Shuttle buses will also be provided during the weekend closures. The loudest work will be done in the daytime when possible, but overnight construction will include noise, dust and vibration. The contractor will use specialized equipment such as temporary sound barriers. There will be periodic street and alley closures, but if project contractor Walsh-Fluor will block access to a garage, they will give advance notice and an alternative parking location, officials said. Construction on the four (northbound and southbound) Red Line tracks and the four stations is scheduled to be complete by fall 2024. The 9.6 miles of tracks were built in 1924 and are CTA’s busiest, serving some of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods. RPM Phase One is funded with a $957 million Federal Transit Administration grant, a $125 million congestion mitigation and air quality improvement (CMAQ) grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and $622 million in transit TIF from the City of Chicago and CTA financing. -Suzanne Hanney, from email and online sources
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Streetwise 12/30/19 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Sudoku
P
Crossword Across
©2019 PuzzleJunction.com
6 Walkie-talkie 37 Whip mark word 39 Pantheon 7 Most up-to-date member 8 Associate 43 Something to 9 I, to Claudius spin 10 Birds noted for 44 Vision thievery 47 Perpetrator 11 Cambodian 51 Darjeeling or money oolong 12 Orbison tune, 52 Needle “___ the Lonely” continuously 14 Two-year-old 54 Pertinent sheep 57 Standoffish 21 Wide’s partner 58 Vernacular 23 Knight’s title 59 Part filler 27 Astringent 60 Terra ___, finely substance pulverized 29 Walking ___ Down gypsum 31 Weighed down 1 Winter wear 61 Misses 2 One way to read 32 Turkish dough 62 Waist circlers 3 Pooh’s creator 33 Mother of Horus 64 Fit of fever 34 Fall mo. PuzzleJunction.com 4 Sit on eggs Copyright 66 Punching tool ©2019 5 Encouraging 35 Know-it-all 68 Formula ___ 36 Pizzeria fixture word 70 Wood sorrel 60 Before now 63 Prefix with legal 65 Leaning to the right 67 Drudgery 69 Popeyed 71 Habit 72 Thin pancakes 73 No ___ thing 74 Apple’s apple, e.g. 75 Source of strength 76 Musical chairs goal 77 Supporting
1 5 9 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 23 25 27 28
Copyright ©2019 PuzzleJunction.com
©PuzzleJunction.com
Last Week’s Solution Puzzle Answers
Solution
29 31 34 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48
Sudoku Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at
49 51 52 53 56 58
Actor Grant Pouches Annoy Spring sign Coffee order Bonanza’s Blocker Manet contemporary Fall flower Swelled head Tailor-made Shocked No longer working (Abbr.) Gr. letter Kind of party Gun, as an engine Dessert fire ©2019 PuzzleJunction.com Unruly crowd 59 City on the 7 Trickster Bring out Mohawk 8 Boot camp Tire filler 62 Red River city boss Ship’s front 66 Biblical high 9 Concept Navigational priest 10 ___ to riches aid 67 Designer’s 11 Air mile Baseball’s Mel concern 13 Compass pt. High-strung 68 Tire pattern 14 Devil ray Diplomacy 69 Favorite 20 Whip mark Reverence 70 Cool drinks 22 Clothes basket Gofer’s job 71 Brink 23 Fill up a gun Cozy room again Indistinct Down 24 Express Poetic 26 Type of golfer contraction 28 Medical 1 Bounder Back then advice, often 2 “___ you Dashed 29 Cone bearer sure?” Ocean 30 Drill part 3 18-wheeler Daze 32 Showy 4 Bakery supply Bottomless 5 Distress letters 33 Sarajevo Sun shade locale 6 Behave
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How StreetWise Works
THE PLAYGROUND
Our Mission
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To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.
Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.
Financial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.
Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.
S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.
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Snooze Marries Wise one Give it a go Cut short Irish river Speeder’s bane Dutch cheese Bowling score Stride Story Condo, e.g. Young newt Bar stock Romaine lettuce Wine color Joke Lyric poem
The Launch of the 8x8 Unite project with artist cody hudson Photos by Dave Hamilton & Amanda Jones
ROW 1: Cody Hudson, in front of an instlalation based on his design. The bar area featured issues of StreetWise prominently. A guest carries a tote, also designed by Hudson. The exclusive print by Hudson, only available at Notre (118 N. Peoria St.), with all proceeds benefiting StreetWise. The cover of StreetWise Vol. 28 No. 4 featuring artwork by Hudson. StreetWise's Creative Director/Publisher Dave Hamilton and Director of Programs Amanda Jones pose with the issue on display. A patient Notre employee helps guests. The party is underway.
StreetWise was grateful to feature the work of local artist Cody Hudson, who colaborated with Nike's Jordan Brand to create a capsule collection for the 8x8 - Unite project. The aim of the project is to celebrate the return of the NBA All Star game to Chicago, by having 8 local artists creating art work representing the 8 different CTA train lines. Hudson's work for the project launched exclusively at Notre (118 N. Peoria St.). Notre hosted a party on January 24 to promote the launch of the collection, and to preview the January 27 issue of StreetWise! The party also featured a limited print by Hudson, with proceeds from its sales being donated directly to StreetWise.
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