StreetWise has been a part of the fabric of Chicago for 33 years, empowering individuals and creating opportunities.
We'd love to hear from you: What does StreetWise mean to you personally? How has it impacted you or your community? Feel free to share your thoughts, stories, or favorite memories!
4 6 8
Arts & Entertainment
Event highlights of the week!
SportsWise
The SportsWise team discusses the greatest NBA rivalries.
Black History Month: black House museums
The Coalition of Black House Museums terms itself “an Urban Historic Preservation Advocacy Group...that works to prevent the destruction of real estate and the extinction of events, actions and lives that are important to underserved communities around the United States.” Join StreetWise as we visit Sajdah House, the former home of the Nation of Islam's Hon. Elijah Muhammad; the Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House and Muddy Waters Mojo Museum, all of which are under renovation. Learn also about the Phyllis Wheatley House and the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum.
15
The Playground
ON THE COVER: The Sajdah House, 4847 S. Woodlawn Ave., featuring "The Cracked Atom" bronze statue by Michael Emcays, which shows 7 members of the African Diaspora, representing a saying by the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, that their unity would yield a weapon more powerful than any atom bomb. THIS PAGE: A Hearth in the Sajdah House is being refurbished ahead of the house's opening. (Dave Hamilton photos). DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise.
Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher dhamilton@streetwise.org
Amanda Jones, Director of programs ajones@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, Executive director jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Ph: 773-334-6600
Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Compiled by Dave Hamilton
All the World's A Stage!
‘A Night of Broadway’ Illinois Conservatory for the Arts (ICA), a non-profit arts education institution in the Western suburbs, will host its 3rd annual “A Night of Broadway” benefit Gala & Concert featuring an all-star lineup of Broadway stars: J. Harrison Ghee, the first openly non-binary performer to win the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2023 for their perfor mance in “Some Like it Hot;” Amber Iman, 2024 Tony Award-nominated actress for her role in “Lempicka;” local favorite Karen Mason, an Arlington Heights native who originated the role of Tanya in the Broadway production of “Mamma Mia;” Aisha Jackson, the first Black actress to play Anna in “Frozen” and current star of “The Notebook” on Broadway; and Myles Frost (pictured), winner of the 2022 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Michael Jackson in “MJ the Musical.” The soloists will present a program of classic and contemporary Broadway hits at Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville, on Friday, February 21. Attendees have the option of purchasing a ticket for either the full evening Gala with VIP concert seating, starting at 5 p.m., or concert-only seating and after-party access, starting at 7:30 p.m. Concert-only tickets start at $50 with Gala tickets starting at $250. The Gala features a festive cocktail hour, plated dinner, silent auction, and a DJ-hosted after-party where guests can mingle with the performers. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ilconservatory.org/events
Take Note!
‘Notes from the Field’
W hen fiction isn’t enough, stories must be told as they actually happened. Using verbatim transcripts of real-life interviews, “Notes from the Field” tackles incarceration, police brutality, and systemic educational issues with heart and hope. Anna Deavere Smith’s striking piece of documentary theatre shows the school-to-prison nexus not in allegorical critique, but in grotesquely real detail. Shattering notions of punishment and the justification of violent force, “Notes from the Field” interrogates what is activism, what is performance, and what you can do about it. Playing February 20 - 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Road. Tickets are $25 for general admission, with discounts for faculty ($20), Alumni ($15), seniors ($20), non-Loyola students ($12), and Loyola Students ($10) at luc.universitytickets.com
An Anniversary Celebration!
Arts of Life Birthday Party and Book Launch
The Chicagoland non-profit Arts of Life celebrates its 25th Anniversary with the launch of the new artwork-filled hardcover book, “2wenty 5ive – Arts of Life 2000-2025,” a retrospective highlighting the organization’s history of supporting artists with disabilities. With locations in Chicago, North Shore (Glenview), and South Side, Arts of Life advances the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their independence. Throughout its 25th anniversary year, Arts of Life will look back at its history, celebrate its impact, and cast eyes toward its future. Kicking off an exciting year of programming, 2wenty 5ive: Arts of Life Birthday Party & Book Launch takes place at Seven Star Venue Space, 2017 W. Howard St., 1-4 p.m. on February 22. Tickets start at $100 at artsoflife.org
Culture through Dance!
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández
One of the most famous dance companies in the world, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández, uses the medium to explore the stunning and visually opulent history, culture, and music of Mexico, with live music, exquisite costumes and theatricality. The performance, featuring choreography by renowned founder Amalia Hernández, invites audiences to experience folklore from every region of Mexico and from pre-Columbian civilizations through the modern era. Based out of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one of Mexico City’s most historic venues, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández has developed choreography for 40 ballets, and the company, made up of 60 folk dancers and musicians, performs extensively across Mexico and abroad. Two performances only: Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive. Tickets start at $30 at auditoriumtheatre.org
Warmth & Splendor!
‘Golden Hour’
The Joffrey Ballet presents “Golden Hour,” a radiant mixed repertoire program of warmth and splendor. Featuring world premieres by Yuri Possokhov and Dani Rowe, the return of Cathy Marston, and an audience favorite by Nicolas Blanc, the curated program welcomes audiences in from the cold to experience the light of these four immersive works. “Golden Hour” will be presented at the Lyric Opera House, 20 North Upper Wacker Drive, in ten performances only, from February 20 to March 2. Tickets start at $36 at joffrey.org
Innovation in Theater!
“The Uncanny Attic: Chapters A-D”
Part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut series, “The Uncanny Attic” is an absurdist dark comedy told through puppetry, clowning, dance, live music, stop motion animation and an unhealthy dose of death. Inspired by the artwork and literary nonsense of Edward Gorey, it’s a world where catastrophic events happen with utter regularity and its inhabitants–particularly children–are an endangered species. Playing February 20 - 22, at 8 p.m. daily at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets are $30 - $40 at steppenwolf.org/lookout
Eat Local!
North Side Restaurant Week
From February 27 to March 9, restaurants in Rogers Park, Albany Park, Edgewater, Lincoln Square/Ravenswood, Northcenter and Uptown will each offer a fixed-price menu highlighting their cuisine, with offerings that may include breakfast, lunch and dinner. Join us and savor all the wide range of dining options throughout the week with flavors spanning the globe – from Argentinian, French, Indian, Italian, Cambodian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, Salvadorean, Senegalese, Thai, to Southern comfort food, new American classics and more. Visit rpba.org/nsrw for participating restaurants.
Challenge the Patriarch!
‘Theytriarch’
Theytriarch is a historical fiction that explores the lives of queer people and their various roles in society over the centuries. Part community ritual and sermon, "Theytriarch" uses movement, music and poetry to celebrate two-spirits, 3rd gender, transgender and non-binary peoples. Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 at 8 p.m. at Steppenwolf, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets are $15 at steppenwolf.org/lookout
The Soothing
Sounds!
9th Chopin IN the City Festival
The 9th Chopin IN the City Festival runs February 21 - 28, and will present concerts at venues across Chicago. Events showcase world-class artists across various genres, and culminate in a closing night featuring three powerhouse vocalists on stage together for the first time. For a full list of shows (many of which are FREE) visit soundsandnotes.org
Classics Performed Live!
‘Great Choral Works’ Lyric Opera of Chicago presents “Great Choral Works,” a celebration of the beauty and power of choral music, in two community concerts: at Wheaton College, 520 E. Kenilworth Ave., Wheaton, on February 19 and at the Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd., on February 21. Each concert begins at 7:30 p.m. These concerts bring some of Lyric’s world-renowned artistry into the community, allowing residents to engage with the Lyric Opera Chorus in their own neighborhoods. The 50-minute program includes selections from Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Bizet’s “Carmen,” Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” as well as American musical theater classics such as “Carousel” and “The Sound of Music.” Tickets at lyricopera.org
The greatest NBA Rivalries
John: What do you think are the greatest NBA rivalries of all time?
Allen: It’s gotta be Los Angeles against Boston. They are neck and neck as far as NBA Championships. Boston has 18 NBA championships and Los Angeles has 17. Boston broke the tie with the NBA championship they just won in 2024. I also like the Chicago rivalry with Detroit, the “Bad Boys,” because they liked to foul and get away with it. We got one of the bad boys when we had Dennis Rodman. With Dennis Rodman on our side, we were able to calm them down.
You have a lot of rivalries: Green Bay and Chicago Bears, Los Angeles and Boston, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Duke and North Carolina, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Ohio State and Michigan, David Letterman and Jay Leno, Angela Reese and Caitlin Clark, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, East vs. West Coast as far as rapping -- Biggie Smalls against Tupac Shakur; and last, but not least -- the panhandlers against the StreetWise vendors!
Russell: Back in the day, there was good rivalries, but my favorite was Boston and the Lakers. Especially when Boston had [Larry] Bird and the Lakers had Magic [Johnson]. They was getting down in the NBA Finals, 1984, ’85 and ’87.
But I also liked the Bulls and Detroit. Every year, it was Detroit and the Bulls with the same results, Detroit wins.
Then they finally beat Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals in Chicago in 1991 and Detroit (Isiah Thomas, Bill Lambeer and Mark Aguirre) ran off the court, wouldn’t shake our hands. Crybabies.
The Bulls went on to beat Magic’s Lakers for the NBA title.
Now you got new ones: New Orleans and Memphis, Miami and Milwaukee. They took it to the limit. New York and Boston. Right now, the Celtics got a good team, no more Celtics and LA rivalry. Boston got a team, LA don’t. When you get a center, a point guard, you can compete.
John: Today’s rivalries don’t compare to the rivalries back in the day. Boston and LA were my second favorite rivalry. The first was actually the Celtics and the 76ers. Before Dr. J. (Julius Erving) and Bird, there was Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. I remember when Boston was down 3-1 to the 76ers, they came back and won three straight, including Game 7, in Philadelphia’s back yard, and ultimately won the ’68 series. They did the same thing in ’81 in Boston. That was the one rivalry I enjoyed because every game went down to the wire. Another rivalry that I thought could have been but never materialized was the LA Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers: Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton from the late 70s, both UCLA alumni. Outside of that, the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
Allen: I agree with you about Boston Celtics and the Lakers. Boston has 18 titles and
Los Angeles only has 17. And the Boston Celtics center, Bill Russell, has the record for the most NBA championships won. But LeBron James got his son with him and hopefully they can take the Lakers to a title.
Russell: Magic and Bird, to me that was the best. Bird talked a lot of smack.
John: They knew Bird could back up his trash. If you talk a lot of smack but can back it up – as Babe Ruth said –it’s not bragging. One I didn’t mention, the Bulls and Knicks rivalry. Every year, the Bulls with Michael Jordan would win.
Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Vendors (l-r) Russell Adams, A. Allen and John Hagan chat about the world of sports.
The Coalition of Black House Museums
by Suzanne Hanney
The Coalition of Black House Museums terms itself “an Urban Historic Preservation Advocacy Group...that works to prevent the destruction of real estate and the extinction of events, actions and lives that are important to underserved communities around the United States.”
The collective of historic landmarks, all female-led, strives to preserve “the tangible, living experience of those who paved the way in both suffering and success for the benefit of us all.” (www.coalitionofblackhousemuseums.com)
The museums include:
Sajdah House, 4847 S. Woodlawn Ave. where the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, lived from 1952 through 1974. https://supportsajdahhouse.com
The Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House at 6427 S. St. Lawrence Ave., home of the Civil Rights martyr and his mother, under renovation by Blacks in Green (BIG). www.blacksingreen.org/till-house-museum
The Muddy Waters Mojo Museum at 4339 S. Lake Park Ave., which belonged to McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters – the father of modern Chicago blues. The first house he ever purchased, it became a gathering place for music makers. www.mojomuseum.com
The National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, 10406 S. Maryland Ave., which focuses on the African American contribution to U.S. labor history, from the Pullman Porters to the Great Migration and the American Civil Rights Movement.
The permanent collection displays exhibits pertinent to the study of the African American contribution to America’s labor history and includes but is not limited to: the Pullman Company, as it relates to the labor history of African American Railroad employees, A. Philip Randolph, the Pullman Porters, and the brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. https://aprpullmanportermuseum.org
The Phyllis Wheatley Home Group, 5128 S. Michigan Ave., named for Phillis Wheatley (1753-84), a poet and the first Englishspeaking person of African descent to publish a book. For over 50 years, this structure housed up to 22 women and girls who had come to Chicago to study or make their living, part of a network of such homes across the U.S. It has been in private ownership since the 1970s. www.preservationchicago.org/phyllis-wheatley-home
“Our goal is to create a wholesome and encouraging environment for developing healthy people and strong communities.”
-Dr. JoAnn Tate, president of the Phyllis Wheatley Home Group
THIS PAGE, from top:
The Muddy Waters Mojo Museum (Dave Hamilton photo). The National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum (National Park Service / Ve'Amber D. Miller photo). The Phyllis Wheatley Home (Serhii Chrucky photo).
OPPOSITE PAGE: Sajdah House: One of the multiple hearths that are being refurbished; the exterior featuring the Cracked Atom statue. An interior stairwell; owner Sajdah Wendy Muhammad shares printed displays about the life of Elijah Muhammmad (Dave Hamilton photos).
PAGE 10: The Cracked Atom statue (Dave Hamilton photo).
Sajdah House
Sunlight floods the expansive front room at 4847 S. Woodlawn Ave., where the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), hosted dignitaries like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Judge Thurgood Marshall, Betty Shabazz, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), James Baldwin, Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Wilma Rudolph, Sam Cooke, and more, from 1952 until his death in 1975.
No other property in the world was graced by more iconic African Americans than the National House of the Nation of Islam, according to blacknews.com. The Kenwood neighborhood house is a center for Black history, women’s history, civil rights and American history.
Bond was incredulous.
NOI member Sajdah Wendy Muhammad bought the 1890s mansion and is in the middle of restoring it as the Elijah Muhammad House Museum, to honor his contributions to society: efforts to win freedom and civil rights for Black people, to deal with issues that are still relevant today, such as food deserts, homelessness and police brutality; and to pass legislation to “end the terror Black people were facing.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, during his last visit, talked about economic development,” Ms. Muhammad said. “When we go to the doctor now, there are certain subtle prejudices, depending on where you go. But then, it was just straight up [racist]. He talked about owning Black hospitals because of the number of babies who were dying during birth.”
The Civil Rights Act would not be passed until 1964 and the Voting Rights Act until 1965. “They were trying to do all this on their own,” she added. "There was literally no government assistance. There weren’t even that many Black people in these government spaces, which is why he sponsored the Georgia delegation to the 1968 Democratic National Convention.”
A week before the 1968 DNC in Chicago, Julian Bond was here as part of the advance guard of the integrated Georgia Loyalists, set up to challenge the white, segregationist, and overwhelmingly pro-George Wallace official Georgia congregation. As Bond wrote in the Chicago Tribune ahead of the 1996 DNC in Chicago, the Loyalists needed money for travel and hotel rooms.
A large Black man named Walter Turner overheard Bond, recognized him and referred him to a nearby hotel. Turner suggested Bond ask his employer, Elijah Muhammad, for help.
“Why would the leader of America’s most prominent Black separatist group...who regularly castigated whites as ‘blue-eyed devils,’ pay to bring a group made up of a majority of those devils to a meeting whose whole point was voting and political participation?”
According to the National Archives, in fact, Muhammad’s teachings on Black supremacy and that white people were devils created specifically to oppress Blacks gained the attention of the U.S. government. The Black Power records in the archives include FBI surveillance on him in Chicago.
Bond made his pitch at the Kenwood home, and the Hon. Muhammad invited him to a dinner of NOI members there the next day. Although the men and women were divided about funding the delegation, the Hon. Muhammad peeled off $3,000 in crisp $100 bills and gave them to Bond.
“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad helped the Georgia Loyal National Democrats force the Democratic Party to make good on promises it made in 1964–that delegate selection would be democratic, fair and open,” Bond wrote in the Tribune.
“He literally changed the face of the Democratic Party...The Democrats who gather in Chicago in 1996 look much more like America, and in part, they have the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to thank for it.”
Ms. Muhammad has heard similar stories of average people who were helped by the Hon. Muhammad, perhaps after unfair lending practices due to redlining. “People would come and say this happened, and he would say, ‘Here’s some money.’ I've actually met five or six people who said, ‘He saved my house.’”
When she bought the property, its condition was so deplorable – raccoons were living in it—that she felt it would be disrespectful to put Elijah Muhammad’s name on it. She came up with “Sajdah,” Arabic for “prayer” or “one who adores God,” and consulted Minister Farrakhan.
“’I think Sajdah House is the right name for the project, and for you,’” she recalled him saying. “In our religion, he gave me a spiritual name.”
An independent business consultant who began her career with Price Waterhouse Coopers and who has experience in training entrepreneurs, in project management, crisis management, process improvements, financial reporting and more, Ms. Muhammad will use the house for business coaching and daylong retreats. The first floor would be open to the public by reservation to experience historic NOI conversations; as she told N’Digo, they were taped, so three-minute snippets could easily be reproduced. She already does a podcast and could make films on how to prevent diabetes, or how to shop, from the home’s especially sanitary kitchen.
“When you come into the Nation of Islam you get a list of things you shouldn’t eat,” she said. The Hon. Muhammad stressed baked over fried foods, one meal a day, no pork, duck, catfish, “scavenger seafoods” or various greens, beans and wild game.
“What you want for your brother or sister is what you want for yourself,” she explained of the lifestyle the Hon. Muhammad espoused. “There is so much trauma, and hurt people hurt people. Elijah Muhammad said the pattern stops now. You take responsibility. He has a saying, ‘Don’t wait for somebody else to do good. Do your part.’
“When you put people in abject poverty, sometimes people compromise. They do things because they’re hungry or don’t have a place to stay, don’t have money. He was teaching us to have faith enough to hold on so you don’t do those things in the face of what you might be facing.” It’s a traditional lifestyle of self-improvement, entertaining at one another’s homes and supporting one’s friends when they’re down, she said.
As she restores the front room floor to its 60s veneer, Sajdah Wendy Muhammad is conscious of retaining details that made the home, from pocket doors to wooden beamed ceilings, bay window seating and stained-glass. The home was built at the turn of the century for William French Burrows and his wife, Louisa Libby Burrows, whose family started the Libby canned meat and vegetables company that employed 9,000 people in the Chicago area in the 1930s and remained here until 1985.
Manifests show the Libbys entertained Spiegels of the catalog company, and Hoovers of the vacuum cleaner company.
“He was like the men who built America, but for Chicago: Spiegels, Libbys and Hoovers right here in the dining room. Then in 1952, Elijah Muhammad moves in and does the exact same thing. People aren’t really that different.”
The Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House
The mid-century West Woodlawn of Emmett Till’s youth was a middleclass neighborhood of strivers, less crowded than Bronzeville, says Naomi Davis, founder and CEO of Blacks in Green (BIG), which owns and is restoring his home. Emmett and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, lived comfortably on the second floor of 6427 S. St. Lawrence Ave., a building owned by his family, with his dog named Mike and his cat. His uncles, aunts and cousins lived on the floor below. He attended McCosh Elementary (since renamed Emmett Till Fine and Performing Arts School) roughly two blocks away.
The young Emmett “never had a dull day in his life,” according to his cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. He was a prankster, he loved to tell jokes, and he was always the life of the party, said Ellen Grimes, project director, an associate professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who won a $150,000 National Historic Trust grant for a community-based history of the home. But Emmett was also a responsible young man, who helped his mother with housework, since she worked long hours for the federal government. He installed flooring, put up wallpaper, got on the bus to pay utility bills.
All that changed abruptly in August 1955, when 14-year-old Emmett boarded a southbound train to spend time in Mississippi with Parker and other cousins. On a visit to the grocery store in Money, MS, Emmett whistled at Carolyn Bryant, wife of the owner, who accused him of making sexual advances (although whistling was a mechanism Till used to conquer his stutter). A couple nights later, Bryant’s husband Roy and his halfbrother J. W. Milam kidnapped Emmett from his bed, tortured him, shot him in the head and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River.
Mrs. Till’s decision to open Emmett’s casket for viewing by roughly 100,000
people and photographs by Jet Magazine brought home the horrors of lynching to Americans and galvanized the Civil Rights Movement. Down the block from the house – and connected to it by newly planted trees – is the Mamie TillMobley Forgiveness Garden, which is open to the public 24/7 and every second Sunday at 3 p.m. for people who want to lay their burdens down, Davis said.
“With the power that Mamie demonstrated in her incredible stand for forgiveness, she taught us all what it really means to be human beings, walking the walk of faith – all faiths – no matter where they come from. Many of us talk about it, but Mamie showed us we can do more than talk about it, we can actually walk that walk. She’s been a personal inspiration for me.”
The Till-Mobley House will have a garden as well, with a 12to 15-foot sculpture by Richard Hunt, commissioned by BIG. Hunt provided a maquette of the piece, to be finished by his studio since his death last year. Hunt was a West Woodlawn native whose first and last pieces were about Emmett, Davis said. There will also be a charging station platform and an agrivoltaics roof, with planted and solar materials performing synergistically. Inside, period furnishings were provided from the six-part TV movie, “Women of the Movement” about Mrs. Till produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith that aired in 2022, thanks to a lead from an actor on the project.
Yet another part of BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile Campus is the Shrine of the Great Migration in the former Lincoln Memorial United Congregational Church at 65th and Champlain. Its 500-seat sanctuary provides space for energy resil-
ience education, heritage music concerts and musicals led by Deeply Rooted Dance – a fourth planned for August.
“We like to say we’re writing a new narrative about what it means to be Black in America, that our community can be synonymous with beauty, prosperity, comfort and joy,” Davis said.
In addition to the Till house and its headquarters near 63rd and Cottage Grove, BIG owns 12 parcels of land in West Woodlawn, including lots from both Cook County and the City of Chicago, for eventual affordable housing, ecology and recreation.
The Till House is targeted to open in tandem with the Obama Presidential Center in late 2026 or ’27, Davis said. It is one mile from the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center and two miles from the Obama Center. The five South Side House Museums are also stronger together than they are separately, Davis said.
What does she hope Blacks – and whites – learn from visits to the house museums?
“I think they will take away same thing: that African Americans made a journey of triumph against all the odds, and we are an extraordinary people who through our Great Migration demonstrated a kind of courage and work ethic, creativity, genius and love that has made this country great wherever we landed. We built the cities with the sweat of our brow. The intellect and stick-to-itiveness of our people made cities great.”
Left: The exterior of the Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House. A brick pathway through the Mamie Till-Mobley Forgiveness Garden, 6354 S. St. Lawrence Ave. Wooden quilt made by New Orleans artist JeanMichel St. Jacques from debris at the home. Naomi Davis, founder and CEO of Blacks In Green, poses with the artwork in the BIG woodshop. (Photos by Dave Hamilton).
A Reflectionon visiting Black House Museums
In the light of all that has happened with the slave trade and the Jim Crow eras, I find myself asking some very important questions:
• Did slavery do more harm than good to our nation, and the world today?
• What can we, as human beings, learn from slavery and all of the effects it has had up to this day? Specifically, to those who were directly affected.
Let’s be clear about one thing, slavery and racism go hand in hand. The terrible acts of slavery, and the deliberate hate shown to those who were never, to this day, considered human, are still shown a great deal of prejudice. But why? It has been apparent to me that we still haven’t dealt with the core issues of the systemic hatred towards Black people.
Some very important Black people in our history were instrumental in bringing awareness to the issues of slavery, racism, and prejudices against Black/Brown-skinned people all over this country. I think it’s important to acknowledge them all. However, we’re going to focus on three big names that we all should be familiar with: Emmett Till, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and one of the Greatest Blues singers and guitarists of the 60s, Muddy Waters. I had the pleasure last month to visit the historic homes of these three powerful men. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. I believe that the four weeks of Black History Month is not enough time to give the honor and recognition to the people who paved the way for Black Americans in this country and around the world.
Elijah Muhammad grew up in the Jim Crow South, an era marked by systemic racism, segregation, and violence against African Americans. The racial climate was oppressive, with limited economic opportunities for Black people, widespread lynching, and institutionalized discrimination in nearly every aspect of life. Muhammad took part in Advocacy for Black Empowerment, Cultural and Spiritual Reclamation, Influence on Civil Rights, and inspiration for leaders all over the country and the world. In 1935 Muhammad moved to Chicago from Detroit. His mission was to establish the second Temple of the Nation of Islam. While accomplishing his mission, he lived on the South Side with his wife and children, in the Kenwood neighborhood.
Muhammad’s battle to educate Black people on their true his-
tory, and the works he was doing to empower Black people, were met with countless threats to his life. And I’ve always believed that when an educated Black man gets to making sense to the world and its hatred toward Black people, not to mention that he had a huge following, and became fairly powerful – I don’t think he died from an unknown illness. But that’s just my opinion.
Muhammad had influence that I’m sure the powers that be didn’t like him having. Nonetheless, his legacy lives on, and that’s what’s really important here. Muhammad had meetings with other powerful people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Kwame Ture, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and many others at his Chicago home. The goal was to achieve freedom and civil rights for Black people. I can only imagine the conversations in his house among these powerhouses.
But it’s interesting to note that, we had more of a community back in those days than we do now as a nation of people. Muhammad would meet at his home to have conversations about police brutality and other things. And to discuss the ways to put an end to it from a legislative standpoint. So yes, Muhammad was trying to affect change from a political standpoint. And had some success therein.
Also, Elijah Muhammad hated that we had a food crisis, and homeless people who needed help but weren’t receiving it. So that means the man had a heart and loved his people. Muhammad wanted economic development for Black people. I can go on about all the amazing things this man accomplished. The impact Elijah Muhammad had on Black people all over the world was and is profound. His works were instrumental to the freedoms we have today.
Now let’s talk about Emmett Till. Emmett Till was a Black child born and raised in Chicago. But in 1955 Till took a trip to Money, Mississippi, to visit family. Unfortunately, Emmett never returned home alive. At this time Emmett was only 14 years old. I’m sure this young man had no idea of the seriousness of the racial climate back in those days. So, I can assume that he was just a jolly-go-happy kid just living his life to the fullest. Having fun.
Whether or not Emmett knew of the racial climate and its seriousness is a different story in itself. However, it paints a very vivid picture of how Europeans (Caucasians) of that time
by Clarence Bryant, StreetWise participant
just simply hated Black people. I don’t believe for a second that a 14-year-old Black young man from that era had any ill intentions towards anyone, let alone a Caucasian woman. He was a kid, who possibly saw a pretty girl, and did a little innocent flirting. No, this came down to the privilege mindset of this Caucasian woman, and we can assume that she was merely offended that a Black kid was talking to her. The audacity. Had it been a white kid, she probably would have just scolded him herself and gone on with her day. We will never truly know what happened that day. But this woman turned something so small, into a Big Issue, for no real reason other than her mere disdain for Emmett. An issue that most today would simply be flattered by, she was offended. He probably called her pretty and she took offense to it. He didn’t deserve to die because he flirted with a white woman. I will say that if Emmett was well informed about that period in time, he might have lived a very long life. It’s sad really.
Muddy Waters, a renowned Blues musician, was deeply connected to the Jim Crow era as his music directly reflected the harsh realities of life as a Black man in the segregated American South, particularly through his migration from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago. Waters became a pioneer of "Chicago Blues" while escaping the oppressive Jim Crow laws prevalent in the Southern states. His music often expressed the struggles of sharecropping, racial discrimination, masculinity and the desire for a better life through migration to the North. His song, "Rollin' Stone," became the name of the rock group and the magazine. He won six Grammys and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Muddy Waters, Emmett Till, and Elijah Muhammad have a few things in common. They all lived in an era when the racial climate was fierce, and many Black lives were snatched away on the simple fact that they had Black/Brown skin. They all had a big influence on Chicago, from power-
ful messages they shared to the direct effect on political change, to the lives changed because of their profound, yet emotional stories.
Now, I believe here in 2025, Caucasian people can learn profound lessons from the history of slavery and the impact of figures like Elijah Muhammad, Emmett Till and Muddy Waters. These lessons should challenge individuals to reflect on systemic inequities rooted in the past, while embracing the opportunity to be allies in creating a more just and equitable society. We need to stop the hate, stop the prejudice, and the racial divide. And if you believe these issues don't exist in this day and time, you are naive. There is still segregation, an unwarranted disdain for Black people, structural prejudice, and systemic bigotry.
Slavery was not just a historical institution, but a foundation for systemic oppression that still affects African Americans today. Understanding this history requires recognizing how slavery benefited the wealth and development of the nation at the expense of millions of lives. For European descendants and Caucasians, this means confronting uncomfortable truths about privilege and how historical injustices have contributed to current disparities in education, wealth, housing and justice.
We have a duty to stop pretending racism doesn't matter, and that it doesn't exist. We have to take responsibility on both sides and stop blaming a whole nation of people for the acts of systemic hatred. The future of this country depends on it. The question remains: will we rise to the occasion and remove the falsehoods that plague the minds of millions and accomplish great things as one race? The human race. Or will we remain stagnant and fall due to our own pride?
The choice is yours alone. I hope we choose wisely.
Clarence Bryant and editor Suzanne Hanney visit The Muddy Waters Mojo Museum (left) and the Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House. This column top: Dayadventurers selfie with Bryant, Hanney, and StreetWise creative director and publisher Dave Hamilton. Bryant chats with owner Sajdah Wendy Muhammad inside the Sajdah House. (Photos by Dave Hamilton).
