January 13 - 2o, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 2
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Calendar
Brave the cold and see what Chicago has to offer!
SportsWise
An open mic on sports.
Cover Story: MLK
Three veterans of the Civil Rights Movement share memories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and their experiences with 1960s activism.
From the Streets
Creating equal opportunities for housing in all wards.
The Playground inside streetwise
StreetWise celebrates the holidays with our annual Christmas party and we also distribute the coats that have been collected for our coat drive! Dr. Martin Luther King circa 1963 by Dick DeMarsico, World Telegram staff photographer. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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
LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
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Photo by Jocelyn Chuang
Spektral Quartet: See January 17 & 18
JANUARY 15
Chicago Latino Film Screening: ‘The Trip 2 (El paseo 2)” When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: John Leguizamo stars as Lucho Calvo, a family man whose dream vacation turns into a nightmare in this hilarious sequel to one of Colombia’s biggest box office hits. FREE.
JANUARY 15 & 22
Dame Myra Hess Concert When: 12:15 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78. E. Washington St. What: Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts feature solo and ensemble performances of classical music that showcase emerging performers. January 15 features Stephen Kim on piano, and January 22 features Christopher Goodpasture, also in piano. FREE.
JANUARY 16
Book Launch Party: “When the Stars Lead to You” by Ronni Davis When: 7 p.m. Where: Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark St. What: Ronni Davis in conversation with Rena Barron on her new novel “When the Stars Lead to You.” When Ashton breaks Devon's heart at the end of the most romantic and magical summer ever, she thinks her heart will never heal again. But over the course of the following .
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year, Devon finds herself slowly putting the broken pieces back together. Can she forgive and open her heart to him again? Or are they doomed to repeat history? FREE.
JANUARY 17 & 18
Spektral Quartet When: 8 p.m. Where: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. What: Through the renowned choreography of Mark DeChiazza, this theatrical work expounds on social interactions and power dynamics of many different stripes – and does so as much with our bodies as with our instruments. Featuring “The Space Between” (2019) world premiere by Lisa R. Coons (composer) & Mark DeChiazza (director/choreographer). $10 $30 at steppenwolf.org
JANUARY 17 - 19
2020 Cubs Convention Where: Sheraton Grand Chicago, 301 N. Water St.; Loews Hotel, 455 N. Park Drive What: Annual event featuring autograph signings, player meet and greets, interactive exhibits, new fan experiences, special panels with Cubs players, alumni, coaches and more. All weekend passes are $125; Saturday-only Loews Experience passes are $40; and Sundayonly family experience is $25, all at cubs.com/convention.
JANUARY 18
Healthy Living Expo When: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Where: Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive, Tinley Park What: FREE admission to the event includes more than 60 vendor booths, health screenings, healthy cooking demonstrations, speaker sessions, free 30-minute workout classes, free tote bag, and a blood drive. FREE parking. RSVP not required, but appreciated at eventbrite.com.
JANUARY 18 & 19
Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah When: Sat 7:30 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m. Where: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive What: A jazz reinvention of "Handel" with fiery soloists Rodrick Dixon, Alfreda Burke, and Karen Marie Richardson; an orchestra, jazz combo, and 100-person choir under the baton of Suzanne Mallare Acton; and spirited Detroit pianist Alvin Waddles, famous for his jaw-dropping cadenzas. Tickets start at $29 at auditoriumtheatre.org
JANUARY 19 & 20
Chicago Sinfonietta MLK Tribute Concert When: Sun 3 p.m.; Mon 7:30 p.m. Where: Sun Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville; Mon Symphony Center,
220 S. Michigan Ave. What: An eclectic musical program celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Tickets start at $20, children are $10 at chicagosinfonietta.com
JANUARY 20
PUSH Excel Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast When: 8 a.m. Where: Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Drive What: Rainbow PUSH Coalition hosts its 30th annual breakfast, looking back on the journey from emancipation to educational equity. PUSH Excel strives to be a world leader in promoting educational excellence and equity in funding and allocation of educational resources so that every child is guaranteed an opportunity to receive a quality education. $150 at eventbrite.com Martin Luther King Jr. Faith in Action Assembly When: 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Where: Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, 2151 W. Washington Blvd. What: This youth and community forum will feature youth from across Chicagoland addressing the issues of our time: U.S. Census, Fair Tax Amendment in Illinois and Just Housing. FREE.
JANUARY 21
MLK Day at the Chicago History Museum When: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Where: Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St. What: Commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at this family friendly event. Enjoy a production of “The MLK Project: The Fight for Civil Rights” by Writers Theatre and a musical performance by the Chicago Chamber Choir, along with storytelling and crafts for kids that reflect King’s messages of peace and justice. FREE for Illinois residents.
New Music Chicago Presents: Michael Hall When: 12:15 - 1 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: Composer Michael Hall performs solo viola music. FREE.
King Day Festival: Tomorrow is Today When: 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Where: The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave. What: Chicago-based sound and visual artist Damon Locks presents a music performance with his Black Monument Ensemble. Move Me Soul dancers present a movement workshop, and young artists from the award-winning Rebirth/Reborn Poetry Ensemble share powerful spoken word pieces. Families can add their own messages of hope for the future to silkscreened postcards from multidisciplinary artist William Estrada’s Mobile Street Art Cart. FREE for Illinois residents.
The Chicago Ensemble When: 7:30 p.m. Where: First Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St. What: Program featuring works for soprano, clarinet, and piano by American composers. This concert includes winners of the “Discover America IX” competition. $30 at thechicagoensemble.org
JAN 21 - APRIL 5
Modernisms When: Tues, Sat & Sun 10 a.m. 5 p.m.; Wed - Fri 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Where: The Block Museum (on the Northwestern Campus), 40 Arts Circle Drive What: “Modernisms” draws 114 selected works from the collection of Grey Art Gallery founder Abby Weed Grey. The first major museum exhibition to bring together modern art from Iran, Turkey and India, Modernisms sheds new light on how artists of the period created works that drew on their specific heritages while also engaging in global discourses. “Modernisms” explores an under-recognized flowering of innovation and risk-
taking in art beyond Europe and North America. FREE. Opening conversation January 22, 6 p.m. with Northwestern University graduate students and Block Museum curators. FREE.
with their hilariously biting musical satire. What more would you expect from the group that put the “MOCK” in Democracy?! $34.70 - $46.95 at northshorecenter.org
JANUARY 22
THROUGH JAN 26
Chicago Latino Film Screening: “My Mexican Shivah (Morirse está en hebreo)” When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. What: According to Jewish belief, from the moment a person is born, he or she is accompanied by two angels: an angel of light and an angel of darkness. With the passing of grandfather Moishe, his family and friends gather in Mexico city to sit shivah, the 7-day Jewish mourning ritual. During this time, aspects of the family’s Jewish-Mexican identity become evident. FREE.
JANUARY 22 - 26
Capitol Steps When: Wed & Thurs 7:30 p.m.; Fri 8 p.m.; Sat 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun 2 p.m. Where: North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie What: If news and politics have you down, learn to laugh again with the annual visit from the Capitol Steps and a menagerie of fresh musical parodies. No matter who or what is in the headlines, you can bet the Capitol Steps will tackle both sides of the political spectrum
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The Steadfast Tin Soldier When: Various Where: Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave. What: Lookingglass Theatre Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman’s gorgeous spectacle of music and movement is a treat for all ages. Hans Christian Andersen’s story about a little tin soldier who never gives up comes back gets a modern re-telling. Tickets start at $45 at lookingglasstheatre.org.
THROUGH FEB 22
FORTS: Adult Night When: Saturdays 7:30 p.m. Where: Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. What: Enter a world of play and creation as Filament Theatre transforms into a fort building fantasy. With towers of cardboard boxes, baskets of sheets, buckets of clothespins, adults step back into the imagination of their childhood. With theatrical design elements of sound and lights working together to inspire creativity, friends old and new are swept away in the adventure! 21+. BYOB. $15 at www. filamenttheatre.org/adultforts.
-compiled by Dave Hamilton
FORTS: Adult Night: See Through February 22
Capitol Steps: See January 22 - 26
Photo by Christian Libonati
courtesy photo
www.streetwise.org
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Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
An open mic conversation on the world of sports
Donald: We’re having an open mic this week. The floor is open for anything that anyone wants to talk about regarding sports. Any sport, any team, it’s all on the table. Who wants to get it started?
SPORTSWISE
John: I’ll kick it off with my thoughts on the Cubs and the rumors swirling around. Some people are suggesting that they might move Kris Bryant. On top of that, others are saying that Javier Baez and Wilson Contreras are on the trade block. If these trades are indeed pulled off, the Cubs are announcing to the world that they are rebuilding and not trying to win now. Overall, their offseason should prove to be more exciting than that of the White Sox. Patrick: I was going to jump right into my thoughts on the NBA but now I’m a little shook hearing about the Cubs players who might be on the move. I think I am somewhat okay with Bryant leaving but I think Baez is the heart of the team and that would hurt a
Have comments or questions for SportsWise team? Please send them to dhamilton@streetwise.org
little bit. Maybe with the new coach they could work with what they have, but we will have to see what happens. As for the NBA, the Lakers are still looking good, as is Milwaukee, so I am looking forward to that potentially being the Finals matchup come June. Russell: This has been a very disappointing year for the Chicago teams. The Bears are the best in the city right now, and so far, everyone else--Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, Sox--are too far away from the Bears. The Bulls are young with talent: C. White, W. Carter, Z. LaVine, L. Markkanen, and D. Valentin; all they need is one true and proven veteran to help groom the young guys. Donald: Let’s flip over to the WNBA. I wanted to talk about the Chicago Sky,
and just point out Courtney Vandersloot and how well she has been coming along lately. Also, the new player on the Sky, Katie Lou Samuelson, is playing over in the European league and she’s putting up about 26 points per game. Her rebounds and assists have gone up as well. Is there going to be a new big name on the block? The Sky are good at bringing up and developing players that are on standby. Samuelson is looking like she might develop into the Magic Johnson of the WNBA. John: I don’t particularly follow the WNBA but I did want to add something about the NBA. In a couple of days (as of this recording) there will be a possible Finals preview as the Lakers travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. That should be a ratings bonanza as the Greek Freak (Giannis Antetok-
ounmpo) takes on LeBron. Patrick: While we’re still on basketball I feel like I have to mention how well DePaul is playing lately. They have caught my attention and I think it will get me to follow them a little bit closer as I should have been doing these past few seasons. Russell: I think the other teams will be better and eventually catch up with the Bears, but in the meantime, "Come on, Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, and Sox, let's catch up, boys!" Happy New Year to all sports fans! Root for your team--win or lose. Donald: Thank you gentlemen for your thoughts, and from all of us at SportsWise we hope everyone had a happy holiday season!
This is Miha. Miha sells Kralji Ulice in Slovenia. Your local vendor is one of over 9,000 in 35 countries selling street papers every day. You are one of over 4 million readers worldwide supporting the life-changing power of street papers. Thank you.
#VendorWeek 3-9 February 2020
insp.ngo
Speaking with veterans of the civil rights movement by Suzanne Hanney
These Civil Rights Movement veterans were participants in last April’s conference, “The Global Sixties: Social Movements for Civil Rights, Decolonization, Human Rights,” hosted by Dr. Fannie Rushing of Benedictine University and SNCCChicago. SNCC, or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was founded in April 1960 as a complement to Dr. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) following student sit-ins at a Greensboro, NC Woolworth that refused to serve African Americans. This year's conference will be February 28 & 29, location TBD. More information is available at snccchicago.org.
Timuel Black The Bronzeville historian & friend to many
Timuel Black was born in Birmingham, AL on Dec. 7, 1918 and came to Chicago when he was less than a year old. The Bronzeville of his youth in the 1920s and 30s, “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, 9525 S. Halsted St. During World War II, Black served with an Army supply unit that landed on the beach in Normandy at D-Day June 6, 1944. The war’s life-changing experience for him, however, was seeing the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald in central Germany in April 1945. Nearly 250,000 people had been imprisoned at Buchenwald and at least 56,000 had died of disease, malnutrition, beatings, medical experiments and executions. Inmates of the camp included political prisoners, Afro-Germans, gypsies, homosexuals – and Jews. “What I saw and smelled took my mind back to my ancestry of slavery from Africa and having many Jewish friends, what fascism and Nazism was like,” Black said. “They were treated not like human beings but like animals or worse and I got the sense that the black experience in America is simply dramatized by color but is universal in terms of negative human behavior. I left the Army with a dedication that I would spend the rest of my life bringing people together to make this world a better place to live.” 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 High School (his alma mater), and at Hyde Park and Farragut High Schools; he was also assistant director of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Chicago Teacher Corps and
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served as a dean and vice president for academic affairs at Wright College and Olive Harvey College, respectively. In the late 1950s, Black participated in the Chicago League of Negro Voters, which challenged City Hall’s control over the African-American vote. As a teachers’ union activist, he was elected president of the Negro American Labor Council (NALC). A. Phillip Randolph, the national president of the NALC, tapped him to be Chicago coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Energized by that experience, NALC members were joined by NAACP, CORE, SNCC and the new Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (CCCO) to stage a boycott of segregated Chicago Public Schools on Oct. 22, 1963. Roughly 250,000 students participated. Harold Washington and Black had been classmates at DuSable High School and so he worked to elect Washington mayor in 1983. Black met his wife, Zenobia, during the campaign and she later said they dated, married and spent their honeymoon doing voter registration for him. Since “retirement” in 1989, he has taught at Roosevelt University, DePaul University and Columbia College and worked on the Black Metropolis Oral History Project. An autobiography of
his 101 years, “Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black,” was released last year. You were the one who saw Dr. Martin Luther King on TV in December 1955 and as a result asked him to speak at the Hyde Park Unitarian Church, a speech that was moved to Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago in order to accommodate more listeners in April 1956. What did Dr. King say that moved you so much? That he was tired of the inequality, the burden laid on his people. It was a humorous but accurate statement borrowed from Rosa Parks [who started the Montgomery, AL bus boycott in 1955 after she refused to give up her seat to a white man after working all day as a seamstress]. It was not a ‘physically’ tired but a ‘socially and economically’ tired of being treated unequally. “If ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ as it says in the Declaration of Independence, then ‘I am tired of being treated as an unAmerican human being.’ Parks was simply saying ‘I am tired of all this bull’ and Dr. King could use it as an expression humorously but accurately in an America where all human beings were supposed to be equal.” In 1966 Dr. King brought the Civil Rights Movement up from the rural South to Chicago, in a battle to end slums and housing segregation. Why did he choose Chicago over other northern cities like Cleveland or New York? When he was discouraged by some leadership from being in either one of those cities, he was encouraged by similar leadership here because they had already participated in voting and school desegregation protests. Also, he had many friends here, such as the Rev. Abraham Patterson (A.P.) Jackson, minister of Liberty Baptist Church at 49th Street and King Drive, who had been an older schoolmate of Dr. King at Morehouse College in Georgia - and a classmate of mine at DuSable. In addition, Chicago had been an organizing center for many years. If you had difficulty getting into the [white] union local, sometimes you could break segregation by organizing an African-American union local – for steelworkers, autoworkers, even musicians. The parallel institutions would eventually be incorporated into the larger union.
Robert Kozloff photo
Vendor A. Allen shares his stories of integration
When I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the Legend, the Man and the Dream, I think I how times seem to be the same and how my thinking has changed. Yes, I remember the message of integration between whites and blacks working together. The message was so relevant. At the same time, some people understood and some took it for granted.
From my experience, the Board of Education took the message seriously: it reacted with the Chicago Public Schools busing program of 1970. I was in 6th or 7th grade at John D. Shoop School, 11140 S. Bishop St., and was one of those selected to participate. We were transported to Mount Greenwood School at about 9:30 a.m. everyday and stayed until 3 p.m. It was only about a 10- to 15-minute ride west of us. The program was designed to bring black and white teenagers together for education – not only from teachers but from each other. We were told to be ourselves and the white kids were told the same thing. I think the purpose was so we could learn about each other’s cultures. It was a wonderful experience because in hindsight, it was sort of like being introduced to the other side of the tracks. We couldn’t understand the reason for going to school across the tracks in the Caucasian neighborhood but now I see it as an opportunity to get to know people I would not normally mix with. For me, it was an introduction to the real world. We discussed each other’s slang and felt each other’s hair. We talked about our hobbies and after-school activities. Some people even dated. We had thought we were reserved to our little community, but with the busing program, a whole new world was open to us. We saw our similarities more than our differences. We all wanted to fit in and be accepted by our peers and to excel in education. It was an eye-opening experience and I find it still valuable today. Even though I did not value the lesson then, I do appreciate it today. Because of the busing experience, I’m less afraid to integrate and socialize with people of different colors, ethnic and social backgrounds. It was helpful because I view people in a less judgmental way. I understand a lot of my prejudices stem from my ignorance, of assuming things I had no experience in. So with the busing program, I gained hands on, personal (and even work) experience. www.streetwise.org
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Dr. Rozell "Prexy" Nesbitt Who made the African connection
A meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King when he was a junior in College gave Dr. Rozell “Prexy” Nesbitt a preview of his life as an educator and activist against African colonialism. Nesbitt, who was raised on Chicago’s West Side but who graduated from Francis Parker, a private high school in Lincoln Park, was very restless after spending a year in Tanzania. His mother suggested he visit the Warren Avenue Congregational Church, 3101 W. Warren Blvd. His family were members there, where Dr. King had a base for his northern civil rights campaign to end segregated slum housing. “I worked very closely with a wonderful man who was one of King’s main lieutenants, the Rev. James Orange,” Nesbitt said. “He was organizing people into the union to end slums, going house to house on the West Side. He helped with issues they had with their housing, formed them into a union. We would call landlords, work on home repairs. The goal was to strengthen their capacity to deal with these slum conditions. “Dr. King was calm, a great leader because he was a great listener. He was also thinking about another project in Rhodesia, which would become Zimbabwe. I had a two-hour session with him about that very question. He was interested in taking the movement there. One of his lieutenants, James Bevel, had actually gone there. Meanwhile, the Rhodesian government had thrown out the faculty at the University in Rhodesia because they were involved with the anticolonial movement and I had studied with them in Tanzania. The backdrop was, I was originally supposed to go to Rhodesia but at the last minute, I think the Rhodesian government, acting in concert with the FBI, turned me down. They investigated my family, and a number of people, including my father, had been union organizers. Early on I saw the collaboration between the United States and these colonial governments.” “King was very conversant with other colonial situations in the world,” Nesbitt said. “That’s why I think the best speech he ever gave was “Beyond Vietnam” at Riverside Church in New York April 4, 1967. It really laid out how comprehensive and deep his world view was as he laid out all the connections between militarism, racism; the only thing missing was sexism, but that was yet to surface. He took up the Vietnam War big time and got heavily, heavily critiqued for that.” In the speech, Dr. King noted that “for a shining moment” just a few years before, he thought federal poverty programs would help people both black and white. But now he knew “that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehab of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continue to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube.” Nesbitt graduated from Antioch College in 1967 and continued his education at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, Northwestern University and Columbia University. While in Dar Es Salaam, he volunteered with FRELIMO, the Mozambique independence movement, because it was led by Eduoardo Mondlane, who had married an American woman at the Warren Avenue Church and who was a friend of his family. Mondlane was the son of a tribal chief and had received bachelor’s,
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master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology at Oberlin, Northwestern and Harvard, respectively. He taught at Syracuse University and worked as a research officer at the United Nations before going home in 1962 to lead the movement for liberation from Portugal. After completing his own PhD in 1975, Nesbitt became the national coordinator for the Bank Withdrawal Campaign for the American Committee on Africa. He made more than 100 trips to Africa, many in secret during South Africa’s colonial days of apartheid. “I arranged meetings with liberation movements and the Black Panther Party, Rising Up Angry [youth movement] and Heart of Uptown, Helen Shiller’s organization. In Chicago there’s a tremendous community of people who did anti-apartheid work.” He also worked to end colonial rule in Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, taught African history at Columbia College Chicago for 33 years, and was a senior program officer with the MacArthur Foundation. “You can’t separate the struggle against repression and racism in the U.S. from multinational corporations and their exploitation of African workers and African resources,” he said. As an example, he cited the strategic mineral “coltan,” which is used in mobile phones, electric cars, optical and medical equipment. Central Africa provides one-quarter of the world’s supply of coltan, in mining areas controlled by armed factions and organized crime. THIS PAGE: Columbia College photo. OPPOSITE PAGE: Bill Perlman of Ashfield, MA, far right, with some other members of the Freedom Singers in New York in 1965. From the left: Carver (Chico) Neblett, now Sekou Neblett, living in Ghana; Charles (Chuck) Neblett living in Russelville, KY; Cordell Reagan, deceased; Marshall Jones, living in Brooklyn, NY; Matthew Jones, deceased. The photo was taken by the late Joe Alper. Bill Perlman photographed by Suzanne Hanney.
Bill Perlman The Freedom Singer
Bill Perlman was 18 years old in May 1965 when James Forman asked him to become the only white member of the Freedom Singers: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field secretaries who did grassroots Civil Rights organizing for voting rights among blacks in the South and also singing at fundraisers in the North to support that work. “I think James thought it would send a good message that the group be integrated,” Perlman,said. The struggle for desegregation and then obtaining voting rights for African Americans in the South was no stretch for Perlman, whose mother worked for International Legal Defense in the 1930s and ‘40s and whose great-grandfather edited an anarchist newspaper in the early 1900s. “I am what is known as a ‘red diaper baby,’” he said. “Everyone in the family was politically active. We were raised with a sense of commitment from the time we could talk. For me it was like going into the family business.” Perlman was beaten up and arrested during James Meredith’s “March Against Fear,” which started June 7, 1966. Meredith, who had been the first to integrate the University of Mississippi, started the march from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS to promote voter registration. On the second day he was shot by an unknown gunman. Within hours, SNCC and other civil rights groups such as Dr. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) vowed to continue the march. A plantation owner also shot at Perlman when he attempted to get water for a young woman marcher after Dr. King and the media had left. “Absolutely, the media was a shield,” Perlman said. “When the cameras were around, people were much less inclined to get violent with the marchers.” Perlman met Dr. King on the Meredith march and again at a rally in front of the United Nations building when Dr. King was speaking and the Freedom Singers were performing. “He was impressive,” Perlman said. “I don’t remember the conversation. We were introduced, we shook hands. It was a time in world history when there was sort of a magical group of people who were leading organizations: Malcolm X; Jim Farmer, the head of CORE [who had organized the Freedom Rides to integrate interstate buses in 1961]. The right people got together and the movement formed and took off. I think now we’re waiting for another magical time.” During the Meredith march, Willie Ricks used the term “Black Power” for the first time and SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael (who later changed his name to Kwame Ture) picked up on it, Perlman said. SNCC’s nonviolent stance began to wane as African Americans were getting impatient for change.
African Americans began to feel they needed to create something of their own, and not be deferential to whites, according to the SNCC digital archive. During a late-night vote at their national conference in December 1966, SNCC members voted to expel whites by a vote of 19 for, 18 against, and 24 abstaining. “Oh, yeah, it was upsetting to a lot of people,” Perlman said. “We felt we were making good progress and it should be important to show that multiple races can live together.” Dr. King responded to SNCC’s appeal for Black Power in his 1967 book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?" Blacks would not gain political power through separatism, he wrote. Perlman continued with music and did theatre before he obtained his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at age 33 with an emphasis on audio and recording. He then worked in cable TV for 35 years and as a charter pilot. He was also elected to county government in western Massachusetts and has served on its executive committee for 21 years. “I take a position far to the left and am vocal and outspoken.” He serves on the police and fire departments and works hard for a local agricultural fair. This nonpolitical work allows him to disagree on political areas but still remain friends. He’s proudest that he supported a local women’s shelter around domestic violence by getting men to obtain the necessary signatures in various towns to put the shelter on the county’s agenda. Being a Freedom Singer was a cherished experience for him. Members have kept in touch and gathered for SNCC’s 40th and 50th anniversaries in 2000 and 2010, for the annual conferences hosted in Chicago by Dr. Fannie Rushing, for the Smithsonian Institution’s Folk Life Festival, for the Selma, AL bridge crossing commemoration every March and for funerals, “which unfortunately are happening more often,” Perlman said.
www.streetwise.org
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working toward a healed city with equal housing and inclusive planning by Sydney Wirtz
Chicago has long been a divided city, and many people have fought to keep it that way. But Chicagoans are ready for cohesiveness, starting with disabling aldermanic prerogative, which advocates say leads to “patchwork planning” rather than a citywide plan committed to racial equity that is more inclusive, equitable and transparent. Led by the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, 11 communitybased groups filed a housing discrimination complaint against the City of Chicago a year ago and this fall released a report entitled, “Working Toward a Healed City: How Chicago Can Build Equitable Communities from the Ground Up.” The report details their recommendations for steps Mayor Lori Lightfoot can take to resolve the fair housing complaint they filed under the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
FROM THE STREETS
The current process for community development is through Zoning Advisory Councils (ZACs) and they exist almost exclusively in wards with low poverty and a white majority, largely contributing to the discontinuity of the development of neighborhoods. ZACs currently have no regulation on how they are created, who can participate, and how they operate.
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One idea for expanding the involvement in community planning involves replacing ZACs with Community Development Action Councils (CDACs). These new councils would give responsibility to communities to hold aldermen accountable for creating a more cohesive and inclusive city plan. The lack of cohesive planning has allowed ZACs to limit the much-needed affordable housing from being developed on the scale it is needed. With more diverse councils and aldermen being held accountable, previously uncontrolled gentrification may be tamed, and affordable housing may finally be secured. During her campaign, Mayor Lightfoot showed significant support for creating a unified policy for the city and she has taken the first step, by signing an executive order limiting aldermanic prerogative, the advocates say. More still needs to be done.
The 35th ward, which covers parts of Albany Park, Irving Park, Avondale, Logan Square, and Hermosa, for example, has established Community Driven Zoning and Development, which keeps the community involved in zoning decisions and is transparent about how it will affect them. The group is led by active community associations, which give direct input to the alderman’s office. This input influences choices made about zoning and other community development. While the 35th ward is diverse and has had success with this system, it is only one example of this structure. Patricia Fron, coexecutive director of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance explained, “the alderman there really sought out the participation of a broad array of groups in that council to really get those diverse voices at the table.” Fron emphasized that the groups working towards fair housing and against aldermanic prerogative are not trying to strip aldermen of their power but to make them share it. Their goal is to work with aldermen and the Chicago government to fix the broken and damaged systems that are in place. They are working to find the best way to, “balance the voices so you’re really hearing from the community and the people who are going to be most impacted.” They also seek to balance the power between those in office and those affected by their choices. “The goal is to create a more uniform process and also bring more democratic process to community boards and community voice,” Fron said. The 10 groups joining the Shriver Center in seeking citywide planning are: the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance (CAFHA), the Chicago Housing Initiative, the Lugenia Burns Hope Center, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Neighbors for Affordable Housing, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP), Organizing Neighborhoods for Equality: Northside, People for Community Recovery. Inset: The cover of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law's proposal.
Streetwise 12/9/19 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Sudoku
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Appraises 43 Wide of the Face shape mark Wrestling hold 45 Put on board Merino mother 46 Sailor’s Scottish hillside affirmative Stein contents 47 The land of Rascal ___ Unqualified 50 Worthy Goat-like principles antelope 52 Flowering 29 Kind of shrub message Mil. transport 54 Smelly smoke ike some 30 Other side 55 Set straight rinks 32 Bay of Naples 56 Downhill racer isle nadorned 57 Toxic element ym site 33 Curved 59 Black, to poets moldings hort synopsis 61 Tumbled mplore 34 Tither’s amount 62 Olympics erfume 37 Mobile device jump card ngredients 63 Puerto ___ alleys’ chums 38 Bluecoat 64 Monk’s title atch someCopyright 39 ©2019 Gasteyer of 65 Guy’s date PuzzleJunction.com ays “Mean Girls” 67 Hog haven
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10 11 12 13 22 24 26 27 28
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Last Week’s Solution Puzzle Answers
Solution
Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at
PuzzleJu
Crossword Across 1 Perry Como’s “___ Loves Mambo” 5 Comedian’s stock 9 Quaint dance 12 Freshen 13 Paella pot 14 Commotion 15 Kind of map or pitcher 16 Spunky 18 Lab eggs 19 Banana split topping 21 One of TV’s Simpsons 22 Yanks 24 Kind of cloth 26 Root beer brand 29 Eyeglasses 31 Sonata, e.g. 33 Net-surfer’s stop 34 Symbol of strength 36 Censor’s target 38 Pool tool 39 Flattop 43 Burglary 45 Witch’s work 46 ___ Kringle 48 Mr. Potato Head piece 49 It has six sides 51 W.W. II turning point 53 Gets promoted 57 Office papers 59 Chinese dollar 61 Crowning point 62 Corn Belt state 64 Omit
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66 King topper 67 Woman’s silk or lace scarf 70 He was in the dell 72 “A Chorus Line” number 73 Fleur-de-lis 74 Balderdash 75 Tavern 76 Use a keyboard 77 Sounds in pounds Down 1 Fleece, e.g. 2 Cuckoo bird 3 Hammer part 4 More than bad 5 Dishes the dirt 6 Matterhorn, e.g. 7 Very smooth
8 Singer Vaughan 9 Hockey feat 10 Dedicated lines 11 Herd of seals 12 Increase 15 Deteriorates 17 Spring bloom 20 Very 23 Harbor vessel 25 Unfeeling 27 Pocketbook 28 No longer secret 30 Big bag 32 “You betcha!” 35 Middle East native 37 Eye drop 39 Fish bait 40 Aortic plexus
41 Scrutinizer 42 Shipshape 44 “Mi chiamano Mimi,” e.g. 47 Wurst 50 Catcall 52 Beast of burden 54 Holy terrors 55 Mike holder 56 Prophet 58 Fleet 60 Peachy-keen 63 Comrade in arms 65 Prefix with graph 67 Unruly crowd 68 Bibliophile’s suffix 69 Race unit 71 Rend
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How StreetWise Works
Our Mission
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.
Solution
THE PLAYGROUND
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.
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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STREETWISE'S ANNUAL Christmas party and coat giveaway Photos by Dave Hamilton & Julie Youngquist
On Dec. 18, 2019, StreetWise celebrated the holiday season with our annual Christmas party and coat giveaway! The event drew vendors, job-seekers, and community members who gathered for a meal, lovingly prepared by Board Member Bruce Crane and StreetWise CEO Julie Youngquist. After the festive eats, StreetWise opened the doors to our shop, which features coats from drives all over the city including 46th Ward Ald. Cappleman's office, One Warm Coat, Slalom, CIL Consultants, Allscripts, Trustwave, The British School of Chicago, The Marketing Store, Lisa Skalon, Jan Anne Dubin, Pam Marvel, The Daily Planet, Ltd., Care for Friends, the Galante Family, the Davis Family, and Madam Hawa African Hair Braiding. In addition, there was a selection of winter gear, homegoods, and gifts for vendors to take and share.
INSIDE STREETWISE
In a special surprise, Team USA Soccer donated thousands of brand new Team USA branded Nike apparel, making sure that everyone will be warm (and stylish) this winter!
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ROW 1: Vendor and Field Supervisor A. Allen going incognito as Santa. Vendor Adrienne models her new coat. DJ Lady Dave kept the tunes spinning and the atmosphere lit. Vendors take a look around the StreetWise shop, to pick up coats, winter gear, and gifts. Row 2: North Side Vendors Gwendolyn Freeman, Debbie Booker, and JT meet for a delicious holiday meal. Volunteer Steve Schwartz-Fenwick, Board Member Bruce Crane (hidden) Sales Manager Ron Madere, and Vendor Scott Elders serve vendor Debbie Booker. The StreetWise CafĂŠ decorated for the season. ROW 3:Employment Specialist Allie Mahoney and volunteer Sara Gentis distribute Nike Team USA apparel that was generously donated by Team USA Soccer. Board Member Bruce Crane serves the chili he made himself! Vendor and field supervisor John Hagan models his brand new coat!
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