June 12-18, 2024

Arts & Entertainment

Event highlights of the week!

Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616 4 6 8 14 12 15

Sportswise

The SportsWise team discusses the "Euro Step" and its importance in the NBA.

Cover Story: The Early Days of Freedom

June 19, 1865 was the day the last slaves were freed, when the Union Army rode into Galveston, TX -- two months after the Civil War ended. A contraction of June 19, "Juneteenth" is the nation's true Independence Day.

But what good is freedom without the resources to improve one's condition? And would our nation be more equal today if more African Americans had been given free land to make a fresh start?

The Homestead Act went into effect on the same day as the Emancipation Proclamation; freed Blacks were just as eligible as white immigrants for free land on the Great Plains. However, few formerly enslaved people had the money to make it work. Nicodemus, Kansas is a National Historic Site, settled in the 1870s by Black tradesmen who gained land ownership and both greater education and political freedom than their counterparts in the South.

Juneteenth Calendar

Exciting ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Chicago!

Inside StreetWise

Meet vendor Percy Butler, who sells at Trader Joe's in Evanston.

The Playground

THIS PAGE: Women and children posing informally in Nicodemus, Kansas (Kansas Historical Society photo). 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

Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Amanda Jones, Director of programs ajones@streetwise.org

Julie Youngquist, Executive director jyoungquist@streetwise.org

Ph: 773-334-6600

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Compiled by Dave Hamilton

Housing Solutions!

Tiny Home Summit 2.0

The Tiny Homes movement offers creative, quicker, lower-cost, and beautiful solutions for dignified housing for those seeking independent living. The Tiny Home Summit 2.0 will bring together experts from Chicago and across the U.S. to discuss solutions to meet the urgent need for homes for the unstably housed, those needing affordable housing, and others seeking free-standing, smaller-footprint living in Chicago. The first Tiny Homes Summit, focused on youth experiencing homelessness, was hosted in April 2016. Topics included financing, housing as HIV prevention, public policy issues, and strategies for developing a tiny home community for youth experiencing homelessness in Chicago. The summit also displayed a model of the winning design from the Tiny Homes Competition, hosted by the American Institute of Architects in Chicago, Pride Action Tank, Alphawood Foundation, Landon Bone Baker, and Windy City Times. Registration is $85 at https://action.aidschicago.org/TinyHomeSummit Student Rate is $20. Breakfast and lunch are included in the ticket price. Thursday June 13, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., at UIC Student Center West, Thompson Rooms A, B, & C, 828 S. Wolcott Ave.

Be a Part of Public Art!

Artist of the Wall Festival

The Artists of the Wall Festival got its start in 1993, when a group of Rogers Park neighbors came up with a crucial idea. Gangs had been continually tagging graffiti on the 600-foot sea wall to the point where the Chicago Park District couldn’t keep up maintenance. The group thought if community members painted art on the wall, that it would be respected and could be enjoyed by all throughout the year. The 600-foot wall features 160 individual “artist spaces” of various sizes and shapes and runs along the lakefront between Farwell and Morse Avenues. Each year’s art remains on display until May, when the wall is again whitewashed and prepared for the next year’s newly themed art works. The event features live music, as well as food and drink vendors. FREE.

Tend to Your Needs!

Performance Residency: ‘Tend’

For the first of two summer performance residencies, the Chicago Cultural Center welcomes Khecari and their project, “Tend.” “Tend” is a service-based performance experience. Structured as a one-hour appointment, the self-care informed dance and music scores simultaneously envelop the audience while leaving space to allow your nervous system to settle and contemplate the inherent power differentials in human interaction. Khecari creates dance works furthering the transformative power of live bodies witnessing live bodies and advocates for the essential role of art within society, of dance within the arts, and of all artists working within the dance ecosystem. To schedule an appointment, khecari.org/tend. July 15 - 21 at the Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 78 E. Washington St. FREE.

Take A Break!

‘Pit Stop’

The Hyde Park Art Center’s teen program’s annual exhibition debuts artworks in a variety of media by over 20 young adult artists enrolled in the Art Center’s 30-week classes under the guidance of professional artists. Inspired by artist Aimée Beaubien’s immersive installation work, this year’s teen cohort transforms the hallway gallery into a surreal environment that travelers might encounter on a road trip. Situated within the liminal landscape of a pit stop or service station, artworks are presented as souvenirs to be serendipitously collected during one’s travels. The gallery becomes a metaphoric rest area for reflection on the journey past, the present path, and the road ahead. “Pit Stop" is co-curated by Art Center staff members Alex Herrera, Harley Reid, and Tran Tran. FREE at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. June 15 - September 22.

A Classic Re-Imagined!

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

Join Strawdog Theatre this Pride Month for a modern, vibrant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, "The Importance of Being Earnest." In this fresh adaptation by Dusty Brown and Elizabeth Swanson, Strawdog explores love, queer identity, acceptance, and the pursuit of happiness. Set against the backdrop of Chicago’s Boystown and the lakes of Saugatuck, Michigan with wit as sharp as skyscrapers and charm as timeless as the prairie wind, "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a delightful celebration of love in all its forms. Performances run through June 30, Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are FREE when you reserve your spot at strawdog.org

It's A Hoot!

‘Little Wise Owls’

Greektown Chicago presents its new outdoor art exhibit – “Little Wise Owls” – showcasing the wild creativity of 19 local professional/emerging artists and students from 9 Chicagoland Greek language schools, roosting throughout the Greektown neighborhood along Halsted Street from Monroe Street to Van Buren Street. The exhibit will run through Spring 2025. In Greek mythology, a little owl (Athene noctua) often accompanies Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Given this association, the owl came to represent intelligence, knowledge and wisdom. FREE.

Ride For Solidarity!

Roll N Peace XI: Fathers Day Edition

Think Outside Da Block presents its annual bike ride at 4 p.m. at the Ogden Park Fieldhouse, 6500 S. Racine Ave., where attendees can register and participate in a free community resource fair. Working Bikes will offer minor bike repairs and service to interested participants. Through a partnership with DIVVY/Lyft, participants will be given free bike rentals for the duration of the ride. At 8 p.m., participants will embark on an 8-mile bike tour through the historic Greater Englewood community. The tour concludes at the Ogden Park Fieldhouse and welcomes back participants with free food. FREE.

The Soul of Chicago!

Chi-Soul Fest

Navy Pier’s annual Chi-Soul Fest returns with a vibrant line-up of free live music Saturday, June 15 from 1 - 11 p.m., and Sunday, June 16 from 2 - 8 p.m. The two-day music festival celebrates Chicago soul music and traditions at three lakeside, outdoor settings: the Navy Pier Beer Garden, Wave Wall Stage and the Lake Stage in Polk Bros Park. On Sunday, DJ Sundance will kick things off at 4 p.m. with the Chi-Soul Fest Comedy Jam spinning classic HIPHOUSE hosted by Damon Williams and Friends featuring Jay Deep and Correy Bell at the Lake Stage in Polk Bros Park. FREE at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. For a full schedule of performances, visit navypier.org

Across the Printed Spectrum!

2024 Chicago Book and Paper Fair

Booksellers from several states will offer a wide range of books, maps, prints, and ephemera, including autographed books and manuscripts, limited editions, collectible collaborations between writers and visual artists, Modern First Editions, African American History and Literature, Exploration, Milestones of Science, Antique and Leather-bound books, Chicago and Local History, Military, Americana, Radical Literature, LGBTQIA, and more for browsing and purchase in a range of price points during this one day, in-person event at Plumber’s Hall, 1340 W. Washington Blvd, from 3 - 10 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students with I.D., children 12 and under admitted free. Learn more at mwaba.com

A Revolutionary Artist!

Exhibition Opening: ‘Of Her Becoming’: Elizabeth Catlett’s Legacy in Chicago

“Of Her Becoming” highlights the printmaking, work, and impact of influential artist and activist Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) at an important site in Catlett’s career: Chicago’s South Side. Curated by Sheridan Tucker Anderson, the exhibition showcases an array of Catlett’s lithograph and linoleum prints alongside works by contemporary Black women printmakers from the South Side, Angela Davis Fegan, Krista Franklin, and Rebel Betty.

Examining the significance of Catlett’s time on the City’s South Side, this exhibition sheds new light on a period that revolutionized her artistic practice, and how her legacy still impacts artists and community organizers today.

Opening Event: June 14, 6 p.m. at UChicago Arts Incubator, 301 E. Garfield Blvd. The exhibit will remain on display through August 31. FREE.

The euro step is like dancing in the nba

John: Euro basketball has caught on since the 1990s, late 80s. A. Allen, what did you find out about Euro Travel?

Allen: The Euro Step came from Šarūnas Marčiulionis. He was a Lithuanian player in the NBA for Golden State in 1989. He came out of the Lithuanian League. Fans nicknamed it the Euro Step as it contributed to many European players’ exceptional, fundamental and crafty footwork: a dribble, a step in one direction and then a switch to the other. Later on, Argentine player Manu Ginobili made it famous. Some people call it traveling, but the way it’s done is real sweet, when you’re going to the basket and you’re facing a big center, to get to the basket and put a layup in.

Russell: When I first saw the Euro Step, I was saying, “He’s traveling, man. The referee didn’t even call it.”

He kept on, kept on, kept on going. I kept seeing more players make that move, like Dirk Nowitzki, Toni Kukoc. Now you got a new group. I saw the Joker [Nicola Jokic, originally from Serbia] a couple of days ago. He did a Euro Step move and it was so cool! I know the referee saw that! Right in front of the referee! Traveling! Didn’t call nothin’! Then one day John showed me a video. I watched it closely. It’s not traveling. It’s a move. Some players can’t get it down pat, like Jimmy Butler. I saw a man take two steps – spin! – then span the ball. I thought he had to travel but he didn’t. I didn’t think so until I saw the video.

John: It’s a very sweet step. It’s almost like Dr. J but on the ground instead of the foul line, like back in the ABA days when he used to dunk on people all the time: Bill Walton, Bobby Gross and Mark Eaton. It’s very exciting, and very smooth too.

Now one of the players that caught the NBA’s attention was Toni Kukoc. The problem with him, even though he was a six-time NBA champion for the Chicago Bulls in the 90s, he didn’t have the kind of cool footwork that Luka Doncic [originally from Slovenia], and the Greek Freak [Giannis Antetokounmpo] from Milwaukee have. If you see that video, I think players who want to learn that step should watch it over and over again. They can learn how to do it without making it look like traveling -- like what Patrick Ewing used, from the StreetWise office [2009 S. State St.] all the way to Chicago's Union Station and then not get called in ’95 against the Indiana Pacers.

Allen: I think the Euro Step is a testament that basketball is evolving, it’s not just static. Because a lot of us from the old school look at that as traveling but it's not actually

traveling. It’s a professional play in order to get to the basket, especially against a big defender.

Russell: All you new guys, you need to practice it so they don’t keep calling fouls on you. Because the Joker, he did it the right way, like a dance step.

John: It is a thing of the future, it’s going to change the way players play basketball. It’s not gonna be just ground, pound, chuck and slam three-pointers. It’s going to be the thing not only for now, but here to stay: kind of like the passing in the NFL or the homerun in baseball. It's gonna be the constant thing that's gonna make the NBA even better.

Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Vendors (l-r): A. Allen, Russell Adams, and John Hagan chat about the world of sports.

REMEMBERING THE black homesteaders IN THE GREAT PLAINS

June 19,1865 marks the day the last slaves were freed in the South, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, TX and read General Order No. 3: “The People of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

Slaves had been free on paper for 2½ years, ever since Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863. But because the Civil War was fought largely on Confederate soil, the Proclamation couldn’t be enforced until Union troops had conquered all the South.

Even after Confederate troops had surrendered on April 9, 1865, in Appomattox, VA – two months earlier – isolated battles continued. The Union Army fought its way south and then west to Galveston. Even then, some Texas slave owners refused to give up until after the fall harvest.

“Juneteenth,” a contraction of June 19th, became a big holiday in Texas and a federal holiday in 2021; it is essentially the nation’s second Independence Day. On the first Juneteenth, freed slaves tossed their old clothes into the river. Dressing up was an expression of freedom, because under slavery they had only been allowed to wear the rags they had been given. Freed Blacks continued to mark the day with barbeques and horse races. In Houston’s 3rd ward, where George Floyd and Beyonce grew up, four formerly enslaved people purchased 10 acres (half the size of Millennium Park) where freed families could celebrate peacefully, away from resentful whites. The park was later given to the city.

But what good was freedom if formerly enslaved people were left alone, with no resources? Many wound up sharecropping, in debt to their old plantation owners for seed and other farming necessities. It was essentially just a new form of slavery.

The idea of giving freed men and women 40 acres and a U.S. Army mule died with Abraham Lincoln. His successor, Andrew Johnson, a Southerner, realized the land would have been confiscated from big Southern landowners.

Free land alone was not enough

However, the Homestead Act, which gave land to pioneer settlers, had gone into effect on the same day as the Emancipation Proclamation. Any citizen – or someone who intended to become one -- could claim 160 acres of public land (about twice the size of a large shopping mall) for $14 in filing fees; they were required to build a dwelling, cultivate at least 10 acres, reside there for five years and then “prove up” in government documents that they had met the requirements.

It’s a whole separate issue that this public land had been taken from Native Americans, who were confined to reservations.

It also begs the question: what would our nation be like today if more African Americans had been able to take advantage of free land? It is also an example of the adage that still holds true, “It takes money to make money,” because comparably few Blacks were able to do so.

According to the book, “The First Migrants,” about 957,000 persons entered homestead claims on the Great Plains and won ownership of 180,475,000 acres. The book was written by Rick Edwards, director emeritus of the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jacob K. Friefield, historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, IL published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2023.

Among these homesteaders were 3,500 Black claimants, who with their families numbered 20,000 persons. They proved up on 650,000 acres, or the equivalent of 32.5 acres per person. In the South, meanwhile, Black people gained ownership of only 1.7 acres per person between 1877 and 1920.

Free land greatly improved the lives of white homesteaders, many of them immigrants from Europe. But sweat equity can go only so far. Few Blacks had the money to buy farm equipment and livestock and to survive on the treeless, arid Great Plains – so different from the growing conditions they knew in the South.

Suzanne Hanney

40 years ahead of the Great Migration

Just the same, 40 years ahead of the Great Migration to Chicago and other Northern cities for industrial jobs, Black homesteaders “had a vision that was emboldened by their determination and fortitude to make it a reality,” wrote Angela Bates in the preface to “First Migrants.” Bates is a descendant of those first settlers and the greatgranddaughter of the first woman to give birth in the Black community of Nicodemus, Kansas in October 1877. There were other Black communities, like DeWitty, NE; Blackdom, NM; Dearfield, CO; Empire, WY and Sully County, SD; but Nicodemus is the only early Black settlement that remains. It has been a National Historic Site since 1996.

Bates readily contributed the research she had been collecting to “First Migrants” because her ancestors’ history “was rich and diverse, and it speaks of the tenacity, strength, and determination of people whose lives were altered by the institution of slavery.

“They fought in organized towns such as Nicodemus, or in groups of settlements, or as individuals holding onto their claims as though it were their last hope of survival in a harsh and unfriendly land among people determined to keep them in their place. They experienced real freedom, land ownership, and self-determination, if only a short while for many.”

The Nicodemus story changes the conventional history of who settled the West, according to Bates. Black leaders of homesteaders on the Great Plains “saw their enterprise in a larger sweep, contributing to something bigger than their own selfbetterment,” Edwards and Friefield wrote. “They were exploring and living new opportunities that could show the way for people still trapped in the South.”

About 70 percent of Blacks filed claims in organized colonies, while the remainder filed claims alone.

The first group of 30 persons came to Nicodemus in July 1877. In the Bible, Nicodemus was a secret follower of Jesus who brought the spices to embalm him. More likely, according to “First Migrants,” Nicodemus was named for an African prince who, tradition says, was captured and brought to America enslaved -- and who became the first to buy his freedom.

A second group of 308 formerly enslaved people left Lexington, KY in September 1877 led by the formerly enslaved Rev. Simon Roundtree and the white developer W.R. Hill. A third group of 150 came from Scott County, KY the following spring; a fourth group of 25 Kentuckians and Tennesseeans migrated in May 1878 and a fifth and final group of 50 Mississippians in February 1879.

Promoters aimed settlement at Black tradesmen

“One obstacle to making money was that most southern freedmen were very poor,” according to “First Migrants.”

“The challenge for the Nicodemus promoters was to identify and recruit Black people who were financially able to move to Nicodemus and buy town lots. Black promoters in Tennessee...found that migration and resettlement in Kansas would cost each family between $200 and $1,000. Almost no potential migrants would have as much as $1,000 and very few would even have $200 in ready savings.”

Some of the Kentucky migrants had money because they had been tradesmen: blacksmiths, stone masons, carpenters and horse handlers. But most others had spent their savings to get to Nicodemus. There was the $7.75 train fare, then sometimes an added fee to retrieve their baggage. They were unaccustomed to the cold winters. The treeless Great Plains meant they had to build their homes of sod, half underground. Until they could dig wells, they had to carry water from the Solomon River.

Nicodemus

Farming the Great Plains required costly new techniques for breaking the tough prairie sod to plant seed. The semiarid conditions also meant they needed to farm on a larger scale. One Black homesteader in South Dakota used eight or 10 horses in his fields. However, accumulating the capital for this much equipment and draft animals took years, even when the homesteaders shared them, as often happened.

Men worked second jobs away from their families, returning for visits. Women found jobs as cooks or cleaners in a nearby town. The homesteaders also received charity: from whites, from the Osage Indians who gave them half the proceeds of their buffalo hunt; from Chicago and Princeton, IL thanks to one minister and from visitors to the Michigan State Fair, answering the pleas of Rev. Roundtree. In a National Park Service video, however, Nicodemus descendants say they survived on fish from the Solomon River, as well as pheasant, quail, rabbit, turtles and raccoons.

Success came little by little. One woman recalled that her husband planted beans, squash and a few rows of corn the first year and harvested enough beans and squash for the winter. Each year, they enlarged the garden, which the wife and children tended while the husband was at work. “In a few seasons, [they] had a field to farm instead of a garden.”

Gradual, fragile gains

By 1880, things began to turn for the community. They had 16 teams of livestock for plowing and other heavy farm work. They also became experienced with wells and workers to dig them so that more families could afford them.

The end of Reconstruction in 1877 – when the Union Army ended its occupation of the South – meant brutal repression for Blacks. As a Nicodemus descendant said in one of the National Park Service videos on the town’s website, the Ku Klux Klan became the Confederate Army all over again. In a fit of “Kansas Fever Exodus,” between 10,000 and 15,000 Blacks arrived in Kansas in 1878 and 1879, “destitute, illiterate and without knowledge of where to go or how they could earn a living in Kansas.”

The “Exodusters” overwhelmed the ability of Nicodemus to give them food, clothing and other aid. Their situation prophesied today’s increasingly bifurcated economy, where it is hard for low-income people to get a leg up. “Dependence on charity ran contrary to the Nicodemus dream of an autonomous, self-supporting Black community,” according to “First Migrants.” The Kansas governor also turned down their pleas.

During a mass meeting in April 1879, the community nearly broke apart over the issue before deciding to disband their aid organization.

In 1879, Nicodemus included 35 dwellings, a general store, post office, hotel, real estate office, two livery stables and two churches. The town and surrounding countryside were biracial, though Blacks were in the majority. Whites continued to open businesses: a drug store, a bank, a general store, a farm implement store.

By the mid-1880s, Nicodemus had three general stores, two implement dealers, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, livery stable, physician, harness maker, barber shop, real estate broker

and loan company. Blacks and whites carefully shared the stage at the annual Fourth of July orations in 1887.

But all that changed the next year, when Nicodemus failed to become the county seat and when the Union Pacific Railroad chose to terminate six miles south at Bogue instead. Both the Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific Railroads had also bypassed the town. Nevertheless, the surrounding rural community grew. By 1899, 114 homesteads had won patents, for a total of 18,115 acres. The Black population of Nicodemus Township peaked at 501 in 1907; there were 207 Black residents as late as 1940.

The years 1900-20 were prosperous, capped off by higher demand for wheat because of World War I and enough rainfall for bountiful harvests.

Bad weather & the Great Depression

The 1920s, however, were the turning point: alternating good and bad weather, then the collapse of the national economy in 1929, followed by drought in 1932, 1933 and 1934 and dust storms in 1935. When farmers sought outside jobs for extra money, no one was hiring.

By 1935, two young Black sociologists reported only 76 residents living in Nicodemus, and 72 on relief; there was a church, a hall and a store. Almost all the young people had left to find jobs elsewhere.

Nicodemus homesteaders equated land with freedom and in many ways, they succeeded, according to “First Migrants.”

They exercised full self-government in their community, which would have been impossible in the South. They organized their schools as they wished, because education was important to them; Rev. Roundtree had been branded on the cheek with an “o” as an enslaved child when he was caught learning to read.

When a white land speculator challenged the Nicodemus town application, the Black homesteaders had enough clout as landowners that their white congressman interceded for them with the U.S. Land Commission. And although most county voters were white, Edward P. McCabe, who was Black, won election as county clerk in 1881 and then as state auditor in 1882 and 1884.

Bates herself grew up in Pasadena, CA and came back to Nicodemus every summer for the annual Emancipation/ Homecoming Celebration, which instilled in her the desire to preserve the farming community’s oral histories. When her parents retired, they bought her mother’s childhood dream farm there and in 1989, she followed them. She had earlier founded the Nicodemus Historical Society, which is leading a campaign to restore the community’s five buildings amid the surviving Black farmers. The National Park Service owns only the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, built in 1885. Every July, as they have for 140 years, hundreds and thousands of descendants return to Nicodemus for Emancipation/Homecoming. Writers, filmmakers, reporters and artists show growing interest. PBS has produced short programs and theater companies around the U.S. have produced Pearl Cleage’s acclaimed play, “Flyin’ West,” set in Nicodemus.

For more stories, photos and videos, go to NPS.gov/NICO

From Left: Top: Angela Bates, Executive Director and past President of the Nicodemus Historical Society (courtesy photo). Bottom: Edward P. McCabe in 1887 (from "Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising," public domain). The Bates Family on its homestead near Nicodemus ca. 1880 (Library of Congress photo, from survey HABS KS-49). Half dugout, half soddy, a typical house in western Kansas during early settlement.(courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society). Washington Street, showing First Stone Church and Williams General Store in Nicodemus Historic District, Nicodemus, Graham County, KS ca. 1885 (Library of Congress photo, from survey HABS KS-49). An Aerial view of Nicodemus from the Northeast in 1953 (Library of Congress photo, from survey HABS KS-49).

Juneteenth CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Compiled by Suzanne Hanney

14-16

Chicago African Diaspora Film Fest

Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.

ADIFF Chicago presents culturally significant films on the Black and Indigenous experience, giving voice to misrepresented realities and peoples. This year, ADIFF explores colorism, the Harlem Renaissance, Brazil, and the work of filmmaker Rolf deHeer. facets.org

June 14-16 Fest

Court Drive in Garfield Park: Madison/Monroe/Hamlin/Central

The 1865 Coalition is a collaboration of community organizations, residents, stakeholders, law enforcement, educational institutions, elected officials, local businesses, and churches. Their Juneteenth event includes salutes to Black veterans and current military, cultural family activities and educational workshops, live music and free food (with ticket), Father’s Day grill-off and House music. 1865festchicago.com

June 15 @ noon - 7 pm

Beverly-Morgan Park

Juneteenth Family Festival

110th & Longwood

5th annual event features DJ and live music, African drumming and dance, family sports and activities, bouncy houses, face painting, vendors, health screenings, art & education, fitness, healing and meditation, food & treats. FREE to all. www.juneteenthfamilyfestival.com

June 15 @ 11 am-5 pm

Bronzeville Juneteenth 35th & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

“Celebrating Freedom, Heritage and Community Involvement” will be along the historic corridor through Phillip Jackson Parkway. Hosted by The Black Star Project; My Block My Hood My City; The Bud Billiken Parade; The Defender Charities; IL State Representative Kam Buckner’s Office and The Absolutely Anything Essential Gift Shop, the 4th year event will honor shared history and look towards a brighter future. Family-friendly, it is a testament to the resilience of the community. FREE, but RSVP on eventbrite.com

June 15 @ 11 am - 4 pm

Evanston Juneteenth

Parade 11 a.m. from the Robert Crown Community Center Parking Lot (1801 Main St.) to Ingraham Park, behind the Morton Civic Center. Krissie Harris, Council member from the 2nd ward, is grand marshal.

A signature event of the Black-led Evanston Present and Future, the Juneteenth Parade is a space where Black community members can safely celebrate and share the history of Juneteenth – America's true freedom day – while also harnessing additional support for community repair, such as the Reparations Ambassador and Teen Parent Leadership programs. Info at kemonehendricks.com

A Soulful Juneteenth @ Ingraham Park, noon-4 pm

Performances by D-Mix Funk & Soul featuring Donovan Mixon at 12:30, Team at Ease Spoken World Collective at 1:45, All Hail the Queen tribute to Aretha Franklin with the McNary Experience at 2:45 p.m. You’ll also find local food vendors such as Hecky’s BBQ, C&W Ice Cream, Firehouse Grill; 40 artisan vendors, children’s play and friendly competition. www.cityofevanston.org/Home/Components/ News/News/6289/249

June 15 @ Noon-4 pm

Far SOuth Juneteenth Festival

NW corner Halsted & 115th St.

Nonprofit Far South Community Development Corporation (Far South CDC) offers an afternoon of live music, food from local Blackowned restaurants, family activities, a resource vendor fair, housing workshops and small business marketplace.

From 11 a.m. to noon, attendees can find the resources to accumulate wealth by attaining property ownership. Sign up at farsouthcdc. org/festival for trolley tour, breakfast and entry into pavilion raffles.

The overall event activates the site of the future Morgan Park Commons, a mixed-use development led by Far South CDC on the site of the former Halsted Mall and Jewel grocery store. The 12-acre redevelopment will create 250+ units of rental housing, 16,000 square feet of retail/office space, 13,000 square feet of culinary education space and 2.3 acres of public parks and outdoor space, including pedestrian pathways connecting to the historic Major Taylor Bike Trail and area public transit. Morgan Park Commons is part of Far South CDC’s Bringing Communities Back Initiative to repurpose nearly 1 million square feet of blighted community areas into thriving community anchors.

June 15 @ 11 am-6:30 pm

Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Festival

Homewood-Flossmoor South Parking Lot, 999 Kedzie Ave., Flossmoor, IL

Organized by You Matter 2, this celebration of African American culture is expressed through food, music, dance and arts. hfjuneteenthfestival.com

June 15 @ noon-2:30 pm

Juneteenth

Jubilee & Resource Fair

Truman College, W. Wilson Ave.

Voice of the People in Uptown sponsors 4th annual event with food vendors, community initiatives, Culture Cafe Stage with artists, hair care experts and genealogist to facilitate collaboration in creating and an “Uptown Family Tree.” Enjoy games, prizes, barber, and live entertainment, including a DJ, all FREE. Tickets on eventbrite.com

June 15 @ 10 am-2 pm

Juneteenth Celebration

Sand Ridge Nature Center, 15891 Paxton Ave., South Holland, IL

Join the Forest Preserves of Cook County in this FREE celebration of freedom, family and country, with activities highlighting Black history, arts and culture. Featured presentations include: Gigi Tonye’ Arts & Fitness, Sounds Natural: AQ and Brother EL of The Beat Bank, Faith in Place storytelling circle, Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project, Rooted Wisdom documentary screening. ADA-accessible. Info at fpdcc.com/event/juneteenth-celebration or 708.868.0606.

June 15 @ Noon-4 pm

They Not Like Us

Pose Cultural Art Gallery, 2136 W. Chicago Ave.

Black woman-owned space, a champion of emerging artists for 3 years, hosts afternoon filled with powerful art, inspiring music. Community gathering is a fundraiser for its expansion. Open Mic 7 p.m. June 19. Info on eventbrite.com

June 15 @ noon-8 pm

Juneteenth Village Fest

Anna & Frederick Douglass Park

FREE family fun festival hosted by It Takes a Village family of schools includes rides, games, food and main stage performances by India Arie, Dead Prez, Domani and more. events.eventnoire.com/e/villagefest

June 16 @ 9 am-4:30 pm

Canoeing the African-American Heritage Trail

The Long Room, 1612 W. Irving Park Road

Beginner-friendly event by Outsider Chicago includes meet-up, transportation, canoe rental, lunch from community favorites, guided tour of the historic Little Calumet River area and beverages. A portion of proceeds benefit Gardeneers and its mission to create fresh produce in school gardens. $109.55 at joinoutsiders.com/chicago

June 18 @ 7 pm-midnight

Emancipation Ball

Rockwell on the River, 3057 N. Rockwell St.

Arts and entertainment to help you create a moment to remember, with cuisine from your favorite Black-owned dine-ins and delectables and an open bar featuring Chicago’s premiere Black-owned beer, wine and spirits. Tickets $100-$400 on eventbrite. com

June 19 @ 10 am-8 pm

Celebrating Freedom Juneteenth Festival

DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Place

FREE community celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African American in the U.S. with musical performances and children's activities. RSVP at dusablemuseum.org/event/juneteenth-celebrating-freedom

June 19 @ 9 am

Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Parade

Sterling Ave & Flossmoor Rd.

June 19 @ 5-8 pm

Juneteenth Skate & Bowl

MLK Skating & Bowling, 1219 W. 76th St.

Skate and bowl to high-energy music connected to Black history and culture. Enjoy face painting, games, a bounce house, and food at this all-ages celebration. $20 at eventbrite.com

June 19 @ 1-7 pm

ONE NOrthside Juneteenth Celebration

Pottawattomie Park, 7340 N. Rogers Ave.

ONE Northside and Communities Partnering For Peace host BBQ cookout with free food and drink (first come, first served), family fun games with prizes, music by DJ P. Miller, a bounce house, and a 4 p.m. performance by Unique Damage. BYO chairs and blankets. onenorthside.org/events

June 19 @ 4 pm

Refine Collective Juneteenth

Freedom Market

The Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave. 4th annual market brings 50+ local, Black-owned businesses and creators of homegoods, beauty products, one-of-a-kind fashions and more. Curated sounds include DJ sets from Slot A, Ryan the Person, and Cut Cuz and a performance by Shawnee Dez as well as an appearance by the Double Dutch Club, a nonprofit comprised of women age 40+ encouraging movement and community. Flash tattoos and special manicures too. RSVP is free, but $10 donations welcome to Gray Matter. saltshedchicago.com

June 19 @ 2-7 pm

Thank You Chicago Juneteenth Market

Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Avenue West

Indoor and outdoor pop-up market celebrates Black businesses in Chicago: industries from beauty to fashion. Food vendors will be onsite. FREE. Tickets on eventbrite.com

Vendor Percy Butler utilizes the tools he has

by Suzanne Hanney

Percy Butler has been a vendor for 10½ years, and he works at being consistent, at elevating himself with the tools he has. A year ago he got a new apartment on the West Side: two bedrooms, “very livable, very comfortable, neighborhood’s a little iffy, but what place isn’t these days.”

Butler has lived all over Chicago. His father is from the West Side, his mother from the South Side, where her father was pastor of the First Steadfast Baptist Church. He has grandbabies on the West Side, whom he takes care of, and now he knows people on the North Side too.

Trader Joe’s at 211 Chicago Ave. in Evanston is where Butler sells StreetWise, and he said the magazine program inspires him to be responsible with paying bills and other routine things. The COVID pandemic influenced him “to work harder and stay humble during troubling times, stay safe, make sure I could tell everyone how to stay safe, be humble, still work hard even though the times are troubling.”

the Black Eyed Peas to Tupac, 21 Pilots, mostly hip-hop, but gospel too. He also follows the Cubs and other sports on his phone.

Butler gives the same advice to other vendors who are struggling. “Stay humble, take initiative, proper action.”

Everyone goes through highs and lows, Butler said, but it’s not about the ups and downs themselves. “It’s how we deal with it, how we allow ourselves to deal with it.”

As he tells customers, “it’s always a good day when you wake up in the morning, because you have an opportunity.” He keeps this positive attitude by listening to music – from

Customers respect StreetWise, he said, “because of how hard we work in every type of weather. They respect the fact that we are trying.” The way they say “yes” or “no” to buying the magazine can also be a form of encouragement, he said.

“StreetWise has given me the opportunity to know what a family is, being able to have the opportunity to actually work, [to learn] how to treat people, how to treat ourselves. It’s almost become more than a job to me. It’s kind of become like a brotherhood to me. It’s always been another family to me, but I just seem more bonded within myself, all that within encourages me, God waking me up, giving me the effort to get through another day.”