June 14 - 20, 2021

June 14 - 20, 2021 Vol. 29 No. 23

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$1.10 goes to vendor

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Arts & (Home) Entertainment

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SportsWise

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Cover Story: Juneteenth

We are replacing our usual calendar with virtual events and recommendations from StreetWise vendors, readers and staff to keep you entertained at home!

The SportsWise team talks about athletic heroes - some of whom they've met - and where they are today.

Juneteenth marks the real end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, where people were still enslaved – more than two full years after the Emancipation Proclamation set them free.

The newly freed slaves marked the occasion with feasting and celebration. We look at historic Black celebration of their culture in hostile Confederate spaces and at contemporary Juneteenth, with photographer Kathleen Hinkel's photographs of last year's Juneteenth in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.

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From the Streets

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The Playground

Census results released in late April have determined that Illinois is among the states that will lose one representative in Congress, while states that have gained population will get another representative. Illinois was projected to lose up to two representatives if its population were undercounted, but an extensive outreach program – in which StreetWise vendors participated – prevented that. Census results also affect remapping of legislative districts by the Illinois General Assembly, which is now controlled by Democrats.

Two years into Mayor Lori Lightfoot's term, University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, discusses her record in light of an increasingly independent Chicago City Council.

ON THE COVER & THIS PAGE: Photographer and frequent StreetWise contributor Kathleen Hinkle visits George Floyd Square, at the intersection of E. 38th St. and Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Juneteenth 2020.

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI

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 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616

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ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time.

To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of what to do at home and why you love them to Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Honoring those Lost

Virtual Juneteenth Commemoration: 100 Years Later: The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre The 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre offers a unique opportunity to honor those who suffered in one of the most unforgettable crimes of domestic terrorism and racial violence in US history. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, white mobs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attacked the city’s Black residents and businesses. They murdered hundreds of people and destroyed 35 square blocks in the city’s Greenwood District, also called "Black Wall Street," which had been the wealthiest Black community in the United States. The Illinois Holocaust Museum is commemorating Juneteenth by paying tribute to victims, survivors, and descendants of the Tulsa Massacre. In this virtual program, Dr. David Gray, professor of American Studies at Oklahoma State University and recipient of the 2017 OSU-Tulsa President’s Outstanding Faculty Award for teaching, will lead a powerful and thought provoking discussion with Phil Armstrong, project director for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, and Carlos Moreno, author of "The Victory of Greenwood," a groundbreaking book that shares perspectives of Greenwood’s most prominent figures, and dispels some of Tulsa's persistent myths and inaccuracies about the events leading up to the Massacre of 1921. FREE. Register online for the June 17 at 6:30 p.m. event at ilholocaustmuseum.org/pages/programs/events.

Theater for all!

(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT

‘Romeo & Juliet Remix' Clashes in the streets, people yearning for connection but being kept apart, a citywide plague…Shakespeare’s 400-year-old tale feels as timely as ever, and even more so when told through the eyes of A.B.L.E.’s ensemble, a group of 39 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Over a 10-week rehearsal process, A.B.L.E.’s actors collaborated with a team of teaching artists and volunteer facilitators to learn Shakespeare’s classic story of love and hate and make it their own. Actors will share roles with 9 different Romeos, 11 different Juliets, 3 Tybalts, and many other citizens of Verona in this unique movie filmed entirely on Zoom. "Romeo & Juliet Remix" will weave Shakespeare’s words with original monologues, scenes, songs, and dances developed by the cast. June 18, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and available at ableensemble.com/remix

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Accurate Investigation!

'Titanic (Scenes From The British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, 1912)' A survivors’ story fraught with intrigue, bravery, and human frailty, Owen McCafferty’s "Titanic (Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912)" tells the story of the sinking of the HMS Titanic using verbatim testimonies from a court investigation of the wreck.

Presented in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an ensemble of actors probes the causes of the catastrophe, the value systems that enabled it, and if indeed it was actually preventable. Vanessa Stalling (Jeff Award-winning director of "Photograph 51" and "United Flight 232") brings her singular artistry to McCafferty’s text to craft a lush aural experience that allows audiences to explore the tragedy from multiple perspectives. Leveraging audio technology, she and her team will create an expansive soundscape that allows the testimonies of each individual to resonate with audiences through a heightened, intimate experience that pushes the boundaries of design and theatrical performance. Streaming June 14 - July 11 on demand at courttheatre.org for $20.

Real Life on Film!

Chicago International Film Festival: ‘With Drawn Arms’ (2020) Tommie Smith is the track-and-field gold medalist who famously raised a gloved fist at the ’68 Olympic games to protest racial inequality in America. "With Drawn Arms" tells the story of that iconic moment and examines its lasting influence on the Civil Rights movement and the ongoing fight for racial equality. Featuring an intimate conversation with Smith himself in addition to interviews with Jesse Williams, Jemele Hill, Megan Rapinoe, and the late John Lewis, the film explores the historical intersections of protest, politics, race, and sports. Available to stream for FREE for 24 hours, starting June 16 at 6:30 p.m., including a livestream Q&A with directors Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi which begins at 8:15 p.m. Register at chicagofilmfestival.com

Art on the Mart!

Art on theMART: Hope is a Light Program Art on theMART is establishing a new ongoing partnership with Chicago Public Schools and its All-City Arts Program. The first joint project will showcase the artwork of selected CPS seniors as part of a new animated projection entitled "Hope is a Light: Select Works from the Chicago Public School Class of 2021." The partnership is supported by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events with support by iHeartRadio. Recurring daily at 8:30 p.m. until July 26.

Learn Something New!

The Music Institute of Chicago's Summer Courses The Music Institute of Chicago is offering a variety of summer programs for all ages and levels beginning June 15. Directed by award-winning Music Institute faculty and artists-in-residence, most camps and classes will take place online, making participation accessible anywhere. Summer camps: opportunities for youth include piano, guitar, ukulele, woodwind and Suzuki camps as well as camps focusing on jazz and musical theater. Camps for adult instrumentalists include Adult Piano, the Art of the Jazz Band, Chamber Music for Winds with Quintet Attacca, the Chicago Suzuki Institute (for teachers), and the Chicago Duo Piano Festival.

Summer classes: for youth include early childhood music and movement, as well as instrument-specific group instruction, while adult classes, in addition to instrument-specific group instruction, include music listening clubs, music appreciation classes, music production, and band programs. For more information, visit musicinst.org/summer.

PRIDE MONTH EVENTS June 17 Find Your Family Where: Zoom When: 6 p.m. What: CultureBuilds by 2nd Story celebrates the many ways the queer community can build and find their own chosen family. Storyteller Chris Thoren will recount discovering her transfemme gender identity and how fashion helped bring that into light. Then, Sheree L.Greer, text-based artist and educator, will lead a joyful panel discussion on finding family with Jae Rice, director of communications at Brave Space Alliance, a vehicle to empower queer and trans voices, particularly among people of color; and with Evelyn Zatkoff, clinical services manager at Lawrence Hall, an organization that supports neglected youth in Chicago. .

Tickets are pay-what-you-can up to $20 at www.2ndstory.com June 19 Book Talk: ‘Looking for Lorraine’ When: 3-4 p.m. Where: Online What: Celebrate Pride Month and Juneteenth with Legler Regional Library’s discussion of Imani Perry’s biography of Lorraine Hansberry. In public, Hansberry was the articulate civil rights spokeswoman and author of the 1959 play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” In private, she struggled to reconcile her marriage with a string of lesbian relationships. Register at least 24 hours ahead at chipublib.bibliocommons.com/events. More information from Matt Wieck, mwieck@chipublib.org or 312.746.7730.

Through June 26 ‘My Dazzling Queer Fantasy’ Gallery Opening Where: Elephant Room Gallery, 704 S. Wabash Ave. When: Elephant Room Gallery is excited to be exhibiting Chicago-based artist TotesFerosh’s first solo exhibition this summer during Chicago Pride Month. 10% of the sales from this exhibition will be donated to Howard Brown Health to eliminate the disparities in healthcare experienced by LGBTQ people through research, education and the provision of services that promote health and wellness. “My Dazzling Queer Fantasy” is a body of work that presents a diverse selection of LGBTQ people that the artist has chosen to represent as part of his dream world. TotesFerosh uses male-presenting folx as his subjects while capturing the beauty of the feminine and masculine energies found in Queer culture. Inspired by comics and superheroes, the artist pairs his stark characters with expressive color palettes and illustrative iconography. By appointment only, contact kim@elephantroogallery.com to schedule a viewing.

-compiled by Suzanne Hanney & Dave Hamilton

-Compiled by Dave Hamilton

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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

John: Hello, SportsWise world! We are glad to be here with you to make the magic happen this edition. Well, we’ve been on a “going back to the future”-sorta thing, so, this edition, we’re sticking with it. All of us have an athlete from back in the day who meant something to us. We’ll remember and, then, we’ll see where each of them are today.

SPORTSWISE

Russ: I’m very ready to speak on this young brother. I met him after the 1991-1992 NCAA Championship game.

His name is Juwan Howard, and he went to the University of Michigan and was the starting power forward. He was brief but we had a chance to talk about the following ’92-’93 season. We didn’t talk about the loss to Duke the previous year, but we did talk about winning it all that current season. I asked Juwan if they would win it all; he said Yes, but we all know what happened: Chris Webber called time-out when they had none, and this cost them the championship.

Patrick: I remember that. I was at another Big 10 school at the time and was sure Michigan would win. It was horrible.

Well, Rocky Harvey is my guy. He was a star running back for the Dunbar High School Mighty Men and was awesome. He is one of the best running backs Illinois has produced. Set five state records for Dunbar with 7,348

career rushing yards in 1997, 100 career rushing yards, 14 games with 100 or more rushing yards in 1997, 100 career rushing touchdowns, 646 career points, and 104 career TDs. And I’ve yet to mention that he was 5-foot9 inches tall and a mere 160 pounds. A beast.

Donald: He was. So, yeah, my guy is Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. I met him before he was famous, but I knew immediately he would be a top-notch ballplayer.

We were playing a half-court 21, which is a one-on-oneon-one, etc., game up to 21 points; well, so he dribbled the ball not only between his legs, but also between mine!

I was 16 at the time, and he made me look silly. I don’t recall his age, but he was young.

I was impressed.

Patrick: John, who do you have?

John: Cubs’ Shawon Dunston. 6’1 and 175 pounds full of energy. Shortstop for the Cubs from 1985-1995 with an extra year in 1987. He possessed one of the strongest throwing arms to ever play the game. He was, also, the 1st pick in the 1982 MLB draft. Something folks may not know is that, as a high school senior, Dunston had a .790 batting average, 10 home runs, and stole 37 bases without getting caught. After he teamed up with Hall-ofFamer Ryne Sandberg, they created mayhem and magic all in one. Spectacular.

Patrick: Them were the days.

WGN, too. But, yeah, everybody, briefly, what’s your guy doing now? Russ?

Russ: Juwan Howard is the head coach of Michigan’s men’s basketball team. Last year, he won the AP College Coach of the Year and has developed a reputation as a hu-

manitarian for his civic commitment.

Patrick: In 2004, Rocky Harvey taught PE and coached the running backs at Dunbar—his alma mater. At the time, he also played indoor football professionally.

Donald: Isiah Thomas has gone from an NBA executive, to an NBA head coach, and is, now, President and part owner of the Knicks's WNBA team, the New York Liberty.

John: Shawon Dunston, despite a very exciting career, didn’t make the Hall of Fame, and is currently working as a special assistant for the San Francisco Giants.

Patrick: Well done, fellas.

Any comments or suggestions?

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COVERSTORY

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African Americans have long defied white supremacy and celebrated Black culture in public spaces

by Shannon M. Smith

From Richmond to New York City to Seattle, anti-racist activists are getting results as Confederate monuments are coming down by the dozens.

In Richmond, Virginia, protesters have changed the story of Lee Circle, home to a 130-year-old monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It’s now a new community space where graffiti, music and projected images turn the statue of Lee from a monument to white supremacy into a backdrop proclaiming that Black Lives Matter.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. I’m a historian of celebrations and protests after the Civil War. And in my research, I have found that long before Confederate monuments occupied city squares, African Americans used those same public spaces to celebrate their history.

But those African American memorial cultures have often been overshadowed by Confederate monuments that dominate public space and set in stone a white supremacist story of the past.

COVERSTORY

Black celebrations

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans had less power and money than whites did to erect statues to celebrate their past; Instead, they challenged white dominance of public space using holidays, parades, conventions, mass meetings and other events. Black people used public celebrations such as Juneteenth to tell a positive story about their history, debate and set political goals for the community, applaud the role of Black soldiers and workers, and create a legacy and cultural identity for Black men, women and children.

These community celebrations helped guide Black protests and organizing after the Civil War and continue to inspire activists today.

Here are just a few of the ways African Americans challenged white dominance in public spaces:

• On July 4, 1866, Black people gathered in Richmond’s Capitol Square and decorated the statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and George Mason with garlands and flags – a radical act that a reporter from the Richmond Dispatch fumed was “a liberty which no white man ever yet presumed to take with Virginia’s great work of art.” By claiming the Founding Fathers as their own, African Americans protested against their exclusion from public space and citizenship.

• In 1867 Black men and women publicly assembled at a convention in Lexington, Kentucky, where political leader William F. Butler stated, “First we ha[d] the cartridge box, now we want the ballot box, and soon we will get the jury box. I don’t mean with our fists, but by standing up and demanding our rights.” Butler argued that Black men fought to maintain the Union, “but we were left without means of protecting ourselves….We need and must have the ballot box for that purpose.”

• A Baltimore procession in May 1870 celebrated the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed Black men the right to vote. The event had more than 12,000 participants and 20,000 spectators. Newspapers called the procession “vast and magnificent in its appointments, gorgeous in its decorations, and noble in its purposes.” Participants carried banners reading, “Give us equal rights and we will protect ourselves,” and “Equity and justice goes hand in hand.”

These and other African American celebrations asserted their right to public spaces where previously enslaved people might have needed passes or were supposed to be invisible.

Protesters at the Richmond, Virginia, monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee on June 18, 2020 (Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto photo).

you stay in your place.” She recalled bringing something to “scratch up the coat, break the watch chain, try to knock off the nose” – perhaps leading to its replacement in 1896 with a much taller monument.

In 1923 the United Daughters of the Confederacy urged Congress to fund a monument “to the faithful slave mammies of the South” in Washington, D.C. The National Association of Colored Women mobilized several Black activist organizations in letter-writing campaigns, petitions and editorials and crushed the plan. The monument was never built.

Turning away White residents had the power to ignore Black residents’ commemorative activities.

Rather than watch the festivities or listen to Black speakers, they chose to leave town for the day, stay inside or express disgust among themselves. White people in Richmond celebrated the Fourth of July in the countryside, noted the Richmond Dispatch newspaper, “partly to enjoy the day’s relaxation from business and partly to avoid the spectacle which they could not have avoided witnessing had they remained at home.”

Monuments and power For both Black and white residents, the actions they took to commemorate their cultures demonstrated the importance of residential and commercial spaces, such as city parks, neighborhoods and shopping districts, and especially official civic spaces such as city halls or courthouses.

White organizations raised hundreds of statues in public spaces, especially in the South, during the height of Confederate memorializing in the Jim Crow and civil rights eras.

White supremacist groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected these Confederate monuments to, in their words, “correct history” by celebrating the Lost Cause, the idea that slavery was a benevolent institution and the Confederate cause was just.

These monuments represented a way to remind African Americans that public spaces, public commemoration and public advancement were not for them.

And while protests that Confederate flags and monuments do not belong in public spaces have grown stronger since 2015, resistance is not new. African Americans have been protesting against Confederate monuments since they were erected.

In Charleston, South Carolina, Black citizens in the 1880s and 1890s mocked and defaced the original monument to John C. Calhoun, a South Carolina congressman and U.S. vice president, who defended slavery as a “positive good.”

Teacher and civil rights activist Mamie Garvin Fields remembered that as a child it seemed as if Calhoun’s statue was “looking you in the face and telling you … I am back to see

The Baltimore American newspaper noted that those who were too “thin-skinned” to see Black residents celebrating the Fifteenth Amendment shut their doors, “presenting the appearance that ‘nobody was in.’” White residents “refused to witness the procession, declaring they could not gaze upon such a humiliating scene.”

Remaking public space In 2017, white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 11-12 for the Unite the Right rally, ostensibly to protect a monument of Robert E. Lee. It was a battle over what vision of America would prevail in public space in the 21st century.

Chanting “White lives matter” and “Jews will not replace us,” the white supremacists violently attacked counterprotesters.

Today, the tables are turned. Anti-racism protesters are transforming public space by tearing down Confederate monuments or demanding their removal. Years of activism combined with these same types of activities – mourning, celebration of Black pasts, public demands for the future, politics in the streets – have led to the removal of many Confederate monuments, despite the violence and fury of white supremacists.

Activists are telling a new story of African American history out of the relics of a white supremacist past, just as they did in public celebrations in the 19th century.

Shannon M. Smith is Associate Professor of History, College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University. Courtesy of The Conversation.

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A Visit to George Floyd Square photography by Kathleen Hinkel

On Juneteenth in 2020, photographer and frequent StreetWise contributor Kathleen Hinkel visited E. 38th St. and Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, now known as George Floyd Square, where George Floyd was murdered, now an ongoing protest and memorial site. Since May 26, 2020, the day after George Floyd's death, the area around the intersection has been free from cars (and police), with protesters occupying the site daily.

Signs around the area call George Floyd Square a sacred space for community, public grief and protest. Column 1: a hand-made sculpture of a fist adorns the center of the intersection; a mural of George Floyd with flowers and gifts in his memory. Column 2: the spot where George Floyd was held to the ground by Derek Chauvin, with his knee to his neck; a local business's sign is changed; a list of African Americans who have lost their lives to gun violence stretches for blocks. Column 3: murals featuring Breonna Taylor and Michael Brown, both shot by police officers; a mural with a message to George Floyd; a makeshift graveyard with tombstones representing the Black lives lost to police shootings.

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Census results shift political power in Congress, presidential elections

by Dudley L. Poston Jr.

New data from the 2020 U.S. census released April 26, 2021, indicates that starting in 2023 – after the next congressional elections – seven states will have fewer seats in Congress than they do now, and six will have more.

Reapportioning congressional seats

These calculations and changes are the primary purpose of the government’s efforts every 10 years to count all the people who live in the United States. It’s written into the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the number of House seats a state has helps determine the size of its delegation to the Electoral College, increasing or decreasing state residents’ power to pick the president.

The seven states that each lost one seat in the House as a result of the 2020 census are California, from 53 to 52; Illinois, from 18 to 17; Michigan, from 14 to 13; New York, from 27 to 26; Ohio, from 16 to 15; Pennsylvania, from 18 to 17; and West Virginia, from 3 to 2.

The six states that gained one or more seats after the 2020 count are Colorado, from 7 to 8; Florida, from 27 to 28; Montana, from 1 to 2; North Carolina, from 13 to 14; Oregon, from 5 to 6; and Texas, which gained two, from 36 to 38.

Who gets counted?

During the census, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of people who live in each state on census day of the census year – in this case, April 1, 2020.

The bureau also counts all military and U.S. government employees and their dependents who live overseas on that day – and determines which states they claim as their residences when in the U.S. Any military personnel who are only temporarily deployed overseas are not counted where they live, but in the states where the military bases from which they were deployed are located.

FROM THE STREETS

Those numbers deliver a total number of people who live in each state, for apportionment purposes.

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Doing the calculations When determining how many seats a state gets, there are a few constraints.

First is that there are 435 seats and 50 states; the District of Columbia participates in the Electoral College, but gets only a nonvoting delegate in Congress.

In addition, states cannot get partial seats. Because every state must get at least one seat, the first 50 seats are assigned automatically, one per state.

The Constitution does not specify the specific method of apportioning the rest of the congressional seats, but the underlying assumption is best summarized as “one person, one vote” – every person residing in every state should be included, and no person should have more of a voice than any other.

After the first 50, the 385 remaining seats are assigned according to a system called the Method of Equal Proportions, first proposed in 1911 by a U.S. Census Bureau statistician named Joseph A. Hill. This method was first used in the apportionment based on the 1940 census, and has been used ever since. It is a statistical and mathematical series of calculations that determines the priority order in which states receive second seats, third seats and additional seats beyond that.

In states that have more than one congressional district, additional calculations will be necessary to determine the boundaries of each of those districts. Often that process is left up to state legislators. The data needed for that next step will be available by Sept. 30, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during a virtual press conference announcing the apportionment results.

Dudley L. Poston Jr. is professor of Sociology at Texas A & M University. Courtesy of The Conversation.

Late census data and political partisanship mar Illinois House and Senate remapping Democratic majorities in the Illinois General Assembly pushed through new maps for both Illinois House and Senate districts May 28.

Republicans asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto them, but he signed them into law June 4.

“Virtually no one in this state, other than the Democrat House and Senate members, support this bill,” House Majority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said at a news conference with 30 other GOP lawmakers, according to the Springfield State JournalRegister.

“The legislators drew their districts and they used unreliable, flawed data,” Durkin said. “Gov. Pritzker, …it is time to lead, time to push the politics of the House and Senate aside in favor of all citizens. Governor, keep your word. Veto this politically drawn map.”

While Pritzker said he would veto an unfair map, “I have also said that in order for us to have an independent commission, we needed to have a constitutional amendment, something that would actually change the way the process operates today,” CHANGE Illinois quoted him. “That did not happen.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, detailed official census data is not expected before July 30, so the legislative mapmakers used the American Community Survey, a Census Bureau product that samples far fewer households, for the once-a-decade redistricting.

“These maps use 5-year sampling data that we know undercounts Illinoisans by 41,877 people,” CHANGE Illinois Executive Director Madeleine Doubek said.

Missing the June 30 map deadline would mean that Democrats in power would have to submit to a state constitution requirement for an appointed commission comprised of four Democrats and four Republicans.

Historically, this appointed commission has not succeeded, Doubek said. “Three out of the four times when a backup commission was used, commissioners were deadlocked and needed a tiebreaker.” One new prospective commissioner was chosen from each political party and a name was pulled from a Lincoln hat. If it were a Republican’s name, that party would control map drawing, despite the Democratic supermajorities in the legislature.

“Control leads to political map abuse,” Illinois Policy said in late April. “The 2011 map drawn by Democrats forced incumbent Republicans into the same district to either face primaries against each other or abandon re-election. Republicans did the same thing in 1991 when they drew the maps.” In the 2018 election, for example, nearly half of Illinois House and Senate seats were uncontested, which results in less voter turnout and less responsiveness by legislators.

The redistricting appointee process would also delay release of the maps until fall, close to filing deadlines for the 2022 primaries.

Prospective candidates would not know what their districts look like.

Although the detailed count is delayed until July, the Census Bureau delivered total state counts in April (see related story). Illinois will lose just one seat in the U.S. Congress, so perhaps the nearly $45 million Illinois spent last year in census outreach could be called a success. (The Illinois General Assembly did not undertake the congressional remap.)

Illinois spent more per capita than any other state to prevent undercounts of “hard to count people” that could cost the state up to two seats in Congress relative to states that had gained population. The number of seats in Congress is fixed at 435 and the U.S. Constitution requires the census every 10 years to determine how to allocate them.

StreetWise vendors were involved in the hub-and-spoke system of “regional intermediaries,” (RIs) or “trusted messengers” to “hard-to-count” communities such as immigrants, people who are homeless, or LGBTQ. The RIs met with people like themselves and talked about the importance of filling out the census, not only for congressional representation, but for allocating $675 billion annually: to programs including Medicare, Medicaid, federal highway money, Pell Grants, Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF), school lunches and more.

– Suzanne Hanney, from online sources StreetWise Vendors gather in front of StreetWise's offices to become regional intermediaries in 2020, while the magazine was online-only during the COVID-19 pandemic (Julie Youngquist photo).

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UIC's Dick Simpson: Lightfoot dealing with more independent City Council by six points – to 88 percent – with Lightfoot.

Five of the six Progressive Reform Caucus members who have lowest agreement with Lightfoot identify as socialists. Daniel LaSpata (1st ward), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35rd), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) and Jeanette Taylor (20th) said their disagreement was that Lightfoot had not been progressive enough.

“What we witnessed in the past two years was very unlike what occurred in most City Council meetings since the mid-1950s,” said Simpson, a former Chicago alderman. “But by the standards of the U.S. House and Senate, and those of many state and local governments, such robust give and take, which we experienced during the past two years, is considered a desired feature of democracy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has won aldermanic approval for much of her legislation during her first two years in office, like her predecessor Rahm Emanuel, but her liberal progressive agenda has faced more opposition from both veteran and freshman City Council members, says a new report.

"Both Lightfoot and Emanuel won approval of their choices for committee chairmen and passed their budgets and spending plans, but Rahm presided over a 'Rubber Stamp’ City Council while Lightfoot had to confront meaningful dissent, amendments and compromises," said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and co-author of the report.

In the report, “Emanuel and Lightfoot City Councils,” Simpson and the co-authors compared City Council roll call votes in Emanuel’s last two years with those in Lightfoot’s first two years. Emanuel had 100 percent agreement from 19 alderpersons; Lightfoot had 100 percent from only two.

However, 40 alderpersons supported Lightfoot 80 percent of the time; 43 alderpersons supported Emanuel to the same extent.

Alderpersons who identified as “liberal,” or “progressive” increased their agreement with Lightfoot over Emanuel. For example, Scott Waguespack, (32nd) went from 63 percent to 100 percent for Lightfoot. Conversely, “centrist,” “moderate” or “conservative,” alderpersons – Anthony Beale (9th), Marty Quinn (13th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Nicholas Sposato (38th) and Anthony Napolitano (41st) -- reduced their support for her.

The Progressive Reform Caucus was established in 2013 during Mayor Emanuel’s first term. During his last two years in office, the Caucus had 12 members, but it grew to 18 in the new Council sworn in with Mayor Lightfoot. The larger caucus increased its agreement

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Mayor Lightfoot is not a “boss,” but she has dealt successfully with this new, more independent council, Simpson said. “After two years, Mayor Lightfoot looks like she will be able to advance her liberal progressive agenda. But she will need to incorporate input and make compromises with aldermen who have their own political agendas.”

Lightfoot has governed with a Center Liberal majority, even though she has faced dissent from right and left wings of the City Council. Accomplishments she has cited include raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, passing a fair work scheduling ordinance, battling COVID-19, ending aldermanic prerogative, strengthening the work of the Inspector General and creating INVEST South/ West to aggregate $750 million to underinvested neighborhoods.

There were also contentious votes that wound up in her favor: • The 2020 budget approved by the City Council Nov. 26, 2019 did not differ dramatically from Lightfoot’s proposal, designed to close the deficit without significantly raising property taxes. Three ordinances were required for passage: the annual appropriation and amendments covering business fees and taxes, both by 39-11 votes; and the property tax levy, 35-15.

• The 2021 budget of $12.8 billion, which featured debt refinancing to save $500 million in interest, and a property tax increase tied to the annual consumer price index, passed Nov. 24, 2020, by a 28-22 vote.

• Lightfoot’s plan to require developers seeking zoning changes in gentrifying neighborhoods to raise the percentage of affordable units from 10 percent to 20 percent passed 42-8 on April 21. City Council conservatives and three of its six socialists were opposed; the latter said the plan could have been more ambitious.

- Suzanne Hanney, from online materials

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (City of Chicago photo). INSET: Dick Simpson, Ph.D., political science professor at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC photo).

Streetwise 5/31/21 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

Sudoku

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5 Hero type 6 Took down on paper 7 Gator’s kin 8 Swabs 9 Floors 0 They, in Trieste

9 Does a slow 37 Nay sayer burn 40 Old laborers 10 Molasses 41 List abbr.

11 Attention44 Canine getter shelters 12 Composer 46 Equilibrium Bartok 48 Casino coins 13 Impudence 50 La Brea goo 21 Hi-___ 53 Depressing own monitor 54 Pedestal part 23 Prods 55 Resting on 1 Kind of spirit 26 Field of play 56 1984 Peace 27 Department Nobelist 2 Sicilian erupter store aim 57 Garden with a 3 Sports figures 28 ___ Quentin snake 4 Lets the cat 29 Breakfast 58 Some M & choice out of the bag M’s 30 Cut’s partner 59 Chaotic 5 Purple shade 6 Genesis man 32 Antipasto places 7 Tears 33 Watered-silk 60 ___ in a blue PuzzleJunction.com 34©2021 Agenda 8 More, inCopyright moon entries 63 Auction unit Madrid

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lastSudoku week's Puzzle Answers Solution

Solution

Sudoku Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

Crossword Across 1 Shell game 5 Tourist guides 9 Capital of Ghana 14 Others, to Ovid 15 Fictional terrier 16 Church section 17 Bad place for a change of mind 19 Recycle 20 Illinois River city 21 Bovril, e.g.

23 A Bobbsey twin 24 Neighbor of Tenn.

25 Store posting (Abbr.)

26 G.I.’s mail drop 29 Singer Seeger 32 In times past 34 Jack of Dragnet 36 Bring to life again 41 Buffalo’s county 42 Turkish honorific 43 Kind of table 44 Frown upon 48 Positive 49 Pa. neighbor 50 Barbershop call 52 Trendy 53 Back on board

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56 Modern (Prefix) 58 Embrace 60 Haiphong locale 62 Cereal topper 65 Top dog 66 Copycats 69 Hipbone bone 70 Charades, e.g.

71 Girasol, e.g.

72 Pigeon’s perch 73 Heidi’s home 74 Depend Down 1 Casablanca pianist 2 Paper holder 3 Assistant 4 Kind of jar

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 22 26 27 28 30 31 33 35 37 38

Jack-tar Perplexed School org.

Brazilian dance A lot of plot White hat wearer Refined Stair part Vicinities Pitfall Brio Impressed Persian spirit Kimono sashes Eye drop Encourage Table scraps Bit of sweat Gutter site Starch

39 40 45 46 47 51 53 54 55 57 59 61 62 63 64 67 68

Poi source Ogled Nom de plume Entreaty Breathes out Yellowfin, e.g.

Benefit Girl, in France Lukewarm Alpha’s opposite Swamp snapper Hoodlum Can be found in the road Slangy denial Shrinking Asian sea Bien’s opposite Artful

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.

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.

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.

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