March 28 - april 3, 2022 Vol. 30 No. 13
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Arts & (Home) Entertainment
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SportsWise
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Cover Story: Sue Bailey Thurman & the YWCA
More and more events are happening in Chicago, and we want you to know about the best of the best!
The SportsWise team discusses Tom Brady coming out of NFL retirement.
Chicago-born and raised Nicole Robinson has been CEO of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago since January. In this Women’s History Month interview, she discusses the structures and systems Chicago needs for its residents to succeed, and also Sue Bailey Thurman, who traveled to India with her husband to meet Mohandas Gandhi, 20 years ahead of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent civil rights movement.
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Voice of the Streets – op-ed
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The Playground
Dr. Andrew Albert invites you to a special event aiming to spread awareness of colon cancer.
ON THE COVER: Two historical photos from the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago archives. ON THE COVER & THIS PAGE: Sue Bailey Thurman posed for this snapshot around 1935, the year she and her husband Howard Thurman embarked on their tour of Burma, Ceylon, and India (photo courtesy of the Howard Gotlieb Library, Boston University).
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
LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Compiled by Cora Saddler
A New Kind of Opera!
Fire Shut Up In My Bones Experience this coming-of-age story that follows New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s traumatic youth in Louisiana as a boy of peculiar grace who doesn’t quite fit into his community. This bold and affecting opera, based on his acclaimed memoir, asks the audience to contemplate topics of race, spirituality and sexuality. With its jazz-rooted music, “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” distinguishes itself from many traditional operas and reveals the Black experience in America. The composer is Terence Blanchard, one of the most influential figures in American Jazz, and the librettist is Kasi Lemmons, accompanied by a cast of some of America's most brilliant singing actors. Performances are 7 p.m. March 29, 7:30 p.m. April 2, 2 p.m. April 6 and 7 p.m. April 8 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Drive. Tickets are $39+ at lyricopera.org.
Classical Lunch Hour!
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts: Maya Buchanan, Violin & Milana Pavchinskaya, Piano For a quick lunch break accompanied by the sounds of music, visit the Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist, 55 E. Wacker Drive, for another weekly performance in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series. The concerts are staged by the International Music Foundation and showcase emerging classical performers. From 12:15 - 1 p.m. on March 30, Maya Buchanan (pictured), violin, and Milana Pavchinskaya, piano, will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring” and Jeno Hubay’s “Carmen Fantasie Brillante.” The concert will be available live, online, and at radio station 98.7 WFMT. FREE.
Love Takes Time!
ENTERTAINMENT
Mammalian Diving Reflex/Darren O’Donnell: All the Sex I’ve Ever Had Love is hard, but you don’t have to experience it alone. Head over to the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., for an artistic intervention panel dedicated to the topics of relationship, love and sexuality in “All the Sex I’ve Ever Had,” put on by Mammalian Diving Reflex Aristic Director Darren O’Donnell. Mammalian is a research-art atelier that views discussion as a way to trigger and investigate generosity and equity in our social sphere. “All the Sex I’ve Ever Had” emphasizes the wisdom and experience of six everyday Chicagoans over age 65 from all walks of life. The panelists will open up about their personal lives, their first crushes, turbulent affairs, unexpected pregnancies and the deaths of loved ones. The panel runs 8-9:30 p.m. nightly through March 31. $10 at mcachicago.org.
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Natural Beauty!
Katherine Lampert: 'Pattern in Nature' There are patterns all around us. Katherine Lampert isolates and repeats the minute pattern found on a single, 200-millionyear-old ammonite fossil from the Chicago Academy of Sciences in "Pattern in Nature," her seven original works on the second floor gallery of the Peggy Notebaert Museum. Lampert manipulates the motif to unpack and reveal a hidden aqueous origin story. On display through October, her work also examines texture, color, entropy, and the evolving relationship between nature and technology. Located at 2430 N. Cannon Drive, the Peggy Notebaert Museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays-Mondays. General tickets are $9. For more information, please see naturemuseum.org or katherinelampert.com.
Strut Your Stuff!
River North Pup Crawl & Cat Walk Experience the joy of animals as The River North Design District invites you to the inaugural River North Pup Crawl and Cat Walk on April 1 from 5-8 p.m. The walk features 9 locations and 9 designers, who will be creating unique auction items for pets, including dog beds, pet clothes, cat condos and more. The walk is partnered with PAWS Chicago, the city’s largest No Kill animal shelter, which will receive a portion of the proceeds. PAWS will also have animals available for adoption at each location. Each showroom will have signature cocktails and an amuse-bouche. Participants include Oscar Isberian and Studio 6f with Cambria, Bulthaup and Jessica Lagrange Interiors, TOTO and VF Interiors, Studio41 and Ilene Chase Design, Centaur Interiors and more. The event is not open to guest pets. Tickets are $35 at rivernorthdesigndistrict.com.
Tony-Award Winning!
'Into the Woods' The Loyola University Department of Fine and Performing Arts presents “Into the Woods,” the Tony Awardwinning musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine that features an enticing fusion of fairy tale characters who all desire what they cannot have. A childless Baker and his wife, for example, embark on a quest to lift the Witch’s curse on their family. Directed by Mark E. Lococo, with music direction by Michael McBride, the production will feature Loyola’s first all-student pit orchestra, directed by Dr. Frederick Lowe. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday from March 31-April 10 in the Newhart Family Theatre, 1020 W. Sheridan Road. Proof of vaccination required. Tickets $15-$25 at artsevents.luc.edu
An Interactive Experience!
'What to Send Up When It Goes Down' “By the time you read this, up to 20 Black and Brown men and women will have been killed by the hands of the police this week.” “W hat To Send Up W hen It Goes Down” is a play-pageant-ritual-homegoing celebration by award-winning playwright Aleshea Harris. The play responds to the gratuitous loss of Black lives and is intent on creating a space for catharsis, cleansing and healing. The performance is comprised of vignettes. Each performance will be enacted differently as members of the audience are invited to be part of the play itself, becoming the current that holds the story together. This interactive show will be running from March 31 to April 16 on the West Side at Gray Chicago, 2044 W. Carroll Ave. .
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Latin American Music!
Reverón Piano Trio The Reverón Piano Trio celebrates the richness and diversity of classical repertoire by Latin-American composers, long underrepresented or unheard. Strings of Latin America and the Reverón Piano Trio have collaborated to produce a three-concert guest artist series with complementary community educational activities focused on Latin-American music. The opening series will begin at 7:30 p.m. April 1 with the Reverón Piano Trio, featuring violinist Simón Gollo, cellist Horacio Contreras, and pianist Ana María Otamendi performing works by Ricardo Lorenz, Manuel Ponce and Joaquín Turina. Two more series will follow: April 22 with KAIA String Quartet and May 13 with Venezuelan musicians Pacho Flores on trumpet and Elena Abend on piano. Performances will be at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave. in Evanston. Livestream will also be available. Tickets are $25 in advance at nicholsconcerthall.org and $30 at the door.
Underrated to Celebrated!
James Ehnes and Orion Weiss at Korngold Festival -> Folks Operetta "Korngold Rediscovered" is a 125th anniversary celebration of the successful, yet underrecognized, 20th century composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. From April 1-10, the festival sponsored by the University of Chicago and Folks Operetta will offer concerts, lectures, a film screening, a theater production reading, a scholarly symposium and Korngold’s last opera. Kicking off festivities at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St., at 7:30 p.m. on April 1 will be violinist James Ehnes and pianist Orion Weiss, with Korngold's "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Tanzlied" from his opera "Die tote Stadt." At 7:30 p.m. April 2, Folk Operetta will perform “Korngold in Song,” which explores his work in art song and operetta, featuring “So Gott und Papa will,” “Lieder des Abschieds, op. 14,” and “Sechs einfache Lieder, op. 9” and more. More information at korngoldfestival.org
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Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
Patrick: Well, well, well…so Tom Brady has returned, and he’s ready to get it on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in his 23rd NFL season. Big-time ripples, fellas. I’m not sure what to think. I will reiterate that I am a huge Brady fan, so I’m definitely thrilled to have, at least, 17 more games to rock with him… Donald: Patrick, I wouldn’t get too upset at the man. I mean, Mr. Brady went home, spent some time with his family, watched some walls, ate a few nice meals…and realized he was just so not ready to wrap it up. Still in shape, strong as an ox or, at least, as tough as one. Of course, there are going to be a ton of folks up in arms the entire year about how he’s not supposed to be in the NFL, but at home in his rocking chair.
SPORTSWISE
Russ: Obviously, the rocking chair will only get play Monday through Saturday, because Tom is back! John: Indeed he is. I like it. I mean, the man is still, arguably, the best quarterback in the game…at the tender age of 44 years old. Patrick: 44 years young! Russ: I just read about the man who bid on and won what was at the moment Tom Brady’s “final” TD pass of his career. Obviously not a good move.
Donald: I hadn’t heard about this. How much did he pay?
in the league—especially the NFC? How do you think they’re feeling?
Russ: 518,000 smackeroos. Donald: Get outta here! Patrick: Nah, he’s not lying. I have to guess it’s no longer worth thousands; I’m guessing more like $500. John: If nothing else, the guy will always be a part of history’s trivia: Who is the guy who bought what was, presumably, Tom Brady’s last touchdown pass? Patrick: Horrible. You know what, though? I bet you Tom will come through and either purchase the ball outright from the fan…or sign it or something to up its value. Just seems like something he would do. Donald: All right, enough about this. What about every other quarterback and team
John: You’re right. Can you imagine what the other teams in the Buccaneers’ division— the NFC South—must feel like? On one hand, it keeps their division relevant…but, on the other hand, the opportunity to get into the playoffs is lessened. The Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints—who recently lost Drew Brees to retirement— and the Bucs were going to battle it out for Houston QB Deshaun Watson, with the winner becoming the favorite in the division. Just like that, it doesn’t even matter. Russ: Hey, now, let’s not disrespect Deshaun Watson. He’s a damn good quarterback and if he does land in the division, then, in my opinion, there’s no telling what could happen. At the very least, a secondplace finish is a near-definite.
Donald: Yeah, man, we see players who were about to leave, now staying. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Gronkowski—Brady’s tight end—comes out of his recent retirement also. Those two have won 4 Super Bowls together in only 11 seasons. Patrick: That would be kinda cool. Although, I’m pretty sure Aaron Rodgers might not think so. John: Yeah, he was looking fairly clear and free to get to the Super Bowl this year. Donald: Mr. Brady done upended some things. I bet a lot of quarterbacks will want to go hard at him. All of the trades and speculation and things when he retired, and now this. Might be some feelings involved. Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org
Nina For Chicago Escobedo: Fire stylist Bringing a Steykine passion for Wills, the costumes to main job Chicago’s is about TV and Film helping industry to build characters By Matt Simonette By Matt Simonette Nina Escobedo credits her grandmother for sparking Chicagoan Steykine Wills, a hair stylist who works fullthe childhood interests that ultimately led to her becoming a time for the locally-produced television drama Chicago Fire, professional in Chicago. sees helpingcostumer to createworking characters as a central part of her job.
“My“Depending grandmotherontaught me to sewappears at the age of four,” recalled if a character disheveled, for Escobedo. Thathave earlytotutelage a deepthat passion example, we make inspired them appear way,”forWills exwardrobe and costumes in Escobedo. years as that the plained. “We have to read the scriptAfter andtwo make sure hair coincides with for what the character has going on.” wardrobe supervisor Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that she pivot. grewwho up on South Side, andis isnow a graduate SoWills Escobedo, livesChicago’s on Chicago’s North Side, taking of Myra Bradwell School of Excellence, Simeon Vocational part in the City’s Chicago Made workforce development initiative High School, and McCoy Barber College. She had long linking with filmin and shooting wantedresidents to use her skills thetelevision film andproductions television industry. in the city.
“I had always been interested in doing it—I just didn’t
Escobedo received on-the-job training fromwere Localno 769 costumers know how to do it,” Wills said. “There programs to show you how get in.” Jennifer Jobst andtoAngela Verdino as they prepared for an upcoming Netflix feature film to be filmed at Cinespace Chicago ButStudios. a co-worker began working in local film and TV proFilm
ductions and, in 2018, referred Wills to a department head
for the series Lovecraft Country. “I’m kindHBO of here to ‘shadow’ as they put the production together, and I can assist as long as I’m supervised,” explained Escobedo, “From there, I just started building relationships and just adding she also took Zoom classes asking for several that for started that getting callbacks and people me days to work explained thesaid. jargon and procedures used by a major production. them,” she A Minnesota native, Escobedo to Chicago in order to Wills worked steadily on amoved number of local productions, attend Douglas J. Aveda in Lincoln Park toBut study amongthe them Chicago P.D.Institute and season 4 of Fargo. then the COVID-19 hit Chicago, and her work ceased cosmetology and pandemic work in a salon.
on March 12, 2020.
“I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she recalled, and “‘Two weeks endedanupopening being six she supervisor said. “I ultimately heard about for months,” the wardrobe was off for those six months, just sitting around. But then I at Lookingglass, where she worked from 2018 to 2020. The
pandemic led online to the demise her job, Escobedo started doing classes,oftrying toand keep up withfound work, herself out of workthings for theand firstdoing time. classes to occupy my learning different time. It was okay, but a little depressing.”
Her unemployment was short-lived. A former colleague She was her brought back to in finish up the filming for Fargo, informed of an opening the wardrobe department of the which halted mid-production, and Shining then, inGirls, March 2021, upcoming Apple TV+ thriller series which debuts landed full-time positionMoss with and Chicago Fire. in Aprila and stars Elisabeth Wagner Moura.
Mostsaid, days, Wills now assigned different actor work “They ‘We needissomeone to startatomorrow, so cantoyou go with. She’ll prepare their hair ahead of shooting, then later COVID-test right now?’ I had been sitting on the couch eating go with them to the set and help look after them to keep up junk the food, and ran out door to get tested myof sweatpants with continuity of the their scene over the with course shooton, ” Escobedo said. ing. As“So, her for work on Shining Girls wassomeone wrapping,with she learned of the example, if we have long hair, we Chicago Made program. She was unsure of whether to apply have to make sure it’s in the same position,” she said. “So we watch viamind our iPads and make surewardrobe that everyat first,the butmonitor she set her on landing the only thing looks the same.” personnel spot: “The pandemic made me think, ‘I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity I can.’”
She said that she was “ecstatic” when she was voted into International Alliance of Theatrical Stagetheir Employees Escobedo values Jobst and Verdino sharing time and(IATSE) Local 476. experience. Chicago Made has offered “the training that I wished I “I hadhear going [into previous work], ” shetrying said. to get a lot of my stories abouttelevision people who were
into their union for years, but it only took me a year,” Will Escobedo loves learning the Idifferences theby the lake said. “I remember the day. was ridingbetween my bike comparatively drawn-out pace of costuming for the theater and I got a call, and they said, ‘We want to vote you in.’and I the so rapid timing required to do so for television. At the core of was excited.”
both environments though is problem-solving, the aspect of her For those looking for path forward doing hair styling for duties she appreciates thea most.
film and television production, she advises, “Make sure this is“I something reallyofwant to do. It’s”different from love this jobyou because the community, she added. “I’vebeing never inbeen a salon. to dedicate yourself to all the you in thisYou job have because of the money—it’s mylearning passion. It’s can learn… Try to get all of the knowledge that you can fire in my belly.” before you even get into the business. It’s about a lot more than doinginhair—it’s about learning what of goes on a set and Launched late 2021—with a second round applications learning the set lingo. The most important thing is to do opening this summer—the Chicago Made workforce development your research.”
program offers job training and placement to Chicago residents ages 24–50,in primarily from with underserved meet the Launched late 2021— a secondareas, roundtoofhelp applications opening thisincreasing summer—demand the Chicago Madeworkers. workforce industry’s for skilled Thedevelopment program program offers jobbytraining and placement residents ages is an initiative the Chicago Film OfficetoatChicago the Department of 24-50, primarily from underserved areas, to help meet industry’s Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and thethe XD-TECH increasing demand for skilled workers. The program is an initiative byconsultancy. the Chicago Film Office at the Department of Current Affairs
and Special Events (DCASE) and the XD-TECH consultancy.
NBC Universal, Netflix, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Media on-set training forWalt the program. A number and of local NBCprovide Universal, Netflix, The Disney Company, firms and organizations, as well as unions Local and of Warner Media provide on-set training for theIATSE program. A 476 number local organizations, as well unions IATSE Local 476 Localfirms 600,and have provided support as as well.
and Local 600, have provided support as well.
A record 15 productions filmed in Chicago in summer 2021, A recordwith 15 productions Chicago in summer 2021,The bringing them nearlyfilmed $700 in million in economic impact. bringing them nearlylinks $700projects millionsuch in economic The Chicagowith Made program as those impact. with workers Chicago Made program links projects such as those with workers from across the city.
from across the city.
SPONSORED ADVERTISEMENT This series, from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), asks Chicagoans in the film industry to share their experiences. Learn more at ChicagoMade.us and join the conversation on social media using #ChicagoMade.
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'True rabble-rouser' YWCA Metropolitan Chicago CEO
Nicole Robinson on Sue Bailey Thurman and the state of Chicago Chicago-born and raised Nicole Robinson has been CEO of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago since January. In this Women’s History Month interview, she discusses the structures and systems Chicago needs for its residents to succeed, and also Sue Bailey Thurman, who traveled to India with her husband to meet Mohandas Gandhi, 20 years ahead of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent civil rights movement. by Suzanne Hanney & Cora Saddler
COVERSTORY
StreetWise: You grew up on the South Side of Chicago, raised by a single mom. You know what it is like to use food stamps and to wait for a housing voucher. You were a product of Chicago Public Schools and DePaul University for both your undergrad finance and your MBA degrees. What worked for you that could help more people of similar background to succeed?
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Nicole Robinson: As a single working parent, my mom was smart, resourceful and pretty resilient. She had a small circle of people whom she could turn to help raise both my brother and me. That circle of people included my grandmother Lueavery Partee, who migrated to Chicago from Arkansas and would settle in the Roseland Heights community near 95th Street. My grandmother would watch us after school and on weekends. Our circle also included girlfriends turned Godparents, co-workers from the hair salon where she worked, neighbors who informed her if we left our neighborhood block and warm-hearted passionate teachers who understood that a good education and love could co-exist. The library would become my de facto after-school program, where I could explore ideas and places outside of my neighborhood. Everyone in our circle whether relative, neighbor, librarian or teacher, contributed to my growth and development. These were the people who fostered my imagination and invested in my future. So when you ask what worked for me – it is the circle of people my mom exposed us to who would regularly tell us that we were beautiful, that we could achieve anything and that this world is a big place where we can be seen and heard. Chicago’s schools, libraries and parks worked for me.
Today, what I think we have is a failure of structures and systems, because my experience in Chicago shouldn’t be one of the few. Our structures and systems should be designed to ensure that every single person who walks any block in Chicago neighborhoods is able to reach their absolute full potential. The experience should be as trauma-free as possible, where basic needs are met without judgment. They should be set up with a set of framework tools. The sad reality, is, that they aren’t. I’d say that my mom and now, my nephew, continue to be sources of inspiration for me. My mom is in her 80’s and has a big imagination, is super opinionated, follows politics and has policy ideas on how to make our world better. My nephew, who is 21, has a big heart and is thoughtful and earnest as he navigates the world with autism. Both of them are in a constant state of exploration – so for me “reaching your full potential” is inclusive of everyone young, old, differently abled, BIPOC. It’s everyone. So enough already of the narrative about exceptional heroes and heroines? That’s right. We need to change the structures and systems so it’s not so hard for people. They need to bring the insight into schools and then, they need to be able to expose young people to spaces and give them an opportunity to dream. Kids should not learn under the worst circumstances,
Nicole Robinson (courtesy photo).
where they have inadequate books, or outdated technology. The narrative can be, ‘There was equity in learning, equity in life experience, and in economic opportunity.’ We also need to make sure that there’s no stigma, because there’s a reason our federal government has safety net programs like food stamps and housing vouchers. We’ve witnessed a bit of this during the pandemic, which shined a light on all of the inequities: the double-digit unemployment that existed in neighborhoods, in a pre-pandemic world, the high rates of chronic health conditions, which were a contributing factor, to the fatality rates, and hospitalizations, from COVID. For COVID, in Black and Brown communities, the data tells us this information. We have to figure out how we bring equity to all of those dynamics that contribute to whether or not someone reaches their full potential. It's not one thing; there's this intersectionality. Sue Bailey Thurman, who worked with the YWCA in the 1920s and who, with her husband, visited Mohandas Gandhi in India in the 1930s, is one of your historic inspirations. What is it about her? Both Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman are unsung heroes and architects of the Civil Rights movement. Their trip to visit Gandhi would occur 20 years ahead of Dr. King serving as a source of both inspiration and resistance for the modern day civil rights movement. Sue Bailey Thurman was one of the few women on this trip who would interrogate Gandhi about the role of Black people in the non-violent resistance movement. I'm inspired by Sue Bailey’s courage to lift her voice and channel her activism amidst a delegation and movement dominated by men. It’s interesting to note that Sue Bailey would go on to work with the national YWCA, recruiting Black women members on college campuses. Today, many women are channeling their inner Sue Bailey in their lives as they advocate for economic, racial and social justice. Imagine the courage it took for her to do that! She was a true rabble-rouser. How was the YWCA at the forefront? I learned YWCA Metropolitan Chicago was the first to integrate swimming pools when we had them, to integrate housing when women were migrating www.streetwise.org
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When you were at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, you did something similar with $10 million for food pantries on the South and West Sides.
A 1950 YWCA intergrated beach get-together (YWCA historical archives photo).
The food bank has 700 programs and partners across Cook County. And 30 percent of them have sizeable budgets, and some have staff of three or less. The majority were volunteer-led. And we were asking a primarily volunteer-led, or shoestring-budget network, to be responsible for this huge food need: double-digit food insecurity rates.
from the South as part of the Great Migration. We were advocating for the rights of women in a lot of different ways. We just need to double down on that, and unmute ourselves. The YWCA is like any other institution in the sense that when you’re 150 years old, you get institutionalized in doing things a certain way. Maybe we call it a ‘reawakening.’ You worked with Kraft Foods and Mondelez International on emerging markets from Brazil to Ghana. Do emerging markets have lessons for undercapitalized areas of Chicago? Whether in the barrio, in Brazil, in South Africa or India, emerging markets do share some commonality around some of the challenges that our communities face. I can remember, in my travels, seeing the similarities, but I also know that in my travels, I would be asked, ‘why is there so much violence in Chicago?’ I think there was a time when I was traveling around the world when the top three issues at the time in Chicago were poverty, racism and violence. And you could ask anyone in the world that question, and they could probably play back that they thought those were the top three issues. We’ve had this moment with the pandemic. There’s federal money coming. The City of Chicago is getting $1.9 billion and Cook County government is getting another billion dollars to invest in some of the infrastructure problems, not put a bandage on issues, but actually make progress on some of the inequities in education, some of the inequities in business. How do we get capital – which is the biggest barrier for Black- and Brown-owned businesses – how do we get capital to them?
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What we needed to do was actually lift them up and invest in them as small nonprofits and transform their capacity. It was more than getting them infrastructure like refrigerators and freezers. The goal was to transform the experience for people and pantries. People would come to the pantry, and it would feel less equitable than in well-resourced communities, where you get a grocery store experience. If you were on the South and West Sides of the city, you got a more muted experience, a dingy room with no sun shining through. I wanted to destigmatize it. We could have murals on the wall, bright lights so we could change the experience. We could also make sure that the food that was available was comparable to choices people might have in a grocery store. We could make sure everything was culturally relevant. We could also make sure that it was not just about handing out food, but also that people had access to safety net programs, like food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. How does the YWCA history reflect this environment, and what is most important going forward? We're at a moment that is key to our mission. Our mission of empowering women and eliminating racism is more relevant now more than ever in our 145-year history. We’re in the midst of a She-cession where the convergence of work, home and school has singlehandedly disempowered primarily Black and Brown women. This, coupled with a racial reckoning, threatened and the YWCA would need to double down on our efforts and explore how gender, racial and economic equity shows up in everything that we do. As a 145-year-old organization, we stand on the shoulders of women who were at the forefront of advancing gender and equity – and we’re in the next evolution.
www.streetwise.org
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Sue Bailey Thurman advocate for peace by Cora Saddler
Sue Bailey Thurman was an American author, lecturer, historian and civil rights activist, an advocate for interracial, intercultural, and international understanding, peace and fellowship. She and her husband, Howard Washington Thurman, who has been called the grandfather of the civil rights movement, are also known as the nation’s first African-American power couple. Sue Bailey was the youngest of 10 children born to a prominent Black family in Pine Bluff, Ark. Her father was a minister, the Rev. Isaac Bailey; and her mother, Susie, was an educator who was also active in multiple Black women’s organizations and the YWCA at both the local and national level. Sue Bailey graduated from Spelman Seminary in Atlanta in 1920 and was the first non-white student to earn a bachelor’s degree in music and liberal arts from Oberlin College in 1926. She worked as national traveling secretary for the YWCA’s college division, lectured throughout Europe, and established the first World Fellowship Committee of the YWCA. Bailey’s inspiration was Juliette Derricotte, the YWCA secretary of National Student Council and later the dean of women at Howard University, who believed high-achieving women of color should be able to travel the world and be inspired by their counterparts. Bailey established a scholarship so African American undergraduate women could study and travel abroad. It was the youth, she believed, who had the capability to bridge gaps in cultural understanding. Her future husband, Howard Thurman, was born in Daytona Beach, Florida and raised by his grandmother, a former slave who never accepted those boundaries for him, because he was “a child of God.” Thurman left home at age 14 to pursue his education because his hometown did not provide for Black children past the seventh grade. A single act of kindness changed the course of his life. Waiting for the train to take him to Jacksonville, Thurman found himself with enough money for the fare, but not enough for luggage. Thurman would later dedicate his autobiography to that “anonymous stranger” on the train platform who paid the fee and “restored his broken dreams.” Thurman was the first Black child from Daytona to earn a high school diploma. He then graduated from Morehouse College, a historically black men’s liberal arts college in Atlanta in 1923 and earned his BD from Colgate Rochester
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Divinity School in New York in 1926. As valedictorian there, he encountered many emerging Black leaders of the 20th century. Both Bailey and Thurman had social ties to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. long before the civil rights movement. Thurman and Dr. King’s father graduated from Morehouse a few years apart and remained close during King’s boyhood. Bailey had been good friends at Spelman with Alberta Williams, who would later become Dr. King’s mother. Married in 1932, the Thurmans traveled with the Rev. Edward and Phenola Carroll on a “Pilgrimage of Friendship” to Burma, Ceylon and India in late 1935 and early 1936. They were invited by the Student Christian Movements of the United States and India. General secretary of the Indian Student Christian Movement A. Ralla Ram argued for the inclusion of the Thurmans and Carrolls because of their unique perspective as Black Christians; Christianity at the time was considered the oppressor religion in India. Thurman gave 135 lectures in over 50 cities. Sue Bailey Thurman also lectured on Black women and internationalism. She advocated for female empowerment in India to create a sense of international solidarity among women of color. The delegation became the first African Americans to meet Mohandas Gandhi. Over three hours, they discussed racial segregation, lynching, African American history and religion, Gandhi’s perspective on the African American struggle in the U.S., and the redemptive power of ahimsa – “do no harm” – which was later rephrased as nonviolence. Sue Bailey, meanwhile, challenged Gandhi to expand the role of women. And because she held the music degree, her husband urged her to lead the group in singing Black spirituals: in particular, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” In response, Gandhi bowed his head in prayer. Thurman came home revitalized in his spiritual thinking. The Black social gospel tradition, he realized, should be wider than an individual congregation. It should encompass society. Inner spirituality should be paired with community action.
If people stayed awake to the moment, he said, they would find opportunities to improve society. An example was the anonymous person who paid the luggage fee that allowed him to board the train for high school – who thus gave him his start, the person to whom he dedicated his autobiography. Sue Bailey, in addition, promoted international leadership by women of color in the name of antiracism and anticolonialism. It was a “fight on all fronts” to make Black women “in all parts of the world as people to be respected.” Soon after their return, she spoke to an audience of 650 at Oberlin, rallying African Americans to emulate the Indians in their united front against British colonialism. In the 1940s, Thurman co-founded the Church for the Fellowship of All in San Francisco with Dr. Alfred G. Fisk, who was also co-pastor. The church was unique for being the nation’s first interdenominational and interracial congregation. Sue Bailey, during the same time, from 1940-44, was the founder and editor of “Aframerican Women’s Journal,” the first publication of the National Council of Negro Women; she founded its national library, archives and museums. In the 1950s, Thurman was recruited to serve as the first African American Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University (BU), at the time a primarily white institution, because of his unifying philosophy. He engaged with activists like James Baldwin, Arthur Ashe, and the doctoral student Martin Luther King, Jr. King had known Thurman as a boy and now they watched Jackie Robinson play baseball on TV together on Sundays. Six months after King received
his degree, he led his first nonviolent mass protest in Montgomery, AL. Simultaneously, Sue Bailey Thurman organized the rescue of the Museum on Afro-American History, a former African Meeting House that had been both Boston’s first Black church and the nation's first public school Blacks could attend. Next, she mapped out a north-south Boston Black heritage trail, which would later serve as the blueprint for the National Park Service’s Boston African American Historical Site. Continuing support of her husband’s ministry, she often welcomed students and faculty members to their home for fellowship and community-building. After the suicide of a Japanese student at BU, Sue Bailey founded the International Student Hostess Committee to prevent future internationals from feeling isolated and undervalued. During that time, Sue Bailey had published two books, one a history of Afro-Americans in California inspired by her move to the Bay area, entitled “Pioneers of the Negro Origin in California” (1949) and “The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro” (1958). In the latter, she marketed African American history more palpably, entwining into the book the stories of professional women, to dispel misconceptions on the capabilities of Black women. In 1965, the Thurmans returned to San Francisco, where Howard Thurman began his most prolific years as an author, although his books were more widely regarded abroad. After his death in 1981, Sue Bailey spent her remaining 32 years in San Francisco, where she established the Sanderson Foundation and was a major contributor to the African American Historical and Cultural Society. Together, the Thurmans carved out a place for their meaningful work to create a better, more actualized world, in all its diversity. Although their names were once-unfamiliar, scholars now hail them as figures essential to the birth of the civil rights movement. One cannot understand King without first understanding the Thurmans. Their philosophical reflections paired with community action through partnership and education are needed now more than ever. The Thurmans encouraged others to stay awake to the moment. If one did, the opportunity to do good could come alive. True connections could be made, even in the most divided times.
From left: Sue Bailey Thurman, date unknown; Bailey Thurman, the first African American woman to meet Mohandas Gandhi, playing the Veena on her trip to India in 1935; Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman in India 1935. (All photos courtesy of the Howard Gotlieb Library, Boston University)
– Suzanne Hanney contributing
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Special Event to spread awareness of colon cancer op-ed Did you know 1 in 22 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer in their lifetime? With the implications of COVID-19, these numbers are expected to rise by an additional 100K cases per year over the span of the next 10 years.
VOICE OF THE STREETS OP-ED
The most dangerous aspect of colon cancer is that there is no early symptom at all. By the time you feel its effects, you are often in Stage 3 or worse. This is why screening early and consistently is so important.
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On March 30, from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., there will be a colorectal cancer screening event on the Advocate Illinois Masonic outpatient clinic site, 3134 N. Clark St. This event will offer free colon cancer take-home tests to anyone over the age 45. We align with StreetWise's mission to eliminate barriers that keep community members from accessing resources. We hope you will join us for a cup of hot chocolate, a churro, and a takehome FIT test. Experts will be on-site to answer your questions free of charge. And the best part? You'll be able to tour a walk-through inflatable colon! For more information, see back cover. As a gastroenterologist and colon cancer awareness advocate, Dr. Andrew Albert takes innovative and attention-getting measures to ensure patients get their colonoscopy. From hosting awareness classes to cycling around the city with a “Get Your Colonoscopy Test ASAP!” sign attached to his back, this physician is taking (and pedaling) colon cancer awareness to the next level.
ise 3/14/22 Sudoku 1 to 9.
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Streetwise 3/7/22 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the Sudoku numbers 1 to 9.
PuzzleJuncti
Crossword Across
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2 4 7 9 2 4 5 6
6 Mouths, in 35 Consume zoology 39 Muscle quality 7 Nobleman 40 Coastal raptors 8 Pung 42 Mermaid’s 9 Grandiosity home 10 Yale student 44 Profits 11 General’s forte 45 See 8 Down 15 Augury 48 Kind of 19 Hotel freebie analysis 21 Spanish 50 Deuce topper appetizer 53 Misfortune 23 Extinct 54 Texas capital flightless bird 56 Monk’s title 26 Golf targets 57 Souvlaki meat 27 Orchard unit own 60 Innocent 30 “A Doll’s 63 Uproar House” wife 1 “Wheels” 65 Young alpaca 2 Popeyed 31 Calendar abbr. 66 Smooch 32 Olympic 3 Store sign 68 Shaver 4 1545 council athlete 70 Your (Fr.) 34 ©2022 Swimming site 71 Utter Copyright PuzzleJunction.com 5 Spigot stroke 73 Harden
Audition Chatter Sufficient Small fry Eye part Smile widely Brainstorm Workshop gripper 7 Map abbrs. 8 Like a yenta 9 Bridge position
1 5 9 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26
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lastSudoku week's Puzzle Answers Solution
Solution
Sudoku Solution
27 28 31 34 36 37 38 39 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 50 53 54 55 56
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Night prowler Eye tooth Spinning toys Cheapskate Barbra’s “Funny Girl” co-star Horne solo Cobalt blue “Play ___!” South of Spain Election losers Croquet item In the know Itinerary abbr. Wild plum Denebola’s constellation Acquire “So long!” Threesome Poet Indian queen 60 Actress Taters Purviance Dust cloths 61 Band Fills to excess necessities Traffic sign 62 Palm reader, Casual attire e.g. Ionian gulf 63 Vermin Pillbox, e.g. 64 Headliner Enormous birds of myth Down Bender Recipe amt. 1 Provoke Counsel 2 Take forcibly Totally botch 3 ___ culpa Triumphant 4 Like a money cry hauler Homeless child 5 Strong suit Wile E. 6 French friends Coyote’s 7 Thai river nemesis 8 Sprites Glamour rival 9 Dinette part
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10 Kind of thermometer 11 Stack 12 Ice melter 13 Moonshine mix 17 Camera setting 22 Top-drawer 25 ___ of time 26 Lion’s den 27 Dutch cheese 28 Grizzly 29 Safecracker 30 Highlands tongue 31 Certain horse race 32 Great review 33 Arrow poison 34 Tiffs 35 Waste allowance 37 Wizard
40 Neighbor of Vietnam 41 Some champagne bottles 44 It grows on you 45 More abundant 46 Double-crosser 47 Form of Japanese poetry 48 Like some lingerie 49 Links numbers 50 Dazzles 51 Broad valley 52 Offensive 53 Deliver a tirade 57 Harem room 58 Tiny criticism
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March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Join Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center for…
A FREE Colorectal Cancer TESTING Event Wednesday, March 30, 2022 9am-6pm AMG Outpatient Center – Lakeview 3134 North Clark Street *Free Parking* All are welcome to join us for: Chocolate and Churros Tour an inflatable colon Free Colon Cancer Screening ($50 value)* Thank you to our sponsors
Questions? Please contact IMMC Digestive Health at 773-296-9525
