March 29 - April 4, 2021

March 29 - april 4, 2021 Vol. 29 No. 13

2

$

$1.10 goes to vendor

4

Arts & (Home) Entertainment

6

SportsWise

8

Cover Story: Food apartheid

10

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

The March 19 - 21 weekend of upsets blew all the SportsWise team's picks for March Madness, but they still have regional favorites.

"Food apartheid" started with urban planning, in terms of redlining and yellow lining minority areas, which retailers then avoided because the residents were low-income.

From the Streets

Chicago African Americans In Philanthropy honor a senior vice president of First Midwest Bank and the Civic Lab founder and host a discussion with Nikole Hannah-Jones, who started The 1619 Project for The New York Times.

The Smart Museum and the National Public Housing Museum collaborate on a program about music at Cabrini-Green with blues musician Katherine Davis.

The Chicago Housing Initiative is seeking a City Council vote on its proposed Public Health and Housing COVID-19 ordinance.

15

The Playground

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

LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org

DONATE

To make a donation to StreetWise, visit our website at www.streetwise.org/donate/ or cut out this form and mail it with your donation to StreetWise, Inc., 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616.

We appreciate your support!

My donation is for the amount of $________________________________Billing Information: Check #_________________Credit Card Type:______________________Name:_________________________________________________________________________________ We accept: Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express

Address:_______________________________________________________________________________

Account#:_____________________________________________________City:___________________________________State:_________________Zip:_______________________ Expiration Date:________________________________________________Phone #:_________________________________Email:_________________________________________

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

Science meets Art!

'Astrographics' on theMART Starting Thursday, April 1, the world premiere of "Astrographics," a 16-minute piece developed in collaboration with the Adler Planetarium and presented in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will run nightly at 8:30 & 9 p.m. through July 4 on the exterior of the Merchandise Mart. Astrographics will explore ways in which humans conceptualize and visualize their universe, and how that has changed over time. The piece will consist of four movements (Earth, Other Worlds, Stars and Beyond) which will transport the viewer from Earth to other planets and stars, then out to deeper and more speculative realms. Each of these movements features scientific visualizations based on real data showing the scale of the universe. The visuals, produced by the Adler Planetarium, are woven together with imagery from the world’s telescopes and works on paper from the Adler’s collections.

Accompanying the projection will be music from the Sun Ra Arkestra archives from the Experimental Sound Studio. "Astrographics" artistically showcases both historic perceptions of space and more recent advances in the understanding of the universe.

Visit artonthemart.com/adler/ for more information.

(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT

Easter Ritual!

4

Jesus Christ Superstar Do It Yourself Messiah Complex The Conspirators announce the return of the Jesus Christ Superstar Do-It-Yourself Messiah Complex, an evening of variety and sing-along in love and adoration of the album version (1970) of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera. The Jesus Christ Superstar Do-It-Yourself Messiah Complex is a multi-disciplinary neo-vaudeville variety show. The concept is to “do” or “play” the entire album in order, in a celebratory, salon-like atmosphere. It’s one night only, Easter Sunday, April 4 at 7 p.m. online via Facebook Live. The link will be posted at 6 p.m. on The Conspirators Facebook page (www.facebook.com/conspirewithus).

Book Talk!

'Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians' Join Women & Children First for a virtual author conversation 7 p.m. April 1 featuring JEB (Joan E. Biren) and Alison Bechdel, cartoonist and creator of the Bechdel test. The two authors will be discussing “Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians,” JEB's first self-published book, a work that was revolutionary for 1979. In a work that was revolutionary for its era, JEB made photographs of lesbians from different ages and backgrounds in their everyday lives--working, playing, raising families, and striving to remake their worlds. The photographs were accompanied by writings from acclaimed authors including Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Joan Nestle, and others. Various women pictured in the book also shared their personal stories. “Eye to Eye” signaled a radical new way of seeing–moving lesbian lives from the margins to the center, and reversing a history of invisibility. Reprinted for the first time in 40 years, “Eye to Eye” is a faithful reproduction of a work that still resonates today. This edition features additional essays from artist and writer Tee Corinne, former World Cup soccer player Lori Lindsey, and photographer Lola Flash.

Register for FREE at www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/event/author-conversation-jeb-alison-bechdel

Local Theater!

'Pedro Páramo' Goodman Theatre continues its virtual season with “Pedro Páramo” by Raquel Carrío, directed by Flora Lauten. The performance is streaming free and on demand, March 29 – April 11, presented in Spanish with closed captioning provided in English and Spanish, Cuba’s formidable theater innovators, Flora Lauten and Raquel Carrío of Teatro Buendía, stage one of the greatest magical realism tales in Latin American literature—Juan Rulfo’s 1955 novel "Pedro Páramo." The story follows a son who returns home to meet his father and reveals how one man’s unchecked appetite destroys both everything he loves and the town that made him great. Goodman Theatre’s worldpremiere production of "Pedro Páramo" was created by Teatro Buendía with Chicago artists over an eight-week residency in Chicago and Havana, Cuba.

New Superstars!

Rising Star Showcase Through April 4, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra presents its 12th annual Rising Star Showcase virtual fundraising concert. Tickets are $15 at ipomusic.org. The Rising Star Showcase features solo performances by young musicians ranging in ages from 12 to 18 who reside in Flossmoor, Frankfort, Lemont, Park Forest, as well as Valparaiso, Indiana. The annual program is emceed

by Albert M. Jackson, director of the South Holland Master Chorale, and is presented by “The Friends of the IPO,” a volunteer group that supports the orchestra by hosting several fundraising activities, helping with mailings and other activities. All proceeds benefit IPO.

Classical Redefined!

IPO Reimagined Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) continues its popular IPO Reimagined virtual season with the orchestra’s first-ever solo performance concert series filmed in IPO’s beautiful home venue, Ozinga Chapel at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, now available to stream through March 31. The hour-long concert spotlights six IPO musicians—Marilyn Bourgeois (piano), Beth Bryngelson (flute), Ricardo Castañeda (oboe), Erin Kozakis (bassoon), Kerena Moeller (cello), and Concert Master Azusa Tashiro (violin)—who pair their performances with personal insights that reveal their affinity for the works they’ve selected. Tickets are $15 and are now available at ipomusic.org. All proceeds benefit IPO

the Story Behind the Story!

At This Time, At This Place: Literary Arts Lab Launch Reading Francisco Cantú, Douglas Kearney, and Kristen Radtke will discuss “The Line Becomes a River,” “Sho” and “Seek You: Essays on American Loneliness,” presented in partnership with the University of Chicago program in creative writing. Francisco Cantú is a writer, translator, and the author of "The Line Becomes a River," winner of the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction. Douglas Kearney is a poet, performer, and librettist who has published seven books that bridge thematic concerns such as politics, African-American culture, masks, the Trickster figure, and contemporary music. Kristen Radtke is the author of the genre-smashing graphic memoir, “Imagine Wanting Only This.” Her next book, “Seek You: Essays on American Loneliness,” received a 2019 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant. March 31, 6 p.m. Register at www.semcoop.com/event.

-Compiled by Hannah Ross

www.streetwise.org

5

Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

SPORTSWISE

A

weekend of upsets fuels

Patrick: Thank you, fellas, for giving me the floor. I am very excited about this week’s topic: March Madness, baby!

Russ: I feel you—I’m pumped as well!

Donald: Y’all already know.

Patrick: Well, let’s get to it.

Who wants to get it going?

John: I’ll start. Let me say this: This year’s tournament is gonna be like no other, what with 68 teams playing in bubbles due to COVID-19.

So, this year, we had a couple of Big Ten teams seeded #1 out of four possible regions: Illinois and Michigan. The interesting thing about these two teams— Russ: 1989!

John: Yes, 1989. Michigan vs.

Illinois. Michigan beat the Illini 83-81 in the Final Four, and then they went on to win the championship.

Patrick: I remember that year; shoot, that was the year just before I joined the I-L-L and I-N-I experience. We—Illinois Fightin’ Illini—had an awesome team: Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Steven Bardo, and Lowell Hamilton in the starting five.

Donald: All right, enough of the walk down memory lane—so, what are y’all seeing for this tournament?

Russ: My tough spot in all of this was that the Illini played

Loyola-Chicago.

Patrick: I'm an Illini (No. 1 seed) so that's definitely where my loyalties are, despite getting beaten by Loyola (No. 8 seed) on March 21. In the South, I liked Ohio State (No. 2 seed) until that upset

by Oral Roberts (No. 15) on March 19. Never seen a weekend blow out so many people's brackets.

John: I was leaning that way, but my money has to go on the #1-seeded Baylor out of the South.

Donald: I’m not picking this year. I believe this might be the best year to just, simply, enjoy the games. Shoot, be happy that we even have games to watch. That we can even gather with a few folks and watch the game with some confidence that we

March Madness!

might not contract COVID. Russ: Well, out of the South, I was going with North Carolina (No. 8) until they lost to Wisconsin (No. 9) on March 19.

Patrick: Nothing wrong with it. So, in the Midwest, I’m staying with Illinois. I’ll be rooting for them because they’re in my friggin’ blood.

John: Well, I now have Loyola out of the Midwest.

Russ: Me too. From Illinois to Loyola.

John: Don, I know you’re not picking-picking, but we’ll come back to you and at least see who you feel will win it all; rather, who you’re pulling for.

Donald: Sounds like a plan.

Patrick: Okay, so out of the East, I’was going to go with Texas (No. 3) until they lost to Abilene Christian (No. 14) on March 20. I know Michi-

gan's good, but I am not completely feeling them against LSU. John: Not a bad pick, Patrick.

That’s who I had taking the East. Texas was very deep.

Russ: I am feeling y’all, but I am going with the East’s #1 seed Michigan. I'm still picking Michigan (No. 1) over LSU (No. 8) on March 22 while we're at press.

Patrick: All right, so in the West, I’m going against my better judgment and calling out Gonzaga.

John: Shoot, that’s where the money is—Gonzaga for me as well.

Russ: Let’s make that three Gonzagas out the West.

Donald: Let’s get it on.

Any comments or suggestions?

Email pedwards@streetwise.org

How urban planning and housing policy helped create 'food apartheid' in U.S. cities

by Julian Agyeman

Hunger is not evenly spread across the U.S., nor within its cities.

Even in the the richest parts of urban America there are pockets of deep food insecurity, and more often than not it is Black and Latino communities that are hit hardest.

As an urban planning academic who teaches a course on food justice, I’m aware that this disparity is in large part through design. For over a century, urban planning has been used as a toolkit for maintaining white supremacy that has divided U.S. cities along racial lines. And this has contributed to the development of so-called “food deserts” – areas of limited access to reasonably priced, healthy, culturally relevant foods – and “food swamps” – places with a preponderance of stores selling “fast” and “junk” food.

Both terms are controversial and have been contested on the grounds that they ignore both the historical roots and deeply racialized nature of food access, whereby white communities are more likely to have sufficient availability of healthy, reasonably priced produce.

Instead, food justice scholar Ashanté M. Reese suggests the term “food apartheid.” According to Reese, food apartheid is “intimately tied to policies and practices, current and historical, that come from a place of anti-Blackness.”

Regardless of what they are called, these areas of inequitable food access and limited options exist. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 54.4 million Americans live in low-income areas with poor access to healthy food. For city residents, this means they are more than half a mile from the nearest supermarket.

More expensive, fewer options The development of these areas of limited healthy food options has a long history tied to urban planning and housing policies. Practices such as redlining and yellowlining – in which the private sector and government conspired to restrict mortgage lending to Black and other minority homebuyers – and racial covenants that limited rental and sale property to white

people only meant that areas of poverty were concentrated along racial lines.

In addition, homeowner associations that denied access to Black people in particular and federal housing subsidies that have largely gone to white, richer Americans have made it harder for people living in lower-income areas to move out or accrue wealth. It also leads to urban blight.

This matters when looking at food access because retailers are less willing to go into poorer areas. A process of “supermarket redlining” has seen larger grocery stores either refuse to move into lower-income areas, shut existing outlets or relocate to wealthier suburbs. The thinking behind this process is that as pockets in a city become poorer, they are less profitable and more prone to crime.

There is also, scholars suggest, a cultural bias among large retailers against putting outlets in minority-populated areas.

Speaking about why supermarkets were fleeing the New York borough of Queens in the 1990s, the city’s then-Consumer Affairs Commissioner Mark Green put it this way: “First they may fear that they do not understand the minority market.

But second is their knee-jerk premise that Blacks are poor, and poor people are a poor market.”

In the absence of larger grocery stores, less healthy food options – often at a higher price – have taken over in low-income areas. Research among food providers in New Haven, Connecticut in 2008 found “significantly worse average produce quality” in lower-income neighborhoods. Meanwhile a study of New Orleans in 2001 found fast-food density was higher in poorer areas, and that predominantly Black neighborhoods had 2.5 fast-food outlets for every square mile, compared to 1.5 in white areas.

"[Food apartheid is] intimately tied to policies and practices, current and historical, that come from a place of anti-Blackness.”

- Ashanté M. Reese

Urban planning as a solution Food disparities in U.S. cities have a cumulative effect on people’s health. Research has linked them to the disproportionately poor nutrition of Black and Latino Americans, even after adjustment for socioeconomic status.

As much as urban planning has been part of the problem, it could now be part of the solution. Some cities have begun using planning tools to increase food equity.

Minneapolis, for example, has as part of its 2040 plan an aim to “establish equitable distribution of food sources and food markets to provide all Minneapolis residents with reliable access to healthy, affordable, safe and culturally appropriate food.” To achieve this, the city is reviewing urban plans, including exploring and implementing regulatory changes to allow and promote mobile food markets and mobile food pantries.

‘Whole Foods and whole food deserts’ Geographer Nathan McClintock conducted a detailed study in 2009 of the causes of Oakland’s food deserts. Although restricted to one Californian city, I believe what he found holds true for most U.S. cities.

McClintock details how the development of racially segregated areas in the inter-war period and redlining policies afterward led to concentrated areas of poverty in Oakland.

Meanwhile, decisions in the late 1950s by the then all-white Oakland City Council to build major freeways cutting through the city effectively isolated predominantly Black West Oakland from downtown Oakland.

The net effect was an outward flow of capital and white flight to the wealthy Oakland Hills neighborhoods. Black and Latino neighborhoods were drained of wealth.

This, together with the advent of surburban Oakland supermarkets accessible by car in the 1980s and 1990s, led to a dearth of fresh food outlets in predominantly Black districts such as West Oakland and Central East Oakland. What was left, McClintock concludes, is a “crude mosaic of parks and pollution, privilege and poverty, Whole Foods and whole food deserts.”

Moon Star Grocery at the corner of 69th Street near Halsted Street is a typical corner store, which serves the grocery needs of the neighborhood, long considered a "food desert" (Warren Skalski photo).

My hometown of Boston is engaged in a similar process. In 2010, the city began the process of establishing an urban agriculture overlay district in the predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood of Dorchester, by changing zoning to allow commercial urban agriculture. This change has provided employment for local people and food for local cooperatives, such as the Dorchester Food Coop, as well as area restaurants.

And this could be just the start. My students and I contributed to Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu’s Food Justice Agenda. It includes provisions such as a formal process in which private developers would have to work with the community to ensure there is space for diverse food retailers and commercial kitchens, and licensing restrictions to discourage the proliferation of fast-food outlets in poorer neighborhoods.

If Wu is elected and the plan implemented, it would, I believe, provide more equitable access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods, good jobs and economically vibrant neighborhoods.

As Wu’s Food Justice Agenda notes: “Food justice means racial justice, demanding a clear-eyed understanding of how white supremacy has shaped our food systems,” and that “nutritious, affordable, and culturally relevant food is a universal human right.”

Julian Agyeman is professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University. Courtesy of The Conversation. www.streetwise.org

9

Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy 'connecting philanthropy and community' ev

by Ariana Portalatin

Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy (CAAIP) recently held its annual “Connecting Philanthropy and Community” event honoring two local leaders for their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the philanthropic sector and black community.

CAAIP advocates for investment in communities of color and provides training for leaders in the social sector. The theme of this year’s event, streamed Feb. 26 on YouTube, was “Leading Through Adversity.” Honorees were Corliss Garner, senior vice president and head of corporate social responsibility and diversity & inclusion at First Midwest Bank, and Jonathan Peck, founder and CEO of the CivicLab. CivicLab is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing democracy and civic engagement.

The keynote speaker was Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times Magazine reporter who recently received a Pulitzer Prize for her work on The 1619 Project, a 2019 multimedia project that retells the development of the U.S. through the lens of slavery on its 400th anniversary and discusses the contributions of Black Americans.

FROM THE STREETS

The event opened with a performance by local musician Sam Trump and was followed by remarks from ABC 7 News reporter Evelyn Holmes, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot.

10

“Our theme, ‘Leading Through Adversity,' is an opportunity and a challenge for you to reflect, to define and redefine how to lead, when to press, when to stand, where to lead, and to elevate your voice and invest resources to eradicate injustices and racial inequities,” event chair Claudette Baker said.

“And while you are leading, please support, nurture and share space with new and rising leaders.”

Holmes celebrated Garner’s accomplishments during her professional career before presenting her with the Champion of Diversity Award. Garner successfully implemented diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at First Midwest Bank and BMO Harris Bank and works to serve her community through multiple avenues, including volunteer, and life trustee of the advisory board of The African American Legacy at The Chicago Community Trust. She created the Murry L. Garner Scholarship Fund in support of African-American girls from Chicago’s West Side.

In her acceptance speech, Garner reflected on the events of last year and described the steps she took to lead through the adversity, including sending an email to her team during

the protests over George Floyd’s death to initiate a conversation about the events.

“I started 2020 with these amazingly wellthought-out plans and I got to about 40 percent of them,” Garner said. “While COVID-19 and racial tensions shifted everything for the strategy I was building, in many ways, it accelerated the urgency for this work and forced those who weren’t paying attention before to begin doing so now.”

Holmes said during the events that the Champion of Social Justice Award “highlights a special commitment to racial-ethnic equity and improved outcomes for the African-American community by a nonprofit professional.” Peck has worked to advance social justice in more than 15 countries, advocated for Black youth and families through various campaigns, and has participated in multiple organizations, including the Tucson Urban League, the Southwest Youth Collaborative, and the Community Relations Working Group of the Police Accountability Task Force of the City of Chicago.

“We are in the eye of the storm and I know that it requires such a level of passion and attention that at times is exhausting but all the time is so fulfilling and purposeful,” Peck said. “What I offer is the opportunity to be who I am because you are, the notion that our shared humanity is permanently interwoven and we can lead together with our collective shared spirit of ubuntu in these challenging times and be in right relationship with each other and with the environment that we are in.”

Following the award presentations, Hannah-Jones discussed The 1619 Project with Kayce Ataiyero, managing editor of communications at The Joyce Foundation.

“Long before The 1619 Project, Nikole was fiercely focused on telling our stories. The battles she fought before and those she fights today in defense of her work hold important lessons in leading through adversity,” Ataiyero said.

Hannah-Jones said she has been thinking about the significance of the year 1619 (the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in British North America) since high school and she wanted to educate people on the history of Black Americans.

She experienced pushback early on in her career to tell these stories by editors who she said felt that she was too focused on race in her work. It was not until she began working at Pro-

CENTER: Hannah Nikole-Jones (James Estrin photo).

BELOW: Screen captures from the Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy (CAAIP) "Connecting Philanthropy and Community" event. From Top: Corliss Garner, senior vice president and head of corporate social responsibility and diversity & inclusion at First Midwest Bank, accepting an award; CAAIP director Jessyca Duley; Jonathan Peck, founder and CEO of Civic Lab, accepts an award; Hannah Nikole-Jones in conversation with Kayce Ataiyero (all images provided by Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy).

vent Publica in 2011 that she was able to write about what she wanted.

Editors at The New York Times Magazine loved her idea for The 1619 Project when she pitched it and supported her throughout its development.

Hannah-Jones said she was surprised by the response to the project after its publication, both its support nationwide and the amount of backlash. One of the criticisms came from statements made in The 1619 Project that a main reason for the Revolutionary War was the preservation of slavery. Former President Donald Trump opposed The 1619 Project and Iowa lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would ban public schools in the state from using the project to teach students about slavery.

“It’s both a blessing and a curse,” she said. “The dream is to produce something that in this society, where our attention spans are this long and every day we’re inundated with thousands of stories and words and images, that you can create something that people are still talking and arguing about and affected by a year and a half later, but a year and a half later that bills are being introduced against your work of journalism in schools, it’s unsettling.”

According to Hannah-Jones, the U.S. cannot address racial injustice until the public reaches a common understanding of the country’s history.

“We can’t understand the country we live in based on the history we’ve been taught. The history we’ve been taught is the history of a different country,” Hannah-Jones said. “The glorified narrative of exceptionality does not get us to this America. We have to have a true understanding of that which this country was built upon if we want to become the America that we believe that we are. My project is just playing a role in that education.”

Ariana Portalatin is a multimedia journalist from Chicago. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2019 and enjoys writing about history, culture, social issues, and people.

www.streetwise.org

11

take care with art after dark: a cabrini gre

by Octavio Cuesta De la Rosa

The University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art explores what it means to be a part of a caring community through its "Take Care" exhibit, adapting to the constraints imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic through its Art After Dark monthly virtual events. On a frosty night in February, the Smart Museum of Art banded together with the National Public Housing Museum to tell the intimate story of the artistic communities of the Cabrini Green public housing development.

Katherine Davis, blues musician, lead educator at the Smart Museum and former Cabrini Green resident, emceed the event. Davis guided us to a period spanning 10 years from 1957-’67, using the sights and sounds of Cabrini to create a picture, not just of what it looked like, but of what it felt like to live in the Cabrini community. Davis began with Kerry James Marshall’s "Slow Dance," a painting depicting an African American couple slow-dancing in their living room. Marshall’s painting, on display at the Smart, gave us a glimpse into the thousands of lives that made up the fabric of Cabrini Green’s community.

Each apartment unit was a microcosm of Cabrini Green, an individual experience of public housing life and culture. Nevertheless, Davis explained, the culture of Cabrini Green was not confined to the walls of an apartment.

Each unit existed as part of a greater whole, contributing to the overall community of Cabrini Green and the culture that developed in the safety and support of the greater housing project. Davis painted a picture in which the rhythms of the community flowed onto the streets in those early days of the housing development with sights and sounds created by the talented residents of each unit. The confines of Cabrini Green created a melting pot for the budding musicians, seamstresses, orators and various other artists, allowing them not only the liberty to exchange and develop ideas, but also to display them in the streets for all the world to see.

And see the world did. Davis recalls how the doo-wop that was sung on Larrabee Street and the twist that was danced on the waxed floors of the Red Buildings (eight high-rises constructed of red bricks between Chicago Avenue and Division Street, Sedgwick and Larrabee Streets in the mid-1950s) soon found their way onto Chicago’s studio sets, broadcast onto the television screens of Americans nationwide. The culture pioneered within the microcosm of the Cabrini Green public housing development had left its mark on American pop culture of the ’50s and ’60s.

12

In a cruel irony, however, Cabrini Green would remain a microcosm, a community marginalized from the broader fabric of Chicago and the nation. Within the safety of the community, the creativity of its residents was allowed to flourish. Beyond its limits, the music and dance pioneered within the projects was lauded by all. The artists and the community behind it, however, were ostracized for their race and low-income status.

Davis’s tales of Cabrini Green end in ’67, when her family was able to buy a house on Chicago’s South Side. Nevertheless, Davis strives to immortalize the community and culture that flourished in the developments by teaching Chicago’s youth about the artists who came before them and their communities.

Octavio Cuesta De la Rosa is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in history and minored in French and urban planning. He volunteers with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps.

een dance party

Housing initiative seeks vote on covid ordinance The Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI) is seeking a vote at the next Chicago City Council meeting on its proposed Public Health and Housing COVID-19 Emergency Ordinance, which would prioritize 1,250 vacant Chicago Housing Authority units for medically vulnerable individuals and families in shelters. The ordinance would also require CHA to maintain a 60-day turnaround on vacancies.

CHI Executive Director Don Washington said the coalition of nine community organizations has been working since fall with the Chicago Department of Health and with Ald. Harry Osterman (48th ward), chair of the Chicago City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate.

“We believe the ordinance is going to get out of committee and we would like to see it in front of the entire Council,” Washington said. “The bottom line is, if it doesn’t happen, the committee decided not to hear it.” CHI members include Access Living, Pilsen Alliance, Metropolitan Tenants Organization and ONE Northside.

CENTER: Kerry James Marshall's "Slow Dance" (Smart Museum photo). RIGHT: Katherine Davis on vocals leads a blues band in a Rogers Park recording studio for Art After Dark with Joe B. on guitar, Caleb Marcello on drums and Tony Milano on piano.

Not pictured: Abraham on bass. BOTTOM RIGHT: Kerry James Marshall, "Slow Dance," 1992–1993, alongside works

by June Leaf, Laura Letinsky, and H. C. Westermann, in the exhibition Take Care at the Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago (Michael Tropea photo).

CHI also calls for walk-up testing and mobile testing vans working with every community organization in the city, along with door-to-door contract tracing, especially in ZIP codes that are predominantly of color and with the highest COVID-19 death and infection rates. Predominantly white ZIP codes had up to seven times higher vaccination rates than those for people of color, CHI said in prepared material, citing the Chicago Data Portal on vaccine coverage.

The Gold Coast ZIP code of 60611, for example, had a 26.2 percent completed vaccination rate as of March 21. However, in Englewood’s 60621, the rate was 4.9 percent; in the 60609 Stockyards, it was 7.9 percent and in 60619 Grand Crossing, 8.9 percent.

–Suzanne Hanney

www.streetwise.org

13

Uptown's voice of the people aims for Long-term affordable housing through the diversity land trust Voice of the People in Uptown, Inc., a resident-controlled housing organization for more than 50 years, has formed an exploratory committee for a model community land trust to ensure lasting housing affordability. The “Diversity Land Trust” would begin with three Voice rental properties financed by Community Investment Corporation (CIC), structured with benefits that could attract other housing providers across the city.

The Diversity Land Trust comprises just a portion of the Voice portfolio: 22 units in the six- and eight-flats at 4409 N. Racine Ave., 4861 and 4927 N. Kenmore Ave. Tenants in these newly renovated units would continue to pay the same rent, said Michael C. Rohrbeck, Voice executive director.

The tenants are earning 50 percent of the Chicago Area Median Income (AMI), or $31,200 for a single-person household ($35,650 for two). The AMI has not yet been established for the Diversity Land Trust, Rohrbeck said.

The objective is to continue the affordability of these units, past the term of any one loan or mortgage. Citywide, the model seeks to pioneer a way to assure long-term affordability for multi-unit apartment buildings in gentrifying areas.

4409 N. Racine Ave. (Voice of the People photo).

Property taxes are the biggest difference between high-cost and low-cost communities, Rohrbeck said. The advantage of the land trust will be that it taxes the units not at the market rate, but as affordable housing.

“We’re trying to achieve the ideal economic and racial diversity in our community, and you can’t sustain the economic diversity unless you can sustain the affordable housing,” he said. “You can’t sustain the affordable housing if the property tax or other tax pressures make it unfeasible.”

The 15-member exploratory committee includes Jack Markowski, president of CIC and former Chicago commissioner of housing; Jennie Fronczak, executive director of the Chicago Community Land Trust; Ted Wysocki, former CEO of the Uptown-based Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) and principal of U2CanDo consulting; and Janet Smith, University of Illinois Voorhees Center for Neighborhood & Community Improvement.

The committee will inventory issues and options for structuring the land trust this year. It will also meet with government and property tax assessment officials, funders and lenders, to consider startup in 2022.

–Suzanne Hanney

14

4927 N. Kenmore Ave. (HotPads photo)

Streetwise 3/20/17 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

Sudoku

©2016 PuzzleJunction.com

62 Bird venerated by ancient Egyptians 64 Hit the road 65 Part of some joints 66 Aquatic plant 67 Diner sign 68 Parches 69 Hatchling’s home

own 1 2 3 4 5 6

Game piece Business V.I.P. Impersonator Garden shrub Hired hand Corpulent

7 Hoedown participant 8 Capri, for one 9 Auto skeleton 10 Lady prophet 11 Tribute, of sorts 12 Solely 13 Favorite 21 Doctor’s order 23 Trodden track 26 Baroque 27 Closer 28 Swindler 29 Advanced, as money 30 Esoteric 31 Fuzzy fruit 33 Stomach 35 During

36 Kind of mother 40 Muenchen native 42 German automaker 43 Allows 44 City on the Loire 45 Requirement 50 Diets 51 Former 53 Old dagger 55 ___-bodied 56 Hairpieces 57 Farm animal 58 Leaves in a bag 59 Queen, maybe 61 Genetic material 63 Gained a lap

Copyright ©2016 PuzzleJunction.com

Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

©PuzzleJunction.com

Sudoku Solution last week's Puzzle Answers

Solution

Solution

PuzzleJu

Crossword Across 1 Epiphany figures 5 Association 9 Neuter 13 Kind of name 14 Veg out 15 Cash in Samoa 16 Bacteria discovered

by Theodor Escherich 17 Newspaper column 19 Kitten’s cry 20 Highchair feature 22 Type of shark 23 Skilled stalker 24 Trot or canter 26 Ape 29 Division word 30 It’s the law 33 Angler’s basket 34 Sing softly 35 Cut a swath 36 Rolled items 37 Bite down 38 Roll call reply 39 Cellular stuff 40 American pioneer 41 Pig out 42 Lacking value 43 Pitch-black 44 Talking head 45 Hebrides isle 46 Lady’s escort 47 Gunk 50 Chinese boat 51 Yorkshire river 54 Really funny 57 Chemical element 59 Synagogue chests

©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

60 61 62 63 64

Algebra or trig Obliterate Dovetail The hunted Big name in pineapples

Down 1 Squeakers 2 State openly 3 Toothpaste type 4 First 5 Fresh from the shower 6 Disney dog 7 Israeli weapon 8 “Wanna ___?”

9 Swagger 10 Tabloid topic 11 “Sad to say ...”

12 Jodie Foster’s alma mater

13 Jewel 18 Gibson garnish 21 King Arthur’s lance 23 Empty promises 24 Fairy tale figure 25 Looking down from 26 Disdain 27 Kharg Island resident 28 Nickel, e.g.

29 Often-missed humor 30 Change 31 Literally, “dwarf dog” 32 Canary’s call 34 Cash in one’s chips

37 38 40 41 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 55 56 58

Rabbit fur Clue Cyclist One of two sleepers, usually Cartridge holder Huge hit Effusive Fraud Pre-euro money Classes Burlap fiber Russia’s ___ Mountains Showy flower Compass pt.

Sitter’s handful Rowboat necessity Tijuana gold

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

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.

Solution

15