November 8 - 14, 2023

Page 1

November 8 - 14, 2023 Vol. 31 No. 45

$3 $1.85 + Tips go to your Vendor


STAY COVERED WITH MEDICAID! C H E C K YO U R S TAT U S AT A B E . I L L I N O I S . G O V.

ADVERTISEMENTS


4 Arts & Entertainment 6 SportsWise 8 Cover Story: Matthew desmond Event highlights of the week!

Get to know Vendor, StreetWise Field Supervisor and SportsWise Team member John Hagan.

Matthew Desmond has lived through or lived alongside poverty for much of his life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociology professor has made it his latest mission to focus not only on the lives of the poor in America but also how the rest of the country persistently benefits from them. His new book “Poverty, By America” lays out how many lives are made small to make room for others to grow, while making the case for ending poverty sooner rather than later.

11 Cover Story: Mel B

Whether you know her as Mel B or Scary Spice, this fierce advocate for girl power and women’s rights still feels like her teenage self, just with a few more letters at the end of her name.

15 The Playground

ON THE COVER: Matthew Desmond illustration by Abbie Sears. Mel B photo courtesy of Network 10. THIS PAGE: Matthew Desmond spoke powerfully about his research into why poverty persists in the United States at the American Library Association's "Rally for the Right to Read: Uniting for Libraries & Intellectual Freedom" in Chicago (photo courtesy of Penguin Random House). DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise.

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

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 & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Compiled by Mary Mathieu

A Legendary Career!

Historic Change: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Prima Ballerina Maria Tallchief The United States Mint, the National Women’s History Museum, and Lyric Opera of Chicago are pleased to present this special evening celebrating Prima Ballerina Maria Tallchief and the launch of the new quarter in her honor on Saturday, November 11 at Lyric Opera of Chicago from 7 - 8:30pm. This inspiring program, hosted by Bill Kurtis, will include a panel discussion, remarks by special guests, including Katherine Harvey and Maria Tallchief’s daughter, Elise Paschen, and performances by Joffrey Ballet students and artists from Lyric’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. In 1942, at the age of 17, Maria Tallchief moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. With luck, grit and determination she joined the famed Ballet Russe Monte Carlo as an apprentice and moved quickly through the ranks, dancing first in the corps de ballet and later performing leading roles. In George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet, Tallchief achieved her goal of becoming America’s prima ballerina, the first Native American artist to achieve the rank. FREE, but registration required at events.womenshistory.org

The Future of Chicago Dance!

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Excavating Hope Explore a world where works of creative imagination promote empathy, wonder and hope. Many forces try to promote a future where our humanity draws further apart from its unity with creation and each other. Through daily acts of devoted practice, dancers dedicate themselves to fostering inspired human connections and embodying imagination. They aspire to develop relational hope through their actions, their care and their creativity in service of promoting a hope-filled future. Excavating Hope asks the audience to strive for a sense of hope and foster acts of connection and community that create an integrated future of environmental and social harmony. Playing November 16 - 18 at 7:30 p.m. & November 19 at 2 p.m. at Loyola's Newhart Family Theatre, 1020 W. Sheridan Road. Tickets are $10-25 at luc.universitytickets.com

Celebrating American Heroes!

Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony Veterans Day is set aside to thank and honor living veterans who have served honorably in the military in wartime and peacetime. Originally known as Armistice Day and so declared by President Woodrow Wilson, it was created to mark the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Following World War II, it was declared a day to honor all veterans and in 1954, renamed Veterans Day by Congress. The City of Chicago will host a ceremony honoring those who served in times of war as well as peace at 11 a.m. November 11 at Soldier Field, 1410 S. Special Olympics Drive. More information at chicago.gov

4

Future Discrimination?

Dr. Joy Buolamwini on Al and Discrimination Join Dr. Buolamwini at Chicago Humanities on November 12 at 6 p.m. as she goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech and uncovers what she calls “the coded gaze” – the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products explored in her organization, the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity “excoded” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. A book signing will follow this program located at the 1st Ward at Chop Shop, 2033 W. North Ave. Tickets $25.25 can be purchased at dice.fm


Remembrance, Reflection, & Song!

Ellen V. & Phillip L. Glass Holocaust Commemorative Series - Kristallnacht, 85 Years Later: Silenced Voices On the evening of November 9, 1938, the Nazis unleashed a horrific assault of devastating pogroms that would eventually become known as Kristallnacht - “The Night of Broken Glass.” Join the Illinois Holocaust Museum, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the “Night of Broken Glass” with a program of remembrance, reflection, and song on November 9 at 6:30 p.m. RVSP is required at illinoisholocaustmuseum.org

Singing in Unison!

Choral Union Three ensembles come together in Rockefeller Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. to showcase an assortment of choral music. This program on November 10 at 7:30 p.m. includes masterworks for medium and large ensembles, folk and traditional songs from around the world, music by William Byrd, and more, performed by the University Chorus, Motet Choir, and Women’s Ensemble. Admission is free.

Chicago In Pictures!

'Amazing Chicago' Chicago author and photographer David Witter will talk about his new book “Amazing Chicago” on November 11 at 11 a.m. Explore the city’s wonderful medley of architectural splendor, industrial might, iconic landmarks, historical treasures, and oddities through this presentation at the Chicago Public Library Lincoln Park Branch, 1150 W. Fullerton Ave.

Shop 'Til You Drop!

LBTQ Giving Council Pre-Holiday Popup The LBTQ Giving Council will be hosting a holiday pop-up shop featuring women-owned small businesses on Saturday, November 11 from 1 - 4 p.m. at Whiskey Girl Tavern, 6318 N. Clark St. A percentage of sales will go to the LBTQ Giving Council.

One Book, One City!

One Book One City Keynote Event: Tommy Orange Tommy Orange is the New York Times bestselling author of "There There," a multigenerational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, it is this year's One Book, One Chicago selection. Orange will be in conversation about the book, his career and future plans at 6 p.m. November 15 at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. Books will be available for purchase and a signing will follow. More information and events at chipublib.org/one-book-one-chicago

The Stars Above!

NASA Astrophysics Pioneers Mission and Particle Physics Giovani Leone will talk about his work as an experimental physicist on the NASA Astrophysics Pioneers Mission on November 13 at 12:15 p.m. Leone’s work utilizes high-energy astrophysics and fundamental physics through observation of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos. This presentation can be attended either in person at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. or online. To register for this event visit chipublib.com

www.streetwise.org

5


Get to know Sportswise team member John Hagan by Sarah Luczko

John Hagan is one of the StreetWise Field Supervisors who organizes vendor intake, orientation, and training at our StreetWise offices. John is also a top selling StreetWise vendor, who has been working with us for many years. The other week, I was fortunate enough to sit down with John for an interview.

SPORTSWISE

What brought you to StreetWise? Renee Duckworth was selling StreetWise in front of the old Jewel at Clark & Division and gave me a flyer. I didn’t want to keep working for the temp labor agency I was working with at the time, so I decided to start selling StreetWise. Working where I wanted was important to me. When you work for yourself, you don’t have to commute. How long have you sold StreetWise? I’ve been at StreetWise for 10 years. I started in January 2014, right after the New Year. I sold in the Polar Vortex at Adams & Franklin at the Pret a Manger that is no longer there. Selling StreetWise is harder to do in the winter than in the summer. I had less winter clothing at the time, and I was outside in the cold, so it’s hard to forget. What do you like about working at StreetWise? There is a family atmosphere at StreetWise that you don’t

get with most jobs. I like the magazine. There is good sports, politics, and news coverage. What was your life like before StreetWise? Although I was born in Illinois, I had been living in Las Vegas from 2003-2013. When I was laid off at my job, I collected unemployment, and when it ran out six months later, I moved to Chicago in January 2014. I went from super summer to super winter. What work do you do at StreetWise? I lead vendor orientation as a Field Supervisor every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. – noon. I run new vendors through orientation, and I assist them in finding spots to sell in Chicago that they would normally not find on their own. I’ve been a Field Supervisor since 2016. How has StreetWise changed over the years? StreetWise has changed quite a bit. We now accept the Venmo app. The downtown Loop area has changed a lot since the pandemic. There are more part-time employees, and fewer people work in the Loop. I miss working the old, regular 9-5 grind. Offices being closed during the pandemic really had repercussions on the Loop. As a result, I sell more at other places. I sell StreetWise at the Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market and

St. Pat’s Church at Adams & Des Plaines.

pre- and post-game show puts ESPN to shame.

What do you like to do outside of StreetWise? I spend a lot of time at the gym. I go to LA Fitness and play basketball, do court drills, lift free weights and use the StairMaster every day for 45 minutes, if I can. I have many hobbies. I watch every NFL game. Cowboys, Steelers, Raiders.

What do you like about the magazine? We have cool features and a good product to buy.

What about the Bears? I’m not a Carebears fan, no. My grandfather was not a Bears fan, either. He only cared about the Packers. Did you know the Packers are the only team where the city owns the team? No, but that’s very interesting. What about other sports? I love baseball. The Dodgers, Yankees. I’m not a Cubs fan, but Wrigley is a beautiful stadium. I like watching basketball on TNT. Their

Do you read the magazine? I read articles and features in the magazine. I read my SportsWise. Can you tell me more about SportsWise? We record our SportsWise conversation in the StreetWise offices, and two weeks later it is in the Magazine. The project has been around since 2016. I joined shortly after the project started, when another vendor left. We have three people on the project right now. Thank you for your time, John! Thank you for interviewing me.



AMERICAN MADE:

Pulitzer Prize-winning author MATTHEW DESMOND on how society’s well-off benefit from other people’s poverty by Nathan Poppe / The Curbside Chronicle

Matthew Desmond has lived through or lived alongside poverty for much of his life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociology professor has made it his latest mission to focus not only on the lives of the poor in America but also how the rest of the country persistently benefits from them. His new book “Poverty, By America” lays out how many lives are made small to make room for others to grow, while making the case for ending poverty sooner rather than later. Think of it as a call for a healthier country — one where a car accident or a medical bill doesn’t lead to financial hardship. Desmond has been touring the country and leading discussions around his new book, which was released in March. On the road to a tour stop in Connecticut, Desmond spoke to The Curbside Chronicle about how he’s trying to spark a new kind of discussion around poverty. “I think that it’s to all of our interests to end poverty in America,” Desmond said. “I feel like so many of us are hungry for this conversation. I think audiences are interested in engaging this book even when it challenges them or pushes them. … I’m really trying to make this both a political project and a personal one, too.”

of it that my family all loved and felt connected to. I didn’t have a car, so I asked a friend to drive me back home to help my parents move. I remember being embarrassed. Something I’ve seen during the eviction process is how people carry the weight of that experience on their own shoulders. I think my job as a sociologist is — I’ll quote C. Wright Mills — to turn personal problems into political ones, right? To help others see this problem isn’t just on us.

The Curbside Chronicle: You’re no stranger to experiencing the trappings of poverty. How did it shape your upbringing?

Early in your new book, you write, “If America’s poor founded a country, that country would have a bigger population than Australia or Venezuela.” When you encounter a statistic like that, how does it feel to weave that into your narrative?

COVER STORY

Matthew Desmond: Growing up, there were parts of my life where I didn’t really stop and think of myself as poor, right? I knew that when my family went out to eat at Denny’s, I was asked to order the least expensive thing on the menu. We’d get our gas shut off, so it turned into a little camping adventure where mom cooked over a fire. As I got older, I saw how poverty put pressure on my parents’ marriage. Losing our home when I was in college was a sobering reminder of how poverty builds up.

8

At Arizona State University, I met people who had a level of economic security that nobody in my hometown did. Even the things other students talked about were different. I didn’t know sushi was something you could eat. I remember getting a scholarship and wanting to celebrate at a sushi place. My friend and I had no idea what we were doing, and we ate a big spoonful of wasabi and got headaches.

“Poverty, By America” points to a lot of problems. What would you say is the biggest obstacle to ending poverty in our country? The biggest myth about poverty today is that we have to abide by it and tolerate all this suffering, hunger and homelessness in our midst. But we don’t. I think that a big obstacle is having the political imagination and moral courage to really envision an America without poverty. The next step is translating that into action. Not only big political action but also personal action as well.

I have a lot of friends and family members below the poverty line. I feel accountable to them when I write. A lot of the people I met in Milwaukee are still very much in my life and a lot of my friends back home. I feel like I have a responsibility when writing about these issues to make you feel it and to draw you emotionally into a problem. If I can’t do that as a writer, then I’ve failed in a way. What I’m trying to do on a page — even when the evidence is statistical studies, appendices from government reports or technical, even technocratic, boring stuff — I’m still trying to look for that point that has emotional power as much as a scientific or intellectual one. I’m thinking of my audience as including people whom I love living below the line. That motivates me.

What was it like losing your childhood home?

Oklahoma gets mentioned multiple times in your book — once in reference to The Grapes of Wrath. Did John Steinbeck’s book have an impact on you?

Our home wasn’t a shanty. It was a small ranch home on a two-acre plot in the country, but it was ours. There were parts

I love that scene with the farmer and the tractor. What Steinbeck does in that book is what many great writers and essay-


Matthew Desmond photographed by Barron Bixler. Inset: The cover of "Poverty, by America."

ists do with this topic, which cuts through all the complexity and centers the issue on power. The clear story you hear from The Grapes of Wrath is that poverty is intentional. It’s a taking. Someone is losing a farm because someone else is gaining it. I think that Steinbeck had a lot of clarity on that issue. You also acknowledged Oklahoma in relation to how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds were poured into the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. Between 1999 and 2016, the state spent more than $70 million on counseling services and workshops to everyone in the state, poor or not. What made you want to include that particular example in your book? It was enraging to learn about because what we’re talking about is the poorest kids in your state. They’re not getting enough to eat. We’re talking about kids getting evicted. We’re talking about parents sleeping two to three on a single mattress when that TANF money isn’t going out the door. Looking at the way, the frankly callous way, that states are misappropriating welfare spending is outrageous. It’s not just Oklahoma, of course. It’s not just a red state issue. My book also talks about how Hawaii is sitting on so much unspent welfare funds. They could maybe give every poor kid in the state $10,000. This is really something that’s across the board here. I wanted to include that because it’s a specific paradox that the book is trying to grapple with. How do we square the fact that government spending on poverty programs has gone up over the last 40 years, but poverty has been so persistent? It’s a paradox because we know government programs can work. There’s a pile of evidence showing that things like food stamps and

housing assistance are lifesavers. That’s something we need to grasp if we really want to end poverty in America. And one of the answers to that paradox is the realization that a dollar in the budget doesn’t mean a dollar in someone’s hand. For every dollar budgeted for TANF in 2020, only 22 cents wound up in the pockets of a family. You noted how there are more than $30 billion of these welfare funds available annually. How big of a difference would it make if all that went directly into those pockets? It would make a difference. Think about what we saw during the pandemic — this giant national experiment of what happens when you make real investments in families. The expanded Child Tax Credit went out to millions and millions of families — the poorest families in America as well as a lot of middle-income and working-class families, too. It helped cut child poverty in half in six months. So, we know how it can make a big difference. One concept that really stuck out to me while reading Poverty, By America was how economic security leads people to make better choices for themselves. Has that concept always been obvious to you? Not at first. I spent time with a woman named Lorraine who lived in a trailer park. One day, she blew her whole monthly allotment of food stamps on groceries for one anniversary meal. I remember when that happened. I thought to myself, “How am I gonna write about this? Are people going to use this to make arguments to disparage people?” But you know, my www.streetwise.org

9


In his latest book, Matthew Desmond interviews a man named Julio who was balancing two jobs and almost no sleep before collapsing in a grocery store at the age of 24. Julio would later join protests against low wages and worked to successfully raise the minimum wage in his community (Illustration by Abbie Sears).

The time you spent with Julio illustrates that cost. The moment when his younger brother offered to pay for an hour of his time just to play with him was heartbreaking. It’s hard to believe he balanced two full-time jobs paying minimum wage. How did that impact him? Julio told me he felt like a zombie. He could barely sleep, you know, and collapsed in the aisles of the grocery store when he was 24 years old. But he also got politically involved after that. When he went to his first rally in his McDonald’s uniform, he was really scared. He thought that he might lose his job. But he saw a lot of folks that looked like him. They were fighting for bigger wages, too. For him, it felt like church, and he was a deeply faithful person. He told me he believed in both God and politics. Joining that movement gave him not only a real, tangible victory but also gave him an identity and a community as well.

job is to write about things honestly. Lorraine certainly didn’t apologize for what she did. And she paid for it. She was hitting up food pantries for the rest of the month. She was living so far below the poverty line that even if she had scrimped and saved a third of her income — which would be astounding — then she could maybe buy a bicycle at the end of the year. Even that would come at the cost of going without things like heat or medicine. Lorraine helped me see that folks like her are not in poverty because of the decisions they’ve made but rather the decisions they’ve made are conditioned and steered by their poverty. We see this in the research on raising the minimum wage. When we raise the minimum wage, you get all these benefits. People stop smoking and cases of child neglect go down. Babies are born healthier because the stress of poverty is relieved. The debates about minimum wage are often only focused on one macro economic question, “If we raise the minimum wage will it cost us jobs?” The book addresses that, but I also want us to ask another question, “If we don’t pay more, then what do we cost people?”

10

Let’s end on the cost of making a huge dent in poverty and alleviating homelessness in America. You estimated a figure of $177 billion to really make a difference. What would you say to someone who reads that number and has sticker shock? The reason I put that number in the book is to show us how incredibly attainable it is. If you look at this study published a few years ago, it shows that if the top 1 percent of Americans just pay the taxes they owe — not getting taxed higher, just stop evading them — then we could basically raise that $177 billion total. This is a thought exercise and a challenge for us. It’s a clear example of how we need to reject the scarcity mindset of, “We can’t afford to do more to fight poverty in America.” The answer is staring us right in the face. We could afford to do more if we stopped subsidizing the affluent so much and letting corporations and rich families get away with such tax evasion and avoidance. Courtesy of The Curbside Chronicle / International Network of Street Papers / INSP.ngo


MEL B:

“I was Girl Power-less for 10 years”

Photo courtesy of Network 10

by Mel B.

At 16, I was a dancer in the English seaside town of Blackpool and I thought, I’ve made it. I was being paid on a weekly basis. It was the first time I had my own apartment – I loved it. I didn’t realize I then had to do my own laundry and cooking. That was a drag. But I got to perform every night with feathers and dance routines that I absolutely loved. It was brilliant. I couldn’t live in this small town of Leeds – which now I’m back in! Been all over the world and now I’m back here, with my mother five minutes away, my sister two minutes away. I was full of life, adventure, very spiritual. Very much into relying on intuition. Very, very open and curious. I was like a sponge.

My mother represented something that, in a way, I never wanted to be. My mum was so polite, so overly considerate of other people, then wouldn’t be true to herself. I said to myself at a very young age, “I’m never going to be like that. I’m always going to be honest. I’m always going to fight my corner and everybody else’s corner.”

My dad had the same job for as long as I can remember. He would ride his bike to work, at least 50 miles there and back, every single day. Never missed a day of work until the day he died. My mum took on three or four different jobs: she worked in a clothing department, the old people’s home, she cleaned two other people’s houses. When she’d come home, she’d fall asleep straight away because she was so knackered. I would braid her hair with coloured ribbons and pretend she was Boy George. She’d wake up like, “What the bloody hell have you done?” I don’t think my family really understood me that well, to be honest. I was the black sheep – the one who, if you tell them to go right, they’ll go left. Not on purpose, but because I’m curious. They thought, Oh, she’s the one that’s just going to be outrageous, when I wasn’t that outrageous. I was just the one that would take a chance, which you’re not really allowed to do as a kid, especially not in the 80s or 90s.

COVER STORY

My parents were very strict. I felt like they tried to make me compromise when I was young – and I turned out not to be very compromising. So now, in my later years, I’m just more free, like I was when I was 16. I am the person I’ve always been – but with a few more diagnoses over my 48 years!

My mum is not very confrontational. I’m not that confrontational either, but if something is morally right, then I’ll stand up and speak up. I will not stop. The more uncomfortable you feel, the more I need to keep going on about it.

www.streetwise.org

11


I used to be called “The Wind” because I’d run everywhere. My poor mum. She had me first and then, five years later, she had my sister and was like, “Oh my god, this baby sleeps. This baby actually listens to me.” I was completely the opposite because my brain functioned differently. I don’t think I ever realized I was good at performing. Mum sent me to dance school when I was 12. There was this community dance class down the street for 10 pence for an hour. At that time, I’m a hyperactive kid. My mum, a good mum, would sit me in this dance class and, for an hour, she’d get a break from me. In the early days of the Spice Girls, we were on the dole [slang for unemployed, and recieving government benefits], in a house together with no management or representation. You have to check in when you’re on the dole, to say that you’re looking for a job. We had to pretend to do that every week, but we were writing our music, working out every day, planning our outfits, doing our dance routines. We had a little secret hub, saying, “We’re going to make it, no matter what.” Those are fond memories. We were told, “It’s all about boy bands. Girl bands are not going to work.” The men we were auditioning to be our manager would say that, and it was like, “Right, who’s gonna call that person back and say no?” And they were furious! Then finally we met Simon Fuller. We were already an album and a half deep. We’d already written our stuff, on a promise to the producers that helped us record it that we’d pay them back when we’re rich and famous. We were on a mission. When we released our first single, which the record company did not want us to release, we ended up being number one in 37 different countries. That was “Wannabe.” It took a while for people to get “girl power,” but the girls got it instantly. And that’s who bought our records – the girls and the gays! I think people, especially girls and the LGBTQIA+ community, were waiting for something they could embrace. We weren’t reinventing the wheel. We weren’t suffragettes. We were a bit of everything. It wasn’t that we hated men. We were like, “It’s not about men. It’s about women supporting women.”

12

Spice] stopped the interview. “Why don’t you just get real Black people? Why do you have to dress white people up in blackface?” They were like, “No, no, come along. It’s fine.” I remember me and Victoria [Beckham, aka Posh Spice] were on an English show, and they pulled out a scale and made us weigh ourselves. We’d just had babies like, two months ago. That would not be accepted now. Actually, it’s really fucking rude. We always used to have snide comments from paparazzi. When a photographer would go, “Act sexy,” we’d go, “You fucking act sexy.” Then we’d make him take off his shirt while he was taking pictures. So, we would strike back. When I didn’t have the girls, when I went solo, it was devastating for me. I would constantly be looking to my right or left for backup, and they weren’t there. That’s why, back in the early days of my solo stuff, I’d have lots of dancers around me. I felt like I needed my pack. But we always supported each other. When I began speaking about domestic violence and my 10year abusive marriage, I was like, Well, this could ruin my career. It felt like nobody else was talking about it apart from Tina Turner, which was from years ago. When I got a big response for my book ["Brutally Honest," 2018], it was all because of Spice Girls fans. That made me think, You guys are with us for life.

The fame thing didn’t bother us. The eye of the storm is very calm. You don’t have time to stop and understand what’s going on. You’re just thankful that you’re accepted. I was doing it with four of my best mates, and we all had the same drive. It was a pleasure. Being on stage is my safe place. I know whatever I’m doing – singing, dancing – is going to make sense.

I thought, I probably can’t talk about this. I’m a Spice Girl – I’m all about girl power. And now I’m admitting to everyone, and to myself, that I was girl power-less for 10 years. I didn’t know if I could live with the public knowing that. My daughter said to me, “Think about all the people you’re going to help.” It was so taboo to talk about. Women’s Aid was where I found my people.

When I look back at how we were treated, it was really bad. I mean, we were on [Dutch] TV where they had white people in blackface. I remember me and Geri [Halliwell, aka Ginger

I found my people within the Spice Girls, and I found my people with these women and men and LGBTQIA+ people who have been forgotten and downtrodden and just ruined by the


Left: The Spice Girls in 1997: Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie C (Sporty Spice), Victoria Adams (now Beckham, Posh Spice), Mel B (Scary Spice) and Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) (Mark Seliger photo). Right: Mel B in 2023 (photo courtesy of Network 10).

justice system, which I am fighting for 100 per cent now. [Mel B was awarded an Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2022 for her charitable work with domestic violence organizations.] That is going to take a lifetime, but hopefully it will be achieved in my lifetime. It’s become my everything. It’s horrific the way that women have been treated by men. It’s something we need to stand up for, and it’s something I’m proud I stood up for. We knew it was the right thing to talk about and sing songs about. My biggest challenge has been my mental health. I only got diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia when I left my abusive marriage. I wish I could have been diagnosed at school, so I didn’t feel so insane. I would have understood that my brain works a little differently, and I would have been fine with that. It was a relief to put a name to it. I understand myself now more than ever. I know I need to meditate. I know I need to have “me time” and be out in nature. I need to talk to my dog for half an hour. People think that’s crazy, but it makes me feel more connected and more

human. Then I can deal with the rest of the outside bullshit world! I’m proud that I can juggle it all. I’m happy that I can be a mum. I’m happy that I can do what I do to a full capacity and really enjoy spontaneity – being on TV or playing Wembley Arena. Courtesy of The Big Issue Australia / INSP.ngo

www.streetwise.org

13


14


Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the sethe10/29/18 Sudoku

s 1 to 9.

PuzzleJunction.com

Streetwise 10/29/18 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the Sudoku numbers 1 to 9.

Crossword

Puzzle

Across ©2023 PuzzleJunction.com

57 Birth-related 61 Roll call misser 62 Cacophony 64 Start of a cheer 65 Show’s partner 66 Chimes 67 Gulf port 68 Creative 69 Collar inserts 70 Harp’s cousin

8 Refinement 38 Symbol of 9 Pivotal might 10 Surf sounds 42 Thickness 11 Voting “no” 43 See 50 Across 12 Hogwash 44 With high 13 Hoopla hopes 21 Precious stone 45 Kind of code 23 Nice guy 50 To the hilt 25 Amalgamate 51 African 26 Fluid container antelope 27 Mite 52 Like some 28 Errand runner forces 29 Weaken Down 53 Pro follower 1 Exclude 32 Patriots’ Day 54 Still-life subject month 2 Take ___ 55 Electrical unit 3 Plant fiber 33 Takes to the 58 Fastidious water 4 Navigational 59 Say for sure aid 34 Burn with hot 60 Track 5 Gained a lap water assignment 6 Windpipe 36 Big bird of 62 Air rifle ammo Copyright ©2023 PuzzleJunction.com stories 7 Block house? 63 Slalom curve

Copyright ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com

LastSudoku week's Answers Solution

©PuzzleJunction.com

Solution

Sudoku Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

1 Porgy and bass 5 Kind of sole 10 Civil wrong 14 Choir member 15 Mystiques 16 Creative spark 17 Razor-sharp 18 Deceptive 20 Advocate 22 Discovers 23 Golden Triangle country 24 Empty 26 Rocks 28 Rathskellers 31 Card game start 32 Wise guys 33 One ___ time ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com 35 Unethical lawyer 62 Cinders of old 11 Norse deity, 37 The Bard’s 39 Bag thickness ruler of the comics river 40 To no ___ Aesir 63 Take a powder 38 Conciliated (fruitlessly) 12 Rip apart 64 Fender 43 Docket 41 Village green 13 After dog and 44 Nom de guerre blemish 42 Boston Harbor, name 45 Part of a price e.g. 19 From the top 47 Swedish Down 44 Waldorf salad 21 Thai river money ingredient 1 Mountebank 24 Breakfast item 48 To be (Fr.) 46 Pool member 25 With (Fr.) 2 Holly 49 Uzbekistan’s 47 Spoon-playing 26 18-wheelers 3 Aerobic bit ___ Sea site 4 Hawaiian city 27 Dinette part 50 Spinnaker, e.g. 48 Supporter of 28 Implied 5 Anaglyphs 51 Fishing locale the arts? 6 Wrecks 29 Kind of spray 52 Hefty volume 51 Settles fairly 7 Once, long 30 Cubic meter 53 Hibernia 55 Passage 31 Beaver’s work 54 Paving stone ago 58 Hurting 32 Capture 8 Lassie 56 “___ show 59 Police action 34 Biblical boat portrayer time!” 60 Microscopic 36 Dinner jacket 57 Gumshoe, 9 Compass pt. 61 Discharge 10 More orderly parts briefly

How StreetWise Works Buy the Magazine, Take the Magazine Vendors purchase When you buy the magazine, take the the magazine for $1.15 and sell it for magazine, and read the $3 plus tips. The vendor keeps all of magazine, you are supporting our their earnings. microentrepreneurs earning an income with dignity. -or-

All vendors go through an orientation focusing on their rights and responsibilities as a StreetWise Magazine Vendor. Authorized vendors have badges with their name, picture and current year.

New vendor orientation is every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at 2009 S. State St. Find your nearest vendor at www.streetwise.org

THE PLAYGROUND

StreetWise exists to elevate marginalized voices and provide opportunities for individuals to earn an income and gain employment. Anyone who wants to work has the opportunity to move themselves out of crisis. StreetWise provides “a hand up, not a handout.”

Solu

15


LEADER LUNCHEON 2023 NOV 16

For nearly 150 years, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago has been here to support, uplift and unleash the full potential of every woman, child and family across the region. With its long-held mission to eliminate racism and empower women, the YWCA is building a more Equitable Future. This year, our Leader Luncheon honorees are changing policies, breaking the rules and speaking truth to power in the spirit of creating more Equitable Futures for us all.

OUTSTANDING LEADER IN BUSINESS Kathy Bolhous, Chairman & CEO, Charter Next Generation

OUTSTANDING CIVIC LEADER Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD, First Deputy Chief of Staff, City of Chicago

OUTSTANDING LEADER IN RACIAL JUSTICE

OUTSTANDING YOUTH LEADER

Tracie Hall, Executive Director, American Library Association

The Pierce Twins, Kyra & Phallon Pierce

To learn more about this year’s remarkable honorees and to RSVP visit ywcachicago.org/leaderluncheon


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.