Jason Schumer
- Best Radical Youth Group
- Best Cultural Stronghold
- Best Memory of a Transcontinental Art Experience
- Best Greenprint for the City
Author: Sara Cohen
Cooperative Engagement
Qumbya Housing Cooperative expands its neighborhood presence into Bronzeville
Residents at Concord House sit down for a dinner of lentil stew (Katie Bart)
A typical Monday night at Concord House unfolds with a motley group of nearly twenty adults dishing up bowls of lentil stew in their Hyde Park home. A strong family dynamic is evident in the dining room, which is adorned with photos, calendars, and bulletin boards; a crowded bookshelf; and a central table, upon which rest six bunches of bananas, a carton of assorted hot sauces, and an oversized jar of some mystery vegetable, presumably pickled, labelled “DO NOT STIR.” Like many of the objects in the three-story home, these table items are communally shared among its residents, who are related not by blood but rather by chosen lifestyle: that of the housing cooperative.
Best of Brighton Park & Archer Heights 2016
For Wounds Long Unseen and Neglected
A new triage center in Roseland provides alternatives for individuals with mental illness
When individuals with mental illness live in underserved communities, without adequate mental health care, they often seek antidotes elsewhere: Many try to self-medicate with alcohol or illegal substances. Some resort to retail theft or other petty crimes to get by. For others, a mental health crisis may escalate to a point where they become a threat to themselves or others.
Brought to Light
The Bronzeville Historical Society works to preserve funeral records of black Chicagoans
Sara Cohen
“I think this does change the way that people think about racial segregation.”
Past into Future
Sanford Biggers on history at work
Detail shot of DAGU, Assorted fabrics, spray paint, and acrylic on antique quilts, Sanford Biggers
On a dreary evening in February, as the sound of gunshots reverberates through a whitewashed room, a number of individuals approach its source. This is no crime scene. Rather, these bullet blasts issue from a video documenting the inception of two sculptures of esteemed interdisciplinary artist Sanford Biggers. Both the film, playing on a continuous loop, and the sculptures it features are elements of Biggers’s temporary exhibition at the Monique Meloche Gallery, entitled “the pasts they brought with them.”
From the Presses, For the People
Ethan Michaeli's The Defender commemorates the newspaper that captivated, compelled, and transformed black America
“By the time Michaeli arrived at The Defender, it had endorsed reformative politicians such as ‘Big Bill’ Thompson, John F. Kennedy, Harold Washington, and Barack Obama; covered the triumphs of prominent black figures such as Jack Johnson and Bessie Coleman; and featured the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, and Gwendolyn Brooks, to name a few.”
A Collaborative Creation
“Ten Chicago Women/Fifteen Years” at Bridgeport Art Center
Sara Cohen
“We said we needed to support each other. That’s all. It was not an overtly political act.” – Suzanne Cohan-Lange
Is That a Choice?
Mary Pattillo speaks about school choice in black communities
Ellen Hao
“And our acceptance of the idea that schools might die while they have students in them, I think, is problematic.”
Café Draws Newcomers to Pullman
An anticipated addition to a historic neighborhood
Juliet Eldred
“I figured I would open the café just to have something here and hopefully spark other entrepeneurs to come out this way.”