Posted inArcher Heights

Best of the South Side In Memoriam 2020

Archer Heights & West Elsdon: Jan Kopec Archer Heights & West Elsdon: Mind + Hand Avalon Park & Calumet Heights: Taurus Flavors Bridgeport: Johnny O’s Chatham: Mather’s—More Than a CafĂ© Chinatown: Chinese-language newspapers Clearing & Garfield Ridge: St. Camillus La Villita: Raspa Man Don Lupillo Roseland: Argus Brewery South Chicago: Carlos Rosas of Calumet Fisheries […]

Posted inBest of the South Side, Best of the South Side 2020, Latest, Nature, Neighbors, Oral History, Parks, South Loop, Transportation

Best of the South Loop 2020

Best Shortcut Best Place To Forget The Hustle And Bustle Of Everyday Life Best Place to Reckon With History In Memoriam: Overflow Coffee Bar and Akhirah’s Praline Candy & Coffee House Janie Urbanic is the founder of the South Loop Village. It hosts monthly Memory Cafe events for elders with dementia and their caretakers. This […]

Posted inPolitics

Following the Census Money

n an effort to bolster outreach and encourage participation in the 2020 Census, Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) made $20 million available to community organizations across the state. Pritzker announced the funding initiative last summer, and—after hiccups early this year—the money was distributed to thirty “regional intermediary” organizations, nine […]

Posted inLit

Growing Poetry in South Shore

opened Anayansi Ricketts’s Zen Garden: Transformations on a frigid January day, when the wind chill pushed the temperature to the single digits. But as I dove into the poetry collection, I was quickly transported from the frozen asphalt outside my apartment to a sunnier Chicago, surrounded by colorful flora and the smell of fresh mulch.  […]

Posted inBest of the South Side 2019

Best of South Loop 2019

Best Place for Feminists: Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens Best Place To Upgrade Your Kitchenware: Barbara’s Basement Best Hangover Cure: Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen Best Blueberry Scone: Tea Pot Brew Bakery Best Weekday Steal: Reggies Music Joint Best Place for Feminists Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens  In an otherwise bustling part of Chicago’s downtown-adjacent South […]

Posted inSummer Guide 2019

Summer Guide 2019

Gaby FeBland’s illustrations for this guide were finalists for the 2019 “Best Illustration” in a non-daily newspaper or magazine Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club FOOD Pilsen Food Truck Social 18th Street between S. Racine Ave. & S. Throop St. Saturday, June 8 to Sunday June 9, noon–10pm. $5 suggested donation. $20 sampler ticket […]

Posted inPolitics

The Curse of the 20th Ward

inda Thomas has lived in Woodlawn for seventy years. “It’s changed primarily from homeowners and small businesses to parts being re-gentrified and parts just being leveled,” she said on a cold January afternoon. “Developers sort of waiting to see what’s going to go on with the Obama Library, speculating.” Since the site of Jackson Park […]

Posted inElections

South Side Elections: Ward By Ward

3rd Ward (Bronzeville, South Loop, Washington Park, Englewood) 4th Ward (Bronzeville, South Loop, Hyde Park) 5th Ward (Hyde Park, South Shore, Woodlawn, Grand Crossing) 6th Ward (Chatham, Park Manor, Englewood) 7th Ward (South Shore, South Chicago, Jeffery Manor) 8th Ward (Avalon Park, Calumet Heights, Burnside) 9th Ward (Pullman, Roseland, Riverdale) 10th Ward (East Side, South […]

Posted inLit

Liberation in View?

ueer futurism is difficult. In the introduction to their chapbook On My Way To Liberation, H. Melt asks: “How do you envision trans liberation while living in a cis world?” The sixteen poems that follow struggle to answer this question, offering utopian visions that contrast the direct violence of a cisgender-centered world. The title poem […]