At 8:20am on a beautiful spring morning, sunlight is streaming through the chipped windows of a third floor classroom of Woodlawn Charter High School at 64th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, onto the sleepy faces of a group of high school seniors, their heads resting on their hands. On the walls of the classroom are two posters of Muhammed Ali (“I am the greatest”) and one of Che Guevara (“The people liberate themselves”). The two University of Chicago freshmen standing in the circle of tables, themselves barely out of senior year, are trying to bring the students a different kind of inspiration.

“What do you guys think made Barack Obama president?” Dustin Popiel asks the class. No response. It’s the Monday after spring break, and his audience is unenthusiastic. “Obama’s a great communicator. Communication is important for success.” Today’s class is a break from the usual curriculum; the students are participating in Moneythink, a nonprofit mentorship organization that works to bring college students into high school classrooms to promote financial literacy and entrepreneurship in some of the poorest neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side. Read the rest of this entry »

“So what do you guys think?” asks Tony Lindsay, the workshop leader for the King Library’s branch of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. The question is met by wordless expressions of approval, and a few satisfied “phews” and “yeahs!” With the immaculate intonation of an audio book narrator, Lorraine Minor has just read her new story, “The Deceased,” to kick off the writers’ workshop. The story turns a stroll down the sidewalk into a meditation on domestic violence, animal abuse, and the feeling of being powerless to stop them. “…Excellent,” someone ventures. “Excellent why?” Lindsay presses. And then things get rolling. The group of about ten fellow writers analyzes Minor’s story using Aristotle’s narrative arc, identifies its themes, and jots private comments down on their copies of her piece. Read the rest of this entry »

Movement is part of the American dream. Across an ocean to the new world, west to the last frontier, then up the social ladder, out to the suburbs—or so they say it­ goes. Social mobility and housing mobility are inextricably linked in the national psyche. But there is a darker, less public story about this movement; for many Americans, a change of housing isn’t an opportunity—it’s a necessity. On Chicago’s South Side, gentrification, the foreclosure crisis, and the city government’s demolition of public housing have in recent years forced thousands of people from their homes. Read the rest of this entry »

Twelve years ago, when the late Gary Comer visited his former elementary school, he was brought to a room where ten new computers sat unused because the school lacked the funds to power them. Today, Paul Revere Elementary is outfitted with a wireless network, new software programs, and a $10 million investment.

Comer, the son of a railroad employee, graduated from Paul Revere Elementary in 1942. In 1963, he started Lands’ End Clothing Company, and in 2002, he sold it to Sears for $1.9 billion. Of that fortune, $100 million has since been poured into developing and revitalizing his childhood neighborhood.
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Spring is in the air. Soon birds will be building their nests, couples will canoodle in newly-green parks, and students sick of their dorms or their roommates will begin the hunt for a new (or first!) apartment in Hyde Park. The world-weary staff of the Weekly, who collectively have occupied at least 30 apartments, are here to help you with the last.

This special feature has two sections. In the first part, we offer advice about practicalities such as hiring movers, knowing your legal rights as a tenant, and expanding your apartment search beyond Hyde Park. In the second, we provide information about several major Hyde Park landlords, including locations, prices, and amenities. In addition, last year’s housing issue with additional advice and landlords is available on our website at chicagoweekly.net/housing-guide—but be aware that rents and contact details may have changed. We hope this helps, and we wish you all good luck. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday found Virginia Miller, operations manager of the Midwest Workers Association (MWA), standing outside the door of a low-rise housing complex in Bronzeville accompanied by two college undergraduate members-in-training. A young woman, still in pajamas, comes to the door. After introducing herself and the two undergraduates, Miller begins to talk about the MWA:

“We’re an organizing drive of working people, people who are out of work, people on fixed incomes, joining together to gain the strength to determine our future. More and more of us are working twice as hard for half as much and more of us can’t get access to the things we need, like medical care. We know that there is strength in numbers, and we know that it takes organization to change our conditions.” Miller hands the young woman a pamphlet.

The concerns that Miller voices are just some of the many problems the Midwest Workers Association, an independent, member-based workers’ advocacy organization run out of Chicago’s South Side, was created to address. Read the rest of this entry »

Has ShoreBank changed the world? The original socially minded bank has changed lives, helped revitalize the South Shore neighborhood in which it was started, and rewritten the game of financial services. But the exaggerated impact of the financial crisis on the low- and moderate-income neighborhoods it serves proves its mission remains an apt one. Founded in 1973 as a new kind of bank, ShoreBank showed that financial institutions that were invested in community development could make a real profit while making their clients’ welfare its top priority. In the past few rough months, it has continued to innovate, adapting to suit the needs of communities that are hardest hit by the recession. But the bank itself looks forward to an uncertain future. Read the rest of this entry »

“After he cuts the kid’s arm off and the blood spurts everywhere, then you’re gonna roar, oh and you—you roll around this way…and you—when they fall you’re just gonna twirl the baton on down to the ground…”

This is not usual office banter. This is not an ordinary office. This is not an ordinary workday. Have You Seen These Kids (HYSTK) is not an ordinary company. Read the rest of this entry »