While everyone has analyzed and reanalyzed the presidential campaign this year, it’s easy to forget that Chicago’s many ballots contain a long list of judges to appoint or retain, a proposed constitutional convention, and individual ballot initiatives about various local issues. One local issue concerns Chicago’s prospective hosting of the 2016 Olympics. Voters in certain precincts in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 20 can encourage Mayor Daley and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee to use part of any potential Olympic windfall to benefit Bronzeville residents. The ballot initiative asks that at least 26% of the city’s vacant lots in Bronzeville be used for affordable housing for moderate-income residents. Generally, “affordable” means residents are spending no more than 30% of their gross (before taxes) income on housing. Moderate-income residents earn between 80% and 120% of Chicago’s Median Income, targeting the middle class. Read the rest of this entry »

Historically known as Chicago’s “Black Belt,” “Black Metropolis,” or even “Black Ghetto,” Bronzeville has long been the center of Chicago’s African-American culture. Famous residents have included Ida B. Wells, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, and Louis Armstrong. The ’50s and ’60s saw a disastrous urban renewal program replace the area’s theaters and tenements with squalid public housing high-rises and vacant lots, but recently the area has experienced a renewal, particularly along 47th Street by the Green Line and Red Line stops. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes it seems like there are two different versions of this side of Chicago. Media portrayal of the “mean streets” of the South Side can sometimes look like a whirlwind of shootings and low-income housing controversy, but this sensationalized portrait is not the South Side that residents know—as many can attest, life south of the Loop doesn’t always read like a police blotter. And perhaps no one is more aware of this than journalist Natalie Moore: she, like many of its residents, sees in it an area that definitely has its problems, but one that is burgeoning with change and home to a kaleidoscope of people living a wide spectrum of lifestyles. Read the rest of this entry »

On the evening of Monday, April 14, forty students crowded into the Resident Masters’ apartment at the University of Chicago’s Shoreland Hall dormitory. They were there for dinner and a discussion, both centered around the concept of Slow Food. Resident Masters Larry and Penelope Rothfield made sure to buy organic, whole-grain ingredients from Whole Foods, and Larry cooked, serving a menu that included asparagus and parmesan quiche and farro and wheatberry salad. After the dinner, three representatives from Slow Food Chicago had the chance to speak and field questions from students about the nature of their movement, which supports food it regards as “good, clean, and fair.” Read the rest of this entry »

Like a safe haven rising from the ashes of a forgotten warzone, the Bronzeville Coffee House shines with friendliness on the corner of an otherwise darkened and derelict street. Its windows are rimmed with glowing blue lights, its interior looks warm and welcoming, and upon stepping inside, the visitor is immediately taken aback by the chic, almost posh interior—images that simply do not jive with the outside environment. Painted in soft pastels and rich, bright colors, the walls are hung with large modernist paintings that often showcase African-Americans. Luminous conical lamps descend from the ceiling on slim steel poles, lending the café a softly dimmed atmosphere. On either side of the doorway, two rows of tables extend into the depths of the room, stopping only when they press up against the bar or when they come within a few meters of the opposite wall. Read the rest of this entry »

Walk past Bronzeville’s Gallery Guichard on any given night and it’s likely that your eyes will be drawn to the bright colors illuminated inside its windows. The sight is enough to catch anyone’s interest, which is what happened to Tempestt Hazel, a student at Columbia College who is now the assistant gallery manager. She became curious about the gallery after passing it on her way to and from school. “You can’t help but be drawn inside,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »

“Who here is the next Oprah Winfrey?” Hands pop up around the room. Ron Carter, editor of the Chicago-based South Street Journal, is addressing a room filled mostly with ninth-grade girls from the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School, who are gathered alongside a handful of volunteers, journalists, and activists at the Swift Mansion in Bronzeville. Next, a man named Storm steps to the front of the room and performs a song. He raps about the strength of the individual in making social change. “Music is a movement!” he repeats. Now and then, the sound of chattering around the room drowns out the performance and teachers begin fervently shushing, trying to quell the noise. Beauty Turner’s voice cuts through the cacophony: “We can sing together, but we sure can’t speak together!” This seems to quiet everyone down, and Turner begins to lead the crowd in chanting “No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!” Soon, the crowd is led outside to a yellow school bus. The Ghetto Bus Tour begins. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bronzeville/Black Chicagoan Historical Society existed long before its official inception eight years ago—albeit in a much less formal incarnation. Namely, the institution’s beginnings lay inside founder Sherry Williams’s head. Her detailed knowledge of the city’s African-American heritage lay just behind pursed lips, on the tip of her tongue, waiting for the opportunity to make itself heard. The chance emerged often on family trips throughout the city. “We would take King Drive and I would point out all the homes of notable African-Americans in the community,” she explains. But her children did not share her level of enthusiasm. Williams remembers their impassioned pleas, recounting them with a laugh: “Mom, quit it, we can’t take it anymore! Why don’t you form a society!” Read the rest of this entry »