Illinois news

• Polymathic percussionist Derf Reklaw deserved a better farewell

  08-06-2023 21:02 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When Ramsey Lewis died in September, the Secret History of Chicago Music didn’t weigh in—the keyboardist, composer, and radio personality was hardly a secret, and the news of his passing prompted an international outpouring. The same was true of Maurice White from Earth, Wind & Fire, who’d had an early gig as Lewis’s drummer and […]
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• Asian American renegades

  08-06-2023 17:54 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When you hear “Charlie Chan,” do you think of a Honolulu police detective with a penchant for fortune cookie proverbs in pidgin English, who was made into an American icon in six novels by Ohioan Earl Derr Biggers and portrayed in yellowface by mostly white actors, including Swedish actor Warner Oland (who also played the […]
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• Faith and memory

  08-06-2023 17:26 via chicagoreader.com
  
  John Pielmeier’s 1979 drama Agnes of God—whose title is a reference to “Agnus Dei,” Latin for “Lamb of God”—is an intriguing if somewhat murky mystery that asks both “whodunit” and “whydunit.” Inspired by real events, the plot concerns a 21-year-old novice nun, Agnes (Soleil Pérez), who is suspected of killing her own newborn infant. Agnes […]
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• In the ring with Shaw and Tunney

  08-06-2023 17:13 via chicagoreader.com
  
  What is it that draws great writers to boxing as a subject? Is it an identification with the sport’s pure brutal (yet calculated) physicality removed from the need for verbal acuity? A way to demonstrate street cred (a kind of reverse snobbery)? For A.J. Liebling, the “sweet science” (at least when viewed in person) was […]
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• A provocative Pippin

  08-06-2023 16:31 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Pippin was a forerunner in the big swing of musical theater away from the happy-ever-after era that defined the genre’s “golden age.” The 1972 show by Stephen Schwartz (music) and Roger O. Hirson (book) ends not with a whizbang, all-hands-on-deck, colored-light spectacle of song and dance, but with a lone man standing onstage, divested of costume, […]
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• A ‘miraculous’ West Side Story

  08-06-2023 16:18 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In most productions of West Side Story (and I’ve seen half a dozen or more), Tony is the weakest link: the character just isn’t as cool as Riff or as sexy as Bernardo. He’s kind of a dork, in fact. But in the Lyric’s remounting of its own 2019 revival of the show, Tony is […]
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• Mayor Brandon Johnson Champions Vision for Climate Action and Environmental Justice

  08-06-2023 15:30
  
  Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago was welcomed by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative as they celebrated their 20th anniversary Annual General Meeting. During this meeting, Mayor Johnson took the opportunity to reiterate his vision for climate action and environmental justice.
  “Climate action and environmental justice are top priorities for my administration, and we will address them with equal vigor,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Whether reducing greenhou
  
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• White Woman Arrested In Fatal Shooting Black Neighbor Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens

  08-06-2023 15:00
  
  Photo: Marion County Sheriff’s Office
  A Florida woman has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of her Black neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Owens.
  According to the New York Times, 58-year-old Susan Louise Lorincz, who is white, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault in connection to Owens’ shooting, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday (June 7).
  The charges come days after civil rights
  
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• Black Futures Lab Promotes Black Census Project Participation in Illinois

  08-06-2023 14:30
  
  The largest survey of Black people in the U.S. in history aims to reach its goal of reaching 200k people.
  The Black Futures Lab is actively involving Black communities in Illinois to take part in their Black Census Project. The goal of this project is to gather 200,000 responses from all 50 states. The project aims to identify crucial issues, needs and ideas that must be addressed for Black communities to thrive.
  “If you want to take a pulse on what is happening with the country at large,
  
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• Samantha Irby is midwest fancy

  08-06-2023 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Samantha Irby, the midwest’s most loveable misanthrope, triumphantly returns with her fourth collection of personal essays, Quietly Hostile. Spoiler alert: just like the other three, it is both reliably and painfully funny. The prolific author has churned out four hilarious books in ten years in addition to amassing a growing number of television writing credits […]
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• This Week In Black History June 7-12, 2023

  08-06-2023 05:55
  
   June 71958—Singer, musician and composer Prince was born on this day in Minneapolis, Minn. His full name was Prince Rogers Nelson. He was a musical innovator and known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup, and wide vocal range. Prince died at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minn., on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57.                  
  
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• A community can gentrify without losing its identity – examples from Pittsburgh, Boston and Newark of what works

  08-06-2023 00:30
  
  A street mural by Manuel Acevedo at Halsey Place in Newark, N.J.Anthony Alvarez, CC BY-NC-ND
  by Anthony Alvarez, Rutgers University – Newark
  How can neighborhoods gentrify without erasing their heart and voice?
  It’s an important question to ask now, I’d suggest, since many communities across the U.S. are at risk of losing their historical identities as new people and businesses move in, displacing residents and affecting the fabric of the community. This process is known as gen
  
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• 18-Year-Old High School Graduate, Father Killed In Shooting After Ceremony

  08-06-2023 00:02
  An 18-year-old who just graduated high school and his father were killed in a Tuesday (June 6) shooting following the graduation ceremony in Virginia, according to NBC News. Shawn Jackson, 18, and Renzo Smith, 36, were identified as the slain victims by a local organization called United Communities Against Crime on behalf of the family.Jackson was one of the graduating seniors during Huguenot High School’s ceremony, which took reportedly place at the Altria Theater on Virginia Commonwealt
  
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