Illinois news

• Goodman Theatre’s English reminds us that we’re more than our words

  07-05-2024 17:49 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Hamid Dehghani remembers when he took the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). “After the exam, I just walked for miles,” the Iranian director says. “I felt so light, like I lost 20 pounds. I was so happy.”  English, now in a local premiere at the Goodman Theatre (in a coproduction with Minneapolis’s […]
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• Al Roker Talks Prostate Cancer, Wellness And His Recent Visit To Chicago

  09-06-2024 16:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  In a candid Q&A, Al Roker discusses his battle with prostate cancer, the importance of men’s health awareness and his impactful storytelling initiatives, while also sharing humorous anecdotes and advice for a healthier lifestyle.
  Here’s one indisputable truth about Black men and preventable health conditions: They are more likely to die from them than any other ethnic group. 
  This is especially true for prostate cancer in that one in six Black men will develop it in his life
  
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• Meet Paris’ Black Dandies, the Sapeurs

  09-06-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Jocelyn Armel, aka the Bachelor, is one of the most talked-about ‘Sapeurs’ in the media. He’s known for his outings, interviews and above all for his promotion of the ‘Sapeurs’ and Africa. Author providedby Daouda Coulibaly, EDC Paris Business School
  You can spot them in the streets of Paris or at fashion events in London, Milan, Brussels or Dubai. Most are Black African men with sharp outfits designed and chosen to get them noticed. Known as “Sapeurs” &
  
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• Bally’s Chicago Casino Maintains Strong Revenue and Admissions in May

  09-06-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Gross gaming revenue of $13.8M up 12.7%; admissions top 118,000
  May marked the most successful month yet for Bally’s Chicago Casino with the highest revenue ($13.8M) and admissions (118,650) since opening on Sept. 9, 2023.
  “Our continued growth demonstrates Bally’s Chicago Casino’s popularity with locals and tourists alike, aligns with our community engagement initiatives and supports our dedication to responsible gaming,” said Mark Wong, Vice President and General
  
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• Byron Donalds Defends Jim Crow Comments: ‘The Black Family Was Together’

  09-06-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  Florida Rep. Byron Donalds (R) is defending his stance on Jim Crow as the time when “the Black family was together,” NBC News reports.
  Donalds, a Trump campaign surrogate, initially made controversial comments about the Jim Crow Era on Tuesday (June 4) during an outreach event for Black voters in Pennsylvania.
  During the campaign event, Donalds suggested that circumstances have worse for Black people because they’ve embraced Democrats. He then pointed to Jim
  
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• Conservative Group Attempts To Stop Reparation Payments In Evanston

  08-06-2024 15:15 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  Evanston’s historic reparations program is facing a class action lawsuit, WTTW reports.
  The city had established a reparations program to address the housing discrimination and segregation in Evanston in the 1900s. The original program included distributing $25,000 to eligible Black households for home repairs, down payments, or interest or late penalties owed to the city.
  Officials expanded the program to dole out cash payments to Black residents to use at their discre
  
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• 90% of Michigan state troopers are White − why making the force more representative is a challenge

  08-06-2024 15:15 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The Michigan State Police force is predominantly White and male. Doug Coombeby Ann Marie Ryan, Michigan State University
  Experts see increasing diversity among police as a key solution to reducing racial bias in traffic stops, arrest rates and officer-involved shootings.
  But while police agencies have invested in recruiting more racial minorities and women, progress in diversifying police forces has been slower than the public wants.
  As a researcher who works with police agencies to improve thei
  
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• Clean Slate Expungement Provides Second Chances in Harvey This Saturday

  08-06-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Join NDICA, OAI, Inc., 2nd Ward Alderperson Colby Chapman and local leaders on June 8 for a transformative expungement event at Transformation United Methodist Church in Harvey.
  The Clean Slate Expungement event is hosted by NDICA, OAI, Inc, Governors State Violence Prevention program, and City of Harvey, 2nd Ward Alderperson Colby Chapman. 
  The event will be held on Saturday, June 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Transformation United Methodist Church located at 15446 S. Lexington, Harvey
  
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• 11 Fun Things To Do In The City This Weekend

  08-06-2024 00:19 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Finally, the forecast calls for Summer, so expect a flood of events this weekend. Out of the plethora of amazing things to do, these are our favorite ones. Click the event titles for more info.
  Chicago Blues Festival – June 6-9
  The largest free Blues fest in the world is back! Living legends Buddy Guy and Shemekia Copeland highlight this venerable showcase. Mr. Sipp and Southern Avenue will join them. For Blues lovers and “casuals,” this fest always promises a great time. 
  
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• Downtown curfew, DNC security, police surveillance lawsuit

  07-06-2024 17:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Out of sight, out of mind Alder Brian Hopkins has a message for kids in Chicago: the Loop’s not for you. Hopkins wants to extend the existing curfew from 10 PM to 8 PM—in the summertime, before the sun even sets—for all unaccompanied children in the city’s central business district, whose boundaries are roughly Division […]
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• Crowning Achievement (Target Practice)

  07-06-2024 16:54 via chicagoreader.com
  
  By Robin Segg
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• Juneteenth Illinois: Two-Day Event Highlights The Holiday’s Four Pillars

  07-06-2024 16:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Recently, leaders of Juneteenth Illinois gathered at Malcolm X College to host a press conference to highlight the importance of Juneteenth in Chicago. 
  The purpose of the press conference was to share the initiatives they are implementing to build on the four pillars of Juneteenth: equity in education, health, wealth and justice.
  Juneteenth Illinois doesn’t just stand on the principles of uplifting Black youth in the city; it aims to exemplify these principles through its actions. Th
  
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• Jahmal Cole: Transforming Chicago’s Neighborhoods One Block at a Time

  07-06-2024 16:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  By Courtney Alexander 
  Chicago native and trailblazer Jahmal Cole discussed the adversities in his life that inspired his activism journey, revitalizing Black communities in Chicago, and his social impact organization, which transforms and renews the lives of the youth and elderly. 
  The mission statement of the notable Chicagoland non-profit organization My, Block, My Hood, My City is to inspire the youth, empower communities, and build a better world one block at a time. 
  My Bloc
  
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• Mentoring Youth Through Technology (MYTT) Celebrates 11th Anniversary Gala, Supporting Scholarship and STEM Initiatives for Community Youth

  07-06-2024 14:25 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: MYTTIL.com
  Mentoring Youth Through Technology (MYTT) is proud to announce its 11th Anniversary Gala, taking place on June 7th at Galic Park in Oak Forest, IL. 
  The event is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will bring together community leaders, supporters, and advocates to celebrate a decade of empowering youth through mentorship, education, and technology. The event is sponsored by Comcast, ComEd, Bright Star Community Outreach, The Village of Matteson, Peace in the South Suburbs,
  
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• Superintendent Gets Restraining Order Against White Dad Who Shoved Him

  07-06-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: MAX TV – BARABOO/YouTube 
  A judge has granted a temporary restraining order filed against a white father who shoved a Black superintendent during a graduation ceremony in Wisconsin, WMTV reports.
  In his filing, Baraboo School District superintendent Rainey Briggs detailed the incident where a graduate’s father rushed onto the stage and pushed him out of his daughter’s reach.
  “On the night of May 31, 2024, the Baraboo High School was having their high school gr
  
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• Dancing into summer

  06-06-2024 20:02 via chicagoreader.com
  
  June is busting out all over, which means it’s time for Chicago Dance Month. The annual citywide celebration of dance and movement, presented through the nonprofit service organization See Chicago Dance, is now in its 12th year. And though the opening-day performances last Saturday at Navy Pier got rained out for the most part, that […]
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• Milo’s Market forges the one sandwich to rule them all at the next Monday Night Foodball

  06-06-2024 19:55 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Gilberto Bahena has already been initiated into the Sacred Order of Mary Stark. He knows the secret handshake. He sat stoically for the ecstatic agony of the hidden meat loaf tattoo. And he always bows and recites a short prayer before lighting up Mary’s stove. Bahena also is a registered Friend of Foodball, having developed, […]
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• Lee’s Unleaded Blues rises from its own ashes

  06-06-2024 17:53 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, Lee’s Unleaded Blues (7401 S. South Chicago) has risen again after a decade of disuse, defying grim pronouncements about the demise of “real blues” on the south side. Chicago entrepreneur Warren Berger, who also owns Club Escape (a Black LGBTQ+ bar a few blocks away at 1530 […]
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• Review: Bad Boys: Ride or Die

  06-06-2024 17:04 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installment in the franchise, finds the buddy cop duo of Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) a bit older but not at all wiser. Narratively, we aren’t breaking any new ground for the action-comedy genre. Our heroes are framed for a series of crimes they […]
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• Review: Young Woman and the Sea

  06-06-2024 17:03 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In an era when collective, in-person viewing is in a tenuous state, Young Woman and the Sea is what we call a straight-to-streaming movie.  There’s certainly little that’s objectionable about the story and how it’s told, which easily lends itself to an inspirational, live-action Disney experience. There’s a heroine in period dress who overcomes all […]
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• Review: Hit Man

  06-06-2024 17:03 via chicagoreader.com
  
  There’s a lot of hope for Glen Powell, and lots of energy—from studios, directors, publicists, even critics—behind the idea of him as the next great Hollywood star. Untainted thus far by superhero dreck, he’s a charismatic lead focused on executing a nostalgic playbook for household status, which thankfully means compiling a diverse portfolio of interesting […]
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• Angel Reese Makes It Known That It’s Not Only One Person Boosting The WNBA

  06-06-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Amidst growing popularity of the WNBA, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has voiced her significant role within the league. During a press conference held in Chicago on June 3, she challenges the narrative that attributes the WNBA’s rise solely to players like Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. 
  Reese, who was the No. 7 overall pick, traced the surge in attention back to her performance in the 2023 NCAA National Championship game. “I’ve been dealing with this for two years n
  
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• CHICAT is enrolling now for its No-Cost Career Training Programs in Food Manufacturing, Advanced Maintenance, and Medical Billing

  06-06-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The Chicago Center for Arts and Technology (CHICAT) (located 1701 W. 13th Street; Chicago, Illinois) is currently enrolling for 3 no-cost classes for individuals interested in pursuing careers in Food Manufacturing Quality Technician, Advanced Maintenance Mechanics, and Health Information Technology (HIT) Medical Billing and Coding.
  These programs will start on June 10th and run Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM for nine months.
  Serving all of Chicago, but mostly the North Lawndale,
  
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• White Dad Pushes Black Superintendent Away From Daughter During Graduation

  06-06-2024 14:15 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: MAX TV – BARABOO/YouTube 
  A Wisconsin father is facing racism allegations after he blocked his daughter from shaking hands with a Black superintendent during her graduation ceremony.
  The allegations stem from a Barbaroo High School graduation ceremony, where a senior’s father grabbed Superintendent Rainey Briggs just before his daughter was set to shake his hand, WKOW reports.
  In a now-viral video of the incident, the father appeared to emerge from the audience and run on
  
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• Meet Ciera McKissick’s latest enterprise: cam.contemporarie

  06-06-2024 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Studio suite 920 in Pilsen’s Mana Contemporary building is home to the prolific Ciera McKissick’s latest enterprise: cam.contemporarie. With this new project space, one of Chicago’s staunchest advocates for the arts turns her eye both to the market and to cultivating holistic support for artists. She calls cam.contemporarie a “micro-gallery” (at 394 square feet), a […]
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• Bringing health equity to Chicago’s south side

  06-06-2024 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  As the state of reproductive health continues to evolve more than a year after the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturned abortion protections codified in Roe v. Wade, Black health equity advocates in Chicago are responding to the growing need for reproductive health care in south-side neighborhoods. Such areas have long been disenfranchised and deprived of the […]
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• This Week In Black History – June 5 -11, 2024

  06-06-2024 05:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  JUNE 5
  1872—The Republican Party National Convention takes place in Philadel­phia with substantial representation from former Black slaves. At least three Blacks addressed the national political gathering. At this point in history, the Republicans were the nation’s most progressive party and attracted the allegiance of African Americans. Blacks would remain loyal to the Republicans until the 1930s. But by 1945 with the Republicans becoming increasingly conservative and attracted
  
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• Critics Choice Association celebrates LGBTQ+ film and TV artists

  05-06-2024 20:13 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When the Critics Choice Association (CCA) hosts its very first celebration of LGBTQ+ artists in movies and television on June 7, it will mark the culmination of a passion project years in the making for longtime pop culture/arts reporter and Chicagoan Jerry Nunn. A constellation of queer stars will be at the Fairmont Century Plaza […]
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• The Pearl Handle Band debut 40 years after breaking up

  05-06-2024 19:45 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I’d never say the Windy City shouldn’t be famous for blues, soul, and house, because it definitely should. But after nearly 20 years of writing the Secret History of Chicago Music, I’m confident our town can produce top-shelf tunes in practically any genre—gospel, power metal, psychedelic soundscapes, you name it. Most folks don’t associate outlaw […]
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• ‘Her voice could cut through air’

  05-06-2024 18:38 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Dinah Washington was one of the premier vocal stylists in American popular music from the 1940s through the early ’60s. She came of age as the music industry was beginning to loosen its arbitrary assumptions about genre and audience (in 1949, Billboard started calling its “race records” chart its R&B chart), and her wide stylistic […]
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