Illinois news

• Property tax bills available online

  03-07-2018 20:28
  Second installment property tax bills for Cook County property owners can now be viewed and paid online, according to the Cook County Treasurer's Office. Read More...
  
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• Real Fatherhood: Joseph Williams, Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club Leads a Movement

  15-06-2024 15:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  “Fatherhood saved my life.” 
  Joseph Williams stated this unequivocally when recalling how he went from being a young man finding his way to becoming one of our city’s biggest champions for fatherhood. 
  It’s because of Williams and his organization, Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, that dozens of other men have been able to achieve a similar transformation.
  The story of this innovative organization begins with a book or more specifically, an assignment that W
  
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• Austin’s Front Porch Arts Center Plans Grand Opening June 15

  15-06-2024 14:15 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Local author and community arts advocate Keli Stewart invites friends and neighbors to a Grand Opening of Front Porch Arts Center’s new storefront space at 5851 W. Madison St., Saturday June 15 from noon to 3 p.m.
  The fundraiser for the 501(C)3 nonprofit, now in its fifth year,  will feature readings by local poets plus the “(R)Evolution” Art Exhibition,  a Juneteenth  show by local artists curated by Westside artist Tony Collins. The exhibit includes art wo
  
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• What the statue of a kneeling enslaved man in the Emancipation Memorial of 1876 tells us about its history

  15-06-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. 
  − an art historian explainsby Virginia Raguin, College of the Holy Cross
  The striking Emancipation Memorial statue in Washington, D.C., shows Abraham Lincoln standing, while a man wearing only a loincloth is appearing to rise from a kneeling position.
  The face in the memorial is that of Archer Alexander, who had escaped slavery in 1863 by fleeing to St. Louis, Missouri. Fundraising for a memorial was launched in 1864 by Char
  
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• Sharp Pins’ homegrown power pop sounds as big as the stars

  14-06-2024 20:58 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In 2021, Lifeguard singer-guitarist Kai Slater began publishing Hallogallo, a zine that documents the young Chicago indie-rock scene that’s taken the Hallogallo name as its own—he’s not just an active member of this community but also a kind of figurehead. Slater’s zine provides a window into his own tastes too, and he’s interviewed some big […]
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• Our Work

  14-06-2024 19:42 via chicagoreader.com
  
  By Stavroula Harissis
  The post Our Work appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
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• Thalia Hall hosts a triple-header of slow-burning heavy music

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Mind Burns Alive, the new fifth studio album by Pallbearer, is a strong, diverse effort that weaves existential emotional vulnerability through a crush of heavy doom with progressive spacey pacing. Little Rock’s loudest exports are experts at building tension, and when they do finally deliver a payoff, it emphasizes the conflicted hopes and naked longing […]
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• Pakistani qawwali ensemble the Saami Brothers showcase ancient traditions in a rare Chicago performance

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The singers in Pakistani ensemble the Saami Brothers like to take their time onstage—each vocal step moves the performance upward gradually toward a collective sense of ecstasy. That deliberate pacing is in keeping with the long, slow development of the qawwali tradition, which has been growing for more than 800 years. Qawwali has origins as […]
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• Jean Deaux finds a shining new beginning on Nowhere, Fast

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Last spring, Chicago R&B artist Jean Deaux performed a show while recovering from laryngitis, and it turned out she wasn’t nearly healed enough: she caused herself a vocal injury that kept her offstage for a year. “I had to go see a specialist and they told me I had to be on vocal rest for […]
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• Jake Meginsky brings his percussive electronic improvisations to the Experimental Sound Studio garden

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  You’ll never lack for things to do on a summery Sunday afternoon in Chicago, but the Option Series is one of a kind. Curated by musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Glick Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark, it presents weekly performances and conversations with improvising musicians in the backyard of the Experimental Sound Studio (in the event of […]
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• Cedric Burnside embodies raw, electric Mississippi blues

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Singer, guitarist, and drummer Cedric Burnside comes from a long line of blues performers; his grandfather is cultishly beloved guitarist and singer R.L. Burnside, and his father is blues drummer Calvin Jackson. He started touring at age 13 and had roughly 30 years of experience under his belt by the time he won his first […]
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• Argentina’s Kumbia Queers bring their political tropic punk to Chicago

  14-06-2024 19:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In 2007, six Buenos Aires musicians—veterans of iconic Latin American punk bands, including Argentina’s She-Devils and Mexico’s Las Ultrasónicas—joined forces to create their own kind of cumbia. Their feverish, vibrant, and decidedly queer take on the venerable genre sounded light-years away not just from the usual wedding-celebration favorites but also from the grungy cumbia villera […]
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• Shelter evictions, City Council spat, mobile DMV

  14-06-2024 17:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  You don’t have to go home . . . Chicago officials are ramping up the pace of evictions at city-run shelters for asylum seekers and other new arrivals, the Chicago Tribune reports, now including families with young children among those forced out by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 60-day stay limit. It’s the second major round of […]
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• Review: Inside Out 2

  14-06-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Our emotions often run rampant, oscillating between immeasurable joy and profound sadness in seconds. Learning to teach our internal voices to live in harmony is a lifelong (and unforgiving) endeavor. Yet, there is a universally hellish phase where this challenge feels more impossible by the day: puberty.  That’s where we find Riley (Kensington Tallman), the […]
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• Chicago Celebrates Juneteenth with Spectacular Events and Festivities

  14-06-2024 16:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Chicago’s diverse Juneteenth celebrations honor the legacy of freedom with community events, festivals, and educational activities. From historical reflections to vibrant festivities, the city commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people and the ongoing pursuit of equity and justice.
  On June 19, 1865, two years (and a half) after Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved people free, Texans still bound by the rules of slavery were finally set free. However, it wasn’t until Union troops r
  
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• Oklahoma Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit From Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors

  14-06-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  Oklahoma Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre seeking reparations, Reuters reports.
  The move upheld a judge’s decision last year to dismiss the case for reparations for the violence and destruction of Black Wall Street, located in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, in 1921. Roughly 300 Black people were killed by a white mob that attacked the community.
  Lawyers for the survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and 110-ye
  
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• Chicago Legend Buddy Guy to Join NASCAR Chicago Street Race for a Special Main Stage Performance on July 6

  14-06-2024 05:45 via chicagodefender.com
  
  This week, NASCAR announced that one of Chicago’s most beloved legends, Buddy Guy, will play a special set at the Chicago Street Race Weekend on Saturday, July 6. One of Rolling Stone’s “greatest guitarists of all time,” the hometown icon will bring his hallmark Chicago Blues sound to the main stage, following a special 40th Anniversary Chicago House Music showcase.
  “Last year’s Chicago Street Race was a great opportunity to put Chicago center-stage and I&rsqu
  
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• Tony Mata summons the 3 Little Piggy at the next Monday Night Foodball

  13-06-2024 20:19 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Ahhh, 2009. Chicago was home to the sitting president of the United States, the tallest building in the world designed by a woman, and “the greatest sandwich in America.” That’s what Anthony Bourdain called the 3 Little Piggy, the monumental stack of egg and gooey gruyere atop bacon, ham, and crispy panko-fried pork cutlet he […]
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• Slutty Vegan and Native Foods Unite In Chicago For Delicious Pop-Up Event

  13-06-2024 20:17 via chicagodefender.com
  
  By Rashad Alexander
  Last week, two all-star vegan brands teamed up in Chicago as one of the country’s most popular vegan eateries came to town.
  Native Foods recently hosted Slutty Vegan, the Atlanta-based company currently touring the country and hosting pop-ups in multiple cities.
  The Chicago pop-up at Native Foods in downtown Chicago included select items from the Slutty Vegan menu, including the “One Night Stand,” “Sloppy Toppy,” and “Fussy Hussy” bur
  
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• Illinois Black Hall of Fame Celebrates Juneteenth with 2024 Induction Ceremony

  13-06-2024 16:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The Illinois Black Hall of Fame (IBHOF) will be an evening of elegance, networking, and, ultimately, a celebration where distinguished trailblazers who have made a seismic impact will deservedly receive their flowers.
  This prestigious event, coinciding with the Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom, takes place at Governors State University on Saturday, June 15.
  Richard Boykin, one of the event’s organizers, emphasized the significance of the IBHOF and its role in recognizing the contributions
  
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• Camp Crawford

  13-06-2024 15:49 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Legendary Hollywood star Joan Crawford died in 1977. In 1978, her adopted daughter, Christina, published Mommie Dearest, a memoir that revealed the abusive reality of her life in the Crawford household. The book became a controversial bestseller and inspired the movie of the same name, released in 1981 and quickly entrenched as an unintentional camp […]
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• American slavery wasn’t just a White man’s business − new research shows how White women profited, too

  13-06-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  A colorized engraving depicts enslavers selling enslaved people in the 19th-century South. Corbis via Getty Imagesby Trevon Logan, The Ohio State University
  As the United States continues to confront the realities and legacy of slavery, Americans continue to challenge myths about the country’s history. One enduring myth is that slavery was a largely male endeavor — that, for the most part, the buying, selling, trading and profiting from enslavement were carried out by White men
  
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• Viral Suspended License Driver Gets Learner’s Permit

  13-06-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: X
  Corey Harris, the man who went viral for driving during a virtual court hearing for his suspended license case, never had a license to begin with.
  Last month, a video of Harris’ virtual court hearing before Ann Arbor, Michigan judge Cedric Simpson went viral as the defendant appeared on Zoom from behind the wheel.
  “Mr. Harris, are you driving?” Simpson asked.
  “Actually, I’m pulling into my doctor’s office,” Harris responded. “So, just give
  
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• This Week In Black History June 12-18, 2024

  13-06-2024 05:45 via chicagodefender.com
  
  BESSIE COLEMAN
  JUNE 12
  1840—The world’s first anti-slavery convention took place in London, En­gland. The aim of the gathering was to unite abolitionists worldwide. Howev­er, the effectiveness of the convention was harmed by a decision to exclude female delegates.1886—The Georgia Supreme Court upholds the will of former slave own­er David Dickson who had left more than $300,000 to a child he fathered by raping a 12-year-old Black girl. The ruling made Amanda America
  
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• Real Times Media Co-Owner, Legendary Businessman and Philanthropist Dr. William ‘Bill’ Pickard Passes Away at Age 83

  13-06-2024 01:15 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Dr. William “Bill” Pickard – entrepreneur, philanthropist, education advocate, business titan, mentor, and visionary – passed away peacefully Wednesday, June 12, at his West Palm Beach, Fla. home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
  Dr. Pickard’s daughter, Mary Pickard, issued the following statement: “On behalf of the Pickard family, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the love and support during this difficult time. Your kindness has provided immense comf
  
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• Going Wilde in the 21st century

  12-06-2024 20:19 via chicagoreader.com
  
  If you’ve ever imagined how Oscar Wilde would fare in contemporary queer Chicago life, look no further than Strawdog Theatre’s sparkling and delightful adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest by Dusty Brown and Elizabeth Swanson, directed by Swanson. The Importance of Being EarnestThrough 6/30: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. […]
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• When boy bands meet action films

  12-06-2024 19:58 via chicagoreader.com
  
  During a decade for Chicago theater that has largely felt like an endless in memoriam reel for retiring or shuttered companies, there’s something reassuring about Factory Theater—a company that’s very serious about not taking itself too seriously—crossing the incredible 100-productions milestone. Even more inspiring is that the 32-year-old company has managed to do so full-throatedly, […]
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• Tragic mundanity

  12-06-2024 19:43 via chicagoreader.com
  
  “Any idiot can face a crisis,” Russian playwright Anton Chekhov wrote in one of his cheerier moods. “It’s this day-to-day living that wears you out.” Actually, the quote may belong to another dour playwright, Clifford Odets, but that hardly matters here. I can’t think of a line that better sums up the major theme of […]
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• Chicago Reader Volume 53, No. 19

  12-06-2024 19:30 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Chicago Reader Volume 53, No. 19. June 13, 2024
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• Who Is Anna?

  12-06-2024 19:28 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Martin Crimp’s 1997 play, Attempts on Her Life, won international acclaim. But Crimp, like fellow controversial 90s Brit playwright Sarah Kane, remains more talked about than seen onstage, at least in these parts. So for that reason alone, it’s good to see TUTA return to live production for the first time since the 2020 shutdown […]
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