Illinois news

• What Retirement Among Black Congress Members Means For The Future

  22-01-2022 15:40 via chicagodefender.com
  Photo: Getty Images
  The Congressional Black Caucus will be experiencing some major changes in the upcoming midterm election cycle.
  At least seven members of the lawmaker group former more than 50 years ago will not be returning to office after this session. A wave of retirements, campaigns for other offices, and the passing of a longtime member provides an opportunity for new membership –– and leaders –- to rise.
  “The CBC is very much in a transitional phase right now aft
  
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• President Biden Announces Clemency, Pardons for 78 People

  18-05-2022 18:02 via chicagodefender.com
  President Joe Biden announced a $145 million plan to provide job skills training to federal inmates to help them gain work when they are released.
   
  By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National [email protected]
  President Joe Biden announced he’s using his clemency powers for the first time, issuing commutations for 75 drug offenders.
  Biden also issued three pardons, including to the first Black Secret Service agent to work on a presidential detail, who had long profes
  
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• Calumet City Honors Eula Bell Lofton on 110th Birthday

  18-05-2022 17:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Ms. Eula Bell Lofton and the Calumet City Council
   
  Thaddeus Jones-Mayor of Calumet City, Illinois was joined by the Calumet City Council, Regional elected officials, and residents as they honored and celebrated the 100th Birthday of Cook County’s oldest retired nurse, Ms. Eula Bell Lofton. Ms. Lofton was honored during a recent Calumet City City Council meeting and at her birthday party that was held at the Victory Centre in Calumet City.
  Ms. Eula Bell Lofton and Calumet City
  
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• Nike Celebrates 50 Years as Champions of Athlete and Sport through new “Seen It All” Anthem

  18-05-2022 17:22 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Over the past 50 years, Nike has been a champion for athletes and sports. With their 50th anniversary, the brand looks to the past for inspiration as they expand sports for a new generation.  Timed with its 50th anniversary, Nike released its latest global brand anthem, “Seen It All,” celebrating the strength of Nike’s past and the promise of its future.
  “At Nike, we have an innate desire to be better. Innovation is in our DNA. What sets us apart is how we express th
  
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• Pritzker Administration Takes Action to Support Families Amid Baby Formula Shortage

  18-05-2022 16:24 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The State of Illinois is taking a series of important steps to help families get the safe formula they need in response to the current, nationwide infant formula shortage.
  In coordination with the USDA Food & Nutrition Service, Illinois retailers are being encouraged to set aside formula for low-income families enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
  The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has also trained caseworkers to
  
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• Emma Hospelhorn of Ensemble dal Niente releases a scintillating solo debut as Em Spel

  18-05-2022 16:18 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Gossip Wolf always likes to hear about a new solo album from a member of Ensemble dal Niente—the long-running local contemporary-classical corps has built a spotless reputation for adventurous programming and technical excellence, and its members often pop up in far-flung musical contexts around town. Among the most prolific is multi-instrumentalist Emma Hospelhorn, who has […]
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• MAGA hate

  18-05-2022 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Generally, I like to tell a joke or two in these columns, looking to underscore the absurdity of politics with a little dark humor. But no joking this time. On Saturday, an 18-year-old white supremicist armed with a semiautomatic rifle walked into a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and started shooting people. Black people, […]
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• Cave In rise from the ashes with their most direct and focused release to date

  18-05-2022 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The title and story behind Cave In’s 2019 LP, Final Transmission, led many to believe that the eclectic rock band’s two-and-a-half-decade run had come to an end. Following the tragic passing of bassist and vocalist Caleb Scofield in 2018, the group fleshed out the last demos they’d made with him and turned them into a […]
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• Mr. Sonny 05/18/2022

  17-05-2022 22:43 via chicagodefender.com
  
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• MOE Headshot & Bio

  17-05-2022 22:39 via chicagodefender.com
  
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• Out Here: a comedian walks into an art fair

  17-05-2022 19:28 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Editor’s note: Out Here is a new column for the Reader’s City Life section featuring a variety of local writers joining in on adventures with an interesting Chicagoan. This week art writer Leah Gallant tells us about her hangout with comedian Jayson Acevedo.  On Saturday, April 9, at 1:09 PM, comedian Jayson Acevedo walked into […]
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• Living room absurdism

  17-05-2022 18:45 via chicagoreader.com
  
  It may be difficult to comprehend today just how shocking Edward Albee’s drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was when it premiered in October 1962, the same week that the Cuban missile crisis began. While the atomic fireworks the world feared never happened, Albee’s three-act, three-hour-plus masterpiece detonated an explosion that rocked American culture to […]
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• Racism and the Impact on the Mental Health of Black Men

  17-05-2022 13:59 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The conversation surrounding mental health in the Black community has increased over the years with the increased number of police-related killings, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more awareness and understanding surrounding the trauma that one experiences just by being black in America.
  Statistically, Black men are less likely to report mental and psychological issues. According to a 2021 study by the American Psychological Association, less than 30% of Black men who experienced daily feelings of a
  
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• Japanese psych band Kikagaku Moyo take a farewell tour before an indefinite hiatus

  17-05-2022 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Earlier this year, Japanese psych band Kikagaku Moyo announced that they would go on indefinite hiatus following their 2022 tour. It’s always surprising when a successful, globe-trotting band call it a day at the top of their game, and their multitudes of fans got pretty upset in response to the news. Over the past decade, […]
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• Chicago Reader formally completes transition to nonprofit

  17-05-2022 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Sale documents were signed May 16, 2022, to transfer ownership of the Chicago Reader to the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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• Porchlight puts Passing Strange in the spotlight

  16-05-2022 23:34 via chicagoreader.com
  
  For Chicago-based director Donterrio, the late-00s musical Passing Strange represents a road map for how an artist—no matter the medium in which they create—can live their life.  The show’s story of a Black musician’s coming-of-age depicts “what happens once you have this crazy dream as a teenager to be an artist, and this is how […]
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• Loving, repeating, collaborating, and intimacy

  16-05-2022 20:57 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In a new exhibition, longtime collaborators Dutes Miller and Stan Shellabarger created an immersive multimedia installation that explores intimacy, distance, and the fluctuations between. The above comic captures their reflections on making together and materials in play. Text from the comic is transcribed here to ease readability. Our collaboration developed organically. We were both ceramic […]
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• Bewjeweled butt plugs and the war on abortion

  16-05-2022 19:49 via chicagoreader.com
  
  This is a column about worries.
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• Elastic Arts’ AfriClassical Futures series continues with the Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker

  16-05-2022 19:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Since January 2020, vocalist Julian Otis and Elastic Arts executive director Adam Zanolini have programmed AfriClassical Futures, a series offering an antidote to the overwhelming whiteness and deadness of the classical canon. Each AfriClassical concert invites a Black artist working in or springboarding from the Western classical tradition for an intimate live performance and conversation, […]
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• True biz? There’s a lot to learn in Sara Nović’s new book.

  16-05-2022 18:33 via chicagoreader.com
  
  “Eyeth—get it? In the Deaf storytelling tradition, utopia is called Eyeth because it’s a society that centers the eye, not the ear, like here on Earth.” That’s the opener to “Ear vs. Eye: Deaf Mythology,” one of the many brief lessons sprinkled between the chapters of Sara Nović’s realistic fiction novel True Biz, released March […]
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• Shooting Leads to Millenium Park Curfew for Minors

  16-05-2022 18:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  After a shooting left a 16-year-old dead and a 17-year-old charged with the murder, unoccupied minors will no longer be allowed at Millenium Park after 6pm on weekends. Effective immediately, Mayor Lightfoot issued a statement saying, “from Thursday through Sunday, unaccompanied minors are not allowed in Millennium Park after 6:00 pm. This new policy will be strictly enforced, and violations will be dealt with swiftly. All of our residents and visitors under the age of 18 are welcome at th
  
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• Baby Formula Crisis Decreases Supply by Nearly Half

  16-05-2022 15:42 via chicagodefender.com
  The worsening baby formula shortage is forcing millions of parents across the nation to drastic measures to meet the nutritional needs of infant children. Their exhaustive searches for baby formula have caused a number of actions from traveling long distances to find formula to watering down formula in an attempt to stretch it.
  Some parents have admitted trying to make their own DIY formulas, while others confess that they continue to use the recalled powdered formula to feed infants. “I&r
  
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• 18-Year-Old Racist Kills Ten at Buffalo Supermarket

  16-05-2022 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Saturday an 18-year-old white racist shot 13 people and killed ten at a supermarket in Buffalo, NY. Payton Gendron (18) live-streamed the shooting spree on the social media platform Twitch. The video was removed minutes later. He was later arrested without incident and charged with first-degree murder.
  Of the 13 victims, ten were killed and 11 of the victims were Black and elderly. US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice was “Investigating the mass shooting as a
  
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• London label Touch brings its 40th-anniversary celebration to the International Museum of Surgical Science

  16-05-2022 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  London-based Touch isn’t a record label in the traditional sense; it’s far more multifaceted. It might be more accurate to describe Touch as a collective that also extends into publishing, performance curation, and site-specific multimedia events driven by a loosely defined stable of international avant-garde electronic and sound artists, who include guitarist and producer Fennesz, […]
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• Math Books Rejected for “Indoctrinating Students” in Florida

  16-05-2022 11:27 via chicagodefender.com
  
  In April 2022, the Florida Department of Education rejected 41% of new math books citing references to Critical Race Theory (CRT) among the reasons. In a statement, the Florida Department of Education said it “rejected publishers’ attempts to indoctrinate” students”.   Of the 41% of rejected textbooks, 21% were rejected for “incorporating prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies including CRT. Another 11% were rejected “because they do not properl
  
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• One on One with Secretary of State Candidate Alderman David Moore

  16-05-2022 11:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  An Alderman for the last seven years, David Moore is an Englewood resident running for the office of Secretary of State in Illinois. With his experience in corporate America, politics, and community organizing, he has connected with residents and issues throughout the state. He says his grassroots and corporate background give him the skills needed to be effective.
  Moore worked in the private sector at several Fortune 500 companies during his accounting career. In addition, he’s worked wit
  
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• LINK Unlimited Scholar, DJ King, Talks Academic Success, and His Future

  15-05-2022 11:17 via chicagodefender.com
  
  DJ King is a graduating senior and Jordan Wings Scholarship recipient heading to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall. The Nike Jordan Wings Scholarship awards primarily first-generation students’ scholarships and resources that reduce barriers so students can complete their studies without the added stress of financial debt.
  He was introduced to the LINK program when his sister enrolled in the program during her freshman year of high school. Following her, DJ is now graduating
  
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• Story of Black Rail Workers Inspired by Historical Events told in New Drama “The Porter”

  14-05-2022 15:37 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Set in the early 1920s, “The Porter” follows the journeys of train porters who hustle, dream, cross borders, and pursue their ambitions in the fight for liberation as they traveled the railways across North America. It is a gripping story of empowerment and idealism that highlights the moment when railway workers from both Canada and the United States joined together to give birth to the world’s first Black union. Set primarily in Montreal, Chicago, and Detroit as the world reb
  
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• Broken Nose, American Writers Festival, and a Crystal Ball

  13-05-2022 20:47 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Looking for some mid-month fun? Check out the following events and ideas. FRI 5/13 Broken Nose Theatre continues its season with the Chicago premiere of Zoe Kazan’s dystopic drama After the Blast, directed by JD Caudill. In light of the leaked SCOTUS draft decision on Roe v. Wade, Kazan’s story about a couple forced to […]
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• My wife has ‘new relationship energy’ with her girlfriend

  13-05-2022 19:13 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Agreeing to a one-sided open relationship is not the same as agreeing to one-sided polyamory.
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