#jamie nesbitt golden

[blacktruthdotnet]

DuSable Museum Teams Up With Walgreens For Black History Month Hoodie Drop

The apparel is available while supplies last at nine Chicago Walgreens locations and two suburban stores. By Jamie Nesbitt Golden Article Reprint The DuSable Museum is partnering with Walgreens to sell limited-edition hoodies and T-shirts at participating stores for Black History Month. Credit: Instagram/Walgreens WASHINGTON PARK — Love the DuSable Museum? You can buy a limited-edition museum…

[yasbxxgie]

‘Mother Of Environmental Justice’ Hazel Johnson Could Get Postage Stamp To Honor Work Cleaning Up South Side

A beloved Chicago activist is one step closer to receiving her due, several years after her death.

Hazel M. Johnson spent half of her life fighting for environmental justice on the South Side from her home in the Chicago Housing Authority’s Altgeld Gardens, a five-minute walk from the street that now bears her name.

Earlier this month, Rep. Bobby Rush introduced two bills that would posthumously honor Johnson with a Congressional Gold Medal and a commemorative postage stamp.

For Johnson’s daughter, Cheryl, it is a move that is long overdue.

“Congressman Rush and my mom go way back, since the [Harold] Washington administration, when he was an alderman. He was supportive of some of the environmental issues she was addressing back then,” said Johnson, who is continuing her mother’s work through People For Community Recovery, the organization the matriarch founded in 1979.

Becoming an environmental activist wasn’t something the New Orleans native had set out to do, but when her husband, John — a bricklayer — was felled by cancer in 1969, she knew she wanted to do something. Johnson was no stranger to the work; she spent years organizing youth programs and fighting for capital improvements for Altgeld Gardens, a housing project originally built for black World War II veterans.

When she learned that residents in South Side zip codes had higher incidents of cancer than those in other parts of the city, she wanted to know why.

“She started talking to different neighbors, and noticed a pattern, a cluster of so many people from the same neighborhood diagnosed with cancer,” Johnson said. “That’s when she learned about the environmental problems in our area.”

Through her own research she was able to identify 50 documented landfills in the vicinity of the housing project. She also discovered that the area was one of the more highly polluted neighborhoods due to emissions from the industrial corridor nearby, nicknaming it “The Toxic Doughnut.”

Soon after, she mobilized fellow residents to force CHA to address the hazards plaguing Altgeld, from the asbestos-lined walls to the contaminated drinking water.

Doing that didn’t win Johnson any favors.

“Chicago and the Midwest had been decades behind on environmental issues,” recalled Johnson. “When she was advocating for the cleanup of Lake Calumet she was labeled ‘crazy,’ and told she didn’t know what she was talking about. But she was determined, you know?”

Johnson and her organization even launched a successful campaign to help the residents of Maryland Manor (a tiny subdivision bordering the city) by forcing the city to test its drinking water, and pushing them to install water and sewer lines.

While her work made her a target for local policymakers and elected officials, she was nationally lauded by two presidents, receiving the President’s Environment and Conservation Challenge Award from President Bush in 1991, and recognition for her organization’s work in environmental justice from President Clinton in 1996.

Johnson also mentored a young Barack Obama when he was just starting out as a community organizer. He worked with her and the People For Community Recovery to remove layers of fiberglass and asbestos installed in attics of the housing project units.

“The last time she saw him in person, he was stopping by the house to tell her he was going away to law school,” her daughter recalled.

Johnson would continue her efforts until the day she died of congestive heart failure in early 2011. Today, her daughter carries on her legacy.

“Today, in 2019, Chicago still doesn’t have an effective environmental policy or ordinance in place to protect the public from industrial pollution,” said Johnson.

A 2018 report from the American Lung Association tells the tale; the city received an “F” last year for its declining air quality, and it currently ranks 22nd out of 26 of the most-polluted cities.

Still, she fights on with the hope that one day, change will come.

x|h/t

Photograph (bottom):

From her home in Altgeld Gardens, Johnson spent decades working to improve air and water quality for residents on the South Side through her organization, People for Community Recovery, founded in 1979. It remains headquartered at the housing project.

[brian-in-finance]

Northern Ireland’s film and TV industry is going from strength to strength, with Netflix and Paramount among the latest US studios to bring projects to the region.

Lewis McAskie, Caitriona Balfe, Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan and Ciaran Hinds with Jude Hill in front as they attend the Irish premiere of film Belfast at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, to mark the opening night of the Belfast Film Festival

While Line Of Duty and Bloodlands were some of the highlights of 2021, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and the third and final season of Derry Girls are already sparking excitement for 2022.

National agency Northern Ireland Screen also listed successes in animation, games and interactive content despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Belfast Harbour Studios became home to the streaming giant Netflix in 2021, while Titanic Studios was occupied by Paramount Pictures, attracting A-list celebrities for filming The School For Good And Evil and Dungeons And Dragons.

Epic Viking saga The Northman, filmed at Belfast Harbour Studios at the end of 2020, is set for cinema release in April 2022.

Meanwhile, Belfast, which had its Irish premiere in the city in November, has been nominated for seven Golden Globes and 11 Critics Choice Awards. It opens in cinemas on January 21.

Among the highlights on the small screen in 2021 was the third series of the crime drama Marcella, starring Anna Friel, while Sunday evenings were dominated by the drama Bloodlands, featuring James Nesbitt.

Bloodlands became the BBC’s biggest new drama launch since June 2020 with an average 8.2 million viewers, and in Northern Ireland the first episode had a 52% consolidated audience share, making it the highest-rating BBC drama to launch locally on record. The second series is set to be filmed in early 2022.

Line Of Duty returned for its sixth series and scored a ratings record, with 12.8 million viewers tuning in for the final episode to find out the identity of the mysterious H. It won the Returning Drama and Special Recognition Awards at this year’s National TV Awards.

Comedy series Frank Of Ireland, starring brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson, was shown on Channel 4 in April, while The Windermere Children, based on a true story in 1945 when hundreds of child survivors of the concentration camps were taken to the Lake District to recuperate, was nominated for the Single Drama Award at the Bafta TV Awards and also for Best Single Drama at the Broadcast Awards.

More recently, Dalgliesh, starring Bertie Carvel as Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, aired on Channel 5, showcasing locations across Northern Ireland, including Strangford, Armagh, Islandmagee and Ballyclare, among others.

The Co Down town of Donaghadee is also enjoying time in the spotlight thanks to new police drama Hope Street, which is currently airing on BBC One Northern Ireland before going UK-wide in 2022 and US-bound on Britbox.

Another police drama, Blue Lights, is in the pipeline, inspired by the experiences of serving police officers in Northern Ireland.

For younger viewers, Sixteen South’s Odo, a pre-school programme that follows the adventures of an owl, aired on Channel 5’s Milkshake! in the UK and on HBO Max in the US, and has been nominated for Best Pre-School Programme at the 2022 Broadcast Awards.

Northern Ireland’s games and interactive sector also continues to thrive.

Highlights included Out Of Tune Games launching its first game, Crooks Like Us, where players get to steal everything they see, and Blackstaff Games’ Buildings Have Feelings Too!, a city-management puzzle game.

Meanwhile, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF) supported content including Sonas Productions’ Iarnrod Enda for RTE One, a series about abandoned railway routes presented by former taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund (USBF) also continued to support a range of content, including chef Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen.

Throughout 2021, Northern Ireland Screen supported 344 individuals through various initiatives, including helping crew members step up to a higher grade, and Screen Academies provided opportunities for young people in animation, VFX and gaming.

Remember… the television and film industry in Northern Ireland remains busy, despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

[aion-rsa]

Line of Duty: the Best Crime Thrillers to Watch Next

https://ift.tt/3nJr9b3

Line of Duty is over, perhaps for good. It’s time to dismantle that evidence wall, file the exhibits away, and close the door on AC-12. With H unmasked, we can all rest our adrenal glands and get back to a healthy, Jimmy Nesbitt-free sleep pattern.

Once that’s achieved, if you start to feel the itch for more seismic shocks and sleights-of-hand, here are a few suggestions of what to watch next – eight TV thrillers that provide similar doses of double-dealing, truth-concealing, witness-squealing, case-breaking shenanigans. Add your own recommendations below!  

Bodyguard

Bodyguard proved that there was life after the Red Wedding for Richard Madden. His performance as  David Budd, a former combat soldier living a new – and equally dangerous – life as a Principal Protection Officer (PPO) in the London Met deservedly netted him a Golden Globe and a Scottish Bafta award.

Budd’s job protecting the abrasive yet vulnerable British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) is complicated by their conflicting ideologies, Budd’s fractured home-life and PTSD, and a wide-ranging conspiracy that brings together Islamic terrorism, organised crime, intra-governmental malfeasance and dodgy cops.  Be prepared to watch from behind half-closed eyes, wincing in anticipation of the oblivion that’s promised around almost every corner.

Bodyguard has the kinetic ferocity and explosive twists of 24; the grim and gritty characterisation of a Jimmy McGovern project; and the ‘Oh my God it was them along… or was it?’ twists of Line of Duty, which follows as it was also created by Jed Mercurio and World Productions.

Watch on: Netflix UK

The Americans

What if you were so deeply embedded with your enemies that you were indistinguishable from them, both inside and out, and even started to become increasingly disillusioned about what side you were supposed to be on? That’s the central conceit of FX’s slick and superlative spy drama The Americans, set in Washington DC during the height of the Cold War. Russian operatives Philip and Elizabeth Jennings have fake pasts and fake identities, but they also have very real American teenage children, who have been raised oblivious to the devastating secret thumping Poe-like in their parents’  hearts. Other shows trading in similar tropes may well deal in deception and corruption, but the cross that the Jennings have to bear in the name of ideology makes even the biggest conspiracies in Line of Duty and Bodyguard seem like a fib told by a child to avoid punishment for stealing freshly-baked muffins from their mother’s windowsill.

The heat on the Jennings is turned up even further when an FBI agent tasked with uncovering Russian agents moves next door with his family; further still when the two families become friends, further blurring the lines between truth, lies, identity and loyalty.

Whom do you trust when you can’t even trust yourself? 

Watch it on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

Edge of Darkness (1985)

Edge of Darkness is steeped in the same Thatcher-tainted, Reagan-ruled, greed-is-good, hyper-capitalist era as The Americans, but is a contemporaneous piece rather than a period piece, having debuted in 1985. 

The tragic tale follows tortured policeman Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) as he tries to unravel the truth behind his eco-activist daughter’s murder, while he himself starts to unravel in a sea of lies, half-truths, hard truths and shifting allegiances. Craven snakes his way through a colourful cast of misfits, agitators, loudmouths, snobs, yobs and psychopaths, as the battle for power – nuclear, economic, hegemonic – and perhaps the survival of the earth itself, swirls and dances and ricochets around him.

It’s a series that’s unafraid to immerse the viewer in complexity; leaving them to fathom the ever-morphing labyrinth of motivations and revelations on their own; leaning heavily into ambiguity whenever it serves the shape and tone of the story. Often, the viewer is left as bemused and perplexed as Craven himself in the face of this deadly puzzle, but they will still find themselves – also like Craven – unable and unwilling to rest until the pieces fit together.          

The late Bob Peck – whom many will only know as the game keeper from Jurassic Park, who utters his memorable final line, ‘Clever girl…’, seconds before becoming a velociraptor hors d’oeuvre – puts in a mesmerising, career-defining performance as Craven, effortlessly embodying the full gamut of the man’s grief, guilt, obsession, melancholy and mania. Craven seems at once mythical and otherworldly, and yet solidly, painfully, exquisitely human.

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

The Shield

“Good cop and bad cop left for the day. I’m a different kind of cop.”

So says LA Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) seconds before demonstrating his no-holds-barred interrogation technique to an obfuscating paedophile. It’s not that Vic considers himself above the law, more that everybody else is below his. He often does the right things for the wrong reasons, or in the wrong way, or the wrong things for the right reasons. Or at least for reasons that he thinks are right. And he’s got a justification for everything, from bribing fellow officers, to partnering with organised criminals, to even murdering suspects.

Impossibly corrupt, relentlessly self-righteous, fearless to the point of psychopathy, Vic is the badge-wearing heir apparent to Tony Soprano, but burdened with little of the gabagool-guzzler’s guilt. Viewers are left under no illusions about the lengths Vic will go to protect himself and his kingdom, nor about the sort of show they’re watching, when at the close of the first episode he executes an officer who has been placed in his Strike Team to investigate his corruption, framing a similarly deceased drug kingpin for the crime.

So begins the toxic, spreading rot of secrets, lies and double-dealings, each action an effort to cover over and stay a step ahead of the misdeed before. Vic’s three-man Strike Team would follow him into Hell, which is just as well, because that’s exactly where he leads them, along with his family, and anyone who ever associated with or went toe-to-toe against him. The Shield begins as a punchy, kinetic pop-corn spectacle of a series, but slowly evolves into an almost Shakespearian tragedy, rich in sadness, sacrifice and betrayal. The final act – hell, the final few seasons – will leave you in no doubt as to The Shield‘s place in the pantheon of small-screen greats.    

Watch on: All4 (UK)

Read more

TV

Celebrating Jimmy McGovern’s Cracker

By Jamie Andrew

TV

Line of Duty Series 6 Episode 7 Review: H Unmasked At Last

By Louisa Mellor

Dexter

If Internal Affairs set up an office in the Miami Metro Police Department, the last person they’d suspect of foul play would be the handsome, unfailingly polite blood-spatter analyst Dexter Morgan, doyen of the Homicide bowling team and daily bringer of doughnuts. Whereas Vic Mackey flaunts his corruption in plain sight, Dexter has to stay in the shadows. Dexter’s corruption is a little more extreme than Vic’s: he’s a highly active serial killer. That he only kills according to a strict ethical code – only other murderers, and only those who’d escaped, or would escape, justice by more legitimate means – makes him a complex, compassionate and compelling figure, one with whom we sympathise easily: perhaps too easily. Dexter makes us complicit by proxy. We find ourselves rooting for a serial killer, hopelessly lost in the hedge-maze of his amorality.

Dexter’s relationships with his sister, Deborah (Jennifer Carter) – a detective at his precinct – and Rita (Julie Benz) – first his girlfriend, then his wife and eventually mother of his son – are his only toe-holds on humanity, which is why the show regularly has them dancing on the edge of his dark secret. No more so than when Dexter has to help the department investigate the crimes of a serial killer the media dubs The Bay Harbor Butcher, a serial killer who just happens to be… Dexter.

While it’s true that Dexter came to a perfect natural conclusion after four great seasons, it’s also true that it limped on for another four seasons after that, capped by a finale that is quite possibly one of the weakest and worst of any drama series ever made. Thankfully, it’s coming back for a ninth season later this year, hopefully to right past wrongs.   

Watch on: NOW (UK)

Cracker

If you only know the larger-than-life Robbie Coltrane as the much-larger-than-life Hagrid in the Harry Potter series, you’d do well to check out the mid-90s UK crime-series Cracker, and see Coltrane at his most searing, endearing, dangerous and iconic. Here he plays Eddie ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald – quite simply the role he was born to play – a sharp-witted, full-blooded, foul-mouthed, fast-living psychologist who impresses (and largely imposes) his way into a consulting gig with the Manchester Police, helping them to solve their more grizzly and unusual crimes. The storyline that sees Fitz investigating one of ‘his’ own is perhaps its most harrowing and heart-breaking – a network of tragedies dovetailing into one other – with a denouement that casts a long, sad shadow over the rest of the series.

Warning: If you are a Harry Potter fan, and you decide to watch Cracker, do take the time to psychologically prepare yourself for the sight of Hagrid in bed with Harry Potter’s mum.  

Watch on: Britbox (UK)   

Luther

Detective John Luther (Idris Elba) has the presence of a bear, the heart of a lion, and the mind of Columbo. With his razor-sharp stare, long, lived-in coat and propensity to stick his neck precisely where it’s needed but never wanted, Luther’s ‘Oh, one more thing’ is just as likely to be a fist as it is a verbal death-blow.

Over the course of five seasons Luther is betrayed by those closest to him, mangled by loss, framed for murder and even strikes up an unusual but oddly touching relationship with a serial killer. It’s electric, captivating TV, and Idris Elba wears and lives Luther’s rage, sadness, regret and fuck-you-ness so intensely that you won’t be able to draw your eyes away from him. A barnstormer all round.

Watch on: BBC iPlayer (UK)      

State of Play

The cast-list alone is enough to commend this early 2000s conspiracy thriller: John Simm, Philip Glenister (prior to the duo teaming up in Life on Mars), David Morrissey, James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Amelia Bullmore, and Line of Duty‘s own Kelly MacDonald. Thankfully, almost everything else about this mini-series also screams excellence, especially the crackling, incisive and deeply honest writing from Clocking Off, Cracker and Shameless-stalwart Paul Abbott.

State of Play follows a group of journalists as they stumble onto the greatest story of their lives – ministerial corruption, contract killings, corporate greed, industrial espionage, illicit affairs – that pits the police, the government, and even their own friends and loved ones against them. It’s a twisting, turning, shifting, shocker of a masterpiece: a true titan of the genre. 

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

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Line of Duty series one to six are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

The post Line of Duty: the Best Crime Thrillers to Watch Next appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3eLSdlS

[karnythia]

Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists GOES ON TOUR!!!

Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists GOES ON TOUR!!!

I hope to see you all at one of these events!

11/5:   after-words bookstore, Chicago, IL

Tickets

Tuesday, November 5, 2019 – 6:00pm

after-words bookstore

23 East Illinois Street

Chicago, IL 60611 

11/6:   Women & Children First, Chicago, IL

With A. D’Amico, in conversation with Jamie Nesbitt Golden

More information

Wednesday, November 6, 2019 – 7:00pm

Women &…

[sciencespies]

Mansion of Woman Falsely Blamed for 1871 Great Chicago Fire Is Up for Sale

https://sciencespies.com/history/mansion-of-woman-falsely-blamed-for-1871-great-chicago-fire-is-up-for-sale/

Mansion of Woman Falsely Blamed for 1871 Great Chicago Fire Is Up for Sale

After sparking in Chicago’s southwest side on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city for more than 24 hours. The blaze razed a huge swath of the Illinois metropolis, killing an estimated 300 people and leaving another 100,000 homeless.

In the aftermath of the fire, reporters singled out 44-year-old Irish immigrant Catherine “Cate” O’Leary as a scapegoat. O’Leary’s unruly cow, they claimed, had kicked over a lantern in the family’s DeKoven Street barn and sparked the inferno. Though the story was a lie (40 years after the fact, journalist Michael Ahern admitted to making the tale up, according to the Chicago Tribune), it nevertheless took hold. For the rest of her life—and beyond—O’Leary’s name would be tied to the infamous 1871 disaster.

Nearly 150 years later, the home where O’Leary lived later in life is back on the market. As Jamie Nesbitt Golden reports for Block Club Chicago, O’Leary’s son, notorious gambling boss and saloon owner James “Big Jim” O’Leary, built the mansion at 726 W. Garfield Blvd. for his mother around 1890. Following her death in 1895, James lived in the Englewood neighborhood home until his own death in 1925.

Ironically, O’Leary’s mansion may be the only house in the city to have its own dedicated fire hydrant.

An 1871 illustration from Harper’s magazine depicting Mrs. O’Leary milking a cow and accidentally starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

“James was very afraid of his property burning down, so he had a fire hydrant installed directly behind his property, in the alley,” listing agent Jose Villaseñor told Realtor.com’s Tiffani Sherman last November.

Speaking with Block Club, Villaseñor notes that the 12-bedroom, 5.5-bath property has two large vaults on its first floor and in the basement. Blueprints indicate that a secret tunnel once connected the mansion to a home next door—perhaps a remnant of a Prohibition-era getaway, the realtor suggests.

Though the property will require refurbishment, “[i]t’s truly a beautiful place, from the hardwood floors [to the coffered ceilings, the wainscoting,” says Villaseñor to Block Club. “… [I]t’s like going back in time.”

The property, which includes a two-story coach house and the three-story brownstone, is listed at $535,770.

Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the house was previously listed for sale in 2007. Villaseñor tells Block Club that the current owner is ready to leave the mansion after owning it for 30 years.

Ward Miller, president of Preservation Chicago, tells Block Club that he hopes the new owner will consider pursuing historic landmark status for the mansion, whose interior is in need of significant upgrades. A buyer interested in converting the space into smaller condominiums may be able to do so, but this work “would have to be done carefully, with certain … rooms kept intact,” he adds.

An interior view of 726 W. Garfield Blvd.

(Courtesy of Redfin)

A view of the grand staircase at 726 W. Garfield Blvd., the mansion that gambling boss James “Big Jim” O’Leary built for his mother around 1890

(Courtesy of Redfin)

Buildings tied to history hold “wonderful stories that are sometimes overlooked,” says Miller to Block Club. “We would like to see the city be more proactive in protecting these buildings and promoting them.”

Mrs. O’Leary, for her part, bore the weight of the historic fire for the rest of her life, as historian Karen Abbott wrote for Smithsonian magazine in 2012. Newspapers and members of the public encouraged vitriolic depictions of O’Leary that played into ethnic stereotypes, prevailing nativist fears and anti-Irish sentiment by depicting her as “shiftless” or a “drunken old hag.”

The woman herself shunned press coverage. But in 1894, the year before her death, O’Leary’s physician offered a telling comment to the press: “That she is regarded as the cause, even accidentally, of the Great Chicago Fire is the grief of her life.”

The doctor added that O’Leary refused reporters the chance to reproduce an image of her face, lest she become the subject of further mockery.

“She admits no reporters to her presence, and she is determined that whatever ridicule history may heap on her it will have to do it without the aid of her likeness,” he said. “… No cartoon will ever make any sport of her features. She has not a likeness in the world and will never have one.”

#History

[jmjafrx]

#amreading 2018 April 29 | 16:18:44

Daniel Usner. Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in a Frontier Exchange Economy: The Lower Mississippi Valley Before 1783 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992). (The Natchez revolt)

Edouard Glissant, “The Open Boat,” Poetics of Relation Translated by Betsy Wing (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997).

Margo Crawford, “The Substance of Style: On Being Unapologetically Black Now,” The A-Line (blog), February 6, 2018, https://ift.tt/2JF2pLV.

Evan Turiano, “Two Visions of Abolition and Emancipation: An OAH ‘State of the Field’ Roundtable,” The Journal of the Civil War Era (blog), April 25, 2018, https://journalofthecivilwarera.org/2018/04/two-visions-abolition-emancipation-oah-state-field-roundtable/.

“DETOURS AND DISTANCE: An Interview with J. Michael Dash,” March 4, 2012, http://thepublicarchive.com/?p=3134.

Kiese Laymon – What Bill Cosby Taught Me About Sexual Violence and Flying | Literary Hub http://bit.ly/2HQAuvh

NewBlackMan (in Exile): Bill Cosby, Meek Mill and a City of ‘Brotherly” Love by Mark Anthony Neal http://bit.ly/2HwqQhR

Treva B. Lindsey: Bill Cosby 2018 trial: the guilty verdict was made possible by black women’s activism – Vox http://bit.ly/2r3GKVJ

Jamie Nesbitt-Golden: #Fasttailedgirls And Why The Sexual Assault Of Black Girls Is Not A Joke http://bit.ly/2r3xiBW

Diva Parekh: On their own – The Johns Hopkins News-Letter http://bit.ly/2JBjDtr

Button Poetry, Gabriel Ramirez – “On Realizing I Am Black” (NPS 2015), accessed April 28, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQHRs_8F08.

Brittany Spanos, “Cover Story: Janelle Monae on Prince, New LP, Her Sexuality – Rolling Stone,” accessed April 29, 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/cover-story-janelle-monae-prince-new-lp-her-sexuality-w519523.

Janelle Monáe interviewed by Ari Fitz, Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer YouTub Space Q&A, accessed April 29, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdH2Sy-BlNE.

Treva B. Lindsey. Colored No More: Reinventing Black Womanhood in Washington, D.c. (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2017).

Brittney C. Cooper. Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017).

Brown, Leslie. “How a Hundred Years of History Tracked Me Down,” In Telling Histories: Black Women Historians in the Ivory Tower, edited by Deborah Gray White, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008.

via Diaspora Hypertext, the Blog https://ift.tt/2r8FdP9

[connectthegeekvillage]

On January 14th, at Kennedy-King College Community College, the five aldermen representing Greater Englewood organized the first town hall meeting in the history of the community. Englewood’s fragmentation goes back to 1971 when Anna Langford was representing the 16th ward in City Hall she was the sole representative for the majority of the community. The districting of wards has continued to this day, causing each alderman to represent a constituency that included other neighborhoods which led to the non-prioritization of focusing on the disinvestment in Greater Englewood. In Block Club Chicago’s coverage of the announcement, 20th ward alderman Jeanette Taylor stated, “for so long, the aldermen of Englewood have not worked together”, adding, “that doesn’t work for our city or our constituents”. With community leaders distributing flyers, 500+ residents came to Kennedy King to voice their concerns for the future of Englewood.

Image from WTTW. A representation of Greater Englewood and the 5 Wards that Each Aldermen represents.

WTTW report, Paris Schultz, covered the townhall and summarized the issues that prompted the town hall. Schultz pointed to gerrymandering as a major cause of this lack of cooperation claiming, “in 2012 the power brokers at the time got together to draw the 50 ward map that we have at the time’, which is done every 10 years following the US Census. Schultz continues, “this remap came down to Latino aldermen, African American alderman, and Caucasian aldermen that wanted to make sure their groups had as much representation as they could so what gets lost here is any type of cohesiveness”. Schultz spoke with the alderman of the 16th ward, Stephanie Coleman, who believes this collaborative effort is how the community will improve, stating, “ this is Englewood Rising!”

Englewood Rising is a social media campaign to change the narrative of how Englewood is perceived. Photography from Englewoodrising.com, by Tonika Johnson

Being a resident of Englewood, I was amazed at the turnout. After attending Governor Pritzker’s and Lt Governor Stratton’s “Fireside Chat” that was held the preceding Saturday at the same location, it was great to see not only a greater number of attendees but a greater number of residents of Englewood. In a community that is predominantly African American it was a proud moment to see the potential for civic engagement being a norm. When you entered the college the alderman had outreach tables full of resources with representatives to make sure anyone who wasn’t familiar with our aldermen they could easily get acquainted with the type of work they were championing. The energy in the building was primed and ready to tackle the issues that plague our community. Derrick Warren, Executive Director of Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation, and Tanisha Terry Jackson, Enrollment President of Kennedy King, greeted the audience and introduced the Aldermen. Warren reminded us of the historicity of the town hall and what it means for our future, stating, “neighbors and residents that work together turn into brothers and sisters working toward a common cause”. Jackson welcomed the audience into the space that has hosted the Englewood Leadership Symposium, the governor and lt. Governor’s fireside chat, and now the 1st town hall in Englewood’s history. She pointed to Kennedy King’s role as the sole college in Englewood and announced that they were awarded a $1.5 million workforce equity grant which they are looking to create a “community of excellence of creative arts”. After the facilitator’s and the host’s introduction the aldermen were next to greet attendees.

Photo by Maria Pike. Derrick Warren introducing 5 aldermen.

Each Alderman came with a unique energy that gave you insight on who their constituents were and their personal praxis. Coleman’s opening statement shouted out the Residential Association of Greater Englewood, Teamwork Englewood, and Imagine Englewood If, while calling out the media, stating, “every news organization should be here because 2 weeks ago when we had 13 shootings they were”. 15th ward alderman, Raymond Lopez, shouted out Growing Home and I Grow Chicago while reminding us of the historicness of the town hall with his closing statement, “its been a long time coming”. Taylor was short and to the point stating, “you can’t say your progressive and not act progressive”. 17th ward alderman, David Moore, opening statement included a 16-year-old Englewood author by the name of Jae’la Leavy who published her first book titled, “Unraveled”. Senior alderman, Roderick Sawyer, pointed to the efforts of R.A.G.E., 10 years ago, to bring the aldermen together for a town hall. The round of introduction ignited different portions of the room, yet the entire room was there for Greater Englewood.

Alderman David Moore introducing Jae’la Leavy

Residents of Greater Englewood brought a plethora of concerns that range from TIF funds, repurposing closed schools, corruption and accountability of government officials, community violence, and coalition building. Manny Ramos of Chicago Sun-Times quoted Sheila Rogers concerns over TIF dollars when she asked, “I realize it might not be as much as Lincoln Yards got, but I want to know are we going to get our fair share?”, which Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox stated Englewood would be receiving $25 million over the next three years through the Invest Southwest initiative. One attendee wanted to convert Harper High School into a community center, pointing to the 15000 teenagers that were technically homeless without anything to do after school. Another attendee pointed to the delay in “Black investment”, adding that “there are 20 Black aldermen and it takes 26 to pass a vote”, a grievance that was very clear to our community after marijuana legalization. Each attendee that had a question for the aldermen was given two minutes to address their concern, but with the line seeming to continue to grow throughout the night all concerns weren’t heard.

Lannon Broughton, a community leader with RAGE and action champion for many of Englewood’s Quality of Life Task Forces, asked about the 500 pending applications for the $1 Lot program. He spoke of how he has been receiving calls from the many residents of Englewood who were waiting to hear back from the city on if they were approved. Broughton used half of his two minutes to speak to the audience, making a call to action for community members to take part in the community effort to address nearly every issue brought forth in this town hall. He welcomed them to the Englewood Village meeting, facilitated by RAGE, being held on January 21st at Bass Elementary from 6pm-8pm, as well as plugging the EQLP’s Quarterly meeting on the 25th. The EQLP meets monthly with five taskforces focusing on housing and public spaces, public safety, education and youth development, health and wellness, as well as jobs and economic development.

Being part of the town hall was inspiring to say the least. I was lucky enough to get to the mic and ask a question of Alderman Lopez on his tweet after a 6-month-old was murdered by their father. I was also lucky enough to be quoted in different publications, but named by Manny Ramos of Chicago Sun-Times. My question was guided by wanting to understand why Lopez felt that childbirth licensing, conception fees, and/or toddler escrows. My belief is that we must hold all government officials accountable for their words and actions, so the goal was to make the community aware, but to also understand his reasoning. Lopez essentially felt that making incendiary comments on Twitter was one of the only ways to get the media’s attention on real issues that plague our community, which includes infant mortality, maternal health, and domestic violence. When government officials meet the community where they are at the community is able to better understand the long-term vision of their representative and find ways to address issues using community and city resources

For more details please check out the works cited below. Block Club Chicago, WTTW, and Chicago Sun-Times did a great job reporting; Block Club Chicago’s Maxwell Evans also did a great job detailing the town hall.

Works Cited

I attended the meeting as a resident of Englewood, member of RAGE, Health and Wellness Taskforce, Health Navigator, volunteer of IEI, member of Greater Englewood Toastmaster, amongst many other roles. I researched the mainstream coverage from and supplied the links above.

Block Club Chicago’s coverage of the announcement and summary by Jamie Nesbitt Golden and Maxwell Evans.

 The WTTW team of Paris Schultz and Evan Garcia that went over redistricting.

CBS Local’s team’s coverage utilizing the Invest Southwest Angle.

Greater Englewood’s First Town Hall: Englewood Rising! On January 14th, at Kennedy-King College Community College, the five aldermen representing Greater Englewood organized the first town hall meeting in the history of the community.

[stainedglassgardens]

While I'm not sure that this unfortunate lapse in judgment should be a teachable moment, it does illustrate a need for a broader discussion about children and sexually harmful behavior.

[greenchestnuts]

Life at the Intersection.

If you haven't seen hoodfeminism, I recommend checking it out!

[fuckyeahcitizenradio]

Episode #895: Allison speaks with Jamie Nesbitt Golden (@thewayoftheid) about her and Mikki Kendall (@karnythia) creating #FastTailedGirls and @HoodFeminism, Mayor De Blasio appoints pro-Stop and Frisk Bill Bratton to NYPD police chief,  more NSA spying revelations, austerity still doesn't work, and the largest fast food strike ever happened yesterday.

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