Acclaimed artist combats violence with innovative graphic design
By Grant Rindner The air of protest is undeniable in Rick Valicenti’s newly opened (maybe) This Time exhibit at Loyola University’s Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex, on view through Nov. 26. But the veteran graphic designer and current Loyola Artist in Residence uses his collection to do much more than revisit the same statistics and […]
Transgender rights activists claim safe spaces
By Jordan Gaines Like many transgender women across the nation, T.T. Saffore found no safety in law enforcement, and threats of violence were a normal part of life. When the 27-year-old hairstylist was found murdered Sept. 11 in Garfield Park, she had not shared a recent threat to her life by another transgender woman three […]
Chicago women call foul on Trump’s ‘Grab ’em’ comments at #GOPHandsOffMe protest
By Anna Foley and Teresa Manring Women activists in Chicago want Republicans to take their hands off them–quite literally. Nearly 200 of them chanted their outrage early Tuesday morning outside Trump Tower as part of a national movement: #GOPHandsOffMe. “The Republican party right now has just kind of gotten so far off. They have absolutely […]
Chicago charter school teachers could make history with first-ever strike
By Meredith Francis For the first time in U.S. history, charter school teachers could strike. Though the Chicago Teachers Union narrowly avoided a strike last week, over 500 teachers from the Uno Charter School Network still threaten to walk out of the classroom as early as Wednesday if a contract deal is not reached by […]
Carving out space for funny girls in Wicker Park
By Carolyn Cakir Chicago is a mecca for comedy lovers and comedians. But many female comedians lament the fact that comedy is still very much a boys club, and they face gender discrimination at traditional open mic nights across the city. Comedian Elyse Nylin decided to fight against that and created a females-only open mic […]
Fighting the Digital Caliphate: The war against the keyboard jihadis
By Shahzeb Ahmed The video starts with two hands raised in prayer. Soon, the hands are preparing a bomb. The man appears to don the prepared bomb inside a suicide vest. The next frame features scenes from New York City. This is an Islamic State message shared on multiple social media platforms and further transmitted […]
Millennial Era Jazz: Marquis Hill
By Thaddeus Tukes [A version of the story was co-published on Blavity.] Jazz is the essence of black culture, yet for years, black musicians have felt it being taken away by the rapaciousness of commerce and profit. The newest emerging voice in reclaiming jazz hails from the South Side of Chicago, which gave birth and […]
Will local millennials defy traditional voter ‘drop-off’ patterns?
By Sarah Haas and Nia Prater The voting phenomenon widely known as the millennial “drop-off” may not hold to be entirely true for young people in the Chicago area on Nov. 8. A combination of factors, including registration drives on college campuses and the contentiousness of some hotly contested national and local races, seem to […]
Trump support among Chinese American voters
By Jingzhe (Kelly) Wang One month before the presidential election, more than 50 Chinese Americans gathered in one of Chicago’s western suburbs to show their support for the Republican candidate for President. Medill’s Kelly Wang takes us to Hinsdale to see how this minority group makes its voice heard. [vimeo 187263626 w=474] More than 50 […]
Nicholas Lau: A bridge to the Chinese-American future
By Jingzhe (Kelly) Wang Some young Chinese Americans are leaving Chicago’s Chinatown and their roots to assimilate with American culture. Not Nicholas Lau. The high school senior is working to pave a path for Chinatown to be a more welcoming place for the next generation. [vimeo 187238613 w=474] Nicholas Lau, 18, project manager at the […]