Pro-choice activists take to the streets as Supreme Court hears major abortion case
By Enrica Nicoli Aldini After the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the ensuing warfare in the Senate over his successor, an understaffed Supreme Court met Wednesday to hear a challenge to a Texas law that would shut down all but 10 abortion clinics in the state, with likely reverberations at the national level. […]
Sharing Syrian stories: local high schoolers interview refugees with StoryCorps
By Jay Bouchard When her college campus was bombed in 2011, Salam Abdulrazzak wanted to remain in Syria and protest the Assad regime’s unwarranted cruelty. But at her parents insistence, she reluctantly left in January 2012 and sought refuge in the United States. She thought her stay was temporary, but after more than four years […]
Resettled refugees face challenges in U.S. education system
By Marisa Endicott With the Syrian refugee crisis intensifying in Europe and debate stateside over the deportations of Central American asylum seekers, it is easy to get wrapped up in the ideological and political rhetoric instead of getting to know the day-to-day experiences and obstacles resettled refugees face. Access to education is a main hurdle. […]
“Collective Voices, Shared Journeys”: Art that pays homage to survivors of gender violence
By Jenny G. Zhang Malala Yousafzai. Benazir Bhutto. Gloria Gaynor. These women of color – activists, leaders, cultural icons – stand in sharp relief against the sky-blue background of the collage. Pasted together, their edges overlapping, the figures pay homage to survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence, political violence, deportation, incarceration and hate crimes. “They […]
For Englewood seniors, the struggle is real but so are the friendships
by Rebekah Frumkin and Carlos D. Williamson For Roger Shannon, finding an affordable place to live was never a problem. His job as a social worker allowed him to live modestly but comfortably. When he first moved into senior citizen community housing 12 years ago, he continued to work, and paid for rent and food […]
Artists reflect on living next to Cook County Jail
By Misha Euceph Artists from the Prison and Neighborhood Project (PNAP) are holding listen and response sessions to get feedback on a series of interviews with inmates from Cook County Jail and West Side residents who live next to the 96-acre property. “It’s important to come up with a counter narrative against such a brutal […]
Janie’s Farm Organics takes family farming to next generation
By Alison Martin It’s lunchtime. After a chilly March morning of planting in the downstate Iroquois County field, Harold Wilken sets the table. His wife, high school teacher Sandy Wilken, serves bowls of her black bean chowder to the farm’s employees – son Ross Wilken, nephew Tim Vaske, bookkeeper Gerry Lunt, farm owner Ryan Wolfe and […]
Community comes first at Lakeview’s wineHouse
By Katie Murar Lakeview East’s wineHouse is not a corner liquor store. It’s a boutique shop that serves a dose of education with every bottle. The small store, opened on Nov. 17, 2014, had a successful first year, despite the abundance of competition in Lakeview. In its first year, wineHouse sold in excess of 40,000 bottles of wine, […]
Why Millennials Are Drinking More Wine Than Their Parents
By Katie Murar Wine is enjoying a surge in popularity among millennials, bolstered by an increase in availability and variety, though it has not yet overtaken beer in popularity or consumption. According to a recent report by the Wine Market Council, 42 percent of all wine drunk in the U.S. in 2015 was by millennials, […]
Someone is spending $1 million to make you a space archaeologist
By Kathleen Ferraro Space archaeologist Sarah Parcak wants us to follow the clues from space. She delivered this message at the annual TED Conference in Vancouver, where she unveiled her plans for spending her $1 million 2016 TED Prize earnings. Parcak said the money will launch Global Xplorer, an online platform that will use crowdsourcing and citizen […]