New legislation addresses long-standing Black maternal health crisis in America
By Shivani Majmudar Medill Reports Amid a global pandemic and a year of social unrest, a long-standing public health crisis was highlighted: racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. Black and Native American women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than a white woman, according to the most recent […]
Community activists to prevent Mercy Hospital closing
By Kelly Milan Medill Reports Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., and community activists held a press conference outside Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville on Tuesday to call on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to save Mercy Hospital from closing amid the pandemic. “This is a life-or-death issue,” said Jackson, head of Chicago-based nonprofit organization […]
UIC College of Social Work quashes police abolition discussions as national debate grows
By Michael Murney Medill Reports When Christy Stewart’s client called her in the midst of being assaulted by her boyfriend, she begged Stewart not to call the police. Stewart, 31, a fifth-year social worker who recently earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago, felt paralyzed. Both she and her […]
Police or no police: Will Chicago’s new mental health crisis pilot address structural failure?
By Emmanuel Kizito Medill Reports “Suicide by Cop” refers to situations where a person calls an officer or takes an action with the expectation that the officer will kill them. Sometimes carrying a toy gun or weapon, they depend upon the assumption that the police will shoot, even if mental illness or distress seems to […]
Oak Park promises diversity, local groups hold the community accountable
By Helen Quinn Pasin Medill Reports After the 2016 presidential election, concerned citizens of Oak Park and the surrounding areas formed Western Front Indivisible and Oak Park Call To Action. They are dedicated to holding Oak Park to the standards of diversity and inclusion that the village has prided itself on since 1968 when local […]
Community-based solutions used as Chicago endures two public health crises
By Monique Beals Medill Reports Kirah Moe’s car was shot in front of her South Shore home just a week before she hosted a “peace party” for the neighborhood’s children. A Hyde Park restaurant employee bonded with Mary Stonor Saunders’ 3-year-old son but never returned to work after being fatally shot on his day off. […]
Chicago developers remain pessimistic about post-Trump affordable housing policies
By Yilun Cheng Medill Reports President-elect Joe Biden has outlined his plans to advance affordable housing nationwide, but with little progress in the past two decades and rising construction costs, Chicago developers remain pessimistic about his proposed affordable housing initiatives. Biden has made an ambitious proposal to invest $640 billion into affordable and quality housing […]
Fair Tax failure: Immigrant leaders break down why and what’s next
By Kelly Heinzerling Medill Reports When Illinoisans went to the polls this year, they were asked to vote on an amendment to the Illinois State Constitution which would give lawmakers the ability to create a graduated-rate income tax, which would tax wealthier people at a higher rate. Despite having the support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker […]
Breaking down climate change cluesfrom ocean floors to measure iceberg melting
By Grace Rodgers Medill Reports Melting freshwater icebergs raise critical questions about ocean circulation. However, to find answers to what’s happening on ocean surfaces, some scientists are searching ocean floors for evidence of past environments and clues to the pace of current climate change. As a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, […]
Welcoming the stranger: refugees in America
by Caroline Love Medill Reports There are 26 million refugees in the world today, according to the United Nations, but only a fraction of them will gain a new home. “Less than one percent will ever be resettled into a third country,” said Sue Horgan, the senior director of program operations at Exodus World Service. […]