Wisconsin families forced to choose between work and family during the pandemic
By Natalie Eilbert Medill Reports The first sign of trouble for Blanca Animas was her daughter’s post-surgery infection that kept her hospitalized for 11 days. Then it was being furloughed without pay until she found someone else to care for her severely disabled daughter, Anna. By the time Anna left the hospital, Animas understood she […]
Vespers for Scott Andringa
By Alyk Russell Kenlan Medill Reports I started at Medill one year ago. I was part of a group of recent college graduates, published journalists looking to accelerate their work, and people going through a mid-career shift made up the 30-or-so magazine specialization students. While most of us were near the beginning of our adult […]
‘The protest is personal’: A family’s story in the BLM movement
By Yilin Xie Medill Reports On May 30, Mara Castillo took her daughter, Sarah Castillo, with her to downtown Chicago for a Black Lives Matter protest. “Little children were there. They could have gotten hurt,” the 13-year-old said one month after witnessing the violence and the chaos that day. “It showed that some people are […]
Chicago activist Samer Owaida speaks about staying safe while protesting in the pandemic
By Cheyanne M. Daniels Medill Reports The killing of George Floyd in May triggered a global response against police brutality, and activists across the country have organized protests and rallies in almost every major U.S. city. But the COVID-19 pandemic has added a challenge for activists trying to mobilize while keeping participants safe from infection. […]
Orland Park’s only Black owned business benefits from Black Lives Matter movement
By Cheyanne M. Daniels Medill Reports Driving down La Grange Road through Orland Park, the Black-owned restaurant Vegan T’ease is easy to miss. Inside the small space, there’s room only for an order window and a cramped waiting alcove. As one customer walked out, another soon took their place. The parking lot, fit for only […]
Pandemic amplifies mental health struggles in already vulnerable young athletes
By Dan Moberger Medill Reports At 5:30 p.m. on a muggy Tuesday in mid-July, parents dropped off their teenage daughters at Fleet Fields, a parking lot converted to basketball courts in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. Flanked by industrial-looking brick buildings on three sides, the blacktop has afforded an attractive, open-air training grounds for Flow Basketball Academy […]
Group feeds Chicago’s neighborhoods one fridge at a time
By Marisa Sloan Medill Reports Hidden in the alley behind a used bookstore in Humboldt Park is a fully stocked refrigerator. Giant fruit and vegetables are painted on its doors alongside the phrase “free food” and its Spanish translation, “comida gratis,” in red and pink. A piece of cardboard reading “I AM NOT TRASH!” sags […]
Gabe Hudson: What I’ve learned
By Hannah Farrow Medill Reports Award-winning fiction writer Gabe Hudson, 48, on his creative process, authoring three books, and his dog I was very cognizant of the generation that came before me — the Vietnam generation, my parents’ generation — so when I was writing “Dear Mr. President,” I felt that the characters were in conversation […]
‘The Invisible Cut’: A look into racism in fencing
By Leah Vann & Emine Yücel Medill Reports This summer, Boris Vaksman, a prominent fencing coach for St. John’s University and New York’s Fencers Club, was fired after he was recorded making racist remarks on a Zoom call. The comments, which followed the killing of George Floyd and in the wake of a nationally amplified […]
California students receiving free, reduced-price meals face accessibility challenges during pandemic
By Hannah Schoenbaum Medill Reports Jesus Garcia, 17, depended on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s free and reduced-price meals program during his time at Back Bay High School in Costa Mesa, California. When the school closed in the spring of his senior year to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Garcia struggled to find stable internet […]