Chicago’s population problem: Flight from the Windy City

By Adam Rossow A Medill Newsmakers report Chicago, we have a problem. A population problem. Once a city boasting more than 3.6 million residents during its manufacturing and agricultural heyday in the 1950s, Chicago’s population dwindled to around 2.7 million in 2015, according to U.S. Census data released earlier this year. The factors behind the […]

Ethiopians find a home — and sometimes a hand — away from home in South Africa

By Hannah Gebresilassie “Sami, Sami!” two Ethiopian beggars shouted with their hands held out on a misty afternoon in Little Addis, an Ethiopian district on Jeppe Street in downtown Johannesburg. Sami Shiferaw stopped, pulled about 50 rand ($3) from his pocket and handed it to the men: “They’re our friends,” Shiferaw said. “I have to.” […]

An unconventional approach to Chicago’s misunderstood gun violence

By Marisa Endicott January saw its highest death toll from gun violence since 2000 in Chicago this year. There have been over 416 shootings in 2016 to date, 32 of them over this past weekend. The numbers highlight the deep roots of gun violence in Chicago and the city’s inability to combat the problem. While overall crime […]