Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
In today’s newsletter, we’re focusing on a story from my colleagues Andy Grimm and Natalie Y. Moore about the court fight over the safety of hair relaxers.
Studies show that women who regularly use these products have a higher risk of getting certain cancers, but the hair care industry maintains its products are safe.
Below, we break down some key points from this deeply reported piece.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on local students surviving an earthquake in Taiwan, Chicago-area residents traveling to catch Monday’s eclipse and more. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Inside the court fight over the safety of hair relaxers and Black hair care
Reporting by Andy Grimm and Natalie Y. Moore | WBEZ
Lawsuits target relaxers: In October 2022, the first of several thousand women filed a lawsuit at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in the Loop claiming that chemicals in hair relaxer products she used caused her cancer. Near-identical lawsuits began piling up in state and federal courts across the U.S. The federal cases — now counting 8,500 plaintiffs, with more added every week — were consolidated last year in front of a single federal judge in Chicago. Dozens of cases have been filed in Cook County, and dozens more are in front of judges in local jurisdictions across the country.
Chicago playing central role: Through the 1990s, Chicago was the epicenter of the Black-owned, Black hair product industry. Homegrown companies including Soft Sheen, Johnson Products and Namaste Laboratories built brands that were Black household names. Sales and mergers have seen multinational corporations take over brands that dominate the market. But the wave of litigation has meant Chicago is again playing a central role in the fate of the industry.
More plaintiffs to come: Nine of 10 Black women have used hair relaxer products at some point, many using them regularly for a decade or longer. The litigation could continue for decades, as conditions that have been associated with the products — uterine cancer, fibroids and other illnesses — might not appear for years.
What research shows: The litigation in 2022 began weeks after a National Institutes of Health study found that women who regularly used hair relaxers developed uterine cancer at more than twice the rate of women who did not. Previous studies on relaxer use and chemicals — which commonly contain chemicals such as formaldehyde, phthalates and parabens — have shown higher rates of breast and ovarian cancer, a higher incidence of fibroids and more aggressive tumor growth.
For more on hair relaxers, the litigation and people impacted, head here or click the button below.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Waiting on cherry blossoms: Cherry blossom trees in the Chicago area could bloom in the next few weeks if, once the current cold front passes, there is sustained warm weather throughout the weekend and next week, experts say. Usually, the peak bloom period happens in late April or early May, lasting one to two weeks.
- Will your plants endure?: Chicago gardeners who’ve seen flowers emerge early because of the warm weather don’t need to worry about the recent drop in temperatures. It’s the surprise drops in the 20-degree range you should worry about, experts say.
- Students uninjured after Taiwan earthquake: A group of St. Ignatius College Prep high school students studying in Taiwan is safe after a devastating earthquake struck Wednesday, the school says.
- Chicago Public Media layoffs: The parent company of WBEZ and the Sun-Times announced layoffs at both organizations Wednesday, 14 in total. The company also said that WBEZ’s podcasting unit will be scaled back dramatically and Vocalo will discontinue its radio programming by May 1.
- Gala to support migrant housing: Advocates on Saturday will host “Bienvenidos A Casa,” a gala to raise money for safe housing for migrants amid shelter evictions.
- Goodman Theatre’s next season: Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s “Inherit the Wind,” the Broadway staging of the “Color Purple” musical, Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” and four world or Chicago premiere productions are among the lineup for the Goodman Theatre’s 2024-25 season.
- Celebrating House Music: Tony Touch, ANANÉ, Ash Lauryn and Karizma will headline the 2024 Chicago House Music Festival, the city announced. The free, four-day festival and conference kicking off May 30, culminates on June 2 with a daylong music celebration at the Pritzker Pavilion.
OUR CITY IN COLOR 🎨
Stars on her cheek, the woman in this Pilsen mural is all Chicago
Reporting by Sun-Times staff
Some people have stars in their eyes. The woman featured in a Pilsen mural, created by Humboldt Park artist Raul “Rawooh” Ramirez, has stars on her cheek.
Ramirez put them there as a nod to Chicago’s iconic city flag, which includes four red stars nestled between two baby-blue strips against a white backdrop.
“I wanted something Chicago-based,” he says. “I did something I like doing — female portraits. But the hair flows onto some abstract city skyline, the Chicago city skyline.”
Ramirez, who grew up in Hermosa, created the piece in late 2021 along Paulina Street near Cullerton Street. While the face is to the left on the exterior wall of the two-story residential building, toward the right, there’s “an abstract element on the edge,” he says.
“The very right corner is an image of a marker, so it’s almost like she’s being drawn in real-time by the marker.”
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Chicago-area solar eclipse hunters plan trek south to take in totality: ‘You have to experience it’
Reporting by Kade Heather
Seven years ago, Reyes Sanchez stood with his girlfriend in downtown Carbondale, amazed by a solar eclipse turning day into night in a matter of seconds.
He was equally astonished to learn that day about another solar eclipse that would pass the exact same area in southern Illinois on Monday.
“We kind of joked about it, like we’ll end up together and we’ll come back again, and probably we’ll have kids by that time,” Sanchez said, "... and now it’s happening.”
Sanchez, his wife and their 3-year-old daughter, along with his brother’s family will leave their home in Riverside about 4 a.m. Monday to drive to Carbondale, take in the eclipse, then drive home.
Around 100,000 to 200,000 people are expected to converge in southern Illinois for the phenomenon, the Illinois Department of Transportation said.
The eclipse’s path of totality, where the moon aligns perfectly with the sun and casts a shadow over Earth, will traverse about a quarter of the state, entering southern Illinois just after noon. Totality will begin about 2 p.m. and last about four minutes in Carbondale — in the crossroads of this year’s eclipse and the one in 2017.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Where do you plan to watch the solar eclipse on Monday?
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Editor: Satchel Price
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Angie Myers
