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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Black History

Dorothy-Town Thompson, author of “A Handwriting and Black History Book: Practice Activities for Intermediate Grades” reads her book to students as Alia Thomas (in rainbow headband) listens during Black History Month at Willa Cather Elementary School in the Garfield Park neighborhood, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Black History
Black History Month offers lessons, excitement for young Chicago students
Through artwork, dance, readings and performances, students at Willa Cather Elementary in East Garfield Park share what they’ve learned this Black History Month.
By Mariah Rush
 
Amanda Darrow Utah Pride Center books “The Bluest Eye” Toni Morrison
Columnists
Don't be afraid, it's just history
With history under attack down South, Black History Month is more important than ever.
By Neil Steinberg
 
Chicago historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas says goodbye to player Sir Jamison Jones after Thomas’ Chicago Mahogany Bus Tour on Monday.
Chicago
High school baseball players learn about Negro Leagues on South Side tour ahead of Sox’s Double Duty Classic game
The Double Duty Classic game began in 2007 and showcases the history of the Negro Leagues. A group of top high school players from Chicago and the Midwest play in the game Tuesday after a tour to shore up their baseball and South Side history.
By Mariah Rush
 
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Black History
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. lifts up the next generation
Jesse Jackson’s passing of the civil rights torch is an example of unselfish leadership.
By Mary Mitchell
 
Renault Robinson founded the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League alongside fellow CPD officer, Edward “Buzz” Palmer.
Obituaries
Renault Robinson, 80, dies — co-founded advocacy group for Black police officers, won lawsuit against CPD, briefly led CHA
Renault Robinson spent his life advocating for civil rights and sought to improve relations between the police and Black communities throughout Chicago.
By Jacquelyne Germain
 
Jesse Jackson visits Stateville Correctional Center amid inmate revolt and hostage situation, Sept. 7, 1973.
News
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s decades of civil rights activism, political efforts
Jackson will step down as president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a merger of two organizations he founded.
By Kaitlin Washburn
 
Days after his 81st birthday, Rev. Jesse Jackson sits at his desk at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at 930 E. 50th St. on the South Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 11, 2022.
Chicago
Rev. Jesse Jackson stepping down as president of Rainbow PUSH
Jackson founded Operation PUSH in 1971. The Rainbow Coalition, which grew out of his 1984 presidential campaign, merged with PUSH in 1996.
By Lynn Sweet
 
Chosen Few DJs Picnic & Festival in Jackson Park on July 7, 2018.
Entertainment and Culture
Chosen Few DJs’ ‘family reunion style’ house music festival returns to Jackson Park Saturday
The festival was started in 1990 by the Chosen Few DJs, a group of house music pioneers from Chicago. With house music’s recent rise in mainstream popularity, the event showcases the music that’s never left its birthplace.
By Mariah Rush
 
The outside of the former Wabash Avenue Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Chicago.
News
Bronzeville’s historic Wabash YMCA set for another restoration, courtesy of federal grant
The renovations will focus on a pool, a gym, various meeting rooms and reviving a decades-old mural in the historic building where Black History Month originated.
By Jacquelyne Germain
 
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Nation/World
Civil rights icon James Meredith, 90, falls at Mississippi event but has no visible injuries
In 1962, James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. White mobs rioted on the Oxford campus as federal marshals protected him.
By Emily Wagster Pettus | Associated Press
 
“The Warehouse,” at 206 S. Jefferson St., is regarded as the birthplace of house music.
City Hall
Birthplace of house music one step away from landmark status
From 1977 through the mid-1980s, the resident DJ at the Warehouse was Frankie Knuckles, a record producer and remix artist hailed as the “Godfather of House Music.”
By Fran Spielman
 
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News
The Journey to Juneteenth: uncovering the history and making of a federal holiday
The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a federal holiday.
By Associated Press
 
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Chicago
Historic Ebony test kitchen finds permanent home at Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
A vintage ’70s test kitchen where recipes were created and perfected for Ebony magazine’s national readership will be part of an exhibit highlighting the intersection of food and culture in the African American community.
By Emmanuel Camarillo
 
A red Cadillac Eldorado on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., once owned by rock pioneer Chuck Berry.
Columnists
Don’t be scared — it’s your history, too
National Museum of African American History and Culture tells stories that make some people uncomfortable — if they’re on the wrong side of history.
By Neil Steinberg
 
Useni Eugene Perkins is executive director of the Better Boys Foundation, a family center for education, social development and cultural arts.
Obituaries
Useni Eugene Perkins, a social worker and author who uplifted the Black community in word and deed, dead at 90
Useni Eugene Perkins is best known for his poem ‘Hey Black Child,’ but Mr. Perkins was a prolific author whose works ranged from children’s plays and poems to tomes documenting life on Chicago’s streets.
By Mitch Dudek
 
My copy of Jonathan Eig’s “King: A Life” with important passages that I want to return to marked with Post-It notes. The book is being hailed as a masterpiece.
Columnists
King’s life just won’t stay in the past
New book by Chicago writer Jonathan Eig resonates as the right wages a ‘War on Woke.’
By Neil Steinberg
 
The grave marker for Emmett Till at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. His lynching was a tipping point for the civil rights moment.
Chicago
After death of Emmett Till’s accuser, Chicago-area cousin says, ‘No one now will be’ held accountable
Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. said Thursday, “It is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.”
By Kaitlin Washburn
 
Roy Bryant, far right, and his wife, Carolyn Bryant, sit together in a courtroom in Sumner, Miss. in 1955.
Black History
Emmett Till accuser dies; Carolyn Bryant Donham was 88
The Mississippi lynching of 14-year-old Till became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement when his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago.
By Emily Wagster Pettus | Associated Press
 
Harry Belafonte spoke at St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago and became close friends with its pastor, Rev. Michael Pfleger.
Obituaries
Harry Belafonte was ‘a major influence’ on his Chicago friends, they fondly recall
Belafonte, the singer-actor-activist who died Tuesday at 96, left a legacy that went beyond the entertainment world — he was a fierce advocate for civil rights.
By Mariah Rush
 
Retired businessman Ed Gardner (center, in pink hat and sunglasses) led a march to demand equal opportunity in construction jobs. The group marched north on Western Avenue from 95th to 91st Streets.
Columnists
Soft Sheen’s Edward G. Gardner showed what Black life could be
He built his family a beautiful home on the South Side of the city and co-founded a business that provided steady employment so others could do the same.
By Mary Mitchell
 
Sandra Rosalie McWorter Marsh, great-great-granddaughter of Free Frank McWorter, speaks with students at the Washburne Culinary and Hospitality Institute at Kennedy-King College in Englewood, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. The McWorter family donated 1700 cookbooks collected over the years by Sandra McWorter.
Black History
Okra, celery and ham: Kennedy-King students cook up a gumbo from African American history
The great-great granddaughter of a man who bought 15 family members out of slavery donated more than 1,700 cookbooks to Kennedy-King College.
By Lisa Philip | WBEZ
 
Glass blower Markisha Johnson, 22, works on a glass marker for the 1919 Commemoration Project at Firebird Community Arts studio on Jan. 24, 2023. The marker will be placed at one of the important sites in the 1919 race riots.
News
1919 race riots memorial project will honor victims where they died — in streets all over city
The memorials, glass markers that will be installed on city streets, will commemorate those who suffered during some of the worst instances of racial violence in Chicago history.
By Michael Loria
 
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Emmett Till
President Biden, first lady to screen ‘Till’ at the White House; movie tells Emmett Till story
Invitees to the Thursday screening include the cast of the film, the family of Emmett Till, students, civil rights leaders, historians and families of victims of hate crimes.
By Lynn Sweet
 
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Chicago
Chicago football fans thrilled to see historic Super Bowl duel between two Black QBs. ‘It’s amazing.’
Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes make history. For decades, white owners and coaches assumed Black players couldn’t grasp the technicalities of the position.
By Emmanuel Camarillo
 
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “The 1619 Project” is a Black history lesson now streaming on Hulu.
Columnists
With ‘The 1619 Project’ streaming on Hulu, Black History Month kicks off with a powerful message
Nearly 50 years ago, “Roots” told the African American story. “The 1619 Project” picks up where author Alex Haley left off.
By Mary Mitchell
 
This statue of King Leopold II was re-erected in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2005 to remind people of the horrors of his colonial rule.
Columnists
Black history just won’t stay buried
The horrors of the Congo long outlived Belgian domination.
By Neil Steinberg
 
Third World Press Foundation, at 7822 S. Dobson Ave. in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, has started a GoFundMe for damages experienced after a pipe burst beneath the building.
Black History
Historic Black publisher raises money after flood damages property
Third World Press Foundation, the renowned Black publishing company on Chicago’s South Side, experienced a flood in December that caused $200,000 in damage.
By Mariah Rush
 
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Black History
Talking MLK bobblehead commemorates civil rights icon’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum collaborates with the estate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to bring his message to a new generation.
By Allison Novelo
 
Margaret Galloway asks children what they’d do to improve their community during a Kwanzaa learning event at the Bronzeville Children’s Museum on 93rd and Stoney Island, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Black History
Families kick off Kwanzaa with children's museum celebration
The Bronzeville Children’s Museum celebrates the start of the seven-day holiday commemorating African American culture by studying the seven principles. First; unity.
By Nader Issa
 
Rev. Jesse Jackson sits at his desk at Rainbow PUSH.
Chicago
Rev. Jesse Jackson won’t slow down at 81: ‘It’s my sense of purpose’
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson turned 81 last week, and will celebrate at a birthday gala on Friday. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017, he told the Chicago Sun-Times he has no intention of taking it easy. Right now, his focus is on registering voters for the upcoming election.
By Mariah Rush
 
Workers add a mural to the Mahalia Jackson Court located at 79th and State streets. A monument dedicated to Jackson will be unveiled Friday.
Black History
Statue of gospel icon Mahalia Jackson to be unveiled at memorial plaza in Chatham
Jackson died in 1972, but her legacy lives on. The longtime Chicago resident is said to have influenced the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech after she performed at the March on Washington in 1963.
By Mariah Rush
 
Rosa Parks, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. behind her, during the early days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956.
News
Ebony, Jet photo archives are headed to the Smithsonian
The museum and J. Paul Getty Trust will digitize and make available material that documents African American life for most of the 20th century.
By David Roeder
 
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