A new study led by a UIC researcher - performed in conjunction with the University of Michigan - shows that "racial residential segregation in the Chicago area may be perpetuated by a lack of knowledge of communities across racial lines." In 2005, researchers surveyed more than 700 adults 21 years of age and older living in Cook County, Illinois to examine how whites, blacks and Latinos differ in awareness of neighborhoods in Chicago and surrounding areas. Respondents in the study were asked to look at a map which highlighted 41 communities located in and around the city and mark any area they didn’t know anything about. The researchers called these areas community blind spots. The 41 areas represented a variety of communities in and outside the city - from communities with expensive housing to those with moderately priced housing, and from communities that are racially segregated to those that are integrated. Regardless of the variety and types of communities represented, the blind spot communities were very different along racial lines. more ›

Tinley Park police released a sketch today of the gunman who killed five women in a botched clothing store robbery. The gunman is described in a statement from the Tinley Park Police: more ›

Joseph Pannell was 19 years old when he shot a Chicago police officer in 1969. And then he skipped bail. And skipped bail again in 1974, this time fleeing to Canada, where he changed his name to Douglas Gary Freeman and lived under that identity for almost 40 years. But in 2004, Chicago's cold case squad tracked him down and started extradition proceedings, which Parnell fought....until this week. more ›

Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King would have been 79 this year. In 1984 an act of Congress made the third Monday of this month Martin Luther King Day. With most government offices closed today, there are a plethora of events honoring his memory. The Chicago Park District is holding a series of events dedicated to his legacy. The University of Chicago is hosting panels and speakers all week, with a series of films and documentaries this evening starting at 5 p.m. The DuSable Museum of African American History is holding workshops, performances and panel discussions on the legacy of the civil rights movement and the challenges it still faces in 21st century America. The Chicago History Museum kicks the day off with crafts and storytelling for children, followed by songs and spirituals performed by the Chicago Chamber Choir. At 1 p.m., LeRoyce Hawkins and Cameron Drake will perform Jeff Stetson's critically acclaimed "The Meeting", an imagined meeting between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, followed by a reading of King's "I have a Dream" speech. more ›

Former Cook County Board President John Stroger has died, Mayor Daley announced this morning. He was 78. more ›

Tuesday we gave you the rundown of who is running for a Green Party nomination in Illinois, but among the candidates, one in particular stands out. Richard B. Mayers, a white supremacist connected with Matt Hale's Creativity Movement is running against Jerome "Jerry" Pohlen in the 3rd Congressional District. This isn't the first time Mayers has run for office. In 2002 he was removed from the ballot in the 9th Congressional District, leaving Jan Schakowsky... more ›

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA... more ›

It's the first Friday of the month which means The Dollar Store Show, a series of readings and performances based on purchases for a buck, returns to the Hideout. This month's readers include writers James Kennedy and Jonathan Messinger as well as theater performers Sarah Haskins and Diana Slickman. Hideout, Friday, 7 p.m. $1 We can't decide which under-appreciated literary group to support on Saturday so we'll list two and hopefully hop between them. First,... more ›

Wade Miller is in, and Mark Prior is on his way to Iowa. Spike Lee is spending time with about 300 CPS students. Someone broke into the Deatrick family's Bolingbrook home and stole a computer, jewelry and a pug named Pixie, but all they really care about is getting their dog back, especially for their kid. Thanks to the Bolingbrook Crime Stoppers, family and friends of the victims, and B96 radio hosts Eddie and... more ›

Rep. Bobby Rush and two co-sponsors introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in January that would allow groups to hand out condoms to inmates. The Tribune reports that inmates are 5 times more likely to contract HIV than others. A similar bill was struck down by an Illinois State House committee 6-5 on Thursday, leaving the controversial and unpopular issue in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The AIDS foundation of Chicago,... more ›

Discussions about Black History Month have become as complex as discussions about race. Debating the labels ‘black’ and ‘African-American’ lead to debates about biracial identity and, recently, whether Senator Obama, Joe Biden’s “first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” friend, is actually African-American. In the same vein, Black History Month has increasingly been relabeled African-American Heritage Month and African Heritage Month, terms emphasizing the present and future as... more ›

In the US, February marks Black History Month, and while there are no shortage of opportunities to learn about important and significant people of African descent this month, the purpose and history behind the event is sometimes lost. While Africans have been present in North America at least since colonial times, black history had barely begun to be studied — or even documented — when the tradition formally began in 1926. It wasn't until later... more ›

While we like to think of ourselves as culturally aware, we have to admit that we are pretty unaware when it comes to Kwanzaa. Aside from seeing a small exhibit about the holiday at the DuSable Museum of African-American History, and hearing a woman at the post office wishing a clerk a “Happy Kwanzaa!” (the first we’d ever heard it said, mind you), our encounters with the celebration have been few and far between. more ›

This morning, Chicagoist hopped on the bus to Navy Pier to listen to a presentation by Chicago Public Radio (CPR) explaining the rationale for their new 2007 schedule. Torey Malatia, the president and general manager of the station, explained the purpose of restructuring the schedule and doing away with the music formats. Malatia described how CPR was simultaneously a local, regional, national, and global broadcaster. In order to remain relevant with local and regional... more ›

The Sun-Times is reporting that one of Chicago's own will be heading out to space for twelve days next week on the Discovery. The lucky astronaut is one Joan Higginbotham, a South Side native who will be the third African American woman to take a trip out there. The launch is planned for December 7. We've wanted to be an astronaut since watching Space Camp back in the Eighties. We never got around to joining... more ›

Okay, so remember the book burning from last week? The buttheads who burned some 70 Gay and Lesbian books (and 23 from the African American section) in the Merlo Library? About thirty people showed up at the library last night, to protest the lackadaisical attitude of the police and the press regarding the crime. And honestly? We’re torn. There are a couple of issues here. The fire was set with no accelerants, they left no... more ›

Reader and Audience via swanksalot more ›

Down in Nashville there’s an obsession with a dish called “hot chicken.” Legend has it that it started when the girlfriend of a man named Thornton Prince- a notorious womanizer- decided to exert payback on Prince’s whoring around by spiking his fried chicken with enough hot spices to fell an elephant. But the girlfriend discovered the hard way that revenge is indeed a dish best served cold: Prince loved the hot chicken so much he asked for seconds and thirds. more ›

One of the most inexplicable inequities in Chicago public transit are the differences between Metra heavy rail service and the Metra Electric Line. The Electric Line, which terminates at the Randolph Street station and runs mostly through Chicago's South Side African American neighborhoods and suburbs, has continually been plagued by some subtle, and not so subtle differences that grate the patience of riders, and regularly attract charges of racism. Enter recently-appointed State Senator Kwame Raoul. more ›

Store window buzz in this town usually revolves around Marshall Field's legendary holiday creations, a State Street tradition since 1897, or everyone's favorite mannequin-comes-to-life-and-seduces-Andrew-McCarthy-in-a-hammock film classic. However, as the Sun Times is reporting, a slightly different kind of display on the north end of State is drawing some not-so-positive attention. G'Bani Shoes, a Gold Coast boutique well known for hawking expensive designer kicks to fancy folks, is raising eyebrows and blood pressure with window displays... more ›

So what exactly does happen when “an openly gay liberal Black man from a lower-class single-parent home meets a conservative heterosexual Black woman from a middle-class two-parent home”? Comedy duo Straight and Nappy is asking the question of the times and presumably providing the answer at the 4th annual production of Second City’s WORDS variety showcase. more ›

Well, depends who you ask. After a ton of debate the City Council approved the building of Chicago's first Wal-Mart on the city's West Side. A huge crowd showed up yesterday for the groundbreaking ceremony which included a high school band and a ribbon cutting. But the protestors also showed up. more ›

Snow snow snow. Everybody’s cancelling plans and freaking out about the alleged “incoming snow” scheduled to income tonight/tomorrow/etc. Use extreme caution when traveling, they say. Stay home if at all possible, they say. more ›

The College Board released its report today on national and statewide trends in SAT scores. The national average is the same as last year: 1026. Verbal scores are up one point to 508 and math scores are down one point to 518. Illinois�s average, though reported here as being the same, actually appears to be 1182, with 585 on verbal and 597 on math. You can read the whole Illinois report in this .pdf, or trust us that that�s what�s on page 12. Actually, the report is pretty interesting and worth flipping through�the information is broken down in lots of different ways, and it�s kind of cool. Nerd alert. more ›

Out at CHS, organized by the Chicago Historical Society, is spending the year exploring the LGBT past by hosting a series of events that celebrate the illustrious history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in Chicago and throughout the country.
more ›