At once touching and disarming, hopeful and personal, we're given a glimpse of the hopes, dreams, fears and uncertainties of teenagers today as they grapple with their sexual and gender identities—no easy feat for any of us, regardless of orientation. more ›

Attorneys for Alisha Brennon filed the lawsuits in Marion County (IN) Superior Court yesterday to force Indiana to recognize the Illinois civil union of Brennon and Christina Santiago. more ›

43 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, TN. Today is as good a time as any to refer you back to Art Shay's essay and gallery highlighting the civil rights icon's time in Chicago and covering his assassination with the historian Gary Wills. Of all the peeks into Art's vault, this one still resonates as our favorite; certainly it's his most powerful and poignant. more ›

Kevin tipped us off to this next video, in which Dr. King speaks to the Local 1199 hospital workers and health care employees union in 1968. Dr. King's speech is very pointed here, as he criticizes the war in Vietnam and asks why government can't fight poverty and unemployment with the same zeal they fought Communism. more ›

Moving forward with our own observance of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King today, we bring you his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech from 1964, one of our favorite speeches of Dr. King's. more ›

Today is the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. The Civil Rights icon would have been 82 last Saturday. more ›

(Ed. Note: Art sent the photos for this week's post last Thursday, two days before the events in Arizona. Discussing plans for future posts over the phone yesterday, we agreed that these photos should still run, at the very least, to show that some of the things we face as Americans are the same now as they were back when these photos were shot. — CS) more ›

With the civil union bill needing only Pat Quinn's signature to become law, today will go down as a high water mark for civil rights in Illinois history. It's a good first step, but nowhere near the destination. more ›

• A hearing date of March 10 has been set in the battle over Medill's Innocence Project and the involvement in the Anthony McKinney case.
• Indications are that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of black firefighters who have sued the City of Chicago.
• Bones were discovered at a Gold Coast construction site and authorities are trying to determine if they're human.

Wesley South, one of the first African-American graduates of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism as well as a pioneer broadcaster for WVON, passed away from natural causes at his home over the weekend. South was a journalist for the Chicago Defender, the Chicago American, the Chicago Daily News, and Johnson Publishing Company but will most be remembered for his radio show "Hotline" on WVON. South began the show in 1963 and through it interviewed key Civil Rights figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Malcom X, and gave one of the last interviews with Medgar Evers before his murder in June of 1963. South, along with Pervis Spann, founded Midway Broadcasting in 1975 and acquired WVON. At the time of his passing, South was Chairman Emeritus of Midway. more ›

The struggle for African-American civil rights is full of dramatic stories. Bravery, violence, hatred and hope; all of these are part of the complex and interesting tale of the movement. Sadly, for many the exposure to these stories is limited to a half-remembered week of high school history class, or a few dusty books sitting on shelves. Thanks to the Field Museum’s amazing exhibit, “Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement 1956-1968,” visitors have a chance to understand this struggle in an entirely different and much more visceral way. more ›

45 years ago today, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom happened, a monumental moment for the civil rights movement, and the occasion of perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr's single most famous speech, "I have a Dream". more ›

It's hard to avoid if you're keeping up with the mainstream media, but in case you've missed it, today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. King is remembered in today's Tribune, the Sun-Times speaks to Jesse Jackson, who was present at the assassination, and WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight focuses on the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation's efforts to fight substandard housing in the neighborhood as well as their tribute to King, a former resident of the neighborhood who also fought segregated housing issues in the neighborhood. more ›

ATA is going to stop flying out of Midway. Nooooo. [Trib] more ›

Former alderman Dorothy Tillman was arrested over the weekend in Alabama. She was charged with criminal tresspassing after refusing to leave an Montgomery hospital, according to the police. Tillman says the cops used excessive force and that she was brutalized. more ›

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Here are some things going around town to make you consider giving the weather a big ol' raspberry. 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 ›

Barack Obama took the first step in cooling off the war of words between his campaign and Hillary Clinton's. "I've been a little concerned about the tenor of the campaign," Obama said in a press conference called yesterday evening in Nevada. "We've got too much at stake at this time in our history to be engaging in this kind of silliness," Obama said. "I suspect that other candidates may feel the same way." more ›

Mayor Daley has finally announced his pick for new police superintendent: J.P. “Jody” Weis, an FBI agent who was most recently the head of the Philadelphia field office. The City Council still has to approve the appointment, but given that Ald. Isaac Carothers, chairman of the City Council's police committee, says "maybe going to the outside might bring a fresh look — a guy who knows no one and owes no one,” is anyone worried?... more ›

In a report published Monday, the Chicago Reporter found that Chicago is the the nation's capital for "high-cost" home loans. The study, looking at three years' worth of federal home-loan data, showed that in 2006, "the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan statistical area, which includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties" led the nation, with 88,315 “high-cost” mortgages. "High-cost" mortgages are defined as first-lien home loans that are at least three percentage points above... more ›

Imagine you’re an immigrant who has arrived in Chicago from Jerusalem. more ›

So you think Chicagoist is sometimes too critical of the way Mayor Daley runs the city? Wait until the Reverend Al Sharpton gets settled in his new digs. The boisterous Gotham-based minister, with the pompadour that's fading away like a Neil Young lyric, is opening a Chicago chapter of his National Action Network this week, in part to add pressure to His Elective Majesty and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine to react faster to... more ›

Although many here in Chicago don't celebrate today as a holiday, June 19 marks Juneteenth, a day commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery Texas, and the end of slavery in the US. On June 19, 1865, 2,000 Union troops arrived on Galveston Island to take possession of the Texas and enforce the emancipation proclamation, more than two years after it took effect. Recognized in 14 states (including Texas) as an official holiday, it... more ›

Much of mankind's great literature contains conflict, violence, and death. We remember part of our high school curriculum contained Lord of the Flies, which by no means is about children living peacefully on a deserted island. There were many more, but that was just one of the more disturbing ones. more ›

In the latest round of skirmishes over power in this city, aldermanic candidates have seen the labor movement in Chicago flex it's muscle. In the 21st Ward, incumbent alderman Howard Brookins is being challenged by Leroy Jones, a community activist and member of SEIU Local 73 and UFCW Local 881 member Toni Foulkes is running against Felicia Simmons-Stovall for an open seat in the 15th Ward. In fact, this election cycle, more than any other... more ›

With the aldermanic runoff elections just over 2 weeks away, the drama is starting to pick up in a neighborhood not far from your own (or maybe even your own)! Reports from Ukrainian Village indicate that the 32nd Ward Regular Democratic Organization has been sending out a mailing with allegations that we only heard rumors of before February 27. Charges that candidate Scott Waguespak represented himself as an American lawyer while traveling abroad are touted... more ›

...are condemned to repeat it. more ›

If you keep up with your "Free Tibet" news, you may be glad to hear that the Dalai Lama is going to visit Chicago. more ›

If you haven't heard the news that Barack Obama is officially running for president yet, we'd have to wonder what hole you've been hiding in. After a rousing announcement speech in Springfield, where he laid out his reasons for running and outlined his vision for America, Obama headed to Iowa, where he made a whirlwind tour of one of the states that will be critical to securing the nomination. After talking tough about Iraq, energy... more ›