Results tagged “civilrights”

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.

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".

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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."

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?...

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...

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

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

...are condemned to repeat it.

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

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...

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...

It would be easy to write the obligatory piece about "the man and the dream" today. The fact of the matter is that the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is so much more than just the speech he give at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 in Washington, DC. Although he is remembered in the US as one of the leaders, if not the leader, of the civil rights movement in the 1950's...

A Chicago judge dismissed a lawsuit against online ad service Craigslist, filed by the lengthily-named Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law because of discriminatory rental ads.

Artist Benny Andrews died of cancer on Friday in his New York home. Andrews, who served in the air force, used his G.I. bill to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has permanent collections in the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Hirshbom Museum in Washington, D.C.

In the wake of an election which media outlets say demonstrated “clear popular opposition to the war in Iraq,” DePaul University is holding a forum tonight that will expound upon our governments' plans in the Middle East, particularly with regards to Iran. Two Iranian Studies scholars, Hamid Dabashi, and Golbarg Bashi, will present their views along with anti-war activists. Subjects include global geopolitics, the neocon agenda, Islam, human rights, and feminism, to name a few....

Rich Whitney, Green Party Candidate for Illinois Governor

As you may have already read, Wal-Mart is in the early stages of building and opening five (that’s right, five) more stores in Chicago. It just so happens that four of those stores will be in neighborhoods where aldermen opposed the big-box ordinance. Aldermen in those wards will of course say they opposed the big-box wage hike because their wards were the places where a higher wage would be enough reason for retailers to stay out. Wal-Mart can use a similar story; they want to open in these wards because the forces of capitalism tell them to. All-in-all critics of Wal-Mart and supporters of big-box were misguided from the beginning and should be quiet according to this line of thinking. It’s all too perfect, and we’re not going to be convinced easily.

A question that brings to mind both the pirates of yore (and more importantly how they talk) and how millions of people steal money from the pockets of others using nothing but an internet connection. There are other ways to conceptualize what people are doing when they click ‘download,’ the Pirate Political Party does just that. The Pirate Party has aims to reform copyright, intellectual property, and civil rights around the world. Since its beginnings in Sweden in January of 2006, it has gained a sizeable following there, enough to nominate a candidate for Swedish parliament in the recent election.

In North Lawndale, you’re more likely to notice the massive billboards peering over the Eisenhower and the flashing police surveillance cameras than the 100-year-old greystone homes, industrial towers, and boulevards. Too bad the neighborhood’s architectural legacy often gets lost over concerns for public policy and public safety. Roebuck built the original Sears Tower here a century ago, and Magic Johnson might bring new business here soon.

The Secret Service does not screw around when it comes to threats on the President. Remember last year when the Secret Service paid a visit to Columbia College when they featured some artwork with an image of President Bush with a gun to his head? So it’s a safe bet that British TV director Gabriel Range will be getting a call soon about his new pseudo-documentary Death of a President. The film was shot here...