Young Fugitives performance probes a killing and ‘the stories that don’t get...
By Kari Lydersen Deonta Mackey had a gun. That differentiates him from Michael Brown in Ferguson and various other Black men and women whose killings by police have generated widespread outrage and...
View ArticleHomeless youth, advocates ask Rauner to put ‘human lives before revenue’
By Mirkica Popovik About 20,000 young people at risk of homelessness in Illinois may be on the streets without shelter and services this winter, as the state’s budget stalemate continues in...
View ArticleConservative Republicans take center stage on debate regarding prison reform
By SJNN staff Conservative Republicans, including presidential candidates, are now taking center stage in an ongoing dialogue regarding prison reform in the U.S. As became clear at the most recent...
View ArticleHelping Kids Cope with Crippling Loss
By Taylor Mullaney When he learned about his mother’s sudden death, Kevin Doyle figured – just for a moment – that he knew what had happened. “I thought, ‘Well she’s a nurse, she probably got into a...
View ArticleHoping for a Dream Deferred
By Taylor Mullaney A pop-up screen appeared, and she couldn’t continue the application. Surely, she thought, it was just a glitch in the residency section. She’d call the admissions office immediately...
View ArticleHousing activists urge CHA to start using its unspent millions
By Mirkica Popovik Several dozen housing activists set up camp outside Chicago’s City Hall the evening of October 13 asking City Council officials and the mayor’s office to implement a more transparent...
View ArticleA Tent City In Uptown, Protesting Sweeps of the Homeless
Carol Boyd says she has never been part of a protest before. But she knows well the needs and aspirations of homeless people in Chicago. Boyd is the founder of Humble Hearts, a volunteer-run...
View ArticleLife Beyond the Shadows
By Taylor Mullaney When Erendira Calderon graduated from high school as an undocumented student, she knew she would face an uphill battle to attend a university. Seven years, two states, five colleges,...
View ArticlePlanting roots, growing opportunity: An urban farm at Cabrini-Green
By Marisa Endicott The Chicago Lights Urban Farm sits at the intersection of Chicago and Hudson avenues and at a crossroads for the city’s housing and gentrification struggle. Located in the Near North...
View ArticleDozens March to City Hall to Demand Preservation of Lathrop Homes as Public...
By Julia Cardi Scores of religious leaders, public-housing residents and community advocacy groups braved the chilly morning air to fill the plaza outside the Thompson Center, singing songs popular...
View ArticleUptown Activists, Homeless Confront Alderman at Home and Work
By Harry Huggins Activists joined homeless residents of Uptown the evening of Nov. 9 to protest police treatment of people living in the nearby tent city. Protesters marched from the enclave off Wilson...
View ArticleA broader picture of Chicago’s public housing
By Marisa Endicott The history, diversity and humanity in Chicago’s public housing developments are often lost in the heated debates focused largely on crime, decay and policy controversy. But those...
View ArticleMauricio Peña chronicles “Death in the Fields”
By Kari Lydersen “Francisco Alvarez Bautista’s sweat-soaked, long-sleeve shirt clung to his body long before temperatures hit the expected high of 102 degrees. The humidity lingered below the canopies...
View ArticleSyrian-Americans Disappointed with Gov. Rauner
By Nikita Mandhani With many U.S. states, including Illinois, trying to slam their doors to Syrian refugees, many in the Syrian community in Chicago say they are losing their faith in the American...
View ArticleLive your myth: the life and experiences of foreign correspondents in Greece
By Mirkica Popovik Covered with gas masks, Sanja Ristovska and Nathalie Savaricas ran fast amidst the thick fog released by Molotov cocktails, gas bombs and tear gas. As the altercations got worse they...
View ArticlePolice videos, the cynical art of sacrifice and the need for trust
Jack C Doppelt On Nov. 25, in the immediate aftermath of public events relating to the back-to-back murder charges of a gun-happy Chicago cop and the release of a damning and distracting video of...
View ArticleChristians Split on Syrian Refugee Resettlement
By Yingxu Jane Hao Some Christians in the U.S. are divided on the Syrian refugee issue, especially in the wake of the Paris attacks. Some are calling for tighter security, while others still believe in...
View ArticleScholars Assess Mixed-Income Housing and Income Segregation in Chicago
By Harry Huggins As former residents of Chicago’s public housing high-rise buildings sat in the front row inside the Newberry Library Thursday night, two community organizing scholars presented stories...
View ArticleHow Mobility Workshops Try to Deconcentrate Poverty in Chicago
By Harry Huggins In a small conference room in a Loop office building every Tuesday and Thursday, an ebullient social worker spends one hour convincing five to 20 people that they can move their...
View ArticleNoor Wazwaz: Taking a Step Toward Change
By Nikita Mandhani Clutching on to her faith and toiling for the realization of her dream, Noor Wazwaz yearned to ask questions, listen to distinctive life-stories and “clarify the misrepresentation of...
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