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The ‘Chiraq’ War Mentality in Chicago Prevents Solutions
Now that Chicago has recorded the fewest number of murders since 1965, maybe the hyperbole that the city is the murder capital of America will die. Doubtful. But I would like to use this opportunity for the city’s residents to think differently about crime and neighborhoods, and how we respond to perceptions. Chicagoans, let’s please…
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Who Should Be Face of Chicago Violence?
(The Root) — I’m struggling to tell stories. As an urban-affairs reporter in Chicago, I hesitate over whose story is the best to portray community violence. Chicago is at a crucial moment; all eyes are on the city as it recoils in an unflattering limelight. The perception, no matter what statistics say, no matter the…
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What Our Ancestors Ate for the Holidays
Before you slice into that sweet potato pie, douse those greens in hot sauce or cut a corner of macaroni and cheese this holiday season, consider what you may be missing. African-American food historian Leni Sorensen says that the iconic images of soul food during Thanksgiving and Christmas represent a small slice of black American…
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In Praise of Pork
I get really excited when I meet a black man who eats pork. This is not so simple if you live outside the South and want to date a man younger than 45 years old. In certain parts of the black community, eating swine is a cultural no-no. Alas, this can be a dating challenge…
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Muammar Qaddafi's Chicago Connection
From keeping crack cocaine off Chicago’s streets in the mid-1980s to becoming the first Americans convicted of domestic terrorism, the El Rukns have had one of the most fascinating gang stories with global reach. They sold synthetic heroin. They prayed in a mosque. They held community meetings. They got arrested for murder. In the 1970s…
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The Root Cities: Sweet Home Chicago
In Dreams From My Father, President Barack Obama writes eloquently about why he chose to make Chicago his adult home. The city has traditionally been the political and economic capital of black America, while New York’s Harlem has held the mantle as its cultural capital. More black U.S. senators have come from Chicago than anywhere…
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Fighting the Food Justice Fight, One Veggie at a Time
In poor black neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago, the corner store is like an old-fashioned, all-purpose general store. But not nearly as pleasant and accommodating. Patrons support them out of convenience because major grocers ignore these communities. Corner stores tend to mostly peddle junk and unhealthy food—potato chip varieties, funny-colored soft drinks, anything…
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Who Was Leanita McClain?
Years ago, I sat in my public-policy journalism class when a professor circulated a 25-year-old essay that ran in the Washington Post. None of my mostly white peers could read beyond the provocative headline: “How Chicago Taught Me to Hate Whites.” Only I, the lone black student in the classroom at Northwestern in the late…
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Mixed Income, Mixed Results
A few weeks after I moved into my condo in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, I saw a group of black men—ages from 20s to 50s—standing in front of my building. As I unloaded my groceries, I introduced myself as the new gal on the block. They seemed genuinely shocked at the neighborly…
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Living Down to Expectations
During his first term, his nicknames in the local media ran the gamut: “Big Diamond,” “thug,” “pimp,” “player,” “Kwame Soprano,” “Swami,” “his thugness,” “ghetto,” “gangsta,” “inept club crawler,” “hustler,” “Puffy Kilpatrick.” Often it was just plain ole Kwame—the reverent title of “Mayor,” “Mr. Mayor” or “Mr. Kilpatrick” chucked aside. Back then, stereotypical characterizations like that…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
