The hollow election: The African-American vote

Traces of change devoured the streets of Chicago eight years ago as African-Americans came together to elect the first black president of the United States.

But eight years later, change resonates with an aftertaste of failed promises that comes with being born to the murder capital of the world.

“Eight years, eight years,” said Ron Robert, a 26-year-old South Shore resident. “What has Obama done for your life? What has changed? Nothing. Nothing has changed. We are struggling. Either way, we can’t win.”

And that sentiment is felt by many African-American voters all over the country.

Women’s March On Chicago draws 250,000 in historic protest

The steady chatter from the “L” added whispered layers to the crowd of 250,000 that occupied the streets below its breath Saturday. Each time the train whistled into the 60 degree January sky, a ripple of cheers devoured the city’s confines, as signs of protest and hope seemingly hovered over the windy city’s grasp.

From Jackson and Columbus, to Michigan Avenue, to Grant Park and the Trump Towers, hundreds of thousands marched downtown on Saturday advocating for women’s rights, following the inauguration of Donald Trump Friday.

In solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington, nearly three million people marched throughout cities across the world Saturday in the biggest protest in US history.

South Side’s promised future, 40 years in the making

Clifton Lucas didn’t venture outside the brinks of the South Side until he was almost 15 years old. Going downtown was a distant, far-fetched idea that he never chewed on for too long.

“Everything was in The Hood,” Lucas said. “We would ride around in The Hood and never travel out. Leaving was like a whole different world – outside of Englewood was a whole different world.”

And Lucas’ upbringing isn’t uncommon. Born and raised in one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Englewood was all Lucas knew, and all he wanted to know growing up. 

For many communities on Chicago’s far South and West Sides, traveling downtown can mean long commute times on the CTA, a blueprint to getting around Chicago’s corridors, causing some to bypass the system altogether. But a closer look at data from the 2012 Census Bureau, cross-examined with CTA’s 2015 Annual Ridership Report show the consequences of the CTA’s limits. Communities in which residents must make more than one transfer on public transportation to reach downtown, have significantly higher unemployment rates than neighborhoods that are directly accessible to downtown. 

Hyde Park Jazz Fest: a fest like no other

From the DuSable Museum of African-American History to the heart of the University of Chicago’s campus, all the performances are located throughout the neighborhood. Hyde Park is the fest’s playground and attendees will float from one historic location to the next to experience all that the community has to offer.

“It’s a way to bring people together and celebrate the community, the art and the spaces in Hyde Park,” said Olivia Junell the managing director of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. “It’s a huge draw, which is good for business and visibility on the South Side of Chicago.”

Though attendees will hear jazz icons such as Miguel Zenon and Matana Roberts, they will also get to know local Chicago musicians, some of whom are just breaking into the jazz scene.

Following the music home

Music and the streets are all Robert Floyd Butler has ever known.

When he is not in the streets, he is rapping.

Music is a flight from the harsh realities that life has served him for over 20 years. He raps to provide a better future for his family and friends. He raps because it is all he has ever known. He raps because it is a way out.

But the more he raps, the more he realizes that getting out won’t be that easy. But what conviction that haunts him more? He doesn’t want to.

“I’ve been in the streets since I was a kid,” Butler, who is from the Chatham neighborhood in Chicago, said. “Every man I have been around has been in the streets. Once I got involved, it was fun. I was getting respect. I was seen.”

The hashtag benefit isn’t enough

Soulful remnants of Shawnee Dez’s rifts devour the lofty art gallery as she slowly lets her guarded persona dissipate. For moments, her music draws the room closer together in awe at the sophisticated voice that resonates from her 21-year-old chords.

But the intimate moment is not exclusive in today’s tech era.

Seconds into her performance, cell phones emerge from the masked audience and screen reflections dance off one another, competing with the stage lights that hold her up.

In a world where documenting everything has become trendy, the rise of social media has disrupted the industry, changing how artists perform, sell and brand their art.

Chicago renovates the northern Red Line while the South Side awaits extension plan

Karyn Lacey lives beyond the brinks of the Red Line’s corridors. Commuting to a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train stop isn’t a 10, 15 or even 20 minute walk from her doorstep. For Lacey, riding the CTA means driving to a northern stop she feels safe at, and then taking the CTA train to her classes downtown twice a week, a commute that can span almost two hours.

So when news broke that Chicago received $1 billion in federal funding to renovate the northern half of the Red Line, Lacey felt helpless.

“If anybody needs a renovation, it’s the South Side,” Lacey said. “You can’t do one side and not the other. It’s still hard for people from the South Side to even travel to Chicago.”

In waves, the city will renovate all the Red Line stops north of Belmont. Construction on the first phase will completely remake the Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, Argyle and Berwyn stops. The northern tracks, which were built in 1920, are nearing their life expectancy and will expire in a few years. All stops will also have an elevator, making them fully accessible for the first time ever.

Still, with a significant investment in Chicago’s North Side, some Chicagoans wonder about the status of the Red Line’s southern stops including the highly anticipated extension of the CTA’s Red Line to 130th street.

“The fact that it’s taken so long to even come up with a plan for the extension of the Red Line on the South Side is a legacy of structural racism,” said DePaul associate professor Winifred Curran, who specializes in geography and urban planning. “This incredible amount of investment going to the North Side and not to the South Side is unfortunate, and doesn’t have any good social justice implications.”

The entire North Side renovation cost $2 billion and the city could only seek the federal grant if they were able to match its funding. So legislators created a tax increment financing district (TIF) — a financing method that invests the increases in tax revenues to a project or development — that is expected to generate $622 million. The established TIF, and funds from other resources, allowed the city to match and secure the grant. The now-established TIF will also help the city seek funding for other CTA projects, like the Red Line Extension Plan.

“It’s very hard for the city to do this all by itself,” Curran said. “The fact that this is federal money is evidence of that. We have not always had administration in Washington that are city or public transit-friendly, so this was absolutely a strategic time to cease upon a Mayor from Chicago to get this money.”

The renovation of the northern Red Line is just one part of the city’s Red Ahead program — which is a series of initiatives to significantly improve the CTA. Right now, the 95th stop is under construction to improve its functionality, and is expected to be finished later this year.

“I think improving the Red Line is definitely a good thing that is needed,” said Jaclyn Robust, a resident in the city who rides the Red Line daily. “However, I am curious about the construction and if it would interrupt daily commutes.”

For some, the renovations spring hope of a safer Red Line. Robust refuses to ride the Red Line at night, especially after a violent summer in the city. Lacey, on the other hand, will ride the Red Line at night to certain stops, but she is always aware and cautious.

“These renovations won’t help with the safety issues if they just do North Side. More people are frightened to ride the Red Line on the South Side,” Lacey said. “It sounds bad, but once I pass the Chinatown stop, I’m not as frightened anymore.”

The Red Line Extension Plan currently costs $2.3 billion, and the city has yet to complete a series of requirements before funding can even begin. Many are still waiting for a true investment in the South Side communities.

“This is a signal to these gentrified neighborhoods that public investment is going to continue in the North,” Curran said. “It’s really unfortunate that the South Side expansion was not included in this, and it should’ve been.”

The monopoly of black beauty

Beauty Supply products do not nourish the sea of curls that consume Jade Bryant’s head.

Weaves, braids or wigs do not safely conceal her brown natural tresses.

She prefers a more organic route.

Bryant doesn’t support the Korean owned beauty supply stores that conveniently flock every block in her neighborhood, anymore.

“I felt like they were watching me,” she said, recalling a time she stopped at her local beauty supply store to purchase razors. “When I asked for help, they pointed to the black clerk that sold the weave hair. I wasn’t even looking for weave.”

African-Americans flee Chicago amid violence

For many, summer brings barbecues, vacations and memories to warm up the frivolous winter months that lay ahead.

But summer means something different to Chicago residents.

August brought the most violent month in over 20 years, and big weekends like Labor Day and the Fourth of July mean 120 shot and many wounded. The violence, which is prevalent in African-American communities on the South and West sides, is just one explanation as to why 180,000 African-Americans left the city from 2000-2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“We cannot afford to lose another generation to the gangs and to the streets and to the guns and to the violence,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at a press conference on Thursday.

Yiannopoulos seals book deal with Threshold Editions

News broke Dec. 30 that conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos signed a book deal with Threshold Editions, an imprint of publishing company Simon and Schuster, entitled “Dangerous” to be released in March of this year.

The book comes after Yiannopoulos was permanently banned from Twitter after “Ghostbuster” actress and “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones was harassed on social media by Yiannopoulos and his followers, causing Jones to take a hiatus from the platform.

Yiannopoulos rose to fame as a writer for Brietbart News, the alt-right website founded by President-Elect Trump’s pick for chief strategist, Steve Bannon.

Coal industry’s ties run deep with Catholicism

Michael Iafrate and Fr. Edwin Gariguez are waiting for the lights to turn on.

As activists for clean energy, they believe the time is now to forge a new path to sustainability. Though their work stems from different backgrounds and perspectives in the global struggle for renewable energy, their vision remains the same.

“We need to stop coal,” Gariguez said. “This is something that isn’t for the development of the people, but for the development of corporations. It puts the health of the people at risk and has negative impacts and effects for society.”

On Thursday, the Center For World Catholicism and Intercultural Technology hosted a panel, Catholicism and Coal, featuring Iafrate and Gariguez at the Lincoln Park Student Center. In the lofty room, they spoke of hope and desperation for a cleaner tomorrow.

DePaul academia sign petition against immigration ban

Thousands from the academia community signed a petition against President Donald Trump’s executive order, barring immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries from entering the country for 90 to 120 days.

The petition, Academics Against Executive Order, started Jan. 27, the day the immigration ban was announced. It has garnered over 30,000 signatures and counting, including more than 30 members of the DePaul academia community.

The order bans citizens from Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Somalia from entering the U.S. for 90 days, indefinitely blocks Syrian refugees from entering, and prevents the U.S. from accepting refugees from countries other than Syria for 120 days.