Arts & Culture
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Energy Never Dies: Afro-Optimism and Creativity in Black Chicago
Energy Never Dies Afro-Optimism and Creativity in Chicago outlines the undefeatable culture of Black Chicago, past and present.
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Devin Mays of Rebuild Foundation on the lasting legacy of black media giant Johnson Publishing
Reclaimed Soul host Ayana Contreras in conversation with Devin Mays of Rebuild Foundation about the legacy of Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine, & Fashion Fair Cosmetics, as well as A Johnson Publishing Story (an exhibit at Stony Island Arts Bank). For more the legacy of Ebony Magazine (and its parent company, Johnson Publishing Company), click here.…
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1968: In Wake of King’s Slaying, Black Chicago was Cloaked In Grief, In Song
In April of 1968, an uprising lit up the West Side of Chicago in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Black Chicago had a special connection to the civil rights leader: Dr. King lived on the West Side in 1966, fighting along with the Chicago Freedom Movement for open housing. Reclaimed Soul…
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Reclaimed Soul: Cuba / Chicago Connections
Okra made the Trans-Atlantic journey on slave ships alongside human cargo. The fact that the fuzzy green seed-laden vegetable is eaten by black folk in the United States is a miracle. A vegetable umbilical cord. But to see okra in Cuba was a metaphor for a very particular shared narrative. One of survival. One of…
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Maggie Brown on Oscar Brown, Jr. and The Opportunity Please Knock Chorus
Reclaimed Soul’s Ayana Contreras spoke with Jazz vocalist Maggie Brown, daughter of Oscar Brown, Jr. Maggie is passionate about preserving the legacy of her father’s community-engaged artistry. The Opportunity Please Knock Chorus (a creative collaboration between singer/writer/playwright Oscar Brown Jr. and the notorious Blackstone Rangers street gang) premiered 50 years ago. Mr. Brown stated in…
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Dance Chicago Dance.
Back in 1980, Chicago was still a national hub for music (like LA, Nashville, and New York are today). During that time, Producer/Promoter/Entrepreneur Eddie Thomas ran the influential Dogs of War DJ record association. Based out of Chicago, they were a record pool famous for breaking a number of seminal disco recordings. Essentially, a record pool…
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Stretching out the Boundaries of Jazz: 10 years of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary with three dozen performances and programs on 11 stages across the neighborhood this weekend. Many of the performances, to their credit, lack easy categorization, and truly exemplify the spirit of Jazz from the South Side of Chicago (multi-layered, collaborative, and connected to the community).
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This is Our (Chicago) Love Story.
Darkjive, dear readers, is strictly a labor of love: simply put, if I love a song from Chicago (or am enamored by a story) I’ll share it. This is no different. “This is Our Love Story” (by the Harvey Allison Experience featuring The Whole Truth) is a luscious soul record that lacks a lot of…
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Three the Hard Way: Breaking the feedback loop of time.
Friday July 10th marks the opening of a culminating group exhibition, part of my artist residency at the University of Chicago. from the show’s description: “Three the Hard Way” is an exhibition takes its title from a 1974 blaxploitation classic in which three action heroes, Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly, and Jim Brown must save the…
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Preserving the Beats at Chicago State University.
This Saturday, February 28th at 2:15pm, I’ll be speaking on a panel at Chicago State University as part of the Symposium titled: Preserving the Beats: Collecting Chicago Hip Hop Here’s a description of the subject matter to be covered: Collecting is one part of preservation of hip hop. For the history and culture to…
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