Commentary
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Dream Big.
It’s easy to feel disheartened in these staunch economic times, but consider a chair with a dozen layers of paint. It’s full potential is only evident once that paint is stripped away, allowing pure possibility. That said, one of my favorite television shows right now is nextTV, a local program produced by the Chicago Urban…
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Portraits of Black Chicago: The Beat Goes On
Black bongo player performs at the International Amphitheater in Chicago as part of the annual PUSH [People United to Save Humanity] ‘Black Expo’ in the fall of 1973. October 1973 Chicago’s PUSH Black Expo was a powerful tour de force for Black Businesses nationwide at the time this photo was shot. Time magazine stated in…
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The Color of Improv
So, recently, there was a Sun-Times article about “diversity” in Chicago’s improv community (sort of the last white frontier as far as integration goes). A week or so ago at my day job (I am a radio host), I interviewed folks from Pimprov (yes…that’s basically what it sounds like. Listen to a clip below). In…
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Blackness…Finally Forgivable?
from the Stop Smiling Blog…. A Pugilist’s Pardon, Once Unforgivable Posted on: April 1, 2009 at 1:48 pm // MARGINALIA It’s Jack Johnson, 1 — Scooter Libby, zero. Senator John McCain delivers some straight talk we can believe in with the announcement this week that he is seeking a presidential pardon for the late Jack…
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i miss van hunt
…I do. I don’t think I’m alone… am I? Blue Note has the Masters to album, Popular Machine, and he claims he can’t afford to buy them back. Wow. Sounds like some Frankie Lymon-like wackness**. Meanwhile, Popular Machine, originally slated for release in January 2008, has become more of a Popular Myth. I like his…
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of pigeons, pidgins, and pop
Above is a photo of pigeons originally posted on local photographer scaleagency’s blog entitled “Assignment Photography”. Very interesting. It reminded me of a shot I took in Pilsen some time ago (see below). On both, I wonder what the birds must be thinking, and what they would utter at that moment, if given the chance. My…
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The Other Chicago
I had a recent conversation with a friend in which I said I’m sorry that tourists miss out on the Other Chicago, the part I can’t live without: Driving down Lake Street. Waiting in line FOREVER for a Rainbow Cone. The Garfield Park Fieldhouse presenting as a tiny gold speck on the horizon westbound down…
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JB Monorail by Theaster Gates
a bit about the residual effects of 1968 in Chicago (specifically on the West Side). Published in 68/08 on Dec. 6, 2008 in AREA/Chicago by Theaster Gates There are moments when I think that my life on the Westside of Chicago had no real relationship to the history of political struggle. I had not yet been…
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The Equalizer is Here…
Chicago-based Shala’s music is afro-punk/hip-hop/electro/freshness (and you can experience it tonight)… For the uninitiated, here’s a link to a sampling: get-yur Shala.-here Equalizer presents Shala. at Darkroom also featuring: Nikki Lynette mathpanda Doc Wattson and resident DJ LA*Jesus Friday, February 27, 2009 at 9:00pm – 2:00am Location: Darkroom Street: 2210 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL…
darkjive.com 