Entries categorized as “Community” 81 results

SKaiser writesDrive By Fooding

For most of us a bad day means arriving late to work, spilling coffee on the bus, stepping on ice cubes while wearing socks, you know, reasonable complaints. But when's the last time you slept outside in a Chicago winter? 

"I started Drive By Fooding after watching a Youtube video where an actor pretends to be homeless and asks people for money. Their reactions were things like, "get a job" or "get away from me." After the interaction he took off the costume and most people realized they weren't treating homeless people as they would want to be treated. This actually triggered memories of a short period in my life when I was homeless, and I decided to do something to help not only directly through donations, but also, in ways to help others realize how they should treat people better in general," said Jason Wajswol, founder of the local non-profit organization. 

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KSanders writesRemembering President Obama’s Farewell Address (1/10/17)

by Kyle Sanders

There he was: the Leader of the Free World, right before my very eyes, the size of a Tic-Tac. I, along with tens of thousands of other fortunate folks, was sharing a space inside McCormick Place with President Barack Obama, and at this particular point of view, I could squash him between by index finger and thumb. While I had the convenience of a projection screen easily within view of my peripheral, there was something more meaningful behind straining my neck and standing on my tip toes just to catch a glimpse of this man who I had supported these last eight years as it would be perhaps the only time I would have the chance to see him in person.

It was a bittersweet night of course, but not as bitter as the negative degree temperatures I endured in the wee hours of Saturday morning to stand in line for a free ticket. After what seemed to be just a four hour power nap, I awoke at 4:30 AM with little effort in cleanliness and was picked up by a friend at 5 AM. After a short detour of picking up a few other friends, we rode off to Lakeshore Drive in a caravan of hope--hoping to find a parking space, hoping to beat an onslaught of other Obama fans, and hoping to survive a most miserably freezing forecast (if anything, we were hoping the weather would deter a few hundred people from even attempting to show up!).

At 5:45, we were lucky enough to find a parking space on the street, walk our shivering selves into the coziness of McCormick Place's warmish hallways and line up behind what appeared to be a line of 1,000+ eager hopefuls. Props to the team who had to organize the line formations, as the expansiveness of McCormick Place's perimeters had everyone up against the venue's extended walls, forming a pulsing blueprint made up of human beings. My group felt overwhelmed by the massive crowd that already lay ahead of us, but it was nothing compared to the ever growing line behind us!

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SKaiser writesChicago Public Library: Best Books of 2016

We're lucky the staff and librarians at the Chicago Public Library read a lot of books and have the ability to recognize high-quality when they see it. Expand your mind and gift yourself with great books this year with their recently published Best of the Best Books 2016.

"We like to connect with readers in our neighborhoods and take into consideration the opinions of critics and feedback from our readers," said Stephen Sposato, CPL Manager of Content Curation. "We try to select books that will stand the test of time, at least in the short-term, and we feel many of these will be contemporary classics. It's important to aim for a diversity of subjects, genres and reading levels so that hopefully there’s something for everyone."

The top three of the Best Books of 2016: Top Ten include:

1. Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America by Patrick Phillips

At the turn of the twentieth century, Forsyth County, Georgia, was home to an African American community that included ministers and teachers, farmers and field hands, tradesmen, servants, and children. But in September of 1912, three young black laborers were accused of raping and murdering a white girl. In a tale of racial cleansing in Forsyth County, Georgia and testament to the deep roots of racial violence in America, Patrick Phillips breaks the century-long silence of his hometown and uncovers history of racial terrorism that continues to shape America in the twenty-first century. 

2. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

This is an enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families' lives. One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved.

3. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Stephen Sposato said his favorite book on the list is Evicted by Matthew Desmond. "It's a brilliant and eye-opening look at the experience of eviction (and poverty) in America. Desmond focuses on Milwaukee but what he learned there can be applied to the experience in cities around the country. Desmond is hugely committed to the issue, having experience eviction in his own life. He’s done ground-breaking research, but it never drags the reading down because his writing brings it home in a personal way by focusing on relatable individuals."

Check in with the Chicago Public Library website as tools and staff picks are routinely shared to suit your tastes. Coming up in 2017 (as part of the One Book One Chicago program -- current selection: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) author events include Lidia Bastianich, Alice Waters and Barbara Kingsolver.

"We put a lot of work into our web site and our branches to help readers discover new books," said Stephen Sposato. "And we love to see patrons recommend books in our catalog using comments and lists. We see it as just another way to put a spotlight on books and reading."

SKaiser writesThen & Now: North Wells Street Bridge

The North Wells Street bridge, existing with the elevated rail on a second deck since 1896, is shown below in 1929. Today it connects the Near North Side neighborhood with the Loop.

SKaiser writesFrom Domenase to Cape Coast: Ghana

Start off the morning with a friendly 4:00 AM wake-up call by a free-roaming rooster outside the window, followed by a bucket shower, breakfast of scrambled egg and onion, and a dusty walk to school hand-in-hand with one of the schoolkids. This was the three-week routine of CHIRP Radio volunteer Shawna Kaiser in Domenase; a village located in Western Africa's Central Region. The July trip offered a chance to observe a healthcare teaching program that partners high schools students from around the globe with local schools. 

For the students who traveled to Ghana the exchange brought an unexpected richness not always experienced in the the modern world. The photos below show no electronics in hand. There is no shopping or Starbucks. Instead you will find joy, love and genuine friendship on the faces of Ghanaians from Domenase to Cape Coast.

Schoolchildren participated in the healthcare curriculum during the day. Later in the program two quiz competitions were held at a local church: one for the primary school and one separately for JHS students. The whole town turned out cheering for their friends, children and classmates.

There are two main roads leading in and out of the Domenase village. This is one. Oftentimes, at night, semi-tucks travel through the village's roads to neighboring towns. There are no streetlights and the trucks often swerve unpredictably due to large potholes in the road. The trucks swerving has caused death in the village and now street safety is part of the primary school's health curriculum.

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