Perspectives: The Powers That Be
In Illinois, a fight between big money and grassroots insurgencies rages on
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Primary election results highlight the possibilities and perils of coming political battles, including the mayoral race.
Perspectives
By conflating race and ethnicity, the next census could worsen inequality
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By using inconsistent and confusing terms to identify Latinos and other groups, the Census Bureau may undermine vulnerable communities by collecting inaccurate data.
Perspectives: The Powers That Be
No need for Tom Dart to be gun-shy on bail reform
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The sheriff, known as a reformer, is backtracking on measures that have brought Cook County Jail’s population down to record lows by reducing pretrial detention.
Black History Month
The hidden history of early African American inventors
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Although American slaves were not allowed to hold patents on their own inventions, they built a legacy of black innovation that continues to this day.
Perspectives
Fifty years later, what the Kerner report tells us about race in Chicago today
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Many of the city’s racial disparities in 2018 are all too similar to those of 1968, when a federal commission analyzed the causes of racial tensions in cities across the country.
Black History Month
Black America’s distrust of banks rooted in Reconstruction
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The failure of the Freedman’s Bank caused many recently emancipated African-Americans to lose their savings.
Black History Month
When the Red Cross didn’t accept black blood
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It took years of protest and activism from African-Americans, beginning in World War II, for the Red Cross and others to desegregate blood donation programs.
Perspectives: The Powers That Be
Chicago’s pattern of withholding evidence in police misconduct cases keeps getting worse
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Despite the mayor’s pledges, the city’s law department continues to face judicial sanctions for failing to turn over evidence in lawsuits over policing.
Black History Month
The women who laid the groundwork for black nationalist movements
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History often overlooks the critical contributions of black women activists who shaped pre-civil rights era politics and organizing from Jamaica to Chicago.
Perspectives
The fight to end the HIV epidemic must happen in black neighborhoods
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Access to testing, treatment, and research needs to be improved among African-Americans, who are disproportionately impacted by new HIV diagnoses.