You’ve heard the horror stories: Crowded airports, fights in line between exasperated travelers and misbehaving passengers who refuse to wear their masks.
Yet you’re ready to burst to get away from your COVID cocoon, even amid rising prices for gasoline, lodging and scarce rental cars. Average hotel rates have soared to as high as $275 a night, a 75 percent jump from the past two summers, according to market tracker RateGain.
Steel yourself for more inconveniences, experts say. Masks, frequent handwashing and hand sanitizer are still smart habits to maintain, largely due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in 45 states.
The reason? A combination of unvaccinated people — including children, teens, and people in their 30s, 40s and early 50s — and the highly infectious Delta variant. In 45 states, the rates of new COVID-19 cases the week of July 11 were at least 10 percent higher than the rates of new cases the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The Delta variant has prompted some cities and states to expand their voluntary quarantine rules, too, so check state and city websites for guidance before you pack your bags.
Chicago, for example, added Missouri and Arkansas to its list on July 13, advising anyone entering the city from those states to test negative for COVID-19 or quarantine upon arrival.
“Any unvaccinated people traveling from Missouri or Arkansas are advised to obtain a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in Chicago or quarantine for a 10-day period upon arrival,” the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) said. “CDPH continues to stress the importance of getting vaccinated for COVID, and adherence to all masking guidelines for travel.”
CDPH said data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows “COVID case rates have been steadily increasing in other areas of the country,” highlighting Nevada, Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands as states at risk of passing the threshold “if trends continue.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and this only goes to show that the virus is still very much a threat and that we must all remain vigilant against it,” CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. “That means getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in public settings if you are not fully vaccinated.”
Cruises, overseas travel, and interstate travel rules for people both fully vaccinated and for those who aren’t comprise a complicated patchwork, so do your research.
As with any potentially risky travel, look for an insurance policy that covers cancellations, safety precautions and trip credits as outbreaks continue.
Check into the Digital Green Certificate system if you’re traveling to Europe. It covers different types of COVID-19 certificates — vaccination certificate, test certificate and certificate of recovery — and no quarantines will apply to those bearing the certificate.
But only vaccines that the European Medicines Agency has approved are recognized: BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.
Swinging weather has made for some interesting fishing both inland and on Lake Michigan; that interesting fishing is the backbone of this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
Brian Burian emailed the photo above and this:
Dale, I know you enjoy photos of nice catches by kids, so thought you might enjoy this one. My nine year old son Evan Burian recently caught this beauty on Diamond Lake in SW Michigan. He was using a Rapala DT and after a quick photo, we released it back into Diamond Lake. Evan loves fishing with his older brother Gavin every chance they get- whether its neighborhood ponds or up at the lake on weekends. Thanks for helping spread the love of the outdoors. Best, Brian Burian
I love that kind of story, plus I love the beauty of northern pike.
CHARITY
Cast for a Cure, benefiting Phil’s Friends, a cancer foundation, goes out of Musky Tales on the Chain O’Lakes Saturday, July 17. Click here for more information from the Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies Inc.
DERBY NOTE
The Kankakee River Fishing Derby runs through Sunday, July 18. Click here to check updates. Through early Tuesday, here are some notables on the Big Board: Big Board regular Jeff Dummer with a 7-pound, 13-ounce northern pike and Jim Anderson with a 23-9 flathead catfish.
SALMON-A-RAMA
The famous tournament out of Racine, Wisconsin runs through Sunday, July 18. As of Tuesday morning, most notable was the lone 30-pound Chinook (31.61 pounds, caught by David Brinkmann).
Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season runs through Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.
Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).
AREA LAKES
It’s unsettled weather, but the bass are active and panfish are still doing their thing, even spawning.
BIG FISH: The Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Big Fish Contest at Monee Reservoir runs through Aug. 31. Click here for details.
Keith Vandermeir found good largemouth bass at Blackwell. Provided
Keith Vandermier emailed the photo above and this:
Caught at blackwell in front lake 21 in about 4lb on a crawlers hit 2 times at 2 feet down
Ken “Husker” O’Malley with a largemouth bass from local waters.Provided
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
Area lakes-water levels are still up on a few lakes from the recent rains. Bass have been decent despite the up and down temperatures. Cast a chatterbait parallel to flooded vegetation during evening hours along the windblown shorelines. Follow-up missed strikes with a 4 1/4 inch senko.
. . .
Here is the nature pic of the week (below) courtesy of Vickie O’Malley. Time for a quick drink.
TTYL
—
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
A hummingbird feeding.Vicky O’Malley
Pete Lamar emailed:
Hi Dale,
I didn’t want to take a chance on driving to a Fox trib and finding it blown out after the rain, so I stayed close to home and fished some Kane County Forest Preserve ponds after the afternoon rains. It was interesting; a lot going on. Bluegills were spawning again: the redds were obvious in the shallow water. Just beyond them, in the deeper water, a lot of big bluegills and small bass were holding. There was a lot of damsel and dragon fly activity, all stages of the life cycle from what I could see: breeding; depositing eggs, hatching. The biggest bass in the ponds were tucked right up against the shore, under overhanging vegetation. I spooked many more than I hooked. They were either waiting for terrestrial insects to fall in off of the plants or waiting for frogs to make themselves available.
There were also schools of fish feeding near the surface out in open water, away from shore-it looked like stripers busting baitfish. Some heroic casting showed them to be big bluegills hunting in packs, probably for hatching damselflies. I think the rain and cooler weather turned things on. Willing biters were not hard to find.
Pete
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
Staff at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said crappie are in deeper water; walleye close to bridges when there’s current, water remains low; bass early morning in shallow weeds later in open-water weed mats or on weed lines; catfish (live bait, cutbait or crawlers) and flatheads are good in the river; some bluegill still spawning shallow, bigger ones suspending out deep.
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is open 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.
DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN
Dave Duwe emailed:
Delavan Lake 7/12/21 through 7/19/09
Bluegill fishing has been excellent. Most of the bigger bluegills are in 15-18 ft of water. The best location is west of the Yacht Club or by the island. They are being caught on leaf worms or small red worms. The best presentation is slip bobbers or fishing straight beneath the boat. I have found that the bigger fish are deep. You can catch a lot of 5-6 inch fish in 8-10 ft of water, but the larger bluegills are deep. A good graph is essential to finding the biting fish. Most of the fish can be located on your fish finder.
Walleyes have started to bite. The best presentation has been leeches fished on either a split shot rig or lindy rig. The fish are being caught in 15-20 ft of water. There aren’t many and the ones I’ve been catching haven’t been legal however, they have been biting aggressively. The best location has been Browns Channel or by the Yacht Club. When fishing leeches, the key to the presentation is a very light weight. You want to fish over the top of the very dense weeds.
Northern Pike have been biting on medium suckers. The best depth has been 24-25 ft of water. Look for the fish by the gray condos, Browns Channel or over by Willow Point. The key to the Northern Pike bite is keeping your bait alive. Make sure you have an extra aerator to keep your bait alive. I’ve been using a lot of 1/0 circle hooks and it’s amazing that every one of them hooks in the corner of their mouth.
Largemouth bass have been the best bite on the lake other than the bluegills. They are in the 15-20 ft depth range and can be readily caught on either drop shots with a 4 inch worm or nightcrawlers fished on a split shot rig. The best location is by 3 flags or by concrete point. The fish are now schooled up so if you catch one, you will catch a bunch. If you don’t get bit, you need to keep moving.
A lot of yellow perch are biting. The best depth is 12-14 feet of water. I have been using leaf worms on a split-shot rig through the weeds. Best locations by Brown’s channel and Willow Point.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
DES PLAINES RIVER
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
. . .
DesPlaines river-water temps are 76-77 and levels are receding. Bass have been decent pitching a variety of plastics along shoreline cover.
. . .
TTYL
—
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sept. 30.
EMIQUON: Access permits and liability waivers are again required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported same old catfish and flathead hitting, including a 39-pound flathead in Oswego; bass are spotty; water levels are about average level for summer.
GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN
Dave Duwe emailed:
Lake Geneva 7/12/21 through 7/19/21
If you are interested in Walleye fishing, this is the best time for both quantity and quality. Many fish are being taken between 11 pm and 3 am. Boat traffic is at a minimum at this time. Most of the legal fish are being taken on leeches. Night crawlers are a good option, however you will catch more bass and rock bass with them than walleyes. The suspended walleyes are coming from the deeper water, 20-25 feet and coming up on the shallow weed lines in 13-15 feet of water. A lot of the fish are being taken on the west side of Williams Bay, Fontana Beach or east of Abbey Springs on the flats. Some walleyes are being caught on shallow diving Bandit Lures in the perch pattern. However all the floating grass has made this very difficult without wind.
This past week the small mouth bass have made a showing in shallow water chasing minnows. The legal fish however, are hard to come by. I have been using the split shot rig with night crawlers. Once I find the active fish, I like to work between 12 and 18 feet of water, trying to find the legal fish. My best success has been west of Black Point or by Coleman’s Point. The numbers and size have been there almost all week. Saturday, quite a few nice small mouth were taken by Knollwood, outside of the buoys in 14 feet of water.
Lake Trout fishing continues to be good; the fish are in the central basin chasing the schools of Cisco. Look for the suspended fish in 70-90 feet of water. They have a tendency to bite better than the lakers that are holding tight to the bottom. As always the chrome/green and chrome/blue spoons seem to work the best.
The northern pike fishing has been great. With the warm weather the thermocline has formed and they can be easily caught in 31-33 feet of water. The legal fish (32 inches) have been very scarce this summer so far. The best success has been the channel buoys in Fontana, the east shore in Williams Bay or just east of Cedar Point by the blue boathouse. The best way to catch the pike has been lindy-rigged suckers. I prefer the 5 or 6-inch size bait. The only drawback is that the suckers are quite expensive, considering the legal fish are hard to catch.
Largemouth bass fishing has slowed slightly. I have been getting many of my fish in the 8-10 foot range, fished through the weeds. The night crawler rig has been the bait of choice for me. The top water bite has been effective in the early morning or in the evening. Try the chrome zara spook or the chrome and blue chug bug. The best location has been east of Linn Pier or by Coleman’s Point. The bluegill and perch fishing has been good. I’ve caught plenty of keeper fish as I fish for the small and large mouth bass. Some of the perch I caught last week were 10-12 inches, and I could have kept a good bunch of either fish.
Good Luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Scott Heilman from Rockford holds a 21-inch smallmouth bass from Big Green Lake. Provided by Mike Norris
Guide Mike Norris texted the photo above and emailed this:
Fishing Report 7/12/2021
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – Water clarity on Big Green has improved significantly and the bass bite has too. Smallmouth bass are sight feeders and the more distant they can see, the better your chance of catching them. We are catching many of our bass with Keitech Fat Swing Impact paddle tails on 3/16th ounce VMC swim jigs, and by drop shotting Berkley Flatworms. Try fishing in 10 -15 ft down along the north shore of the lake.
Fox Lake – Largemouth bass are active all over the lake. Try around casting Strike King Thunder Crickets and Senko’s around the islands, and crankbaits in 7 ft of water where weed lines end. Bluegills have moved out to 5 – 7 ft of water and can be taken with red worms on a jig.
Lake Puckaway – The summer bluegill bite is on, and we are getting good bluegills around the piers and out along the weed edges. Red worms on a jig hung beneath a float or tight lining with a jig and redworm are both effective means for catching bluegills running up to 9 inches.
To book a guide trip reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com
Good smallmouth bass at Heidecke Lake.Provided by Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this;
Dale –
Smallmouth were slow this evening for us. I stuck to the 3/8 jig crawfish tail and only landed this one but it was a solid 3lb with a couple jumps in her. Lost too many today. If your going for quantity then stick to soft plastic finesse however the quality fish will take the bigger baits but you have to jump around to find them.
Crappie are still going to those fishing the cribs. Talked to a couple guys that found them. Fishing should improve with weather forecasting some storms and rain.
Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset. Click here for the promising preview.
KANKAKEE RIVER
Note on the derby is at the top.
George Peters with a good smallmouth bass from the Kankakee River.Provided
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Sure enough this 18 ” smallie! River looks good, all baits will get fish. G. Peters.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
. . .
Kankakee water temps are 73 and dirty still from all the rain that basin has received.
Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted that there were few reports with the weather.
A mixed bag Tuesday, including a big king, on the Massive Confusion out of Chicago.Provided
Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said it has been mostly lake trout out of Chicago, but on Tuesday, more silver fish showed up including a big Chinook in 120-140 feet. Out of North Point; it’s mostly lakers with a couple coho and kings with an occasional steelhead.
Salmon are still scattered, Aug is fishing salmonarama, went south today, have not heard yet how they are doing.Only a few perch guys, getting a few
Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:
Offshore fishing was fair this week. The North and Northeast winds finally packed in the warm water, pushed out the bait fish and made for a challenging week. Mixed species of fish are still taken in 100 to 140. The fish are scattered and largely inactive. I went exploring into the very deep water with little success. Green and Aqua spoons were good with Warrior XL Colville Crusher and UV Hey Babe being the best on copper and leadcore lines.
On the positive side big kings seem to be coming in. I think they must be starting to stage already because the water temperature and lack of baitfish should be making them move away and not in. If they are showing up now, when the winds bring in colder water and bait, we should have really good king fishing.
Harbor fishing continued to be good. The bass and perch were active. My charter partner, Capt. Mike Fuys, caught a largemouth almost 6 pounds and several others in the 3’s and 4’s. Spinner baits in white and chartreuse worked over the top of the weeds worked. Perch wanted minnows this week.
Pete Riedesel (see Fishin Friend Guide Serviceon Facebook) and I had a great morning of catching four dozen bass, all but four were largemouth last Wednesday. About anything except topwater worked.
Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview of prospects.
As I predicted the topwater bite has been excellent. Topwater fishing on the Menominee River will peak in late July and August. Prop baits are working best.
Case Magic Stiks and Wacky Jacks are hot when smallmouth are tight to the bottom feeding on crayfish. The 1/0 Spearpoint GP Finesse Hook is a must when rigging Wacky Style. When the bite it tough my River Swimbaits are getting the job done. When using swimbaits we have also catching some walleyes and pike.
What’s typical for weather these days? Who knows! Temps in the early morning in the low 40’s, highs by next week reaching 90. Another major Mayfly hatch on the Willow Flowage……in July! Tough to figure out a pattern. Morning colds this past week held bites back until mid-morning, high pressure on some days held bites back ALL DAY (it seemed).
Largemouth Bass: Good – Best towards evenings on top water baits (Whopper Ploppers, Spooks, Frogs) as mornings were tough during cold nights. Wacky worms on weedless hooks bet during the daytime, fished in the thick of the weeds, down low.
Northern Pike: Good – When not able to pick up on spinner baits or Mepps #3’s or #4’s due to cold, slowly working a 4″ chub or sucker through the bottom of 8-12′ cabbage best. Live bait best option when fish not chasing.
Bluegills: Good – Like LMB, best in late afternoon or early evenings as surface temps hit their warmest. Small leeches, worms for live bait Poppers and small flies fun for the evening bite.
Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Evenings have been best. May be high pressure system of late, but mornings and days are tough. Drop-shot humps of 18-25/ using 3″ Gulp Alive minnow or 3/8 oz football jogs with creatures.
Musky: Fair – Some anglers opted out of targeting musky on very warm evenings. Careful when surface temps hit upper 70’s! Top water good during low light periods, swim baits and long deep coontail also productive.
Crappies: Fair – Fish very scattered right now. A fish here and there pitching to boathouses and bog edges! Evenings best along west shores as shadows grow.
Yellow Perch: Fair – Mostly incidental catches while targeting crappies or walleys.
Walleye: Fair – Mornings Awful! Best towards evenings. Leeches and crawlers over humps off shore in 14-20′. Redtails for weeds in lakes where deep water not as prevalent.
Been an off week with the unseasonable cold night. Saw some lakes lose 8 degrees or more of surface temps. Warming back up slowly; have a one day cold coming in Thursday (7/15) followed by heat. Hopefully getting things back to normal.
Kurt Justice
NORTHWEST INDIANA
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:
Lake Michigan last week when the weather let you get out was still giving up coho on the tri-state area. Dodgers flys and spoons doing best.
Steelhead in trail creek and salt creek using #3 spinners and floating spawn sacks.
Perch bite was hit or miss totally with all the weather fronts we had last week.
Boat fisherman fishing Willow slough using crickets and jumbo redworms have been filling baskets. Must move around but it has been very good.
Catfish in deep river and burns ditch good using triple s stinkbait and cut bait. Night time action is best.
Hi, Dale. I hope you’re enjoying the temperate weather! Here’s what we have for this week:
Fishing has really taken off on Lake Michigan, with trollers catching Coho & some very big Kings.
Perch fishing from the South suburbs Hammond, Michigan City, & up to the St. Joseph River is very good, in 32-39 FOW. Smaller minnows, beemoths, & redworms are working well
The rivers is still giving anglers some nice catches of walleye; Leeches, spinners, & nightcrawlers hot items if the moment
Bluegills are off the bed, but anglers are catching them in deeper water. Smaller leeches & worms are the baits of choice.
ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.
SHABBONA LAKE
Staff at Boondocks reported bass were being caught on the edges of the weed lines and by the dam; crappie on the north end in cribs or in the deep trees; and catfish were about everywhere and being caught on chicken liver or stinkbait. Water is well into the 70s.
Concessions are all going.
Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT
Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said there was decent action on some coho, lakers and steelhead in 110-120 feet; perch are going in 45-50 by the Pump Station south of the St. Joe pier; there’s been a few skamania off the pier; a 46.7 pound flathead was caught and released last week in the river.
Fishing has been a bit slow in the Fremont area. Up river, New London north, walleye action is good. The perch bite on Little Lake Butte Des Mort has been strong in the past few weeks.
Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday unveiled its $9.3 billion budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which includes more than $1 billion in federal relief funding that will aid the nation’s third-largest district as it begins to move forward from the pandemic.
CPS’ budget draft, which is almost an 11% increase from last year’s financial blueprint, aims to equitably help schools after more than a year of online learning, district officials said. However, the Chicago Teachers Union pushed back and said the plan falls short in investing in students’ actual needs.
In the first year, CPS is expected to allocate $267 million of federal money to support students’ social and emotional needs as they return full-time to classrooms with another goal of positioning them for future success. District officials said those funds will go toward hiring and training literacy and math tutors, bolstering behavior and mental health teams and upgrading technology, especially in Black and Brown communities, which were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Here’s a breakdown of the proposed usage of other federal funding:
$132 million to supporting students as they return to the classroom, covering technology costs, PPE, cleaning supplies, vaccine efforts and other costs that might arise during the transition
$100 million to support projects that improve air quality
$288 million to boost school-based programmatic investments
$178 million to fund school-based instructional positions
$95 million to provide a proportionate share of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding to charter and contract schools
“This budget invests in meeting the needs … that our students face today, while setting them up for success in the future,” newly appointed interim CEO Jose Torres said in his opening remarks during a video conference call. “We’re confident that the investments we are making will accelerate learning while giving our students the tools they need to heal socially and emotionally from the trauma of the past year.”
Additionally, the proposal includes more than $225 million in additional funding for school budgets.
CPS also plans to spend $672 million in equitable capital investments to ensure schools are well-equipped to welcome students back full-time this fall. That money will go toward critical building repairs and modernization efforts, ADA accessibility, IT infrastructure and capital upgrades to support modern learning environments, district officials said.
The district expects to distribute more than $328 million for improvements at more than 90 schools. Those projects include rebuilding roofs and mechanical infrastructure, stabilizing chimneys and replacing fire alarms.
Another $100 million in federal funding is expected to go to 17 schools in need of mechanical renovations, including improving heating and cooling systems well as associated electrical and plumbing infrastructure.
A CPS spokesperson said none of the restoration projects under this proposal will begin until after the budget is goes before the Board of Education on July 28.
“We are staying focused on what matters and as providing an equitable, high-quality education for every child, regardless of the zip code, race or country of origin,” Chief Equity Officer Maurice Swinney said. “This budget balances the unique needs of today’s students with a bright future that we all see for our youth after COVID-19 is finally behind us.”
CPS officials did not answer questions on how much the budget sets aside for its contract with the Chicago Police Department. Local School Councils at more than 50 high schools are voting this summer on whether to keep officers in their schools.
News of the proposed budget comes a little over a week into interim Torres’ tenure. He said the budget planning began a year in advance and that it was “pretty much completed” by the time he took office last Monday.
“I did not change anything on the budget,” the former Elgin schools superintendent said.
In a statement, CTU was critical of the district’s budget, saying the additional federal funding should be used to address hardships students and their families face that have been amplified by the pandemic, including housing and income insecurity, racial disinvestment and decades of educational inequity.
CTU called the district’s student-based budgeting formula “backwards” and claimed it’s driving inequity. The union wants to see more money go to adding a nurse and social worker in every school, improving HVAC systems to improve air quality, creating in-school student vaccination programs and ensuring every student has a computer and reliable internet access at school and home.
“This level of investment from the federal government should mark the beginning of ongoing sustainable funding for schools at a much higher level — the level our students and school communities need and deserve,” the statement said. “The mayor should be at the forefront of advocating for sustainable school funding, and not just temporary recovery dollars.She has the ability to address all of these needs — and it’s time for her to find the political will to deliver on providing every Chicago student and family with the right to recovery.”
The district will hold a series of budget and capital hearings later this month. The first one is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 20.
After watching HIGH ON THE HOG the Netflix Original Documentary Series, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with one of the authors featured in the series.
My best friend is a cookbook collector, especially ones that have a historical aspect to them. She was the first to introduce me to the works of Adrian Miller. I was so excited when I got the call to interview him about his new book, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.
Adrian, I didn’t realize that James Beard gave awards to authors. I thought it was only for Chefs and restaurants.
Yeah. So, the book I got was for my very first one, so that’s a blessing. And it’s the book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine One Plate at a Time. And I think I got it because there was never really a treatment of soul food that had happened in that way. There, certainly, have been a number of great soul food cookbooks, but nobody wrote a history of it and explained what the food is, how it got on the soul food plate, and what it means for the culture.
What was it like being a part of the docuseries High on the Hog?
“It was amazing. I feel very fortunate to be on multiple episodes. And quite a few of the people on the series, I’d already known, because we were fellow travelers in the culinary history, food writing world. So, it was great to be on an all-star team with so many other people that I respect. And then I got to meet some new people who are really interesting and doing a lot of interesting work. So, it was a chance to go to different places and just talk about the story of food and its connection to African Americans in those places. And we just have never seen anything like that on TV.
There is one book that I just love the title, the President’s Kitchen Cabinet. I thought that was so genius. And you were actually in the cabinet of Bill Clinton. What was that book about? I can only imagine.
Yeah, so that was a collective biography of African American presidential chefs. And it really came out of the research from my soul food book, because as I was chasing the story of soul food, I came across the stories of a few people who had cooked for our presidents. And I thought, well, this is really interesting. I don’t think anybody has really told their story. And I only had about four or five, maybe six, stories total. So that’s not enough to anchor a book. So, I just thought, well, let me just keep researching and then see where it leads. And in time, I found the stories of 150 African Americans who have cooked for our presidents, from George Washington through the Obamas. I finished the book during the Obama administration.
But even today with President Biden and President Trump administrations, every president has had an African American cooking for them in some capacity, whether it was in the White House, when they traveled, either by train, boat, or airplane, or when they would go to places and stay for a while, usually there was a black cook in the mix. I really was happy to have the opportunity to just tell that story and get that sense of history.
And there is such a code of silence around the White House that we don’t know the full extent to which these culinary professionals affected presidential history and US history. But we get some examples because these cooks gave the Presidents and first families a window on black lives they probably never would have had otherwise. Now, not every President opened up that window to take a peek at the black life, but we have examples of where they did. And I think our nation’s better for it.
Well, that’s one thing that I’ve always wondered about. What is the difference between a cook versus a chef? When we were growing up, folks in the kitchen were the cooks. And now, all of a sudden, everybody’s a chef
Well, so really, the only difference is a Department of Labor classification. Because if you actually go to the root of the word, chef, it’s an old French term for Chef de Cuisine. So it just meant the Head Cook. But today there’s been a layer of professionalism applied to the term chef. So the Department of Labor classification happened in the late seventies. And so now the implication is that you’re not really a chef unless you’ve gone to culinary school or you received some kind of professional training, apprenticeship, whatever. But yeah, back in the day, it was just whoever was running the kitchen, you were called the Chef de Cuisine.
I would say the book is about two things. One, it is a celebration of African American barbecue culture. But then also importantly, it is a restoration of African Americans to the barbecue narrative. Because if you watch barbecue TV shows, magazine articles, newspaper articles, black people are either marginalized or left out of the story completely. It’s as if we are bit players in the story of barbecue. And any truthful accounting of barbecue history knows that African Americans were central to it. So, it’s a thump on the head to say, look, you guys cannot talk about barbecue without including black people.
Well, that really gets me because I’ve watched some of these barbecue competition shows where the black guy never wins or even shows that go to visit different, great restaurants. And they have this wonderful barbecue restaurant. But they’re never black restaurants. And I’m wondering, well, how is that?
Yeah. Well, so one of the pivotal experiences for my book is 2004, I’m watching Paula Deen’s Southern Barbecue on the Food Network, and it’s an hour-long show about barbecue in the south. And when the credits were rolling an hour later, my mouth was wide open because there were no African Americans on that show. And so like you just said, I asked, well, first of all, how does this happen? And the second thing I wondered is, maybe I got it twisted. Maybe it was Paula Deen’s Scandinavian barbecue, sponsored by Alabama White Sauce.
Guide me through the book. What makes it different from any other Barbeque book?
No, the first part of the book is the early history of barbecue, which is hazy. And so I try to tell people, this is how barbecue came together in Virginia. I picked Virginia as the starting place for Southern barbecue. And I lay out my reasons why. And then I show how African Americans get associated with barbecue, mainly because it was very labor-intensive. And the racial dynamic of our country is if you’ve got hard work that needs to be done, especially if you don’t want to pay the people to do that work, you have enslaved African Americans do it. So enslaved African Americans become the principal barbecue cooks by the 19th century. It’s just well-established that if you want a great barbecue, African Americans are the ones to make it.
And then I look at the culture a little deeper and I say, okay, is there an African American barbecue aesthetic? Is there something that African Americans think about barbecue that’s different than what you get in the mainstream? I think there is. And I point those things out. And I do a whole chapter on the sauce. Because for a lot of people, the sauce is the calling card for a barbecue establishment.
There are great debates on the sauce making the barbecue. In the book, you mention your top 20 barbecue restaurants in the country. Did Chicago make the list?
Of course. So, the one that I picked out in Chicago is called Q’s Tips and Wings. It’s a South Side place. And the reason why I wanted to highlight that place is because they’re doing a lot of turkey barbecue, which is a big trend in African American barbecue. So that’s the place I highlighted, but I love me some Honey 1. I love Sonny’s. Alice’s is good. You’ve got a lot of good places on the South Side and the West Side.
It was great speaking with Adrian Miller. His latest book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue is an amazing and informative book. The next time I have some barbecue I will have a better understanding of it.
Two nearby states found themselves back on Chicago’s travel advisory list Tuesday as the highly transmissible Delta variant coronavirus rapidly spreads across the country.
Unvaccinated travelers from Missouri and Arkansas are being asked to either get proof of a negative COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before coming to Chicago or quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.
Missouri’s and Arkansas’ infection rates have surged in recent weeks, with the uptick pushing the two states back past the threshold of 15 cases per day per 100,000 residents the Chicago Department of Public Health set to determine who should be on the city’s travel advisory list.
Illinois is seeing its own spike, driven largely by a rise in cases in downstate counties with lower vaccination rates and proximity to border states with troubling numbers. Some of the bigger increases in Illinois have been seen in regions bordering Missouri, which has one of America’s lowest vaccination rates and has emerged as the nation’s current epicenter of the pandemic.
A person receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination site at Chicago Vocational Career Academy in March.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file
With other pockets across the country seeing a rise in cases, five other states and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also at risk of joining Missouri and Arkansas. Those in danger of passing Chicago’s metric threshold include Nevada, Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming and Florida, the city health officials said.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commission Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday’s news is a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet.
“This only goes to show that the virus is still very much a threat and that we must all remain vigilant against it,” Arwady said in a statement. “That means getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in public settings if you are not fully vaccinated.”
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady speaks at a news conference last summer.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file
Also Tuesday, Illinois state health officials reported 578 new coronavirus cases and an additional 12 deaths. That brings the state’s pandemic totals to 1,397,667 cases and 23,336 deaths.
The state’s test positivity rate checked in at 2.1%.
Last Friday, Illinois reported 2,945 new cases over the previous seven days. That represented a 39% increase in average daily cases over the week before, from 303 per day to 420.
More than 6.3 million Illinoisans, or almost 50% of the state’s population, are fully vaccinated.
Arwady noted that almost all new cases, hospitalization and deaths are among unvaccinated people.
JOHANNESBURG — The death toll climbed to 72 from rioting in South Africa on Tuesday, with many people trampled to death during looting at stores, as police and the military fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to try to halt the unrest set off by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma.
More than 1,200 people have been arrested in the lawlessness that has raged in poor areas of two provinces, where a community radio station was ransacked and forced off the air Tuesday and some COVID-19 vaccination centers were closed, disrupting urgently needed inoculations.
Many of the deaths in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces occurred in chaotic stampedes as thousands of people stole food, electric appliances, liquor and clothing from stores, police Maj. Gen. Mathapelo Peters said in a statement Tuesday night.
He said 27 deaths were being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal province and 45 in Gauteng province. In addition to the people crushed, he said police were investigating deaths caused by explosions when people tried to break into ATM machines, as well as other fatalities caused by shootings.
The violence broke out after Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court on Thursday. He had refused to comply with a court order to testify at a state-backed inquiry investigating allegations of corruption while he was president from 2009 to 2018.
The unrest spiraled into a spree of looting in township areas of the two provinces, although it has not spread to South Africa’s other seven provinces, where police are on alert.
“The criminal element has hijacked this situation,” said Premier David Makhura of Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg.
More than half of South Africa’s 60 million people are living in poverty, with an unemployment rate of 32%, according to official statistics. The pandemic, with job layoffs and an economic downturn, has increased the hunger and desperation that helped propel the protests triggered by Zuma’s arrest into wider rioting.
“We understand that those unemployed have inadequate food. We understand that the situation has been made worse by the pandemic,” an emotional Makhura said on the state South African Broadcasting Corp. “But this looting is undermining our businesses here (in Soweto). It is undermining our economy, our community. It is undermining everything.”
As he spoke, the broadcast showed police trying to bring order to the Ndofaya shopping mall, where 10 people were crushed to death in a looting stampede. Gunshots could be heard in the background.
Makhura appealed for leaders of political, religious and community organizations to urge people to halt the unrest.
The deployment of 2,500 soldiers to support the South African police has so far failed to stop the rampant looting, although arrests were being made in some areas in Johannesburg, including Vosloorus in the eastern part of the city.
At least 1,234 people were arrested in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, authorities said, but the situation was far from under control.
Looting continued Tuesday in shopping malls in Johannesburg township areas, including Jabulani Mall and Dobsonville Mall in Soweto. There also were reports of looting in KwaZulu-Natal.
In Daveyton township, east of Johannesburg, more than 100 people, including women, children and older citizens, were arrested for stealing from shops inside the Mayfair Square mall.
Some of those arrested were bleeding from shattered glass on floors slippery from spilled milk, liquor, yogurt and cleaning liquids that had been stolen from shops.
Running battles carried on as security and the police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to push back rioters, who were entering the shops by going through delivery entrances, emergency exits and climbing on roofs.
Bongani Mokoena, an employee at an auto supply store, said the rioters had taken everything from the shop, including batteries and shock absorbers.
By late afternoon the police managed to secure the mall, but rioters remained outside, throwing stones at the police and shouting for the release of those arrested. As evening fell, more rioters gathered around the mall and police set up barricades to try to keep them away.
In Soweto, the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital reported that the number of injured people coming to the emergency ward had tripled from the daily average. The unrest forced the government to close some COVID-19 vaccination centers, disrupting urgently needed efforts to inoculate thousands of those aged 50 and older per day.
In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, the Pan Africa shopping center continued to be ransacked and was set on fire on Tuesday.
The Alex FM radio station, which has served the Alexandra community for 27 years, was broken into at 2 a.m. Tuesday and thieves stole equipment worth 5 million rand ($350,000), forcing the station off the air, station manager Takalane Nemangowe said.
“Our on-air presenter and security guards got out safely through the back door,” Nemangowe told The Associated Press. “But the looters cleaned out our offices. They took all our broadcasting equipment, computers, laptops, microphones, everything.”
Nemangowe said that no police or army had been patrolling the area. The Alex FM station is community-funded and runs a training program for young residents, he said. “We were the voice of the voiceless here in Alexandra. And now we are silent. It is really sad.”
But Nemangowe had not given up hope. By Tuesday afternoon he and other staff had been offered facilities at a radio station in the nearby affluent Sandton suburb where they were trying to start beaming back to the Alexandra community.
Authorities have repeatedly warned people, including Zuma supporters and relatives, against using social media to encourage the riots. Police minister Bheki Cele said Tuesday that about a dozen people have been identified as having instigated the riots.
The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest, heard Zuma’s application to have his sentence rescinded on Monday. Zuma’s lawyer argued that the top court made errors when sentencing Zuma to prison. After 10 hours of testimony, the judges said they would announce their decision at a later date.
In 2011, Jessica B. Harris, cookbook author, and culinary historian wrote a fascinating book titled, “HIGH ON THE HOG: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America” for which she received a James Beard Award. There is so much history packed in this book but as wonderful that it is I’m not sure our younger generations would take the time to read it. I am so happy that a documentary series was created for Netflix so we could walk the path that Jessica B. Harris wrote about.
[embedded content]
Understanding that Black food is American food, Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield guides us through the delicious history of food from Africa to Texas in this docuseries.
Understanding that Black food is American food, Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield guides us through the delicious history of food from Africa to Texas in this docuseries.
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFC) hosted a roundtable conversation with Stephen Satterfield and Executive Producers Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback on how they brought the spirit of the book to the screen.
Fabienne Toback, Jessica B. Harris, and Karis Jagger
I’ve watched the series several times and each time I experienced different emotions and memories. Stephen stated that one of his most memorable parts in filming the series was being in the presence of Jessica Harris. “. That experience for me had a great sense of importance in that I was in the presence of Dr. Jessie B. Harris. And Dr. J is someone who has been outsized in her influence in my career as a thinker, as a writer, and really just the whole way of tying my Black identity to our culinary history and learning about our history through our identity and using those kinds of as interchangeable. So, that was certainly the most memorable experience for me.
Stephen Satterfield and Jessica B. Harris
I have been to West Africa and to Goree Island and seen the Door of No Return. I know about the foods that came from Africa with the enslaved Africans, but I think, like so many others, I really didn’t pay attention to the connection between Africa and what and how we eat today. HIGH ON THE HOG opened that door for me.
Executive Producer Karis Jagger stated somewhat the same feeling:
We feel the same. I mean, that’s why we wanted to make the project, because we read the book and we were shocked how much history we didn’t know, and we wanted to bring that to a wider audience. I think Fabi and I both love history, love food, and we couldn’t believe that there were so many stories that still needed to reach a wider audience.
When I was growing up we had a big garden in our backyard in Champaign, Illinois, and grew all of our vegetables. Every summer we would go “down-home” to Tennessee and bring back fresh crowder peas and ham. People don’t do that as much anymore. Executive Producer Fabienne Toback gave her thoughts on why:
“I think it touches a little bit on the topic that we covered in episode two with the eminent domain and black farms and being displaced. I can’t speak specifically outside of my own understanding of the series. But I would have to say that has a lot to do with it. I think also, we find ourselves mostly in urbanized areas where kind of those urban gardens and sort of plants growing is limited. It’s in the headlines, the displacement of Black farmers. That’s a very real issue. Also, we have a lot of food deserts here in those urban areas. I recently moved to downtown L.A., and believe me, I have to travel to find fresh produce beyond Whole Foods, which is cost-prohibitive for a lot of people, and especially the people that this area serves. So, yeah. That’s just from my own perspective and limited understanding.”
HIGH ON THE HOG invites us into great conversations around dinner tables, and preparations of food. I promise you that you will be hungry after viewing this series, not only for food but knowledge. I will ask Fabienne to give the final words on what this docuseries meant to her as they were filming it.
I think it really eliminated the resilience of our people, and I think that was really important for us in covering the simple things like mac and cheese or looking at the food waste. We had set out to make this so much more than a documentary about food waste. And that was why having Stephen at the helm … He’s an activist. It was why it was so important to have BJ Dennis and the preservationists that are so integral to preserving these things. And then, just allowing the muses, the ancestors, whatever, the universal flow, the divine, to use this opportunity to reach and remind us, especially right now, where things are really tough, that we are resilient, and we will continue to be.
Chicago’s most important news of the day, delivered every weekday afternoon. Plus, a bonus issue on Saturdays that dives into the city’s storied history.
On those long ago Sundays in Iowa, Edith Renfrow Smith’s mother Eva Pearl made Jell-O with black walnuts in it. Her older sister Helen would play the piano at their house on 1st Avenue, and the young men from Grinnell College would gather around. This was in the 1920s.
“They would come, sing songs — not all of them, the ones that liked to sing,” said Smith, 106. “There were 10 of them.”
Those details — the walnuts, that some guests sang, some didn’t, and exactly how many came nearly 100 years ago — are typical of the sharp, specific memories of Smith, who turns 107 tomorrow.
The students frequented the Renfrow house on Sundays because it was one of the few Black homes in town, and their example inspired Smith to later attend Grinnell herself — Class of ’37, the first African American woman to graduate there.
That might sound impressive. But if one quality stands out when visiting Smith at her tidy apartment at the Bethany Retirement Community on North Ashland Avenue, it is that she is never overly impressed with herself or anybody else.
Shaking Renfrow’s hand, it is impossible not to reflect that you are shaking hands with a woman whose grandparents were born into chattel slavery. She remembers them, too.
Chicago area native Bill Glass appreciates the irony surrounding the popularity of the Progressive Insurance commercials where he plays Dr. Rick, a self-help guru who assists homeowners in avoiding the habits of their parents.
In the commercials, Dr. Rick teaches hapless grown-ups how to open a PDF, how to pronounce “quinoa” and how to avoid making noises when sitting down, among other suggestions.
“I’m not gonna lie. Recently, I have made noises sitting down and I never thought I would,” said Glass. “So some of the stuff from the commercials is not just true for everyone else; every now and then it happens to me as well. I have two teenagers, so I’m saying stuff that I never thought I would say.”
Dr. Rick from the Progressive commercials is played by Bill Glass, an Arlington Heights native who performed in Chicago at Second City and ImprovOlympic. Progressive Casualty Insurance
Glass, an Arlington Heights native who attended Hersey High School and performed at Second City and ImprovOlympic, also is on “Rutherford Falls,” a show on the Peacock streaming service starring Ed Helms (“The Hangover,” “The Office”).
Now based in California, Glass misses being in Chicago.
“That’s where I got to do a lot of my improv,” said Glass. “It was a great time; I owe people like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and David Koechner.”
DENVER — If only Kyle Schwarber had gotten under a July 2 fastball from Dodgers lefty Julio Urias just a tiny bit more, it would have been yet another home run.
Instead, the bull-necked, barrel-chested darling of the Nationals roped a base hit into right center, took a wide turn around first base and — oh, no.
“Oh, please,” Nationals television play-by-play man Bob Carpenter said as Schwarber doubled over in agony on the bag. “Not him.”
Not June’s National League player of the month, whose preposterous home-run binge included 15 bombs in a 17-game stretch — a feat previously accomplished by only Sammy Sosa in 1998 and Barry Bonds in 2001.
Not the guy the D.C. area has fallen in love with and taken to describing in Ruthian terms. Sound familiar?
Not the guy the Cubs decided wasn’t an All-Star-caliber player, but, you know, is.
Alas, Schwarber strained his right hamstring badly enough that he’s unable to cap his first All-Star experience with an appearance in Tuesday night’s game.
Schwarber leaves the field July 2 after injuring his right hamstring.Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
“It definitely does stink,” he said, “just because it’s your first one and it’s really exciting to see that people around you see the work that you put in. But it is what it is. I’m just here to take in the experience, be around the best in the game and just kind of watch and listen and see what these guys do.”
On a one-year, $10 million contract with the Nationals, Schwarber is setting himself up for the kind of payday the Cubs wanted no part of. Should they have dug a little deeper under the company mattress to re-sign their left fielder after the 2020 season? It’s probably a pointless question. The Cubs don’t seem to have much appetite for ponying up these days.
Would it hurt Schwarber to see what’s left of the Cubs’ World Series core — namely Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javy Baez — pulled apart?
“Yeah, man, it kind of would,” he said. “But you know what? I don’t even worry about the guys. I know that the fans will be hurt, probably, but at the end of the day this is the business side of baseball. I got a taste of the business side of baseball, too. But the guys, who are my friends, they’re going to be just fine. They’re going to be great baseball players wherever they go, and I think that’s the biggest thing.”
For the most part, Schwarber has moved on.
“I love where I’m at,” he said. “I love it. This has been one heck of a time.”
The Nationals have been dealt an overload of injuries — NL All-Star starting pitcher Max Scherzer says there’s an “injury rat” sneaking around the clubhouse — and staggered into the break in a 2-9 stretch. But at 42-47 and only six games out in a winnable East division, their hopes remain higher than the ones that may or may not exist at Wrigley Field.
Schwarber thinks his team has a legit shot at the playoffs. Sure, part of him wishes he were still a Cub and feeling the very same way.
“Now being a viewer from the outside in, I guess, there was a special group of baseball players there,” he said. “The talent was unbelievable. And we did something really cool in 2016, and we wanted to do more.”
Whether or not one World Series was enough, one World Series was what that group got.
“It wasn’t like we were satisfied we won the World Series,” Schwarber said. “We wanted to keep going. …
“But those guys there? The guys the Cubs might not keep? They did really good, special things in Chicago and made Chicago baseball a hot commodity. I think people get caught up in ‘we should’ve won more World Series.’ Look at the Dodgers: They just won their first one. These guys did special things in Chicago, and it was damn fun for me to be a part of it.”
I am quite excited that the critically acclaimed, Paramount+, the streaming service from Viacom CBS, original series, THE GOOD FIGHT is back for a fifth season.
The Good Fight is the spin-off series of the CBS series The Good Wife. I watched the Good Wife from time to time and enjoyed it but not enough to be diligent in watching, however, when The Good Fight started, I was hooked.
In the fifth season, Diane (Christine Baranski) is forced to question whether it’s appropriate for her to help run an African American law firm with Liz (Audra McDonald) when the firm loses two top lawyers. Meanwhile, Marissa (Sarah Steele) and the firm become entangled with Hal Wackner (Mandy Patinkin), a regular Chicagoan who decides to open his own courtroom in the back of a copy shop. How wild is that?
Two reasons why I love this show are Michael Boatman who plays Judge Julius Cain and Nyambi Nyambi (no I didn’t write his name twice as a mistake. It is his actual name) who plays the handsome Investigator Jay DiPersia.
I have enjoyed both actors for a long time and was so happy to have the chance to have a conversation with them.
Last season was cut short due to the pandemic, so I asked the guys to bring me up to speed. Michael kicked it off, “As fans of the show might remember, we were truncated last season. We were cut off two-thirds of the way through last season, so we didn’t get to finish three episodes. So, there’s a lot of storylines, there were a lot of loose ends left, not only my character but all the other characters. So, in the very first episode of this season, our writers do an unbelievable job of bringing everything up to speed, letting us know what we would have seen in those last three episodes from last season, including what happens to my character.”
I thought the writers did an amazing job of intertwining world issues of what went on during the pandemic and making it relevant to the series.
Nyambi Nyambi continued, “My character came down with COVID and it’s actually a long haul. And the effect of that is having hallucinations. I’m hallucinating historical figures. So, it’s like, “Well, why are these historical figures visiting me? What is this all about? Why am I seeing Frederick Douglas? Why am I seeing, Malcolm X? Why am I seeing Jesus? Why am I seeing Carl Marks? And throughout the season, you will see that unfold. And yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”
One of my favorite episodes was when Michael’s character had to admit he voted for Trump. I had to ask how he dealt with that as his character and personally.
“I will tell you, Bonnie, me Michael Boatman, it was the very first time I’ve ever considered turning down a job because I didn’t know how I was going to do it. And remember, this is right around the time he was first elected when the passions about it were really high. And everybody was mad on the side of the left, where I live in real life. I just didn’t think I’d be able to do it. For me, the biggest challenge to any role has always been how to do it honorably, how to do it set in a way that it’s not a cartoon. It’s that the characters’ emotions are performed with sincerity. And so that I, as the actor, am not commenting on this person’s character, even though they may be different than I am in real life. But after a couple of weeks, I began to realize, well, you do it the same way I do any job that I’ve played, which is where is this character like me? What do we have in common? Well, I learned that they said he’s from Chicago. Okay, got that one easy. The next thing they said though, was that he was Catholic. Now I’m not Catholic in real life, but my family grew up in a Southern Baptist home. So, I know the Bible and I understand the kind of conservatism that can come from a religious background. So, I was able to get at it like that.”
One of the things that stuck out to me is how the all-Black firm brings in a white female attorney and makes her a partner, who in turn brings in a white female attorney and a white female assistant. I had to stop and think, “Is this how it feels when a Black attorney is brought into an all-white firm? However, would that black attorney be able to make a partner?
Nyambi Nyambi:
The big, larger questions as far as, who are we? And let’s make sure we don’t become something that we’re not, and that’s the constant battle that we’re battling throughout the four seasons that going into season five where we lose two great lawyers. One of our top men and the other an up-and-coming lawyer. And because she’s been there for a while and she’s a named partner being Diane, it’s like, “Hold on now, there’s two of you. Now we have Diane, we have Liz played by the great Audra McDonald and the optics of it right now. It’s like you have this white woman lead an African American firm. Is that possible? Can, that is, can, cannot be done. And so those are the burning questions that we tackle, one of the burning questions that we’ve tackled throughout the season.”
Season five does not pull punches or sidesteps controversial topics. I am thoroughly hooked on this series. I think you will be also.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715920/fotw07_14_21largemouthblackwell.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714429/fotw07_14_21omalley.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714431/fotw07_14_21nature.jpeg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714093/fotw07_14_21smallmouthGreen.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715937/fotw07_14_21smallmouthHeidecke.PNG)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715939/fotw07_14_21smallmouthKank.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715214/fotw07_14_21ChinookConfusion.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715991/fotw07_14_21smallmouthMladenik.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22536589/CV_UPDATE_030621_15.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21883259/CV_CPS_080620_19.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714971/Dr_Rick_Hero_Frame_1.jpeg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22715675/1233776911.jpg)
Leave a comment