Tyler Johnson assumed his trade from the Lightning to the Blackhawks would increase his playing time.

But he had no idea he’d arrive for the first day of training camp and find himself immediately on the first line, centering Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.

“Coming in, with conversations I had with [Hawks management]…we never really got to the nitty-gritty as far as where I’d play and who I’d play with,” Johnson said. “[Kane and DeBrincat] surprised me, but it’s worked pretty well so far. I’m excited to be in some games with them.”

Kane, DeBrincat and Johnson would be one of the smallest lines in the league, with all three shorter than 5-10 and averaging 176 pounds. But it’d also be one of the more offensively dangerous, representing 1,678 combined career NHL points and counting.

“There’s a difference between being small and being relentless,” Johnson said. “You look at the way ‘Cat’ plays. He’s a smaller guy but he works extremely hard — he’s bumping into guys, he’s taking the puck off their stick. To be honest, that’s harder to play against than a big guy who’s looking to take you out.”

In a vacuum, Johnson is probably over-slotted as a first-line center. He’s 31 now and had fallen into a bottom-six role in Tampa the last few years.

In the Hawks’ current situation, however, it makes sense. The other center options are either working their way back to full health and fitness (Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach) or buried deep within coach Jeremy Colliton’s doghouse (Dylan Strome).

Johnson’s skills fit well in the role, too, much like Pius Suter’s did last season. The Spokane, Washington, native has always been an efficient finisher, as evidenced by his career 13.1% shooting percentage. And playing with Nikita Kucherov for years taught him how to operate alongside a superstar winger.

“Kane plays very similar to ‘Kuch,” Johnson said. “They are guys who like to have the puck on the stick. They move it around, they find those open areas and they can make plays. They don’t need you to be right next to them, helping them all the time, because they’re able to get out of trouble themselves. It’s really just about trying to get open, trying to give them a passing lane and honestly just being ready to score.”

The data backs that up: Johnson indeed adapted his style to complement Kucherov. Over their last three regular seasons together, Johnson averaged 1.35 goals (per 60 even-strength minutes) with Kucherov versus 0.99 without. He averaged more shot attempts (13.3 vs. 12.8) yet fewer assists (0.61 vs. 0.96) with Kucherov, as well.

Johnson will likely employ a similar strategy — hopefully with equally effective results — alongside Kane, if that line does stick around through opening night.

Johnson brought more than the Kucherov experience from Tampa, though. He also brought a scouting report: the Lightning last season knew the Hawks had “a lot of skill,” but considered them “not necessarily the most gritty of teams.” (Unsurprisingly, the Lightning beat the Hawks seven times out of eight.)

The Hawks are hoping to disprove that reputation this season. Johnson has already noticed his new team playing with a “little more sandpaper.” The coaching staff has harped on physicality repeatedly during the first week of camp.

And Colliton, fittingly, sees the Lightning as a model for the Hawks in that regard.

“They went through that [change] themselves, right?” he said. “They had a high-powered team offensively, but couldn’t get it done in the playoffs for a couple of years… Then they, as a group, decided they were going to play a little bit different, and now they have two Cups.

“So yeah, that has an effect, [Johnson] coming in. He’s been through that transformation and understands the payoff for it.”

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Starting Justin Fields against the Lions on Sunday should be a no-brainer.

Not only does Fields need to get back on the horse after getting sacked nine times in a miserable starting debut against the Browns last week, but the Lions have been Matt Nagy’s lone punching bag in his first three seasons as the Bears head coach.

The Bears’ passer rating against the Lions under Nagy is a gaudy 118.4 (15 touchdowns, one interception). That’s easily their best against any opponent they’ve played more the twice under Nagy — ahead of the Saints (90.9), Vikings (78.5), Packers (77.1) and Rams (60.6).

Statistically, you couldn’t handpick a better spot for a quarterback to build up his confidence than against the Lions at Soldier Field. In the Lions’ last nine games, quarterbacks have averaged a 133.4 passer rating against their defense (24 touchdowns, one interception), including eight straight 100-plus ratings before the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson was held to 81.0 on Sunday.

Cornerback Amani Oruwariye’s fourth-quarter interception of Jackson in a 19-17 loss at Ford Field was the Lions’ first pick since Week 11 of last season against the Panthers and first-time starter Phillip Walker. It ended a string of 265 consecutive passes without an interception.

The Lions’ defense might not be the easy touch they’ve been for the Bears and Nagy. Sunday’s game was the most tangible sign of improvement under first-year coordinator Aaron Glenn. And as bad as the Lions have been, they’ve been better against quarterbacks with Fields’ skill-set — Jackson this year and Kyler Murray (72.3 rating, three interceptions) last season.

The Lions still are last in the NFL in passer rating defense — 123.2 (seven touchdowns, one interception. But they’re seventh in sacks per pass play with eight sacks to 84 pass attempts — they were 27th last season — and sacked sacked Jackson four times Sunday. And veteran coordinator Dom Capers — a Bears nemesis with the Packers — is a senior adviser to Glenn, which figures to further help get that defense off the mat.

After subjecting Fields to an onslaught in Cleveland, Nagy has an increased responsibility to avoid getting his prized quarterback prospect injured. But the timing against the Lions at Soldier Field couldn’t be much better. It’s up to Nagy and offensive line coach Juan Castillo to find a way to give the kid a chance.

2. Here’s how it’s done: A week after Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked five times and intercepted three times against the Bears, Burrow was not sacked and had a 122.9 passer rating (three touchdowns, one interception) against the Steelers at Heinz Field. Burrow threw just 18 passes in the game — 14-for-18, 172 yards — and won, 24-10.

3. It’s rarely a good sign when the best things about a quarterback’s performance is that he didn’t flinch or point fingers. “One of the things I was most proud of was his temperament,” quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said. “Not only after the game, but during the game.”

But DeFilippo also pointed to one positive Fields statistic that had particular merit — Fields had no turnovers (or concussions) despite getting sacked nine times and being under siege throughout.

“You didn’t see Justin throwing the ball into double-coverage,” DeFilippo said. “You didn’t see him putting the ball on the ground. To me, those are good things. There were no sack/fumbles. I didn’t think he put the ball in harm’s way very often. Those are things you can point at where you just don’t pile it on a guy and say ‘This, this and this.’ Part of the deal is it’s a learning curve.”

4. Fields got a huge break that kept his giveaway ledger clean when Browns safety John Johnson’s interception on a deep pass was nullified by a really tacky-tack pass interference penalty that the Bears would have been howling about had it happened to them.

That play captured the Fields first-game experience like no other. It was one of the few times Fields moved the pocket while not under pressure — and he had Darnell Mooney open downfield for a big play. But he missed the moment of opportunity, which gave Johnson time to make the play. It took an Aaron Rodgers kind of fortuitous call to bail him out. Not bad for a rookie.

5. Fields’ 41.2 passer rating is the third-worst for a first-round pick in his first NFL start in the last 10 years, behind the Browns’ Brandon Weeden (5.1) in 2012 and the Browns’ Johnny Manziel (27.3) in 2014. All three of those dubious first starts happened at Cleveland Browns/FirstEnergy Stadium.

6. What does it say that the best performance for a Bears back-up quarterback in his first start under Nagy is by Chase Daniel in a short week? In 2018, Daniel replaced an injured Mitch Trubisky against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day and had a 106.8 passer rating (27-of-37, 230 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) in a 23-6 victory at Ford Field. With 10 days to prepare for his next start, he was worse (75.3 in a loss to the Giants at the Meadowlands).

The other back-ups to start were Daniel against the Raiders in London in 2019 (89.7), Nick Foles against the Colts in 2020 (76.4), and Trubisky against the Packers in 2020 (74.7).

7. An additionally disconcerting aspect of Fields’ disastrous first start is that the Bears are supposed to be so much better equipped to manage a young quarterback with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and DeFilippo on the staff.

The Bears had much less NFL experience when Dowell Loggains and Dave Ragone were in charge of Trubisky’s development in his rookie year in 2017. And while it’s still Nagy’s show, Lazor and DeFilippo have significant input. “He’s one of the best head coaches I’ve been around in terms of taking new ideas,” DeFilippo said.

8. Bits & Pieces: The Bears’ 20-point loss to the Browns was the largest for a team with five sacks since 2015, when the Cowboys sacked Tom Brady five times and lost to the Patriots 30-6. … NFL teams that get five sacks are 133-41-1 (.763) since 2015. … Fields’ 41.2 passer rating was the second-lowest without an interception in a complete game since the Lions’ Joey Harrington in 2004 (39.6 — the lowest rating possible without an interception). … Cairo Santos has made 31 consecutive field goals (32 including the postseason) after connecting from 47 and 22 against the Browns. With two more he would tie the 49ers’ Robbie Gould and the Ravens’ Justin Tucker for 10th on the NFL’s all-time list. … The Bears have had no three-and-outs in Andy Dalton’s 11 drives. They have eight in Fields’ 15 drives.

9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Texans wide receiver Anthony Miller caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Davis Mills that gave the Texans a 7-6 lead in a 24-9 loss to the Panthers. Miller, active for the first time this season, had four receptions for 20 yards in the game.

10. Bear-ometer: 4-13 — vs. Lions (W); at Raiders (L); vs. Packers (L); at Buccaneers (L); vs. 49ers (L); at Steelers (L); vs. Ravens (L); at Lions (L); vs. Cardinals (L); at Packers (L); vs. Vikings (W); at Seahawks (L); vs. Giants (W); at Vikings (L).

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A man was killed in a shooting Tuesday in Lawndale on the West Side.

He was near the street about 1:15 p.m. in the 1500 block of South Christiana Avenue when someone opened fire, Chicago police said.

The 21-year-old was struck multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He hasn’t been identified.

Area Four detectives are investigating.

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Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 74 degrees. Tonight will be clear with a low around 56. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 81.

Top story

Two women who say Chicago shaped their work among MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipients

Two women whose work was influenced by their time in Chicago are among this year’s MacArthur Fellows.

Historian and author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Jacqueline Stewart, who studies the history of cinema, both focus their work on the Black experience and uplifting Black voices. They are among 25 recipients of the no-strings-attached $625,000 fellowships, unofficially dubbed the “genius grants,” announced today.

Taylor has lived in Chicago for more than a decade. Stewart was born and raised in Hyde Park. Both said their experiences with Chicago’s Black neighborhoods played a pivotal role in their intellectual development.

Taylor moved to Chicago from New York City to join activist movements focused on ending the death penalty and exonerating Black men on Illinois’ death row. She also organized for Chicago tenants’ rights in the wake of the 2008 housing crisis. Taylor is the author of “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership,” a book she says was influenced by her time living in Chicago and noticing the city’s stark segregation. She now lives in Philadelphia and teaches history at Princeton University.

Stewart, a professor of cinema and media studies at the University of Chicago, also says her work on the history of African American filmmaking was influenced by her upbringing.

She directs the South Side Home Movie Project, which preserves amateur films shot by Chicago residents, and serves as chief artistic and programming officer at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, set to open Thursday.

The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has granted billions of dollars to “creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks” since its founding in 1970. Fellowships are awarded to “extraordinarily talented individuals” each year, and winners are free to use the grant however they choose.

You can’t apply for a MacArthur Fellowship. Instead, recipients are selected by a team of anonymous nominators. The process is confidential, and recipients usually don’t know they’ve been picked until the congratulatory phone call.

Jason Beeferman has more on the recipients and their work here.

More news you need

Police say an 8-year-old boy playing in front of his home in Markham yesterday was shot and killed when someone stepped out of a car and fired, apparently aiming at his older brother. Demetrius Stevenson was in the third grade and looking forward to the new school year, according to city administrator Derrick Champion.

Some state lawmakers and activists hope to pass legislation next month that would restore voting rights to people in prisons. It’s a change proponents say could help connect incarcerated people “to a process that’s for the betterment of society.”

The Obamas returned to Chicago today for the official groundbreaking of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, calling the center a “university for activism and social change.” Amid the excitement, a plane flew overhead with a banner that read “Stop cutting down trees — move OPC,” a reminder of the controversy that’s followed the project.

With his guilty plea to wire fraud and money laundering yesterday, former Ald. Ricardo Munoz became the 36th member of the City Council to be convicted of a crime since the early 1970s. Munoz is the first former or sitting Chicago alderperson to be convicted since Ald. Willie Cochran’s 2019 guilty plea.

A 25-year-old accused by the feds of running a “significant bookmaking operation” at Illinois State University avoided prison during his sentence hearing today. Instead, Matthew Namoff — the youngest person charged in connection with a massive gambling ring — was given six months of home confinement and a $10,000 fine.

The Illinois Prison Project filed a petition today with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to commute the sentences of 43 people, all of whom have struggled with mental illness. At one time or another, they ended up in solitary confinement for misbehaving — often for arbitrary infractions that either led to longer prison terms or the elimination of “good time,” the Prison Project said.

The arrival of October on Friday means the start of awards season for theatrical releases, so film critic Richard Roeper pieced together a fall preview of his most anticipated films. From “The Last Duel” and “Dune,” to “The Harder They Fall” and “Spencer,” the films cover a wide range of genres, offering a little something for just about everyone.

A bright one

Zyra Gorecki revels in historic ‘La Brea’ role as a teen with a disability

Zyra Gorecki is well aware of the historic nature of her first series regular role on the NBC series “La Brea.”

“There’s not a lot of representation for disability in media, and to have a character actually be played by an amputee actor is huge,” said Gorecki, who is one of the few amputee series regular/lead actors on a broadcast TV series.

“Being an amputee, you have a different mental state and how you react to things and how you experience things. And to be able to bring that to a character who is an amputee is something that a fully limbed person would not necessarily be used to because they haven’t experienced it.”

Izzy (Zyra Gorecki, left, with Natalie Zea) sprints to escape an expanding sinkhole in the opening moments of the new NBC series “La Brea.” NBC

“La Brea,” which premieres at 8 p.m. tomorrow on WMAQ-Channel 5, details how a massive Los Angeles sinkhole upends the lives of a family, separating them in the process. Gorecki plays Izzy Harris, a teenager whose mom and brother tumble into the hole.

Gorecki, who splits her time between Chicago and her native Michigan, lost her left leg below the knee at 13 in a lumber accident. She says some people miss a level of understanding when it comes to ableism.

“I think people try to be good; they try to be caring and understanding of other people, and that’s not always the case,” said Gorecki, 19. “And that’s totally fine — you can come back from that, absolutely. It’s just a matter of going to the people who have disabilities, going to the people who are different and understanding. Take something from a conversation with them and going: ‘Oh, I did do wrong. Now I can fix this.'”

More from Evan F. Moore’s conversation with Gorecki here.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

How would you describe autumn in Chicago to someone who’s never experienced it before?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: Who is your favorite “Saturday Night Live” cast member of all time? Why? Here’s what some of you said…

“Hard one. I felt the first year’s cast was outstanding! They set the sights high. John Belushi — outstanding in his contributions. Chevy Chase — amazing! Gilda Radner — one in a million. They all worked together to make this outstanding program.” — Robin Hickman

“Kristen Wig. Well between her character of The Target Lady and The Californians, she really knows how to capture those personalities. It’s probably why she is a movie star now. ‘Bridesmaids’ is one of my favorite movies.”– Mike Lebron

“Eddie Murphy is the GOAT, but he was on there before my time. So I’ll say Norm Macdonald.” — Nathan Marshall

“Chris Farley, because there has never been another cast member like him. May he rest in peace.” — Joel NK Aleman

“Phil Hartman. He was just so gifted.” — Jennifer Payton

“Keenan Thompson is the longest-running and most versatile cast member ever!” — Miguelito Hartman

“Maya Rudolph. I think she’s awesome. She’s smart, witty, and funny.” — Wilishah Ayana

Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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The youngest person charged in connection with a massive international gambling ring, who was accused by the feds of running a “significant bookmaking operation” at Illinois State University, dodged prison during his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall gave six months of home confinement and a $10,000 fine to 25-year-old Matthew Namoff.

Federal prosecutors say Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice groomed Namoff and made him an equal partner in the larger gambling ring DelGiudice ran online. They said Namoff managed 60 gamblers at ISU, and DelGiudice saw it as a business opportunity.

That’s because Namoff’s gamblers would eventually leave ISU, get jobs and increase their bets.

“These were not small bets in a dorm room over beer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney wrote in a court memo.

Defense attorney Darryl Goldberg said he “fundamentally” disagreed with the prosecutor’s characterization of Namoff, insisting Namoff “pales in comparison” to others charged in connection with the gambling ring.

Before he was sentenced, Namoff apologized to the judge and said, “I stupidly saw gambling as a way to socialize in college, but through all this I now know that it’s not a victimless crime.”

“You’ll never see me again,” Namoff said. “Thank you, your honor.”

DelGiudice admitted earlier this year that he ran the larger bookmaking business from 2016 to 2019 in and around Chicago. Namoff, who pleaded guilty to his role in April, is the seventh person to be sentenced in a series of related cases that have been filed since early 2020.

Two of the six people previously sentenced landed prison time, but four others avoided it. Another defendant, Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher, was pardoned in January by then-President Donald Trump. DelGiudice has not been sentenced.

Goldberg wrote in a court memo that Namoff suffered from an undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a violent robbery when his crime began. Goldberg wrote that Namoff got drunk and bragged that he knew of DelGiudice and his gambling website in an attempt to increase his popularity.

“What began as $1 to $3 wagers on a sporting event over a beer morphed into something else,” Goldberg wrote. “Mr. Namoff’s [bettors] were betting so small on average that the minimum wager was eventually increased to $5, clearly on the smallest scale of all charged in this case.”

Kinney and Goldberg painted drastically different pictures of Namoff during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing. Despite Namoff’s guilty plea, Kinney even suggested that the judge give Namoff no credit for accepting responsibility for his crime.

Meanwhile, Goldberg pointed to Trump’s pardon of Urlacher, noting that Urlacher “was a suburban mayor when he recruited and profited large amounts from gamblers.”

Goldberg wrote that Namoff “should not be imprisoned to avoid disparate treatment under the law, whether this Honorable Court believes Mr. Urlacher’s pardon was appropriate or not.”

“That needs to be addressed to a different place, not here,” Kendall told Goldberg.

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The Bulls ticket office might want to hold off on printing the playoff tickets for now.

That was the message from coach Billy Donovan, as the team had its first practice of the fall camp on Tuesday.

“It’s so hard to sit there and make predictions or project what is or is not going to happen,” Donovan said, when asked about the Bulls breaking a four-year postseason drought. “I just know we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

So was Donovan really under the belief that making the playoffs with this current roster would be a challenge? Likely not. Chalk it up to coachspeak in order to lie in the weeds as long as possible.

“To say what we’re going to look like weeks, months is going to be hard to say,” Donovan said. “I think the expectation is you want to compete at the highest level. You want to be able to make deep runs in the playoffs. And I think we’re continually trying to build and get better from one year to the next.

“But with all these new faces … I’m excited about it because there’s a lot of potential and I think a positivity to what we can become. But we’re going to have to put the work in to do that.”

Training room

Coby White (shoulder surgery) said on Tuesday that he is close to all basketball activity, with the final obstacle being left-handed overhead shots. The guard is still on schedule for a November return.

Patrick Williams (left ankle sprain) is expected to test the injury out this week when he begins running. He was able to get up shots, and the hope is he will be ready close to the start of the regular season.

Selling point

Lonzo Ball and the Bulls had been a rumor for a few seasons, even going back to his days with the Lakers when they were looking to unload him.

The new Bulls regime, however, was able to close the deal on him this offseason in a sign-and-trade for the restricted free agent. So what did it take for the Bulls to convince the point guard that he would be a good fit?

Money, but also the assurance that he would be able to play to his strengths rather than be coached to be something different.

“For me, I think just their interest in me,” Ball said of the process. “They didn’t want me to change anything I had going, any part of my game. They wanted me just to excel in the things I’m already comfortable doing. So it was an easy choice for me, and I think Zach [LaVine] played a big part as well.”

School days

It was only one season together at USC, but Nikola Vucevic admitted that he and DeMar DeRozan hoped that one day they would be able to reunite and play on the same team again.

“DeMar and I were same class, we were both freshman at USC — except he came in as a big star, I came in as a nobody,” Vucevic said with a laugh. “He was only there for one year, I stayed for three … And he mentioned in one of his interviews that we talked about playing together one day, maybe again, a lot of times we knew maybe it wasn’t realistic. But now an opportunity came and we were able to make it happen.”

And now the hope is it will be longer than just one season.

Vucevic is signed through the 2022-23 season, while DeRozan was inked through the 2023-24 campaign.

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Notre Dame and BYU will play each other at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas next season.

The Fighting Irish and Cougars said Tuesday they will play Oct. 8, 2022, in a Shamrock Series game for Notre Dame. This will be the eighth location Notre Dame has played one of its home games away from South Bend, Indiana.

This past week, the Irish had a Shamrock Series game against Wisconsin at Soldier Field. Notre Dame improved to 10-0 in series games. Fox Sports said the game with the Badgers drew 5.37 million viewers and was the most-watched college game of the weekend.

For BYU, the game with Notre Dame completes its schedule for 2022, which will be its last season as a football independent before joining the Big 12 in 2023.

Notre Dame leads the series with BYU 6-2. The teams last played each other in 2013 at Notre Dame Stadium.

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NEW YORK — For years, decades even, allegations swirled that R&B superstar R. Kelly was abusing young women and girls, with seeming impunity.

They were mostly young Black women. And Black girls.

And that, say accusers and others who have called for him to face accountability, is part of what took the wheels of the criminal justice system so long to turn, finally leading to his conviction Monday in his sex trafficking trial. That it did at all, they say, is also due to the efforts of Black women, unwilling to be forgotten.

Speaking out against sexual assault and violence is fraught for anyone who attempts it. Those who work in the field say the hurdles facing Black women and girls are raised even higher by a society that hypersexualizes them from a young age, stereotyping them as promiscuous and judging their physiques, and in a country with a history of racism and sexism that has long denied their autonomy over their own bodies.

“Black women have been in this country for a long time and … our bodies were never ours to begin with,” said Kalimah Johnson, executive director of the SASHA Center in Detroit, which provides services to sexual assault survivors.

“No one allows us to be something worthy of protection,” she said. “A human that needs love, and sacredness.” It’s as if, she said, “there’s nothing sacred about a Black woman’s body.”

In a 2017 study from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, adults were asked about their perceptions of Black girls in comparison with white girls of the same age in terms of their needs for nurturing and protection, as well as their knowledge of adult topics like sex.

At all ages, Black girls were perceived as more adult than white girls, needing less protection and knowing more about sex. The gap was widest between Black and white for girls between the ages of 10 and 14, followed by girls between the ages of 5 and 9.

“We don’t value Black girls, and they are dehumanized, and they are also blamed for the sexual violence that they experienced to a greater extent than white girls are,” said Rebecca Epstein, executive director of the center and one of the study’s authors.

For years, girls suffering at R. Kelly’s hands were treated as more of a punchline than a travesty, even during a trial on child pornography charges where a video, allegedly of him abusing a girl, was shown. He was acquitted in 2008.

Lisa Van Allen, who testified against Kelly in 2008, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview broadcast Tuesday that she “almost cried” when she learned of Monday’s verdict. “You know, this is what I was looking for back in 2008,” Van Allen said. “So I would say that the difference this time around is that there’s power in numbers. A lot of people came forward.”

Asked if she believed the accusers were initially not believed because they were Black women, Van Allen said, “Yes I do believe that that’s the main reason why.”

Music writer and former Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis couldn’t understand it. He and a colleague were the first to report on R. Kelly’s interactions with girls, in December 2000, and DeRogatis continued writing about it for years after.

Every time something came out, like the video, DeRogatis thought, that had to be it — that had to be the thing that would finally make a difference. And every time, it wasn’t.

It brought a realization home to DeRogatis, a middle-aged white man: the injustice that “nobody matters less in our society than young Black girls.”

And the girls and women he interviewed knew it, he said. The first thing he heard from the dozens he has interviewed, he said, was, “Who’s going to believe us? We’re Black girls.”

And so, R. Kelly continued on for years, making hit songs, performing with other artists, even at times calling himself the “Pied Piper” but professing he didn’t know the story about the musician who kidnapped a town’s children.

Those who welcomed Monday’s conviction, which came after several weeks of disturbing testimony and now carries the possibility that Kelly will spend decades in prison, said it’s a testament to the strength and perseverance of Black women, who have been the driving force, especially in recent years, of speaking out against him and demanding attention remain on him.

Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement against sexual abuse, pointed to the #MuteRKelly campaign, a protest started by two Black women in Atlanta in 2017 to put pressure on radio stations to stop playing his music and venues to stop allowing him to perform.

And the most widespread public condemnation followed in the wake of the 2019 docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” executive produced by dream hampton, a Black woman.

Asked about the guilty verdict Tuesday on “CBS This Morning,” hampton said, “You know, I want to believe that this means that Black women survivors will be heard, but I don’t want it to be dependent on a piece of media going viral or being successful.” She said she thinks about “all of the stories of everyday Black girls in neighborhoods like the ones that I grew up in Detroit who don’t have a predator, who don’t have an abuser that was famous or rich.”

Burke, who was interviewed for “Surviving R. Kelly,” said, “I think it says that you have to believe in the power of your own community, because this would not have happened if not for Black women staying the course. It was Black women who decided, ‘We are not going to let this fall on deaf ears.’ It was Black women who decided, ‘If nobody else is going to care, we’re going to care for Black women and girls in our community.'”

___

Associated Press journalist Gary Hamilton contributed to this report. Hajela is a member of the AP’s team covering race and ethnicity. She’s on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dhajela.

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The youngest person charged in connection with a massive international gambling ring, who was accused by the feds of running a “significant bookmaking operation” at Illinois State University, dodged prison during his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall gave six months of home confinement and a $10,000 fine to 25-year-old Matthew Namoff.

Federal prosecutors say Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice groomed Namoff and made him an equal partner in the larger gambling ring DelGiudice ran online. They said Namoff managed 60 gamblers at ISU, and DelGiudice saw it as a business opportunity.

That’s because Namoff’s gamblers would eventually leave ISU, get jobs and increase their bets.

“These were not small bets in a dorm room over beer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney wrote in a court memo.

Defense attorney Darryl Goldberg said he “fundamentally” disagreed with the prosecutor’s characterization of Namoff, insisting Namoff “pales in comparison” to others charged in connection with the gambling ring.

Before he was sentenced, Namoff apologized to the judge and said, “I stupidly saw gambling as a way to socialize in college, but through all this I now know that it’s not a victimless crime.”

“You’ll never see me again,” Namoff said. “Thank you, your honor.”

DelGiudice admitted earlier this year that he ran the larger bookmaking business from 2016 to 2019 in and around Chicago. Namoff, who pleaded guilty to his role in April, is the seventh person to be sentenced in a series of related cases that have been filed since early 2020.

Two of the six people previously sentenced landed prison time, but four others avoided it. Another defendant, Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher, was pardoned in January by then-President Donald Trump. DelGiudice has not been sentenced.

Goldberg wrote in a court memo that Namoff suffered from an undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a violent robbery. He wrote that Namoff got drunk and bragged that he knew of DelGiudice and his gambling website in an attempt to increase his popularity.

“What began as $1 to $3 wagers on a sporting event over a beer morphed into something else,” Goldberg wrote. “Mr. Namoff’s [bettors] were betting so small on average that the minimum wager was eventually increased to $5, clearly on the smallest scale of all charged in this case.”

Kinney and Goldberg painted drastically different pictures of Namoff during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing. Despite Namoff’s guilty plea, Kinney even suggested that the judge give Namoff no credit for accepting responsibility for his crime.

Meanwhile, Goldberg pointed to Trump’s pardon of Urlacher, noting that Urlacher “was a suburban mayor when he recruited and profited large amounts from gamblers.”

Goldberg wrote that Namoff “should not be imprisoned to avoid disparate treatment under the law, whether this Honorable Court believes Mr. Urlacher’s pardon was appropriate or not.”

“That needs to be addressed to a different place, not here,” Kendall told Goldberg.

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Music is memory: It’s the refrain that pulses throughout the exuberant “American Mariachi,” Jose Cruz Gonzalez’s play with music about the values of family, love, tradition — and the challenges to those ideals.

The play, which opened Monday night at the Goodman Theatre, begins with el grito, the throaty, primal shout that launches many Latin folk standards, and from that cry, “American Mariachi” breaks into the accelerating trumpet fanfare of “Son de la Negra,” the traditional classic regarded as Mexico’s second national anthem. For many Mexican Americans, the iconic song triggers a sense of welcome recognition that nuestra historia — our story — is about to be told.

This story, set in the ’70s in an unspecified American city, centers on the Morales family, whose trials and tribulations unspool against a backdrop of mariachi music (mariachi, a.k.a. ranchera, is the quintessential sound of Mexico). Federico (a spot-on Ricardo Gutierrez), “an old school Mexican,” and a part-time mariachi musician, tries to keep his family rooted in tradition (and its attendant obligations) but his daughter, Lucha, a nursing student, yearns to break free of his paternalistic rule.

Haunted by the memory of her aunt Carmen, who drowned, Amalia, Federico’s wife and Lucha’s mother, is slipping away into a fog of dementia; she snaps back to life when hearing music — in particular, a bolero (ballad) written and specially recorded for her years ago. When the only record of that song is broken, Lucha (an effervescent Tiffany Solano) and her cousin Boli (Lucy Godinez, ebullient and sassy) decide to form an all-female mariachi so they can re-create the ballad for Amalia (Gigi Cervantes, winning at every turn) before she succumbs to her fate. Passed down from father to son, mariachi (then as now) remains the province of men, so Lucha and Boli face an uphill struggle.

Ricardo Gutierrez stars as Federico in “American Mariachi” at the Goodman Theatre.Liz Lauren

Sones de Mexico, the stellar Chicago-based, Grammy-nominated ensemble, serves as the play’s anchor, as it expertly performs classics of the genre, which set the mood and propel the action. Aided by family friend Mino (an excellent Bobby Plasencia), Lucha and Boli, along with Isabel (a beatific Molly Hernandez), Gabby (Amanda Raquel Martinez, totally delightful) and Soyla (a scene-stealing Gloria Vivica Benavides), the women master their instruments and learn that mariachi demands “sacrifce and discipline” … and above all, respect.

The actresses, all accomplished, also learned their instruments in real life and shine in their musical numbers, in particular, an English-language version of the traditional dirge “La Llorona,” performed first by Lucha, then as a stunning duet in Spanish by Tia Carmen (the commanding Erendira Izguerra) and Amalia as they are both decked out in cavalera (skull) face painting and traditional traje de charro suits. (Though primarily spoken in English, “American Mariachi” offers lots of dialogue in Spanish, but the meaning is clear throughout.)

The cast of “American Mariachi” at the Goodman Theatre.Liz Lauren

Henry Godinez, the Goodman’s resident artistic associate, directs with his usual flair. “American Mariachi” is a co-production with Dallas Theater Center (where it was tabled in 2020 due to the pandemic) and is presented as part of Destinos, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s annual festival. Introduced three years ago in Denver, the play has had prior productions in San Diego and Los Angeles. Sets, costumes and lighting reflect colorful Mexican motifs — for instance, the water, earth, fire and wind symbols common to Day of the Dead celebrations, such as papel picados (lace banners).

Though a crowd-pleaser at every turn, the play crams many issues into its 95-minute, intermission-less running time: aging, family conflict, mental health, sexism, paternalism, assimilation, marital strife and women’s equality. As it careens between comedy and drama, often within the same scene, the production sometimes falls into an overbroad acting style more suited to a road-company edition of “Scooby-Doo.”

Ultimately, “American Mariachi” commands esteem as it celebrates a culture that is slowly disappearing, with giants of the genre either dead (Juan Gabriel and Joan Sebastian) or retired (Vicente Fernandez). (On this year’s Latin music charts, so far only one ranchera song, “Tus Desprecios” by Pepe Aguilar and El Fantasma, has hit No. 1.) Kudos to “American Mariachi” (and Sones de Mexico) for carrying on the tradition.

As Mino reminds the women, “This music was born from the ashes left by the sword and the cross, La Conquista, and from the embers emerged mariachi, which for generations, has filled ordinary people’s lives from birth to baptism, from marriage to death.” It tells a universal story as it also celebrates a community often marginalized in the arts, and for that, “American Mariachi” deserves enduring respect.

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