Having served on Governor Pritzker’s transition team and been appointed by previous governors to advisory boards and state councils, Puente already had plenty of name recognition when the coronavirus started devastating Latin American neighborhoods — 11 of the 15 worst-hit ZIP codes in the metro area are majority-Latino — and she used that visibility to get resources where they were needed most. She painstakingly compiled a list of dozens of organizations, many of them little known outside their communities, for the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. To date, 71 of those organizations have received more than $5 million for rent and utility assistance and other programs.
The November purchase by Davis’s nonprofit of the long-neglected Woodlawn home of civil rights martyr Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, with the aim of rehabilitating it as a pilgrimage site, accomplished what the Till family had been struggling to do for years. (The city declared the house a landmark in January.) It also shed light on the need for the preservation of cultural landmarks in Black neighborhoods that have often fallen prey to predatory real estate developers. What’s more, it turned a spotlight on the prescient work Blacks in Green had already been doing — namely, promoting sustainable urban living, from walkable neighborhoods to green architecture, in neighborhoods too long ignored.
Photography: (Ezike) John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune; (Welch) Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune; (Karnisovas) Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post; (Arwady) Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune; (Newman) Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune; (Pulley) Marcus Smith; (Sanchez) Afkara Mason; (Johnson) ANF Chicago; (Walden) Samantha Cabrera Friend/Field Foundation; (Thompson) Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images; (Freshgoods) Nolis Anderson; (McEnany) SHOWTIME; (Cole, Rodriguez) Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune; (Toia) Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune; (Requejo Carballo) Courtesy of Elevated Chicago; (Bishop Sleets) E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune; (Jo MaMa) Adam Ouahmane; (Stoole) Dan Mistich; (Friedman) Steve Ewert; (Cooper) Victoria Messina/Rheaply; (Christian) Justin Barbin/OTV; (Williams) Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune; (Romanucci) Victor Hilitski/Chicago Tribune; (Jones) Deshon Gibbs; (Morris) Courtesy of Zeke Morris; (Ware) Dan Machnik; (Lee) Courtesy of University of Chicago; (Puente) Chicago Tribune; (Davis) David Jenkins
Like many states struggling to emerge from the pandemic, Illinois has been forced to be an agent of its own salvation, and Ezike has led the way. As the state’s top doc, she’s a reassuring presence at news conferences alongside Chicago’s own public health savior, Allison Arwady (see No. 4). But with the IDPH’s regional reopening phases and resurgence mitigation tiers overriding the often less stringent measures proposed by City Hall, it falls to Ezike to deliver the toughest love. She went early and hard with the stay-at-home order, and even as the vaccines roll out, she still stands by the data despite pushback from business owners who want restrictions relaxed. With equal parts stoicism and humanity, she has helped the state and the city — which continues to be disproportionately affected by the virus — avoid the harrowing surges that have afflicted New York and California.
Walden It was 2017. The Triibe had only been up for a month, and I wrote a response piece to an op-ed by Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell about a child support controversy going on with Chance the Rapper. Mitchell was saying that the messy battle with his girlfriend would overshadow his recent $1 million gift to Chicago Public Schools. The Sun-Times ran the piece on the front page, and it felt like this salacious clickbaity thing, like, “Oh, look at Chance the Rapper being a terrible father,” despite the fact that he was doing so much for people in the community. I wrote that this was an example of a larger problem in media, and especially in Chicago media, of not crafting full narratives around Black people in the city. As I’ve gotten older and understand the dynamics of power more, I realize that Mary Mitchell may not have had any power as to how that story was laid out in the newspaper. But she was a staple in the city, and for us to critique the work she was doing was a powerful moment for me.
Johnson When we started our site, the Reader seemed like a natural partnership. We pitched a series to them, called the Block Beat, which would chronicle Black musicians and the places in Chicago that matter to them. The Reader tried to get us to sign regular freelance contracts, and I said, “We’re not going to do that. The Triibe is going to maintain ownership and the trademarks for this series.” That shook the whole structure. The series ended up being stalled for about eight months, with us going back and forth. It just kept going up the chain of command. One day I answered the phone, and it’s Edwin Eisendrath, the publisher. I’m like, Oh my gosh, what do I do? He starts telling me it’s out of their wheelhouse to draft new contracts because they don’t want to pay lawyers, blah blah blah. On the spot, I just had to explain to him that we are an organization that is about Black ownership, and anything that we create, we’re going to own. I don’t remember if it was decided during that conversation. I just remember we won.
Cocreator, executive producer, and star of Work in Progress
For my first really big press event last year, they sent a Showtime photographer to take my pictures. My agents sent me the photos and were like, “Hey, you want to go through these? You can hit the kill switch on any of them.” On our show, I’m a fat 50-year-old woman who’s masculine-presenting, gray hair. And in my life, a lot of my pain came from being fat and being shamed for it. Growing up, I never saw a fat woman that was respected or seen as worthy in print, on TV, in movies. Fat guys could do anything, could have power, they could have conventionally beautiful women attracted to them. But the fat woman was always, like, the joke or, you know, a bitch, or rude, or unhappy and just needed to get laid. But when I saw my photos, I was like, “No, don’t kill any of them,” because that’s what I look like. Maybe it’s not that strong a statement because, you know, it was a Showtime photographer, so they’re not going to put out the worst ones! But I don’t know — there’s something powerful about not hiding.
One of my employers was a large financial institution — lots of systems, lots of capacity, billions of dollars. They hired me to improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion. On my first day, they asked me to change my last name because their computer system was unable to fit two surnames. Like many people with Latin American roots, I have my father’s and my mother’s. It’s awkward on your first day at work to be hired for that and then to be told, “By the way, our system will not accept your name.” When I asked them to fix it, they had me fill out all these forms. I had to talk to my boss and then to my boss’s boss, and then the CEO got involved. This was a global institution — you would think they’d have known better. So here was a situation where I realized I could benefit from my power: I was supposed to help the bank with diversity, equity, and inclusion, and now they were in a pickle. If I had been hired for something else, like as a branch manager or IT professional, I may have had to bend. But instead I was able to tell them, “Stop it. You hired me to help you with this, and the first thing you do is to erase my name?” It was one of my first big “No, that’s not gonna happen” moments.
Watch five Chicagoans from our ranking talk about what standing up to power means to them
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 22: Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks poses after winning the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Art Ross during the 2016 NHL Awards at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks went into the season with low expectations, but those did not last.
It looked like they might be even worse than the Detroit Red Wings who were one of the worst teams of all time in 2019-20. Now, everyone has carried their own weight and the Hawks look way better than we thought. At 8-5-4, they look like a team that can compete for the playoffs in a Wild Card spot.
They have scored 50 goals and given up 51 so far this season. That is really good considering that they gave up five goals a game in each of their first four matchups. They work harder than their opponent almost every game and that has allowed them to come away with more victories than losses (up to this point). There is still a lot of hockey left to go but this is an exciting team.
The ChicagoBlackhawks might have a few guys in conversations for Major Awards.
Of course, winning is the most important thing in hockey and the Blackhawks have done a fair share of that this season. They don’t have a loaded roster as they did in the early 2010s so a few individuals have to step above the rest in order to make this work. Everyone has done their part but a couple of guys have been even better.
At the end of each season, the National Hockey League has its individual awards that they give out, and the Chicago Blackhawks have three people who could be in the mix for one of them. It would be cool to see one (or all) of these three at least get a nomination:
Chicago Cubs fans, like many Chicagosports fans in general, have plenty to deal with on a daily basis.
What do fans of each Chicago Sports team have in common?
We really love our sports teams.
Let me explain. Year after year, month after month, we fans have put ourselves on a perpetual roller coaster of many up, up’s (6 rings, 3 Hockey Titles, 2 World Series) and down, down’s (organizational incompetence for each team, broken promise after broken promise, etc.). Let’s face it, though; It’s 2021, and Chicago Sports fans are all weary.
We are weary of how our Bears are seemingly blind to problems everyone else is seeing.
We are weary knowing our Cubs won’t have the potential dynasty we all thought they had.
We are weary watching our White Sox for fear that their possible dynasty might go up in smoke like the Cubs did.
We are weary, knowing the chances that the Bulls ever get a super team in today’s NBA is slim.
Finally, we aren’t too weary of the Blackhawks since a good chunk of us frankly lost interest in them.
… I can go on.
The Bears have shattered my heart over the past two seasons, and it has prompted an intervention.
In response, I have decided to go to therapy on behalf of all of our fans.
We are going to start with the Chicago Cubs.
*Steps into session*
Hello, my name is Dr. Kristin. We will be together for five sessions this time around.
When it comes to therapy, I have one “rule.” It is OK to have feelings and express them. I say this mostly to men considering our culture doesn’t condone it. You are in a safe space here.
So, let’s get started. How are you feeling today?
Bitter.
Why is that?
Well, you don’t just end up bitter; it has to start somewhere, right?. As many of you all can relate, the Chicago Cubs were my first team growing up. I grew up eight blocks from Wrigley; binging on WGN and going to Cubs’ games was a way of life. I was there at the ’98 playoff game. I was a bit numb to the ’03 disaster but then was emotionally distraught by the sweep in ’08. Then 2015 came, and I finally felt hope. We all know what happened from there…
Well, how would you describe your relationship with the Cubs?
Well, I’m angry! It starts at the top and our owner, Tom Rickets, per NBC Sports’ David Kaplan, carries “about $1 billion in debt between the franchise and the Ricketts family’s real-estate company, Hickory Street Capital.” The pandemic has hit their wallets hard, and we fans are feeling the result of the product. Their monetary issues forced them to trade away one of the best pitchers we had in years (Yu Darvish) for some salary relief. All the team got back in return was some saved money and a big bag of prospects (none of which are top 100)- All for a Top Three Pitcher in baseball. (By the way, we had to eat 3 million of his salary in the trade).
The shouts are getting louder for Tom Ricketts to sell the team.
I am really upset about this.
How sad is it that the team won’t even bring back the pitcher who changed our organization’s entire outlook so he can retire here? Now, I’m even more confused about the state of the team after the most recent signings.
Sources have confirmed to me that Tom Ricketts has recently increased the Cubs player payroll for 2021. This has allowed Jed Hoyer some flexibility to reshape his roster in a division the Cubs view as winnable. @kapjhood@NBCSChicago@NBCSCubs
For what? Being swept out of the playoffs with our 83-win team?
On top of that, our former President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, likely saw this whole disaster coming, and he decided to jump off the train before it crashed. He’s out the door, and we fans have so many unanswered questions for him: Why did you fail to see our players’ actual value when the iron was hot and made trades? Why were you so short-sighted on big money reliever deals? I can go on and on…
As a result of this mess, Kyle Schwarber is gone for nothing in return. Who even knows where Addison Russell is without a google search? Kris Bryant is probably gone after this year or at the trade deadline for peanuts. There’s also talk that we might trade mainstay pitcher Kyle Hendricks for probably for more peanuts. This sucks.
What future does the Chicago Cubs have? Our starting rotation is Hendricks, a washed-up Jake Arrieta, and several guys most casual Cubs fans don’t recognize. Our farm system has only THREE top-100 players in it, and our best player, Javy Baez, has regressed in the last year and a half.
Your thoughts sound disconnected. What do you think is the root of all these problems?
I’m hurt. I put my trust and heart in the Chicago Cubs, and it all blew up. For a fanbase that had already suffered 108 years of futility, what is happening is somewhat devastating. I don’t see much hope moving forward.
I’m worried that in 25 years, we will be talking about the Chicago Cubs 2016 season like Bears fans talk about the 1985 Season.
Maybe we won too soon? It seems so trivial that I’m talking and feeling this way about a baseball team.
Listen, Tim. I hear you. Your feelings and thoughts are important. They are not dumb. People feel the same things about anything they are attached to; This is important to you- and that’s OK. I want to congratulate you for having the courage to come in today. It takes a lot of bravery to get help and be vulnerable; you should be proud of yourself.
I’m going to end it on a lighter note- If you could speak to one person in the organization right now to begin your healing journey- what would you say:
I would speak with Kris Bryant to understand more about what happened with him after such a metric rise to stardom. Now that I dealt with my feelings about the Chicago Cubs, I would like to sit with him and have a beer to understand his pressure over the past few years.
Progressive symphonic metal group Mechina are based in Chicago’s western suburbs, but I wouldn’t blame you if their inhumanly technical sci-fi sound convinced you they weren’t from Earth. For nearly 15 years, with album after album and single after single, Mechina have built an intergalactic narrative so complex that their most devoted fans can’t follow it—even the person diligently assembling a Fandom wiki explaining Mechina’s evolving chronicle admits that the task is beyond them.…Read More
