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Chief Keef's long road back to Chicago: Music industry insiders weigh in
The anticipation surrounding Chief Keef’s return to the Chicago area is at a fever pitch. Locals and industry insiders are already using phrases like “historic” and “iconic” to describe the rapper’s upcoming performance this weekend at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash festival. The Leaders 1354 retail store in West Loop has even launched a Chief Keef pop-up store, and staff say they are fielding a flood of Instagram messages about the merch and the show.
Where to commemorate Juneteenth in Chicago: ‘A celebration of freedom’
Live performances by musicians like Chicago’s own Common, educational exhibits, dancing and more are just a few ways to celebrate Juneteenth across the city in the coming days. The holiday is celebrated June 19, honoring the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans learned they had been...
CPS elementary reading scores rise, surpassing pre-pandemic levels
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez announced Thursday that preliminary state test scores show more elementary school students are proficient in reading compared to last year, putting performance “above pre-pandemic levels” for the first time. Martinez said this growth was “led by our Black students, who made the...
What’s in season: Herbs, strawberries and peas
Whether you’re poking around at farmers markets or tending a veggie garden, learning what’s ready to be harvested is a way to get in rhythm with the seasons in the Midwest. Plus, it often means eating produce at peak ripeness. Reset talks about what to cook from the...
Secretary of state brings the DMV to the driver
Renewing a driver’s license or applying for a Real ID might become a little easier with the rollout of a DMV on wheels. The Illinois secretary of state’s office unveiled its first unit Wednesday in Daley Plaza. The aim is to offer more flexibility for busy people who might not have time to drive to an office, stand in line and wait to be served.
How Chicagoans have celebrated Black queer joy across history
Until 1970, dancing with someone of the same gender was illegal in Chicago. It wasn’t so long ago that gay bars were facing police raids, and today, LGBTQ+ spaces continue to come under threat. Those spaces are deeply connected to a history of LGBTQ+ resistance and protest. There is...
Riot Fest is leaving Douglass Park; organizers tease new location
Riot Fest is leaving Douglass Park on the West Side after nearly 10 years at the location. The festival’s co-founder, Mike Petryshyn, shared the announcement in a video posted to social media and on the festival’s website Tuesday evening. Petryshyn, also known as Riot Mike, blamed the Chicago...
Exit CSO composer in residence. Enter Jessie Montgomery, Chicago’s most in-demand classical collaborator.
The composer Jessie Montgomery is sitting in the studio of Third Coast Percussion, the Grammy-winning percussion quartet based in Chicago, workshopping a piece for next season. The high-ceilinged room is a wonder emporium of percussion instruments, with shelving on every wall housing drums, bells, chimes, a vanishing-point array of triangles. Several bulky keyboard percussion instruments line up to form aisles.
Black chamber music collective D-Composed wants you to ‘come as you are’
Before Bridgerton’s string quartet renditions of pop songs, D-Composed was performing chamber music Beyoncé covers in Chicago. D-Composed events aren’t stuffy affairs. The Black chamber music collective rarely charges for tickets, and they want audience members to “come as you are.” That goes for the ensemble’s musicians, too.
New initiative to expand gender-affirming care across Illinois
A new initiative aims to help organizations serving LGBTQ+ communities by expanding gender-affirming care across Illinois. The Illinois Department of Human Services announced Monday that the new Transgender and Gender Diverse Wellness and Equity Program will provide organizations with comprehensive and medical care for transgender, gender-diverse and LGBTQ+ people. “Transgender,...
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