The Night Out in the Parks program brings free performances and events to parks in all 77 of Chicago’s community areas, creating an opportunity for connection and exposure to different kinds of art. Reset gets a preview of what’s in store this summer from Night Out in the Parks program and event manager Krista Brynski, South Side Jazz Coalition executive director Margaret Murphy and founder of Cabinet of Curiosity Frank Maugeri.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Masked ICE agents detained 10 immigrants in Chicago’s South Loop on June 4, as city lawmakers, protesters and advocates for people in the U.S. without legal status attempted to disrupt the operation. Reset talks to Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th Ward, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez of the 33rd Ward, and Ald. Anthony Quezada of the 35th Ward, who were on the scene.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
As the Chicago Bears work to finalize a site for a new stadium, possibly outside city limits, Chicago’s Major League Soccer team, which currently plays home games at Soldier Field, is developing its own plan for a future home in the city. Reset gets the details from Crain’s Chicago Business commercial real estate reporter Danny Ecker.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Tammy Gibson wants you to visit the gravesites of your deceased relatives.
“Have you checked on your ancestors?” said Gibson, the founder of Sankofa TravelHer, an organization dedicated to honoring the legacy of African-Americans who were often denied dignity in death.
As we learned last episode, Chicago’s long history of segregation affected both the living and the dead, as many area cemeteries once offered burial space “for the exclusive use of the Caucasian race.”
So where did African-Americans bury their loved ones in the 19th and early 20th centuries?
“From my research, African-Americans could not get buried in Chicago,” Gibson told Curious City. Instead, she said many African-Americans buried their dead in the South Suburbs, at cemeteries like Mount Glenwood in Glenwood, Ill., and later Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill.
In this episode, Gibson tells us about the people who first started these cemeteries and the notable people buried there. She talks about the work she does to continue honoring the deceased, including offering a reinterment ceremony years after the 2009 grave-stacking scandal at Burr Oak Cemetery. Gibson also works to get headstones for notable Chicagoans who do not have them. This includes Eugene Williams, whose death sparked the 1919 Chicago Race Riot, and journalist Ethel Payne from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, who was known as the First Lady of the Black Press.
In the early 1990s Terence Alan Smith, a drag star who went by the name Joan Jett Blakk was involved in the Chicago movement for gay rights. She was a member of Queer Nation, which focused on anti-gay violence, trans rights, bi visibility, healthcare, housing, and more. Blakk never made it on the mayoral ballot in 1991, but her campaign put queer issues into the public consciousness. Reset checks in with former Queer Nation member Robert Castillo to learn more.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
From the I & M Canal Trail to the Major Taylor Trail, the Chicago area has a lot of beautiful trails to cycle on that were once train lines or canal paths, and there are plenty of other great rides in the city, on country roads and beyond. Reset talks with Ride Illinois volunteer Christine Hubert of Joliet and cyclist Ron Rodriguez of Oak Lawn about their favorite rides, safety tips and tricks for cyclists new and old.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Since the pandemic, the number of traffic-related deaths has been on the rise in Chicago. But that’s not the case in Evanston, which saw a five-year stretch with no deaths. Reset talks with Evanston city engineer Lara Biggs and Dixon Galvez-Searle, transit advocacy steward for Southwest Collective, about the work underway to reduce traffic collisions and deaths in the city and suburbs.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Illinois lawmakers passed a $55.2 billion state budget Saturday night, successfully filling a $1 billion gap by levying tax hikes on tobacco users, sports gamblers and out-of-state corporations with a footprint in Illinois. Reset spoke with WBEZ statehouse reporter and
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout about what the budget means for you and why lawmakers did not pass a bill to fund public transit.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Illinois pumps hundreds of millions of dollars a year into childcare programs – yet it doesn’t provide enough support or relief for thousands of families and providers, according to an investigation from the Illinois Answers Project. Reset dives into the investigation to find out where families are being left behind.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
