Blvck Vrchives

King speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Jan. 7, 1966.

From the archive: MLK Day

by Aimee Levitt on January 15, 2018 at 11:22AM

," they wrote, "Dr. King's dreams can still be heard echoing through the streets of Chicago in vigils, parades, protests, murals, and strolls along King Drive, formerly known as South Park Way." But how much actually changed for black Chicagoans?

A brief visual history of black Muslims in Chicago

by Renata Cherlise on May 4, 2017 at 3:45PM

During the 1960s, in the midst of the civil rights movement against segregation and discrimination, the teachings of the Nation of Islam extended beyond the fight for equality to include racial self-reliance, discipline, and economic independence. The Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit by W. D. Fard in the early 1930s, and quickly thereafter the Honorable Elijah Muhammad assumed leadership of the Nation after Fard’s abrupt departure.

Help us identify these south-side neighborhoods

by Renata Cherlise on February 8, 2017 at 7:30AM

And due to myriad factors, such as the changing landscape and the limits of my own experience (I migrated to Chicago just over 15 years ago), it became a challenge to pair the images with their corresponding neighborhoods. The only clues are within the photographs themselves.

Muhammad Ali’s deep roots in Chicago bloomed on the south side

by Renata Cherlise on August 2, 2016 at 5:00PM

After being exiled from the boxing world for draft evasion, Ali settled into his small south side apartment in the 7000 block of S. Creiger Ave. Through the park district, he helped form amateur boxing leagues while also fighting any opponent he could in the rings of south side gyms. Although he was known for his flashy footwork, floating around his opponents with lightning speed, outside of the ring, Ali's feet were planted firmly in the soil of his beliefs.

For 71 years, Johnson Publishing has been a family affair

by Renata Cherlise on June 28, 2016 at 2:00PM

Launched in 1945, Ebony revolutionized the way black journalists and advertisers engaged with black readers. Six years later, Johnson published the first issue of Jet, a weekly periodical that offered an alternative to mainstream coverage of social issues affecting the black community.

How Cooley High and Good Times shone a spotlight on Chicago Public Schools

by Renata Cherlise on June 14, 2016 at 1:00PM

Like Cooley High, the TV series Good Times shows black youth tackling inequality in schools, and shines a spotlight on racial disparities in Chicago. Good Times (also created by Eric Monte, along with Mike Evans) depicted the struggles the Evans family faced while living in Cabrini-Green in the 70s.

A look back at Chicago’s public housing

by Renata Cherlise on June 1, 2016 at 10:00AM

The Chicago Housing Authority has a checkered history, having frequently fostered policies that furthered segregation and housing discrimination in the city. For example, soon after it was founded in 1937, the agency adopted the “neighborhood composition rule,” a policy initially devised by the Public Works Administration that (required public housing tenants be of the same race as the other residents of the neighborhood in which the development was located.

The legacy of Mayor Harold Washington

by Renata Cherlise on May 17, 2016 at 1:33PM

During Washington’s tenure as mayor, he “set a precedence of how such a polarized city could come together for change,” as the DuSable Museum put it. However, just months into his second term in 1987, Washington suffered a fatal heart attack at his city hall desk, leaving the city, and especially the black community, devastated.

A visual history of the black vote

by Renata Cherlise on May 3, 2016 at 10:00AM

The black right to vote was a long time in coming. On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified, granting black men with the right to vote.

Two girls play double Dutch outside the Cabrini-Green housing development in July of 1984.

A glimpse of Chicago childhood inspired by Gwendolyn Brooks

by Renata Cherlise on April 19, 2016 at 10:00AM

Although former Illinois poet laureate Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1917, she came of age in Chicago. She attended Hyde Park High School (now known as Hyde Park Career Academy) and later married Henry Blakely.

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