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Searching for Korea Town
The sign is familiar to anyone who regularly drives on the inbound Kennedy Expressway from O’Hare Airport. Korea Town, Exit 84. That’s the Lawrence Avenue exit, and I took it one day last week. But I couldn’t find Korea Town. A lengthy stretch of Lawrence …Read More
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Suburban counselor helps kids escape gangs
Street gangs usually are synonymous with city life, miles away from the suburbs. Yet police officers, teachers and counselors in many suburbs can tell you gangs long ago infiltrated the neighborhoods they serve. Carlos Rodriguez and Ivan Ibarra have seen the gangs up close. Rodriguez …Read More
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How to make the perfect holiday tamale
We have turkey at Thanksgiving. Candy at Easter. Fireworks for the Fourth of July. During the December holidays, tamales are a staple for Latinos, a tradition that goes back centuries. Tamales are the ultimate comfort food, and when done right, they require hours of work. …Read More
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Giving where it matters most
For a few reasons, December is a big month for charitable giving. There are tax deductions to accumulate as well as a giving spirit connected to the holidays. This month’s issue of Chicago magazine featured 15 local nonprofits that use 75 percent or more of …
A boost for adult language skills
The desks at Chicago Math and Science Academy can be a bit uncomfortable for grown-ups. They look brand new, but they are made for the sixth- through 12th-graders who attend the charter school in Rogers Park. This semester the school added a new class that …
A rallying cry for young athletes
The floodgates have opened. Sordid accounts of sexual assaults, bullying and hazing at Maine West High School are pouring out in a civil suit filed against the school and Maine Township District 207 by past and present students. Three of the students were freshmen when …
‘Expanding lives’ for African women
A Peace Corps mission in Niger about 25 years ago kindled a desire in Leslie Natzke to do more for girls and women of the West Africa republic. Natzke, a teacher, was startled that few girls attended junior high or high school in Niger and …
Injured Army vet counsels peers
Veterans who seek counseling from Danielle Green sometimes approach her with trepidation at the Veterans Affairs Center in Orland Park. Green can sense its source. “I see a lot of Vietnam veterans,” says Green, a lifelong Chicagoan. “They didn’t see women in combat.” Green, 35, …
Shipped back to Mexico — in 1933
Tough economic times can bring out the worst in a great country. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the U.S. government shipped thousands of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Mexico in what became known as Mexican Repatriation. Ruben D. Aguilar, born in Chicago, was …
Circling the globe on Devon Avenue
In a city known for being segregated, Devon Avenue is a remarkably diverse strip of stores and restaurants on the North Side. It is well-known for its blend of cultures, something every Chicagoan should experience (though you must be patient if driving from the lakefront …
Learning to live with differing death rituals
As Americans get ready for Halloween with costumes and candy, across the border in Mexico florists are stocking their shelves with wreaths and flower arrangements. El Dia de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead, is Nov. 1, and it is not at all …
SYRIAN STUDENTS’ RISKY JOURNEY
Zeina and Jamal use the words honor and lucky when talking about their arrival at the Illinois Institute of Technology. They are honored to be two of 14 students from Syria attending the South Side university, part of an initiative by IIT to bring some …
IIT helps students escape Syrian war
For weeks last spring, Gerald Doyle expressed concern to his colleagues about the civil war in Syria and its horrific toll on innocent people. In June, his preoccupation led the vice provost at the Illinois Institute of Technology to set in motion a plan to …
A veteran climbs out of ‘nut mode’
Like many voters in Illinois and across the country, Ronald Baltierra says he is fed up with incumbent politicians who, generally speaking, have become synonymous with gridlock. Baltierra, a retired small-business owner who lives in Wicker Park, decided to take a stand against them by …
Learning a lesson: ‘It’s not enough to be proud’ of Mexican roots
You can tell William Luna that you are proud of your Mexican roots, but you have to be ready for a question. Why? “It’s not enough to be proud,” Luna, a historian of Mexico and Mexican-American culture told me. “That’s synthetic pride if they don’t …
Business owners struggle on 26th Street
The enticing aromas I smelled at lunchtime on 26th Street in Little Village last week, coming from the neighborhood’s authentic Mexican restaurants, concealed the stories of struggles in a reeling economy. El Pollo Ranchero restaurant can lure customers in with a feast for the senses …
THE DROWNING OUT OF MODERATES
In the current political and economic climate, there is little tolerance for moderates. There are many of us who exist quietly as we process information from the left and the right. We are sometimes hesitant to discuss politics because extremists from both sides seem to …
Group helps immigrants’ kids gain from playing sports
Estefania Nieto made a bold move by joining the Palatine High School golf team. It took some guts for the freshman because she had to sell her immigrant parents on the idea. By and large, immigrants put tremendous value on hard work and academics. “That’s …
Math whiz helps CPS students
To attract top graduates from City Colleges of Chicago and other community colleges in the U.S. to its South Side campus, the Illinois Institute of Technology established a Presidential Scholarship program a few years ago. The program, which awards students $28,500 for tuition and housing, …
