Chicago Defender back issues from May 2002:
Living wages for city workers before raises for aldermen
May 01, 2002; ... If aldermen want a raise before their next election, then they must approve a living wage first, Denise Dixon, president of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), said Tuesday. "If they can't live off of $85,000 a year, something is wrong," said Dixon, who ...
Daley, feds push safe neighborhood plan
May 01, 2002; ... In a united effort to remove illegal guns from the streets, Mayor Daley joined U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald Monday in unveiling the "Project Safe Neighborhoods" that imposes longer jail sentences. During a press conference held at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson ...
Slight genetic differences justify innovative medical treatment
May 01, 2002 ... We live in a complex era, as irony and paradox abound throughout our thinking about civil rights and equality. The nation's top universities, Harvard and Princeton, fight for the privilege of keeping top Black intellectuals on their faculties. Black athletes prevail in sports, earning ...
`The New Guy' who changes from dud to stud is hilarious
May 01, 2002; ... It is interesting how young individuals who are overweight, want to be slender, little guys strive to be muscular, guys who are pleasant, but quietly desire to be full of fun, and the nerds who crave to be full of ruthless mother-wit. In fact "The New Guy" starring D. J. Qualls as Dizzy ...
Emmett Till's mom fights for Reparations
May 01, 2002; ... After burying the mangled body of her son, Emmett Louis Till, who was beaten, shot and thrown into a Mississippi river 47-years ago, Mamie Till Mobley Tuesday said she is going to that state to push for Reparations. In an interview with the Chicago Defender, the 80-year-old Mobley ...
Spider-Man spins onto the silver screen with spectacular tenacity
May 01, 2002; ... It is true that the publicity hype for "Spider-Man" has been tremendous. The ink has been so fluid that even the oceans would have turned black, and the result is that Spider-Man has skyrocketed to one of the more significant movies for the summer. Actor Tobey Maquire stars as the ...
33-year-old man charged in murder of teen girlfriend, unborn child
May 02, 2002; ... The 33-year-old boyfriend of a 17-year-old Hyde Park Career Academy student, whose body was found last Friday in a marsh near the Calumet River, is scheduled to appear in bond court today to face first-degree murder charges in connection with her death. Tony Fountain, an ex-con who ...
Stroger offers $2.5 Mil for lead cleanup
May 01, 2002; ... Some $2.5 million will be available to help assist with lead abatement that affects many poor children living in minority areas, Cook County Board President John H. Stroger Jr. announced Monday. Stroger's, Cook County Department of Public Health will be administering the Lead-Based Paint ...
`Billie Holiday: The Long Night of Lady' booked
May 01, 2002 ... In A series of Music Movies featured at Gene Siskel Film Center is the film "Billie Holiday: The Long Night of Lady Day" made in 1984 by John Jeremy, a British producer. Other films in the Music Movies series are "Head," a classic psychedelia that was produced by Bob Rafelson that mixes skits, ...
My stand with Jews began early
May 01, 2002; ... Mr. Fagenbaum and my dad used to do a lot of soft, private talk when there were no white folks in Fagenbaum's Clothing Store, across from the courthouse in Paris, Tenn. You'd have to be very close to both men to understand what they said. Dad had a strange relationship with Mr ....
Youth seek to end `Baby Mama Drama'
May 01, 2002; ... Saying it is a problem that is dogging them and sometimes getting them arrested, several Black students turned to their teacher to help them end the "Baby Mama Drama" syndrome. The students including one female said they are trying to cope with this problem where the mother of a young ...
SBC aids stronger digital connection with Excelerator
May 01, 2002; ... A $25 million Excelerator aimed at improving technology access to underserved communities in the 13-state service area of SBC was launched last weekend. Community organizations in these neighborhoods that are in the business of creating stronger digital connections and improving ...
Homeless group seeks Stroger's support
May 01, 2002; ... A homeless group held a rally outside of the offices of Cook County Board President John H. Stroger Tuesday asking him to support a bill that gives alternatives to incarcerating non-violent women. Led by Samir Goswami, senior policy analyst for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the ...
Jeremy Irons, Neve Campbell & Sissy Spacek star in movie about Fitzgerald
May 01, 2002 ... Jeremy Irons, Neve Campbell and Sissy Spacek star in "Last Call" premiering on Showtime Saturday, May 25 at 7 p.m. Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Awardwinner Jeremy Irons has been recognized for his roles in "Reversal of Fortune," "The Mission", "Dead Ringers" and "Lolita." "Call" the film, ...
The Black Press: A voice still needed
May 04, 2002; ... The Chicago Daily Defender will be 97 years old on Sunday, May 5, 2002, and it still enunciates that urgent Black message from Freedom's Journal over 175 years ago. Freedom's Journal was the first Black newspaper published in the United States. Its first edition was unveiled in New York ...
Beavers: City worker pink slips coming
May 02, 2002; ... Faced with a more than $25 million budget shortfall, City Council Budget Committee Chairman Ald. William Beavers (7th) Wednesday said pink slips to city workers will soon be sent out. "We're close to trying to solve this budget, but, if we don't see where we can get any revenue, there will be ...
Housing group disrupts council meeting
May 02, 2002; ... A local housing group stunned aldermen Wednesday when they stood in unison during the City Council meeting and began demanding more affordable housing. But a cadre of police was already on hand because of a previous anti-aldermanic salary increase protest led by ACORN ...
Chandler: Don't be a chump for drugs
May 02, 2002; ... Drug dealers are playing Black boys and girls like a fiddle, using them until they get arrested, then "kicking them to the curb" for "fresh and more innocent" bait, Ald. Michael D. Chandler (24th) warned. Druggies, "foot soldiers," "lieutenants" or "look-outs," whatever street gangs dubb ...
Rights leaders take aim at gun lawsuit
May 02, 2002; ... A 34-year-old disabled man who sued the City of Chicago, including the mayor and the top cop to overturn the ban on handguns is confused, wrong, and is allegedly being used by gun advocates, leaders said Wednesday. NAACP Chicago Southside Executive Director Furmin Sessoms joined the Rev ....
This summer and beyond: Parents/adults can make a difference
May 02, 2002; ... Take it from no less an authority than Police Supt. Terry Hillard, the top cop, charged with protecting the citizenry throughout the historically violent summer months in the city: Adults and other parents are and can be the sole shields to protecting the community from gangs, drugs and ...
'Hollywood Arms' is a delightful reality mixed with humor and tragedy
May 02, 2002; ... Carol Burnett wasn't present in the flesh, but her spirit permeated the entire play, "Hollywood Arms" from beginning to its conclusion at its world premiere staged by Goodman Theater and directed by Harold Prince. Featured in the cast of "Hollywood Arms," written by Burnett and her ...
Pinchas Zukerman's CSO performance of his series
May 02, 2002; ... Pincas Zukerman, guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony who has been on the podium for the last three weeks was the best of his series. This time he concentrated on leading the symphony instead of performing and directing. In the capacity as conductor his directing was effortlessly ...
A childhood story: Defender's impact on my life
May 04, 2002; ... So here I am in the year 2002 in "Chi-Town," that great big city up North. And I'm doing exactly what my first-grade teacher "down South" told me to do many decades ago. I'm telling a story on a Friday afternoon about my publication, the Chicago Defender, almost like I did as a little ...
Harsher rape laws urged in wake of murder
May 04, 2002; ... After the recent death of a 17-year-old Hyde Park Career Academy student and the allegations stemming around R&B pop star R. Kelly and his alleged sexual contact with underage females, parents and activists are demanding the enforcement of statutory rape laws and stiffer ...
`Hearts of Men' musical filled with great singers
May 02, 2002; ... "What's On the Herts of Men" that was featured at the Arie Crown Theatre by Dia Theatricals, Inc., Malik Yoba and West Vision left a lot to be desired. While its concept was greatly different from other plays or musicals that have been touring for the last decade, its dialogue and ...
Investigators no closer to solving kidnap, murder
May 02, 2002; ... Area 2 Violent Crimes investigators said Wednesday they are no closer to solving the weekend kidnap/murder of a Far South Side businessman. Erroll Edwards, owner of "Geno's Towing & Auto Repair," was discovered dead in a wooded area near 99th and Woodlawn, just north of the ...
`Go Down, Moses' features Black Spirituals
May 02, 2002; ... Chicago a cappella singers and three Chicago storytellers Momma Kemba, Oba William King, and Mama Edie were featured in the a program of music and words in telling the history of how the black slave suffered and used his talents to keep his faith and dignity at the Chicago Historical Society, ...
City Council right to pass new day labor ordinance
May 02, 2002 ... They labor under some of the most unbearable, intolerable conditions imaginable. A crowded, slavelike environment in which workers are shuttled about like cattle, treated much like chattel and often cheated for their meager pay, which they receive at the end of the day, sometimes less the cost ...
College students set to protest Ryan cuts
May 02, 2002; ... The streets may appear to be a little more crowded during lunchtime today. That's because students are voicing their outrage over the governor's proposed budget cuts which may include a serious reduction in the amount students receive from the Illinois Students Association Commission's Monetary ...
Rev. Jakes seeks probe by rights commission
May 02, 2002; ... Saying Black people must not accept the election of the Fire Department union president, Rev. Paul Jakes has asked the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate alleged racism in the department. The anger over the overwhelming election of James McNally as president of the Chicago ...
Federal judges approve state voting map
May 07, 2002; ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the lawyer representing several civil rights groups declared a victory after a panel of three federal judges ruled in favor of their legislative remap comports to the 1965 Civil Rights Act. The ruling was a ...
Jesse: Insurance 'robbers' must all pay
May 04, 2002; ... With the unveiling of eight California insurance firms that issued slave era policies, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Thursday called for hearings he hopes will lead to the "robbers" restoring the robbed. Saying the issue of Reparations has gone far beyond an apology from the president, ...
Artist Lorenzo D. Turner Jr. continues a legacy
May 04, 2002; ... Artist Lorenzo D. Turner Jr. is continuing the cultural legacy of his father, who was a member of Roosevelt University's faculty and taught at Howard University. Turner did research on the Gullah language and compared its structure with Africa and the Islands off the coast of South Carolina and ...
Suspect undergoing questioning in 10-year-old's shooting death
May 06, 2002; ... Area 4 Homicide investigators were questioning a 30-year-old South Side man late Sunday in connection with Friday's fatal shooting of a 10-year-old girl in the CHA's Harold Ickes housing development. Police say Rita Haskins was an innocent bystander passing through the lobby of a ...
A rededicated Chicago Defender celebrates
May 06, 2002; ... This month we celebrate our 97th anniversary of the Chicago Defender's founding, a landmark event during which we vow to adapt to the community's evolving needs and continue serving its interests. Similarly, we rededicate ourselves to our work as vast changes sweep through the ...
City gives $55 mil to Black contractors
May 07, 2002; ... Blacks received 19 percent, or more than $55 million in total contracts from the city of Chicago from January 1 through March 31, 2002, a city aide confirmed Sunday. According to Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Procurement Services headed by David E ....
MATAH game gives teens wake-up call
May 07, 2002; ... More than 70 people attended MATAH's first "Life as a Blackman" tournament where several Black youth said the game was a "wake-up" and a lesson on dealing with racism in America. "I loved it. It taught me that Corporate America was very cruel," said 14-year-old Robert Johnson, a student ...
AMA doctors' campaign encourages kids to think medical school, careers as doctors
May 07, 2002; ... The proportion of minority doctors and other medical care professionals is too low and the American Medical Association says it has a new plan to correct the inequity at its very root. African Americans, Hispanic Americans and American Indians comprise nearly a quarter of the population; ...
Davis: New welfare leaves poor behind
May 07, 2002; ... While both parties are sharpening their proverbial swords and carving out a new welfare reform policy, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7th) said it's "shameful" that they're leaving out poor children. "Referring to the ongoing debate around the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for ...
Groups join forces against budget cuts
May 07, 2002; ... Faith-based organizations and healthcare providers have joined forces to discuss the governor's proposed budget cuts which could affect Illinois families who use Illinois KidCare. The program has been one of the driving forces for working-class families who do not have adequate health ...
And now...live from Harlem
May 07, 2002; ... It's the Bill Clinton Show! Such a scenario could possibly be a thing of the future, especially in light of news that NBC is considering showcasing the nation's 42nd president as the next and newest "Oprah" -- and that New York's 12,000 cab drivers have extended their view of Manhattan ...
Program for new principals will be nation's leader; Duncan says
May 07, 2002; ... Public schools officials announced a training program last week whose goal is to make Chicago the nation's leader in developing new urban principals. Schools chief Arne Duncan said in announcing a $1.4 million grant from two charitable foundations that the New Leaders for New Schools ...
Teachers Union plan keeps schools open
May 08, 2002; ... As the Chicago Public Schools' program of closing poor-performing elementary schools takes hold, housing advocates, the Chicago Teachers Union and parents in communities slated for redevelopment are showing skepticism about the Renaissance Initiative, the plan named by the school ...
Dance Theatre of Harlem slated to perform at Cadillac Palace
May 07, 2002 ... The Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is pleased to announce three performances during the 2002 season in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., May 31 and June 1, the Company's first return to Chicago since 1997. The announcement comes from Arthur Mitchell, Dance Theatre of ...
Audrey Hepburn among Sophisticated Ladies appearing in Film series
May 08, 2002; ... When most African Americans were growing up in the forties and fifties, we were definitely aware of the great legendary movie stars. When Gene Siskel Film Center announced that they were doing a series on Sophisticated Ladies, it was interesting. Among those who are featured is actress ...
Top cop says R. Kelly case `very complex'
May 08, 2002; ... While embattled R&B singer R. Kelly is warding off a third lawsuit alleging he had sex with another minor, Police Supt. Terry Hillard Tuesday said Kelly's potential criminal case "is very complex." After attending a Chicago Police Department graduation at the McCormick Place where he ...
Alligator stars booked for Blues Festival
May 04, 2002 ... Alligator stars Shemekia Copeland, W. C. Clark, Cephas and Wiggins, Carey Bell and the Kinsey Report to perform during the 2002 Chicago Blues Festival May 31. Master harmonica player Bell will play at the festival on the opening day, May 31. Copeland, who is currently at work on the ...
`Nurses Care for America': Celebrating the unsung
May 06, 2002 ... The theme of National Nurses Week is "Nurses Care for America." Currently, there are nearly 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States; yet, less than 5 percent are African American. The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) was formed to correct these dismal statistics. NBNA ...
RU Gala with Nancy Wilson benefits performing arts
May 06, 2002; ... Roosevelt University's School of Music began shortly after the educational institution moved to the Auditorium Hotel Building and its faculty consisted of great European musicians, composers and artists who had come to the United States because of trouble with the Nazi's. Later, the ...
The Rock is Scorpion King and he is merging a star
May 08, 2002; ... When the date of April 17 passed, another actor, The Rock has surfaced as one of America's most significant rugged star in the movie "The Scorpion King" that has captured the box office crown during its second week by grossing $18 million and with a total of $61.3 million. It is ahead of ...
Stroger meets Ryan over budget cuts
May 08, 2002; ... Cook County Board President John Stroger Jr. met with Gov. George Ryan and House Speaker Michael Madigan Tuesday in Springfield to discuss how the state can boost the county's coffers. "My agenda items were state appropriations, tobacco settlement money, child supportive enforcement ...
Bonds keep Blacks off major projects
May 08, 2002; ... The inability of African American firms to secure insurance protection and bonding for multi-billion dollar projects in city, county and state construction projects is keeping them from emerging as general contractors, Bonaparte Corporation President Williams Bonarparte said. "When you ...
Defender sale gets green light from judge
May 04, 2002; ... At 97 and four years after the death of its captain, John H. H. Sengstacke, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Bernetta Bush has given the green light for the sale of the embattled Chicago Defender. Judge Bush told both negotiating sides that she wants the $8.5 million sale of the Chicago ...
The Rev. Oscar Walden Jr. learns about the criminal for whom he served time
May 06, 2002; ... Each Sunday, the Rev. Oscar Walden Jr., who was falsely accused, jailed, convicted and served almost two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit, prays. Although he was eventually freed and honored, there was always that question of whom was the culprit. Walden who was just a ...
5-5-1905 to 5-5-2002: A near-century of service, information
May 04, 2002 ... Four-score and 17 years ago, a great newspaper was brought forth upon this city and nation. It was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all humans are created equal. It was then and is now called the Chicago Defender, by our founder, the esteemed Robert Sengstacke ...
United Insurance Co. seeks `skin tax' victims
May 07, 2002; ... Apologizing for some Blacks having to pay "skin tax" race-based insurance premiums, an official from the United Insurance Co. Monday urged Blacks to call his hotline for repair. "We apologize to those policyholders that were affected and we're pleased that we were able to resolve the ...
Bye-bye Chief Iliniwek
May 07, 2002 ... What purportedly started out to be a symbol of unity and victory at the Urbana Champaign-based University of Illinois instead has been transformed into an embarrassing, insulting and divisive symbol of racism and ridicule and we praise student government leaders at the U. of I. who voted last ...
The story of `Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu'
May 04, 2002; ... Actually, the story of "Princess Magogo" is very similar to other operas in other languages. Princess Constance Magogoka Dinuzulu (1900-1984) is recognized as the most significant authority on Zulu music. Not only was she a total musician who serves as an African folk instrumentalist, but she is ...
Father Pfleger shuts down worksite
May 04, 2002; ... Angered that there were no African American workers on a construction worksite within a stone throw of his St. Sabina Church, Father Michael Pfleger Thursday had the site shut down. With nervous police watching and with Pfleger flanked by 60 members from his church including five of the ...
NO MORE HIGHER INSURANCE RATES FOR BLACKS
May 06, 2002; ... Having snared one firm that has agreed to pay $35 million to Blacks for charging slave-based premiums, Nat Shapo, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance Commission, is casting his net even wider. Offended by the "skin tax" the race-base insurance premium policy imposes on ...
WFMT Radio airs world premiere of Zulu Opera
May 04, 2002; ... Steve Robinson, vice president of WFMT Radio, called from Durban, South Africa to let me hear just a little of the Zulu Opera, "Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu," that whetted my appetite to hear more. The airing of the world premiere of "Princess Magogo" is perhaps WFMT Radio's most ...
Housing Department differs with Chicago Metropolis report
May 06, 2002; ... Top officials of the Chicago Department of Housing made no connection last week between their optimistic review of the city's affordable housing supply and a contradictory evaluation published April 29 by researchers at Chicago Metropolis. The non-profit group Chicago Metropolis, a unit ...
Relatives of slain businessman seek closure
May 08, 2002; ... The brother of a Far South Side businessman whose bullet-riddled body was discovered in a wooded area late Sunday afternoon told the Defender early Tuesday he and the rest of his family will not rest until justice prevails. The body of Erroll "Geno" Edwards, 51, of the 12100 block of ...
ESPN's `Ultimate X' to explode with drama
May 08, 2002 ... Touchstone Pictures' "Ultimate X" takes audience inside the excitement and explosive drama of ESPN's massively popular Summer X Games. ESPN's "Ultimate X" will debut on the exhilarating giant screen when the film is released exclusively in IMAX Theatre and large format cinemas worldwide by May ...
Connie Payton to keynote Mammography conference
May 08, 2002 ... More than 300 health care professionals from the Chicago metrsopolitan area will be attending the 2002 Mammography Conference, Progress through Partnerships, on May 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Hilton Oak Lawn, 9333 South Cicero Avenue. The one-day conference will discuss ...