You there and me here: how income separates us

Every day we realize that we are not living in the same place as only a few years ago. I’m talking about the economic segregation that has been spiraling. Here’s a new report from the Russell Sage Foundation which explains this. It concludes: “By any of the measures we examine, segregation of families by income [...]

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Written by on November 18, 2011

Learning about Christmas and Santa through the claymation classics–Adventures in Multicultural Living

I suddenly realized that I had taken all those animated and claymation Christmas specials—Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman—as ethnographic films. That is how I learned about Christmas.

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Written by on November 17, 2011

Oh! Oshogatsu! Missing Japanese New Year’s Day–Adventures in Multicultural Living

Until I received this infusion of my favorite rice, I simply did not have the heart to write aboutJapanese New Year or Oshogatsu. I discretely tried to get myself invited to the Aramakis’ here in town, but they are going to the Shimouras’. All I could think was how much I missed making the rounds with my parents to all their Japanese-American friends’ homes to visit and to eat our way into the new year.

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Written by on November 17, 2011

Trapped in the net of war

My first image of war has never faded. The impact long ago vanished, however. It was Lebanon in the summer of 1982. The land was so beautiful and the death and destruction so great. I had never imagined that the two could exist side by side. But they did and they do. I was there [...]

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Written by on November 14, 2011

Do you get your fair share of Chicago’s budget? a news briefing, Monday

Psst. Who gets more of the civic pie here in Chicago? Who gets more than their fair share of the city budget? And who could use more now in these difficult days? We’ll be talking about that Monday, November 14th at 9 am at our offices 218 S. Wabash, 7th Floor. We’re holding a news briefing with the Grassroots [...]

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Written by on November 11, 2011

They speak for Chicago’s black community

This is the way it went. The momentum just kept building. First they talked about what the black news media does in Chicago and what you need to do if you want to get your story told. Then they talked about what’s news and what matters and then the hands went up in the room [...]

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Written by on November 9, 2011

Numbers that worry us, budgets and a reprieve from Brazil

We need to pay attention to folks fretting about the future. And some of those are the older folks  who planned a demonstration downtown Monday. My colleague Curtis Black wrote about the reasoning behind the demonstration and it’s an issue the ethnic press needs to keep in mind. He writes: “I am saddened and very, [...]

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Written by on November 7, 2011

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