Vol. 18 No. 8 F Ebruary 17-F Ebruary 23, 2010
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VOL. 18 NO. 8 F EBRUARY 17-F EBRUARY 23, 2010 Buy StreetWise only from a badged vendor $2 MISSION: TO HELP PEOPLE HELP THEMSELVES TO SELF-SUFFICIENCYTHROUGHGAINFULEMPLOYMENT BinDonated: Great Idea STREETWISE STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER BRUCE CRANE [email protected] By Bruce Crane program includes a focus commodity that is col- Executive Director lected each month, such as books, food, toi- EDITOR-IN-CHIEF One of the joys of letries, and coats. Last week we met, shook SUZANNE HANNEY [email protected] working with impas- hands, and this past Saturday Judd dropped off sioned, cause-driven four large cases of food. Today we have a won- DIRECTOR OF DISTRIBUTION & VENDOR SERVICES people is the energy derful stew and rice hot lunch for our vendors GREG PRITCHETT GPRITCHETT14@YAHOO COM and excitement they as a result. In fact, we will have hot food for our . bring to what we do. I vendors all week! PRODUCTION & MARKETING MANAGER see this in many of the volunteers and donors What a slick idea Judd had. It deserves to suc- BEN COOK who support StreetWise. I see this purpose in ceed. It fills a great purpose for agencies like us, [email protected] agencies that have similar missions to and makes donations so much easier for the DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING & StreetWise but different methods to achieve a public. It is a perfect fit that solves logistics CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT lasting impact; and I see it in agencies with very obstacles for his partner agencies and the pub- GRACE FEDERIGHI [email protected] different missions that s upport the homeless or lic too. We are so happy to be affiliated. those at risk of being homeless too. By the How can you help, you ask? Talk to your co- ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES interactions necessitated by my job here, I get workers or fellow tenants to get them to share MARY FAITH HILBOLDT invigorated by this passionate energy that sur- the excitement. Then talk to your company or PROOFREADER rounds the working relationships StreetWise building manager about BinDonated. Co nvince ROBERT CASS has with other agencies. Occasionally, however, them to check it out and join the program. BOARD OF DIRECTORS an individual strikes out with a new endeavor Learn more at www.bindonated.org. ROB FEDERIGHI—PRESIDENT JUDD LOFCHIE—FOUNDER that really fits with what we do. What seems With our support, BinDonated will grow and SOCORE ENERGY LOFCHIE & ASSOCIATES, INC. like a nice little idea gets legs and starts to make help many agencies like StreetWise to better PETE KADENS—VICE PRESIDENT ADAM MEEK SOCORE ENERGY BROWNFILED MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES a real difference. serve our clients, and to do it more effectively. I JUDD R. HORWITZ—TREASURER A StreetWise Board member sent me a link to can get excited about that! JUDD R. HORWITZ & CO. P.C. JASON MERSEY J.P. MORGAN RAY GILLETTE—SECRETARY a non-profit company they heard about. I NONPROFIT CONSULTING TIMOTHY RAY learned that Judson Kinnucan chucked his day SONNENSCHEIN, NATH & ROSENTHAL Advertise your Business in StreetWise Magazine LEE BARRIE KURMAN COMMUNICATIONS, INC. JONATHAN REINSDORF job recently and gave his idea wings: and support those who are homeless or at risk of STONEGATE DEVELOPMENT RICHARD BOYKIN PARTNERS, LLC BinDonated. His excitement was infectious. being homeless who are working towards BARNES & THORNBURG LLP self-sufficiency through gainful employment with WHITNEY ST. PIERRE The agency places collection bins in business, EMILY BRINKMOELLER dignity. Promote your business to a demographic INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES EXTENSION, INC apartment, and high-rise lobbies to collect items who is socially conscious, educated and always PATRICIA TILLMAN DANNY K. DAVIS VENDOR REPRESENTATIVE useful to other charities. wants to support like minded, local businesses. U.S. CONGRESSMAN, 7TH DISTRICT, ILLINOIS KEVIN WARD BinDonated performs the collection and dis- THE FORWARD GROUP tribution activity for its partner charities, mak- Call us at 312-829-2526 or e-mail is at LATONYA ELLIS ERIC WEINHEIMER VERIZON WIRELESS ing this process much more efficient and plen- [email protected] CARA PROGRAM PAM FRYE IRA WILLIAMS tiful for the charities his company serves. His RETIRED JOHN J. LEONARD BERNSTEIN GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT Where the money goes... STREETWISE IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY AND IS SOLD BY THE POOR AND HOMELESS OF CHICAGO. STREETWISE IS A REGISTERED 501(C)3 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION AND IS Vendors buy StreetWise for 75 cents, and the remaining $1.25 goes A MEMBER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN STREET NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION. 1201 W. LAKE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60607 directly to the licensed vendor. OFFICE: 312.829.2526 FAX: 312.829.2623 2 WWW.STREETWISE.ORG FEBRUARY 17-FEBRUARY 23, 2010 Chicago Author Spotlight Post Black explores shifting dynamics Chicago author Ytasha Womack disdains labels in the African- American community in a “post race” environment. page 5 Event Calendar Galas and authors Memoirs from Emmett Till’s boyhood friend. Plus, Heartland Alliance’s Art of Human Rights benefit, 2nd Annual El Pueblo Canta concert, Night of 100 Stars Awards, & Pancake Day. 8 page Vendor Spotlight How are you getting home? Living it Up, Living it Right On paper the CTA service cuts Arnold Donaldson has overcome equal money saved during hard 25 years of homelessness and times. In application, it’s now addiction to become a leader in much harder for for Chicago’s late his church and his community. set to get home from work. page15 page12 news entertainment streetwise volunteer Chicago Author Spotlight page 4 FoodWise page 6 The Playground page 14 Volunteer Chicago page 7 WorldWise page 5 DineWise page 6-7 Vendor Profile page 15 Cover Story page 12-13 Event Calendar Page 8-9 More online at TechWise Page 10 www.streetwise.org Theatre page 11 FEBRUARY 17-FEBRUARY 23, 2010 WWW.STREETWISE.ORG 3 Chicago Author Spotlight: Post Black explores shifting dynamics be,” Womack writes in her introduction. “But has become more than an art form, influencing there’s very little understanding of who we black artists and serving as a marketing tool to are.” reach urban consumers. She argues that this Every African American is not into hip-hop. new cultural vein of urban chic, paired with the The traditional Christian church is no longer can-do-everything example of black music the center of the black community. All black moguls and athletes, has inspired black owned men are not homophobic. These are some of businesses around the country. They began the mantras repeated throughout the book, sup- moving from strictly black neighborhoods into ported by interviews with individuals who have mainstream markets, fueled by the Internet and broken these stereotypes. While it is important a larger, mu lticultural audience. to dispel past perceptions of black identity, “The new urban concept launched a wave of these points are pushed so forcefully onto read- businesses by African American entrepreneurs ers that her arguments often become more that targeted a combination of multiracial and about labels than individuality. She discusses African American aspirational consumers,” the different implications of “black” versus writes Womack. She emphasizes that the prod- “African American,” the definition of “urban,” gay ucts are still influenced by African American men who would rather be known as “men who culture, but that the “audience for their product sleep with other men,” bisexual women who is not specifically black.” hesitate to use the term, and the list goes on. Womack does an admirable job of breaking The staunch avoidance of being labeled is an do wn stereotypes that have been ingrained for exhausting theme that reappears in interviews years, but her arguments tend to bleed into thro ughout the book. rants that are supported by little more than her Is this really about identity, or doing whatev- own assessment. Her interviews show that non- er possible to not fit into the categories already stereotypical groups exist and flourish in the defined by contemporary society? Her intervie- black community, which is important in its own wees tend to be educated, professional, and right, but they don’t necessarily represent the Ytasha Womack unwilling to be categorized. Would Womack race as a whole. still consider traditional African Americans to Womack ends the book with an expected By Samantha Blauw be “post black?” Though her general conclusion reflection on Obama’s campai gn, election and a StreetWise Contributor at the end of every chapter is to embrace hopeful prospect for the future, concluding that individuality, the m essage often gets lost in an his presidency “means you can, in fact, reach tasha Womack’s book Post Bla ck extensive analysis of labels. your highest possibilities.” explores the shifting societal dynamics Despite her dismissal of stereotypes, Ythat have thrust change upon the black Womack’s chapter called “Neofeminism” uses a community, rejecting decades of African few of her own in a criticism of what she calls American stereotypes. a “dated” collective definition of women. The Our Contributing Writers Womack critiques the hand-me-down labels problem is that her description of this so-called from older generations to explain what it means definition is way off base. She admits to having Ginny Erwin has written nutrition and fitness articles for to be black in contemporary society. This “post a “fundamental disinterest in some of the more several local and national publications, such as the Chicago Tribune and On-Health magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree black” era is defined by individual lifestyles, and traditional women’s cohesiveness activities.” in nutrition science and dietetics and a master’s degree in cannot be lumped into what she calls “neat Critical of the dialogue at these functions, she nutrition communications and marketing. boxes” of prepackaged assumptions about says, “there’s just got to be more to womanhood black identity.