Were ﬁ Ghting for Their Rights

Home , 3 Headed Goat, G Herbo, Naked Raygun, New Favorite, Talking Heads, Terry Callier

Natalya Carrico By Before the pandemic shuttered strip clubs, dancers were ﬁ ghting for their rights. their for ghting ﬁ were dancers strip clubs, pandemic shuttered the Before ‘We’re not always treated like people’ like treated always not ‘We’re

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POLITICS A category of one Albert Dickens: the coolest cat in the newsroom By B J

suppose this story starts in the fall of 1977, I thought: Yeah, right, Signer—just you when I got a job as a copy boy for the Chica- watch. Igo Daily News. In those days, the Daily News and the Sun- I was 21 years old, just out of college and Times were owned by the Field family and bursting with enthusiasm about making my shared space at 401 N. Wabash Avenue—where way as a journalist. what’s-his-face’s tower is currently located. Think of me like a character in a 70s sitcom: As a copy boy I wandered among giants— “You’re gonna make it after all . . .” Mike Royko, Ann Landers, Roger Ebert, and The editor who hired me—a sourpuss named Kup. I tried not to gawk. Signer—tried to bring me back to earth. This But even with all these journalistic super- copy boy job, he told me, is the bottom rung of stars, the guy I most wanted to emulate was the ladder. You’re an o ce go-fer—don’t even Albert Dickens, a relative unknown editorial think about working your way up to reporter. assistant in the sports department. I said: “Yes, sir—I understand.” I’d received notice about Albert from Josh, a 4 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll NEWS & POLITICS

Me and Albert reunited in the Sun-Times used to have such wavy hair. Now it’s waving newsroom DENNIS SCHETTER goodbye.” Ha, ha, ha. As you might imagine, I’m writing this be- high school friend who had a summer job at the cause Albert has died. paper. I believe Josh’s assessment went a little I read the news last Tuesday in a couple of like: “Albert Dickens is so fucking cool!” Truer bittersweet remembrances in the Sun-Times words were never uttered. by Steve Greenberg and Rick Telander. Smart, erudite, hip, funny, handsome, im- Turns out, Albert was gay—guess that peccably dressed (shirts always pressed, ties explains the lack of Hollywood starlets in his neatly knotted), Albert was by far—no doubt bachelor pad. He’d spent 36 years in a relation- about it—the coolest cat in the newsroom. ship with James Cubas, a master tailor who By the time I got there, he was closing in on died in 2016. 40, but he had a younger vibe. A Black guy from It also turns out that a friend of mine—Kevin Iowa, he’d graduated from Drake University, Spicer—had been Albert’s lover in the 70s. I done a stint in the Army, and had traveled all didn’t know that until I saw Kevin’s Facebook over the world. tribute to Albert. Man, this world is just too As far as I was concerned, he was overqual- damn small. ifi ed for the job he had. He should have been “I met Albert at a Johnson Publishing recep- a professor or something. The man seemed to tion back in ’78,” says Kevin. “I was working for know at least something about everything. the Defender as a reporter. The next time I saw Pick a topic, any topic—Freud, wine, farm- him—I was riding my bike along the lakefront ing, whatever—he had something learned to and I saw this man throwing a boomerang. I’m say. I mean, Albert would wisecrack in Yiddish. thinking—a boomerang? And then—wait a How a Black guy from Iowa knew Yiddish, I’ll minute, that’s Albert.” never know. As Kevin and I swapped tales, we realized Plus, he had a sneaky sense of humor and a our times as friends of Albert’s overlapped. lusty appreciation for dirty jokes and bawdy In other words, there’s a chance I’d have been limericks. walking out of Albert’s apartment as Kevin was As time went on, Albert and I became walking in: “If only the walls could talk, right?” friends, and he’d occasionally invite me to his says Kevin. “Too bad you can’t interview that apartment, a studio on the second floor of a apartment.” walkup around Dearborn and Huron. I’ve been thinking a lot about Albert in the Albert was neat and had an eye for art. It was last few days—about him being a Black gay a real bachelor pad—he was unmarried. I half man in the sports department back in the 70s. expected a Hollywood starlet or two to walk in About all the casual racist comments he must at any time. have heard—not to mention the not-so-casual He had a booming stereo system and a vast homophobic ones. collection of jazz, opera, and classical albums. Looking back, it never occurred to me Al- He’d pop on a record and fi re up a joint. I’d be bert was gay. I was just a sheltered kid from like—man, this is living. Evanston—what did I know about gays? Or As for proving old sourpuss Signer wrong, anything else, really. well, the Daily News folded just six months “There are so many hidden histories about after I got there. Hey, don’t blame me—I was Black people and gay people—especially gay, FROM OUR FARM just a copy boy. After that, Albert and I went Black people,” says Kevin. “People come in our separate ways. all di§ erent fl avors and shades. Other people Fast-forward 41 years . . . want to put you in categories. They want to as- TO YOUR DOOR I started my podcast at the Sun-Times o ce sign you a role. But Albert was Albert—he was in the West Loop. And I walked in to see Al- in his own category.” bert—after the Daily News folded, he’d moved To that let me add one last thing on a per- VIRTUE, IT’S AT OUR CORE over to the Sun-Times. He was closing in on 50 sonal note . . . years in the newspaper business, with no plans The coolest cat in the newsroom, Albert VIRTUECIDER.COM TO ORDER to retire. was remarkably friendly and encouraging to I wasn’t going to mention how much older a copy boy on the lowest rung of the company we both looked from our glory years. But ladder. v Albert—ever the wise guy—couldn’t resist: ENJOY RESPONSIBLY © 2020 Virtue Cider, Fennville, MI 49408 “Benny, what happened to your Afro? You @bennyjshow ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 5 NEWS & POLITICS Important Reader News

Due to business closings and for safety purposes, the Chicago Reader is going biweekly with a print run to 600+ locations, including our box route. On the o weeks (April 9, 23, May 7) the Reader is just being distributed as a free PDF, with a small press run to ful ll subscriber and library mailings.

We are also making a limited number of copies available for special short-term subscriptions, 12 weeks for $50, and every week’s issue will be mailed to your home.

Just a few hundred copies will be sold of these very HOUSING limited souvenir editions of the Reader: secure.actblue.com/donate/chicago-reader-print-12 Hundreds test positive for

Find the full curated PDF download of the Reader at COVID-19 at homeless shelters chicagoreader.com/issues The city’s response is improving, but still “not adequate.” by Wednesday each week. By M D

s the number of new coronavirus in- advocates have been concerned about the fections in Illinois continues to grow, spread of the virus in “congregate” shelter AChicago has fi nally caught up with test- settings for weeks. ing at some of the city’s homeless shelters. According to Quenjana Adams, a spokes- Results shared by the Chicago Department of woman for the Department of Family and Public Health earlier this month showed that Support Services, which oversees home- among 1,153 clients and sta tested at 14 shel- lessness prevention programs, the city has ters, 302 people were positive for COVID-19. put in place protocols to ramp up testing at However, as of May 7, the department couldn’t homeless shelters. Shelters are still advised confi rm if anyone has died from the disease. to direct clients with severe symptoms to The city has 58 emergency homeless shel- hospitals and to try to isolate clients with ters, according to the Chicago Coalition for mild symptoms. Adams wrote in an e-mail the Homeless, and between 5,000 and 6,000 that the city can help shelters if they’re people without a permanent place to live stay struggling to isolate symptomatic clients, in shelters or on the streets. While the city but that “shelter operators have been re- has set up handwashing stations and porta- sponsive and proactive in setting aside space Thank you, ble toilets at homeless encampments, those within their facilities for isolation. Very few living on the streets have struggled to fi nd has [sic] notifi ed the department of barriers food and medical care since the statewide in this area.” The Reader team lockdown began on March 21. Meanwhile, If there’s a confirmed positive case of 6 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll Chicago's Free Weekly NEWS & POLITICS Since 1971

Stacey, shown on March 15 with her cat Simba, says the city dropped oﬀ portable wash stations. LLOYD DEGRANE

COVID-19 among clients or sta at a shelter, CDPH has been deploying medical workers from UI Health and Rush Medical Center to test everyone at the facility within three to ﬁ ve days. Test results come back within a day or two. If a shelter can’t provide on-site isolation space for someone who’s tested positive but has mild symptoms, a limited number of hotel rooms have been set aside to help with quarantine. Going forward, Adams added, CDPH is planning to retest everyone at the 14 facilities and proactively test at other shelters. DFSS wouldn’t say which shelters have had the blanket testing so far. Still, advocates are concerned that the city’s strategy for handling the virus outbreak in homeless shelters isn’t sufficient and has been too slow. The response is “not adequate,” said Julie Dworkin, policy direc- We Couldn't Be Free Without You— tor at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Support Community Journalism “I think there’s still a lot of holes, the biggest one being: what is the time frame for having testing in every shelter and moving out people who are vulnerable?” The city has not been able to provide one thus far. Dworkin also said that she’d heard anec- dotal information about at least a couple of sta ers at local shelters dying from COVID-19 and was surprised the city couldn’t provide any answers about the number of deaths. “The city has been improving its response to outbreaks in shelters, but there is still a long way to go before we can truly keep people experiencing homelessness safe from the virus,” Dworkin said. “There is not su cient capacity right now to quickly address cases in shelters. We need to be able to respond immediately when a symptomatic person is identiﬁ ed, to move that person out while Find hundreds awaiting test results, and to be able to immediately test everyone in the facility.” of Reader- She added that nearly two months into the pandemic “there is no excuse for not having recommended developed a proactive approach to getting restaurants, high-risk people out of congregate settings.” Meanwhile, Dworkin said, shelters aren’t exclusive video admitting people who might show up at their features, and sign up doors with COVID-19 symptoms until they get tested and the virus is ruled out, leaving for weekly news at those dealing with a combination of illness and homelessness more vulnerable than chicagoreader.com/ ever. v food. @mdoukmas ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 7 JOHN GARRISON

8 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll ment establishments across the nation have a busy night, or when a dancer met just the been dealing with such lawsuits for decades, right customer, she could bring home hun- sometimes settling these cases by paying dreds of dollars and on rare occasions break a out hundreds of thousands or even millions thousand. On a bad night, though, she might ‘We’re not of dollars. Depending on how many dancers leave with nothing. join the suit and how many hours each dancer Many dancers enjoy the freedom that worked, individual payouts can be in the hun- comes with being an independent contractor, dreds or thousands of dollars. even if that means forgoing employee bene- always treated Aurora chose a name for this story that she fi ts like paid time o¦ , health care, or worker’s uses professionally—one that isn’t her legal compensation for injuries. But without name. She understands that many dancers employee protections, dancers must come refuse to join lawsuits because they fear together to strike or sue when demanding being blacklisted. Aurora said it can seem like better treatment. In 2017, a group of 30 New like people’ legal action won’t do much to end the cycle: York strippers, led by dancer Gizelle Marie, clubs get sued, clubs adjust management, created #NYCStripperStrike to protest racial Before the pandemic shuttered strip clubs, dancers were fi ghting exploitation. clubs lapse back into unscrupulous practices. discrimination at their workplaces. They This cycle, she said, delegitimizes sex work. claimed that the “bottle girls” and bartend- By N C “The root of that mentality is that this is ers at their clubs, mostly Instagram-famous Additional reporting by Logan Cruz not a real industry, and this is not a real place white women and Latinas, were stealing tips of employment,” she said. “And I want that meant for dancers. They also claimed that to change. Now I know a lot of dancers don’t club management excluded darker-skinned want to be employees and I’m not saying women from working VIP rooms, where most n a cold January evening, Au- “amazing” it was to dance not for her regular that all dancers need to be employees. But of the money could be made. Management, rora lugged a box containing a customers, but for an audience gathered in I’m saying as contractors, we still need to be who hired the bartenders to bring in more chrome pole and wooden base support of sex workers’ rights. “I love giving treated like people. You know? And we’re not clientele, refused to do anything. into the Empty Bottle. Her eye- energy to them,” she said. “It feels right.” always treated like people.” The first American strip club to unionize lids were painted with silver The 38-year-old is part of an ongoing was the Lusty Lady in San Francisco. The club Oglitter and she wore a white hoodie with a class-action lawsuit claiming that VIP’s Gen- nly three strip clubs featuring female had hired only fi ve Black women out of about bedazzled script that read “Money makes me tlemen’s Club was illegally misclassifying dancers exist within city limits: Rick’s 70 dancers and did not allow the Black danc- cum.” dancers as independent contractors instead OCabaret near Goose Island, Pink Mon- ers to work in the more expensive VIP rooms. Aurora, an adult entertainer for the past 11 of employees under federal and state law. The key in University Village, and the historic Because dancers at the Lusty Lady were years, had assembled her portable pole many, class-action complaint, filed in 2016 at the Admiral Theatre, which fi rst opened in 1927 employees, Siobhan Brooks—who worked many times before. But tonight was special. United States District Court for the Northern as a vaudeville house and now features fully at the club in 1996 and is now a sociologist Other performers, dressed in red latex and District of Illinois, alleged that dancers at nude entertainers. Chicago’s lack of clubs is and associate professor at California State lace, metal chokers, and shiny thigh-high VIP’s were de facto employees of the club, but certainly not for lack of space or population, University, Fullerton—was able to work with boots, mingled with eager and friendly-faced were paid through customers’ tips instead not even for lack of interest among club fre- a local union to file a racial discrimination patrons. They gathered around her in the of with an hourly wage. One major purpose quenters. From the 1950s through the early complaint against the club. But dancers who center of the floor, allowing ample room to of the lawsuit is to give dancers back pay 1980s, downtown Rush Street was Chicago’s are listed as independent contractors usually avoid being smacked by swinging platform for the hours spent working while allegedly equivalent of Paris’s Quartier Pigalle, boast- don’t unionize, largely because they wouldn’t heels. The Ukrainian Village bar was host to misclassifi ed. ing happening jazz clubs, endless bars and get the same protections and privileges as Capricorn Rising, a fund-raiser organized by The original complaint also alleges that restaurants, clubs with nude or topless en- unionized employees. A class-action lawsuit the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP). dancers paid “house fees” to work and were tertainers, and practically any illicit activity is often a dancer’s best option for reinforcing The money raised from ra e tickets, T-shirts, required to share their tips with “managers one could desire. The roar of the night scene their rights. pins, and tips given to the night’s performers and with non-service employees or agents on Rush was eventually silenced by redevel- Adelaide Pagano is an attorney at Lichten would help fund a free legal clinic, a “warm- of the club,” like the DJ, in-house makeup opment, higher rent for business owners, and & Liss-Riordan, a Boston firm that’s fought line” (for support without the urgency of a artist, and “house mom,” who provided food more stringent city laws like a 1993 ordinance many workers’ rights cases for exotic danc- hotline), and street outreach programs. and sometimes toiletries in the locker room. restricting nudity in establishments that sell ers, including the ongoing lawsuits against As the trance-like music pulsed, Aurora cir- This is illegal to require of employees, but liquor. VIP’s and the Admiral. She said that labor cled the pole with perfected, deliberate mea- many strip clubs commonly enact these rules Outsiders to the adult entertainment in- misclassification for dancers is prevalent, sure. Her hoodie was zipped up to obscure because dancers are listed as independent dustry may consider a dancer’s work to be but dancers don’t bring class-action cases her face. The crowd watched, enraptured, as contractors on paper. Management at Rick’s purely physical. But dancers often describe to court often because of fear of retaliation she slowly slid out of the hoodie with prac- Cabaret (formerly VIP’s and now under new their work as sales, a business built on from club management and personal privacy ticed and theatrical ease, exposing a white ownership) said they were “advised not to physical and emotional labor. Each night at concerns. She advises that dancers who are bodysuit and sparkling silver bikini top. She comment” on the lawsuit. VIP’s, dancers would evaluate the crowd and hired as independent contractors document pulled herself up the pole, inverted her body, This lawsuit is far from an anomaly. Two engage with the most promising customers evidence of a club’s control over their work, and hung by one leg that gripped the metal Chicago strip clubs are currently facing to sell undivided attention. They would ob- including photographs of written rules or like a snake. Aurora’s gravity-defying move- class-action lawsuits for worker misclas- serve, they would charm, they would perform manuals and copies of text messages from ments elicited cheers and showers of dollar sification (the second was filed against the in skyscraping platform heels, sometimes in management. bills from the crowd. She later said how Admiral Theatre in 2018). Adult entertain- ten-hour shifts. The payo¦ could be sweet: on “You know, that’s just the way the world ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 9 inneapolis, which has less than tled a 2016 federal lawsuit brought by artist continued from 9 “Things will a quarter of the population of and entertainer Bea Sullivan-Knoff, who is,” Aurora told me about the business. She MChicago but four times as many alleged that the liquor ordinance was sexist sat in a low-cushioned chair in her living get better. I strip clubs, recently proved that sweeping and transphobic, as it required only the room, legs folded beside her, occasionally change to outdated legislation is possible. “female breast” to be covered in establish- taking drags o a joint. The overhead lights In 2017 the state’s health department found ments that sell liquor. Part of the settlement were o , but a couple of desk lamps provided just think semen stains in most of the city’s strip clubs. required the city to introduce an amendment a soothing glow. Two stainless steel poles By September 2019, the city council passed striking the ordinance’s current gendered took up most of the free space behind us. it’s going to an unprecedented ordinance to strengthen language and allowing all adult entertainers “Everybody is gonna try and get something. protections for adult entertainers and en- to perform topless, even in establishments I don’t blame them. I get it.” take a long force improved working conditions. “We with liquor licenses. The amendment pro- Aurora first got into stripping after win- demonstrated to the city council that the cess to the ordinance is waiting on further ning $1,000 in an amateur night Rack of the time. We just problem with the clubs wasn’t the falsely approvals from the City Council. The Chicago Month Contest at Jimmy’s Restaurant in Chi- assumed problems of ‘vice,’ but problems Department of Law did not comment on the cago Heights. Soon, she was hired. She lived of financial exploitation,” Eric Sprankle, of ordinance’s current status. with her parents and kept dancing to help need more Minnesota State University, Mankato, wrote For Aurora, getting rid of the liquid latex pay their mortgage and make enough money in an e-mail. nipple coverings at her job is welcomed, to travel. (Aurora took her fi rst fl ight at age sex workers Now it’s illegal for club managers and mostly because latex irritates her skin. “I 26.) Since then Aurora has worked at venues owners to accept tips from dancers; work- have hope,” Aurora said. “And I think things across the country, and has even pole danced in office. ers’ rights and customer conduct rules are will get better. I just think it’s going to take a onstage for Snoop Dogg’s tour. A few years posted in clubs; employees are given copies long time. We just need more sex workers in ago, Aurora began teaching in-person pole That’s the of their contracts; clubs must develop a o¥ ce. That’s the solution. We need more sex dance lessons from her apartment, both for written plan for how security camera footage workers to go out and become politicians.” sex workers and those outside of the indus- is preserved; no one can be employed as a try. She also runs the Tip Rail, where through solution. We manager or security sta who has a domestic he interviews for this story took place social media and a blog she o ers advice to violence–related conviction within fi ve years; before the novel coronavirus pandem- dancers, a “source for leveling up your strip- need more and no retaliation is allowed against workers Tic. The night at the Empty Bottle now per career.” for reporting violations. “Time is up on the reads like a social-distancing nightmare and At fi rst, Aurora was hesitant about joining sex workers social problem or nuisance approach to how the future of clubs—as things reopen, or after the lawsuit against VIP’s. “Then I got pissed,” to address adult entertainment,” said Jayne another outbreak, and really, until there is a she said. “I’ve always been pissed off by it, to go out Swift, lecturer at the University of Minnesota vaccine—is uncertain. but you know, you feel powerless. Like you and organizer of SWOP Minneapolis. “It’s A Houston strip club was permitted to want to do something, and you don’t know time to move towards a labor and human open, as long as it functions as a restaurant who to talk to, you don’t know who to trust.” and become rights approach that recognizes that sex without dancers, “even if the entertainers Using Facebook groups and e-mail, we workers are members of whatever communi- are fully clothed.” A Portland club start- asked dancers in the city to fi ll out an anon- politicians.” ty they’re in.” ed a “drive-thru” service, where dancers ymous survey about working conditions. Codi Schei, a 29-year-old sex worker and perform under a tent in the parking lot as While only a handful of dancers responded, -Aurora board member of SWOP’s Chicago chapter, customers wait for food. And a club in the we saw an echo of the complaints Aurora, and said that aldermen have yet to make e orts Chicago suburbs opened illegally, but “no lawsuits across the nation, have described, to listen to what sex workers are saying one showed up.” Meanwhile, some clubs fi lm including dancers being forced to wear a spe- they need. “Respectability politics are an private shows with solo dancers in empty cifi c dress or hairstyle, and dancers of color unfortunate reality in this type of advocacy, VIP rooms and sell the videos. Apps like On- facing racial discrimination. Still, the women and many groups in positions of power still lyFans, where users create their own content who responded told us they did not join the hesitate to work with sex workers because of for paid subscribers, and other social media lawsuit against their club. “I was worried we widespread criminalization, harmful stigma, virtual strip clubs have been popular choices would all be left without a place to work,” and faulty stereotypes,” Schei wrote in an for those performing sex work. Sex workers wrote one dancer, who said she worked at the e-mail. are among those filing for unemployment, Admiral. “Something like that could get you For decades, Chicago’s liquor ordinance though some are unsure whether they even blacklisted from strip clubs,” wrote another. has prohibited nudity in clubs with liquor qualify for benefi ts. Aurora’s income has al- (Management at the Admiral did not respond licenses—the fully nude Admiral Theatre has most disappeared, and she fears that she and to questions about this story.) a strict no-alcohol policy; topless Pink Mon- her partner will have to leave their apartment For Aurora, joining the lawsuit is worth key uses BYOB; and at Rick’s Cabaret, which by August. She mentioned the possibility of more than just getting her old house fees serves liquor, dancers must apply obscuring moving back in with her parents. back. “What I’m hoping is that someone will layers of liquid latex to their nipples and Only a few months ago in January, Aurora take a step back and look at the way the sys- lower breasts. In December 2019, the Sun- shu§ ed around her kitchen, dressed in a red tem works and be like, This doesn’t make any Times reported that aldermen Matt O’Shea plaid onesie and fuzzy white slippers. Instead sense.” and Michele Smith have insisted that topless of working at Rick’s that night, she had opted dancers in clubs selling liquor is exploitative to focus on her personal website the Tip Rail. and leads to human tra¥ cking. One blog post, titled “How to Be an Ally,” In the same month, however, the city set- discusses common misconceptions about sex 10 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll workers and what terms industry outsiders parts of your life need the self-care.” shouldn’t use (for example, dropping the Aurora sat at the kitchen counter and word “prostitute” from your lexicon). “I know propped up her phone. When the stream it’s about to be 2020, but we still get side- went live, she explained her ideas with eye, we still deal with some dumb shit, and warm directness, even as she struggled to honestly, we just don’t want to be reminded keep a wandering black cat from blocking about work outside of work after being up til her screen. Aurora said that no matter how 5am dealing with that coked out investment her shift at the club goes, she always comes banker that wouldn’t stop making us look at home and takes care of herself. She slips her pictures of all of his yachts,” Aurora wrote. tired and bruised legs back into sweatpants “We just want to eat a goddamn omelette and or leggings. She drinks magnesium water look at dogs on instagram.” and wears foam toe separators, sometimes Aurora said posts like this directly benefi t even to bed. When she has more time and sex workers not just by addressing stigma, more energy, she burns sage and meditates. but by creating community. “It helps us to “I thank the universe for helping me show up know that there’s a cohesion of thought,” as the person that I’m meant to be,” she said. she explained. “We’ve all experienced some “I thank it for the gifts that it gave me. I let go degree of stigmatization, and that hopefully of any negativity, and I breathe in positivity.” will empower other people in our industry to Speaking on Instagram Live comes easy for know how to identify it when it’s happening Aurora. She has spent years of her life holding and what to say.” conversations with strangers, men at the bar Aurora charges $297 for an expert mentor- drinking overpriced beer and half-heartedly ship course and $57 for an essential course, watching whatever sports game happened to but she provides her public content for free. be on the television. But her real passion is in She knows not everyone can afford to pay performance and nurturing other dancers. for services. “There was a point in my career After ending her 15-minute livestream, Au- when I did not have a lot,” she said. “It’s im- rora told me about the programs she planned portant to help people that really can’t help to offer: essential tips and tricks for “baby themselves whatsoever.” strippers” (a term for those newest to the She said she hadn’t eaten enough carbs that industry), and, for more experienced danc- day, so she whipped up a single pancake. She ers, personalized methods to keep income told me that on Instagram Live she was going fl owing inside and outside of the club. Looking for someone to talk to tease apart the meaning of “self-care” and “I love this way more than dancing,” Auro- demystify the word for any of her 154 follow- ra said. “I mean, I still love dancing, but this is to in quarantine besides your ers who would be tuning in. “Sometimes, yes, di erent. I get to help people. I’ve helped lots [self-care is] getting a massage, getting some of men. I want to help women.” v roommate and your parents? rose petals sprinkled across you. But there’s Find someone new by placing a a concept of knowing how to address what @natcarrico FREE Matches ad in next week’s edition of the Reader. please recycle this paper chicagoreader.com/matches

ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 11 ARTS & CULTURE

Chicago Dungeon Rentals has been empty for the last two months. SOPHIA CHASE

percent] of creators are making less than me,” she says. For other dominatrices who have built up an online brand, the transition to full-on virtual work wasn’t as stark. Leila, a local domme and erotic photographer who asked that we not use their real name, says they started taking phone calls and heavily driving people to their subscription site in March when the shutdown began. Their earnings doubled compared to March; April was the best month on their site. “Many people resort to online ‘entertainment’ as a coping mechanism,” they say. “It’s also tricky because many people are tight with money and might not be spending much on entertainment, so while [April] was good, next month might not be.” While struggling amid the uncertainty and anxiety from the new normal, the sex worker community has a reputation of being incredibly supportive, resilient, and fit to weather bad storms. It was one of the fi rst communities to rally around mutual aid benefits as the pandemic’s threats became real—local groups all over the country created relief funds for sex workers that collected thousands of dollars. These aid initiatives highlight the deep roots of organizing that run in the community, which has a history of leaning on one another fi nancially and otherwise because sex workers are often left out of social and government safety COMMUNITY the pandemic, which has cut fi nances drastical- nets. ly for many who rely on in-person work. Some While there isn’t an official relief fund for have turned to online sex work to stay afl oat, Chicago sex workers, the community is sup- Bonded together in crisis which can be challenging for those who don’t porting each other fi nancially, emotionally, and have an online presence, tech access, or digital mentally during the pandemic. “With some of The local sex worker community, hit hard amid the pandemic and ignored by marketing experience. Chase had to relearn the money I’ve saved up I’ve been helping other social safety nets, is no stranger to mutual upli ing during tough times. how to market herself digitally—a careful line sex workers who need the help more than I do,” to walk since the federal government intro- Leila says. By A P -A duced Allow States and Victims to Fight Online SWOP Chicago, the local chapter of the Sex Tra cking Act (FOSTA) and the Senate’s nationwide grassroots organization Sex Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), Workers Outreach Project (which is behind ady Sophia Chase has never been so rav- Rentals, a rental space for BDSM customers laws that censor online sex communities in a many country-wide mutual aid e orts), began enous for BDSM. The local sex worker and and dominatrices in the sex industry. With dulled e ort to combat sex tra cking and have a virtual Sex Worker Support Group. The group Lprofessional dominatrix has been client- two locations, business was booming regularly detrimentally a ected sex workers. is helping sex workers from all over the U.S. get less for more than two months and is hungry to until March, when her clientele decreased to a Chase went years without advertising her- access to economic aid from groups such as the get her hands on someone again. trickle amid fears of the coronavirus. Then the self because she is established in the industry, National Employment Law Project. “I am curious what I am going to want to do state’s stay-at-home order went into effect, but in April, she started doing sex phone calls, Freya Feist, an erotic content creator and the most because BDSM is so wide—sometimes closing both dungeons; they are not considered webcamming, and selling fetish items online, cam girl, also stepped up to help local workers you feel like pizza, sometimes you feel like essential businesses. Since then, Chase has lost though it’s not as lucrative as in-person work. negatively impacted by the shutdown, donat- Mexican food—I don’t know if I am going to be all income and is asking clients to donate, buy On March 30, she started using the content sub- ing about $500 to Chicago workers who cannot craving bondage or suddenly want to be very gift cards, or shop online to keep the Dungeon scription site OnlyFans and is now in the top 6.6 work online. “We need to be holding our com- sadistic,” Chase says. afl oat. percent of creators on the website. “And that munity right now and be distributing wealth Chase is the owner of Chicago Dungeon Sex workers like Chase have been hit hard by doesn’t even cover my rent. So that means [94 and what we make to full-service workers, to 12 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll ARTS & CULTURE Never miss a show workers who are street-based, to workers who thing is that what [the government] is telling Advance, though she was only given $1,000 as again. cannot do that right now,” Feist says. me is I am not a business. What you are telling opposed to the $10,000 originally promised to To raise funds, Feist created two quaran- me is I don’t matter; what I am doing is not small businesses—the SBA recently changed tine-themed erotic fantasy videos that sold well worthwhile or my economic impact does not its program rules after seeing the high demand and focused on fat fetish content, her industry matter.” of applicants. niche. She also hosted free Camming 101 video The lack of government support not only Despite the small boost, Alamo isn’t sure if conferencing webinars for sex workers looking makes sex workers like Feist feel personally she will survive the pandemic. She says the sex to get into online content. Feist has been in the discriminated against, but it highlights the industry needs help. “Support businesses that industry for about five years and says she is longstanding marginalization of sex workers might be defined as prurient because we are happy to o er her knowledge and experience in the U.S. that is only heightened during the not getting the bailouts,” Alamo says. “People on lighting, video editing, what toys to use, and pandemic. Feist wants the public to see that should be paying for porn, always but now EARLY how to get customers to buy content. sex work is not just a side hustle or something more than ever.” But while she has supported the community, “fun”—it’s a business that involves digital com- Sex workers say the demand for their ser- WARNINGS she also saw a 20 percent drop in online sales munication, marketing, and fi nancial skills, just vices is there and always will be. But what that for March and a 50 percent dip for April. Al- like any other career. will look like after the pandemic is over, and Find a concert, buy a though she is able to still create content, the Emma Alamo, who makes leather bondage whether businesses like the Chicago Dungeon ticket, and sign up to shutdown has disrupted her in-person work. gear for kink pleasures and fashion, has lost Rentals will survive, remains a mystery. “I want Feist canceled a tour in Los Angeles that would about 70 percent of her income as events to be optimistic but I also want to be realistic,” get advance notice have brought in about $2,500. And with no fed- and expos were canceled. She is selling items Chase says. “I wish I only operated as a sex of Chicago’s essential eral aid, sex workers know they have to hustle online but is still losing money. She applied worker and could be a work machine, but I am to make money on their own terms. for every federal grant to help keep her afl oat also just like anybody else: I worry about [the music shows at “We are our own aid. Mayor Lightfoot is not and was recently surprised to receive money virus], about my family, my health.” v chicagoreader.com/early. going to be knocking on my door saying, ‘Here’s from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s $1,000,’’’ Feist laughs. “The most frustrating Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency @ArielParrella

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ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 13 Chicago's ARTS & CULTURE Free Weekly Whereas after they’ve been through all this trust building and team building and working Since 1971 nonverbally in this space, all of a sudden they sit down and feel a sort of comfort with each other and are ready to talk,” Reyes says. She’s found the glassblowing to be particularly beneficial to folks with symptoms of PTSD because it demands full attention—not only is there the immediate danger of burning yourself or shattering glass, but there’s a glowing THE orb of molten lava holding focus. Ceramics u work is similarly hypnotic, but in a more Project Fire calming, tactile way. Reyes says they use that participants in form particularly with people who have lan- Firebird’s Garfi eld guage di culties and with communities that Park studio are blind and vision impaired. Final pieces for COURTESY FIREBIRD COMMUNITY ARTS both art forms are forged in fi re, and throughout the process folks are able to connect with others, face their traumas, and participate in a creative experience typically only available to rich, white communities. Of course, some things have changed during the pandemic—it’s not possible to send everyone home with a torch for glassblowing, especially if they’re not properly trained, and there’s limited capacity for pickups and drop- o s to the kiln for ceramic projects. But Fire- bird’s core values have remained. Maintaining VISUAL ARTS a community around open communication and discussion about dealing with trauma is Firebird Community Arts rises from the ashes at the top of that list. Reyes says she’s found The community organization spreads the healing practice of glassblowing their young participants are more involved and ceramics. than ever in those sessions. And Firebird’s employment program is still fully funded through B BW the end of the year. That means that teaching artists and youth participants in trauma psychoeducation group sessions are still being ire can heal. It’s an idea that has been While the rebirth and renaming were orig- paid for their time. the center of ArtReach’s practice since inally slated to be announced at the organiza- Reyes says she’s been blown away by the Fthe introduction of Project Fire in 2015, tion’s spring fundraiser, the group was forced discussions the Firebird teens have been its flagship glassblowing program focused to pivot due to COVID-19 and instead reintro- having in the past two months, talking about on serving young Chicagoans dealing with duced themselves to the world through a week the deep emotional processing they’re having chicagoreader.com/donate violence-related trauma. Since 1990, ArtReach of virtual events, including a glassblowing to deal with. Until they can return to the stu- has existed in one form or another to connect demo with artistic director and master glass- dio again, she’s taking in the wisdom of the traumatized communities in the city to arts blower Pearl Dick, drawing workshops with communities she serves. “Unfortunately a education and practices. Now, in its 30th year, teaching artists, guided yoga and meditation lot of the young people who we deal with are the Garfi eld Park-based organization is chang- sessions, and more. In addition to those pub- really way too accustomed to having the out- ing its name to Firebird Community Arts and lic-facing programs, Firebird has continued side world be dangerous to them,” Reyes says. We Couldn't Be focusing further on the fl ame. and increased virtual trauma psychoeducation “And that ranges from contact with police to Free Without You— “The new name, Firebird, is in relation to group sessions for the young people who street violence, so having physical confine- phoenixes, that through fire recreate and were already participating in the programs in ment to a place to be safe and having to limit Support Community renew themselves,” says executive director person. one’s movements based on that is not new to Journalism Karen Benita Reyes. “Both the art forms A typical Project Fire program starts with these folks. So in that way, I’ve been talking that we use in our studio, glassblowing and a three-hour glassblowing session followed to people a lot about how they’re the experts ceramics, require fire and extreme heat, but by an hour of a trauma support group. “If we we need in how to handle trauma in isolation also we’re using them as a way for people to walked in and were like, tell us what hap- right now.” v renew and reimagine themselves and their pened to you and how you process it, people communities.” would clam up and be like get out of my face. @BriannaWellen 14 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll The Chicago Reader is community-centered and community-supported. CHICAGO FOR CHICAGOANS You are at the heart of this newspaper. Founded in 1971, we have always been free, and have always centered Chicago. Help us to continue to curate coverage of the diverse and creative communities of this fabulous city.

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Chicago Reader

BEYOND THE BLACK BOX Site-speciﬁ c work hits a crossroads Pre-pandemic performance was breaking out of theaters. Now where will it go? By B S

he truth about theaters is that they’re not specifically designed for this purpose. chicagoreader.com/puzzle boring. This is not, however, to say that Many of these “site-specific” performances Twhat happens within them is boring; have occurred in museums, especially at the merely that they’re rather blank, expectant, Art Institute under the tutelage of Hendrik waiting. This waiting assumes added signif- Folkerts, who was hired in 2017 after a stint icance at the present moment, as no one can curating performance at the Stedelijk Muse- predict when lights will return to Steppen- um in Amsterdam. A monthly series, “Artists wolf, the Goodman, the Lyric. Like us, some Connect,” brings artists, poets, dancers, and Do Not Touch Puzzle will die. Less than two weeks after temporarily musicians into the galleries to engage the Piece together the first of our iconic closing on March 14, the venerable Hubbard museum’s collection and draw connections Street Dance Chicago announced the nearly to their own practices. These responses have Stay Home cover series. half-century-old Lou Conte Dance Studio run the gamut from video games to a solo harp would remain shuttered indefinitely. And recital of traditional Mexican folk music to a This is a 432-piece, 18” x 24” puzzle. The this is surely just a canary in the proverbial puppet show and more. coal mine. If you’re worried about how—or Museums have long used these cultural cost of this puzzle is $60 + $10 for shipping. even whether—the live arts will survive, your intermediaries to bridge the imagined gap (U.S. orders only) fear is well-founded. In the absence of some between art and audience. From the docent wealthy benefactor touching the city with a to the audio guide and now the QR code, golden ﬁ nger, many of our cultural institutions there seems to be an anxiety about leaving may already be gone. At least in their present the act of interpretation solely to the viewer. form. Performances like those of “Artists Connect,” Over the past several years, however, Chi- however, seem to explode interpretation, or at cagoans have increasingly moved beyond the least a certain limited conception of it. The art black box to present their work in locations world is often criticized, and rightly so, for its 16 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll THEATER

Puppeteer Koryu Nishikawa V at the Art Institute “activated” the public art one can walk by a series of stretches and exercises, opening a apart, like tai chi seen through a Black Mirror AYUMI SAKAMOTO every day without really seeing, such as Henry small window into the intense discipline that lens, until the performers appear crowded in Moore’s Nuclear Energy, a bronze sculpture characterizes the professional dance world. the hallway, a dense amoeba of reaching arms, elitism, as though the only way of understand- at the site of Chicago Pile-1, the fi rst artifi cial The linearity of their technique echoes that of legs, and faces. After the intervention, the ing art is through deep historical knowledge nuclear reactor. For the 75th anniversary of the building around them and gives us a sense space feels di erent; the Logan’s clean mod- and, increasingly, a fl uency in “theory.” These the event, the University of Chicago com- of that curious mix of pain and pleasure which ernist lines have begun to feel like those of a and other performances invite—or chal- missioned artist Cai Guo-Qiang to shoot his results from gently yet persistently coaxing a prison or asylum. lenge—viewers to accept the possibility that a “Color Mushroom Cloud” into the sky above body to move in ways nature never intended. Having thus noted some of the similarities song might be as much of an interpretation as its metallic counterpart. While the skull-like While Fernandes’s The Master and Form and di erences between these practices, the a monograph. Moore has a sense of foreboding, the bright went on to become part of the 2019 Whitney question of what is fueling this increasing But this knife also cuts both ways. The Guo-Qiang feels celebratory, perhaps express- Biennial in New York, other architecturally attention to site within contemporary perfor- living bodies of performers can also draw out ing a hope for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. responsive dance pieces are altogether im- mance remains. The impulse is rather counter- aspects of works of art incapable of speaking Notably, a student-organized die-in protested possible to imagine in another venue. Take, intuitive. There has been much hand-wringing for themselves. Consider the Court Theatre the university’s cheery framing, corporeally for example, moving installations a stairway about how to handle the “you had to be there” staging of Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s highlighting the human costs of the Atomic and a corridor, a presentation by HSPro, the quality of performance, and site specificity one-man adaptation of Homer’s Iliad in the Age. preprofessional division of Hubbard Street seems to only exacerbate these problems. Persian Gallery of the Oriental Institute, which Beyond art, multiple choreographers Dance Chicago, during a recent residency at What the theater loses in its “boringness,” it highlights how that fountainhead of “west- in Chicago have brought attention to the the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts makes up in its versatility, which is precisely ern” civilization took place not in Greece but powerful influence architecture exerts upon at UChicago. As the title suggests, dancers what allows productions to tour from one in what is now Turkey. By bringing text and how we move. Commissioned by the Graham lead audience members down the Center’s place to the next. To be sure, the theater that images together in this way, the cold stone of Foundation, Brendan Fernandes made visible ten fl ights of stairs, slowly bringing them into could only host one type of performance ancient statues begins to warm with the heat the perhaps unexpected resonances between the bowels of an unnerving dystopia wherein would be a bankrupt one (or else a short of those emotions that produced both huge ballet and architecture in his The Master coins seem to signify money and/or drugs. shrine, such as the Bayreuth Festspielhaus is monoliths and epic poetry. and Form. Through a series of BDSM-like The eponymous “corridor” is on the second for Richard Wagner). Far from being a mere museum phenom- installations in the Graham’s galleries, pupils fl oor, from the windows of which one can see We might, then, describe site-specific enon, site-specific performance has also from the Jo rey Academy of Dance perform strange geometries come together and fall performance as “doubly ephemeral.” First,

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The Master and Form RCH

there’s the ephemerality of all performance, and trains that I, as a relatively gender-nor- the bodies that disappear after the fact, leav- mative man, haven’t had to acquire. It’s at ing a residue in documentation, in the minds once tempting and irresponsible to draw a of the audience. But in addition, the site-spe- parallel to this kind of “urban awareness” and cific performance can only be performed in the deluge of site-speciﬁ c performance we’ve one place. We might see another production witnessed recently in Chicago. Find hundreds of Reader-recommended restaurants at of Peterson and O’Hare’s Iliad, but not one As we continue to weather these days of . that plays alongside Persian artifacts. This is quarantine, many of us have newly recog- chicagoreader.com/food even more extreme in works speciﬁ cally and nized our real hunger for human proximity, self-consciously made for a certain space, as scenarios that were commonplace a few such as moving installations a stairway and a short months ago are now nowhere to be corridor. There may be another stairway, and found. Unfortunately, theaters will likely be

GO’S FREE WEEKL H C R A M | E C N I S LY K E E W E E R F S ’ O AG C I H C even a stairway of ten fl oors, but no stairway some of the last spaces to reopen. Or at least is quite like this one, with its polished fl oors this author fi nds it hard to imagine gathering #TVKUV9TKVGT and metal handrails, its heavy doors, the gaps together with hundreds of your closest friends between window and wall through which for hours in darkness at any point in the near 2GTHQTOGT! dancers thrust fi ngers or coins, to say nothing future. Unfortunate given the shoestring %4'#6+8' 51.76+105 (14 of the echoey shrieks and cries that bounce o budgets with which most cultural institutions %4'#6+8' 2'12.' the smooth concrete, growing more distorted operate. Even performances in public spaces STAY AT HOME each time. feel impossibly distant at present. 5WRRQTVKXG #HHKTOKPI CPF )QCN What are we to make of this explosion of Before lockdown, I was looking forward &KTGEVGF 2U[EJQVJGTCR[ CPF site-specifi c performance, particularly within to seeing Tanztheater Wuppertal perform *[RPQVJGTCR[ HQT #FWNVU Chicago? Long a “city of neighborhoods,” Palermo Palermo at the Harris Theater in Mil- we might less optimistically point out that lennium Park. In response to the cancellation, /#: - 5*#2'; .%59 Don’t miss Chicago is one of the most segregated areas the Pina Bausch Foundation made digitally .QECVGF KP &QYPVQYP 'XCPUVQP in the U.S. As someone who came of age in the restored video footage of the piece’s 1989 placeless sprawl of the mountain west, mov- premiere available via their Vimeo, a poor an issue ing to Chicago has attuned me to space and but welcome substitute. After about 15 min- YYYOCZUJCRG[EQO Get the Next 12 Weeks of the Chicago Reader my relationship to it in an entirely new way. utes of watching out of the corner of my eye, OCZUJCRG["CQNEQO Delivered to Your Home I tried to explain to my little sister when she I was startled to attention by a character in NWG TQUU NWG 5JKGNF 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT moved to Chicago but couldn’t fi nd the words. blackface, which sent me into a Google frenzy. KIPC 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT chicagoreader.com/support A petite, attractive woman, she’s gone on to I learned that Bausch cut the controversial develop a whole other sensitivity to its streets makeup early on in the run. Apparently, per- 18 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll “THE THEATRICAL EQUIVALENT OF THEATER COMFORT FOOD” – BROADWAY WORLD

Cai Guo-Qiang, “Color Mushroom Cloud” ZOHEYR DOCTOR AND REED ESSICK

formance can not only be specifi c to a place, Rodolfo Sánchez Sarracino. Another NKAME but also to a time, a culture, a country, a participant is Honey Pot Performance, an Af- mentality. ro-diasporic feminist collaborative cofounded Though many organizations have followed by Felicia Holman, Aisha Jean-Baptiste, and suit and opened their archives to the public, Abra Johnson. Honey Pot’s If/Then incorpo- performers are nothing if not inventive, and rates online performances and a series of by WILLIAM BROWN and DOUG FREW directed by WILLIAM BROWN have found ever more creative ways of sharing scores worked through with monthly guest their work. Dancer and Reader critic Irene artists, culminating with a New Works Festival Hsiao, known about town for her museum featuring all of the artists in a weekend-long THE HIT SHOW ABOUT CULINARY ICON JULIA CHILD interventions, has shared her “Score for an performance. unfi nished dance” through the “Allure of Mat- These experiments show us a medium at WATCH FROM HOME! ter” website, a joint exhibition of contempo- a crossroads. While all artists have been hit NOW STREAMING FOR A LIMITED TIME rary Chinese art between the Smart Museum hard by the pandemic, performers (site-spe- NOW – JUNE 7 and Wrightwood 659. The score begins with cific or otherwise) are the only ones who Hsiao’s e-mail to the curators, expressing with explicitly rely upon that which is presently a delicate longing the feelings of so many of us most dangerous: sustained, direct, personal whose lives and plans have been upended by a contact in physical space. One road, here “EXCELLENT, INTIMATE ... virus we cannot see but which has brought the represented by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina globe to its knees. Bausch, attempts to reapproximate what RESONANT WITH ATMOSPHERE” – CHICAGO TRIBUNE Other companies have “simply” moved we’ve lost, with the hope that we’ll get back their performances online. For example, to it as soon as possible. Another approach, NKAME, the fi rst U.S. retrospective of the late represented by Honey Pot, is to imagine what Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967–99), on “digitally native” performance might look like. “A TOTAL DELIGHT display at the Chicago Cultural Center before A child of the 90s, I know firsthand how the COVID-19 shut it down, included a virtual Internet can provide community in times of FUNNY, TOUCHING, CHARMING AND presentation by Lucky Plush Productions, a profound isolation. But I also know how it can maker of performances that blend contem- bring us face-to-face with the ugliest parts of AS ENJOYABLE AS AN EXQUISITE MEAL” – TALKIN’ BROADWAY porary dance and devised theater led by Julia ourselves. And so, you might ask: Where will Rhoads and Leslie Danzig. Lucky Plush o ered we perform once we arrive at our new normal? Rooming House, a meditation on change that This I cannot answer. But I can promise you’ll slips between English and Spanish and draws want a front-row seat. v upon the experiences of Cuban expat ensem- 773.281.8463 TIMELINETHEATRE.COM ble members Michel Rodriguez Cintra and @brandon_sward ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 19 FILM

Instagram: @soberrabbit • Twitter: @boozetornado • Website: thewhitneywasson.com 22 Whitney Wasson SMALL SCREEN

Chicago Reader Coloring Book Trade real life for reality TV Proceeds will be split What streaming show should you watch based on your quarantine status? between the Reader and the more than 50 By R P artists who contributed

illustrations. n day 600,000 of Illinois’s stay-at-home antine is going. order, it happened to you. You’re on $30 for PDF download Oyour living room floor. You’re doing a If you’re overwhelmed with dozens of new 1,000-piece custom-ordered jigsaw puzzle of quarantine hobbies, you should watch: $45 for limited edition Cardi B and Bernie Sanders photoshopped Property Brothers (Hulu) partying at Tao. You jab one of the dozens of You’re baking bread. You’re reading books. printed book and PDF blue pieces into a spot with no luck. You sigh, You’re knitting. You’re basically the perfect download devastated. This puzzle is just not cutting 1800s homemaker. Laura Ingalls Wilder is it anymore. Something’s missing. You need posthumously writing you into Little House For copies of this book, either in PDF gossip. Real gossip. You need reality TV. OK, on the Prairie. Somehow, you’ve fought o the form or as a printed book, see: stop protesting. Let me ﬁ nish. You DO need it. unending, nightmare-induced sluggishness Reality TV gets a bad rap for being “trash” that many of us have felt during quarantine. chicagoreader.com/coloringbook and “the mental equivalent of incinerating Congrats! You might like Property Brothers, your brain.” And what’s wrong with that? If HGTV’s reality show about a pair of small- there’s a time I want to toss my brain into a mouthed twins who ﬁ x up busted up homes Or send checks to: blender, ma’am, it is now. Reality TV turns for a lucky couple every episode. Watching it Chicago Reader Suite 102 your brain o . It sucks you into a new, addict- makes you wonder, “Wow, how do they do it? 2930 S. Michigan Avenue ing universe with its own rules. It promises Could I renovate a house? I probably could if I Chicago, Illinois 60616 hours of escape, and all you have to do is sit in tried, right? I could probably do it. I did Hab- one place and hit play. Don’t think of reality itat for Humanity in high school.” Feeling like shows as trash TV. Think of them as docu- you did something is actually its own type of Provide your name and mailing address mentaries that you don’t have to lie about accomplishment. and say this is for a coloring book on the enjoying. Sure, Blackfish was “important” memo line. but, uh, have you seen Vanderpump Rules? If you’ve become a quarantine homebody a If you’re new to reality TV, here’s a guide on little too easily, you should watch: 90 Day where to get started based on how your quar- Fiancé (Hulu) 20 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll FILM

Terrace House There are 22 seasons of The Bachelor, which means in order to catch up, you have to quar- You only wear soft clothes now (pajamas). antine (like, really quarantine) for 14 days, in No crunchy clothes (jeans). You’ve rebooted front of your laptop. For the safety of others, back into your middle school self, where please DO NOT leave your home until you are Neopets, pizza rolls, and wondering if you’ll FINISHED with The Bachelor. AFTER you fi n- ever have sex one day are your version of The ish watching 22 seasons of The Bachelor, DO Good Place. Sure, you live with your part- NOT leave your home until you’ve watched it ner, but they’re busy doing puzzles on their all again. Repeat until public health o cials phone, and you kind of have to talk to your say it’s okay to see your friends. I know it’s succulents, so . . . You need something that inconvenient putting your life on pause to you can watch for hours at a time. TLC’s 90 watch The Bachelor, but look, there have Day Fiancé is like watching a trainwreck, but been books written about this show. Maybe also, a lot of these couples earnestly do seem you’ll become so passionate about it that to love each other. And boom, you’re invest- you’ll write your own Bachelor thesis, and ed! Another reason to ignore Zoom calls. that will help keep your ass inside. LOGAN THEATRE’S POPCORN + CANDY! If you’re an essential worker, you should If you’re breaking quarantine to hook BEER + WINE! watch: The Real Housewives franchise up with someone from a dating app, you (Hulu) should watch: Too Hot to Handle (Netfl ix) While a lot of folks are grumbling about Too Hot to Handle is a show about hot people being stuck at home, you’re out there going trapped on an island with other hot people. Follow for info on upcoming to work every day. You deserve a lot, like Tragically, they can’t hook up, lest they want pickup dates: @thelogantheatre fil paid sick time, vacation, hazard pay, proper to risk losing prize money. Yes, this show PPE, and I hope you’re getting that. You also is kind of boring. Yes, there is a contestant deserve messy bitches, which is why The Real who compares not being able to have sex Housewives franchise is for you to devour. for a summer to the idea of her mom dying. Leave it to Bravo for creating reality TV that But there’s an important lesson to take away sucks you in and keeps you mentally sedated. here: If these hot people can more or less Have a glass of wine and a Klonopin and enjoy keep their hands off each other, then you the true American pastime: watching rich and Crouton Billington, 29, from Hinge, can women hurl drinks at each other. settle for a Zoom date. I mean, really? Do you need to endanger the lives of others for some If you’re short-circuiting from the lack mediocre peen? Is commuting for Pandemic of social life, you should watch: Terrace Peen worth it to you? No, “‘Pandemic Peen’ House (Netfl ix) would be a great reality show” is NOT the You’re double-booking Zoom calls. You’re point. mixing yourself elaborate cocktails like you’re at the bar. You’re wearing your prom If you’re fluctuating between being very tux to the grocery store. You practice eye horny and being very sad, you should contact in the mirror, anticipating a meet- watch: The Great British Bake O (Netfl ix) Make every mile matter! cute on your next sanity walk. Uh, you need We all need to be gentle with ourselves Terrace House, a Japanese reality show right now, and that includes those of us that on Netflix. It’s arguably the most realistic are experiencing, uh, complicated feelings reality show. No talking heads, no contrived during all this. The Great British Bake Off drama—just six hot people moving into a is therapeutic. It is as relaxing as a glass of beautiful house and getting to know each warm milk (and also, way less disgusting other. I mean, contestants still go to their day than drinking a glass of warm milk). It’s got Sign up to run the 2020 Bank of America Chicago Marathon jobs at this show. Unlike your average reality a variety (a VARIETY!!!) of soothing British with Chicago Run! In the current climate, your support will show, Terrace House residents say things like accents; it’s got contestants rooting for each “hello” and “how was your day?” Normalcy, other; it’s got elaborate desserts that are nice be especially vital in ensuring that Chicago Run continues baby! to look at. Will this make you less sad? Prob- to advance the health and wellness of over 15,000 Chicago ably. Will this make you less horny? I don’t youth through inclusive running and fitness programs. If you’re ignoring social distancing guide- know! Will you start using the word “chu¥ ed” lines and hanging out with your friends in everyday conversation? I hope so! v www.chicagorun.org/teamchicagorun like normal, you should watch: The Bache- lor (Netfl ix, Tubi) @rimaparikh12 ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 21 R READER RECOMMENDED b ALL AGES N NEW F Get showtimes and see reviews of everything playing FILM this week at chicagoreader.com/movies.

believe to have killed several million people. This pass- er Benjamin Ree, we witness the start and later devel- able 2019 docudrama—handsomely directed by Polish opment of a beautiful friendship, one that’s undeniably auteur Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, In Darkness) meaningful to the participants but no more interesting from a humdrum script by Andrea Chalupa—recounts because of that. The friendship involves the titular paint- Jones’s harrowing journey and later reporting of the er, Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova, and the thief, a trou- Inheritance travesty. James Norton is aff ecting in the lead; so is bled Norwegian man named Karl-Bertil Nordland, both Peter Sarsgaard as Walter Duranty, the adversarial New of whom are likeable on-screen presences. Ree follows York Times’s Moscow bureau chief who won the Pulitzer the pair a er Nordland and a coconspirator steal two of Prize for a series of articles about the Soviet Union Kysilkova’s paintings and they meet in an Oslo courtroom, and later denied the famine. A fi ctional would-be love forming an unlikely bond that perseveres over the years. interest (Vanessa Kirby) and no less than George Orwell As a result, Nordland becomes the subject of several (Joseph Mawle) also factor into the plot; the latter knew of Kysilkova’s hyperrealistic paintings, while grappling of Jones’s reporting, and some allege that it inspired with childhood trauma and the drug addiction that led aspects of his classic parable, Animal Farm. Orwell’s him to commit the crime. The fi lm refl ects both subjects’ presence is factitious and overly didactic, and his scenes perspective on these events, likewise showing Kysilkova highlight the overwrought nature of Chalupa’s script. to be a complicated person with her own issues. Despite NOW PLAYING 92 min. Streaming on Netflix Holland’s direction, however, is assured, adding to her the novel subject matter, I was largely unimpressed by career-spanning examination of history’s uncomfortable this bromidic probing of a stranger-than-fi ction scenario, Circus of Books Inheritance truths. In English and subtitled Russian, Ukrainian, and yet another of which, I’d argue, doesn’t necessitate its R “I don’t know why you think this is worth docu- Inheritance requires an absurd amount of mental gym- Welsh. —K S 119 min. 5/22-5/28, Gene own documentary. In English and subtitled Norwegian. menting . . . I don’t like all this fi lming. I don’t know what nastics from viewers. And that’s not because it involves Siskel Film Center From Your Sofa —K S 102 min. 5/22-5/28, Gene Siskel you’re gonna come up with from this,” said Karen Mason, Lauren Monroe (Lily Collins) inheriting a man (Simon Film Center From Your Sofa scoffi ng at her daughter Rachel behind the camera. To Pegg) who her recently deceased father (Patrick War- 1BR Karen, she and her husband Barry were merely parents burton) had chained in a bunker for 30-plus years. This R Searching for the perfect one-bedroom apart- RBG and struggling small business owners. To everyone else, shocking secret that threatens to destroy the wealthy ment is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you Documentary makers Julie Cohen and Betsy West cel- however, Karen and Barry and their store Circus of Books and powerful Monroe family is actually realistic com- manage to locate the near-impossible fi nd, then what? ebrate the career of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader existed as an iconic spot in gay Los Angeles. For the pared to the movie’s other off erings. Lauren, for example, Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom), like most, seems to think Ginsberg, noting her recent emergence as a feminist Masons, the lucrative but dangerous business of owning is the New York County District Attorney, a position held she’ll live happily ever a er once she’s scored the perfect rock star but, more importantly, her early work as a an adult store in the 70s had turned from a temporary by only two people in the last three decades, both of Hollywood pad. But it’s too good to be true, of course. litigator fi ghting for equal treatment of women. Brenda gig to a 30-year venture. Circus of Books compelled the whom boast legal careers older than the protagonist. Things unravel quickly, escalating from a loud noise here Feigen, a cofounder with Ginsberg of the ACLU’s Wom- straight, average, Jewish couple to navigate their own Lauren’s younger brother William (Chace Crawford and a nosey neighbor there to a full-on pet homicide en’s Rights Project, provides dramatic recollections of family and faith parallel to the world of porn magazines reprising a later-seasons version of Gossip Girl’s Nate before the big reveal. Sarah has been recruited into a the attorney’s fi rst argument before the Supreme Court and movies, sex toys and accessories, and to-scale action Archibald) is a congressman running for a second term. cult unwittingly. The reveal, which seems a natural end in 1973, in the case of an air force lieutenant denied fi gures of pornstar Jeff Stryker. The documentary that No amount of Daddy’s string-pulling can account for point, comes only 45 minutes into writer-director David the benefi ts her male peers received. A chronology of tells their extraordinary story is funny and jaw-dropping this. Moreover, they’re as unlikable as their careers are Marmor’s movie, leaving the back half for a more com- Ginsberg’s subsequent victories shows how patiently just as much as it is heartfelt and deeply personal, with unlikely, making Inheritance seem like nothing more than pelling rumination on California’s history as America’s and shrewdly she worked to establish the existence and excellent moments of mother-daughter (subject-creator) a lukewarm take on The Secret in Their Eyes.—B cult-laden capital. 1BR’s unique timeline paired with its pernicious eff ects of sex discrimination (her strategy, one bickering that ground the fi lm and, refreshingly, break J111 min. In wide release on VOD palpable tension makes for a memorable addition to the male colleague observes, was like “knitting a sweater”). the emotional tension. Circus of Books is a triumph of horror-movies-about-cults catalog. The question is, is On the personal side, witnesses recall her love of opera, fi lmmaking in the way it covers such a range of topics Mr. Jones Sarah a susceptible target or a scrappy survivor? Find her warm friendship with fellow justice (and ideological so seamlessly: LGBTQ history, pornography, religion, In 1933 Welsh journalist Gareth Jones traveled to the out. —BJ 90 min. In wide release on VOD opposite) Antonin Scalia, and her long, happy marriage obscenity law, media, AIDS, coming out, parenthood, and Soviet Union to observe social conditions; he then sur- to Martin Ginsberg, a successful New York tax attorney more. It’s a story well worth documenting, whether Karen reptitiously ventured into Ukraine, where he witnessed The Painter and the Thief who loyally supported her judicial career. —J R J Mason will ever understand that or not —TA the Holodomor, Stalin’s man-made famine that historians In this uninspired documentary from Norwegian fi lmmak- PG, 97 min. Music Box Theater Virtual Cinema v CHICAGO READER MASKS

CHICAGOREADER.THREADLESS.COM

22 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll MUSIC

COURTESY THE ARTIST

moments, what comes to mind is Chaka Khan’s performance in 2013 at the annual gala for the Center on Halsted. My favorite performance by one of my favorite artists. It happened by chance. You know how at galas, people stay to hear the songs they know and then start to peel off? Well, after Chaka Khan fi nished her famous songs, the crowd of 800 to 900 guests started to thin, until there were about 150 of us. It became a very intimate THU MAY 21 @ Online, Changing Worlds concert. A native Chicagoan, Chaka Khan invit- ed us to come up to the stage. She took a lot of Changing Worlds Annual Benefit 2020 requests, and it was a huge lovefest. My brother and my friends were there. We talk about it to this day. For a more public performance, it’s defi nite- ly Billy Branch. He’s my cousin and a popular SAT MAY 23 blues player, but I swear I’m not being biased. It @ Online was at a Chicago Blues Festival. The place was Sophia Lucia’s Freak Show Cabaret packed, the sun was setting—no better place (EVENT REPEATS WEEKLY) to be in the world. Billy came onstage just as it got dark, and when the spotlight shined on him in this gorgeous blue suit, the crowd just erupt- ed. I felt so proud of Chicago and our music SAT MAY 23 #CHIMUSIC35 legacy. The blues might not have started here, @ Online, Make & Muddle but it had its own kind of birthplace in Chicago. Tiki Talk Lori Branch’s greatest moments What do you think makes Chicago such a hot- bed for creating music genres?

There’s a steady flow of new kinds of music in Chicago music history JUNE 6 emanating from Chicago that go global. I have SAT @ Naperville Settlement The pioneering house DJ shouts out her fellow Windy City originators, opinions about why, but if push came to shove, including Chaka Khan and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I’d say it’s because we have the silver lining of Naperville Soulfest 2020 segregation here. It fosters a kind of backlash, By L BAC an artistic explosion. That’s what you do when you’re forced into a corner. We’ve seen that in a lot of genres, like rock ’n’ roll. ot only is 2020 the Year of Chicago in Chicago music history is Lori Branch, widely Take Sister Rosetta Tharpe, another Chica- JUNE 6 SAT Music, it’s also the 35th year for the credited as the fi rst woman DJ in Chicago’s leg- go legend. She’s the godmother of creating @ Online, Eboni Montsho Ignites Nnonprofit Arts & Business Council of endary house-music scene. She’s been featured the sound that so many people emulate. Her Purpose & Passion Tour 2020 Chicago (A&BC), which supports creatives and in several house-music documentaries and sound had some country roots in the south, their organizations citywide with business books and has held many DJ residencies. Branch but it really grew up in Chicago. She brought expertise and training. To celebrate, the A&BC cohosts the Vintage House show on WNUR 89.3 along some of the greats in rock ’n’ roll, like Lit- has launched the #ChiMusic35 campaign FM and serves on the board of the Modern tle Richard. I love her story. She came from my to add your event to at ChiMusic35.com, which includes a public Dance Music Research and Archiving Founda- family church, the Church of God in Christ on poll to determine the consensus 35 greatest tion. She’s also a longtime public-health advo- 40th Street on the south side. TIXREADER COM moments in Chicago music history as well as cate and LGBTQ+ activist—more information is Chicago’s been the birthplace of so many and see it listed here a ra e to benefi t the A&BC’s work supporting available at lorabranch.com. genres of music—including house music, which weekly, send an email to creative communities struggling with the This interview was conducted by Ayana Con- I’ve been doing for a long time. That’s a Chica- [email protected] impact of COVID-19 in the city’s disinvested treras, who’s a DJ, host, and producer for WBEZ go institution. Don’t let anyone tell you diff er- neighborhoods. and Vocalo and writes for DownBeat magazine. ent. Its unique, stripped-down sound emanated Another part of the campaign is this Chicago from the south side. I still DJ, mostly for great Reader collaboration: a series spotlighting Ayana Contreras: What’s your favorite Chica- festivals or local events that mean something in partnership with important figures in Chicago music who are go music moment? to me—like last year’s Chosen Few event and serving as #ChiMusic35 ambassadors. First up now next year’s House Music Festival in Millen- to discuss her own personal greatest moments Lori Branch: Aside from some personal nium Park. v ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 23 Recommended and notable releases and critics’ insights for the week of May 21

MUSIC b ALLAGESF

PICK OF THE WEEK Musical time traveler Paul Burch creates vivid, impressionistic stories on Light Sensitive

Buscabulla MARACORSINO

Buscabulla, REgresa ized vision that del Valle and Berrios imagined Ribbon while they were in the diaspora. But the promise buscabulla.bandcamp.com/album/regresa of better times shines on “Nydia,” a tribute to New

EMILYBEAVER York-born Puerto Rican actress and singer Nydia In the wake of Hurricane Maria, at least 130,000 Caro, who moved to Puerto Rico at 19. Caro makes people left Puerto Rico to live elsewhere. Yet in a guest appearance on the gently funky tune, and Paul Burch, Light Sensitive February 2018, Puerto Rican musicians Raquel as it turns increasingly upbeat, she prophesies Plowboy Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle, aka experi- that light will appear in the greatest darkness: “Tú paulburch.com mental dream-pop duo Buscabulla (“Troublemak- no puedes ver las estrellas,” she sings, “Si tú no er” in English), returned to the island a er near- tienes una noche oscura” (“There is no way you ly a decade in New York City. During those years, can see the stars / If you don’t have a dark night”). PAULBURCHISAMUSICALTIMETRAVELER (“You Must Love Someone”) that sounds they’d become known for their music, which lay- —C M J ers minimalist, electro-tropical grooves with high- four years ago he released Meridian Rising, a like it could be an unearthed Rodgers B side. pitched, ethereal vocals, but despite this success pristine concept album in the voice of Jimmie Musically, these songs are impressionistic Berrios felt “incomplete” in New York. “Puerto Dark Fog, Escape into This and Rodgers, the greatest pop star of the Great memories of another time, but they’re alluring Rico has something—and you probably know it if Escape into this 2 you know a Puerto Rican—there’s something about Self-released Depression era. The choice made sense, since in large part thanks to their present-tense this island that really calls you,” she told NPR earli- darkfog.bandcamp.com/album/escape-into-this Burch likewise is an expert stylist who meshes storytelling. Burch sings, croons, and yelps er this month. A er two acclaimed EPs, this month darkfog.bandcamp.com/album/escape-into-this-2 past popular genres but always manages to in the voices of different characters: exotic Buscabulla released their debut full-length album, Regresa (Ribbon), whose bold sonic palette feels When I wrote about prolifi c Chicago three-piece sound like himself—he can even stand out party hosts, jet-era travelers, Mardi Gras rev- like it developed its fullness while ripening in the Dark Fog last winter, the trippy psych voyagers when working with artists who are distinctive elers in small-town Alabama, even a bookshop sun. Berrios’s vocals remain front and center, but were releasing three albums within a three-month in their own right, such as art-country collec- customer who discovers his fortune told in the music is less dreamy and more vivid—it blends span. It’s nice to know that, even in these uncer- strange, abstract fragments of Puerto Rican tain times, some things you can still rely on: Dark tive Lambchop and Chicago country-punks the pages of a “book of dreams.” The spark rhythms into a mix of tropical-tinged retro R&B Fog dropped the EP Escape Into This on April 6 the Waco Brothers. On his own, Burch is more for Light Sensitive was an arts commission and soul. The drums on “Vámono” take cues from and followed it up with Escape Into This 2 on April refi ned; think of him as Nashville’s answer to Burch received to musically document the life Puerto Rican marching bands and various color- 20 (as if there were ever a chance they’d let that ful festival sounds, while the romantic, plaintive date go by). Both releases arrived just a couple Nick Lowe or Joe Henry. On the new Light Sen- of southern raconteur Eugene Walter, whose bolero “Club Tú y Yo” features orchestral arrange- months after February’s Psychedelic Landscape, sitive, he’s surrounded by a group of tasteful resumé includes cofounding The Paris Review ments (courtesy of Helado Negro) that enhance a which closes with the masterpiece “D.T. Suzuki’s players, including multi-instrumentalist Fats and serving as a translator for Federico Felli- sense of isolation. Buscabulla’s island perspective Bathrobe.” The band’s founder, vocalist and gui- also adds political double entendres to their lyr- tarist Raymond James Donato, recently told me Kaplin, slide guitarist Luther Dickinson, and ni—but you don’t need to know the details to ics: “Mio,” which lays Berrios’s croon against slinky that he created both Escape records out of mate- upright bassist Dennis Crouch. They swirl enjoy the songs. What resonates from Walter’s smooth bass, seems at fi rst to be about possess- rial from his extensive collection of archival Dark textures together with the deft touch of jazz life is the flamboyant fun Burch is clearly ing a lover, but on closer listen it’s a critique of Fog tapes. Before the Illinois shelter-in-place order wealthy tourists who lay claim to what isn’t theirs went into effect in March, Donato, drummer Yt musicians, moving the music into intimate having with songs that skip across genres and to have. “Manda Fuego” comments on the rise Robinson, and bassist Drew Kettering were in the spaces that are both nocturnal and joyful. geographies. Throughout “On My Flight to of religious fanaticism on the island with a brief habit of recording every rehearsal and jam ses- There’s hardly a pre-Beatles rock genre that Spain,” a tremolo guitar cuts between verses recording of a preacher warning of impending sion, which is most likely the key to their prolifi ca- suff ering, but with its soulful grooves and ambig- cy. Donato built these lush tunes by layering extra Burch doesn’t touch: the album includes an of a lonely traveler imaging himself cast in uous lyrics, it could also foretell a night of fiery guitar and eff ects onto previously recorded songs early rock ’n’ roll shuffle (“Boogie Back”), Hemingway’s life—and though the plane passion. By juxtaposing such disparate emotions, “in a haze of THC and pandemic freak-out.” He a country-pop tune (“The Tell”), a twinkly hasn’t landed by the song’s end, we’re still Regresa offers sophisticated reflections on anx- captured each new addition in one take, creating iety, estrangement, and returning home—in this something as close to the Dark Fog live sound as instrumental (“Glider”), and a bluesy number enjoying the view. —M G case, a home that differs greatly from the ideal- we’re likely to get during social isolation. The fi rst 24 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll Providing arts coverage in Chicago since 1971.

www.chicagoreader.com ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 25 Find more music reviews at MUSIC chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

Okkultokrati REMYEIK

one of drill’s most consistent, influential, and tionable activities, but in the 12 years since Okkul- successful artists. His four previous major-label tokrati’s first demo, their songwriting has grown full-lengths have all peaked in the top 50 of the steadily more complex. By 2016’s Raspberry Dawn Billboard 200, including August’s Love Songs 4 the they’d expanded into their most Technicolor pal- Streets 2, which debuted at number four. His fl air ette to date, incorporating synth-laden postpunk, Lil Durk ARMANDOESTEVES for melody and his no-bullshit hooks have helped psychedelic weirdness, and even hints of glam give rise to a new wave of drill artists, including rock. Four years later, the brand-new La Ilden Lyse everyone’s new favorite Chicago rap sensation, (which translates roughly to “Keep the Fire Burn- Taurus Bartlett—better known as Polo G. On ing”) charges back into blacks and grays. When continued from 24 Trost Durk’s fifth studio album, Just Cause Y’all Wait- I listen to the record on a walk outside (an activi- record consists of four tracks, though the mirror- trostrecords.bandcamp.com/album/to-catch-a- ed 2 (Alamo/Geff en), Bartlett adds lithe vocals to ty I enjoyed much more frequently before lock- image titles of “The Fantasy Driver” and “Revird bird-in-a-net-of-wind “3 Headed Goat,” augmenting the brawny texture down), I almost expect tracks such as the lush yet Ysatnaf Eht” indicate that they’re plants grown from of Durk’s vocals and the subtle vulnerability in his ferocious closer, “The Dying Grass Moon,” to make the same root. Psychedelia is what happens when Has it really been just two months since the Illinois infl ection. Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 leans on mel- the still- emerging spring leaves shrivel up and drop. the mind’s inner space becomes vast enough to shelter-in-place order went into eff ect? Sometimes ancholy instrumentals: regal piano notes inform the But through destruction o en comes creation, and overwhelm physical reality, and these records feel live music seems like a fading memory. But when the sound world of “All Love,” and a dusky, lonesome La Ilden Lyse seems hell-bent on both—for all their like a beautiful snapshot of the isolated conscious- original experience is especially vivid, it’s not hard saxophone sets the tone for “Viral Moment.” Durk bleakness, these songs have a kinetic energy that ness. Gritty, clicking loops evoke claustrophobia, for a record like To Catch a Bird in a Net of Wind to understands how to look back without getting sen- could reanimate the dead. —JL which prompts the listener’s mind to react like a bring it all back. The album captures a duo set that timental, and he remains guarded while combing caged wild animal, releasing adrenaline in a desper- electric guitarist Tashi Dorji and percussionist Tyler through his regrets on “Turn Myself In.” He origi- ate attempt to break free. And Donato’s frenzied, Damon played at the May Chapel in Rosehill Cem- nally released the track in May 2019, just before he Smino, She Already Decided “Mixtape” ululating guitars are like rocket fuel for the spirit, etery, which was part of Elastic Arts’ 2018 Exposure surrendered himself to the Atlanta Police Depart- Zero Fatigue powering it up to levitate right out of your body. On Series. It opens with the sound of Damon striking ment—it had issued a warrant for his arrest in con- smitransfer.com the fi zzing “Dnim Ruoy Daer” and the fey “In Gold- hand chimes as he walks down between packed nection with a February 2019 shooting, and his en Curtain’s Yellow,” the two-song punch that wraps pews, sending metallic tones up to the chapel’s attempted murder case remains pending. Lil Durk When rapper-singer Smino self-released She up Escape Into This, astral projection reaches full vaulted ceiling. As their metallic reverberations delivers a powerful performance on “Turn Myself Already Decided on April 20, he added “Mixtape” fruition with futuristic grandeur. Escape Into This 2 bounce back to meet Damon’s advance, Dorji builds In,” and when his Auto-Tuned voice hits the occa- in scare quotes to the title on Soundcloud. In doing continues in a similar vein, with shorter cuts and a from humming feedback to a constellation of shim- sional high note, he offers glimpses of the depth so, the Saint Louis native provided a sly history les- slightly more turbulent sensibility—even when the mering, electric tones. A er Damon takes his seat and complexity in his story that stray hard-news son for young listeners who’ve only ever referred vocals are soothing, as on “In Dove Daze,” the spiky, at the drum kit, the duo enact an improvised sonic headlines can’t convey. —L G to full-lengths as “projects.” A decade ago, hip- processed-through-a-black-hole guitars ripple with contest in which they exchange slashing attacks and hop mixtapes provided a way for rappers to skirt unease. On “Lick Celestial,” a rhythm slightly rem- tumbling retreats, encircled by a halo of overtones. record-deal obligations, providing them an unregu- iniscent of “Misty Mountain Hop” provides a heart- The album feels a bit like a martial-arts fl ick where Okkultokrati, La Ilden Lyse lated outlet where they could remake the hot tracks beat under a plasma shimmer that keeps threaten- each climax tops the one before, but the champions Southern Lord of the moment and flex their creative muscles. ing to explode but never quite hits the breaking never fall. —BM okkultokratisl.bandcamp.com/album/la-ilden-lyse These releases weren’t strictly legal, but major- point. Both albums are available digitally on Band- label executives largely looked the other way—not camp as pay-what-you-can lockdown off erings, and Oslo six-piece Okkultokrati cast a net into rock’s least because mixtapes allowed their artists to Donato says that they’ll be released on vinyl this Lil durk, Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 grittiest, dankest seas and dredge up an electrify- stoke their popularity between studio albums and summer. —M K Alamo/Geff en ing hybrid sound: they twist influences from hea- remain relevant to a fi ckle public. This was before ld2x.com then black metal and thrash together with hedo- hip-hop mixtape sites helped transform the format, nistic rock ’n’ roll and furious crust punk. Much turning what used to be grab bags of unmastered Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon, To Catch a Chicago rapper Lil Durk dropped his debut mixtape of the band’s music seems designed for under- recordings and raw freestyles into studio-quality Bird in a Net of Wind nearly nine years ago, and he’s since matured into ground shows, drag races, and various more ques- music. Streaming further blurred the distinctions 26 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll MUSIC

Natalie Chami of TALsounds MARIA TZEKA

between mixtapes and “formal” releases—these Andrew Bernstein, who’s in Horse Lords—to cre- days, collections of Drake Z sides are aﬀ orded the ate an organic, warm, and o en jazzy sound. Dan- same importance as soul-baring albums that took iel began working on the album shortly after the years to put together. She Already Decided hits like 2016 election, and he titled it using Paul the Apos- a classic mixtape: Smino puts his stamp on contem- tle’s words in Romans 6:1 to express the rage and BIT.LY/GOOSEDELIVERS porary hits, transforming Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” disconnect he felt during that time. But though into “Jamie Boxx (Freestyle),” and raps over instru- Sinning is informed by anger, it embraces collabo- mentals that make no bones about the beloved ration and mutual aid, using prominent vocal har- songs they’re sampling (“Fronto Isley,” for instance, monies, tape delay, and other tools to suggest is built on a snippet of the 1975 Isley Brothers how we can create a world of our own in the face hit “For the Love of You”). He approaches each of adversity. Opening track “Shall” features guest track with understated cool and his unmistakable singers Colin Self, Angel Deradoorian, and Jana smoothness, infusing joy into every well- rounded Hunter, and Daniel samples their choirlike vocals syllable and slip-sliding verse. Smino knows that to weave them into the rest of the record. The a great mixtape has to be fun, and She Already whole thing is a joyful, loud, and sometimes dance- Decided gives us a way to make our own cheer able protest against those who may call us sinners. while we’re stuck indoors. —L G —S C-J

The Soft Pink Truth, Shall We Go On TALsounds, Acquiesce Sinning So That Grace May Increase? NNA Tapes Thrill Jockey talsounds.bandcamp.com/album/acquiesce thrilljockey.com/artists/the-so -pink-truth It’s easy to get the impression that Natalie Chami The Soft Pink Truth’s new album, Shall We Go dreams in music—she’s immersed in it in practically On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? (Thrill every minute of her waking life. By day, she teach- Jockey), is a soundtrack for contemplation, dis- es choir, vocal technique, and music technology at covery, and the seeking of truth. The solo project the Chicago High School for the Arts. She spends of Baltimore musician Drew Daniel, best known for her free time immersed in Chicago’s experimental- his work in experimental duo Matmos, the So Pink music community, making noisy drones as one-third Truth started in response to a challenge. A er Mat- of Good Willsmith and exploring ambient sound- mos released 2001’s A Chance to Cut Is a Chance scapes with her solo project, TALsounds. In the to Cure, which featured glitchy electronic sounds decade or so that Chami has been active, she’s built from samples of medical procedures, British become a crucial contributor and even one of the house producer and musician Matthew Herbert faces of the city’s contemporary avant- garde elec- dared Daniel to apply his inventive style to house tronic scene. She has a gi for elevating her wa - music. In response, Daniel created 2003’s bump- ing synths and spectral vocals into something that ing dance album Do You Party? (which Herbert verges on the mystical, and she continues to use put out on his own Soundslike label). On previous it masterfully on the ﬁ h TALsounds album, Acqui- releases, the So Pink Truth’s signature has been esce (NNA Tapes). Chami recorded this materi- marrying heady concepts with experimental, some- al between spring 2018 and summer 2019, impro- times outre compositions under an EDM umbrella; vising her soothing meditations while reflecting 2014’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? is an especial- upon changes in her life, including the meaning- ly wonderful collection of black-metal covers that ful relationship she’d built with her fiance. Her uplifts the source material rather than skewering overdubbed vocals often shroud the sense of it. But Sinning takes a different approach. Daniel what she’s singing, but on the cinematic “Muted works with a diverse group of guest artists—includ- Decision” her lightly plinking seaside synths cre- ing his Matmos partner, M.C. Schmidt (also his ate nuanced shifts in mood all on their own. partner in life), and saxophonists John Berndt and —L Gv ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 27 MUSIC

Springfi eld, Illinois, where he played bass in more albums and an EP billed to Thom Bishop: bands such as the Brigs, Johnny & the Impalas 1990’s Restless State of Grace, 1996’s Feed (he wasn’t Johnny), and the Toffee Shoppe. Me a Dream (recorded in Nashville), 2013’s A The Brigs recorded one song at a local radio Little Physics and a Lot of Luck, and 2016’s The station, a cover of Richard & the Young Lions’ Amber Ages (cut in Boulder). But many folks pounding but tuneful garage classic “Open Up who know him through these records aren’t Your Door.” It was never pressed or issued, aware that he has a parallel career under an- but I haven’t given up bugging Bishop to get a other name. listen. Confused? I sure was. “In 1980, I was cast in In the early 70s, Bishop began gigging as a an Equity production at the St. Nicholas The- singer-songwriter (though he’s no fan of the ater,” Bishop says. “Equity has a rule that if a term) in Urbana-Champaign, including at member has your name, you have to take a dif- the folk festivals the Red Herring presented ferent one. Although I assumed I would never each fall and spring. The artists who partic- act again, I took ‘Junior Burke,’ the two parts ipated could get their songs included on the of my name I wasn’t using.” Years later, the aforementioned LPs, and Bishop contributed alias came in handy for a different purpose. “White Lines and Road Signs” and “Kissed You “When I was focused more on writing prose Again” to the two volumes of Folk and Music fiction, my mentor, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, From the Red Herring compiled in fall 1971. At said, ‘If you want to be perceived as a writer, publication time, a copy of the second LP was rather than a musician who writes, you should on sale through a local record shop for $225. adopt a pen name,’” Bishop explains. “So I told Bishop came to Chicago in 1974 and began her I already had Junior Burke, and she said, playing steadily at famed venues such as ‘Well, you can be sure no other writer has it.’ Kingston Mines and the Earl of Old Town, Immediately, everything I submitted under usually accompanied by guitarist Louis that name was getting published.” Rosen—according to Rick Kogan, who wrote Bishop moved to Los Angeles in 1982, be- about Bishop for the Tribune in 1986, he won cause the Chicago club scene had slowed down Musical and literary polymath the Reader’s “best new artist” honor that year. and he had no management. He wrote a play For a regular gig at Orphans, he put together a called American Express that was staged in band with Billy Panda on electric guitar, Elliott LA, directed by Second City cofounder Paul Thom Bishop has a second Delman (formerly of Spoils of War and Mor- Sills and featuring Saturday Night Live veter- mos) on acoustic guitar, Jim Tullio on double an Laraine Newman. He cowrote the tune “Tri- bass, and Pennington McGee (who more als of the Heart” for the 1986 fi lm About Last career as Junior Burke famously played with SHoCM favorite Terry Night and began collaborating on screenplays. Callier) on percussion and backing vocals. He sold several to Universal and Trimark, For 50 years he’s been writing songs, lyrics, plays, movies, and more—and his Bishop also gigged with Callier himself, who but in most cases the movies were never pro- new novel starts with James Dean shooting Ronald Reagan on live TV. worked a transcendent alchemy on folk, blues, duced—and when they were, the scripts had and soul. “In my years in Chicago, while there often been rewritten so heavily that he barely By S K were so many artists and musicians I admired, cared anymore. the one I was truly in awe of was Terry Callier,” Bishop’s focus lately has been writing fic- he says. “And he was a beautiful person.” tion and teaching, the latter mostly at Naropa was introduced to the music of Thom multiple volumes of the series (he was a styl- Bishop got a formidable musical education University in Boulder, Colorado. “That’s been Bishop by an obscure 1971 compilation LP, ishly handsome devil too, judging from the sharing bills with blues royalty (Muddy Wa- my primary creative life for the past couple I part of a series recorded at the Red Her- few photos from that era I’ve seen), but he ters, John Lee Hooker), acoustic guitar gods of decades,” he says. He’s still making music, ring co eehouse in Urbana. The Red Herring discounts his early-70s output as “embryonic” (John Fahey, Leo Kottke), and legendary local though, under both his names—since 2007 hosted a lot of folk music back in the day, and and deems it barely worth mentioning. When songwriters (John Prine, Bonnie Koloc). Other he’s released two albums and an EP as Junior it’s still open, though it’s now a vegetarian I contacted Bishop, I couldn’t help asking him notable appearances included a show with co- Burke, including 2019’s America’s a Lonely restaurant—I’ve even been, because I went to about it, but at least we got the topic out of the median Jackie Mason, a packed 1978 anti-nuke Town, whose six songs he wrote with his old college at the University of Illinois at Urbana- way right at the start! And luckily, his career rally in Seabrook, New Hampshire (where bandmate Billy Panda. “If most of the songs Champaign. The recordings on the Red Her- took plenty of interesting turns afterward, so Bishop went on between Dick Gregory and were written this century, it’s a Junior Burke ring compilations are charmingly lo-fi and there’s still quite a story to tell. Pete Seeger), and an opening slot for rowdy recording,” he says. guileless, and I was further enchanted by the Born Thomas Burke Bishop Jr. in Litch- country outlaw David Allan Coe in downstate Bishop (as Burke) also has a new novel out mystery surrounding the artists featured— fi eld, Illinois, Bishop grew up on Chuck Berry, Illinois. this month via Gibson House Press, titled The though a 1969 volume does include a track West Side Story, Johnny Mercer, and Jacques In the mid-70s, while getting into writing Cold Last Swim. Set in an alternate-timeline from Dan Fogelberg, who was still in his teens Brel. He was an army brat, so his family music for theater, Bishop began recording version of golden-age Hollywood, it kicks o when the LP came out but was already pretty moved all over the country during his youth, solo material in New York and Lake Geneva. with James Dean shooting Ronald Reagan darn good. from Columbus, Georgia, to Santa Barbara, He debuted in 1981 with the LP The Wireless during a live TV broadcast in 1954 and gets Bishop is one of my favorites across the California—but he attended high school in Wonder, and since then he’s released three stranger from there. v 28 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll CHICAGOSHOWSYOUSHOULDKNOWABOUTINTHEWEEKSTOCOME

b ALLAGESF EARLY WARNINGS WOLFBYKEITHHERZIK Marshall Crenshaw & the Never miss Bottle Rockets 11/21, 8 PM, a show again. SPACE, Evanston, rescheduled b Sign up for the Charley Crockett 6/11, 8 PM, newsletter at City Winery, postponed until chicagoreader. GOSSIP a date to be determined b Ana Everling & the Taraf 5/26, com/early 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Showcase, WOLF canceled Ezra Bell 6/25, 8 PM, Martyrs’, Out of Space presents A furry ear to the ground of canceled George Clinton & Parliament Fratellis 1/22/21, 8 PM, Metro, Funkadelic 6/27/21, 7 PM, the local music scene rescheduled, 18+ Temperance Beer Company, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Wee- Evanston, rescheduled, 18+ INGOSSIPWOLF described jazz zer 8/13, 5:30 PM, Wrigley Out of Space presents Neko Field, postponed until a date Case and more 6/26/21, 7 PM, guitarist Dave Miller as a Chicago expat to be determined b Temperance Beer Company, based in NYC, but even then he seemed Journeyman: a Tribute to Eric Evanston, rescheduled, 18+ to do as much recording and gigging here Clapton 6/26, 8 PM, City Win- Out of Space presents as he did there. He’s since moved back to ery, postponed until a date to Smokey Robinson 8/8, 7 PM, be determined b Canal Shores Golf Course, Chicago, and his new self-titled album, Kennyhoopla 6/23, 7:30 PM, Evanston, canceled which comes out Friday, May 22, via Tomp- Schubas, postponed until a Mike Phillips 7/9, 8 PM, City kins Square, would make any hometown date to be determined b Winery, postponed until a scene proud! The funk- and soul-infl ected Jeff rey Foucault COURTESYTHEARTIST Sonny Landreth 7/9, 8 PM, date to be determined A SPACE, Evanston, resched- Primus 7/10, 7 PM, Chicago grooves on Dave Miller feature standout uled b Theatre, postponed until a local players such as Chicago bassist Matt NEW age 8/12, 7:30 PM, the Forge, Paul Thorn 10/28, 8 PM, City Maroon 5, Leon Bridges, date to be determined b Ulery , Milwaukee drummer Devin Drobka Joliet b Winery b Meghan Trainor 6/13, Haley Reinhart 8/1, 8 PM, (whose groups include Field Report and All Dressed Up & Nowhere to Sarah Harmer 2/12/21, 8 PM, Vox Eff usis Vol. 1 curated by 6:30 PM, Wrigley Field, SPACE, Evanston, canceled Show featuring Jeff rey Fou- Szold Hall, Old Town School Lou Mallozzi featuring Lynn postponed until a date to be Rüfüs Du Sol 5/30, 8 PM, Bell Dance Songs), and V.V. Lightbody key- cault 6/4, 7 PM, livestream on of Folk Music b Book, Jacques Dernierre & determined b Huntington Bank Pavilion, boardist Dan Pierson (who helps run Mill- facebook.com/evanstonspace Sophie B. Hawkins 5/29, 6 PM, Vincent Barras, Jaap Blonk, The Masked Singer National canceled er’s new studio, Whiskey Point Recording, Arrival: The Music of Abba livestream on stageit.com/ Ute Wassermann 6/13, 2 Tour 6/4/21, 7:30 PM, Rose- Shiner 8/13, 8:30 PM, Lincoln where the album was made). “Fellow Man” 11/13, 8 PM, Rosemont The- DigitalDragFest PM, livestream at ess.org/ mont Theatre, Rosemont, Hall, rescheduled; tickets atre, Rosemont b Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, the-quarantine-concerts rescheduled; tickets pur- purchased for original date sets the tone early, with a gentle, loping Bing & Ruth 8/30, 7:30 PM, John Jorgenson 10/25, 8 PM, Vundabar 11/15, 9 PM, Lincoln chased for the original date will be honored, 18+ shuffle that would fit in fine on a classic Constellation, 18+ City Winery b Hall, 18+ will be honored b Slander 6/5, 9 PM, Aragon early-70s Hi Records single. David Bisbal 10/22, 9 PM, Carlos Johnson 8/10, 8 PM, Waltzer: Behind the Mask Dave Matthews Band 7/2/21- Ballroom, canceled On Monday, May 18, unstoppable Chi- Copernicus Center b SPACE, Evanston b video premiere and lives- 7/3/21, 7:30 PM, Huntington Sons of Serendip 7/16, 8 PM, Blue October 5/29, 7 PM, Keep Your Mind Free featur- tream 5/28, 8 PM, livestream Bank Pavilion, rescheduled; City Winery, postponed until cago underground hip-hop label Why? livestream on stageit.com/ ing Jeff Parker, Nicole Mitch- at twitch.tv/hideoutchicago tickets purchased for the a date to be determined b Records dropped Art Is Love Vol. 1. The blueoctoberband ell, Tomeka Reid, Damon Whitney 6/4, 7 PM, livestream original dates will be honored Chris Stapleton 8/29, 5 PM, Why? team also assembled a Justice Bobby Conn & the Superband, Locks 5/28, 8 PM, livestream to benefi t the National Inde- b Wrigley Field, postponed until League of local DIY acts for the 20-track Vogds, MCMX fi lm screen- at ess.org/the-quaran- pendent Venue Association, Maybe April 7/17, 8 PM, City a date to be determined b ing, DJ LeDeuce 10/3, 7 PM, tine-concerts info at sleeping-village.com/ Winery, postponed until a Cassidy Stirtz 8/3, 8 PM, Mar- compilation, including psychedelic indie- Co-Prosperity Sphere b Lumpen Radio presents Brett events/whitney/ date to be determined b tyrs’, rescheduled rock band Glad Rags, R&B up-and-comer Camilo Séptimo 8/26, 8 PM, Naucke, TALsounds, Leya, Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Monsta X 6/16, 7:30 PM, United Stormzy 6/9, 9 PM, Metro, Jordanna , arty jazz-fusion unit Cordoba, Martyrs’ White Boy Scream, Ben Bab- Stookey of Peter, Paul & Center, postponed until a postponed until a date to be and scene pillars Rich Jones and Nnam- Celtic Woman 4/17/21, 7:30 PM, bitt 5/22, 8 PM, livestream on Mary 10/4, 7 PM, Genesee date to be determined b determined, 18+ Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont twitch.tv/lumpenradio Theatre, Waukegan b One Night of Queen featuring Tri Patterns 6/19, 9 PM, Mar- dï. The comp also features the four MCs b Shawn Mullins 10/27, 8 PM, City Gary Mullen & the Works tyrs’, canceled who run the label—Malci, Davis, Joshua CHIRP Record Fair and Other Winery b 3/27/21, 8 PM, Rosemont Vio-lence, Dysphoria, Wraith, Virtue, and Ruby Watson—who collabo- Delights 10/3, 8 AM, Chicago Nile 11/3, 7 PM, the Forge, UPDATED Theatre, Rosemont, resched- Gavel 3/13/21, 7 PM, Reggies’ rate on two cuts as Why Footclan. Art Is Journeymen Plumbers Local Joliet b uled b Rock Club, rescheduled; tick- Union 130 Hall Ramsey Lewis’s 85th Birthday NOTE: many concerts have Oso Oso 6/10, 7 PM, Bottom ets purchased for the original Love is a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp Chosen Few Virtual In-House Celebration 5/30, 1 PM, been canceled, rescheduled, Lounge, canceled date will be honored, 17+ release, and all proceeds benefi t the Chi- Picnic & Festival 7/4, lives- livestream at stageit.com/ or postponed in light of ongo- Out of Space presents Big Violet Crime 6/20, 9 PM; 7/18, cago Community Bond Fund. tream performances and DJ JanetLewis ing concerns about COVID- Boi and more 6/24/21, 7 PM, 9 PM; Martyrs’, canceled Jeff Pezzati’s cast-iron shout and indel- sets at chosenfewdjs.com Songslam competition hosted 19. We suggest that you con- Temperance Beer Company, Windy City Smokeout 7/10- F b by Fourth Coast Ensemble tact the point of purchase if Evanston, rescheduled, 18+ 7/12, United Center, canceled ible vocal melodies helped make Chica- Dan & Shay, Ingrid Andress, 9/3, 7:30 PM b you need information about Out of Space presents Caamp Chris Young, Scotty go punk forefathers Naked Raygun one Band Camino 8/15, 7 PM, Stay-At-Home concert series exchanges or refunds. 8/8/21, 7 PM, Canal Shores McCreery, Payton Smith of the most anthem-friendly hardcore United Center b featuring Ryan Joseph Golf Course, Evanston, 5/30, 7 PM, Hollywood Casino bands of all time—so don’t be surprised if Elrow 11/27, 8 PM, Radius Chi- Anderson 5/30, 4 PM, in pub- Above & Beyond 6/5-6/6, 8 PM, rescheduled, 18+ Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, cago, 18+ lic in selected neighborhoods Chicago Theatre, canceled Out of Space presents Death canceled you’re immediately humming along to his Erabella, Makena, When in Berwyn and Oak Park All Dressed Up & Nowhere to Cab for Cutie 8/7, 7 PM, tuneful new solo EP, The First EP, self- We Was Kids, Synovial, (locations secret until the Show featuring Watkins Fam- Canal Shores Golf Course, UPCOMING released on Tuesday, May 19. Gossip Wolf Far Under 7/17, 7 PM, Beat show starts) with concurrent ily Hour 6/2, 7 PM, resched- Evanston, canceled digs lo-fi Billy Bragg-style shout-along “It’s Kitchen, 17+ livestream at facebook.com/ uled; livestream at facebook. Out of Space presents Drive- Agnostic Front 8/23, 8 PM, Flotsam & Jetsam, Wrath, fi tzgeraldsnightclub com/evanstonspace By Truckers, J.D. McPherson Subterranean, 17+ Late” and epic, winding opener “Make Me Creep, Spare Change Struggle Jennings 6/30, 7 PM, Awolnation 6/6, 5:30 PM, Ara- 6/25/21, 7 PM, Temperance Hammerfall 10/7, 7 PM, Con- Whole (Chinese Wall Song),” which fea- 5/23/21, 7:30 PM, the Forge, the Forge, Joliet b gon Ballroom, canceled Beer Company, Evanston, cord Music Hall, 17+ tures stately piano and lovely synthesized Joliet b Summer House Series Virtual Birthday Bands BBQ 6/7, 2 PM, rescheduled, 18+ Jason Hawk Harris 6/25, 8 PM, strings. —JRNLG Robbie Fulks 5/24, 8 PM, Edition with DJ Koko, DJ Hideout, canceled Out of Space presents Emmy- FitzGerald’s, Berwyn livestream at twitch.tv/hide- Torin Edmond, DJ Nick Non- Brent Cobb 6/16, 8 PM, lou Harris, Los Lobos 8/5/21, Legendary Shack Shakers 9/13, outchicago stop 5/28, 6 PM; 6/4, 6 PM, SPACE, Evanston, postponed 7 PM, Canal Shores Golf 8 PM, Beat Kitchen Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail G-Herbo, King Von, Lil Load- livestream info at facebook. until a date to be determined Course, Evanston, resched- Torres 10/16, 9:30 PM, Empty [email protected]. ed, Shaun Sloan, Pretty Sav- com/summerhouseseries b uled, 18+ Bottle v ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 29 Chicago's Free Weekly Since 1971 OPINION

PARENTING On being a single dad, a journalist, and a Black south- sider during the pandemic It involves juggling my kid’s Zoom-call cameos and a new beat, and checking in on my homies. By E FM

Evan F. Moore is a culture/entertainment up with tears in her eyes and said, “Daddy, I writer with the Chicago Sun-Times. Evan wanna go to the playground.” chicagoreader.com/donate attended Donaldchicagoreader.com/donate Trump’s Chicago rally and I told her that as soon as the germs are lived to tell about it. gone, we can go back to the playground. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m run- y kid is having one hell of a rookie sea- ning out of excuses. Like the rest of us, she’s We Couldn't Be Free Without You— son in terms of her education. trying to make sense of the new reality. M This was supposed to be her first Also, right before Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Support Community Journalism full year of school, but she’s spending the shelter-in-place executive order took e ect, last three months of it at home instead of I took on a new beat at my newspaper. A new in class. Three weeks ago, I was at my home sked that allows me to have a social life? Not o ce reading over a story when she walked so fast, my guy. 30 CHICA OREADER - MAY ll Have a strong opinion or perspective you’d like to share? We invite you to send ideas to [email protected]. OPINION

Not exactly the rookie season we were counting reach out to them every now and again to on for my daughter’s education. EVAN F MOORE see how they are holding up. Some of them haven’t seen their children outside of phone calls and FaceTime. Also, a few of them are For me, and every other career-minded gig workers, which means their ways to earn single parent, the new reality is working have been yanked away by the pandemic. from home while co-parenting. That means A couple of weeks ago, I had a 30-minute fi ling stories, transcribing interviews, chas- conversation with one of my friends, and ing down leads, sitting in on Zoom meetings, we asked each other about how our families and wondering if I’ll be laid o or furloughed were holding up, we talked about the first like so many other journalists. two episodes of The Last Dance, the ESPN Along the way, my daughter has joined a documentary on the Bulls’ 1998 champion- couple of conference calls. Once, she crashed ship season, and he asked for something a the meeting to tell everyone “hi” and to ask true friend wouldn’t say no to—my Netfl ix for chocolate milk. While transcribing an login (I hooked him up). interview I did with a city official, I heard It was an important check-in because my kid in the background of the recording, men—particularly Black men—have a ten- laughing at one of her favorite TV series— dency to internalize our feelings and our most likely Paw Patrol or Mickey Mouse mental health; we think the world is against Clubhouse. us and we don’t reach out. Recent events, On my lunch break during the weeks I and history, back up our suspicions. have her, we stay in touch with her teacher It’s a tough sell when elected o cials and through e-learning and Zoom meetings co- the press—entities that have had a histor- ordinated by the parents of her classmates. ically prickly relationship with our com- And a couple of weeks ago, the teachers and munity—tell us to stay in the house due to sta at her school staged a drive-by parade a pandemic while gun violence, racism, and for the students, honking their car horns systemic issues feel much more imminent, and holding up signs of encouragement as the TRiiBE pointed out in their article while passionately describing to their stu- describing the disconnect with the afore- dents how much they miss them. mentioned groups. “That was fun,” my daughter blurted out. And no one is immune. State representa- She misses her teacher and her class- tive Kam Buckner tweeted about his expe- mates; it was a dope moment. rience shopping while Black when a police Maybe some of y’all won’t bitch at teach- officer stopped him. The police officer told ers now since so many of you are fi nding out him: “People are using the coronavirus to their worth? do bad things. I couldn’t see your face, man. As for the fam, one of the reasons I moved You looked like you were up to something.” back to the old neighborhood last year, out- These are some of the reasons so many of side of being closer to my daughter, was to us laugh at white people who want to reopen be nearby my elderly parents—two retired the state. Seems like it’s not so fun living Chicago Public Schools teachers—in case under what Black folks deal with each and something comes up and they need me. every day. My kid knows what she’s getting out of a Nevertheless, it’s onward and upward for visit to grandma and grandpa’s: spaghet- me and mine. My kid is tough, and we’ll ad- ti and chocolate. After all, grandma and just to whatever comes our way. grandpa’s house is a lawless place where One day, it’ll all make sense and we’ll head parents are powerless when it comes to a back to the playground—hopefully. v grandbaby’s warm embrace. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cut our visits @evanFmoore short due to social distancing guidelines, my parents’ susceptibility to COVID-19, and the fact that they live blocks away from Symphony South Shore, the nursing home/ rehabilitation center where 70 percent of the residents tested positive for COVID-19. please recycle I check on the homies, too. Especially the this paper ones who are dads. I’ve made it a point to ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 31 OPINION

JOENEWTON

The Reader 420 Companion is SAVAGE LOVE filled with great recipes, activities I fantasize about hot guys in Nazi uniforms and coloring pages. We don’t pick our (problematic) kinks. By DS Details may be found at chicagoreader.com/420book : Here’s a non-COVID that. And I get it: people like results in more children question for you: I’m a what they like, don’t judge being raped and sexually queer white female in a yourself for your fetishes, abused. The cause and eff ect $24.20: Printed, bound copy, includes a monogamish marriage. I just get off without being an is obvious, FASH, the victims digital download (+ $4.20 shipping & handling) vote le , I abhor hatred and asshole to anyone. The prob- are real, and the harm done is Order your printed copy by 423 to be guaranteed oppression, and I engage lem is that my usual way of incalculable. in activism when I can. I’m getting off on/indulging my But while it may discom- a book from the 1st print run. also turned on by power fantasies is to read erotic fic- fort someone to know a nice diff erentials: authority tion on the Internet. I’d love married lady who donates $14.20: Digital download fi gures, uniforms, hot guys your input on whether seek- to all the right causes is furi- doing each other. Much to ing out Nazi porn is problem- ously masturbating to dirty my horror, this thing for atic for some of the same stories about hot guys in power diff erentials plus too reasons that porn depicting Nazi uniforms doing each Your purchase supports the Reader many WW2 movies as a kid sex with kids is problematic. other, FASH, no one ever has always meant that for my Am I normalizing and trivi- has to know that. So you do 15% of the proceeds will be donated to brain (or for my pussy) Nazis alizing fascism? —F no harm—not even the sup- the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless are hot. Fuck me, right? AS H posed harm of discomfort- Other maybe relevant bits ing someone—when you pri- of info: I’m not interested in A: Seeking out child porn— vately enjoy the fucked up roleplaying with actual part- searching for it online, stories you enjoy. And while ners, I’m fairly sure this pro- downloading it, collecting there are doubtless some clivity is not reflective of any images of children being actual Nazis who enjoy read- deeper issues, and I’m both raped and sexually abused— ing dirty stories about other sexually and emotionally fair- is problematic (and illegal) Nazis, most people turned 21+ only ly well sorted. Not perfect, because it creates demand on by dirty stories about but fine working order and all for more child porn, which Nazis are turned on despite

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themselves and their politics. and my bedroom window That said, TVN, you raise Transgressive sexual fantasies faces theirs. There was a LOT an interesting ethical ques- don’t arouse us because they of derogatory talk, hitting, tion: Are kinksters—partic- violate societal norms and name-calling, giving orders, ularly the kind of kinksters expectations (in a safe and and some crying. I could tell who enjoy verbal abuse and controlled manner), FASH, it was consensual—she was impact play—obligated to but because they allow us to very clearly having a good keep it down? While I think violate our sense of ourselves time—and I eavesdropped people should be considerate too (ditto). Just as a femi- long enough to witness of their neighbors, people are nist can have rape fantasies the postcoital return to allowed to have sex in their without actually wanting to equilibrium. Everything own homes, TVN, and it’s not be raped herself or for any- seemed great. But physically like vanilla sex is always quiet. one else to be raped, a per- I experienced this as But if the sex a couple enjoys son can have sexual fantasies overheard violence. I was could easily be misinterpret- about hot guys in Nazis uni- shaking and had a hard time ed as abuse or violence by forms doing each other with- getting to sleep a erwards. someone who accidental- out wanting Nazis to come to I’m glad I stuck around until ly overhears it, that couple power. the end. It helped me feel might wanna close the win- I have to say it was easier better. I guess what I’m dow and turn up some music to give anti-Nazi Nazi fetish- saying is that I needed some themselves—not only to avoid ists like you a pass—to shrug a ercare. I’m still thinking alarming the neighbors, but and say “you do you” but about it this morning, and to spare themselves the has- please keep it to yourself— I’m concerned that being sle of explaining their kinks https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ before racist demagogues, triggered by my neighbor’s to a cop. white supremacists, and sex is going to become a For the record: I would tell leor-galil?refcode=20200508_WEB_prpage anti-Semites started marching regular part of my life. I’m a person who enjoys a good around waving Trump flags. wondering about the ethics single-tail whipping to find But no one picks their kinks of the situation: Do kinky a soundproof dungeon to and being told “that shouldn’t folks have an obligation to enjoy that in (because that turn you on” has never made muffl e potentially triggering shit is loud) but I wouldn’t tell a problematic or transgres- sounds? Or is any overheard a person who screams her sive kink less arousing. And sex potentially triggering to head off during PIV inter- when you consider the num- someone and am I therefore course to find a soundproof ber of non-erotic novels, mov- applying a double standard box (even though her shit is ies, and television shows the here? What do you think? just as loud). Instead I would culture cranks out year after —T VN urge her to fuck at 8 PM, year—and how many actually when most people are awake, trivialize fascism (I’m talking A: You went from rather than 2 AM, when most to you, Hunters)—it seems overhearing kinky sex people are asleep. (It can be insane to draw a line and say, to eavesdropping on it— annoying listening to some- “Okay, this story about Nazis meaning, you went from one screamfuck but it’s even isn’t okay because that lady accidentally hearing your more annoying to have your over there masturbated while neighbors fucking to intently sleep ruined by a screamfuck- reading it in private.” listening as your neighbors er.) Is this a double standard? fucked. And you needed to Perhaps. But it’s one I’m will- : I’m an apartment-dweller do that. You heard something ing to endorse. in a dense urban area. that sounded violent but Last night I overheard my hearing more led you to : 1. Is it safe to hook up neighbors having sex—no guess it was consensual sex again? 2. Will it be safe to big deal, right? I consider and listening all the way to hook up again soon? 3. You’ll myself a sex-positive person, the end—all the way through tell us when it’s safe to hook and have always held and the a ercare—confi rmed up again, right? —G espoused the belief that if your guess was correct. RIN you can’t have loud sex in So for your own peace of D R (242-8669) your own home, where can mind, TVN, you needed to you have it? But the sex I keep listening. But you don’t A: 1. It isn’t. 2. At some point. 726-8437(726-8437) LD Rates Apply 18+ overheard last night was need to listen next time. If 3. I will. v fairly kinky. 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