CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE | JUNE CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE Photos of Black fatherhood W.D. Floyd 12 The early years of gay liberation in Chicago Albert Williams 15 LUCY The city’s best drag mom uses a favorite vintage store to make a point about showing STOOLE: up for your community. a good look for Chicago By TTRBE27 THIS WEEK CHICAGOREADER | JUNE | VOLUME NUMBER IN THIS ISSUE T R - ­ ­ CITYLIFE 12 PhotoAphotographercaptures @ 04 SightseeingTakeourquizon quietmomentsofBlackfatherhood Chicagounderworldslangandfi nd outwhatcackleberriesare PTB IEC SKKH DEKS FILM C LSK 21 FestivalCinepocalypsereturnsto D P JR CEAL theMusicBoxwithafreshcropof M EP M horrorfi lmsandcultclassics A EJL 22 PrideThecaseforaccurate 34 SecretHistoryofChicago SWDI BJ MS LGBTQrepresentationinmovies MusicDiscodivaLoleatta SWMD L G 23 ReviewShotsfocusestoo Hollowaygotasecondwindfrom EA SN L muchontheLaquanMcDonald housemusic G D D C S MEBW FOOD&DRINK shootingattheexpenseof 36 EarlyWarningsCiara M L C NEWS&POLITICS 10 RestaurantReviewTwo McDonaldhimself EyehategodSleaterKinneyand S C -J 05 Joravsky|PoliticsDon’tgive powerfulnewcontendersonthe 24 MoviesofnoteTheDeadDon’t morejustannouncedshows FL CPF TA ECS uponanelectedschoolboard hotfriedchickenfront DiedirectssatiricalbarbsatTrump 36 GossipWolfBodymilkTapes CN B MayorLightfoot eraracismTheLastBlackManin invitesacrowdofqueerand D C LCI 06 Isaacs|CultureSomuchfor SanFranciscotakesapoeticview transmusicianstoNoisePromII G AG KT ARTS&CULTURE HR H JH gamblingofthepeoplebythe 15 PrideA‘freakingfag ofgentrifi cationandLateNight theHumanitiesFestivalhostsa JH IH DJM peopleandforthepeople revolutionary’rememberstheearly tacklessexismintheworkplace discussionofJimDeRogatis’s KS K MM yearsofgayliberationinChicago withpanache RKellybookandmore B MQJRN LPKRBSD 18 LitIndecentAdvancestells S TW A W thesecrethistoryofatimewhen MUSIC&NIGHTLIFE OPINION ---------------------------------------------------------------- propositioninganothermanwas 27 Feature|TheBlockBeat 37 SavageLoveDanSavageoff ers D D J D acceptablegroundsformurder BeloveddragmomLucyStoole adviceforagalinneedofasafe D P E &P KK 19 MagicJeanetteAndrewshas usesafavoritevintagestoreto skilledmalesexworker O M S A masteredtheartof“Bottlingthe makeapointaboutshowingupfor A AJG Impossible” yourcommunity CLASSIFIEDS YD 30 InRotationCurrentmusical 38 Jobs ADVERTISING THEATER obsessionsofTeenMovieHell 39 Apartments&Spaces -- -@ 20 PlaysofnoteDesireinaTinier authorMikeMcPaddencomics 39 Marketplace C @ Houseisamovingqueerlove artistCorinneHalbertandmore SD PF FEATURE storydespitetheshirtlessboy 31 ShowsofnoteMonoRosanne V PSAM 08 ComicsPregnant?Worried? marketingEmmaremainstrueto CashRajaKumariandmorethis O CRM TP P DG SA R CallJane thetheoriginal week B GAH J L LM-H A RLS B W CSM W R THIS WEEK ON CHICAGOREADER.COM NA V MG --- J LSB ---------------------------------------------------------------- DC [email protected] -- STM READER LLC BPD RL TE R S JS A- S V CC EB Movie Tuesday: ‘It’s a park, not Pin party ---------------------------------------------------------------- R ISSN-­ The Reader founding member pins STMRLLC Masterful melodramas a nature preserve’ are here! You can pick yours up at SM SC IL Ben Sachs on fi ve fi lms that show the A judge has dismissed the lawsuit our offi ce, Monday-Friday, 9 to 5, -- underrated genre at its best that sought to stop the Obama or stop by one of our pin parties C ©C R Presidential Center, Deanna Isaacs to meet Reader staff ers and get a P C IL A C RR reports. members-only deal. RR T® 2 CHICAOREADER - JUNE ll ll JUNE - CHICAOREADER3 CITY LIFE while a dead one was a reformed criminal. snails, stinkers, and red lead were synonyms Bright eyes are a lookout man or woman. A for sausages, eggs, cinnamon rolls, onions, phoneman is a peddler of cheap jewelry. A and catsup is something of a mystery. It is pickpocket—also known as a buzz, a whizzy, a easy to see how other entries could confuse dip, or a wire—might roust a target (push into outsiders. Barbering is to have a conversation. a crowd to permit the picking of a pocket in the Cheaters could mean eyeglasses or marked confusion) or try reefi ng (working up the lining cards or dice. The word clout as a noun means of the pocket between the fi ngers until the de- infl uence, but the verb to clout means to steal sired article is easily reached). or to strike. Why a Chicago cop would need to know that Think you know your Chicago underworld? a rod, a gat, a biscuit, a torch, a stick, a cannon, Here’s a quiz of some of the less obvious en- a roscoe, and a heater were all slang words for tries in Penitentiary & Underworld Argot. The handguns is clear. Why a Chicago cop would correct answer is lifted word-for-word from need to know that beagles, cackleberries, the dictionary itself. 1) Clink 8) Pineapple SEANDAVIS A) Highest-ranking offi cer at a police station A) Money B) A jail B) A decoy for a confi dence game C) A successful robbery C) A bomb Sightseeing 2) Unmugged 9) Badger game A) Not listed on police records; a criminal not A) A gambling wheel controlled by the foot of as yet identifi ed as “wanted” by the police the operator Think you know your Chicago B) “Hungover” a er a long night of drinking B) A blackmailing scheme in which the vic- C) Someone who is unaware he has been tim is taken to a room or apartment by the pickpocketed woman accomplice and there discovered by underworld slang? the “husband.” 3) Glom C) The hustling and shoving about by a pick- A quiz on some of the less obvious entries in a 1967 police-training dictionary A) To snatch; seize; grab; steal. pocket mob B) To inspect a house or store before robbing By JN C) To arrest; to apprehend 10) The School A) The Pontiac, Illinois, Penitentiary, formerly 4) Hoosier a reformatory, as referred to by prisoners in n looking at the James Stukel Towers, underworld.” With nearly 1,600 entries, the A) A locksmith the Joliet penitentiaries the spiffy University of Illinois at Chi- mimeographed dictionary has a few awkward B) A man who sells fi rearms to criminals B) United States Penitentiary, Marion, as cago dorms near the corner of Halsted defi nitions, and while it is fi lled with remark- C) An ineffi cient worker referred to by prisoners in Illinois state and Rochford, it is hard to imagine that ably crude expressions, “vulgarity in the most penitentiaries it used to be the site of the dilapidated distasteful and objectionable passages” was 5) Jit C) Gallery at the Cook County Jail where Itraining academy of the Chicago Police De- omitted “for the sake of propriety.” A) A car used for bank robberies newly arrived prisoners are housed or celled. partment. From 1960 to 1976, police recruits With entries such as jail house, mob, gang- B) A nickel trained in a decrepit school building built in ster, ex-con, hooker, bum, goofy, and nifty, C) Any strong drink 9-10 correct: A-1! You’re prepared for under- 1857, a stone’s throw from the Maxwell Street much of the Penitentiary & Underworld Argot cover work in the Chicago underworld. Market. One of the manuals from the academy, seems patronizingly obvious. (Didn’t every- 6) Yegg 7-8 correct: Bang-up job! You’re ready to walk Penitentiary & Underworld Argot, captures the one who passed the police exam know that a A) Marijuana a beat, maybe even around Maxwell Street. spirit of Maxwell Street. The 1967 dictionary is cop is another word for a police o cer?) The B) A percentage paid to a corrupt policeman 6-4 correct: Bad break. Let’s start you off on questionable, weird, hilarious, infuriating, and dictionary is also fi lled with patter we asso- for “protection” the far northwest side, rookie. enlightening. ciate with film noir: gin mill, shut your yap, C) A thief 3-0 correct: Complete fl op. There might be a Robert M. McCann, then-director of train- gumshoe, on the lam, trigger man, and fall guy. fi ling job for you somewhere, hayseed. If you ing for the Chicago Police Department, pref- Though a section of the dictionary included 7) Pigeon joint want to make it, you’ll have to brush up on aced the dictionary with an explanation that it “terms commonly used by narcotic addicts or A) A store where burglars’ tools may be your pulp crime novels. v was not “a complete dictionary of underworld traffickers,” the dictionary feels remarkably purchased called rowdy dowdy. rowdy called slang.” Its definitions were “obtained from light on 60s slang. B) The section of the prison where informers A 10. ) inmates of prisons, ex-convicts, thieves or of Yet alongside easy-peasy entries such as are held is mob pickpocket a by about shoving and beat the rap, big shot, side kick, double cross, C) A graveyard hustling The wheel. gaff a is operator the A gambling wheel controlled by the foot of of foot the by controlled wheel gambling A that ilk,” with contributions from instructors ( who had “enjoyed various assignments that and nut house are expressions of the criminal B 9. C 8. A 7. C 6. B 5. C 4. A 3. A 2. B 1. brought them into ‘conversational or arrest’ tradecraft and colorful, nearly extinct turns Answers: contact with thieves or members of the of phrase. Dead bang means caught in the act, 4 CHICAOREADER - JUNE ll NEWS & POLITICS The new mayor has at least temporarily slammed the brakes on moves toward an elected school board. ERNOHANNINK/FLICKR POLITICS School board politics Don’t give up on an elected school board, Mayor Lightfoot. By B ow that Mayor Lightfoot has named chaired the council’s Finance Committee and her school board appointees, the wound up serving time for corruption. We’ll time has come for me to evaluate see if Burke avoids that fate. the previous mayor’s appointees. I still remember del Valle’s election-night Ugh, what’s lower than one star? smile as he giddily proclaimed to his cheering NIn contrast, Lightfoot’s appointees seem supporters: “We beat Nedza!” Obviously, he #TVKUV9TKVGT better, and they seem to come with some back- was as surprised as the rest of us. bone that the previous board rubber-stampers Anyway, Lightfoot and del Valle said all the 2GTHQTOGT! clearly lacked.