One thing the windy city is known for is producing some of the most iconic music stars. From Sam Cooke and Kanye West, to Styx and Fall Out Boy, Chicago’s very own Mahalia Jackson is notably one of the most iconic and influential singers of the 20^th century. In honor of her legacy and life, the city of Chicago Department of Planning and Development alongside the Greater Chatham Initiative and Carter Temple CME Church, opened the Mahalia Jackson Court on the corner of 79^th and State Street in Chicago. In a ribbon cutting ceremony in conjunction with the  Carter Temple CME Church, supporters, politicians, and members of the community came together to pay homage to the iconic gospel singer and civil rights activist.

The Department of Planning and Development awarded the Great Chatham Initiative $500,000 for the construction of the site. The Cultural Affairs and Special Events provided an additional $50,000 for constructing the Mahalia Jackson memorial. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was also  in attendance,  said the Mahalia Jackson Court is one way the city of Chicago plans to revitalize the neighborhood. The Mahalia Jackson Court, is an 8,500 sq. ft. public plaza that serves as a beacon of light for the South Side residents in the Chatham neighborhood.  Lined with daily food trucks, music, and art, this new safe haven also possesses a 3-foot statue of Jackson, designed by gallery owner and artist Gerald Griffin.

In 1927, Jackson migrated to Chicago from New Orleans during the Great Migration, finding solace and security in the Midwest. While attending Salem Baptist Church. To learn more about Mahalia Jackson Court, visit the official website here.

Arguably the most influential, and prolific racially motivated murder in American history is that of 14-year-old Chicago native Emmett Till. On Aug. 28, 1955, Till was brutally kidnapped, tortured and murdered  to death in Money, Mississippi for allegedly harassing and whistling at a white woman by the name of Carolyn Bryant while visiting family on vacation. Several relatives of Bryant’s including her husband Roy Bryant and her brother-in-law J.W. Milam snatched Till away from his family’s home leading to events that would garner the Civil Rights Movement international attention. His mother Mamie Till-Mobley, fought diligently to ensure that the world knew what was done to her son, shocking the entire nation by having an open casket funeral. Till’s body was so badly beaten and mangled that is was hardily recognizable, shedding light on the rising racial injustice blacks faced in the south. Her heroic efforts forced America to confront racial brutality head on.

Over 60 years later, Till’s death is still generating national attention. In June 2022, the official arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant was found in a Leflore County basement regarding her involvement with Till’s death. Ultimately the grand jury decided not to prosecute her, shining more light on how this tragedy rocked the entire nation and continues to years later. But Till’s legacy is not remembered in vein thanks to his hometown of Chicago.

Chicago is making sure Emmett and Mamie Till’s legacy is preserved and memorialized by restoring their home as a part of African American history. In July 2022, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund announced that the house will receive a share of $3 million in grants being distributed to 33 sites and organizations nationwide that have impacted African American culture. This coincides with the Senate passing a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals posthumously to both Emmett & Mamie Till-Mobley earlier this year.

With the 67^th anniversary of his death occurring Aug. 28, we honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Emmett Louis Till.

Born and raised in Chicago, this Mexican-American woman has a great deal of linguistic talents. Through her application of words on blank pages, she has impacted the world. She has received a number of sublime fellowships, national and international awards, honorary degrees and international recognition as a writer.

She earned the Texas Institute of Letters Dobie-Paisano Fellowship and the Illinois Artists Fellowship both in 1984, the Texas Medal of the Arts in 2003, the Fifth Star Award presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in 2015, the Tia Chucha’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, and the Ford Foundation's Art of Change Fellowship in 2018. On Sept. 22, 2016, Cisneros was presented with the National Medal of Arts by then U.S. President Barack Obama, who was also former Illinois state senator. Cisneros was also the recipient of honorary degrees from numerous universities, including Loyola University at Chicago and DePaul University.

Her work ranges in its forms and styles of storytelling. She creates poetry, short stories, novels and showcases performances. Cisneros is most well-known for her fiction novel, The House on Mango Street, composed of a series of vignettes, which are short poetic descriptions. This was one of her first books to be translated and distributed in over twenty languages. Most of her collection may be found in both the English and Spanish languages.

Along with her journalistic and artistic endeavors, Cisneros has founded non-profit youth professional development organizations. After being awarded the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Cisneros helped develop Los MacArturos, a MacArthur fellowship for Latinos who could work together in serving their communities. She founded the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation. Cisneros describes the Macondo Foundation as “an association of socially engaged writers.” For 15 years, the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation aided Texas writers by providing grants for their professional development and career advancement.

Cisneros possesses dual citizenship in the United States of America and Mexico, which is where she currently resides with her three dogs. She gracefully embraces her Latin roots, and her admiration is expressed throughout her bodies of art. The literature that she has produced is often categorized as sensational and classical.

To read more about her life, work and ongoing events, you may visit SandraCisneros.com.

Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist and an African American civil rights advocate, who spent many of her most memorable years in Chicago. Born in Mississippi in 1862, she was brought into slavery but was later freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. A yellow fever outbreak caused the death of both her parents as well as one of her siblings, leaving her to care for her remaining siblings. In 1878, at the age of 16, she convinced the local school administrator that she was 18 so that she could work there to provide for her siblings.
In 1882, Wells moved with her siblings to Memphis, Tennessee to live with their aunt. While in Tennessee, she spent some time studying at Fisk University in Nashville. During a train ride from Memphis to Nashville, she was asked to move from the first class seat she paid for, to the African American section of the train. After refusing to do so, she was forcedly removed from the train. She sued the train company and won the state level case but it was overturned by the Supreme Court.

In 1892, Wells became an anti-lynching advocate after her friend and two of his associates were murdered. She wrote articles condemning the lynching. This led to a mob storming her newspaper office while she was away, eventually leading her to move to Chicago.
In 1896, Wells was one of the founders of the National Association of Colored Women, the first organization established for Black women.
In 1908, the African American community in Springfield was brutally attacked after a Black man was accused of raping a white woman. This led Wells and many others to take action by attending an organization that later became the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Wells was also active in the women’s suffrage movement, despite white women ignoring concerns with lynching.
Wells died in 1931 in Chicago and is memorialized by her activism for African American. Her home in Chicago became a national Historic Landmark on May 30, 1974.
In 2020, Wells received a Pulitzer Prize for her outstanding work reporting the brutal violence that African Americans experienced during that time.