Peter Santenello: South Side Chicago

 

[VIDEO] If you are on social media you might be familiar with Shermann Dilla Thomas aka @6figga_dilla whom you may find on X/Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. He takes YouTuber Peter Santenenello @petersantenello on YouTube on a tour of the South Side. Through the Bud Billiken Parade describing the history of the Bronzeville neighborhood into Auburn Gresham into Grand Crossing into Woodlawn and then Hyde Park/Kenwood.

He even looks at the Chicago home of Emmet Till and goes by President Obama's Chicago home in Kenwood. I like how he discusses sociology how homes are appraised. The idea that if a home is owned by an indentifiable Black owner that might get appraised less than a home owned by a white owner. Or how empty lots might help to lower the value of a home. Even the ethnic change of neighborhoods.

If you have some time to watch this one hour plus video, it's worth your time.

Peter Santenello: America's most CORRUPT city

 

[VIDEO] For those of you who read this blog and are Chicago politics junkies this video by YouTuber Peter Santenello who speaks with Chicago first amendment attorney Benjamin Barr talks about all the scandals and issues that face Chicago. The main issue are pensions and where's the money going.

Remember that deal with the Chicago Skyway, the parking meters, remember 20 years ago when Mayor Richard M. Daley closed Meigs Field to turn it into a park, etc? 

Also how is gov't structured in our city? Did you know Chicago officially doesn't have a city charter? What exactly is the idea of Aldermanic (or Alderpersonic, yuck) privilege?

Terms for Chicago Teachers to return to the classroom

 If you were concerned about the negotiations between the city and the teacher's union as far as opening public schools back up, here's a post about it from Rich Miller. Gives you a basic idea of what these negotiations are about.

Question of the day https://t.co/Cl8WgNGWB9

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 8, 2021

Mayor Lightfoot addresses Chicago and extends CPS closure #COVID19

[VIDEO] Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses Chicagoans on Thursday with regards to the coronavirus outbreak. She announced here that CPS schools will remain closed until April 20, 2020 in order to help slow the spread of the virus.

If you want to read a statement by CPS click here. Since Gov. Pritzker ordered all the state's schools closed last week CPS schools have become food distribution facilities for families with school age children. With that statement that policy will continue during the extension of the schools' closure during this very unprecedented period.

Mr. Beat compares St. Louis & Chicago

[VIDEO] Mr. Beat produced this video comparing Chicago with St. Louis, Missouri. The man who narrates this video is actually a middle school social studies teacher. It would've been cool to have these vids on hand back in the 7th grade (or perhaps earlier).

Geography was one of those subjects I familiarized myself with years ago. It helped that I began to familiarize myself with a Rand McNally Road Atlas. To see different places and their geological features has been fascinating. To see different cities and how people live their lives there has been fascinating.

It's fascinating to see the differences between two large cities (one considerably larger than the other) in the midwest and merely hours a part. BTW, I've never been to St. Louis though I can't want to show you one site that one must visit when going...

Next #Ward09 townhall meeting

Ward09.com

These used to be called community meetings and usually these meetings are with representatives of city agencies and departments.

This latest townhall meeting will take place on

Date: Tuesday,March 27, 2018
Time: 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Where: Pullman Presbyterian Church
             550 E. 103rd Street
            Chicago, IL 60628

And of course feel free to get into touch with Ald. Beale's office if you have any questions by phone at 773.785.1100

Artistmac on the politics of snow

[VIDEO] While I didn't want to post another artistmac video so soon after I already posted one on Monday, however, with the snow coming down at this moment this is appropriate. Not a blizzard at least, but this is heavy snow regardless.

Meanwhile, the last video by artistmac was really about complaining about a ridge or snow in his backyard. The video above tells us about the politics of snow about dibs, also the city shouldn't plow alleys or private property, and of course private property owners especially businesses should shovel the snow on their sidewalks.

Also artistmac is pretty saavy. Let's say you see a city plow for example plowing an alley if you have your fancy iPhone or android device or a Blackberry snap a photo or record video. You can send this to your alderman's office you can also send it to the local TV news stations. He does state we are in sweeps period.

For your weather needs check the WGN Weather page. And be careful when shoveling your snow!

BTW, just remember that we're almost a month away from spring. We're almost at the point where the cold weather and the snow becomes rain storms and warmer weather.

Hope Dealers documentary

Hope Dealer Trailer from Lawrence Trapp on Vimeo.

[VIDEO] I've written about this group from time to time and I got wind of a future documentary of which you see a preview here. This is what's posted to the video page:

Hope Dealers, a non-profit organization that aims to help areas through community service. The group was created by Corey Hardiman, a Morehouse graduate and native of Southside Chicago. Although looking to eventually expand, the group for the past three years has primarily performed service in Southside Chicago, Ill.

Now to find out when this documentary is coming and if it will be shown exclusively on the internet or shown at a movie house near you.

My Block My Hood My City explorers...

[VIDEO] On this blog we posted video from Jahmal Cole's trip to Altgeld Garden. This was something he recorded in the fall last year. Today he shows us another facet of his My Block My Hood My City.

He takes teens on explorations around the city. Cole likes to say you can travel the world in Chicago as there are many different cultures who live in this city. So he takes teens to Chinatown, Greektown, Pilsen and other destinations. Basically he seeks to take teens from their neighborhoods and have them see the rest of the world.

As an aside I did show a video where the red line ventures to once it leaves the south side starting from 95th Street. Beyond this part of town there is a much larger world.

Is this something you could support?

Out of hibernation...

[VIDEO] Well we finally have our warm temps here in Chicago and artistmac talks about that. The snow that fell on Super Bowl Sunday this year is finally melting. Hopefully the cold temps that kept our young people out of school for at least 4 days within the past two months are nothing more than a memory.

Even better daylight savings time has passed as of this Saturday and then in the next week or so the first day of spring. It seems we've had a miserable winter this year and the end is only around the corner!

9th ward mailers #Aldertrack

As we head into the final weekend of the 2015 municipal elections I would like to share with you two more mailers from Ald. Beale and opponent Ted Williams.
The first mailer is from Ald. Beale as he highlights his accomplishments which includes the recently announced Pullman National Park which has been considered political as President Obama presided over a recent ceremony at Brooks College Prep. Certainly this was a move to bolster the re-election of his former chief-of-staff Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Also there's a mailer by Ted Williams that shows not oonly his background but also what he's dedicated to if he were elected Alderman of the 9th Ward.

Anything said by either candidate that would sway your vote on Tuesday?

9th ward Alderman candidates forum

[VIDEO] I haven't been able to make a candidate's forum at all this year but at least CAN-TV provides footage for those around the city. You can join Aldertrack's e-mail list to see most of them.

All the same you can watch an hour of debate between candidate's Chicago's 9th ward from this past Saturday at Simeon High School. Was anything said by any candidate that could sway your vote?

Mailer in the race for 9th ward Alderman

Received this mailer for 9th ward Alderman Anthony Beale recently. It touts his accomplishments and his future goals for the ward. There are pictures of himself during a groundbreaking for an athletic center and the opening of a new store. He mentions new grocery stores, however, Harold "Noonie" Ward has been hitting him on that fact. Although Walmart does sell groceries even if it's not considered a grocery store.

If you have any mailers to scan and share with us feel free to e-mail, Facebook, or Tweet us.

Take the CTA Red Line from 95th to Howard street on YouTube

[VIDEO] Recently I discovered videos provided by CTA which provided real-time documentary footage of all routes of the L system. It's very interesting to see the trains on the various routes and the neighborhoods they roll through everyday during their daily services.

Also since we're in the middle of winter, it's nice to see Chicago during much warmer and sunnier weather as you will see here.

Anyway, since this is the "Shedd School" blog it was important to me to share this footage of the Red Line from 95th Street to Howard. During my time in elementary school often my weekends would consist of me following my mother downtown as she mostly went to the office to do some work. Even better these were the days when I could sit at the front of the train to watch the city roll by.

Of course as an aside the Red Line as we know it today didn't exist then as the train went up instead of into the subway near Cermak-Chinatown. You will see that when the train gets to that point where the train used to go upwards and at times they still do with reroutes.

This is a one-hour video as the train will move from the far south side to the far north side and will roll through the subway under State Street. And again it's really cool to see where the Red Line heads north from 95th Street. 

Even better when you get downtown, Fullerton, Belmont, and Howard you will have the opportunity to change/transfer trains and see where those other rail lines go after you reach those change/transfer points. So this is really cool and an adventure that worth taking, especially if you don't really leave the neighborhood.

BTW, for greater enjoyment you should put the video into theater mode or if you're on a PC full screen - those are the buttons you see in the play/time area. Also in that area is what looks like a gear set it to HD either 720 HD or 1080 HD. If you use a smartphone you can probably just turn your phone from vertical to horizontal and it will be on full screen.

Enjoy! And click here for a Red Line map to see which stops the train makes during this hour video.

Wards 9, 17, & 21 candidates forum Trinity Church

We may have known about this for a while now but tomorrow at Trinity United Church of Christ a candidates forum for wards 9, 17, and 21. This information was emailed to us today.

• 9th, 17th and 21st Ward Candidates Forum
  Trinity United Church of Christ
  400 W. 95th Street - Sanctuary
  Chicago, IL 60628
  
  Sunday, January 25, 2015
  2:30pm to 4:45pm

If anyone has any candidate events we should know about feel free to e-mail us, tweet @thesixthward, or post to our Sixth Ward FB page.

VIDEO: Aldertrack interview of candidate for 9th ward Alderman

[VIDEO] Today Aldertrack's Mike Fourcher conducts an interview with candidate Michael LaFargue. LaFargue is running for Alderman who hopes to replace the current Alderman Anthony Beale.

LaFargue notes that he's very active in the community having memberships in different organizations throughout the community. He's especially a member and President of the West Chesterfield Community Association. He also noted that he's involved with a Developing Communities Project committee for the CTA Red Line extension.

In addition to discussing his background he also discusses his plans as Alderman of the 9th Ward in addition to his plans for the rest of the city. The duration of this video is about 10 minutes.

BTW, I do hope to discuss a lot more of the red line extension as I have discussed this a lot in the past over at The Sixth Ward. I think the communities south of 95th could benefit when ever this rail line is finally built.

ALSO, you should check out Aldertrack and sign up for their e-mail list to get regular updates on news in the 2015 city elections. In addition to purchasing the racing form to keep track of who's running where in Chicago.

Would anything Mr. LaFargue has stated in this video persuade you to cast a ballot for him next month?