A sweeping criminal justice bill becomes law in Illinois. The history of social reformer Ada S. McKinley. Black Voices Book Club checks out “BeBop Fairy Tales.” Plus, a throwback with Sammy Davis Jr.
Black Voices
Feb 28, 2021 |
A Chicago-based community organization established more than 100 years ago serves more than 7,000 people annually, but the story of its founder has largely been erased.
Feb 28, 2021 |
Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed a criminal justice bill Monday that is massive both in its size – 764 pages – and scope. We discuss the the coming changes and what concerns the bill raises for opponents.
Feb 28, 2021 |
Jazz is the foundation of Mark Ruffin’s entire career as a music historian, journalist and broadcaster. In this week’s Black Voices Book Club selection, the principles of jazz composition also inspired his fictional takes on topics of race and intolerance.
Feb 28, 2021 |
In this recently rediscovered interview, the Grammy Award-winning actor talks with “Our People” host Jim Tilmon about how media representations affect popular perceptions.
Feb 21, 2021 |
Black women’s hair, particularly in the workplace, has been the subject of endless discussion in recent years. In this rediscovered 1968 interview from the WTTW show “Our People,” actor Diahann Carroll tells a story that demonstrates it’s not exactly a new issue.
Feb 21, 2021 |
The author of a scathing report from the city’s Office of Inspector General says the senior leadership of the Chicago Police Department failed both their front-line officers and the public during the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
A scathing report on how the Chicago Police Department responded to 2020 protests. Author and professor Eddie Glaude joins us for this week’s Black Voices Book Club. And sisters in the name of gospel.
Feb 21, 2021 |
Princeton University professor Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. talks about his hopes for the nation — and those of writer James Baldwin — in this week’s Black Voices Book Club selection.
Feb 16, 2021 |
A group of young women are changing the narrative of gospel music — and who it’s for. We meet a band of sisters who are on a mission.
Remembering the torture inflicted on dozens of Black men under former Police Cmdr. Jon Burge. Black Voices Book Club explores “White Fright.” A museum honors the “father of modern Chicago blues.”
Feb 14, 2021 |
A new archive detailing the experiences of police torture survivors went online this month. We hear from two people who are helping those survivors heal.
Feb 14, 2021 |
In this rediscovered interview from the WTTW series “Our People,” host Jim Tilmon gets the Chicago comedian to tell one of his signature stories.
Feb 14, 2021 |
“White Fright: The Sexual Panic at the Heart of America’s Racist History” re-examines the Reconstruction era through the 1960s and offers a new perspective on America’s history of white supremacy. Author Jane Dailey joins us as part of our Black Voices Book Club series.
Feb 7, 2021 |
With Black history month underway, we take a closer look at how and what we teach our children about Black history with state Rep. La Shawn Ford, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher, and Maureen Tatsuko Loughnane, executive director of the nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves.
How Black history is being taught in schools. Life after prison in this week’s Black Voices Book Club pick. A look back at WTTW’s “Our People” with Jim Tilmon, and teaching young men to be gentlemen.
