A wave of labor actions swept through Illinois public universities this month, with faculty at Chicago State, Eastern Illinois and Governors State universities on strike at various times throughout April.

The West Side nonprofit offers workforce development and mental health and substance abuse services, among other supports. Leadership said their recidivism rates are a fraction of the state average.

Tracie Hall, the first Black woman to lead the Chicago-based American Library Association, has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023.

Public libraries can be a safe haven for those struggling with homelessness. That’s the story of a local barber who benefited from the library’s resources to turn his life around. From living in the streets to becoming a licensed barber, Samuel Brown is now on a mission to pay it forward.

The Black unemployment rate hits a new low. What the diversity of working journalists means for news coverage. And the Chicago Public Library partnering with a local barber.

A recent Pew Research Center study found that just 6% of reporting journalists were Black in a sample of nearly 12,000 journalists.

The Black unemployment rate hit a record low of 5% last month, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news comes three years after the rate spiked to nearly 17% during the early months of the pandemic.

The city elects its third Black mayor in history. Double standards in women’s basketball. “A Soldier’s Play” takes the stage. And the last word from a woman who sleeps outside to prove her friendship.

Louisiana State University women’s college basketball star Angel Reese has been in the center of conversations about double standards Black women face in sports, in light of the final moments of LSU’s national championship game against the University of Iowa.

Activist Aleta Clark has hosted “sleep outs” under a Pilsen viaduct to raise funds to support Chicago's homeless communities and open a shelter.

Norm Lewis stars as Capt. Richard Davenport in “A Soldier’s Play” at the CIBC Theatre through April 16. The show depicts a Black soldier’s experience during WWII.

Engaging the city’s youngest voters ahead of the mayoral election. Cash payments for Evanston’s reparations program. A local author traces her lineage back to Benjamin Banneker. And Glencoe's once-thriving Black community.

According to the Chicago Board of Elections, only 3% of voters ages 18 to 24 voted in the Feb. 28 Chicago municipal election.

A new exhibit from the Glencoe Historical Society explores the town’s beginnings as an unusually integrated community and takes a stark look at how the Black members of that community were pushed out.

Americans are discovering family secrets every day thanks to DNA testing and online genealogy. But not everyone learns they have a luminary of Black American history as an ancestor.

The initial program issued payments of $25,000 for housing benefits like mortgage assistance or renovations. Black residents who lived in Evanston during a 50-year period of discriminatory zoning laws and their direct descendants receive priority for eligibility.