Latino Voices

Latino Voices

Grassroots Effort Grows Into Queer-Led Community Hub in Gage Park

Antonio Santos and Katia Martinez founded the Gage Park Latinx Council. (WTTW News) In a neighborhood where nearly 90% of residents identify as Latino and many families are rooted in Catholic traditions, the queer-led Gage Park Latinx Council has grown into a hub for families. Read more >

Latino Voices

New Short Film Showcases Life, Work of Puerto Rican Activist

The case and crew of the short film “Mataron A Pedro” at a screening in Chicago. (Carmona Rivera / National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture) Members of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community recently took park in a special screening of a new short film based on the life of Pedro Albizu Campos.  Read more >

Black Voices

Black Voices

Curating Sounds and Tastes: Meet 2 Chicagoans Working to Make the Obama Presidential Center a Success

Visitors enjoy lunch in Tafari’s Kitchen at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago on May 12, 2026. (The Obama Foundation) There are a host of locals who acted as the behind-the-scenes cast to prepare the Obama Presidential Center for its opening ceremony. Read more >

Black Voices

From a Replica Oval Office to Michelle Obama’s Dresses, What’s Inside the Obama Presidential Center

Visitors experience the “Yes We Can” installation at the Obama Presidential Center Museum on March 1, 2026. (The Obama Foundation) WTTW News visited the Obama Presidential Center for a firsthand look at the exhibits, installations and everything in between. Read more >

Latino Voices

MCA Chicago Speaks Spanish to Art Lovers

(WTTW News) The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has launched its first major bilingual exhibit. The museum plans to present everything, from its website to wayfinding signs, in both Spanish and English by 2024. Read more >

Latino Voices

Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices, Jan. 28, 2023 - Full Show

(WTTW News) Keeping kids heathy amid high obesity rates. The state's outgoing schools superintendent on lessons learned from the pandemic. And a Waukegan gym hoping to uplift women. Read more >

Latino Voices

Addressing Childhood Obesity in the Latino Community

(WTTW News) Latino CPS students are more likely to be overweight or obese than other demographics, data shows. Latino CPS kindergartners in 2020 had an average overweight or obesity rate of nearly 39%; by ninth grade, the average rate climbed to almost 49%. Read more >

Latino Voices

Proposed Ordinance Offers Course Correction for False Claims Against Gig Workers

(Petr Kratochvil / Public Domain Pictures) Activists said "bad actors" lie about rideshare and delivery drivers to avoid paying. The Chicago ordinance would allow app drivers accused of misconduct to share their story and recoup income if they were found to be unfairly deactivated. Read more >

Black Voices

‘You Didn’t See Nothin’ Podcast Revisits 1997 Bridgeport Hate Crime

(WTTW News) In 1997, 13-year-old Lenard Clark was beaten into a coma simply for being Black in a White neighborhood. Chicago leaders began calling for racial reconciliation — a rapid turn that stuck with Yohance Lacour, then a fledgling journalist. Read more >

Black Voices

City Colleges of Chicago Announces Timuel D. Black Jr. Scholarship and Fellowship

(WTTW News) The program honors the life and work of Timuel D. Black Jr., the late City Colleges professor, activist and historian. The goal is to help 20 City Colleges students develop into community leaders in the mold of Black, who died in 2021 at the age of 102. Read more >

Black Voices

Mission Possible: Makerspace Nation Offers Competition for $30,000 School Makerspace in Chicago

(WTTW News) A new competition for STEAM educators (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) could net a Chicago school a $30,000 makerspace full of equipment to encourage problem-solving thinking. The deadline to apply is March 10. Read more >

Black Voices

Childbirth is Deadlier for Black Families at Any Income, Study Finds

(Pexels / Kei Scampa) A nearly decade-long study from the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at births in California. The study found that babies born to the richest Black women were still more likely to die than babies born to the poorest White women. Read more >

Join WTTW News every weekend for analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts and life, entrepreneurship and innovation, and equity and justice across the sectors of our society and in the Black and Latino communities in Chicago. Make the VOICES series your definitive source for real conversation and a platform for different voices and perspectives.

Latino Voices

Black Voices

Latino Voices

Grassroots Effort Grows Into Queer-Led Community Hub in Gage Park

Antonio Santos and Katia Martinez founded the Gage Park Latinx Council. (WTTW News) In a neighborhood where nearly 90% of residents identify as Latino and many families are rooted in Catholic traditions, the queer-led Gage Park Latinx Council has grown into a hub for families. Read more >

Black Voices

Ida B. Wells Among 20 Groundbreaking Women Honored on US Quarters

A photograph of Ida B. Wells. Women’s suffragist, investigative journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells is now immortalized as part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. Read more >

Latino Voices

New Short Film Showcases Life, Work of Puerto Rican Activist

The case and crew of the short film “Mataron A Pedro” at a screening in Chicago. (Carmona Rivera / National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture) Members of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community recently took park in a special screening of a new short film based on the life of Pedro Albizu Campos.  Read more >

Black Voices

From a Replica Oval Office to Michelle Obama’s Dresses, What’s Inside the Obama Presidential Center

Visitors experience the “Yes We Can” installation at the Obama Presidential Center Museum on March 1, 2026. (The Obama Foundation) WTTW News visited the Obama Presidential Center for a firsthand look at the exhibits, installations and everything in between. Read more >

 

Black Voices

South Side Residents Voice Gentrification Concerns Ahead of Obama Presidential Center Opening

The Women’s Garden at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (The Obama Foundation) Despite years of organizing and city ordinances being put in place, rising housing costs and investor activity continue to threaten gentrification in neighborhoods surrounding the Obama Presidential Center. Read more >

Latino Voices

‘Like Lightning Struck’: Community Marks 60 Years Since the First Division Street Riot, Puerto Rican Rebellion

(Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum) While events for the community are planned for the entire weekend to celebrate Puerto Rican pride and culture, this year also honors the history of Chicago’s Boricua community — marking the 60-year anniversary of the first Division Street riot. Read more >