Latino Voices

Latino Voices

Spanish Is Fading Across Generations. These Latino Parents Are Working to Keep It Alive

(WTTW News) Nationally, the share of Latinos who speak Spanish at home declined from 78% in 2000 to 68% in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. The decline has been particularly pronounced among U.S.-born Latinos, as English becomes increasingly dominant across generations. Read more >

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

Black Voices

Smithsonian Head Lonnie Bunch on Preserving History, Retirement and Trump Administration Threats

FILE - Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch speaks at an event, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo / Allison Robbert, File) Lonnie Bunch was named secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 2019. He began his career at the Smithsonian at the National Air and Space Museum in 1978 and took on a new role in 2005 to lead the development of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Read more >

Black Voices

Chicago State University Gears Up for First-Ever Football Game

The Chicago State University football team at practice. (WTTW News) For Chicago State University, the first game will be about more than football. The university is hoping the new program can help build a new sports identity on Chicago’s South Side. Read more >

Latino Voices

‘An Electrical Outrage,’ Thousands in Puerto Rico Left in the Dark

(WTTW via CNN) Thousands of Puerto Ricans are taking to the streets to protest massive blackouts. The island’s antiquated power grid has long been unreliable, and it was decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. This summer, officials hoped the privatization of the power grid by LUMA Energy would help. Read more >

Latino Voices

Logan Square Resale Shops Offer Style, Sustainability, and Savings

The offerings in Vintage Frills are sorted by color and era, from the ‘60s to the 2000s. (WTTW News) Shopping second hand is growing in popularity as an affordable and eco-friendly way for young fashionistas to carve out a style niche for themselves. Two shops in Logan Square are hoping they can capitalize on that trend by adding a touch of luxury. Read more >

Latino Voices

Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices, October 16, 2021 - Full Show

CBS 2 Chicago’s Marissa Parra guest hosts the 51st episode of “Latino Voices.” (WTTW News) Reaction to a viral video of students kneeling to a Spanish song at a school dance. Plus, addressing lagging vaccination rates among Latinos. And efforts to get more women involved in conservancy.  Read more >

Latino Voices

Latinos Lag in Vaccination as FDA Panel Recommends Moderna, J&J Boosters for At-Risk Adults

In Latino communities, rates of initial vaccination are still lagging with just 52% of Latinos in Chicago having completed their vaccine series according to the city’s public data portal. (WTTW News) An advisory panel with the Food and Drug Administration is recommending that the agency authorize COVID-19 booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. However, in Latino communities, rates of initial vaccination are still lagging. Read more >

Black Voices

Doctors on Closing the Breast Cancer Mortality Gap for Black Women

a breast cancer screening is conducted at Jackson Park Hospital. (Courtesy Jackson Park Hospital) For women in the U.S., breast cancer is devastatingly common, with one in eight expected to develop the disease over the course of their lifetimes. And for Black women in the U.S., what comes after the diagnosis is especially worrying. Read more >

Black Voices

Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, September 25, 2021 - Full Show

Brandis Friedman hosts the 48th episode of “Black Voices.” (WTTW News) A Black Voices/Latino Voices crossover with Chicago journalists on the mayor’s budget proposal. How the state’s new energy bill strives for racial equity. And remembering Melvin Van Peebles. Read more >

Black Voices

Illinois’ Energy Bill a Power Surge for Equity Efforts

Illinois’ gigantic new energy law will change the source of the state’s power into the future. (Nuno Marques / Unsplash) The state’s gigantic new energy law will change the source of Illinois’ power. The package aims to move Illinois to carbon-free energy by 2045, but it also serves to tip the scales in terms of who makes up the transforming energy industry. Read more >

Black Voices

Black Voices Crossover: Reporter Roundtable on Mayor’s Budget Proposal

Brandis Friedman hosts a Black Voices/Latino Voices crossover with Chicago journalists on the mayor’s budget proposal. (WTTW News) Mayor Lori Lightfoot has unveiled her budget plan for 2022, a plan that one alderman called a “Christmas list” of progressive spending items. Joining us now to break it all down are four Chicago reporters. 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

Spanish Is Fading Across Generations. These Latino Parents Are Working to Keep It Alive

(WTTW News) Nationally, the share of Latinos who speak Spanish at home declined from 78% in 2000 to 68% in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. The decline has been particularly pronounced among U.S.-born Latinos, as English becomes increasingly dominant across generations. Read more >

Black Voices

Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, Sept. 4, 2024 - Full Show

The impact of Stateville’s closure on workers and those incarcerated. How some men in prison are hoping to change the way they can be released. And highlighting the history of Negro League baseball. Read more >

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

Chicago State University Gears Up for First-Ever Football Game

The Chicago State University football team at practice. (WTTW News) For Chicago State University, the first game will be about more than football. The university is hoping the new program can help build a new sports identity on Chicago’s South Side. Read more >

 

Black Voices

Storm Recovery Continues in Gary, as Thousands Still Without Power

The city of Gary, Ind., is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News) Tuesday will mark two weeks since a derecho swept through Illinois and northwest Indiana, with winds damaging homes, uprooting trees and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands. 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 >