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

‘Other Washingtons’ Art Installation Aims to Reimagine Who We Choose to Remember

Amanda Williams' new art installation around the George Washington statue in Washington Park features artists, inventors, educators and leaders. (WTTW News) “Other Washingtons” is an art intervention located around the George Washington statue at 51st Street and Martin Luther King Drive that features artists, inventors, educators and other inspirational leaders, all with the last name Washington. Read more >

Black Voices

Take a Look Inside the 1903 Frank Lloyd Wright House a Chicago Nonprofit Is Working to Restore

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Walser House, a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2025. (Eric Allix Rogers) In the Austin community on Chicago’s West Side sits the J.J. Walser House, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1903. A local organization is working to preserve the landmark and transform it into a community asset for generations to come. Read more >

Latino Voices

Muralist Asend Blends Latinidad, Baseball Love in Portrait of White Sox’s Jose Abreu

In a mural by Chicago artist Asend, a larger-than-life Jose Abreu swings his mighty bat under the Cienfuegos streetlights of his childhood. (WTTW News) In a mural by Chicago artist Asend, a larger-than-life Jose Abreu swings his mighty bat under the Cienfuegos streetlights of his childhood. Asend’s dreamlike rendering is one of three murals commissioned by the White Sox as part of their Game Changers series.  Read more >

Latino Voices

Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices, October 9, 2021 - Full Show

WBEZ’s Michael Puente guest hosts the 50th episode of “Latino Voices.” (WTTW News) DACA recipients experiencing renewal delays. Plus, the local impact of National Coming Out Day. And a new mural celebrating Latinos in baseball. On “Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices’” 50th show. Read more >

Latino Voices

Workers, Labor Organizations Speak Out Against El Milagro Tortilla Plant at Rally

Workers, community members, and labor organization Arise Chicago rally at the 26th Street headquarters, Sept. 30, 2021. (WTTW News). Worker walkouts amid calls for improved conditions continue at the El Milagro tortilla plant in Little Village. We get an update on the situation from Jorge Mújica, a strategic organizer for the community labor advocate organization Arise Chicago. Read more >

Latino Voices

Latina-Led Program Helps Survivors of Abuse Take Control of Their Finances

A Chicago organization, Mujeres Latinas En Accion, is launching a new program aimed at providing survivors of domestic abuse the financial literacy tools they may need to achieve economic stability. (WTTW News) The Chicago organization Mujeres Latinas En Accion is launching a new program aimed at providing survivors of domestic abuse the financial literacy tools they may need to achieve economic stability. We speak with Lupe Ceniceros about the initiative. Read more >

Black Voices

Entrepreneurs Think Outside the Box by Setting Up Shop in Shipping Containers

Boxville at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue in Chicago. (WTTW News) Most shipping containers are packed with consumer goods, but the brightly painted shipping containers in Boxville at the corner of 51st Street and Calumet Avenue are packed full of small businesses with big ambitions. Read more >

Black Voices

Fred Hampton Jr. Seeks Landmark Designation for Hampton House

Hampton House, the childhood home of former Black Panther Party activist Fred Hampton in Maywood. (WTTW News) Slain activist Fred Hampton would have turned 73 years old last month, and though he was killed more than 50 years ago, his memory and legacy still loom large. Now Hampton’s son is seeking a landmark designation for the only surviving building with ties to Hampton’s activism. Read more >

Black Voices

Do Police Officers in CPS High Schools Make Students Safer?

Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School in Chicago. (WTTW News) Whether to keep cops in schools has been a controversial subject for years. With Chicago Public Schools back in session, we hear how some high schools made the choice to remove or maintain the police presence in their hallways. Read more >

Black Voices

CPS Parents Hope for the Best as Students Return to Classrooms

(WTTW News) It’s been more than a year since Chicago Public Schools students have sat inside their classrooms full time. Now, with mask mandates, vaccine requirements for staff and other COVID-19 safety protocols in place, CPS children are about to embark on a year unlike any other. 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

Harris, Trump Campaigns Pushing to Secure Black Male Voters in Presidential Election

Pew Research projects more than 34.4 million Black Americans will be eligible to vote this November. Black men are emerging as a potentially key voting bloc in this year’s presidential race. 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

Take a Look Inside the 1903 Frank Lloyd Wright House a Chicago Nonprofit Is Working to Restore

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Walser House, a Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2025. (Eric Allix Rogers) In the Austin community on Chicago’s West Side sits the J.J. Walser House, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1903. A local organization is working to preserve the landmark and transform it into a community asset for generations to come. Read more >

 

Black Voices

Free Boxing Club Empowers West Side Youth: ‘They Feel the Confidence’

(WTTW News) Roy Flowers started his boxing club in 2021 in the hopes of creating healthy, supportive spaces for the youth in his community. “I just wanted to be the mentor that I wish I had.” 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 >