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

Column: What the Culture of Silence Around Abuse in the Latino Community Taught Me and Why I’m Speaking Out

Labor leader Dolores Huera appears on the Feb. 25, 2023, episode of "Latino Voices." (WTTW News) Women are often not believed, and in many cases, they are blamed. As a survivor of sexual assault, we need to change the culture of silence around sexual abuse. Read more >

Latino Voices

How Latina Leaders Are Responding to Cesar Chavez Sexual Abuse Accusations

Cesar Chavez, a farm worker, labor organizer and leader of the California grape strike, is seen in a California works office in 1965. (AP Photo, George Brich, File) A recent New York Times investigation found that Cesar Chavez sexually abused both young girls who worked in his movement and union co-founder Dolores Huerta. Read more >

Latino Voices

Chicago Nonprofit Investing in Latino Arts Amid Funding Cuts, Shrinking Philanthropic Support

CLATA awarded a $10,000 grant to Visión Latino Theatre Company to stage “Las Borinqueñas,” a play set in Puerto Rico. (Medill School of Journalism) According to a 2025 report by the University of Illinois Chicago Great Cities Institute, Latinos make up about 30% of the city and the majority of CPS students, yet only around 6% of philanthropic arts funding is directed toward Latino arts. Read more >

Latino Voices

Super Bowl Halftime Performers on Making History With Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo / Julio Cortez) Latin American culture was on full display on Super Bowl Sunday with Bad Bunny’s historic halftime show. Among the 700 performers on the field were Lyrik Cruz and Giancarlo Guerrero, two Latino artists with Chicago connections. Read more >

Black Voices

New Documentary Offers Fresh Look at Civil Rights Icon W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois seated at desk in office at Atlanta University, 1909. (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries) Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer Rita Coburn is offering a fresh way to look back on the legacy of civil rights pioneer and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. Read more >

Black Voices

New Book Examines the Tulsa Race Massacre and Legal Battle Over Reparations

(Courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, the University of Tulsa) It’s been nearly 105 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre claimed the lives of hundreds of Black Tulsans. Over the course of two days in 1921, a mob of White people terrorized and burned down a thriving Black community known colloquially as Black Wall Street. Read more >

Black Voices

Jahmal Cole on His Plan to Live in All 77 Chicago Community Areas: ‘I Want to Build Real Connections’

Jahmal Cole appears on “Chicago Tonight” on April 20, 2026. (WTTW News) Not many Chicagoans can say they’ve lived in each of the city’s 77 community areas. But Jahmal Cole, CEO and founder of the nonprofit My Block, My Hood, My City, is looking to do just that. Read more >

Black Voices

Steppenwolf’s ‘Windfall’ Explores a Father’s Grief and the Value of a Life

(left to right) Michael Potts, Esco Jouléy and ensemble member Glenn Davis in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s world premiere of “Windfall.” (Michael Brosilow) A son lost in a clash with the police. A huge cash settlement on the table. And a father torn between staying put in Chicago or starting anew. That all-too-real dilemma is what underpins the play “Windfall,” a new work written by Oscar-winning Steppenwolf ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney. 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

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

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 >