Madigan resigns, DePaul petitions and half a million COVID-19 deaths
And resources to help Texans in the wake of last week's cold
Welcome, welcome, welcome everyone! It’s your newsletter team – Francesca, Justin, Grace, Robin, Cam and Emmanuel – back for another week of news, recommendations and, if you’re in Chicago, slightly warmer weather!
Before we get into the news, if you have any questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, feel free to drop us a line, either by emailing 14east.magazine@gmail.com or using this Google form. Also check out our first Vaccine Guide, which answers Chicagoans’ frequently asked questions about how, where, why and when to get the vaccine.
DePaul Journalism Alumni Launch New Podcast Series “Change Agents”
Juneteenth Productions, founded by DePaul journalism professor Judith McCray and Maurice Bisaillon, seeks to set the record straight on Chicago’s neighborhoods that are often both undercovered and misrepresented in media. In their latest series, producers with Juneteenth Productions created Change Agents, a podcast series that covers different community areas on Chicago’s South and West sides.
For her episode, DePaul journalism alum and a producer of Change Agents Natalie Wade focused on the South Side neighborhood of Englewood. She spoke with community stakeholders from the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE) and the Englewood Arts Collective and other members from the community.
Something that’s already markedly different about the way in which Wade and her colleagues reported on these neighborhoods is that they spent a large portion of three months in each of the respective communities. Wade got to know the community and listen, really listen, to the people who love it and call it home.
For Wade, a native of Rogers Park, a neighborhood on Chicago’s far North Side, she wasn’t just used to hearing negative portrayals of Englewood in the media, but from people she knew.
“I had just heard the negative things people said about it and it wasn't even just the news. Going to magnet schools, there were kids from all over the city and if someone did mention that they were from Englewood, you could tell certain people kind of looked down on that,” she said. “It [reporting] did really open my eyes because even though I had a hunch, I had never really seen it for myself, I'd never experienced that community, and it was beautiful.”
You can learn more about the podcast and listen to the whole series at the “Change Agents” website.
Chicago Headlines
A report by the Office of the Inspector General found that the Chicago Police Department was “under prepared and ill equipped” to handle the civil unrest last summer following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. More from Block Club Chicago’s Kelly Bauer.
Last week, United Working Families reported that $281.5 million of Chicago’s federal CARES Act funding went to the Chicago Police Department – activists and community groups in the city have met this news with criticism of the mayor’s office, from the Chicago Tribune’s John Byrne.
Today, Governor J.B Pritzker signed a “sweeping” criminal reform bill that eliminates cash bail and requires officers to wear body cameras, among other reforms. WTTW’s Matt Masterson has the story.
Longstanding Illinois state representative Mike Madigan officially resigned as the head of the Democratic Party of Illinois, one day after telling reporters he had “no idea” when he would do so – from Chicago Sun-Times reporter (and DePaul alum!) Rachel Hinton.
DePaul News
A petition for DePaul to pay for the graduation regalia for the Class of 2021 has gotten over 800 signatures, but university administration has asserted that they don’t plan to open their wallets, per a statement given to The DePaulia. The petition was begun by Rachel Rudolph, who became disgruntled that packages for graduation robes and caps would cost students upwards of $66.98, depending on the package they select. Rudolph claims the expectation that students pay for their own cap and gown at such prices is insensitive due to the financial hardships faced by students over the past year, in addition to DePaul’s refusal to lower tuition, despite most of the university shifting to online classes.
Cap and gown purchases are not mandatory for graduating students, however. The packages are being made available to students desiring some semblance of a traditional graduation, as DePaul recently announced that commencement would once again be online this year, though there will be a few outdoor celebratory events held in person. Rudolph, in an interview with The DePaulia, said that a move to fund caps and gowns to students “would be a good starting point to make up for just this whole past year.”
At the University of Chicago, Dean of the College John Boyer announced that the university would cover the entire cost of graduation regalia for its student body. Unlike DePaul, UChicago is planning a series of in-person graduation ceremonies, open to only graduating students, faculty and staff, dependent on health advisory warnings. Families are being asked to stay at home during this scaled-back version of the school’s traditional convocation.
At DePaul, though paid-for regalia is off the table for now, kits will be mailed out to students with graduation items. Graduating students should log into their CampusConnect account and follow these steps to verify their diploma mailing address.
How much money did DemonTHON raise this year? Enough to earn the university its own living room at Lurie Children’s Hospital. DemonTHON is DePaul’s annual 24-hour dance party held as a charity event for the hospital. This year, it raised over a million dollars. DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban joined Lurie Children’s Hospital administrators in a virtual unveiling ceremony for the living room, which commemorates the university’s contributions through a plaque outside the space.
DePaul’s winter enrollment is down 3.1 percent compared to this time last year. This decline comes after a surprisingly strong Fall Quarter enrollment. Across the country, postsecondary enrollment is down 3.3 percent, putting DePaul just ahead of the national average. Transfer student enrollment at DePaul is down as well, having fallen 20.2 percent. But not all numbers are below average. Forty new freshmen joined DePaul’s ranks at the start of Winter Quarter, setting a new record.
For the 2021 Bateman Case Study Competition, a national student public relations competition, four DePaul PRAD students are hosting a two-part seminar on the topic of civility and anti-racism in public discourse, which was the theme set forth by PRSSA for the Bateman Competition last fall.
Dana Pangori, a senior studying public relations and advertising, acknowledged that the term “incivility” is often used to silence people of color, and especially women of color, when speaking out on social issues. Pangori and her team’s approach to the competition was not to advocate for civility as a return to “politeness,” and, in fact, seek to challenge notions about what “civility” actually is.
“We want to redefine it as something that’s not nice, polite and respectful but is about speaking up about things and not quieting down,” Pangori said. “We’re also questioning, when people say ‘civility’ – who is in charge? What makes a person civilized? Who determines what civility is? We’re recognizing that power is deeply intertwined with what civility is and the ideas of it, because it’s rooted in maintaining racial, class and gender inequality.”
The first of the two sessions took place today at 5:30 p.m. and was more of an “informational” sessions to establish similar ideas and languages about civility through those described by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in his book How to Be an Antiracist. The two-day seminar is in collaboration with DePaul’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, and today’s session was facilitated by DePaul Director of Diversity Operations José Perales. The next session – March 1 at 5:30 p.m. – will be more of a discussion between facilitators and participants. You can check out their Instagram, Facebook and website for more information.
National Headlines
As of today, 500,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States, according to The New York Times. No other countries have this many deaths from the virus. To put this in perspective, more people died from the pandemic than on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.
Suspected hypothermia claimed the lives of about 70 people in Texas during the cold snap, according to The Associated Press. People who died lost their heat in their homes and may have had a lower level of consciousness, which is one sign of hypothermia. The most vulnerable were babies, children and older people who have lower circulation and temperature regulation.
Merrick Garland has plans to fight discrimination and domestic terrorism as the Attorney General, according to The Washington Post. Garland has public support for his nomination from over 150 former Justice Department officials and 61 former federal judges. Garland has experience handling domestic terrorism with his work on the Oklahoma City bombing case as a supervisor of the prosecution. Garland’s confirmation hearing was on Monday.
USA Today reports that research experts suggest that now is the time to invest in developing coronavirus vaccines so we can prevent the next one. While experts like Wayne Koff, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Human Vaccines Project, don’t know when another pandemic will come, he says that there will be one eventually.
Recommendations
When I saw the trailer for Sorry to Bother You, I couldn’t forget the music. When I rewatched the trailer, I noticed the subtle dark humor that I enjoy when dealing with heavy issues in movies. The dialogue from the trailer between the actors Terry Crews and Keith Stanfield earned a laugh from me and when I finally got to watch the movie, the script was more than capable of using the topics of capitalism and code-switching with levity. Director and screenwriter Boots Riley wrote this film about capitalism and companies –– exemplified by a pharmaceutical company in the movie –– to spotlight the various ways that companies are countering unionization and protests. Sorry to Bother You requires multiple viewing because the first view is a surface-level viewing, and as I watch the film, despising Armie Hammer as the antagonist more on each viewing, I became interested in the message that people of color face two options in labor –– making a profit or unionization. | Emmanuel Flores
Resources
Although power is returning to homes across the state of Texas, people are still in need of support from the fallout of the winter storm. Here’s a few groups you can donate to and support efforts on the ground:
Austin Mutual Aid: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kick-the-cold-austin-mutal-aid
Feed the People Dallas: https://feedthepeopledallas.com/
Trinity Mutual Aid: https://www.instagram.com/trinitymutualaid/
LUCHA Dallas: https://www.instagram.com/luchadallas/
Feeding Texas: https://www.feedingtexas.org/
More listed here: https://nymag.com/strategist/article/where-to-donate-to-help-texas-winter-storm-crisis.htm
COVID-19 Testing
All of these testing sites can be accessed for free and without insurance.
Howard Brown offers free, walk-in COVID-19 testing at multiple locations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, in addition to mobile testing sites that are updated weekly, which you can access here.
The Illinois Department of Health and the City of Chicago have opened more free COVID-19 testing sites in the city and surrounding counties, which are listed with more information here.
In the spring, the City of Chicago partnered with CORE response to set up free drive-thru and walk-in testing sites in the city, primarily on the South and West sides, with appointments available Monday through Friday. Register here.
The city has also updated its COVID-19 testing program with more mobile sites, which change weekly. More info here.
Mental Health Resources
At Open Counseling, there’s a list of people and nonprofits with counseling services available for free or low cost.
This website compiles mental health resources, including therapist/counselor directories and other online resources.
The Center on Halsted offers behavioral health, anti-violence and educational resources for LGBTQIA+ people.
Howard Brown Health offers anti-racism resources and sliding scale counseling specializing in the LGBTQ+ community.
This document is a resource for Black people experiencing racial trauma. This master list includes specific resources as well as protesting tips and donation links.
This link is a directory of Black therapists in Chicago.
This link is a directory of Black therapists in Chicago who provide services for under $75.
Here’s 7 virtual mental health resources supporting Black people right now, including Chicago-based community organization Sista Afya’s support groups
And the Trans Lifeline’s Peer Support Hotline is a resource operated by transgender and nonbinary staffers for the trans community: 877-565-8860.
The Center for Religion and Psychotherapy in Chicago is a nonprofit that provides affordable, sliding-scale counseling. Call (312) 263-4368 extension 9081 to schedule an intake appointment (counseling is not religious-centered).
That’s all from us this week, folks – check back to our site and socials on Friday for the unveiling of our Radio Issue and more.
Francesca, Justin, Grace, Robin, Cam and Emmanuel