January 10-16, 2024

January 10 - 16, 2024 Vol. 32 No. 02

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4 Arts & Entertainment 6 SportsWise 7 Eatwise

Event highlights of the week!

The SportsWise team reviews college football in 2023.

StreetWise Vendor Robert Laine visits Sam's Chicken & Ribs in the Edgewater neighborhood.

8 Cover Story: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Author Jonathan Eig uses 3 new large bodies of research – including FBI tapes – to give a fuller picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his book "King: A Life."

12 Inside StreetWise

Vendor Derrick Livingston shares his story as he celebrates his new apartment!

15 The Playground

THIS PAGE: Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech during the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington, D.C. Unknown photographer. DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise.

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI

Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief

suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Amanda Jones, Director of programs

ajones@streetwise.org

Julie Youngquist, Executive director

jyoungquist@streetwise.org

Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Compiled by Dave Hamilton

Shaping Our Lives!

Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art The expansive award-winning exhibit “Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art” presents a diverse group of 17 international artists and collectives who reimagine the digital tools shaping our lives. Whether they identify as Black, Latinx, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, Indigenous, queer, or trans, each of them views technology through their own unique lived experiences and artistic perspectives. “Difference Machines” includes 20 projects – many interactive – spanning the last three decades, from software-based and internet art to animated videos, bioart experiments, digital games, and 3-D printed sculptures. The exhibition is organized by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Buffalo, New York, and is co-curated by Tina Rivers Ryan, PhD, curator of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, and Paul Vanouse, professor at the University at Buffalo. On display until January 27 at Wrightwood 659, 659 W. Wrightwood Ave. Tickets are $15 in advance only at tickets.wrightwood659.org/events Continuing the conversation around “Difference Machines” will be two artist-led public programs at Wrightwood 659: “The Paradox of Virtual Visibility” on Friday, Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m. and “My Life as an Avatar: Artist Talk with Skawennati” on Friday, Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Other programs on display as well are “Tadao Ando: Spontaneous Sketches” and “Daniel Goldstein: The Marks We Leave Behind.”

A Wrecking Bouquet!

Curious Theatre Branch’s ‘Hit Me Like a Flower’ It’s 2003: Bush's Iraq War is in full swing and in the small East Coast town of Little Chicken Mountain, it's been raining hard for weeks, a bear is on the attack, and Jackie's therapy office is in full swing, William has had a stroke and even the skateboarding activists are looking for love. Curious Theatre Branch, currently celebrating its 35th anniversary season, is staging the revival of “Hit Me Like a Flower,” written and directed by Beau O’Reilly and assistant directed by Chris Zdenek, January 12 - February 4, at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with the closing performance Sunday, February 4 at 3 p.m.

Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $20. CuriousTheatreBranch.com

An Impressive Tome!

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

‘Indigenous Portraits Unbound: Reflections on iconic images of resilience’ Take a closer look at one of the most imposing, influential, and expensive books published in the United States before the Civil War, Thomas McKenney and James Hall's "History of the Indian Tribes of North America." Published between 1837 and 1844, the book features 120 portraits of Indigenous people, mostly tribal leaders visiting Washington, DC, as part of official delegations to the federal government. In this exhibition, you can view the work as it is rarely seen, in its original form of publication: in 20 fascicles, large pamphlets intended to be dismantled and reassembled into more permanent bindings by their purchasers. While the fascicles were produced and distributed in a time of great upheaval, dispossession, and conflict for Indigenous peoples in the United States, many of the images they contain have remained a source of intertribal solidarity and pride. FREE at the Hanson Gallery in the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Tuesday - Saturdays, 10 a.m - 7 p.m. through March 30.

Captivating Storytellers!

Fillet of Solo Festival Lifeline Theatre presents the 27th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival, a vibrant celebration of Chicago's premiere storytelling and live lit scene. The festival runs January 12-21 at Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., and South of The Border, 1416 W Morse Ave. in Rogers Park. Featuring a diverse array of performers, including a dozen storytelling collectives and numerous solo artists, the festival offers two weeks of powerful personal stories. Featuring comedy, drama, and more – the festival makes up a rich tapestry of Chicago's storytellers. Fillet of Solo performances take place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at both venues. See the full festival schedule at www.lifelinetheatre.com. Tickets are $12 for single entry and $60 for a Festival Pass, granting access to any performance at www.lifelinetheatre.com

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Cinema in Surround Sound!

Terence Blanchard: Film Scores LIVE! Explore the world of film scores with two-time Oscar-nominated composer and seven-time GRAMMY-winning jazz trumpeter, Terence Blanchard. His compositions have left an indelible mark on over 70 films, infusing each with a humanitarian spirit and dramatic depth, from the iconic “Malcolm X” to the powerful “Woman King.”

Prepare to be captivated by Blanchard's quintet, featuring surprise guest vocalists TBA, and the Chicago Philharmonic. At Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, January 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets start at $48.50 at auditoriumthatre.org

The Sounds of Freedom!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration The Music Institute of Chicago presents a free musical celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Sunday, January 14 at 3 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. This annual tribute to the historic American leader features performances by Music Institute students and community partners and will also be available via livestream at musicinst.org

Chicago Captured!

‘Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography’ “Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography” by Diane Alexander White is a series of more than 80 historic photographs showcasing Chicago’s Greek American celebrations alongside other ethnic and cultural festivals and parades. On display through Sunday, February 18, at the National Hellenic Museum, 333 S. Halsted St., Thursday -Sundays 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., included with $10 museum admission.

I Have A Dream!

MLK DAY 2024: Yesterdays, Todays, and Tomorrows Hyde Park Art Center presents a free public Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on Monday, January 15 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Eclectic programming for all ages celebrating Black creators and artists includes art making inspired by artists Candace Hunter and Robert Earl Paige, an artist talk with Candace Hunter and scholar Kimberly Harmon, a pop-up bookshop, a live music performance by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Chamber Ensemble, and more. Registration is recommended at HydeParkArt.org

Perseverance, Triumph, Hope!

Chicago Sinfonietta presents PULSE Join the Chicago Sinfonietta in their annual MLK Tribute Concert, PULSE, as they pay homage to the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a captivating lineup of works that celebrate the power of perseverance, triumph, and hope. At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $27 at chicagosinfonietta.org

Sounds Delicious!

“I’ll Have W hat She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli More than a place to get a meal, the Jewish deli is a community forged in food. “I’ll Have W hat She’s Having: The Jewish Deli” explores how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant. Organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, the exhibition reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture. Get a taste of deli history through neon signs, menus, advertisements, uniforms, photographs, and film and TV clips. Plus, spark and share your own deli memories with fun photo ops and interactives! On display through April 14 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. Included with museum entrance. .

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Vendors (l-r) Russell Adams, John Hagan and William Plowman chat about the world of sports.

college football: 2023 in review

John: We are talking about the highlights of this past college football season, 2023, with special guest William Plowman. There's been a lot of unforgettable moments.

Russell: I'm a military man, so my favorite college game was the Army-Navy game. I was pulling for Navy, but Army won 17-11. It was an upset for me because Army won for the second straight year! This is the oldest football rivalry, since 1890. To me, this was better than the playoffs. Navy has won 62 times and Army has won 49, so catch me if you can!

SPORTSWISE

Also in 1926, the Army-Navy game was played at Soldier Field. That caught all the soldiers who fought in World War I. In 1944, Navy and Army were ranked 1 and 2 in the country.

I am also glad that Alabama beat Georgia and Michigan was No. 1 in the nation!

William: I did actually like the Army-Navy game. I'm kind of torn between the two teams because my stepfather was in the Army. And one of my best friends up here was in the Navy. So in that re-

spect, I really don't care who wins, but it's fun to watch, to see who does win.

John: Well, I'm torn about the Army-Navy game to some extent because my grandfather served in the Army during World War II. And my favorite player of all time, Roger Staubach, was in the Naval Academy. So that's my footnote on the ArmyNavy game, but there were two games in particular, that were my highlights of the 2023 football season.

The first was on October 7, the Red River Shootout: Texas-Oklahoma. Texas drives down the field, but not far enough to burn enough time off the clock. So they kick a field goal, and they go up by three points. But the problem is, that gives quarterback Dillon Gabriel more than enough time to drive Oklahoma down the field. They drove down Texas like a hot knife through butter. There

were 30-some seconds left.

Dillon hooked up on a gamewinning touchdown pass to help Oklahoma win the Red River Shootout.

But another game that was even more memorable was Alabama-Auburn this past November 25 on Thanksgiving weekend. First of all, it was fourth and goal for Alabama at the Auburn 31-yardline. It looked like a bad situation for Alabama, and this is where the playoff situation really turned. Quarterback Jalen Milroe throws a prayer of an Alabama 31-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond with 32 seconds left, and that propelled Alabama to a 3-point win. If Auburn had done a better job defensively, not allowed the receiver to go in the endzone, that would have ended the game for Alabama. They would have had no chance to go into the playoffs. You would have had either Florida State or maybe Ohio State in the playoffs. I

kinda wanted Alabama on the outside looking in. I was hoping for Florida State or maybe Georgia, to win three national championships in a row.

Russell: I wanted Florida State to be in there too, not anybody like Alabama or Texas. Maybe they need to change the format like in the old days, let the coaches vote.

Or poll the fans!

William: Granted, it would have been more fun to see somebody from the heartland, like maybe Ohio State, get in. I wasn't that impressed with Auburn this season; they still need to work on their defense. But I do like seeing Alabama get in. My big teams in college sports are the Illini and Notre Dame.

Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Sam's Chicken & Ribs

by Sarah Luczko

Obviously they are famous in the neighborhood for their huge portions of chicken and ribs.

Their ribs are drenched in BBQ sauce as is their chicken, unless you ask otherwise.

I have had the pleasure of trying both the chicken and rib specials that both come with an order of awesome french fries and a can of soda.

Actually all their specials come with an order of fries and a pop.

On my latest visit I ordered the cheeseburger special. I usually order the fries with no salt which they gladly oblige and get my burger with everything.

They load it up pretty good with all the stuff a good ole' Chicago burger should have, which makes for a healthy meal.

Robert Laine

I have been to Sam's a few times and each time I have been satisfied and intrigued to want to try more items on their ever expanding menu.

Sam's Philly Cheesesteak; exterior; chicken & ribs with fries; interior; fried chicken wings with fries.

New Taste of Chicago Location: 1102 W. Granville Ave. Edgewater neighborhood Price Range: Under $10/ per person Hours: Monday - Friday 11 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday Noon - 11:30 p.m.

The place itself is a no-frills throwback to past Chicago take-out places of this nature and I think if they spruced it up or decorated they might lose their big following. I guess they follow the old adage, "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

It is like stepping back in time to a restaurant from the 70's or 80's when things were simpler, or at least appeared that way.

EATWISE

Stop in, you will be glad you did.

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AUTHOR JONATHAN EIG'S BOOK 'KING: A LIFE' CELEBRATES THE ICON OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

by Suzanne Hanney

“On Dec. 5, 1955, a young Black man became one of the founding fathers of America,” Jonathan Eig said at the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library last September as he opened his talk about his New York Times bestselling book “King: A Life.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. achieved founding father status at age 26 in Montgomery, AL, because “he did more to fulfill the promise that the other founding fathers had made in the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence -- which promised that ‘all men are created equal’ -- but which had not borne out that way for hundreds of years,” Eig said.

King was speaking on the eve of the Montgomery bus boycott sparked by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger. A product of the South but educated in the North too, King combined the words of the Bible with those of the Constitution in a way that spoke to both his Black audience and to Northern newspaper readers, Eig said. He quoted, “If we are wrong in gathering here to fight for our rights, then the Constitution is wrong,...the Supreme Court is wrong…God Almighty is wrong!”

COVER STORY

Using only Christian love, nonviolence, and faith in humankind, King’s 13-year career brought the nation closer than it had ever been “to reckoning with the reality of having treated people as property and secondary citizens,” Eig wrote.

“That he failed to fully achieve his goal should not diminish his heroism any more than the failure of the original founding fathers diminishes theirs.”

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The New Yorker called “King: A Life” one of the essential reads of 2023. In October, it was announced that Steven Spielberg will be executive producer of a film based on the book, directed by Chris Rock. Eig himself is a former Wall Street Journal reporter, Northwestern University journalism graduate and author of “Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season,” “Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig,” “Get Capone: The Secret Plot that Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster,” and others.

Eig said he wrote the book because in the nearly 70 years since King’s death, “we have turned him into a monument, a postage stamp, but lost sight of him as a human being.

“It is tempting to think of King as a saint, someone whose only concern was improving the world, to bringing us closer together as a people,” Eig said at the end of his library presentation. But King was a human being: flesh and blood.

“And the saints were flesh and blood too, people who had doubts, people who had failures, people who yelled at God. But they become saints because they’re committed, because they never give up and despite their weaknesses, they try to live the example of Jesus Christ.” Heroes don’t have to be perfect, and potential heroes will never step up if society demands perfection, he said.

King hid his cigarettes from his children, Eig wrote, and as an adolescent, he twice attempted suicide, “although perhaps halfheartedly.” As an adult, he was hospitalized for exhaustion that may really have been depression. He cheated on his wife, even though he suspected the FBI wiretapped his home and bugged his hotel rooms.

Parallels to today Another reason Eig wrote the book was, “because there are parallels between racial justice in the 1950s and 60s and today, and Dr. King said we must remain awake to change.

We must never lose hope. We must continue to work for equal rights and justice and we must all carry his message forward,” he said.

Eig used three big archival discoveries in six years of work on the book: Martin Luther King Sr.’s (“Daddy King”) unpublished memoir, the audiotapes held by a ghostwriter who worked with Coretta (Mrs. King) right after her husband’s assassination, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) archives created by its historian, L.D. Reddick.

There were also declassified personal files of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s secretary and thousands of pages released by the FBI in 2018. LBJ and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover assumed King was controlled by a communist operative, but there was no evidence of that, Eig wrote. The biggest revelation was instead the extent of the FBI’s determination to undermine King.

Input also came from people close to King. “The window was closing” on time to interview them and it was a blessing in his life to have the opportunity, Eig said. These people include Juanita Abernathy, widow of King’s confidante, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; singer Harry Belafonte; Civil Rights activist and Congressman, John Lewis; comedian Dick Gregory; inner circle member Andrew Young; the late Chicago historian Timuel Black, and more.

The layers of research envelop the reader in King’s thoughts, speech and actions at all stages of his life, and show the people who influenced him.

“Daddy King,” for example, was the son of struggling Georgia farmers. He walked to Atlanta at 14 after his alcoholic father struck his mother – and then tried to attack him.

Michael King Sr. remade himself. His first job was shoveling coal for a railroad company in Atlanta, but he wanted to preach. He enrolled at a private Baptist institution for children not served by public schools and then Atlanta Baptist College (later Morehouse College). He set his eyes on the only daughter of the preacher of a successful Black church, married her, and eventually became pastor. On a 1934 trip to Germany, he changed his name to Martin Luther, after the religious reformer, “who held fast to his beliefs despite excommunication and threats of death,” Eig wrote. "As Martin Luther King would say years later, 'Both my father and I have fought all our lives for reform and perhaps we’ve earned our right to our name.'”

At age 3, the young Martin Luther King Jr. made friends with a white boy his age, the son of a local grocer. But at 6, when they both went to (separate) schools, the white boy told Martin he was not allowed to be friends anymore. It was Martin’s first awareness of racism. It stung him and he mentioned it often later in life.

Although the young Martin Luther King Jr. initially balked at following in his father’s footsteps, at 15 he applied to Morehouse. Immediately, he realized he could follow all his interests there: scholarship, religion, public speaking and the pursuit of racial justice. He decided on the ministry the next year.

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Becoming the man in full King Jr. continued at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, often compared to the University of Chicago Divinity School because it was more liberal than the 19th century Protestant establishment. He navigated the mostly white school by what W.E.B. DuBois called “double consciousness:” the ability to see himself as others did. As a result, he was leery of feeding Black stereotypes, from eating watermelon to being late or loud. He also cultivated a fashion style.

He started becoming something of a ladies’ man in junior high school, Eig said. His Baptist preacher father didn’t allow him to attend dances, so he “chaperoned” instead.

When King’s peers danced too close, he would step in, and steer the girls away.

“He was smooth,” Eig said at the library presentation.

His first love was a white girl he dated while at Crozer. But he realized that Southern Black preacher could never be married to a white woman, so he gave her up.

A description of conservatory student Coretta Scott checked off all the right boxes, so he immediately called her. Beautiful voice, obvious intelligence, good reputation – he was ready.

On their first date, they discussed the merits of communism vs. capitalism. His eyes widened at one of her responses.

“Oh, you can think, too,” he said.

“Of course, I can,” she thought, although she didn’t voice it.

She had attended the integrated and progressive Antioch College and had already been involved in social justice.

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“His passion and authenticity worked like sunshine, melting away her concerns about his height and his typical ‘jive,’” Eig wrote. “He ‘just radiated so much charm,’ she said. “’He carried himself ‘as if he knew where he was going and he was going to get there.’” He was also a “manly man.”

Coretta changed her major from voice to music education and she became the homemaker King wanted. On at least one occasion, he told her what a good partner she was.

SCLC members also confirmed the strong role she played in the movement. Just before he was killed, he gave her artificial red flowers that she kept for the rest of her life.

Many journalists shy away from writing about religion, but a strength of Eig’s book is that he objectively describes the philosophers King studied. As a result, we see into King’s heart more than in the past. His reasoning becomes clear.

King read Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Hobbes, Bentham, Mill and Nietzsche at Crozer and Marx during Christmas break.

Capitalism created a gap between rich and poor, but communism was secular, and “as a Christian I believe there is a creative personal power in the universe which is the ground and essence of all reality,” Eig quoted. In other words, he believed in God. Walter Rauschenbusch’s views appealed to King for their adherence to a social gospel, that attaining the kingdom of God required not just personal salvation, but social justice.

Nietszche inspired doubts, which were overcome by a lecture on the love and nonviolence of Gandhi via the ancient Greeks. They used the word “agape,” which meant that we should love everyone because God loves them.

Following his heart King’s God-focus meant that in several meetings with LBJ at the White House, he could never understand why the politician didn’t do the right thing, Eig said. On the one hand, LBJ got the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 that outlawed segregation in employment and public places, and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But on the other hand, LBJ didn’t realize the Vietnam War was wrong.

LBJ, meanwhile, never understood why King didn’t play politics, why he wasn’t more Machiavellian, why he didn’t do the safe thing.

King reached the height of his popularity with the “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for civil rights. Most people can remember that King said people should be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character, Eig said. They forget the lines that are still unfulfilled today, about “the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” and economic reparations.

Eig said he was told that King was unprepared for how divided the Chicago Black community was for King’s Chicago Campaign of Jan. 7-Aug. 28, 1966 and how many people would remain loyal to Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was a more skillful politician than King had known in the South.

King said Mississippians could get a lesson in hate after he was hit in the shoulders by a rock thrown by white protesters during a Southwest Side march for fair housing. In the end, he met at the Palmer House with 77 civic, business and religious leaders, including Daley, for a 10-point plan to end housing discrimination.

Seeing the slums of Chicago (and Los Angeles) changed King, so that he broadened his message. Killing Jim Crow was not enough if some people lived in affluence while blocks away, others lived with “wall to wall rats and roaches,” Eig wrote.

Meanwhile, American deaths in the Vietnam War tripled in 1966, when the U.S. was spending $2 billion a month. This money could be spent to improve domestic conditions, King said.

He continued to argue and march against the war, even as donations to SCLC plummeted. He announced that he would not support LBJ’s reelection. He called for a Poor People’s Campaign: another march on Washington to eliminate slums and to provide jobs or guaranteed income to those unable to work.

And he continued to push for the Fair Housing Act – which was not passed until a week after his April 4, 1968 assassination.

Page 9: Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech during the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington, D.C. (Unknown photographer / Library of Congress).

In 1964 photographed by Marion Trikosko (Library of Congress photo).

President Lyndon Johnson (left) greets Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (center), at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Aug. 6, 1965.(Yoichi Okamoto photo / Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum) Page 10: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X meet before a press conference. Both men had come to hear the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was the only time the two men ever met; their meeting lasted only one minute (Photo provided by U.S. News & World Report collection at the Library of Congress).

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses a crowd estimated at 70,000 at a civil rights rally in Chicago's Soldier Field, in 1966. (Declan Haun photo).

Page11: Martin Luther King, Jr. at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave. (Lawndale Christian Development Corp.photo).

Dr. Martin Luther King circa 1963 (Dick DeMarsico, World Telegram staff photographer, courtesy of the Library of Congress).

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StreetWise vendor derrick livingston has a new apartment

by Derrick Livingston & Sarah Luczko

StreetWise vendor Derrick Livingston has a new apartment.

He’s excited and relieved to have his own place again, after a year spent in shelters. And he’s remembering how to stock the kitchen and clean the house, while enjoying his alone time. When you’re living in the shelter, you don’t have the same housekeeping tasks. He says that these small tasks are keeping him grounded. He’s relishing the alone time, too.

Derrick refers to his year in the shelters as a time of “learning how to endure a trial and tribulation.” When I asked him what his first “trial and tribulation” was, he had a fast answer.

When Derrick was 14 years old, he was bullied by an older student. The bully followed him around at school, and beat him up horribly in the bathroom one day. Derrick describes the event as “traumatic” stating that the older kid had really roughed him up. He came home that day bloodied and bruised. He was scared. But his mother had an idea. She signed Derrick up for Taekwondo classes at the local YMCA, where she went for aerobics class.

When he came to his first Taekwondo class, Derrick watched the other boys sparring.

“What did you think?” I asked Derrick.

“Here is something. Am I physically and mentally able to do this?” Derrick said.

Derrick learned fundamentals and 2 months in, the teacher came to him.

INSIDE STREETWISE

“Now, it’s time for you to get up and spar.” The teacher said.

Derrick wasn’t sure, though.

“No, you’re ready.” It was white belt versus green belt.

Derrick had the white belt. Green belts were for intermediate students. He ran away from the circle where the fighting would begin.

“You run one more time…” said the teacher. He pushed Derrick back into the circle.

“Get him, and go hard!” said the teacher to the green belt.

Derrick didn’t win the fight that day. Losing felt like paying his dues. He was learning perseverance. The teacher was “trying to get you past that fear of being afraid of confrontation and stand your ground. He helped me with courage and confidence.”

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Derrick studied Taekwondo for 4 years, before studying Muay Thai and WesternStyle Boxing. He started studying different styles.

Later, he went to school in southern Colorado. He studied political science with a minor in business.

Like many graduates, he wasn’t sure what industry to go into after graduation. He knew he wanted to own his own business.

He worked as a Private Investigator, doing contract security and operating a private investigation company, which was licensed and bonded in Denver. He worked as a bodyguard and PI for 12 years.

After many years in Chicago, he ended up taking care of his blind uncle. Unknown to Derrick, his uncle was not paying the mortgage on his house. After the house went into foreclosure, they were evicted from the property. Then they ended up in the shelter system.

Derrick met Chris, a service provider at Pacific Garden Mission. Chris was someone who came to PGM as a last resort, just like Derrick. Chris had quit drugs, accepted Jesus, and was inspired to keep working at PGM to help others.

Through the All Chicago program, Chris was asked to select 12 individuals from the large shelter for a new rapid re-housing project. Chris was instructed to choose the participants carefully.

Derrick was not one of the 12 chosen individuals, but he was the 13th person in line. Derrick had landed a spot as an alternate. As an alternate, Chris encouraged Derrick to show up to the meeting at PGM for All Chicago. As luck would have it, Derrick was entered into the program that day.

After being entered into the All Chicago program, Derrick was assigned a case manager. Derrick’s case manager had

a large load of participants to look after. Derrick says that he made a point of calling his case manager every day to keep on top of his housing status.

I asked Derrick how he came through with the strength to keep calling. He told me that “you gotta get pissed off about being homeless”, comparing being homeless to sinking in quicksand. “The longer that you are there, the harder it is to get out.”

Determined to get out, Derrick told himself “you can do better because you’ve been better.”

Six weeks after being entered into the program, Derrick’s case manager told him that his apartment was ready. He met with the building manager at the end of August and received his keys. He’s been getting used to the neighborhood, and getting used to living alone.

More recently, Derrick visited the Pacific Gardens Mission, to meet with some of his friends to encourage them to apply for the All Chicago program. He was met with blank stares, refusals, and a lot of static. Derrick was surprised, but he does admit that he’s changed. He says he’s not lonely, but it’s been an adjustment.

Derrick has been getting to know his new neighbors, and he likes a lot of things about his new apartment.

He has hardwood floors, new appliances. It was very clean when he moved in, and he’ll be keeping it that way.

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e1 to 12/10/23 Sudoku 9.

PuzzleJunction.com

Streetwise 12/10/23 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the Sudoku numbers 1 to 9.

Puz

Crossword Across

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62 Building additions 63 Blow the whistle 64 Remain 65 Expire

11 Big rig 43 Rani’s wear 12 Heroic tale 44 Checkers 15 Chum color 17 Primary 45 Aquamarine 20 Persian, e.g. 46 Hostile force 24 Echelon 47 Sufficient 25 Razorbills 48 Flower Down 26 Rituals fanciers 49 Riviera 1 Filleted 27 Outcomes 2 Pub quaff 28 Consumer season 50 Treaty 3 Stagnation 29 Lively 4 Vinegar 30 Impudence 51 Qualified 52 Hockey holder 31 Passing score 5 Lubricates notice 53 Brad of 6 Behaves 32 Challenge Benjamin 7 Waikiki wear 33 Frosted Button 8 Video store 34 “Hold on a 54 Dwarf category moment!” buffalo 9 Greek letter 35 Declare 57 Auto need 10 Over- Copyright 37 Eternally ©2023 PuzzleJunction.com 59 QB Manning abundance 38 Cut off

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Copyright ©2023 PuzzleJunction.com

Answers from Dec. 13, 2023 edition Sudoku Solution Solution

Sudoku Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

1 Potato 5 Ad headline 9 Golf hazard 13 Shut up’s alternative 15 Hipbones 16 Bingo relative 17 Novelist Jong 18 Containers 19 Dentist’s order 20 Britons 21 Auspices 23 Be in arrears 24 Glimpse 25 Shredded 27 Water holder 29 Pocketbook 30 Government hand-outs 32 Baby’s word ©2023 PuzzleJunction.com 35 Country dance 66 Pay attention 9 Bout stopper, 38 One in the 67 Military rulers for short family 68 Poet Pound 10 Newspaper 40 Hibernia 69 Fem. suffix employees 41 Goofed 70 Willow twig 11 All over 43 Student no 71 Cozy retreat again longer 72 Caribou 12 Corn cake 44 Eclipse type 73 Sea swallow 14 Ziti, e.g.

46 Curved 22 Trumpeter molding Down 26 See 60 47 Time zones Across 48 Some atoms 1 Glasses, 28 Mystery 50 Attorneys’ org. briefly 29 Ape treat 52 Rational 30 High spirits 2 Thick soup 53 Sandwich fish 3 Serviceable 31 Cat command 55 Unagi, at a 4 Heating vent 32 Eastern state sushi bar 5 Fretted (Abbr.)

58 Gazelle instrument 33 Starch 60 Fiend 6 Extraterrestrial 34 Mesozoic era 62 Like Odin denizens 7 Burbot 64 Clod 8 Less taxing 36 God of love

37 Physics unit 39 Asner and Begley 42 Campus VIP 45 Author Ayn 49 Viewed as 51 Guitar relative 53 Metric weight unit 54 Below 55 Sgt. Bilko 56 Aromatic compound 57 Absorb knowledge 58 Secluded valley 59 Seep 61 Gold colliery 63 Dethrone 65 Make lace

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