January 31 - February 6, 2022

January 31 - February 6, 2022 Vol. 30 No. 05

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Arts & (Home) Entertainment

More and more events are happening in Chicago, and we want you to know about the best of the best!

6 SportsWise 8 Cover Story: "power book iv: force" in chicago Some of the greatest events live on in our hearts.

Tommy Egan was a fan favorite on the New York-based "Power" series, the No. 1 drama on Starz that received as many as 10 million views in 178 countries. Tommy was the most honest character, the one who warned the married protagonist James "Ghost" St. Patrick against trying to take their drug empire legit and against starting up with his high school sweetheart – a federal prosecutor. Now, with both of them dead, Tommy, played by Chicago native Joseph Sikora, is starting over again with a spinoff series in Chicago that starts February 6.

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From the Streets

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Inside StreetWise

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The Playground

Tenants of a South Side affordable housing building demand repairs, or a new owner, to bring the living space up to compliance with city and federal regulations. Now the landlord is trying to silence tenants in Building Court.

Vendor A. Allen motivates himself and other vendors to face the bitter Chicago winter.

ON THE COVER: Joseph Sikora in "POWER BOOK IV: FORCE" courtesy of Starz.

THIS PAGE: StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney, second from right, with "POWER BOOK IV: FORCE" actor Joseph Sikora; and with Desjah Crayton, far left; and Tamia Watson, far right (Kavonda Russell photo).

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

LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org

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ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time.

To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of what to do at home and why you love them to Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Be Inspired!

A Simple Cotton Sack: A Conversation about African American Women, Trauma, and Resistance Harvard Professor Tiya Miles and Professor of English Megan Sweeney invite you to join the conversation on African American women past, present, and future. Their discussion will revolve around ways to overcome and address adversity and trauma while exploring the beauty, meaning, and love hidden within suffering and loss. Resilience, resistance, and reclamation are the name of the game as Miles and Sweeney unpack the history behind the historic and mysterious cotton bag known as Ashley’s sack (the inspiration behind Miles’ most recent book “All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake”). The conversation will be hosted by the Newberry Library and will take place from 6-7 p.m. February 3. The discussion is virtual. Registration is free and required in advance at Eventbrite.com.

Tap! Leap! Twirl!

Trinity Irish Dance Company Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day early this year by heading to the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B Wells Drive, to enjoy a raucous night of dancing, culture, and history produced by the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Witness the staggering heights these dancers can reach as they tap, leap, and twirl to a unique combination of traditional and modern styles and music. Designed to empower, the performance emphasizes the power and grace of their female dancers while embracing both its cultural roots and the many innovative twists and turns that keeps each performance just as lively as the next. Performance takes place February 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $38+ at trinityirishdancecompany.com.

Poetry a World Apart!

(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT

'COMMONground: A Collaboration with Poetry Ireland' On February 5, celebrate the hard hitting and heartfelt prose of Irish poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa (pictured) and American poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis for their first transatlantic reading event hosted by Poetry Foundation and Poetry Ireland. The reading will be followed by conversation, moderated by Erin Fornoff. The event will kick off with an in depth look into struggle, motherhood, and the difficulties of honoring the past while pursuing the future. Each will open up a conversation about the themes in their own recent works, and together, the two will create a space for approaching the differences between their distinctive experiences and cultures through the media of art and words. This virtual event takes place from 1-2 p.m. It will include live captioning and ASL interpretation. Registration is free on Eventbrite.

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Warm art in the cold air!

'Hello Helios: The Warming Suns of Chicago’s Greektown' With 24 sculptures inspired by Greek mythology and culture (as well as some Aztec, Yoruba, Japanese, and Native American touches), Greektown’s “Hello Helios!” invites you to warm up for the winter by celebrating the sun and light in this vibrant outdoor exhibit. The sculpture collection reflects traditional Greek mythology with modern and diverse sensibilities. All art is created by professional and emerging Chicago artists as well as seven different Chicagoland Greek schools. A map of the exhibit, sculpture titles and a brief description of each work can be found on greektownchicago.org. Artwork will line Halsted Street from Monroe to Van Buren through April 30. FREE.

Through the Looking Glass!

'Alice in Wonderland' If you happen to follow a white rabbit on your commute to work, you might just end up at the Stahl Family Theatre, 5900 W. Belmont Ave., where you can reacquaint yourself with the timeless kid’s classic “Alice in Wonderland,” but with a musical twist. Watch as the world melts away and enter into a dream as the talented and vivacious cast transports you somewhere else for an hour or two. Reminisce about the girl who taught you to disregard labels, and reunite with a cast of all too familiar faces. You’d be absolutely mad not to go. Performances through February 25 every Friday at 10:30 a.m. Other times are available at chicagokidscompany.com. Tickets are $14-$18. Children 2 and under get in free.

Drag Brunch!

A Brunch of Drag Starting February 6, join host Jasmine Phoenix for an intoxicating afternoon full of lively performances and sass. Each session includes 3 performers, a solo act, and a closing group performance that is as fabulous as the brunch they offer. Two packages are available: a traditional package that includes your choice of brunch entree and boozy beverage ($36) or the liquid brunch that includes a mimosa bundle ($24). Admission to the performance is included in the package and can be purchased at Eventbrite. Brunches will be held at 1 p.m. every first Sunday at Simone's Bar, located at 960 W. 18th St.

Classical Lunch Break!

Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Slow down for a lunch hour of classical music at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert at Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist, 55 E. Wacker Drive, and enjoy the harmonious duet of Geneva Lewis (violin) and Sahun Sam Hong (piano). Their richly emotional and stirring repertoire will open with Clara Schumann’s “Three Romances, Op. 22” and be followed by Darius Milhaud’s “Printempos, Op. 18,” Lili Boulanger’s “Deux Morceaux,” Germaine Tailleferre’s “Berceuse,” and Gabriel Fauré’s “Trois Mélodies, Op. 7.” The concert will end with Claude Debussy’s “Sonata for violin and piano, L. 140.” The concert starts at 12:15 p.m. on February 2. Admission is free.

See imfchicago.org for more information.

Houses of Tomorrow!

Exhibition Open House: Houses of Tomorrow 25th Anniversary Kickoff The Elmhurst Art Museum invites you to celebrate its 25 anniversary Open House special event to kick off the new year. Inspiring the community through art, education, and architecture, the Elmhurst Museum offers visitors and members a sneak peak at its new exhibit “Houses of Tomorrow: Solar Homes from Keck to Today” that honors the legacy of America’s first solar architects throughout the Midwest: from the 1933 World's Fair to Mies van der Rohe, and more. The kickoff, which is free, is 4 - 6 p.m. on February 4. The exhibit runs through May 29, with admission of $15. See elmhurstartmuseum.org for more details.

Yee-Haw!

The Virginian Grab your horse and lasso, and suit up for a night of cowboy hats and boots for City Lit Theater Company’s production of “The Virginian.” An adaptation of the novel that came to define the classic archetype of the gun-slinging American cowboy and the dusty, wild wild West, “The Virginian” opens a conversation on old western values and the meaning of honor and will in the face of adversity, outlaws, and bandits. The production will feature a diverse cast and ask the audience to examine and contemplate the national myths that lie in each scene. Come watch a herd of prancing puppet horses as they dodge tumbleweeds and swish their tails (proudly created by The Puppet Company). Shows recurring every Friday and Saturday from 7:30-9:30 p.m. until February 20, so don’t miss out. Located at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Tickets $34. See citylit.org for more details.

-Compiled by Cora Saddler

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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

Patrick: Fellas, we’re talking about favorite sports memories, from birth to the now.

Who wants to kick it off?

Donald: I’m sure we all have this time in our brains: the double-threepeat by our Chicago Bulls. But, for me, I can narrow it down to just the second threepeat—no disrespect to the first one. I mean, shoot, we had, of course, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen—not to mention Dennis Rodman. Not only did we have that high-level talent on the court, we had Phil Jackson coaching on the sideline.

This man hired the right folks to help him coach, and they all were good.

John: Maybe even great.

SPORTSWISE

Russ: I have to roll with the 1985-86 Bears; yep, the Super Bowl Shuffle team. I mean, this team recorded a video in the middle of the season detailing how they were going to win the big game.

Donald: Not only that, Russell, it was recorded a day after their only loss of the season against Miami.

Russ: I forgot about that. But, yeah, that defense was the greatest of all time in my eyes.

I mean, shoot, we had Mike Singletary—who I wouldn’t mind coming back and

coaching the Bears today— Richard Dent, Gary Fencik, Wilbur Marshall— John: It was seriously too many ballers on that side of the ball to say who could fill their top-five list. Now, that’s ridiculous.

Russ: And that’s just the defense; shoot, the offense had a couple of standouts, too. Jim McMahon, who, though not an elite quarterback, was just good enough to make it happen. Of course, we had the great and late Walter Payton.

John: Well, for me, I have to roll with all the times I watched the San Francisco 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys. To me, it’s even bigger than the Bears and Packers rivalry. My three favorite games begin with the 1981 Championship game—yes, The Catch by Dwight Clark from Joe Montana, which included the one-arm tackle by Eric Wright to stop Dallas’ wide receiver, Drew Pearson from scoring what would’ve been the game-winning touchdown. Broke my heart.

Donald: I remember that.

Donald: Yes, Sweetness. That brotha was smooth out there and brought the magic.

Russ: I can’t not mention the Fridge either. As much as I wished Payton had gotten a touchdown in the Super Bowl, seeing the Fridge get one sorta made up for it. I’ll never forget it.

John: The second was during the 1992 NFC Championship game when Dallas beat San Fran 30-20 to make it to the Super Bowl. The third is the most recent one. QB Dak Prescott running a play and allowing the time to run out.

Game over. Always something unreal when these two teams meet.

Russ: What about you, Patrick? You have something?

Patrick: Shoot, I could almost bandwagon on any of y’all’s.

However, really quick, the times going to see the White Sox play up the street from my neighborhood when I was a kid. It would be me, my brother, and two of our friends, and one of our fathers would take us—sometimes, one of my uncles. We’d see Harold Baines, Greg Luzinski, Ron Kittle, Ozzie Guillen. Awesome times. And don’t let it be Bat Giveaway Day! John: I know, right!

Patrick: My best recall of those times is I could swear the White Sox never lost.

Won every single game.

Russ: Right on.

Any comments or suggestions?

Email pedwards@streetwise.org

THE ART OF PIZZA ON STATE STREET

by Rivka Benjamin

Steven Riggs has been a vendor with StreetWise for over 10 years now. As a big fan of cheese ‘n’ sausage pizza, Steven often eats at the ‘Art of Pizza’ pizza shop. It's near his location on State Street.

Steven first thought when trying their pizza was “Oh My G-d”.

He was shocked at how tasty the pizza was, especially for the price.

During all of his visits he has tried the cheese slice, pepperoni slice, and of course, the cheese 'n' sausage slice. Although there is more variety on their menu, Steven likes to stick to the pizza when stopping in for lunch. His mom, however, tried the sub sandwich when they went together. She really liked it, and even saved the leftovers for dinner.

Steven Riggs

What really impressed him was the kindness of the people there, the cashier and the owners. Steven always notices Danny and the other owners offer ice water to people who are homeless on hot days, and sometimes a slice of pizza.

THE ART OF PIZZA ON STATE STREET Steven recalls one very hot and humid summer day recently. He was working really hard, sellLocation: ing as many magazines as he could at his loca727 S. State St. tion. He stopped into the pizza store to catch his breath since he was feeling faint. Danny, Price Range: whom Steven calls "one of the nicest guys," Under $10 / per person asked if he was okay and offered some water.

“Ice water and a slice of pizza would be nice,” Hours: Steven responded. Danny didn’t flinch, and Sunday - Thursday brought him what he asked for, like a regular 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. customer. He was warm, inviting, and friendly.

Steven said he felt quite humbled in that moFriday & Saturday ment, and began to tear up.

11 a.m. - midnight In general, he said the atmosphere is extremely clean, friendly and inviting. There are always conversations going on between multiple tables, no matter how far they are from each other. The customers speak about current events, how tasty the pizza is, and Steven often speaks about StreetWise. Sometimes, people will buy magazines form him on the spot when they hear about it (although that isn’t his goal).

“Overall, it was GREAT!! I would highly recommend this place for the food, people, and atmosphere. If you’re ever in Chicago, stop by. Trust me, it’ll be a memorable experience. If you’re out of town, you will be back for this!”

The Art of Pizza on State Street: Steven Riggs with employee; interior; a slice of stuffed crust.

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'Power Book IV: FORCE' brings production to Chicago, reuniting actor Joseph Sikora with his hometown

by Suzanne Hanney

Actor Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan in "Power Book IV: Force." INSET: Promotional poster for "Power Book IV: Force" (Starz photos).

It’s just Tommy Egan and Chicago now in the Starz TV spinoff, “Power Book IV: Force,” which debuts Sunday, February 6.

In the original “Power” series that drew up to 10 million viewers in 178 countries per episode, Tommy was the crazy, ruthless, fearless operations manager (code for “enforcer”) of the Manhattan-based, international drug empire led by James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), his best friend.

Tommy left New York City in the rearview mirror of his royal blue Mustang after the sixth season finale in 2020, when “Ghost” was shot dead by his own son, Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and his wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), took the heat. Ghost had dreamed of going legit and building a Fortune 500 empire with proceeds of the nightclub they used to launder money, but along the way, Ghost also reconnected with his long-lost high school sweetheart, Angela Valdez (Lela Loren) -- a federal prosecutor.

Angela is now dead and so are Tommy’s girlfriend, LaKeisha (LaLa Anthony), and his father, mob boss Tony Teresi (William Sadler). The feds think Tommy’s dead, too.

“Tommy was always in pursuit to find where he belonged,” Sikora told Entertainment Weekly (EW).

Growing up in Queens, NYC, Tommy was often the only white person in his neighborhood; he became friends with Ghost after the latter defended him. He knows he is a product of the streets, a hustler who owes his life to the game.

“Tommy was the most honest character on ‘Power,’ so I think this comes back to the roots of Tommy,” Sikora said. “Now that he’s an empty shell, what are the qualities of Tommy that keep him going? It’s almost like watching a flashback in the future, in some ways. Because what we’re doing is seeing how Tommy became Tommy – but after he lost everything. What does he do when he has nothing? How does he make things work?”

As the spinoff begins, Tommy is essentially homeless. He leaves New York with nothing but money, guns and burners, “just everything he had on his person,” said Chicago native Joseph Sikora, who plays Tommy, in a live conversation on Instagram. “So you’re gonna watch Tommy rebuild himself in real time.”

Chicago will be a major character in “Force,” just as New York was in the original “Power” series, said multi-platinum rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, in a video with Sikora on XXL. Jackson is co-creator, executive producer of the “Power Universe” and a co-star, as Kanan Stark, former mentor to Ghost and now a foe. “Knowing Tommy’s temperament, knowing that he’s headfirst with everything he does, it’s just exciting out the gate. Like from episode 1.”

He’s headed to California for a fresh start. But first, while stopping in Chicago to close an old wound, he runs into a maze of family secrets.

As the consummate New Yorker, Tommy will be confounded at first by Chicago’s segregation, “so I think that is going to be a really interesting topic for us to tackle, the

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separation of Black and white and Latin people in terms of neighborhoods,” Sikora told EW. According to prepared “Force” material, Tommy will insert himself between the city’s biggest drug crews, “ultimately becoming the lynchpin that not only unites them, but [that] holds the power to watch them crumble.” He will bank on his outsider status, “breaking all the local rules and rewriting them on his quest to become the biggest drug dealer in Chicago.”

Sikora admitted that being a native Chicagoan turned New Yorker of 20 years, playing a Chicago newcomer, was messing with his head. But he doesn’t give up any local cred.

When NBA analyst Jalen Rose said on the ESPN2 show he shares with ESPN host David Jacoby that Sikora came from the “Chicago area,” he immediately corrected him to say he came from the city proper.

Sikora has said that he grew up on the Northwest Side, between the Jefferson Park and Harlem stops on the CTA Blue Line. He went to Notre Dame High School for boys in Niles. In an on-camera interview with Real 92.3, LA’s home for hip hop, he said that he learned from his Polish grandmother that his surname meant “titmouse,” a tiny bird. His father questioned why, as an American, he was curious, and he responded that he simply wanted to know.

At 9 years old, Sikora was in a McDonald’s commercial with Michael Jordan, who told him he didn’t need to be so angry, he didn’t need to prove himself. But Sikora termed his blond hair and blue eyes an “urban curse.” At 12, he started boxing, where he met Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Much later, at the behest of his wife, he took anger management classes. He knows now that much of his anger was fear-based. He’s calmer and can walk away without starting something, he said.

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Sikora was on a graffiti tagging crew in his early teen years.

When kids don’t feel listened to, they want to be seen and heard, he said. “They write their names big,” he told IwillgraduateTV, as posted on his Instagram page. “If I were going back to school, I would do it more for knowledge than the pressure of failure.”

The 45-year-old Sikora makes a point of saying he has been in the entertainment business for 30 years. He studied acting at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston and received a bachelor’s degree in theater from Columbia College Chicago. He remains an ensemble member of Chicago’s Shattered Globe Theater and was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for his role in its production of “Frozen Assets” in 1999.

Sikora in person and video interviews is affable, with a more relaxed speech cadence and muscle tone than the tightly wired Tommy. Sikora matches Tommy, however, in the intensity with which he goes about his job.

Since some of the show is based on Jackson’s experiences growing up in Jamaica Queens, Sikora modeled Tommy’s mannerisms on the rapper’s first “How to Rob” (1999) videos: “dozens and dozens, maybe even hundreds of hours of 50 Cent interviews; that the cadence, word choice, the feeling, the vibe is a lot of it,” he told Jalen Rose on the New York Post’s “Renaissance Man” podcast. He was also the best prepared of the “Power” cast members, the least likely to laugh off-script, LaLa Anthony said in a cast interview with Michael Strahan and Sara Haines.

EW told Sikora that the production “was not messing around” when it cast Tommy Flanagan as Irish drug chieftain Walter Flynn. Flanagan is a Glasgow-born actor who played Filip “Chibs” Telford on “Sons of Anarchy” and its spinoff, Mayans MC. Flanagan was previously known for his role as Cicero in “Gladiator” (2000), as Morrison in "Braveheart" (1995); as Martin Connells in HBO’s “West World;” in James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2" for Marvel Studios and Disney. At the New York City International Film Festival, he won the Best Leading Actor Award for his performance as an emotionally tortured painter trying to keep his family together after the sudden loss of his wife in Heidi Greensmith’s independent film “Winter.”

“Oh my God, this guy is the realest deal,” Sikora responded regarding Flanagan. “It is a race for me to catch up to him when we are in scenes together, just to make sure I can hold my footing and bring my A game. It’s such a wonderful challenge that I look forward to every single time I see him on the call sheet.”

He also praised the talent and diversity of his “Force” cast, many of them long-time Chicagoans. Playing J.P. Gibbs will be Anthony Fleming (“Divergent,” and “Other World”), who was nominated for a 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award for actor in a principal role for “Denmark” at the Victory Gardens Theater. Fleming received the 2015 Jefferson Equity Award for actor in a supporting role for "Moby Dick" at the Lookingglass Theatre Company with The Actors Gymnasium.

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Isaac Keys (“Get Shorty”), a Morehouse College grad who was an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and on the roster of the Arizona Cardinals, will play “Diamond,” a “gentle giant” who headed a drug-running outfit respected by all of Chicago’s crime families before he was imprisoned for 15 years.

Others include Kris “Lambo” Lofton (“Ballers” and “Empire”); Lucien Cambric (“The Chi” and “Chicago PD”); Cedric Young (Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass, Steppenwolf; movies including “The Paper,” “Home Alone 2” and “Backdraft”); Guy Van Swearingen, who co-founded A Red Orchid Theatre Company with Lawrence Grimm and twotime Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon. The cast also features Phil Conlon, Lili Simmons, Gabrielle Ryan, and Shane Harper.

Sikora’s Instagram page shows him filming last year all over the city. You can find him under the sign for the Chicago Housing Authority’s Altgeld Murray Homes at 976 E. 132nd Place last February; in Bronzeville last April with Young; downtown on East River Walk with Fleming; at Lowell Thompson’s rainbow diversity circle sculpture in Uptown with Keys; with director Deon Taylor at Rush and Chestnut Streets; at the Adler Planetarium crediting the “unsung heroes: the crew."

Actor Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan with Anthony Fleming III as JP Gibbs filming "Power Book IV: Force" (Starz photo). Above: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, executive producer and rapper (Jeremy Deputat photo).

“Power Book IV: Force” was one of four shows filmed last spring at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the Southwest Side. Each show brought 200 to 300 new jobs to Chicago, according to screenmag.com.

Jackson’s business skills were the topic of a video he and Sikora did for XXL magazine. “Fif thinks strategically [as executive producer], many steps ahead… He lifts everyone up with him,” Sikora said. Instead of taking a plus-one to special events, for example, Jackson brings his stars, so they can make connections.

Responded the rapper, “I’m not afraid of talent.”

As conceived by Jackson and Courtney Kemp, the Power Universe is only ostensibly about drugs. Filled with cliffhangers and plot twists, the show is a mixture of detective story, cops and robbers, soap opera, love triangle, family drama, business drama, Kemp told the Washington Post.

When Kemp and Jackson pitched the show to Starz executives, Kemp talked about code-switching, her father and opportunities in the business world. Jackson said the conventional wisdom about drug dealing on the corner was dated.

“I thought the combination of the vision they had for a show would make something I had never seen before,” said Carmi Zlotnick, former head of programming at Starz. “‘Power’ has lifted us up and introduced us to an audience that we didn’t have, and a fan base and a strategy and a way of thinking.”

To many, “Power” is either a morality play – or a tragedy.

After killing his father, for example, Tariq needs money. He turns to the very same methods, as shown in Power Book II, out now. The prequel, Power Book III, meanwhile, will chronicle Kanan’s (aka Jackson’s) early years, starting this summer.

When Jackson mentioned the idea of a Tommy spinoff, Sikora thought there was more to the saga of two “brothers.”

“Again, I keep using the word ‘grateful,’ but I am so grateful,” he told EW. “We’re filming ‘Power Book IV’ and people are just yelling, ‘Yo, Tommy!’ Or they see the Mustang and they’re like, ‘Where’s Tommy?!’ To have somebody that is iconic in that way, it just makes your heart that much bigger.

And to be a white actor, knowing that we made this show with African American leads, and to have transcended race and been accepted by the culture, it’s a true honor. I always say that is better than any award I could ever possibly win.

I already won.”

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South side tenants demand action or n

by Wendy Rosen

Tenants are still struggling with infestation, plumbing, mold, elevator, and security issues nearly a year after the City of Chicago filed a complaint seeking a $3,000 daily fine and a court-appointed receiver to take control of the federally subsidized South Side building.

The property owners, also facing more than $800,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fines to bring the building into compliance with city and federal regulations, have filed a motion to silence tenants and housing advocates in court.

At a Dec. 29, 2021 press conference, members of the Ellis Tenants Association (ETA) said building owner Apex Chicago IL LLC (Apex) and property manager Integra Affordable Management (Integra) have not provided safe, secure, and decent housing at Ellis Lakeview Apartments, an 11-story, 105 unit building located at 4624 S. Ellis Ave.

“You can’t even come into the building because now they had a whole shootout on the side of your car, and now you’re stuck in the crosshairs,” said Teresa, an Ellis Lakeview Apartments tenant at the Dec. 29, 2021 press conference (Wendy Rosen photo).

Tenants said Integra has retaliated against residents who voiced complaints by handing down lease violations and eviction threats.

“I’m stressing about being homeless and I’m going through Stage II ovarian cancer,” said Vicki, an Ellis Lakeview resident, at the press conference.

FROM THE STREETS

Integra sent Vicki a 30-day notice on Dec. 8, 2021, warning they would file for eviction if she did not vacate her unit by Jan. 3, 2022.

Eviction, the notice states, “... could hinder future rental on any subsidized property.” The boilerplate lease violation accuses Vicki, or someone in her unit, with threatening the health and safety of others in the building. No specific events are documented.

“They’re a retaliatory real estate,” said Vicki. “Now I gave my name to you, they’re going to be acting to fool with me.”

Housing advocates confirmed that property managers have retaliated against at least a dozen ETA members by handing down lease violation and termination of subsidy notices, as well as illegally towing cars.

After receiving warning notices from Integra, tenants worked with advocates to compile and present evidence of inaccuracies to both Integra and HUD. This has triggered HUD investigations and, in several cases, has led Integra to provide written proof that it has cleared incorrect violations from tenant records.

Apex and the City of Chicago have been in court since March 27, 2021, when the city filed a housing complaint against Apex for failing 18 inspections and racking up more than 100 code violations. After tenants made court appearances, Apex filed a motion on Nov. 12, 2021

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to block tenants and advocates from speaking in Building Court hearings. They contend that “parties who have no discernable interest in the Property” are raising new issues that delay the court from addressing violations lodged in the city’s complaint.

Housing organizer Noah Moskowitz, a volunteer with ETA, is specifically mentioned as someone who should be barred from speaking in court. Moskowitz believes the landlord is trying to stop tenants and advocates from raising concerns about their living conditions. “It’s a public court hearing where the judge can decide who she wants to hear from,” he said. “The judge has the right to ask whoever she wants to speak to speak.”

The city and HUD have threatened Apex and Integra with hefty financial sanctions, including a March 2021 HUD freeze on Housing Assistance Payments; a City of Chicago $3,000 daily fine, and a HUD levy of $278,677 and $523,666 in civil penalties unless problems are fixed. Apex sent HUD a $5,000 settlement offer on July 15, but HUD replied in an email that the offer was a non-starter and the agency plans to proceed with litigation.

StreetWise’s request for a comment from Apex/Integra was answered in an email from Apex attorney Shomshon Moskowitz, who wrote that his client is in the midst of legal proceedings and cannot comment at this time.

Tenants said safety is a top concern. They suggest that a parking lot gate -- broken for months -- is a serious issue.

Eric Sirota, a Shriver Center on Poverty Law attorney representing the ETA, sent HUD a petition signed by 55 tenants on Nov. 4, 2021.

Tenants are demanding 24-hour professional onsite security.

new owner

Tenants Nadrea Satchell and Teresa at the Ellis Lakeview Tenants Association press conference on Dec. 29, 2021; a close-up of Satchell's sign that reads "Mice & Vermin Live Rent Free At Ellis Lakeview" (Wendy Rosen photos).

Incidents cited in the petition include: • 5/2/21: Someone drove into the parking gate, smashing into cars • 5/27: Two women were attacked by a man on the 1st floor to the point where an ambulance was called • 6/1: Gunshots were fired in and around the building • 7/8: A neighbor in the building was shot • 8/15: A drive-by shooting left several people seriously injured in the parking lot after 2 a.m.

• 10/22: A stabbing took place in the building Nadrea Satchell said her kids are spending time at her mother’s house because they don’t know what they will encounter when they come home. Broken doors and gates provide building access to anyone. “We have no security patrolling the front to make sure no one would just come in and out of the units, and people are able to walk amongst the floors, you know, where tenant’s kids are out.”

Residents also complained about months of low water pressure, no hot water, leaking pipes, and standing water.

“Morning chores, you know, washing breakfast dishes, taking a shower, even doing regular chores have become, you know, becoming a really big task because we have to boil water to even get a hot shower or to wash our dishes,” said Satchell.

Arthur is another tenant who said he never knows when standing water in the tub is going to make it hard to get ready for work.

Arthur holds a sign with tenant demands at a press conference on Dec. 29, 2021 (Wendy Rosen photo).

The City of Chicago’s complaint cites “very low hot water pressure.” HUD discovered the same issue and sent Apex two penalty notices on May 13 and October 21 threatening fines for inadequate hot water pressure, no hot water, and slow drainage with sediment backing up into bathtubs. A court-ordered demand in October pushed Apex to file for a permit to begin plumbing work, but advocates and tenants say there is no indication the work is ongoing.

Rodent and pest infestation is another constant problem that Ellis Lakeview management documented in a November 2020 letter to a pest control company: “the building is covered in roaches, bed bugs, and mice.” HUD also found evidence of pest infestation when they checked the building nearly a year later, on Aug. 30-31, 2021. Inspectors noted rodent holes, dead mice, and live cockroaches in HUD PrePenalty Notices sent to Apex in May and October.

“I don’t think they would live like this,” said resident Mike White.

“We’re human beings and the way they’re treating us is unethical.”

The ETA is calling on Apex/Integra to retract its motion to keep tenants and advocates from speaking at Building Court Hearings. ETA also wants the landlord to repair the plumbing system, to hire 24-hour on-site security, and to fix all remaining problems. If those requests cannot be met, then tenants are calling for a new, responsible building owner to be put in place through receivership, according to the press release.

Wendy Rosen is a multimedia reporter covering a range of issues from immigration to housing. She is a winner of the National Federation of Press Women 2019 National Communications Contest for her photo story in StreetWise on Chicago’s Rohinga refugee community.

www.streetwise.org

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Living and working in a long, cold windy city winter

by StreetWise Vendor A. Allen

Living in the Windy City, we have to deal with what Lou Rawls in "Dead End Street" called "The Hawk," the ice cold, damp wind, that blows into Chicago every winter off Lake Michigan.

Yes, after the holiday celebrations, starting with Thanksgiving, Christmas and now ending with the New Year's happiness season, we vendors are still here suiting up and booting up, showing up and posting up at our locations to be there when customers may want to purchase a StreetWise magazine.

We are not a seasonal magazine. We are an all year round magazine. Therefore, we must show ourselves to be all year round vendors. The magazine cannot sell itself, but needs some diehard vendors, vendors who will be there thick and thin -- not when things get thick, vendors get thin.

We continue to endure with hardiness like good soldiers, accepting the bad with the good.

INSIDE STREETWISE

Yes, we've had our holiday season, with the many cards, gifts and tips. Now comes the other part: showing up and being faithful during hard or cold times.

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As vendors, we know this is all a part of our job description. Chicago has its seasons and winter is part of the four seasons. We don't just show up for three seasons and take a break. We show up for the coldest and worst season because we are dedicated to the code of conduct and work ethic of accepting the good with the bad, because this is what we do.

We know how to prepare ourselves for the weather. It's not like it takes us by surprise. It happens gradually, and we have plenty of time to boot up and layer up for the blistering coldness of Windy City Chicago.

I have a Weather App on my phone and I check it the day before. Every 10 degrees of cold calls for adjustments in dressing.

The weather can be hazardous to your health, so you have to prepare yourself by putting on layers: long underwear, jogging pants, thick corduroy pants, jeans, or snow pants;

Vendor A. Allen (right) and fellow vendor Adrian Gardner suit up for the cold.

then, long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, jacket and a coat. Some vendors wear canvas overalls. Don't forget the headgear, which includes hat and earmuffs with face covering. Last, but not least, you need handwarmers and gloves or mittens.

Feet are especially important. You need two pair of socks, and leather shoes to hold in the heat. "The Hawk" will cut right through canvas shoes and their holes. On a snowy, wet, day, you can have plastic bags over the socks to keep the moisture away from your feet.

Many of us have come from challenging backgrounds. This could be our last chance at an honest life.

So, we want to thank StreetWise and all of our supporters for making this opportunity available.

Rain, sleet or snow, every StreetWise magazine must go. If our paths cross in the blistering cold weather of Chicago, we want you to know your support during these cold and harsh times is really appreciated.

1 to 9.

Streetwise 1/9/17 Crossword

Sudoku

To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

©2016 PuzzleJunction.com

55 Dart 56 Genetic info carrier 57 Promising words 58 Render unnecessary 61 Greek goddess of fate 63 Shortages 64 Ties up 65 Means of escape 66 Geneva’s river

6 Strands 34 Australian 7 Durable wood runner 8 Baseball 36 Botheration glove 38 Beaver-like 9 Plastic ___ aquatic rodent Band 41 Crude stone 10 Kind of dance artifacts 11 Bard’s before 43 Come in again 12 Burn slightly 47 Memory units 13 Choice 49 Apartments morsels 51 Brooks of 14 Warlock country music 23 Bivouacs 52 Turn red, 24 Drudge maybe 25 Building 53 Dig deeply addition Down 54 Trunk growth 1 Eccentric 27 Overcharge 55 Send packing 2 Sharp as a tack 28 Baseball stat 58 Jonson work 29 Willowy 3 Physique, 59 Entreat slangily 30 From the East 60 Dictionary Copyright ©2016 PuzzleJunction.com 4 Bagel choice 31 Highlanders abbr.

32 Frigid 5 Decrepit 62 Cry of surprise

Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

©PuzzleJunction.com

last week's Solution Puzzle Answers

Solution

Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at

PuzzleJu

Crossword Across 1 Kind of gun 5 Tooth part 9 Smog 13 Pack animal 14 Environs 15 Hip bones 16 Cake topper 17 Vault 18 Lily of the opera 19 Bird genus 20 Black gold 22 Detective’s choice 24 Auction off 26 Unkempt hair 28 Frazier foe 29 Fish hawk 32 Ta’izz’s land 36 West Indies music 39 Make lace 41 Beget 42 Chapter in history 43 “Silent Spring” subject 45 Bossy remark?

47 Fired up 48 Approaching 50 Many, many years 52 Former Sultan of Turkey’s decrees 54 TV studio sign 56 Birds of Jove 58 Morning moisture 60 Honey maker 61 Kind of seal 65 Protective wall 69 Utmost degree 71 ___ Paese cheese

©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

72 73 75 77 78 79 80 81 82

Face shape Crescent Throat dangler Yearn The big house 60’s protest Knowing about Sinuous dance Biblical verb

Down 1 Bolivian capital 2 Courtroom event 3 Ornamental vase 4 NASA scrub 5 Lividity 6 North Yorkshire river 7 Pastoral expanses

8 ___ New Guinea 9 Flower people 10 African flower 11 Brass component 12 Orient 13 Slant 21 Hold back 23 Like a fox 25 Type of cabin 27 Treat like a dog?

30 Dejected 31 Sweet potato 33 Not piquant 34 Great Lakes lake 35 Trawling equipment 36 City near Lake Tahoe 37 Yeats’s land

38 40 44 46 49 51 53 55 57 59 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 74 76

Madly in love Sitting room?

Water tester Bauxite, e.g.

Spanish nobleman Catch in the act ___ Wednesday Agent (Abbr.)

Family subdivisions European language Borders on Kindled anew Builder’s need Pullover Mary Kay rival Go ballistic Ballet wear Silence Zilch Routing word

www.streetwise.org

How StreetWise Works

Our Mission

Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.

Financial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.

Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.

S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.

THE PLAYGROUND

To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.

Solution

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