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Publisher & Editor
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Morris Reed
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Michael Romain
The Culture
CONTACT US at stories@ourculture.us
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“The
New
106-foot mural honors the neighborhood’s migration story and its legendary leaders—from Dr. Daniel Hale Williams to Jacqueline Reed
By MICHAEL ROMAIN The Culture
One of the newest public art installations on the West Side tells the sweeping story of Austin’s Black community — from the Great Migration to the rise of leaders like Congressman Danny K. Davis, one of six prominent West Siders whose faces dominate the mural.
Community members gathered Sept. 6 to unveil The Bloom of Resilience, which covers the west-facing wall of the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, 5500 W. Madison St. The 15-foot-tall mural stretches 106 feet along the exterior and wraps 37 feet inside the building.
The work is by artist Shawn Michael Warren, an Austin native once commissioned by Oprah Winfrey to paint her portrait for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Winfrey discovered Warren after seeing his West Loop mural at 855 W. Madison St.
“From the mural, there was an energy that came through that I thought expressed everything I’ve tried to be,” Winfrey said in 2023.
“And I said, ‘I think he’s the one.’”
Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together (ACT), said Warren stood out during last year’s request-for-proposals process.
“He was leagues above everyone else,” Shields said at the unveiling. “He knew this needed to be community-led, and he understood the assignment.”
Warren, who lived in Austin until age 6, worked closely with community members selected by Austin Forward.Together — the neighborhood’s quality-of-life plan — and the Westside Health Authority
(WHA). The groups co-developed the Aspire Center and budgeted up to $150,000 for the mural.
“This was a full-circle moment for me,” Warren said. “I wanted the community in the driver’s seat. The mural had to be shaped by their voices, memories, and dreams.”
Warren, a graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago,
painted the piece on mural cloth (polytab), a lightweight synthetic fabric that allows artists to work indoors and then install panels on-site.
The mural’s northern section shows Black life in the South, then transitions to a partial map of Illinois and the Midwest. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, the pioneering heart surgeon who founded the nation’s first non-segregated hospital, appears next to an image of doctors in surgery. Beneath them, a chrysanthemum — Chicago’s official flower — blooms.
Other sections highlight Austin’s “children of the migration”
— prominent residents who came north from the South. Among them:
• Leola Spann, education and healthcare advocate and longtime head of the Northwest Austin Council, who died in 2005.
• Mildred Wiley, founding ACT chairperson and fixture at Bethel New Life, who died in 2019. “She set me straight real quick,” Shields recalled. “She said, ‘If you want to
learn this work, you gotta get out here in the community.’ From that day on, I was forged by the fire of Mildred Wiley.”
• MacArthur “Mac” Alexander, founder of the iconic soul food restaurant MacArthur’s. His niece and manager, Sharon McKennie, shared, “Mac gave me my first job — and fired me. He told me, ‘You have to listen. When you learn, then you speak.’ I’ve been running MacArthur’s since 1997.”
Inside the Aspire Center, the mural continues with portraits of Congressman Davis and Jacqueline Reed, WHA’s founder.
“Danny Davis is the greatest historian on the West Side I’ve ever talked to,” Reed said. “He’s always been the leader for us in Congress.”
Davis recalled Reed’s determination to create WHA.
“She came and said, ‘I’m going to organize a health authority,’” Davis said. “I said, ‘Jackie, an authority? Whose authority?’ She said, ‘The people’s authority.’ And she did.”
State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford praised both Davis and Reed, noting that Davis appears in several other West Side murals.
“When I first ran for office, Jackie Reed got in my face and said, ‘I don’t know who you think you are,’” Ford said. “We need leaders like that who safeguard our community.”
Reed called the mural’s subjects a “cloud of witnesses … so many people have worked and fought out here.”
September 17-30
Saturday, Sept. 20, 9 a.m., Chicago and Mayfield | Austin P.O.W.E.R. 5K | Register now for the Austin P.O.W.E.R. 5K, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Enjoy this family reunion-style celebration of fitness, fun, and community. Walk, run, dance, or cheer–there’s something for everyone. Event features a live DJ, Kids Zone, 360 Photobooth, refreshments, an after-party, and food vendors. For more info or to register, visit austinpower5k.com/. Tickets are $45 per person and $450 for a team of 10.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 6:30 p.m., Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | 2025 Freedom Fund Concert Fundraiser | Join the NAACP-Chicago Westside Branch for an inspiring event of live music, community celebration, and collective purpose featuring a live performance by the incomparable Terisa Griffin. VIP Tickets: $125 (includes VIP prereception access - 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., premium concert seating, and event recognition). General admission: $50 (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). Valet and shuttle service available. Buy your tickets now at bit.ly/CWB25Tickets.
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 4-6 p.m., Alt Space Chicago, 5645 W. Corcoran Pl. | Austin Providers Networking Night | Free event with art activities, food, music, and community conversation. Connect with local partners to explore collaboration and community safety resources and initiatives. RSVP at https:// forms.gle/PeKeedRSiDuTJuSV7.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 6 – 8:30 p.m., Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. | Just(Us) Dinners: Art of Living with Marcia Festen | A restorative evening of community connection featuring a live, handson art workshop with artist Marcia Festen. Includes dinner, guided conversation, and reflection. Only 45 spots are available. $15 deposit required (returned upon participation). Register: brushfire.com/kcachicago/ justusdinners1/607611/register.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Austin (Soul City Corridor) | Forty Acres Fresh Market & PNC Bank Grand Opening | Free community celebration and ribbon-cutting with food, refreshments, and family-friendly entertainment. Experience Forty Acres’ first full-service grocery store and PNC’s new branch. Open to the public.
LOOK AHEAD!
Saturday, Oct. 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., L. May Creations, 5936 W. Chicago Ave. | Tea Party | Hosted by 29th Ward Alderman Chris Taliaferro, this tea party welcomes ages 35–55. Registration is required to attend. RSVP: 773237-6460. Light refreshments will be served.
Saturday, Oct. 11, 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Legler Regional Library, 115 S. Pulaski Ave. | History Harvest: The Westside Family | Digitize family photos and documents, share oral histories, take portraits, and learn how to preserve your keepsakes. Scrapbooking, handson projects, and activities for all ages. Refreshments provided. Hosted by Westside Historical Collective and partners. Register on eventbrite.com (Search: History Harvest: The Westside Family).
Every 2nd and 4th Saturday through Oct. 25, 10 a.m., The Hatchery Plaza, 135 N. Kedzie Ave. | Garfield Park Neighborhood Market | Shop hyper-local produce from community gardens, plus food vendors and entrepreneurs. A great place for West Side residents to support local growers. Accepts Link.
Saturdays at various West Side locations | The Austin Garden Collective now has volunteer Saturdays available. They are working to collectively cultivate community gardens in one of Austin’s over 25 diverse green spaces. To sign up or for more info, visit austingardencollective.com.
Saturdays, 12:30 - 2:30 p.m., The New Man Outreach Church, 5816 W. Chicago Ave. | First Come, First Served | Get free clothes, a free delicious dinner, free resources, counseling, housing, jobs, medical resources, senior help, and the Gospel. For more info, call (773) 413-7254.
Mondays at By The Hand Club For Kids, 415 N. Laramie | SLAM | Every Monday, By The Hand Club For Kids hosts SLAM, an event focused on games, mentors, and God, hosted by GRIP Youth. This event is for high school students.
Third Wednesday of the month, 5 - 7 p.m., Christian Valley Church, 1237 S. Homan Chicago | Out West North Lawndale MS Warriors Support Group | The National MS Society maintains a network of affiliated groups to provide opportunities for people living with multiple sclerosis to connect with others in their community. The Out West North Lawndale MS Warriors Support Group welcomes anyone living with MS, as well as their family and friends. For more info or to RSVP, contact Edwina Betts at edwinabetts@gmail.com or (312) 857-6448 or Victoria Muhammad at (708) 325-8568.
Thursdays through October (rain or shine), 1 – 6 p.m., Austin Town Hall Park, 610 W. Lake Street, | Austin Town Farmers Market | Join the party in the park! There will be live music and entertainment, live cooking demonstrations, yoga and massage therapy, and supporting local businesses. Discover the best of local, sustainable farmers and food producers, community programs for all ages, and more. Visit austintownhallcitymarket.com for more info.
Thursdays, 3 p.m., Good Neighbor Center, 5437 W. Division St. | Faith, Family and Community Overcomers Meeting | The Good Neighbor Campaign’s weekly Overcomes Meeting is open to the public and offers community members an outlet to talk about their anxiety, fears, and addictions.
Thursdays, 5 p.m., La Follette Park, 1333 N. Laramie | Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) | CARA’s Austin running crew focuses on improving the health and wellness of the Austin Community through walking and running. The group meets every Learn more at cararuns.org/arc.
Every First Saturday through June 2026, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Bethel New Life, 1140 N. Lamon Ave. | Join Bethel New Life for their next FREE Spiritual Wellness Retreat on Saturday, Sept. 6. The retreat is a space for women over 18 years old to breathe, reflect, and reconnect. We’ll gather in sisterhood for guided mindfulness practices, offering gentle rest for the mind, body, and spirit. This retreat will continue every first Saturday through June 2026, creating a rhythm of stillness in your month. There are limited spots available, so reserve your seat ASAP by contacting keely@bethelnewlife.org or (708) 677-4435.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., Legler Regional Library, 115 S. Pulaski Rd. | Saturday Story Time | Join story time for the whole family! Songs, rhymes, and books, plus suggestions for at-home activities. For kids ages 2–8 and their caregivers. Contact: (312) 746-7741 | legler@chipublib.org.
Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 – 3:30 p.m., West Chicago Avenue Branch Library, 4856 W. Chicago Ave. | Film Screening: Encanto (2021) | Watch Disney’s Encanto with the whole family! For kids ages 6–19. Popcorn provided. Contact: Karen | (312) 743-0260 | klouis@ chipublib.org.
Monday, Sept. 22, 6 – 7:15 p.m., Austin Branch, 5615 W. Race Ave. | Game Night | Unwind and clear your mind with Nintendo Switch, board, and card games in the teen area. For ages 13–19. Contact: (312) 746-5038 | access@chipublib.org.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 4 – 5 p.m., Douglass Branch, 3353 W. 13th St. | Game Day | Play video games, STEAM Machine challenges, and board games in the YOUmedia space. For ages 13–19. Contact: Douglass Teen Team | (312) 7473725 | douglass@chipublib.org.
• September 17, 2025
By MICHAEL ROMAIN The Culture
On Sept. 6, we visited Forty Acres Fresh Market, 5713 W. Chicago Ave., the West Side’s newest (and only Black-owned) full-service grocery store for a pre-opening preview, where registered shoppers got the chance to get a glimpse of the brand new store for the first time and make recommendations for how owner Liz Abunaw and her team can make things even better ahead of the store’s Sept. 27 grand opening.
During the preview, we spoke to shoppers and employees about the new store and the role food plays in their lives. These are their own words.
While walking proudly with her first bag of groceries purchased at Forty Acres Fresh Market, 5713 W. Chicago Ave., Austin resident Tiffany Grant shared her own food ambitions. These are her words. Cooking is just in me. It’s in me. I get it from my grandma and my dad. I’m passionate about making people happy. That’s just me. I cook mainly finger foods—polishes, wings, nachos, tacos—things like that. I want a store. Right now, I cook in front of my home when the weather permits, but I eventually want a storefront. Rent is just so expensive now. You’ll pay, like, $2,500 a month for a storefront on Chicago Avenue.
Shaja Porterfield studies mortuary science at Malcolm X College. A South Side native, she moved to Austin from the West Loop around six months ago to be closer to her school. She lives down the street from Forty Acres Fresh Market, where she works in the store’s butcher department under master butcher Ilya Bonel. These are her words.
I’ve been learning transferable skills. My little brother wants to go to culinary school. When he goes, he’ll have the knife skills I’ve learned. It has been a great experience so far. Everyone who works here has their own unique character. I’m completely new to the West Side, and I’ve had nothing but a good experience so far. Before this, I worked in luxury retail. I knew I wouldn’t be able to provide my clients with the best experience if I were to focus on school so hard. This job allows me to help people and focus on school.
Before I moved to the West Side, I was a little worried. I thought it might be a little dangerous. I didn’t know how people on the West Side act. But it’s been nothing but a good experience. It’s been lovely.
We want to turn this into a fully functional butcher’s area. We’re going to be getting lamb and goat soon, which is great because I’ve heard there’s a Jamaican community around here. We’ve had restaurant owners looking for goats to supply their stores. They say they don’t want to go to Pete’s. Ilya wants to provide them the best possible meat they can get.
Ilya Bonel came to Forty Acres Fresh Market from some of the city’s finest restaurants. The West Town resident explained his winding road to the West Side. These are his words.
FBY THE CULTURE Staff
orty Acres Fresh Market, 5713 W. Chicago Ave., opened its doors for limited hours (8 a.m. - 4 p.m.) on Sept. 14 during a soft opening. A community celebration and grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 27, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
But as shoppers browse the new store’s shelves and provide their input on how the store can improve before the grand opening, Forty Acres owner Liz Abunaw is working to secure a liquor license.
“Getting a liquor license is not the make-or-break factor for this store,” Abunaw said. “It’s important because we designed the store to include alcohol sales — we even set aside shelf space for it — but we’ll still operate and serve the community without it.”
Abunaw said she is pushing for a narrowly targeted, yearlong moratorium lift on a section of Chicago Avenue within the 29th Ward.
During a community meeting on the matter held on Sept. 9,
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) said he supports the temporary lift, and a majority of attendees at the meeting voted in support of temporarily lifting the moratorium in that area, Block Club Chicago reported.
If the moratorium is lifted, the store could apply for a license, but Abunaw doesn’t expect approval until well after the grand opening.
“Our proposal won’t even be heard in committee until Sept. 25,” Abunaw explained. “Even if it passes, we can’t apply for the license until October, and the process can take months.”
In the meantime, community members are expecting big things on Sept. 27, when Forty Acres and its neighbor, PNC Bank, officially open for business. PNC will offer guests the opportunity to snap a fun photo in the Chicago Bears photo booth and test their vertical jump with the Bears’ height indicator.
Chicago’s DJ Lip Gloss will provide musical entertainment. Guests will also sample complimentary small bites from the menu of Forty Acres’ hot foods provider, Mabel’s Meals.
There’s a lot to learn in the world of butchery. This flank steak comes from the cow’s right side. It’s part of the diaphragm muscles. Those help you breathe. They expand and contract. Skirt steak, flank steak, hanger steak—those are all diaphragm muscles.
I’m a trained whole meat butcher. We don’t have the capacity to do whole meat with beef, but we are switching to a whole animal program for pork. Because we knew we were going to have slow traffic and are only open limited hours for now, I wanted to bring in the minimal amount of food we could to present some cuts to everyone without a lot of food waste. That’s really important to me.
I learned butchering for at least two years under Rob Levitt, Chicago’s preeminent butcher, the head butcher at Publican Quality Meats (PQM). Before that, he was at Butcher & Larder, where I took over as head butcher when he left to go to PQM. Butcher & Larder closed (in 2013).
There aren’t a lot of real butcher shops around. You really have to go to places like Mariano’s or Whole Foods, but I wasn’t comfortable working there. So, I switched gears and went into baking. I was the production manager for Steingold’s Bakehouse. I made every bagel we produced for wholesale and at our in-house restaurants. I did that for about
a year and a half or so, but I’m always on the lookout for what’s happening in the world of butchery. I contacted (Forty Acres owner Liz Abunaw) through a job posting. We talked about the program, what I could bring to the table, what her facilities could offer me as a butcher, and we just connected.
We spoke to Harry Gilmore as he was getting ready to shop on Sept. 6. Gilmore has owned multiple storefront produce shops in Austin. These are his words.
I’ve been in Austin for over 50 years. I’ve seen things. I was here when it was predominantly white. Back then, they had plenty of places— bakeries, grocery stores, the high-end stores of the time, cleaners, a service station. Everything was here. There were no vacancies in this area. Everything was filled. This place (Forty Acres Fresh Market) used to be a Salvation Army. We used to play strike ‘em out here. Right on that wall. We’d pitch to that wall. I’ve watched things turn.
This new grocery store is long overdue. It’s needed and, in all honesty, we need it to be Black-owned. We always relinquish our spaces.
Somewhere between 2007 and 2010, I opened a produce market (on Chicago Avenue). It’s now a daycare. I’ve had several mom-and-pop stores in this area, from one end to another. I just closed Austin Foods
on Lockwood and Chicago Avenue last year. Where JJ & Fish is, I had Pine Pantry there. I’ve been in business since 1991. I’m either doing retail or rehab construction, whichever one paying the bills at the time!
The gallery will open in October and is part of an effort to turn a block-long building on North Avenue into an art district housing a cafe, shops, and affordable housing
By MICHAEL LIPTROT Block Club Chicago
An art gallery and cafe are coming to Austin as part of a larger development that would turn a stretch of North Avenue into an art district.
Third City Studio will open in October at 5538 W. North Ave. The art studio, gallery, classroom, and event space will highlight local artists, support school programs, and offer artists-in-residency programs, ownership said.
Next door, Third City Cafe is under construction and slated to open early next year. The coffee shop is dedicated to becoming a “third place” for networking, social events, live performances, and more.
“I was new to Austin,” said Jon Womack, owner of Third City Properties. “I realized that it was difficult to find a place where I could meet somebody for coffee or breakfast, lunch, and that there weren’t a lot of places, restaurants, where you could go in and that had seating.”
The two projects are the first in what organizers have dubbed the North Austin Arts District, a multiphase plan to overhaul a mixed-use complex spanning the 5500 block of North Avenue.
The project calls for an overhaul of the block-long building to include arts spaces,
Stokes, owner of the upcoming Outwest Gallery & Cafe.
“People came to the space and brainstormed ideas of how it could be used, and an arts-based operation came up. It evolved into an art gallery, studio, and classroom,” Womack said.
Third City Studio is slated to open Oct. 17 with a focus on highlighting West Side artists while remaining open to artists from across the city, staff said.
“I would like to really focus on the West Side, showing more West Side artists and giving them a platform, but also taking the diversity of Chicago and Chicago art and giving it another venue — exposing the Austin community to a wider range of diverse Chicago art,” said Sid Zalani, the gallery’s executive director.
In addition to hosting exhibitions, once the gallery opens, it will partner with after-school programs and offer classes for older people and other groups, Zalani said. Artists-in-residence programs planned for the studio will help artists learn to operate as an independent business in addition to providing them with studio space.
Zalani is organizing the gallery’s inaugural show, which is accepting art submissions through Sept. 15 of all methods and mediums, giving priority to artists who live or work on the West Side.
“It’s an opportunity for the rest of Chicago to come and exhibit in Austin,” Zalani said.
Third City Cafe is slated to open in early 2026. The cafe will serve coffee and tea drinks as well as ice cream and other prepared foods, planning documents show. Plans also include ground-floor space with additional seating on an upper level, as well as an outdoor patio. The gallery has a project cost of $365,000 and is supported by a $250,000 Community Development Grant from the city. The cafe will cost $500,000, supported by a $215,000 Neighborhood Opportunity Fund Grant from the city, in addition to a $250,000 TIF Purchase Rehab Grant, also from the city.
To submit art for the Third City Studio’s opening art show, visit thirdcitystudio.org/ artist-call-for-submissions.
new retail businesses, and affordable housing, according to project documents. Renderings show the existing building’s ornate facade enlivened with colorful murals.
The idea for an arts district and creative hub came from Womack’s conversations and partnership with community leaders like Vanessa
Read More
Read more Block Club Chicago stories at blockclubchicago.org. Contact reporter Michael Liptrot at michael@blockclubchi.org.
BY THE CULTURE Staff
Austin residents gathered on Sept. 9 at the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, 5500 W. Madison St., for Defenders of the Court, a community legal resource fair combined with a three-onthree basketball tournament.
The event featured free legal consultations, tours of the Freedom Defense Center of Austin, and information on housing, expungement, and civil rights. Organizers also offered free haircuts, food, and drinks on a first-come,
first-served basis.
My Block, My Hood, My City (MBMHMC), Austin Coming Together, Westside Health Authority, the Freedom Defense Center of Austin, and several other partners hosted the fair.
Jahmal Cole, MBMHMC founder, said the event was about building safety by investing in the community.
“There are people in Chicago who think basketball courts are magnets for violence, so to make the neighborhood safer they want to take down basketball hoops,” Cole said. “That don’t make no sense! If you want the neighborhood to get safer, you don’t send in more
cops or troops — you send in the resources, the money!”
Emanuel Andre, deputy with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office and director of the Freedom Defense Center of Austin, said the work is about empowering residents.
“Everything we do here is about access, agency, and accountability,” Andre said.
Throughout the evening, neighbors moved between games and legal aid tables, with many stopping to pick up information and speak with volunteer attorneys.
Organizers said the goal was to make legal resources accessible and to create a positive, safe space for young people and families on the West Side.
(Source: CBS News Chicago, Austin Weekly News, and Patch)
On Sunday, Aug. 24, federal agents entered an apartment building on Jackson Boulevard in the South Austin neighborhood of Chicago and detained six residents, according to the landlord, Arminda Castelin.
The raid reportedly caused fear among tenants; many remaining residents fled afterward, leaving the building nearly empty.
Castelin says the individuals taken were mostly fathers and husbands, and at least one was transported to an ICE facility in Broadview. Doors to some apartments were damaged.
Chicago Police confirmed that agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were present during the operation. Community leaders emphasize that if ICE or agents claim to be law enforcement, tenants have a right to ask for a warrant — it must be judicially signed (not by ICE), properly dated, and not misrepresent identity; residents also have rights to deny entry, remain silent, and speak to an attorney.
(Source: Austin Weekly News)
The West Side Heroin & Opioid Taskforce, founded by State Rep. La Shawn Ford, gathered in Austin on Aug. 29 to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day. More than 50 people joined a march and resource fair featuring over two dozen booths offering health information, recovery services, and overdose prevention tools like Narcan.
Taskforce Director Fanya Burford-Berry said the coalition focuses on fast access to treatment, stigma-reduction, and “meeting people where they are” with harm-reduction resources.
“We want recovery to start the moment someone is ready — with no waitlists, no red tape, and no judgment,” Burford-Berry said.
Members of the West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force connected more than 40 community organizations with local residents to commemorate International Overdose Awareness day on Aug. 31. |
By the Numbers
(Source: Austin Weekly News, Aug. 29, 2025)
• 76,000+ doses of Narcan distributed since 2019 (roughly 2,000 per month)
• 30,000+ people trained in overdose education
• 700 referrals to treatment and recovery services
• 2 dozen+ resource booths at this year’s event
• 50+ community members joined the march and fair
(Source: Chicago Transit Authority)
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will hold three public town hall meetings this month to discuss its FY2026 budget and gather rider feedback. Acting President Nora Leerhsen said the sessions will give riders and community leaders a chance to share priorities as CTA works with state lawmakers on long-term transit funding.
The West Side town hall is on Thursday, Sept. 25, at Malcolm X College, 1900 W.
Jackson Blvd., from 5:30–7 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m. Transit options include the Illinois Medical District Blue Line station, Damen Green Line station, and the #20 Madison, #50 Damen, and #126 Jackson bus routes.
Community members can also provide feedback via an online survey, soon available at transitchicago.com/2026budget. Input will help shape CTA’s proposed FY2026 budget, set to be announced in October. A separate formal public hearing will be scheduled later this fall.
(Source: CBS News Chicago)
Chicago police have charged a 14-yearold boy in connection with a July 27 shooting that left four young people wounded in West Garfield Park. The shooting happened in the 700 block of South Springfield Avenue following what investigators described as an argument that turned violent.
The victims — ages 13, 14, 15, and 16 — were all hospitalized. A 14-year-old boy who was shot in the chest remains in critical condition, while the others suffered leg wounds and are expected to recover.
The teen faces four counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. Police also linked him to a separate robbery of a 16-year-old earlier in July. He is being charged as a juvenile.
(Sources: Block Club Chicago, CBS News Chicago, ABC7, FOX32)
On Saturday, Sept. 7, Chicago Police responded to a reported car burglary in the 5500 block of West Thomas Street in the Austin neighborhood. Three people allegedly fled in a dark sedan.
Officers later located the getaway car near the intersection of Chicago and Waller avenues. The suspects’ car reportedly smashed into two marked police vehicles, pinning an officer in one of them.
When one suspect was pinned, an officer fired shots. That suspect was transported to Stroger Hospital and was pronounced dead. A second suspect was arrested at the scene. A third suspect escaped on foot; during the chase a gun was recovered that had been dropped.
Two police officers were injured, but their injuries are not life-threatening.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) is investigating the incident. Per protocol, the officers involved will be reassigned to administrative duty for at least 30 days.
(Source: ABC 7 Chicago)
Chicago faith leaders pushed back against a Trump Administration operation dubbed the “Midway Blitz,” an immigration crackdown effort, calling instead for resource investment and community support.
ABC7 Chicago reported the protest coincided with a broader local push — spearheaded by the Leaders Network — to declare Tuesday, Sept. 9, as “Resistance Tuesday in Chicago.”
Leaders say militaristic approaches won’t fix decades of systemic disinvestment and inequality. Their rallying cry: “Don’t send troops, send resources!”
The former St. Barnabas Episcopal Church will become the headquarters for the social justice program and house an arts center as part of the Sankofa Wellness Village
By MICHAEL LIPTROT
Block Club Chicago
Acenter for arts and activism is coming to a closed Garfield Park church, which will also become the headquarters for a program that helps young men vulnerable to violence and poverty.
Officials broke ground Sept. 7 on the MAAFA Center for Arts and Activism, 4241 W. Washington Blvd., formerly St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. The center will be the home base for the MAAFA Redemption Project, a social justice ministry of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, 4301 W. Washington Blvd., which bought the St. Barnabas building in 2014.
The $8 million center will also house MAAFA’s outreach services for young women and the Sanfoka School for the Arts, which will offer dance, musical theatre, visual arts and digital arts programs.
Renovations to the church building will include masonry upgrades, new flooring, a new podcast studio, workout studio, lounge areas, and arts education classrooms, leaders said. Garden spaces will be added outside the building.
“When we conceived the name of this space as the MAAFA Center for Arts and Activism, what we had in mind was a space for [our members], cultivating sources of self-regard… making sure that people on the ground understood their power,” said the Rev. Marshall Hatch Jr., executive director of the MAAFA Redemption Project.
Leaders said the groundbreaking is an act of defiance against the Trump administration, saying in a statement that “while the president
engages in political grandstanding, the reality is that grassroots organizations like MAAFA continue doing the hard, on-the-ground work of rebuilding communities from within.”
“Donald Trump can talk all day about sending troops into Chicago, but what our communities really need are resources, investment, and respect,” the Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church, said in a statement. “The MAAFA Center proves that real change doesn’t come from militarization — it comes from mobilization. This groundbreaking is our declaration that West Garfield Park is not a war zone; it’s fertile ground for hope, healing, and human dignity.”
The Redemption Project offers services to men 18-30, including education, financial empowerment, mental health, workforce development, and housing support, according to the project’s annual report. Men in the project are considered fellows in a nine-month cohort that usually runs from September to May. This May, 29 fellows graduated as part of the project’s eighth cohort, Hatch said.
In addition to these services, fellows are paired with a life coach to develop a personalized life plan, setting short- and long-term goals for themselves. This year, all fellows completed their plan, Hatch said.
The Redemption Project “changed my life for
good, for the better. I didn’t see anything different for myself but being in the street, and I was satisfied with being stagnant where I was,” said Dayquan Rollins, a member of the project’s fourth cohort from 2019 to 2020.
Rollins had been sentenced to probation when he connected with the project. He described his life at the time as “directionless.”
“MAAFA gave me something good to look up to and be like, giving me a relationship with God and knowing that God is willing and able,” Rollins said.
Today, Rollins is a staff member for the Redemption Project, working on the education team.
The new center will also house MAAFA’s Beautiful Seed Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering women 18-30 in a 24-week fellowship.
Construction is expected to begin around early November and finish summer 2026.
The $8 million project is supported by $2.3 million in grants from the city, $3.8 million in state grants, $800,000 from the Driehaus Foundation, and $450,000 from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. It’s part of the Sankofa Wellness Village, a revitalization effort in Garfield Park that won the $10 million Chicago Prize in 2023.
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Read more Block Club Chicago stories at blockclubchicago.org
Contact reporter Michael Liptrot at michael@blockclubchi.org.
