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■ Leaders discuss police reform, defunding during online event, PAGE 4
Vol. 34 No. 41
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October 7, 2020
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
Barbara b West to retire, PAGE 4
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Documentary about West Side rowing team screened in Austin “A Most Beautiful Thing” and subsequent online discussion also screened in Oak Park By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Last Friday, the One Earth Film Festival, the Parks Foundation and the Park District of Oak Park hosted a screening of the recently released documentary film, “A Most Beautiful Thing,” at the Kehrein Center of the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. in Austin. Another screening of the documentary was held simultaneously on the grounds of Cheney Mansion in Oak Park, where about 50 people sitting 6 feet apart took in the story of the first Black high school rowing team in the nation. Afterward, Reesheda Graham Washington, of RGW Consulting and Live Cafe & Creative Space, facilitated a virtual panel discussion that included Arshay Cooper, one of the film’s subjects and an author whose book serves as the basis for the film. The park district’s screening of “A Most Beautiful Thing” comes amid a years-long effort by the Park District of Oak Park and leading community members to build a new indoor recreation center in the village and as Grace and Peace Church and By The Hand Club for Kids prepare to break ground on the North Austin Community Center, which is set to open next year. The documentary works in the vein of Steve James — the longtime Oak Parker whose See SCREENING on page 9
PASCAL SABINO/Block Club Chicago
TELLING THEIR STORY: Jonathan Kelley and Chelsea Ridley are co-founders of the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot. Kelley said that the popup exhibit, called “Lawndale: A Living History” is about appreciating the community’s history while it’s here.
West Side elders honored in outdoor living history exhibit “It’s about appreciating history while it’s here,” said Jonathan Kelley, co-founder of the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot at 16th and Spaulding.
By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
A new exhibit at the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot taps into one of the most valuable resources the West Side has to offer: the wisdom of elders who spent much of their lives in the neighborhood.
The elders whose portraits are featured in the “Lawndale: A Living History” exhibit have seen the neighborhood undergo many transformations. Their collective memory is put on display at the pop-up gallery to educate younger generations on the neighborhood’s history.
“I never knew that Dr. King even spoke here, so I learned something new,” said DeJa Smith, who lives nearby the Spaulding Memorial Garden at 16th Street and Spaulding Avenue where the gallery is set up.
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See LIVING HISTORY on page 6
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com