The Chicago Reporter

The Florida Board of Education has banned a misconstrued and warped version of critical race theory and rejected the proposal to teach AP African American Studies in high schools. It approved standards that would, amongst other things, require teachers to explain that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”. It has prohibited teachers from using students’ preferred pronouns, and it has effectively banned AP Psychology by requiring content relating to sexuality and gender be removed, which would prevent the course from receiving AP credit, though this decision has been reversed. These recent decisions have all been made in an attempt to teach children about a world that doesn’t exist.

The first article in this series on financial disparities in Cook County, “Wealth Inequality and the Racial Wealth Gap,” discussed the extent of contemporary racial inequities in the County. Black and Latinx Cook County residents are more likely to be financially vulnerable than Black and Latinx individuals elsewhere in the country, and significantly less likely […]

“I’ve had many really beautiful experiences. But that doesn’t mean that my gas wasn’t cut off over the years, or that I didn’t get my car repoed once or twice,” Dorian Sylvain said, laughing. The Chicago-based multi-hyphenate—artist, curator, and educator—sat behind a desk in her light-soaked Kenwood gallery, surrounded by scattered canvases and paper collages […]

After two years of leading creative writing workshops in the Cook County Jail, University of Chicago student Ethan Ostrow said there is one moment he thinks about often. He recalled how one participant shared that he had been charged with manslaughter after killing his best friend in a drunk driving accident. “Watching him blink back […]

Man pays restaurant bill electronically (Norma Mortenson 2020)

Volunteers pack boxes of groceries at Nourishing Hope’s Hub in Ravenswood. (Abel Uribe, 2024)

A new Northwestern University study found that most justice-involved youth with a mental health disorder did not receive needed services during the 16 years after detention. The lack of services was greatest among persons who were Black, male, or had substance use or disruptive behavior disorders.

Between 2005 and 2020, the number of children facing simultaneous water and food insecurity in the United States more than doubled. Additionally, Black and Hispanic children were several times more likely than white children to experience food and water insecurity at the same time. This is according to new research by Asher Rosinger, associate professor of […]

Protests at the Democratic National Conference were peaceful. That didn’t stop officers from making arrests. Police body camera footage has revealed potential police misconduct and possible First Amendment violations at a pro-Palestine protest during August’s Democratic National Convention. What began as a peaceful protest ended in the police arresting 59 people, including three journalists, and […]

Protesters took to the streets following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade (Josh Pacheco 2022)