Good Tuesday morning, Evanston.
In response to last Friday’s discovery of three nooses in a tree between Kingsley Elementary School and Haven Middle School in Evanston and Saturday’s shooting by a self-described white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in Buffalo, the Evanston branch of the NAACP helped organize a rally against racism Monday at Fountain Square.
The Rev. Michael Nabors, President of the local NAACP chapter and Senior Pastor at Second Baptist Church in Evanston, hosted the rally in partnership with the Interfaith Houses of Worship, Evanston Own It and Evanston Cradle to Career.
“Maybe this can be the epicenter for starting a movement of goodwill to put an end to racism,” Nabors said. “Because it has to be crushed. It has to be vanquished. It has to be killed. I’m not talking about the racist, but I’m talking about racism.”
This summer, the City of Evanston and a collective of nine community organizations are addressing the complex problem of youth violence with what might seem like a simple solution: To keep kids safe and busy.
The “safe summer” rollout includes a block party on Hovland Court on June 4, monthly First Friday celebrations in Mason Park, a brand-new teen center at Gibbs-Morrison, an in-person and virtual summer youth employment program and a new local holiday of sorts: Violence Prevention Week.
The spring membership drive is on!
During our spring membership drive, we’re asking Evanstonians: What does the RoundTable – and local journalism – mean to you? Mayor Daniel Biss calls the RoundTable “a critical pillar of civic participation in this community.” Here’s more of what the mayor had to say.
As a nonprofit newsroom, we depend on the community’s support to power our growing coverage of Evanston’s city government, schools, arts and cultural scene and the local economy.
COVID-19 by the numbers: 48 new cases were reported Sunday, May 15, the last day the city updated totals. The seven-day average is 62 cases per day.
Elsewhere on the RoundTable website
At This Time: Monday at 6:22 p.m. Chloe McGhee and Ryan Deakin hit the hammock on Northwestern’s landfill. They met as athletes and graduated in March. “We are trying to figure out what’s next,” said McGhee, who played soccer and hopes to apply to a doctoral program in neuroscience. Deakin is a wrestler. “He’s very good,” she said. “He just won the national championship.” He hopes to keep training. They hammock a few times a week. “It’s so relaxing,” McGhee said. (Photo by Richard Cahan)
Skokie Police say slain 9-year-old was from Chicago. A spokesperson for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday that the office initially had Darrow Avenue in Evanston as the residence for shooting victim Jeremiah Ellis, but officials recently updated his address to Douglas Boulevard in Chicago.
The Art of Making Art: James Deeb. Deeb, whose subject matter is creative, figurative pieces that primarily feature faces, said artists develop a “collection of idiosyncrasies” to help make their work unique. If one thing really stands out about Deeb’s work, it might be the massive amount of oil paint he uses on his pieces.
Levy Lecture: ‘Chicago by Gaslight’ with Rich Lindberg. Lindberg’s May 10 lecture, based on research compiled for his book, focused on Chicago history from 1880 through 1905, a time known as the Gilded Age. He referred to Chicago as “the fastest-growing city in the world between 1840 and 1890.”
Theater review: ‘Athena’ is about fencing – and much more. RoundTable contributor Cissy Lacks writes that in the Writers Theatre production of Athena, everything is all about fencing – and not about fencing at all. Two teens spend most of their time on stage in fencing gear, but their conversations are about much more.
Main-Dempster Mile and Evanston Made join forces to host the Arts and Craft Beverage Crawl this Thursday. Visit pop-up art galleries in stores all over Main, Dempster and Chicago Avenue while enjoying tastings of Sketchbook beer, FEW Spirits and Kombucha Brava.
Evanston Library accepting submissions for literary magazine. The 10th Ward Lit magazine is a digital literary magazine edited and published by the Evanston Public Library. The magazine looks to showcase the diverse artistic voices of Evanstonians. “Healing” will be the theme for the upcoming issue.
Join our team: The Evanston RoundTable is growing! Check out our jobs page for opportunities in editorial and development.
Around the web
Lightfoot sets earlier citywide weekend curfew. In response to a downtown shooting near the Bean that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old boy, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a citywide weekend curfew of 10 p.m. for unaccompanied minors as well as a weekend ban on unaccompanied youth in Millennium Park after 6 p.m. on Thursdays through Sundays.
Professors and state representatives host Northwestern teach-in on Roe v. Wade. Legal studies Professor Joanna Grisinger said 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.
Chicagoans who live near heavy-traffic corridors are breathing the most polluted air. A new network of air quality sensors set up around Chicago reveals that highways and industrial plants are creating worse pollution in many neighborhoods on the West and South sides of the city, including majority Black or Hispanic communities like Little Village, Auburn-Gresham and Austin.
A substance found in young spinal fluid helps old mice remember. A research team at Stanford University has found a potential breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment after discovering that an injection of spinal fluid from young mice improved the memory of older mice.
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