By Tristan Cabello
Bronzeville is often thought of as one of Chicago’s most prominent, African-American neighborhoods, but it was also home to a vibrant, well-accepted queer culture that emerged in the 1920s. From State Street to Cottage Grove Avenue, along 43rd and 47th Street, Bronzeville’s commercialized and jazz-influenced urban culture offered African-American queers several...
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By Bailey Williams
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, talks of record unemployment for the general U.S. population filled newspaper headlines and nightly newscasts. Alarm bells sound and talks of economic recovery continue, but not for everyone.
Almost two years before the pandemic, the Prison Policy Initiative found that the rate of unemployment for people...
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“Judge Freeman saw this ban for what it is: An effort to quash the truth and sweep under the rug an honest and long overdue reckoning with sexism and structural racism in our society.”
(San Francisco, CA, December 23, 2020) – Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued a nationwide preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from...
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By Timothy Jackson, Director of Government Relations
With the reckoning of historic racial injustices and the devastating effects of a global pandemic gripping the state and the nation as a backdrop, the Illinois General Assembly gaveled into a lame duck session beginning Friday, January 8, 2021 and ending minutes before the members of the 102nd Illinois General Assembly took their oath...
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AFC is heartbroken to learn that long-time HIV advocate Ben Montgomery passed away. Ben was a campaigner from the West Side of Chicago and fought for health care access, HIV funding and equity and justice. Ben raised hell when he needed to — and got results. He was one of the driving forces behind the first-in-the-nation HIV/AIDS Quality of Life scratch-off lottery ticket, which has raised...
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By Bailey Williams
Each year, several people living with HIV volunteer to serve on AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC)’s Ryan White Community Advisory Board. Having received services and case management under the Ryan White Care Act, the Board members bring firsthand experience to their advocacy on the Board. Their feedback and insights on new AFC initiatives, programs and case...
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Update, Dec. 3: An amicus brief was filed by the City of Seattle and 20 other local governments in support of our motion for preliminary injunction, including Chicago, Illinois.
The full list of amici includes Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Cook County, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio; Iowa City, Iowa; King County,...
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By Ashley Brown
July is Minority Mental Health Month! Created in 2008, the Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July to bring awareness to the distinct challenges faced by marginalized groups in accessing resources and care for mental illness. It is named in honor of Bebe Moore Campbell , an American author, journalist and teacher who advocated...
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Photo credit: Louie Ortiz-Fonseca, The gran varones
By Bailey Williams
You might not know the name Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, but you probably know about Philadelphia’s More Color More Pride Flag: the one that expanded the colors of the original rainbow flag to include black and brown stripes with the traditional rainbow...
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By Aisha N. Davis, Esq., Director of Policy
Na’Kia Crawford. Riah Milton. Dominique Fells. Nina Pop. Breonna Taylor. Priscilla Slater. Regis Korchinski-Paquet. Tony McDade. Oluwatoyin Salau. Rayshard Brooks. George Floyd. David McAtee. Ahmaud Arbery.
These thirteen names represent thirteen stories abruptly ended. Thirteen futures stalled. Thirteen unique lives, unique laughs,...
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