chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--When it comes to black/brown racial tensions, no one wins in the ‘Oppression Olympics’

Before friction between black and brown communities in Chicago gets more out of hand , African American and Hispanic elected officials gathered on the West Side on Thursday to plead for unity in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd .
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford , D-Maywood , said there was no point for either group “ to stand here and fight each other for crumbs — for crumbs .
None of us win if we are too busy competing in the Oppression Olympics instead of focusing on getting our fair share.
” Lightford plus other black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaders — all Democrats — gathered outside the aptly named Healing Temple Church of God in Christ , 4941 W. Chicago Ave. , on a hot day to turn down the heat .
They came together as protests continue in Chicago and other cities because Floyd , an African American , died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with his knee for 8 minutes and 26 seconds .
Looters , exploiting peaceful demonstrations , ransacked stores around the city and in some suburbs , destroying the lives and livelihoods of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the resources to reopen , especially if they were drained of cash because of the COVID-19 shutdown .
Once again , we ’ re at a place we ’ ve been : organizing after a horrible death of an African American involving a white police officer who chose to use excessive force when there were alternative ways to respond .
The officers on the scene who watched while Floyd died have also been charged .
All four have been fired .
This comes while we are stretched as never before , trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a light on white privilege while exposing black and brown racial disparities in terms of infections , deaths and economic impact .
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that some gang members were among the residents guarding local businesses , leading to racial profiling and incidents in Pilsen , Little Village and some other communities , raising racial tensions .
The headline on Marlen Garcia ’ s Sun-Times column said , “ African Americans , Latinos must unite in fight against racism.
” On Thursday , they tried , led by Reps. Danny Davis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Chuy ” Garcia , who represents the only Hispanic congressional district in Illinois .
“ We know that friction has been developing between black and Latino citizens , residents and street organizations , ” Davis said .
“ We plead with our young people .
We understand your pain and frustration .
But we plead with you , with every fiber of our being , let ’ s not violate each other .
Let ’ s not fight , but let ’ s unite , ” Davis said .
Garcia said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and appreciate over 400 years of slavery , Jim Crow and institutional white supremacy and institutions in America .
“ We are at a crossroads .
And we must find common ground .
Let me be clear , our path forward must be centered from , and with , our unity.
” This unity “ is essential if we are to progress , as a nation and as a community here in Chicago and in Illinois .
“ No single piece of legislation can bring back the countless innocent lives lost or erase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must demand concrete reform to end police brutality and dismantle a racist criminal justice system ; and we will , we must make sure that cops fired for violent offenses can never be rehired anywhere , ” Garcia said .
Davis and Garcia are looking for millions of dollars of “ new ” government money to help black and brown neighborhoods , struggling already because of the pandemic .
The office of Ald .
Emma Mitts ( 37th ) is down the street from the Healing Temple .
“ We are intertwined with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Black and brown are living side by side , ” she said .
There is no reason to fight over crumbs .
Said Mitts , “ We don ’ t need no division right now .
”

Before friction between black and brown communities in Chicago gets more out of hand, African American and Hispanic elected officials gathered on the West Side on Thursday to plead for unity in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd.
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said there was no point for either group “to stand here and fight each other for crumbs — for crumbs. None of us win if we are too busy competing in the Oppression Olympics instead of focusing on getting our fair share.”
Lightford plus other black and brown city, state and congressional leaders — all Democrats — gathered outside the aptly named Healing Temple Church of God in Christ, 4941 W. Chicago Ave., on a hot day to turn down the heat.
They came together as protests continue in Chicago and other cities because Floyd, an African American, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
Looters, exploiting peaceful demonstrations, ransacked stores around the city and in some suburbs, destroying the lives and livelihoods of small business owners who may not have the resources to reopen, especially if they were drained of cash because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Once again, we’re at a place we’ve been: organizing after a horrible death of an African American involving a white police officer who chose to use excessive force when there were alternative ways to respond. The officers on the scene who watched while Floyd died have also been charged. All four have been fired.
This comes while we are stretched as never before, trying to cope with the COVID-19 calamity — shining a light on white privilege while exposing black and brown racial disparities in terms of infections, deaths and economic impact.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that some gang members were among the residents guarding local businesses, leading to racial profiling and incidents in Pilsen, Little Village and some other communities, raising racial tensions. The headline on Marlen Garcia’s Sun-Times column said, “African Americans, Latinos must unite in fight against racism.”
On Thursday, they tried, led by Reps. Danny Davis, who is black, and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who represents the only Hispanic congressional district in Illinois.
“We know that friction has been developing between black and Latino citizens, residents and street organizations,” Davis said.
“We plead with our young people. We understand your pain and frustration. But we plead with you, with every fiber of our being, let’s not violate each other. Let’s not fight, but let’s unite,” Davis said.
Garcia said, “We need to study our history and appreciate over 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow and institutional white supremacy and institutions in America.
“We are at a crossroads. And we must find common ground. Let me be clear, our path forward must be centered from, and with, our unity.” This unity “is essential if we are to progress, as a nation and as a community here in Chicago and in Illinois.
“No single piece of legislation can bring back the countless innocent lives lost or erase the legacy of racism, but we must demand concrete reform to end police brutality and dismantle a racist criminal justice system; and we will, we must make sure that cops fired for violent offenses can never be rehired anywhere,” Garcia said.
Davis and Garcia are looking for millions of dollars of “new” government money to help black and brown neighborhoods, struggling already because of the pandemic.
The office of Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) is down the street from the Healing Temple. “We are intertwined with each other throughout the city of Chicago. Black and brown are living side by side,” she said.
There is no reason to fight over crumbs. Said Mitts, “We don’t need no division right now.”


chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--Man fatally shot in Riverdale

Man fatally shot in Riverdale

Michael Shelby was shot about 8:24 p.m. in the 600 block of West 144th Street , the Cook County medical @ @ @ @ @ .
He was pronounced dead less than an hour later .
Autopsy results found Shelby @ @ @ @ @ of a gunshot wound to the head and ruled his death a homicide , the @ @ @ @ @ said .
Riverdale police didn ’ t immediately respond to a request for details about @ @ @ @ @ on crime , and track the city ’ s homicides .

A 41-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday in south suburban Riverdale.
Michael Shelby was shot about 8:24 p.m. in the 600 block of West 144th Street, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Autopsy results found Shelby, of Robbins, died of a gunshot wound to the head and ruled his death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said.
Riverdale police didn’t immediately respond to a request for details about the shooting.
Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.


chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--Black Lives Matter protesters march in Garfield Ridge: ‘This isn’t a place to be scared of’

Black Lives Matter activists brought their message for police reform Thursday to the heart of a Southwest Side neighborhood that ’ s home to thousands of Chicago police officers .
About 300 protesters rallied outside Kennedy High School , 6325 W. 56th St. , before marching peacefully through Garfield Ridge , once home to Jason Van Dyke , the ex-officer now behind bars for killing Laquan McDonald .
A bastion of “ white flight ” dating back to the Civil Rights Movement , the neighborhood is now mostly white and Latino — and a key place to try to change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police killing of George Floyd , activists said .
“ This neighborhood isn ’ t a place to be scared of , ” marcher and Garfield Ridge resident Crystal Gonzalez said .
“ Black people and all people of color shouldn ’ t feel like , ‘ Oh , that ’ s a part of town I can ’ t come by.
’ This turnout is important because it shows this isn ’ t that type of neighborhood , and maybe we can take a small step in the right direction of more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just added to the frustration I was feeling about the fact that reforms were failing , our police departments were failing , and that voices like mine weren ’ t being heard , ” Ruiz said .
“ And that our community especially didn ’ t have representation on the matter .
That ’ s why we ’ re here.
” Edward Pledger came from Kenwood to take part .
“ To see again that people are willing to step up , to say something — it ’ s a great thing.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sidewalk by about 30 officers riding alongside on bicycles , marched for about three miles , drawing curious looks from some residents — and cheers and car honks from others .
“ The community was cheering us , was very supportive and very respectful , in general , ” organizer Nikola Stamenkovic Diez said .
Mary Shilney joined residents from nearby Clearing who stood along 55th Street handing out cold water bottles to marchers at the tail end of the trek on a hot spring afternoon .
“ Black lives do matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say ‘ all lives matter.
’ But they ’ re peaceful , and that ’ s what ’ s important , ” Shilney said .
Recording video of the march as it passed her home , Leticia Lopez said her neighbors “ are good people .
“ There are people who can be bad in any color or race .
But we can always do better , ” Lopez said .
A handful of older white men held American flags as they looked on from across Archer Avenue , a busy commercial strip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s from Garfield Ridge called it “ stupid to watch this ignorance , ” cursed at a reporter and declined to share his name .
Beyond a few profanities , the demonstration was purely peaceful — and effective , according to organizer Stamenkovic Diez .
“ I think it ’ s going to create productive dialogue , that ’ s going to hopefully , pragmatically , change the future , ” he said .
Another rally is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Union Park .

Black Lives Matter activists brought their message for police reform Thursday to the heart of a Southwest Side neighborhood that’s home to thousands of Chicago police officers.
About 300 protesters rallied outside Kennedy High School, 6325 W. 56th St., before marching peacefully through Garfield Ridge, once home to Jason Van Dyke, the ex-officer now behind bars for killing Laquan McDonald.
A bastion of “white flight” dating back to the Civil Rights Movement, the neighborhood is now mostly white and Latino — and a key place to try to change attitudes in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, activists said.
“This neighborhood isn’t a place to be scared of,” marcher and Garfield Ridge resident Crystal Gonzalez said. “Black people and all people of color shouldn’t feel like, ‘Oh, that’s a part of town I can’t come by.’ This turnout is important because it shows this isn’t that type of neighborhood, and maybe we can take a small step in the right direction of more peace, more friendliness.”
Chicago police officers keep watch as Black Lives Matter protesters march through the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on the Southwest Side Thursday. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Organizer Dave Ruiz called Floyd’s death “the straw that broke my back.
“It just added to the frustration I was feeling about the fact that reforms were failing, our police departments were failing, and that voices like mine weren’t being heard,” Ruiz said. “And that our community especially didn’t have representation on the matter. That’s why we’re here.”
Edward Pledger came from Kenwood to take part. “To see again that people are willing to step up, to say something — it’s a great thing.”
The chanting crowd, mostly kept on the sidewalk by about 30 officers riding alongside on bicycles, marched for about three miles, drawing curious looks from some residents — and cheers and car honks from others.
About 300 or so in this peaceful march, westbound on 55th now from Central. pic.twitter.com/zwi3Dnn3xe — Mitchell Armentrout (@mitchtrout) June 4, 2020
“The community was cheering us, was very supportive and very respectful, in general,” organizer Nikola Stamenkovic Diez said.
Mary Shilney joined residents from nearby Clearing who stood along 55th Street handing out cold water bottles to marchers at the tail end of the trek on a hot spring afternoon.
“Black lives do matter. I would love to hear them say ‘all lives matter.’ But they’re peaceful, and that’s what’s important,” Shilney said.
Recording video of the march as it passed her home, Leticia Lopez said her neighbors “are good people.
“There are people who can be bad in any color or race. But we can always do better,” Lopez said.
A handful of older white men held American flags as they looked on from across Archer Avenue, a busy commercial strip in the neighborhood. One who said he’s from Garfield Ridge called it “stupid to watch this ignorance,” cursed at a reporter and declined to share his name.
Men who identified themselves as Blue Lives Matter protesters stand on a corner with American flags as Black Lives Matter protesters march through Garfield Ridge Thursday. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Beyond a few profanities, the demonstration was purely peaceful — and effective, according to organizer Stamenkovic Diez.
“I think it’s going to create productive dialogue, that’s going to hopefully, pragmatically, change the future,” he said.
Another rally is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Union Park.


chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--Gabrielle Union files complaint against NBC, ‘America’s Got Talent’

LOS ANGELES — Gabrielle Union filed a complaint Thursday with the state of California against NBC and the producers of “ America ’ s Got Talent , ” the latest move in a fight over her allegations that she was fired for objecting to an on-set environment that tolerated racism .
The complaint filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing says Union was harassed and discriminated against because of her race , and experienced retaliation for reporting these problems .
The document enumerates previously reported issues that Union , who is black , had with the show ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from judges , and cites criticism she received about her hair during tapings .
“ Union , a black woman , was singled out due to her physical appearance and discriminated against by NBC due to the fact that her hair did not fit within the white image that NBC apparently sought to convey to the audience of AGT , ” the complaint states , adding that a network executive and a show producer “ informed Union ’ s manager that her hair was ‘ too wild ’ and that it needed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaint also contains new allegations that NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy called Union ’ s agents to issue unspecified threats , shared confidential information on the controversy with celebrities that the show was looking to hire and sought to undermine an investigation of Union ’ s issues .
“ The allegation that anyone involved in this process threatened Ms. Union is categorically untrue , ” the network ’ s parent company NBCUniversal said in a statement .
“ We took Ms. Union ’ s concerns seriously , and engaged an outside investigator who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the show.
” That outside investigation commissioned by the network and producers , whose results were announced last week , found Union ’ s allegations were unfounded , and had no bearing on the decision to drop her as a judge .
The review acknowledged unspecified “ areas in which reporting processes could be improved.
” Union , known for her roles in the films “ Bring It On ” and “ Bad Boys II , ” appeared on the talent showcase for a season , until she and fellow freshman judge Julianne @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Union ’ s attorney Bryan Freedman says the “ racial bullying ” she received stands in contrast to the network ’ s recent statements about being outraged by racism and standing with Black Lives Matter .
“ When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of America ’ s Got Talent , NBC did not ‘ stand ’ with her in ‘ outrage at acts of racism , ’ ” Freedman said in a statement .
“ Instead , NBC did not care enough to either promptly investigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ask HR to get involved .
Rather , NBC stood against her and directed its “ outrage ” at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experienced.
” NBCUniversal ’ s statement says the company “ remains committed to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect .
”

LOS ANGELES — Gabrielle Union filed a complaint Thursday with the state of California against NBC and the producers of “America’s Got Talent,” the latest move in a fight over her allegations that she was fired for objecting to an on-set environment that tolerated racism.
The complaint filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing says Union was harassed and discriminated against because of her race, and experienced retaliation for reporting these problems.
The document enumerates previously reported issues that Union, who is black, had with the show’s acceptance of racist jokes and remarks from judges, and cites criticism she received about her hair during tapings.
“Union, a black woman, was singled out due to her physical appearance and discriminated against by NBC due to the fact that her hair did not fit within the white image that NBC apparently sought to convey to the audience of AGT,” the complaint states, adding that a network executive and a show producer “informed Union’s manager that her hair was ‘too wild’ and that it needed to be ‘toned down.’”
The complaint also contains new allegations that NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy called Union’s agents to issue unspecified threats, shared confidential information on the controversy with celebrities that the show was looking to hire and sought to undermine an investigation of Union’s issues.
“The allegation that anyone involved in this process threatened Ms. Union is categorically untrue,” the network’s parent company NBCUniversal said in a statement. “We took Ms. Union’s concerns seriously, and engaged an outside investigator who found an overarching culture of diversity on the show.”
That outside investigation commissioned by the network and producers, whose results were announced last week, found Union’s allegations were unfounded, and had no bearing on the decision to drop her as a judge. The review acknowledged unspecified “areas in which reporting processes could be improved.”
Union, known for her roles in the films “Bring It On” and “Bad Boys II,” appeared on the talent showcase for a season, until she and fellow freshman judge Julianne Hough weren’t asked to return.
Union’s attorney Bryan Freedman says the “racial bullying” she received stands in contrast to the network’s recent statements about being outraged by racism and standing with Black Lives Matter.
“When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of America’s Got Talent, NBC did not ‘stand’ with her in ‘outrage at acts of racism,’” Freedman said in a statement. “Instead, NBC did not care enough to either promptly investigate Ms. Union’s complaints or even ask HR to get involved. Rather, NBC stood against her and directed its “outrage” at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experienced.”
NBCUniversal’s statement says the company “remains committed to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect.”


chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--‘Unacceptable’ cancer risks lead to stricter rules on ethylene oxide, but won’t impact plants in nor

‘Unacceptable’ cancer risks lead to stricter rules on ethylene oxide, but won’t impact plants in northern suburbs

After determining that cancer risks are “ unacceptable , ” the federal government has taken an initial step to reduce the release of the gas ethylene oxide into the air , but the new requirements to protect the public don ’ t apply to a pair of plants in the northern suburbs that are at the center of health concerns by residents .
Neither Medline Industries in Waukegan , which uses the gas to sterilize medical equipment , or Vantage Specialty Chemicals in Gurnee , which uses ethylene oxide to produce chemicals , are directly affected .
A new federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monitoring and safeguarding equipment , storage tanks and vents at plants to prevent leaks and the release of the carcinogenic gas into the air , according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .
Disappointed that neither Lake County facility is facing more stringent regulation , a local community group called the rule “ useless.
” The EPA action “ is nothing but a pointless sham , ” said Barb Hernandez of Gurnee , who belongs to Stop EtO in Lake County .
EtO is a shortened reference to ethylene oxide .
Sterilization operations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t being considered for the new rule , which has been the subject of review for more than a year .
However , tougher guidelines for such facilities are being considered , the EPA said .
The now-shuttered Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook was also a sterilizing operation .
Vantage , which uses ethylene oxide to produce chemicals , belongs to a class of manufacturers that was most recently being scrutinized by the EPA for the new safety rule but an agency spokeswoman said that Gurnee facility didn ’ t emit enough of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ source ” of air pollution .
Lake County residents had hoped the EPA would require strict air monitoring around the boundaries of the Gurnee plant to make sure that the cancer-causing gas doesn ’ t spread through the community .
The EPA is expected to consider new rules for sterilization plants such as Medline ’ s , though the timetable for a final action is unclear .
In a statement , the agency said it expects to issue a proposal later this year .
“ Addressing emissions of the ethylene oxide remains a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the statement said .
“ Our communities need the EPA to issue the rule regulating sterilizers and to begin air monitoring to ensure the safety of the air we breathe — anything less is yet another half-measure from [ the Trump ] administration that continues to drag its feet addressing this threat , ” Schneider said in a statement to the Sun-Times .
In a joint statement this week , Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin , both Democrats , also blasted Trump ’ s EPA for its handling of the issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still fails to protect public health and will still leave too many communities , especially communities of color , vulnerable to air pollution that creates intolerably high cancer risk.
” The Sterigenics Willowbrook sterilization site was shut down temporarily by the state of Illinois in February 2019 because of concerns about the release of the cancer-causing gas .
Last fall , the company said it will not reopen the operation .
The fallout began after a Chicago Tribune article in August 2018 reported that people living near the plant were in an area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S .
In December , the Tribune reported that a federally funded study also showed high rates of cancer in Waukegan near the Medline plant .
In January , Medline halted sterilizations to complete $ 10 million in upgrades so it can meet standards under a new Illinois law .
Operations resumed in March .
Medline spokesman Jesse Greenberg said the recent plant upgrades at the Waukegan facility are designed to capture virtually all ethylene oxide releases .
“ The safety of the community and our employees will continue to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Vantage complies with all state and federal rules and permits and will continue to do so , ” Vantage spokesman Dennis Culloton said .
The EPA ’ s new rules regarding ethylene oxide will require tougher rules for seven Illinois plants , all of them outside the Chicago area .
They include Stepan Co. in Elwood and BASF in Kankakee .
The other plants identified by EPA are DynaChem in Georgetown , Emerald Performance Materials in Henry , Equistar Chemicals in Morris , Marquis Energy in Hennepin and Solutia in Sauget @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust .

After determining that cancer risks are “unacceptable,” the federal government has taken an initial step to reduce the release of the gas ethylene oxide into the air, but the new requirements to protect the public don’t apply to a pair of plants in the northern suburbs that are at the center of health concerns by residents.
Neither Medline Industries in Waukegan, which uses the gas to sterilize medical equipment, or Vantage Specialty Chemicals in Gurnee, which uses ethylene oxide to produce chemicals, are directly affected. A new federal rule announced this week is aimed at monitoring and safeguarding equipment, storage tanks and vents at plants to prevent leaks and the release of the carcinogenic gas into the air, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Disappointed that neither Lake County facility is facing more stringent regulation, a local community group called the rule “useless.”
The EPA action “is nothing but a pointless sham,” said Barb Hernandez of Gurnee, who belongs to Stop EtO in Lake County. EtO is a shortened reference to ethylene oxide.
Sterilization operations like Medline’s plant weren’t being considered for the new rule, which has been the subject of review for more than a year. However, tougher guidelines for such facilities are being considered, the EPA said. The now-shuttered Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook was also a sterilizing operation.
Vantage, which uses ethylene oxide to produce chemicals, belongs to a class of manufacturers that was most recently being scrutinized by the EPA for the new safety rule but an agency spokeswoman said that Gurnee facility didn’t emit enough of the gas to be considered a “major source” of air pollution.
Lake County residents had hoped the EPA would require strict air monitoring around the boundaries of the Gurnee plant to make sure that the cancer-causing gas doesn’t spread through the community.
The EPA is expected to consider new rules for sterilization plants such as Medline’s, though the timetable for a final action is unclear. In a statement, the agency said it expects to issue a proposal later this year.
“Addressing emissions of the ethylene oxide remains a major priority for the agency,” the statement said.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., echoed concerns voiced by Hernandez.
“Our communities need the EPA to issue the rule regulating sterilizers and to begin air monitoring to ensure the safety of the air we breathe — anything less is yet another half-measure from [the Trump] administration that continues to drag its feet addressing this threat,” Schneider said in a statement to the Sun-Times.
In a joint statement this week, Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, both Democrats, also blasted Trump’s EPA for its handling of the issue: “EPA’s final rule still fails to protect public health and will still leave too many communities, especially communities of color, vulnerable to air pollution that creates intolerably high cancer risk.”
The Sterigenics Willowbrook sterilization site was shut down temporarily by the state of Illinois in February 2019 because of concerns about the release of the cancer-causing gas. Last fall, the company said it will not reopen the operation. The fallout began after a Chicago Tribune article in August 2018 reported that people living near the plant were in an area with some of the highest cancer risks in the U.S. In December, the Tribune reported that a federally funded study also showed high rates of cancer in Waukegan near the Medline plant.
In January, Medline halted sterilizations to complete $10 million in upgrades so it can meet standards under a new Illinois law. Operations resumed in March.
Medline spokesman Jesse Greenberg said the recent plant upgrades at the Waukegan facility are designed to capture virtually all ethylene oxide releases. “The safety of the community and our employees will continue to be our top priority,” he said.
Vantage officials declined requests for an interview.
“Vantage complies with all state and federal rules and permits and will continue to do so,” Vantage spokesman Dennis Culloton said.
The EPA’s new rules regarding ethylene oxide will require tougher rules for seven Illinois plants, all of them outside the Chicago area. They include Stepan Co. in Elwood and BASF in Kankakee. The other plants identified by EPA are DynaChem in Georgetown, Emerald Performance Materials in Henry, Equistar Chemicals in Morris, Marquis Energy in Hennepin and Solutia in Sauget.
Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.


chicagosun-times--2020-06-04--Rapper Vic Mensa: ‘The real looting is the looting of the body of George Floyd’ and other African Am

Rapper Vic Mensa: ‘The real looting is the looting of the body of George Floyd’ and other African Americans killed by police

Rapper Vic Mensa joined Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle at a Thursday news conference focused on encouraging people to help repair small businesses that were looted or vandalized , but the singer and activist said that if people really want to clean up the community , “ don ’ t wait until it burns down.
” The Chicago rapper said the “ real looting ” is the schools closed on the South and West Sides , while a new police academy is being planned and the black bodies “ stolen by police officers in our city and across our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the East 47th Street headquarters of Mensa ’ s SaveMoneySaveLife Foundation , which promises to use art and entertainment “ to foster sustainable change.
” Mensa called for an “ end to police brutality , ” saying that if officers charged in George Floyd killing in Minneapolis were bad apples , it ’ s time to “ cut down the tree.
” Preckwinkle spoke of the neighborhoods and businesses that were ransacked over the past few days as some used peaceful protests following the Floyd ’ s death in Minneapolis by police as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ encouraged people to help “ repair the devastation we ’ re facing ” and acknowledged that many feel “ frustrated , traumatized and exhausted ” by the coronavirus pandemic , the high rates of unemployment and the toll of racism .
“ Along with these protests we must return to rebuilding our communities that have been devastated by looting and destruction , ” Preckwinkle said .
“ We must protect our family-owned , minority-owned businesses who are still cleaning up broken glass and decimated shelves.
” Preckwinkle said thousands of residents have already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and she encouraged everyone “ to continue forward in the spirit of community.
” Mensa focused on what sparked the protests in the first place , not the looting that also occurred .
“ The real looting is the looting of the body of George Floyd , the looting of the body of Laquan McDonald , the looting of the body of Rekia Boyd , ” Mensa said , referring to two Chicagoans whose killings at the hands of police made headlines .
Mensa also named Breonna Taylor , killed by police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ronald “ Ronnie man ” Johnson , killed in Chicago in 2014 .
“ What I will march for is an end to police brutality .
What I will march for is defunding police .
This is not a situation of bad apples … only so many bad apples , and you must have a rotten tree , at which point we need to cut the tree down and replant it.
” Mensa and Preckwinkle were joined by Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry , Chicago Board of Elections Commissioner Jonathan Swain , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and other small business owners .
Swain said the business has been in his family since the 1970s .
He said last week , a group of people in cars “ broke our doors , ran our store and ransacked our business.
” Swain said he doesn ’ t condone burglary or looting but knows that the unrest seen in recent days was brought on by “ generation upon generation of racial injustice and economic injustice.
” Those injustices also make it harder for black businesses to recover , Swain said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ businesses in our community , or our homes , our families do not have the wealth to rebuild and don ’ t have the wealth to provide collateral for bank loans , ” Swain said .
“ So we are in a more desperate challenge .
So what I would encourage folks to do as we move forward — let ’ s channel our energies in the right direction toward protests and civil disobedience , let ’ s make sure that we are investing in our businesses .
Let ’ s keep the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frustration , not how we communicate it .
”

Rapper Vic Mensa joined Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle at a Thursday news conference focused on encouraging people to help repair small businesses that were looted or vandalized, but the singer and activist said that if people really want to clean up the community, “don’t wait until it burns down.”
The Chicago rapper said the “real looting” is the schools closed on the South and West Sides, while a new police academy is being planned and the black bodies “stolen by police officers in our city and across our nation.”
Mensa and Preckwinkle spoke at the East 47th Street headquarters of Mensa’s SaveMoneySaveLife Foundation, which promises to use art and entertainment “to foster sustainable change.”
Mensa called for an “end to police brutality,” saying that if officers charged in George Floyd killing in Minneapolis were bad apples, it’s time to “cut down the tree.”
Preckwinkle spoke of the neighborhoods and businesses that were ransacked over the past few days as some used peaceful protests following the Floyd’s death in Minneapolis by police as a cover to loot businesses.
Preckwinkle encouraged people to help “repair the devastation we’re facing” and acknowledged that many feel “frustrated, traumatized and exhausted” by the coronavirus pandemic, the high rates of unemployment and the toll of racism.
“Along with these protests we must return to rebuilding our communities that have been devastated by looting and destruction,” Preckwinkle said. “We must protect our family-owned, minority-owned businesses who are still cleaning up broken glass and decimated shelves.”
Preckwinkle said thousands of residents have already stepped up to help with neighborhood cleanup, and she encouraged everyone “to continue forward in the spirit of community.”
Mensa focused on what sparked the protests in the first place, not the looting that also occurred.
“The real looting is the looting of the body of George Floyd, the looting of the body of Laquan McDonald, the looting of the body of Rekia Boyd,” Mensa said, referring to two Chicagoans whose killings at the hands of police made headlines. Mensa also named Breonna Taylor, killed by police in Louisville earlier this year, and Ronald “Ronnie man” Johnson, killed in Chicago in 2014.
“What I will march for is an end to police brutality. What I will march for is defunding police. This is not a situation of bad apples … only so many bad apples, and you must have a rotten tree, at which point we need to cut the tree down and replant it.”
Mensa and Preckwinkle were joined by Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry, Chicago Board of Elections Commissioner Jonathan Swain, who owns Kimbark Beverage Shoppe in Hyde Park, and other small business owners.
Swain said the business has been in his family since the 1970s. He said last week, a group of people in cars “broke our doors, ran our store and ransacked our business.”
Swain said he doesn’t condone burglary or looting but knows that the unrest seen in recent days was brought on by “generation upon generation of racial injustice and economic injustice.”
Those injustices also make it harder for black businesses to recover, Swain said.
“When it comes to rebuilding our businesses in our community, or our homes, our families do not have the wealth to rebuild and don’t have the wealth to provide collateral for bank loans,” Swain said. “So we are in a more desperate challenge. So what I would encourage folks to do as we move forward — let’s channel our energies in the right direction toward protests and civil disobedience, let’s make sure that we are investing in our businesses. Let’s keep the spotlight on the real cause of our frustration, not how we communicate it.”


chicagosun-times--2020-06-05--Dear Abby: After son’s suicide, despairing father considers it too

DEAR ABBY : My wife and I lost our son to suicide a few years ago .
We have never gotten over it .
I have recovered somewhat and would like to resume having intimate relations , but she ’ s not that far along .
I no longer feel there ’ s any reason to continue on this earth .
There is no point to my being here .
I think about suicide daily .
I have been told that if I were going to do this and hurt my family as my son did , I would ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I have been cast into a hell that ’ s impossible to bear .
There is no way to describe the pain , anger and sorrow we feel .
I want to die because I feel the world would be a better place without my sorrowful self taking up resources .
I have sought help ever since we lost my son , and have been taking all kinds of medication that I no longer want to take .
Is there a way out other than my option ?
— BEYOND DEPRESSED DEAR @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sympathy for the tragic loss of your son .
I can not imagine the hell you and your wife are going through .
Because you can ’ t get the thought of suicide out of your mind , it is very important that you receive more help than I can give you in a letter .
Your doctor should be put on notice about your issue with your medications .
Also , a group that might be helpful for you and your wife is the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention .
If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a local support group for people who are surviving a loved one ’ s suicide .
The website is afsp.org .
If , however , you feel you have reached a point where harming yourself is imminent , I urge you to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at ( 800 ) 273-8255 .
Please don ’ t give up .
DEAR ABBY : I have two children .
One is 6 , and the other is an infant .
My 6-year-old is kind but mischievous at times .
I am a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but also parents who discipline when it ’ s needed .
My mother recently came to live with me and my husband .
She helps out a lot , but she is causing some confusion in our home .
She doesn ’ t discipline my 6-year-old when needed .
In fact , she often acts like a child herself when she should be acting like an adult .
This issue causes my 6-year-old to sometimes be disrespectful .
When my husband and I hear the smart-mouth talk , we address it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can do when my mother won ’ t take an adult role .
I have had several conversations with her about it , but nothing changes .
I don ’ t want her to leave , but I ’ m afraid her attitude toward parenting and discipline will cause some real problems in my home .
Please help .
— DISCIPLINED IN VIRGINIA DEAR DISCIPLINED : Continue the conversation with your mother .
Explain that although she may think you are too strict with your older child , you are that child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way you want the child raised .
Then tell her that if enforcing the rules is too much for her , she may have to find other living arrangements .
Talk to your child , as well .
Make sure he/she understands that the rules come from his/her parents and no one else .
I am troubled by your statement that your mother sometimes acts like a child .
I wish you had mentioned why she ’ s living with you .
If you suspect there ’ s a possibility she might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ INSIST that she be evaluated by a physician and a neurologist to ensure that she ’ s well .
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren , also known as Jeanne Phillips , and was founded by her mother , Pauline Phillips .
Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O .
Box 69440 , Los Angeles , CA 90069 .
Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets : “ Abby ’ s Favorite Recipes ” and “ More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.
” Send your name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money order for $ 16 ( U.S. funds ) , to : Dear Abby , Cookbooklet Set , P.O .
Box 447 , Mount Morris , IL 61054-0447 .
( Shipping and handling are included in the price . )

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I lost our son to suicide a few years ago. We have never gotten over it. I have recovered somewhat and would like to resume having intimate relations, but she’s not that far along.
I no longer feel there’s any reason to continue on this earth. There is no point to my being here. I think about suicide daily. I have been told that if I were going to do this and hurt my family as my son did, I would’ve already done it.
My wife and I have been cast into a hell that’s impossible to bear. There is no way to describe the pain, anger and sorrow we feel. I want to die because I feel the world would be a better place without my sorrowful self taking up resources. I have sought help ever since we lost my son, and have been taking all kinds of medication that I no longer want to take. Is there a way out other than my option? — BEYOND DEPRESSED
DEAR BEYOND DEPRESSED: Please accept my deepest sympathy for the tragic loss of your son. I cannot imagine the hell you and your wife are going through.
Because you can’t get the thought of suicide out of your mind, it is very important that you receive more help than I can give you in a letter. Your doctor should be put on notice about your issue with your medications.
Also, a group that might be helpful for you and your wife is the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. If you contact them, they can refer you to a local support group for people who are surviving a loved one’s suicide. The website is afsp.org. If, however, you feel you have reached a point where harming yourself is imminent, I urge you to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255. Please don’t give up.
DEAR ABBY: I have two children. One is 6, and the other is an infant. My 6-year-old is kind but mischievous at times. I am a firm believer that children need loving parents, but also parents who discipline when it’s needed.
My mother recently came to live with me and my husband. She helps out a lot, but she is causing some confusion in our home. She doesn’t discipline my 6-year-old when needed. In fact, she often acts like a child herself when she should be acting like an adult. This issue causes my 6-year-old to sometimes be disrespectful.
When my husband and I hear the smart-mouth talk, we address it, but there’s only so much we can do when my mother won’t take an adult role. I have had several conversations with her about it, but nothing changes. I don’t want her to leave, but I’m afraid her attitude toward parenting and discipline will cause some real problems in my home. Please help. — DISCIPLINED IN VIRGINIA
DEAR DISCIPLINED: Continue the conversation with your mother. Explain that although she may think you are too strict with your older child, you are that child’s mother, and this is the way you want the child raised. Then tell her that if enforcing the rules is too much for her, she may have to find other living arrangements. Talk to your child, as well. Make sure he/she understands that the rules come from his/her parents and no one else.
I am troubled by your statement that your mother sometimes acts like a child. I wish you had mentioned why she’s living with you. If you suspect there’s a possibility she might be experiencing the onset of dementia, INSIST that she be evaluated by a physician and a neurologist to ensure that she’s well.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: “Abby’s Favorite Recipes” and “More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $16 (U.S. funds), to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)


chicagosun-times--2020-06-05--Janis Joplin’s last Chicago-area show, at Ravinia, had the FBI worried about violence

Shortly before she died , rock legend Janis Joplin played her last concert in the Chicago area 50 years ago at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park — with the place crawling with police and the FBI monitoring things .
Authorities were worried there would be violence at the Aug. 5 , 1970 , show , according to her FBI file , now part of the Chicago Sun-Times ’ “ The FBI Files ” database .
The concert featuring Joplin and her band , The Full Tilt Boogie Band , was reminiscent of recent Lollapalooza festivals .
Fans stormed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trees to get in for free .
About 18,000 people attended .
Days before , Sly and the Family Stone was scheduled to perform a free concert at Grant Park to make up for recent last-minute no-shows in Chicago .
Waiting for the band to appear , people in the crowd grew agitated and threw rocks and bottles at the empty stage , damaged the venue and left some police officers injured .
After that , a “ reliable source ” passed along “ unconfirmed reports ” that people might try to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ cause violence , ” possibly including some of the same people who started the trouble in Grant Park , according to the FBI records .
Joplin — who once had been charged with obscenity after yelling at police officers trying to control her audience at a concert in Tampa , Florida — was escorted into Ravinia through a back entrance so she wouldn ’ t see the heavy police presence , according to an Aug. 6 , 1970 , Sun-Times report .
The Ravinia appearance was one of the last concerts by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Woodstock and was best known for the songs “ Me and Bobby McGee ” and “ Piece of My Heart.
” She died two months later from what was found to have been an accidental heroin overdose .
David Dolkart of Winnetka says he and a friend from high school saw her at Ravinia , getting in for free because the fences had been knocked down .
“ We saw all the policemen there , and they were from I don ’ t know how many different suburbs , ” says Dolkart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , “ It was really peaceful .
Even though the fences were trampled over , and there were a lot of people there , everyone was behaving themselves.
” Told that the FBI had Joplin ’ s show on its radar , her brother Michael Joplin , 67 , says : “ I think it ’ s cool that the FBI was up to check her out for that .
She was pretty damn cool for an older sister.
” The opening act that night was Mason Proffit , a country-rock band @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michael Talbot .
They didn ’ t notice the huge police presence and say the show was “ pretty mellow.
” “ I remember it being a beautiful venue , ” says John Michael Talbot , 66 .
“ I thought , well , rock ’ n ’ roll is a little rough for this venue.
” The brothers remember hanging out with Joplin backstage and during soundchecks .
“ The impression I had of Janis was that she was a lot more like the girl next door than the rowdy biker mama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Terry Talbot , 72 .
He says that after Mason Proffit ’ s soundcheck , Joplin stopped him while coming offstage .
She had a bottle of Southern Comfort and Dixie cups and offered him a drink , he remembers .
John Michael Talbot says Joplin hung out in Mason Proffit ’ s dressing room that night and that “ what I remember about Janis was that she was very much just one of the band .
She didn ’ t come off like a star , at least with us.
” While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Joplin sat about 10 feet in front of him , crosslegged on the stage , wearing a pair of jeans , a gray sweatshirt and Birkenstocks , with her hair in a bun — probably unrecognizable to the crowd .
After its performance , Mason Proffit went backstage before its encore .
Terry Talbot says she told them she needed to put on her “ Janis clothes ” for her set and headed to her dressing room .
“ We went back out and did a 15-minute encore , and we came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was with her , you know , the boa , the sequins and the shoes and the hat and the sunglasses and all that Janis stuff that she wore , ” Terry Talbot says .
He says the “ sad side ” of that night was that the band had to head off for another show and couldn ’ t stick around after its set .
When she heard that , he says , “ She folded her hands , put her hands on my chest and looked up at me and said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ na hear me sing.
’ I said , ‘ I ’ ll tell you what , maybe next time.
’ We exchanged phone numbers .
And two months later , she was gone .
”

Shortly before she died, rock legend Janis Joplin played her last concert in the Chicago area 50 years ago at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park — with the place crawling with police and the FBI monitoring things.
Authorities were worried there would be violence at the Aug. 5, 1970, show, according to her FBI file, now part of the Chicago Sun-Times’ “The FBI Files” database.
The concert featuring Joplin and her band, The Full Tilt Boogie Band, was reminiscent of recent Lollapalooza festivals. Fans stormed the venue, knocking down fences and climbing trees to get in for free. About 18,000 people attended.
Authorities were on alert amid worries that Janis Joplin’s Aug. 5, 1970, concert at the Ravinia Festival would become violent after a riot at a Grant Park concert days earlier, according to her FBI file. FBI
Days before, Sly and the Family Stone was scheduled to perform a free concert at Grant Park to make up for recent last-minute no-shows in Chicago. Waiting for the band to appear, people in the crowd grew agitated and threw rocks and bottles at the empty stage, damaged the venue and left some police officers injured.
After that, a “reliable source” passed along “unconfirmed reports” that people might try to “disrupt” Joplin’s concert and “cause violence,” possibly including some of the same people who started the trouble in Grant Park, according to the FBI records.
Joplin — who once had been charged with obscenity after yelling at police officers trying to control her audience at a concert in Tampa, Florida — was escorted into Ravinia through a back entrance so she wouldn’t see the heavy police presence, according to an Aug. 6, 1970, Sun-Times report.
The Sun-Times’ Aug. 6, 1970, reports on Janis Joplin’s Ravinia Festival appearance.
The Ravinia appearance was one of the last concerts by Joplin, who was among the performers at Woodstock and was best known for the songs “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Piece of My Heart.”
She died two months later from what was found to have been an accidental heroin overdose.
David Dolkart of Winnetka says he and a friend from high school saw her at Ravinia, getting in for free because the fences had been knocked down.
“We saw all the policemen there, and they were from I don’t know how many different suburbs,” says Dolkart, now 69.
Still, Dolkart says, “It was really peaceful. Even though the fences were trampled over, and there were a lot of people there, everyone was behaving themselves.”
Police patrol Janis Joplin’s Ravinia Festival appearance in August 1970. Sun-Times file
Told that the FBI had Joplin’s show on its radar, her brother Michael Joplin, 67, says: “I think it’s cool that the FBI was up to check her out for that. She was pretty damn cool for an older sister.”
The opening act that night was Mason Proffit, a country-rock band led by brothers Terry Talbot and John Michael Talbot. They didn’t notice the huge police presence and say the show was “pretty mellow.”
“I remember it being a beautiful venue,” says John Michael Talbot, 66. “I thought, well, rock ’n’ roll is a little rough for this venue.”
The brothers remember hanging out with Joplin backstage and during soundchecks.
“The impression I had of Janis was that she was a lot more like the girl next door than the rowdy biker mama that her publicity portrayed,” says Terry Talbot, 72.
He says that after Mason Proffit’s soundcheck, Joplin stopped him while coming offstage. She had a bottle of Southern Comfort and Dixie cups and offered him a drink, he remembers.
John Michael Talbot says Joplin hung out in Mason Proffit’s dressing room that night and that “what I remember about Janis was that she was very much just one of the band. She didn’t come off like a star, at least with us.”
While the band was performing, Terry Talbot says Joplin sat about 10 feet in front of him, crosslegged on the stage, wearing a pair of jeans, a gray sweatshirt and Birkenstocks, with her hair in a bun — probably unrecognizable to the crowd.
After its performance, Mason Proffit went backstage before its encore. Terry Talbot says she told them she needed to put on her “Janis clothes” for her set and headed to her dressing room.
“We went back out and did a 15-minute encore, and we came off the stage, and there she was with her, you know, the boa, the sequins and the shoes and the hat and the sunglasses and all that Janis stuff that she wore,” Terry Talbot says.
He says the “sad side” of that night was that the band had to head off for another show and couldn’t stick around after its set.
When she heard that, he says, “She folded her hands, put her hands on my chest and looked up at me and said, ‘You’re not gonna hear me sing.’ I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, maybe next time.’ We exchanged phone numbers. And two months later, she was gone.”


chicagosun-times--2020-06-05--How CPS students are learning about black history and white supremacy — and how that’s helping them

How CPS students are learning about black history and white supremacy — and how that’s helping them understand George Floyd

How CPS students are learning about black history and white supremacy — and how that ’ s helping them understand George Floyd Share All sharing options for : How CPS students are learning about black history and white supremacy — and how that ’ s helping them understand George Floyd Before George Floyd , before the coronavirus pandemic , Chicago students started learning America ’ s real history .
Not the whitewashed history , the disjointed one that jumps from European settlers “ finding ” America , to a sanitized version of slavery , to the Civil Rights Movement and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The one with white people having picnics to celebrate lynchings .
The history of powerful black resistance music and art .
The one with dismembered body parts displayed in storefronts and black perseverance and success through oppression .
The civil unrest in the days since Floyd ’ s killing hasn ’ t only been a protest of yet another black man ’ s death at the hands of the police .
It ’ s a rebuke of the 400 years leading up to Floyd ’ s undignified suffocation on a Minneapolis street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history are tucked into the New York Times Magazine ’ s acclaimed “ 1619 Project ” that has been taught in Chicago Public Schools since the fall .
They ’ re the same 400 years of oppression that led a young African American student in Chicago to tell his classmates this week : “ I don ’ t want to grow up to be a black man.
” ‘ Black people are not responsible for their own death ’ In early March , four black teenagers sat in a circle in a computer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Brooks College Preparatory Academy to talk about race .
They walked through all they had learned the past few months about where black Americans had been and where they could still go .
Until this year , it was a conversation they weren ’ t fully equipped to hold .
Brenton Sykes , for one , had thought Americans should move on from talking about slavery .
Asia Reid hadn ’ t been mature enough to take the issues seriously .
Aisha Carothers would have wanted to be spared the harsh details @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt she was misled about black history in middle school .
Yet there they were , 16- and 17-year-olds , juniors and seniors in high school , having just learned America ’ s brutal truth in an AP U.S. History class taught through the “ 1619 Project , ” an unrelenting view of their intertwined past and present .
“ In middle school they talked about slavery , but it was ‘ Christopher Columbus , he found us , ’ ” Arterah says .
“ Now I read this and I know he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ founding fathers .
We put so much into the U.S. and we made the foundation.
” The worst Asia remembers learning about American racism was whites kicking black people off the bus because they weren ’ t allowed to sit in the front .
“ I ’ ve never been taught about where I came from , and it ’ s really refreshing to see this , ” she says .
“ Even if it ’ s not a good story , it ’ s something I need to know.
” “ Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full history of America without it being whitewashed or anything , ” Brenton says , “ it kind of makes me see things in a different light .
I feel like I have to carry myself better because I have what my ancestors went through.
” Aisha draws a connection from slavery directly to disparagement of black accomplishments today .
“ It ’ s easy now to say , ‘ Oh , black people , their businesses are bad.
’ Or , ‘ Black people , they don ’ t prosper , ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re looking at magazines like this , we can see , ‘ OK , well now I know why.
’ But then that ’ s really not truth because black people are successful in a lot of ways and they ’ re overcoming a lot of oppression and discrimination even after slavery.
” Nikole Hannah-Jones , the New York Times writer who led the creation of the 1619 Project and last month won a Pulitzer Prize for her commentary , said in an interview with the Sun-Times the “ why ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operates is “ incredibly empowering for children.
” “ That it is not simply that black people are more criminal , or black people are deserving of the treatment they have , ” Hannah-Jones says , “ but that we have a system , and systems , that were set up that have led us to have a fundamentally unfair society .
“ And I think that malice is very empowering .
It explains why people are taking to the streets .
It explains the anger .
And it shows that black people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ‘ America can be very , very cruel ’ Abbey Davis is a fifth grader at Linné Elementary in the Avondale neighborhood .
She ’ s a white student learning about racism from a white social studies teacher who has used the “ 1619 Project ” in class and is dedicated to showing students the connection between slavery and modern-day racism .
“ I ’ ve learned about how America became America , ” Abbey says .
“ I ’ ve learned that white people have treated African Americans so poorly .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Because I think everyone should be treated the same no matter what they look like or believe in.
” Abbey says she knew of the existence of slavery but little else about the history of American racism before this year .
Even through the coronavirus school closures , her teacher , Mary Kovats , is discussing the civil rights movement .
This week , Kovats says her students made the connection between today ’ s protests and the civil unrest in the 1950s and 60s .
“ When I was growing up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d try to shield children from it , ” Kovats says .
“ You can ’ t .
Monday morning we couldn ’ t just start class and say , ‘ OK , everybody , turn to your project.
’ We had to talk about it .
And really uncomfortable comments come up .
“ It ’ s conversations that are difficult , but I have to let the kids have them .
And I ’ m glad that it ’ s being forced but I hate that they have to live through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ class that a black student said he didn ’ t want to grow up to be a black man .
“ One white boy said , ‘ Well , you just have to make sure when you ’ re outside , you ’ re calm .
And when you see the police , you put your hands up and you don ’ t say anything to them.
’ And the African American boy , rightfully so , said , ‘ Yeah , do you have to do that , too ?
’ His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to let him do it.
” Lionel Kimble , an associate professor of history at Chicago State University , says black students are better able to understand this history of slavery and racism because they live it every day .
“ So many black kids deal with trauma already just for being a black kid in America , ” Kimble says .
“ No matter how much they want to be children and do the things children do , many of them have to face the racial realities of the country probably way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Kimble says white parents and teachers who benefit from white privilege have a responsibility to recognize it , understand it and teach their kids and students about it .
“ Don ’ t be guilty for being white , just don ’ t make the same mistakes in the past , ” he says .
“ Is there a role for white allies ?
Yeah , there ’ s always a role for white allies .
White allies have access to places sometimes we can ’ t go .
“ If a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking about this stuff , it ’ s , ‘ There she is , she ’ s just an angry black woman.
’ But if the ‘ conscious , woke ’ white teacher talks to the white parents , the message may be received in very different ways.
” Asked if it ’ s important to learn about racism , Abbey says , “ To me it is .
Because then I can talk to people about history .
Then we can have a conversation .
“ I think racism is still out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she thinks it isn ’ t as bad as decades ago .
“ It ’ s making me think a little bit differently about America .
America can be very , very cruel.
” ‘ They assume I ’ m Mexican because of how I look ’ It ’ s a Thursday morning in late February when Niamh Burke stands next to an image of a minstrel .
Burke is a white sixth grade teacher in Gage Park on the Southwest Side .
Her school , Sawyer Elementary , is 98 % Latino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black students in this class .
There are two items on the agenda for Burke ’ s social studies period : Discussing stereotypes and appropriation , and examining black music through an episode of the 1619 Project ’ s audio series .
Burke walks her students through the history and offensiveness of minstrels and the use of black face .
She discusses cultural appropriation by explaining the difference between eating tacos and wearing a sombrero for Cinco de Mayo .
She points out how appropriation is systemically accepted by major institutions , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mascots .
“ I think it ’ s very important for me as a white educator teaching students of color to try to give them the tools to talk about their own experience , ” Burke says .
She helps kids draw from their own experiences to discuss oppression of other people of color .
“ That can be an uncomfortable discussion and they are very young , ” Burke says .
“ But I worry about our education system that doesn ’ t always value culturally responsive teaching .
It kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talk about their own experience and it also is a disservice to students in helping them understand and empathize with others.
” Esmeralda Blanco , an 11-year-old sitting at the front of Burke ’ s class , starts writing examples of stereotypes used against her .
Identifying outsiders ’ preconceptions — and recognizing they exist at all — helps Esmeralda start to think about how to combat stereotypes against others .
“ They assume I ’ m Mexican because of how I look & because I communicate to my mom in Spanish , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ And because I ’ m a girl they think I cry ... and I fight like a girl and I ‘ love ’ pink.
” “ It teaches you things back then and how people of color were treated , ” Esmeralda says .
“ People are still treated like that because of their race or color or appearance .
But thankfully it ’ s not as much as it was back then.
” Asia , one of the black students at Brooks , sees how her grandmother distrusts white people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ person comes by that she doesn ’ t know , she ’ ll lock the door , ” Asia says .
“ Or she ’ ll put me behind her because she ’ s just so scared.
” Aisha sees how the Tuskegee experiment , when researchers in the 1940s discovered a drug to treat syphilis and didn ’ t give it to black patients with the disease , affects current-day black life .
“ It still directly connects to how black people have fears of going to the doctor , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in our own homes today.
” Brenton has a better understanding of blackface and how widely consumed it was in entertainment .
“ I knew there was blackface , but I didn ’ t know it was to that extent , like Madison Square Garden , sold-out type of thing , ” Brenton says .
“ It ’ s just weird to see how people were able to dehumanize the race so much and do that type of thing without feeling any type of remorse.
” Arterah believes the black struggle is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of set the tone for a lot of minority groups , like gays and immigrants , ” she says .
“ Black people are the source because they are the primary people of injustices.
” The four Brooks students had n't connected with that history until this year .
Now they draw those comparisons to their lives today .
Teaching an accurate history of America links black kids with their ancestors ’ struggle and perseverance , Hannah-Jones says , and helps white people understand that their idealized version of America doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that a place like Chicago is ready to take on segregated housing , segregated schools , and those larger structural issues that lead to so much disadvantage , ” Hannah-Jones says .
“ But I ’ ll also say , if you don ’ t understand the architecture that created and maintained them , then we certainly won ’ t .
So that knowledge has to come first .
“ The generation before me feels like they are reliving what happened , ” Hannah-Jones says of the Floyd protests , “ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all these years later , can the country be looking exactly like it did when we thought we fought these battles already .
“ That ’ s just the black experience .
The black experience is an experience of constant struggle .
And if there ’ s one thing that is true , it ’ s that we are a resilient people .
”

B
efore George Floyd, before the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago students started learning America’s real history.
Not the whitewashed history, the disjointed one that jumps from European settlers “finding” America, to a sanitized version of slavery, to the Civil Rights Movement and finally to a seemingly racism-free present time.
No, the real history.
The one with white people having picnics to celebrate lynchings. The history of powerful black resistance music and art. The one with dismembered body parts displayed in storefronts and black perseverance and success through oppression.
Black America’s history — America’s real history.
The civil unrest in the days since Floyd’s killing hasn’t only been a protest of yet another black man’s death at the hands of the police. It’s a rebuke of the 400 years leading up to Floyd’s undignified suffocation on a Minneapolis street.
Those hundreds of years of American history are tucked into the New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed “1619 Project” that has been taught in Chicago Public Schools since the fall.
They’re the same 400 years of oppression that led a young African American student in Chicago to tell his classmates this week: “I don’t want to grow up to be a black man.”
Brenton Sykes, Arterah Griggs, Aisha Carothers and Asia Reid are all students at Brooks who studied the “1619 Project” this year. Nader Issa/Sun-Times
‘Black people are not responsible for their own death’
In early March, four black teenagers sat in a circle in a computer lab at the Far South Side’s Brooks College Preparatory Academy to talk about race.
They walked through all they had learned the past few months about where black Americans had been and where they could still go. Until this year, it was a conversation they weren’t fully equipped to hold.
Brenton Sykes, for one, had thought Americans should move on from talking about slavery.
Asia Reid hadn’t been mature enough to take the issues seriously.
Aisha Carothers would have wanted to be spared the harsh details as a younger child.
Arterah Griggs felt she was misled about black history in middle school.
Yet there they were, 16- and 17-year-olds, juniors and seniors in high school, having just learned America’s brutal truth in an AP U.S. History class taught through the “1619 Project,” an unrelenting view of their intertwined past and present.
“In middle school they talked about slavery, but it was ‘Christopher Columbus, he found us,’” Arterah says. “Now I read this and I know he didn’t. We were the founding fathers. We put so much into the U.S. and we made the foundation.”
Students work in a classroom at Sawyer Elementary School, 5247 S. Spaulding Ave., on the Southwest Side, Thursday morning, Feb. 27, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
The worst Asia remembers learning about American racism was whites kicking black people off the bus because they weren’t allowed to sit in the front.
“I’ve never been taught about where I came from, and it’s really refreshing to see this,” she says. “Even if it’s not a good story, it’s something I need to know.”
“Now that I’m aware of the full history of America without it being whitewashed or anything,” Brenton says, “it kind of makes me see things in a different light. I feel like I have to carry myself better because I have what my ancestors went through.”
Aisha draws a connection from slavery directly to disparagement of black accomplishments today.
“It’s easy now to say, ‘Oh, black people, their businesses are bad.’ Or, ‘Black people, they don’t prosper,’” she says. “But when we’re looking at magazines like this, we can see, ‘OK, well now I know why.’ But then that’s really not truth because black people are successful in a lot of ways and they’re overcoming a lot of oppression and discrimination even after slavery.”
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the New York Times Magazine. New York Times
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times writer who led the creation of the 1619 Project and last month won a Pulitzer Prize for her commentary, said in an interview with the Sun-Times the “why” of how America’s racist society operates is “incredibly empowering for children.”
“That it is not simply that black people are more criminal, or black people are deserving of the treatment they have,” Hannah-Jones says, “but that we have a system, and systems, that were set up that have led us to have a fundamentally unfair society.
“And I think that knowledge is very empowering. It explains why people are taking to the streets. It explains the anger. And it shows that black people are not responsible for their own death.”
Abbey Davis, a fifth grade student at Linne Elementary School, works on homework at her home dining room table, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
‘America can be very, very cruel’
Abbey Davis is a fifth grader at Linné Elementary in the Avondale neighborhood. She’s a white student learning about racism from a white social studies teacher who has used the “1619 Project” in class and is dedicated to showing students the connection between slavery and modern-day racism.
“I’ve learned about how America became America,” Abbey says. “I’ve learned that white people have treated African Americans so poorly.
“It’s really unfair. Because I think everyone should be treated the same no matter what they look like or believe in.”
Abbey says she knew of the existence of slavery but little else about the history of American racism before this year. Even through the coronavirus school closures, her teacher, Mary Kovats, is discussing the civil rights movement. This week, Kovats says her students made the connection between today’s protests and the civil unrest in the 1950s and 60s.
Mary Kovats teaches her students the history of American racism. Golden Apple
“When I was growing up, if things were difficult, we’d try to shield children from it,” Kovats says. “You can’t. Monday morning we couldn’t just start class and say, ‘OK, everybody, turn to your project.’ We had to talk about it. And really uncomfortable comments come up.
“It’s conversations that are difficult, but I have to let the kids have them. And I’m glad that it’s being forced but I hate that they have to live through this.”
It was in Kovats’ class that a black student said he didn’t want to grow up to be a black man.
“One white boy said, ‘Well, you just have to make sure when you’re outside, you’re calm. And when you see the police, you put your hands up and you don’t say anything to them.’ And the African American boy, rightfully so, said, ‘Yeah, do you have to do that, too?’ His anger was visible, and I had to let him do it.”
Lionel Kimble, an associate professor of history at Chicago State University, says black students are better able to understand this history of slavery and racism because they live it every day.
“So many black kids deal with trauma already just for being a black kid in America,” Kimble says. “No matter how much they want to be children and do the things children do, many of them have to face the racial realities of the country probably way earlier than they’re ready for.”
Kimble says white parents and teachers who benefit from white privilege have a responsibility to recognize it, understand it and teach their kids and students about it.
“Don’t be guilty for being white, just don’t make the same mistakes in the past,” he says. “Is there a role for white allies? Yeah, there’s always a role for white allies. White allies have access to places sometimes we can’t go.
“If a black female teacher goes to white parents talking about this stuff, it’s, ‘There she is, she’s just an angry black woman.’ But if the ‘conscious, woke’ white teacher talks to the white parents, the message may be received in very different ways.”
Asked if it’s important to learn about racism, Abbey says, “To me it is. Because then I can talk to people about history. Then we can have a conversation.
“I think racism is still out there,” Abbey says, though she thinks it isn’t as bad as decades ago. “It’s making me think a little bit differently about America. America can be very, very cruel.”
Esmeralda Blanco, 11, a sixth grade student at Sawyer Elementary School, at 5247 S. Spaulding Ave. in Gage Park, studies the New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed “1619 Project” during Black History Month, Thursday morning, Feb. 27, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
‘They assume I’m Mexican because of how I look’
It’s a Thursday morning in late February when Niamh Burke stands next to an image of a minstrel.
Burke is a white sixth grade teacher in Gage Park on the Southwest Side. Her school, Sawyer Elementary, is 98% Latino — and there aren’t any black students in this class.
There are two items on the agenda for Burke’s social studies period: Discussing stereotypes and appropriation, and examining black music through an episode of the 1619 Project’s audio series.
Burke walks her students through the history and offensiveness of minstrels and the use of black face. She discusses cultural appropriation by explaining the difference between eating tacos and wearing a sombrero for Cinco de Mayo. She points out how appropriation is systemically accepted by major institutions, such as sports teams with Native American caricature mascots.
“I think it’s very important for me as a white educator teaching students of color to try to give them the tools to talk about their own experience,” Burke says. She helps kids draw from their own experiences to discuss oppression of other people of color.
“That can be an uncomfortable discussion and they are very young,” Burke says. “But I worry about our education system that doesn’t always value culturally responsive teaching. It kind of takes away people’s power to talk about their own experience and it also is a disservice to students in helping them understand and empathize with others.”
Esmeralda Blanco, 11, a sixth grade student at Sawyer Elementary School, at 5247 S. Spaulding Ave. in Gage Park, studies the New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed “1619 Project” during Black History Month, Thursday morning, Feb. 27, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Esmeralda Blanco, an 11-year-old sitting at the front of Burke’s class, starts writing examples of stereotypes used against her. Identifying outsiders’ preconceptions — and recognizing they exist at all — helps Esmeralda start to think about how to combat stereotypes against others.
“They assume I’m Mexican because of how I look & because I communicate to my mom in Spanish,” Esmeralda writes in her notes. “And because I’m a girl they think I cry ... and I fight like a girl and I ‘love’ pink.”
“It teaches you things back then and how people of color were treated,” Esmeralda says. “People are still treated like that because of their race or color or appearance. But thankfully it’s not as much as it was back then.”
‘We are a resilient people’
Asia, one of the black students at Brooks, sees how her grandmother distrusts white people.
“My grandma, if a white person comes by that she doesn’t know, she’ll lock the door,” Asia says. “Or she’ll put me behind her because she’s just so scared.”
Aisha sees how the Tuskegee experiment, when researchers in the 1940s discovered a drug to treat syphilis and didn’t give it to black patients with the disease, affects current-day black life.
“It still directly connects to how black people have fears of going to the doctor,” she says. “And we see that in our own homes today.”
Brenton has a better understanding of blackface and how widely consumed it was in entertainment.
“I knew there was blackface, but I didn’t know it was to that extent, like Madison Square Garden, sold-out type of thing,” Brenton says. “It’s just weird to see how people were able to dehumanize the race so much and do that type of thing without feeling any type of remorse.”
Arterah believes the black struggle is the human struggle.
“Black people kind of set the tone for a lot of minority groups, like gays and immigrants,” she says. “Black people are the source because they are the primary people of injustices.”
The four Brooks students hadn't connected with that history until this year. Now they draw those comparisons to their lives today.
Thousands of protesters in Chicago join national outrage over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, Saturday afternoon, May 30, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Teaching an accurate history of America links black kids with their ancestors’ struggle and perseverance, Hannah-Jones says, and helps white people understand that their idealized version of America doesn’t exist.
“I don’t know that a place like Chicago is ready to take on segregated housing, segregated schools, and those larger structural issues that lead to so much disadvantage,” Hannah-Jones says. “But I’ll also say, if you don’t understand the architecture that created and maintained them, then we certainly won’t. So that knowledge has to come first.
“The generation before me feels like they are reliving what happened,” Hannah-Jones says of the Floyd protests, “and clearly feel [disillusioned] about how, all these years later, can the country be looking exactly like it did when we thought we fought these battles already.
“That’s just the black experience. The black experience is an experience of constant struggle. And if there’s one thing that is true, it’s that we are a resilient people.”


chicagosun-times--2020-06-05--Louise Schaaf, dead at 113, was oldest Illinois resident, oldest known immigrant to the U.S.

Louise “ Lisel ” Schaaf , who was documented as Illinois ’ oldest resident , the oldest living person from Germany and the oldest living immigrant to the United States , has died at 113 years and 192 days old , according to a research group that verifies supercentenarians for Guinness World Records .
When she arrived in the United States on June 4 , 1928 , Walt Disney hadn ’ t unveiled Mickey Mouse .
A gallon of gas cost roughly 21 cents .
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were playing baseball .
And Amelia Earhart had nearly a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disappeared in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe .
“ She was a wonderful mother , grandmother , great-grandmother and great-great grandmother , ” said her daughter Ruth Arend , 85 .
“ She could always find the good in a person .
All the kids called her Oma ” — German for grandmother .
In 2018 , WCIU ’ s The Jam asked the Norwood Park resident the reason for her longevity .
She said she liked an occasional highball but had “ absolutely no secret .
I worked every day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ do.
” She grew up Louise Wilhemine Burkle in the German town of Dietlingen , near Stuttgart .
Mrs. Schaaf had a baptismal record from 1906 and multiple documents from throughout her life proving her age , according to Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group , a verification source for Guinness World Records .
The organization studies birth , baptism , census , immigration , marriage and voting records to help confirm the most long-lived people around the world .
Mrs. Schaaf ’ s documents confirm she was the oldest person in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ born in Germany , Young said .
At the time of her death in April , the GRG also considered her the nation ’ s oldest living immigrant .
“ There may be others claiming [ to be ] older , but they do not have proof , ” Young said .
As a girl growing up in Germany , Mrs. Schaaf worked in her aunt ’ s watch factory , but times remained lean after the end of World War I , according to her son Henry Schaaf , 75 .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in steerage with a cousin on the S.S. Columbus oceanliner .
“ Ten days on the water , ” she told WCIU .
“ Once the boat stops , everything is OK now , the Statue of Liberty right in front of you.
” In a 2016 interview with WBBM-TV , she said , “ I never in my life forget that sight.
” “ Everybody talks about America and how much money you can make , ” she told WCIU , remembering how she cleaned houses and took care of children .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I came in 1928 .
No jobs .
You work for $ 8 or $ 9 a week .
See , in those years , you couldn ’ t hardly save any money.
” A cousin in Chicago sent her the money to come to the Midwest .
Back then , the city teemed with new immigrants from Germany .
There were German-language church services and German newspapers and lots of German restaurants , butcher shops and delis .
There also were many German athletic organizations .
That ’ s how she met @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she first saw Erwin Schaaf “ on the soccer field.
” He was a starter for the Schwaben Athletic Club soccer team , still in operation out of Buffalo Grove .
They were married on April 24 , 1931 .
“ They got $ 25 for wedding presents , ” her son said .
“ She put it in the bank .
And , a week or two later the bank went under ” because of the Great Depression .
She remained philosophical , according to her children .
A skilled baker , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ As long as I have flour , milk , eggs and butter , we are good.
” Her specialty , a braided holiday yeast bread called hefekranz , was studded with dried fruit , cherries and nuts .
Her husband worked in Bellwood at Chicago Rivet & Machine Co .
In the 1930s , a lot of Americans didn ’ t own cars .
During World War II , when gasoline was rationed , he and his co-workers carpooled .
“ Everybody would meet at my parents ’ house , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was available for the drive to the factory , the couple ’ s son said .
Mrs. Schaaf stayed home with her children when they were young .
Later , she worked part-time packing chocolates at the Andes Candies shop at Damen and Lincoln avenues .
She ’ d walk or take the bus because she never learned to drive .
“ My dad wouldn ’ t teach her , just like he wouldn ’ t teach my sister , ” Henry Schaaf said .
She knew how to stretch a dollar and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she made meals for Erwin Schaaf ’ s hungry soccer team .
She also worked as a cook at the Hapsburg Inn on River Road in Des Plaines , where her husband moonlighted as a bartender .
Her specialty was chicken dinners .
“ When she ’ d come home , ” her daughter said , “ she ’ d smell like chicken.
” The Schaafs raised their family in a house near Belmont and California avenues before moving to Norwood Park in 1959 .
Mrs. Schaaf didn ’ t return to Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years .
Her relatives in Germany treasured the regular care packages that she sent , especially after World War II ended .
She mailed them tobacco , coffee , toilet paper and other treats and necessities .
“ A lot of my cousins to this day remember that , ” her son said .
Toward the end of her life , she lost some vision to macular degeneration .
But she could still detect if her son wasn ’ t mixing the flour properly when he helped her make apple cake .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ She whacked the table with her hand.
” At the time of her death , “ She was waiting for her ninth great-grandchild , ” he said .
The baby was born about a week later .
In addition to her children , Mrs. Schaaf is survived by four grandchildren , nine great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren .
A memorial service will be held at a later date .

Louise “Lisel” Schaaf, who was documented as Illinois’ oldest resident, the oldest living person from Germany and the oldest living immigrant to the United States, has died at 113 years and 192 days old, according to a research group that verifies supercentenarians for Guinness World Records.
When she arrived in the United States on June 4, 1928, Walt Disney hadn’t unveiled Mickey Mouse. A gallon of gas cost roughly 21 cents. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were playing baseball. And Amelia Earhart had nearly a decade of flying left before her plane disappeared in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
“She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother,” said her daughter Ruth Arend, 85. “She could always find the good in a person. All the kids called her Oma” — German for grandmother.
Louise Schaaf liked a highball now and then but told WCIU’s “The Jam” she had no advice for longevity: “Absolutely no secret. I worked every day.” Provided
In 2018, WCIU’s The Jam asked the Norwood Park resident the reason for her longevity. She said she liked an occasional highball but had “absolutely no secret. I worked every day. I took care of whatever I could do.”
She grew up Louise Wilhemine Burkle in the German town of Dietlingen, near Stuttgart.
Louise Burkle Schaaf as a baby in Dietlingen, Germany. Provided
Mrs. Schaaf had a baptismal record from 1906 and multiple documents from throughout her life proving her age, according to Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group, a verification source for Guinness World Records. The organization studies birth, baptism, census, immigration, marriage and voting records to help confirm the most long-lived known people around the world.
Mrs. Schaaf’s documents confirm she was the oldest person in Illinois and the oldest known living person born in Germany, Young said.
Young Louise Burkle Schaaf (from left) with her brother Karl and sister Fridl. Provided
At the time of her death in April, the GRG also considered her the nation’s oldest living immigrant.
“There may be others claiming [to be] older, but they do not have proof,” Young said.
As a girl growing up in Germany, Mrs. Schaaf worked in her aunt’s watch factory, but times remained lean after the end of World War I, according to her son Henry Schaaf, 75.
She bought a ticket to America, traveling in steerage with a cousin on the S.S. Columbus oceanliner.
“Ten days on the water,” she told WCIU. “Once the boat stops, everything is OK now, the Statue of Liberty right in front of you.”
In a 2016 interview with WBBM-TV, she said, “I never in my life forget that sight.”
Louise Burkle Schaaf’s 1928 German passport. Provided
“Everybody talks about America and how much money you can make,” she told WCIU, remembering how she cleaned houses and took care of children. “Those were the bad times when I came in 1928. No jobs. You work for $8 or $9 a week. See, in those years, you couldn’t hardly save any money.”
A cousin in Chicago sent her the money to come to the Midwest. Back then, the city teemed with new immigrants from Germany. There were German-language church services and German newspapers and lots of German restaurants, butcher shops and delis.
There also were many German athletic organizations. That’s how she met her husband. She liked to say she first saw Erwin Schaaf “on the soccer field.” He was a starter for the Schwaben Athletic Club soccer team, still in operation out of Buffalo Grove.
They were married on April 24, 1931.
“They got $25 for wedding presents,” her son said. “She put it in the bank. And, a week or two later the bank went under” because of the Great Depression.
She remained philosophical, according to her children. A skilled baker, Mrs. Schaaf looked at things this way: “As long as I have flour, milk, eggs and butter, we are good.”
Her specialty, a braided holiday yeast bread called hefekranz, was studded with dried fruit, cherries and nuts.
Her husband worked in Bellwood at Chicago Rivet & Machine Co. In the 1930s, a lot of Americans didn’t own cars. During World War II, when gasoline was rationed, he and his co-workers carpooled.
“Everybody would meet at my parents’ house, and they all piled in” whichever car was available for the drive to the factory, the couple’s son said.
Mrs. Schaaf stayed home with her children when they were young. Later, she worked part-time packing chocolates at the Andes Candies shop at Damen and Lincoln avenues. She’d walk or take the bus because she never learned to drive.
“My dad wouldn’t teach her, just like he wouldn’t teach my sister,” Henry Schaaf said.
She knew how to stretch a dollar and cook in bulk. On Sundays, she made meals for Erwin Schaaf’s hungry soccer team.
She also worked as a cook at the Hapsburg Inn on River Road in Des Plaines, where her husband moonlighted as a bartender. Her specialty was chicken dinners.
“When she’d come home,” her daughter said, “she’d smell like chicken.”
The Schaafs raised their family in a house near Belmont and California avenues before moving to Norwood Park in 1959.
Mrs. Schaaf didn’t return to Germany until 1952 — a gap of 24 years. Her relatives in Germany treasured the regular care packages that she sent, especially after World War II ended. She mailed them tobacco, coffee, toilet paper and other treats and necessities.
“A lot of my cousins to this day remember that,” her son said.
Louise Schaaf at 110. Provided
Toward the end of her life, she lost some vision to macular degeneration. But she could still detect if her son wasn’t mixing the flour properly when he helped her make apple cake. If dissatisfied with his technique, he said, “She whacked the table with her hand.”
At the time of her death, “She was waiting for her ninth great-grandchild,” he said.
The baby was born about a week later.
In addition to her children, Mrs. Schaaf is survived by four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date.