For this week’s roundup, I’ve got two calls for the public to help out and support our Chicago neighbors. In late August, ice cream vendor Isidro “Chiro” Alvarez was robbed while pushing his cart in McKinley Park. The Chicago Police Department issued out video stills of the incident to help find the culprits (as seen here at the McKinley Park News website) but neighbors and friends also jumped into action to help Alvarez recoup his losses. A GoFundMe was created and on Saturday, the sneaker and streetwear store Counterfit is hosting an outdoor auction and benefit for Alvarez and other vendors at its location in Gage Park. Art and merchandise from the store and other sponsors including artists associated with the Graff Games collective will be on the block. More information is available at the group’s Facebook event.
And the Chicago Black Drag Council (a group that emerged from a series of conversations and a town hall that happened in June to respond to allegations of racism in Chicago’s drag community) has teamed up with the Hyde Park-based Brave Space Alliance to organize their first Makeup Drive. The organizations are collecting new and unopened items like makeup brushes, eyebrow pencils, lipsticks, and more to be distributed to participants of Brave Space Alliance’s Sex Worker Advocacy and Safety Group as well as to BIPOC trans people in Chicago. You can drop off donations at two north-side locations this weekend: Roscoe’s Tavern at 3356 N. Halsted (from noon-10 PM both Saturday and Sunday) and at Replay in Andersonville at 5358 N. Clark (from noon-11 PM both days).
Look at and listen:
- The Chicago-born DJ Steve “Miggedy” Maestro has several tributes to the old WBMX house music days on his Mixcloud account.
- I’m still making my way through the August/September edition of the web publication Perfect Sound Forever, but the Ritchie Blackmore article has given me all the analysis I need for this month.
Virtual events coming up:
- Fri 9/18-Sun 9/20, 7 PM each night: Cold Waves goes to Twitch to host their 2020 version of their festival of darkwave and industrial music. Headliners and highlights include Chemlab, the Young Gods, Meat Beat Manifesto, Martin Atkins telling “bedtime stories,” and, on Sunday, a tribute to Dave Medusa. The full schedule is available at Cold Waves’s website, and you can watch at their Twitch channel.
- Through Thu 9/24: Trap Door Theatre has extended the run for their streaming production of the play ALAS, featuring an international cast of 16. Tickets are a suggested donation of $10.
- Thu 9/24, 6 PM: Cannabis Equity Illinois presents a virtual community resource fair, featuring information about cannabis equity, food distribution, voter registration, and more, viewable on a livestream at the organization’s Instagram page.
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