Posted inAgenda

Pillars market, Mohawk Johnson, comic book theater, and more

From 3-8:30 PM, the Trans Chicago Empowerment Center (2753 W. Division) is hosting a Halloween edition of Pillars, its marketplace for trans BIPOC vendors. Along with tarot readings, poetry books, and handmade wares for sale, there will also be free gender-affirming nail services for trans individuals. Yecy, a local Latinx nail artist, will be providing […]

Posted inAgenda

Indigenous culture, Nnamdï’s Pancake Haus, Refuge, and more

Today kicks off the American Indian Center’s 69th Annual Chicago Powwow, which runs through Sunday (10/9). From 10 AM-6 PM each day, thousands will gather at Schiller Woods (events in Groves 12 and 13, entrance on Irving Park west of Cumberland) to share and reflect on Indigenous culture, preserving its heritage while contemplating its future. […]

Posted inAgenda

Reeling online, Between Friends, Black heritage in Evanston, dating at the Hideout

Today is the final day for the online portion of this year’s Reeling: the Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival. The 40th annual celebration of LGBTQ+ filmmakers and new queer cinema hosted in-person screenings over the last few weeks at the Music Box, Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, and Chicago Filmmakers, but today’s offerings are solely online—which […]

Posted inAgenda

’Palette and Palate,’ Shedd Aquarium, and more

Today the exhibition “Palette and Palate” opens at Madron Gallery (1000 W. North). It’s a retrospective celebrating Chicago’s Riccardo’s Restaurant and Gallery that anticipates a PBS documentary on the topic dropping in December. In the mid-20th century, Riccardo’s Restaurant and Gallery was founded by former WPA artist Ric Riccardo. At first, he immersed diners in […]

Posted inFeature

Mapping sex work in Chicago

Rebelle Cunt, a writer, activist, and self-proclaimed Chicago “heaux-storian,” is the founder and director of Heaux History, a multimedia archive that explores the history of Black, Brown, and Indigenous sex workers and erotic labor.  When Cunt began to search for research on sex worker history in Chicago, she struggled to find any literature written through […]

Posted inArts & Culture

Building an opera in the waiting room

Editor’s note: Coco Picard spoke to Chicago artist and School of the Art Institute of Chicago assistant professor Anna Martine Whitehead in early June. The comic above captures moments of their conversation. Text from the comic is transcribed here to ease readability. Performance maker Anna Martine Whitehead has been writing and developing FORCE! An Opera […]

Posted inStaff notes

This cover is for you

In this issue, you’ll find stories about trans creatives, LGBTQ+ community spaces, and drag performers; but you’ll also find an investigation and interview about electronic monitoring in policing. (Remember, the first Pride marches celebrated the Stonewall riots, a response to a violent police raid.) I want the colors on the cover of this Pride Issue to inspire people as they move through this month of June and promote true liberation.