The battle is only a fraction of the art—to experience breaking is also to experience a dance and a community which exists to itself and for itself, yet which holds hope and promise for anyone willing to watch, learn, and practice.
Tag: Blue Island
Posted inMusic
Insomniac Studios nurtures a music-business community on the far south side
With internships, apprenticeships, mentoring, and workshops, Blue Island’s Black-owned Insomniac Studios bypasses white industry gatekeepers.
Posted inMusic
Brittney Carter discovers Chicago hip-hop—and vice versa
Brittney Carter thought she was just writing poems. Her classmates at Young Chicago Authors heard a great rapper in the making—and the rest of the city’s scene is starting to agree.
Posted inMusic
Queen Key demands what she wants—and that matters
Queen Key’s outsize confidence sends a message of support to black women who know the odds are stacked against them.
Posted inMusic
Chicago rapper Queen Key is gonna need a bigger crown
With this summer’s Eat My Pussy, Chicago rapper Queen Key proves herself a star in the making, ready to carve out a larger role for women in the city’s hip-hop scene.
Posted inFood & Drink
Brewers recommend 16 beers to drink in 2016
Chicago brewers discuss which beers they’ll be drinking in 2016.
Posted inBlogs
Southtown Star’s Phil Kadner hangs it up
The columnist revisits some greatest hits on the eve of his buyout.
Posted inBlogs
Northwest Indiana Photo Tour
“It is a region that has worked hard and sacrificed much over the decades, the city’s blue collar underbelly, the engine that drove Chicago to its industrial peak, only to be abandoned and neglected when US industry began collapsing.” Robert Powers, on his wonderful A Chicago Sojourn blog, has a gorgeous photo set from the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Man of Letters: A Printer’s Memoir
1944. My father promised a work permit for my 16th birthday. He always did have a warped sense of humor, but this time he wasn’t kidding. Thanks to his small-town connections I found myself employed by the Blue Island Publishing Corporation of Blue Island, Illinois. Sweeping floors. Washing presses. Carrying out the trash. I was […]