People in prison perform essential work, but the 13th Amendment prevents them from being treated with dignity.
Tag: slavery
Posted inFilm
Harriet is the heroic biopic Harriet Tubman deserves
The fast-paced feature is a satisfying blend of history and action.
Posted inArts & Culture
At the Perry Mansion Cultural Center, Sam Smith wants to reshape the narrative of black life in America
The culmination of his project will be a reconstruction of a slave ship in the museum’s basement.
Posted inArts & Culture
Plantation! uses a sitcom sensibility to explore the case for reparations
The Lookingglass world premiere strives to be a very special episode.
Posted inBlogs
Shootings and homicides in Englewood on pace to reach record lows in 2017, and other Chicago news
Also, local preservationists want landmark designation for Emmett Till’s Woodlawn home.
Posted inBlogs
Removal of Confederate statues tidies up southern history—but it doesn’t touch the grease stains
Meanwhile the proposed HBO series Confederate is based on the premise that the south won the Civil War.
Posted inArts & Culture
Hair, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and six more new stage shows to see now
“The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” and the unhinged Albee classic are among this week’s best bets.
Posted inArts & Culture
Definition Theatre’s An Octoroon boldly subverts, in white-, red-, and blackface
Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins resurrects a wildly popular—and wildly racist—19th-century melodrama.
Posted inBlogs
‘Lincoln’s Undying Words’ shows how a president changed his mind about slavery
A Chicago History Museum exhibit examines Lincoln’s speeches for clues about how he changed from political moderate to the Great Emancipator.
Posted inBlogs
Twelve years later, a nightmare becomes a book
One Day’s Tale is a novel that took Lois Barliant 12 years to write and publish.
Posted inBlogs
South Carolina is more educated about its history than you might think
Did public educatiion in South Carolina lead to the vote to furl the battle flag?
Posted inBlogs
Fifty years after LBJ challenged the nation, the rights of African-Americans remain unfulfilled
“We’ve got to find a way to let Negroes get what most white folks already have,” Lyndon Johnson told his speechwriter in 1965.
Posted inBlogs
Could reparations for African-Americans help reduce violence?
A conversation with veteran reparations activist and political organizer Conrad Worrill.
Posted inBlogs
Let’s get realistic about America’s Founding Fathers
Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and the other Founding Fathers—a great group of guys or what?