Zahara Bassett fell on the floor of her best friend’s house exhausted from a long day of making $9 an hour and barely getting by. She was working as a housing monitor for TransLife Care at Chicago House, a transitional housing program for transgender people who have nowhere to stay or are reentering society. All […]

The post Life Is Work supports Black trans people in their communities appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Izzi Vasquez is a multimedia artist who has helped some of Chicago’s most celebrated musicians with the visuals for their visions. Vasquez has created animations and designed album packaging for the likes of Kaina, Sen Morimoto, Nnamdï, and Kara Jackson. In their art, Vasquez gives new form to the lessons they learned from their grandmother, […]

The post Izzi Vasquez, music-adjacent multimedia artist appeared first on Chicago Reader.

1 Chicago stepping lessons from award-winning south sider Shaun Ballentine of Effortless Stepping. —Salem Collo-Julin Open group lessons Wednesdays at 7 PM, Effortless Stepping Studio, 1850 E. 79th. $20 per person, 21+ only. For private lesson rates or information about having Ballentine do a stepping class at your event, message through Instagram or Facebook.  2 […]

The post The <i>Reader</i>’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Editor’s note: On November 21, the union representing Berlin workers announced that the bar’s owners told the union on November 20 of their intent to permanently close, effective November 19. “The boycott is happening as long as it takes. It will continue until we get a contract that is what we’re looking for, and that […]

The post Howard Brown and Berlin Nightclub workers escalate fights for fair contracts appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The week I moved into my first one-bedroom apartment in Rogers Park, I was excited to have a space of my own. Unfortunately, the mice that infested the building were just as excited about my arrival. Three days into my move, I unlocked my front door to find a mouse jumping at my trash can, […]

The post There’s a mouse in my house appeared first on Chicago Reader.

What does a 20-foot-tall inflatable rat have to do with the long history of public expression in the labor rights movement? The answer: a lot more than you’d expect.

The post For decades, Scabby the rat has stood for workers’ rights appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Manae Solara Vaughn is a young Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer who put down roots in the local music scene much earlier in her life than most of her peers. Daughter of Chicago house-music royalty DJ Lady D, Solara Vaughn grew up immersed in her parents’ community of music legends. She recently left her job […]

The post Manae Solara Vaughn, sound engineer, musician, and cofounder of Oux appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Update as of 4:00 PM on Tuesday, September 26, 2023: Abhijeet’s name was previously misspelled in several places in this article and has since been corrected. And the Vanguard Awards were previously categorized as posthumously awarded; this is not entirely the case as several awards will be given to living people. The Reader regrets the […]

The post Celebrating the drag makers and nightlife impresarios appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Editor’s note: On September 20, the Workforce Development Committee voted 9–3 to advance the ordinance ending Chicago’s subminimum wage to the full city council. A proposed ordinance moving through the complicated world of city council committees would require businesses to pay their tipped employees—like bartenders, bussers, and servers—at the statewide $15.80-per-hour minimum wage instead of […]

The post Gratuity included appeared first on Chicago Reader.

It feels like something I don’t have much power to prevent. Like an occasional mosquito bite that you can’t control, it’s just in the air. Except that mosquito sucks $100 from you here and there. Eric Hoskins Eric Hoskins has never owned a car in Chicago. The slew of expenses car ownership incurs in the […]

The post Lose your car, but keep the debt appeared first on Chicago Reader.

One morning in late August, 20 renters and public housing advocates marched in a circle in front of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) headquarters, holding signs and chanting to protest the agency’s recent decision to sell land meant for public housing to private companies. “Mayor Johnson!” the chant-leader yelled through a megaphone. “Stop CHA!” responded […]

The post ‘That land was promised to us’ appeared first on Chicago Reader.

At 8:30 PM on the first Friday of August, prominent drag performer Irregular Girl was putting on her lashes, making a home cocktail, and waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up for her monthly event, Strapped (Berlin Nightclub’s premiere dance party catering to lesbians of all genders), when she decided to cancel the show. […]

The post Drag performers join Berlin Nightclub employees in protest appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Being a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Chicago means that you are allowed to open a private practice and bill insurance for your clients’ sessions. It also means that you have attained your master’s degree in social work, completed 3,000 hours of clinical work under a licensed supervisor (including unpaid but graded hours of […]

The post ’People of all generations healing together’ appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Molly Compton is a scene mom and mentor who founded the independent label Ur Mom Records in December 2021, using her savings and support from family. Compton is a recognizable face in the local DIY music scene: she hosts twice-monthly COVID-safe house shows for local and touring acts, either at her place or in her […]

The post Molly Compton, founder of Ur Mom Records appeared first on Chicago Reader.

From January 3 to 5 this year, the freshly unionized members of Howard Brown Health Workers United (HBHWU) staged day-long strikes at seven different Howard Brown clinic locations in the city. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an excess of government funds that LGBTQ+ -focused health system could access, but as those […]

The post Best three-day-long workers strike from employees of one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ organizations appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The TRiiBE, aka Chicago’s premier Black digital news platform dedicated to changing the narrative of Black Chicago, had a running start in 2017 and has not slowed down since. The TRiiBE was founded by Morgan Elise Johnson, who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 media list in 2019, and Tiffany Walden, selected in Poynter’s 2018 […]

The post Best municipal election coverage from a media outlet that started in 2017 appeared first on Chicago Reader.

I like to lay out a blanket in a city park and smoke a fat Backwood under the sun just as much as the next guy. I don’t like the low hum of anxiety I feel when I’m smacked and alone around too many people who aren’t smoking too. Once I’m properly high, if I […]

The post Best ‘private’ space to smoke a blunt outdoors appeared first on Chicago Reader.

In summer 2021, I was a just-graduated Northwestern student, and Speak Your Peace was the first open mike I attended as a newly Chicago-based musician looking for Black community, shared artistic experiences, and the opportunity to whip out my guitar for a three-minute slot in front of my peers. I couldn’t know it then, but […]

The post Best open mike run by a homegrown creative company appeared first on Chicago Reader.

If you were to walk into Cafe Mustache during Skoli Moly Donut Shop, you’d have no clue you were on the Logan Square strip of Milwaukee Avenue on the northwest side. That’s because DJ Skoli, government name Ryan Roberts, curates variegated, seamless lineups of up to ten singers, rappers, and DJs from across the city […]

The post Best citywide display of talent at a monthly underground hip-hop show appeared first on Chicago Reader.

All right, just stay with me on this one. Before you read ahead because the thought of using a blow torch to get high on a Tuesday afternoon seems off-putting, remember that we are in 2023, and there are now a variety of electronic dab rigs that heat up on their own. They’re also safer […]

The post Best method for a seasoned pothead to consume weed that isn’t smoking it appeared first on Chicago Reader.

I can’t remember where exactly I was introduced to nightlife icon Lynzo the Heartthrob, because they frequent so many places where it might’ve happened. Raised in Hyde Park, Lynzo is a self-taught and constantly booked drag artist, burlesque performer, and exotic dancer; an event curator; a queer and trans plus-size stylist; an activist for sex […]

The post Best multihyphenate burlesque dancer, emcee, and event curator for Black femmes appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The day mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson descended upon Lighthouse Church of Chicago UCC was reminiscent of any other political season meet and greet between a hopeful candidate and an inquisitive community of faith. Except it wasn’t the same because Lighthouse is the only predominantly African American and LGBTQ+ -inclusive congregation in the city. The church, […]

The post Brandon Johnson speaks with Black LGBTQ+ leaders appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) is an annual celebration of the lives and contributions of trans people, created in 2010 to draw attention to the community’s successes and also draw attention to the discrimination, violence, and other systemic challenges that trans communities face. This year, local unions with engaged and active trans members are throwing […]

The post Queer Chicago union workers celebrate Trans Day of Visibility with solidarity appeared first on Chicago Reader.

About 15 workers from Berlin Nightclub stood outside the 40-year-old Lakeview venue on March 11. They were a few dozen feet from the Belmont Red Line station, in a gaggle, below a steady downpour of flurrying snow that wouldn’t stick. Because of the weather, the streets and buildings all had a thin, wet film. The […]

The post Organizing the night workers appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Capital B is a fresh Black local-national nonprofit news organization on the scene. It turned one year old this year, and it recently brought its mission of partnering with communities to create a high-quality news and information experience for Black folks to Gary, Indiana. Gary is a rust-belt news desert that notoriously has lost 61 […]

The post The news in Gary appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The story of Chicago’s own Black Child Book Fair, a traveling event that promotes literacy for Black kids across the country, starts with Chicagoan and author Darryl Harvey releasing his incipient children’s book in 2010, I Can Do Anything. It features a Black child on the cover and is the first in his Sunflower series, […]

The post Superheroes that look like me appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Caroline Patton is the faceless giant behind the Chicago Weekly Show Calendar, an Instagram account and weekly email newsletter that tries to detail all the concerts happening in the city at a range of venues. Launched in August 2021, the account has nearly 6,000 followers, and weekly posts average around 350 likes.  Patton graduated with […]

The post Caroline Patton, founder of the Chicago Weekly Show Calendar appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The queer, DACA-led southwest-side group addresses community needs around food, health and public space.

The post The Gage Park Latinx Council nurtures community and identity  appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The Music Box Theatre found itself at the center of controversy in the local LGBTQ+ film space when it planned a February 2 screening of Actors by Betsey Brown.

The post The Music Box cancels <i>Actors</i>, but the discourse continues appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Thirteen of Chicago’s new queer and/or BIPOC recurring events

The post <strong>Your guide to outside</strong> appeared first on Chicago Reader.

A conversation with members of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party

The post <strong>All power to the people </strong> appeared first on Chicago Reader.

gods closet hosts monthly pop-ups that offer free clothing and a safe space for gender expression.

The post Finding euphoria appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The People Issue’s class of 2022 showcases folks from many walks of life. As subjects, their common thread is an incessant need to create welcoming spaces for other individuals like them, enact change, further their craft, do good, and in one instance, amplify the representation of stoner lesbians in graphic novels. Read profiles of 21 people by and as told to 15 Chicago Reader writers.

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Dozens have filed petitions to run for the newly created councils.

The post Police district council races gear up appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Black-owned small businesses are still losing out on “social equity” cannabis dispensary licenses.

The post Up in smoke appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The festival abolished the usual gatekeeping to book more than four dozen diverse artists at three venues, all in walking distance of one another.

The post Music Fest threw open the stages on the Logan Square strip appeared first on Chicago Reader.

A Step Ahead Chess brings kids together online and in person.

The post Making good moves appeared first on Chicago Reader.

A new exhibit at the American Writers Museum featres prominent and lesser-known Black authors, poets, and journalists.

The post Writers on the wall appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Kehlani’s fans discuss the queer R&B artist’s music and impact.

The post Blue water road to Chicago appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Meanwhile, life goes on for houseless Touhy Park occupants.

The post Rogers Park neighbors debate a new men’s shelter appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Chicago producer and DJ Antonio Cesar has used tens of thousands of dollars in grants to travel the world, exporting the city’s sounds and importing new influences.

The post DJ Antonio Cesar keeps finding money to evolve house music appeared first on Chicago Reader.