December 2007 Events and Activities in Edgewater

A short list of December 2007 events in the Edgewater community area, culled from press releases, e-mails, flyers, etc.

Saturday, December 1
GRAND RE-OPENING OF THE BROADWAY ARMORY PARK
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. @ 5917 N. Broadway Avenue
Mayor Daley will join us for the ribbon cutting ceremony. This is a wonderful opportunity to take a tour of the renovated park facility and enjoy some of the facilities offerings. Check of the new fitness center and try the climbing wall! See a gymnastic center demonstration, enjoy refreshments and a visit from Santa, Participate in holiday arts and crafts, sign up for winter programs

Tuesday, December 4
PROSE SHOW & 10,000 TONS OF BLACK INK RELEASE PARTY
7:00 p.m. Wine, cheese, and baked good buffet hosted by LWN writing group members
7:30 p.m. Literary Readings startwith a story from 10,000 Tons of Black Ink.
Between 7-9 p.m.:

• Copies of 10,000 Tons of Black Ink for sale
• Two Raffles: Two theatre tickets to Northlight Theatre's production of Gee’s Bend and a basket of gently used books. The basket includes a copy of 10,000 Tons of Black Ink
• Get your copy of 10,000 Tons of Black Ink autographed by two of its featured writer
• Meet the featured writers of Prose Show: Stephanie Kuehnert and Jerome Long (two writers featured in the magazine), LWN writing group member Chad Peterson, and local writer Megan Milks
• Special Guest Book Sale by Kate the Great's
  

Where: Kate the Great's Book Emporium, 5550 N. Broadway, Chicago , IL
Seating is limited, so we encourage you to RSVP for priority seating: rsvp@literarywritersnetwork dot org.

Thursday, December 6
EDC/ECC Planning & Development Meeting
EDC & ECC will hold the Planning & Development Committee Meeting 7 p.m.
at 6044 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago
This is an open public meeting and the public is encouraged to attend.

Saturday, December 8
FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS WORKSHOP
Where: EDGEWATER PUBLIC LIBRARY , 1210 W. Elmdale
Time: 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
The Edgewater Community Council will host a FREE Workshop for first-time
homebuyers and will focus on a host of information including:

• Did you know there is a program to assist first-time buyers with 4% of the down payment and closing costs?
• Did you know there is an additional income tax credit available for first time home buyers?
• Are you finding that buying the American dream is so confusing and difficult that you don't even try?
• Are you unsure of how much you can afford
  

• If these questions are part of your conversation as a potential first-time homebuyer, come to this FREE workshop taught by a Homeownership Counselor. This workshop will provide you with written materials and the certification necessary for certain subsidized home ownership programs.

The workshop is free, but you must pre-register! Contact:
Housing Resource Director at 773-381-1340

Thursday, December 13
Loyola University Community Holiday Party to Benefit Care For Real
5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m.
Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts
1000 W. Sheridan Road, lst floor auditorium

"President Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., and the staff and faculty of Loyola University Chicago invite you to a holiday celebration in the beautifully restored Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. The Center is located at 1000 West Sheridan Road and the festivities will be held in the first floor auditorium. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided. Raffle tickets will be sold at the event at $1.00 per raffle tickets or $5.00 per 6 raffle tickets. Prizes will be announced at the end of the evening. All funds raised will be donated to Care For Real. As part of the Edgewater Community Council, Care For Real has provided food, clothing and household items to underserved residents of Edgewater for more than 30 years. For more information please call 773-508-7450"

Communtiy Planning Meeting: Ridge Fire Station

Community Planning Meeting on the Re-use of the Ridge Fire Station

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Edgewater Baptist Church

1401 West Hollywood at Glenwood

7:00 p.m.

We are asking all who are interested to join neighbors and community groups to provide input on the future of the Ridge Avenue Fire Station. A new firehouse is being constructed and this historic building will be available for some other use. Alderman Mary Ann Smith has stated that she would like to see the station preserved and that a new use be found that would bring local people in and allow them to enjoy the building.

Under the sponsorship of ECC, Mike Rohrbeck has agreed to facilitate a community planning process to examine how this facility can continue to be an asset to the Edgewater Community. The planning sponsor for this meeting is the Edgewater Community Council and the meeting host is the ETNA Block Club. Refreshments are provided courtesy of the Edgewater Baptist Church.

H&M Department Store Harrassed Customer

Harrased by H&M Employee

(Chicago, IL) - Asian American Institute filed a discrimination complaint with the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, seeking redress for Frannie Richards, a Filipino American nurse who suffered anti-Asian and sex-based harassment at the Magnificent Mile H&M department store. The harassment included "mail-order bride" comments, ridicule concerning Ms. Richards' ability to understand English, as well as mocking "ching, ching, chang" noises by an H&M employee.

"Anti-Asian, xenophobic, and misogynist verbal attacks still happen on a daily basis," said Asian American Institute Legal Director Myron Dean Quon. "Asian American women, like Ms. Richards, should never have to deal with this type of harassment, in Chicago no less."

This past September, when Ms. Richards entered H&M to go shopping for clothes, she had no idea that she would be the victim of a hostile and threatening environment. "As a registered nurse and retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt., I knew that I had to enforce my civil rights, for myself and other Asian American women. Because H&M refused to discipline this employee, I immediately thought of my own female relatives and friends. The workplace usage of disparaging anti-Asian slurs should require the termination of that H&M employee."

Quon noted that Asian Americans should be able to visit retail establishments and other businesses without having to endure a humiliating and offensive environment. Asian American Institute will represent Ms. Richards based her claim that H&M violated the City's Human Rights Ordinance, when the employee harassed Ms. Richards and also when in it refused her request to file a formal complaint. Chicago's anti-discrimination ordinances guard against discrimination, including anti-Asian and sex-based discrimination, when the discriminatory incident takes place in Chicago and involves employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, or bonding.

Myron Dean Quon is the attorney on Richards v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, Case #07-P-100.

Myron Dean Quon, Esq.
Asian American Institute Legal Director
The Asian American Institute (www.aaichicago.org) is the region's pan-Asian nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Asian Pacific American community through advocacy, by utilizing research, education, and coalition-building.

* * * * * * * *

I got this news story from an email. Surprisingly, not much press coverage nor outrage about this matter from the mainstream media and society. I suppose if the lady customer was African-American, we would have Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton leading a picket in front of the H&M store in question and calling a boycott of all H&M stores. Oh well... that's Chicago for ya, the City that Works.

Boycott H&M!

Literary Writers Network Prose Show

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

7:30-9 p.m.

Kate the Great's Book Emporium

5550 N. Broadway, Chicago

The LWN Prose Show is a collaborative effort by Chicago-area writers and readers interested in promoting literary expression and appreciation for literary excellence.

Prose Show is a quarterly reading series that gives writers experience in presenting their work to a live audience, an invaluable experience that fosters in writers confidence for accepting invitations by publications, schools, and other organizations to read their work aloud for promotional and cultural purposes.

RSVP at rsvp@literarywritersnetwork.org

By giving Chicago-area writers a voice and a receptive audience, the series will enrich the vitality of the literary arts. The public reading experience allows individuals, families, and other artists to engage in the collective vision of the Chicago writing community. Visit www.LiteraryWritersNetwork.org for more information.

Nothing to See. . . Move Along

I went to the 2nd round of charretes for the Edgewater Red Line Corridor Revitalization Charrettes. I missed the first round since I did not know about it. The results of these charrettes should be online at the Edgewater Development Corp. website so I will not go into them in detail.

There was not much of a turnout for this session, I counted approx. 26 people, including the staff, presenters and facilitators, out of the neighborhood population of 146,200+. So I don't know how representative or conclusive the findings and results of these sessions will be.

My opinion/rants and raves/short notes:

The presenters and UIC bodies did an excellent job of setting up and running the sessions.

Most of those who went appear to be residents more concerned with their property values or those who wish to make the area be like Lakeview. Where are the representatives from the small businesses in the area? The immigrant communities? The thousands of renters? No one to speak for the student body of Loyola University?

For all the talk about wanting to keep the "diversity" in the community, there seems to be a lack of representation or voices for these so-called diverse population. I wonder if any of participants patronize any of the local 'diverse' businesses in their neighborhood, except for the rare foray into ethnic dining. There are at least 6 African restaurants in the area. I see very few adventurous diners in them whenever we go there. Maybe in a few years these restaurants will be gone and replaced with ones serving some kind of overpriced fusion-type menu or something.

I kept hearing Trader Joe's and Whole Foods being bandied around as preferred retail stores to enter the area. Nothing wrong with that I guess. The participants all agree they want quality businesses to move in the area, regardless of size. One fellow, one of only two minorities in the room, mentioned something about who determines the quality of these stores? Seems to him that a lot of the small businesses are set up by immigrant entrepreneurs or those with limited capital. I guess those businesses which cater to these immigrants and the working class will be gone someday. Progress.

One of my concern is that if and when the area does develop and becomes upscale, where will the working class families go? Where will they go to do their laundry or eat cheaply?

Maybe in Rogers Park or Uptown. . .