Dear Chicago

In the chorus of voices surrounding the upcoming  election, pundits sometimes drown out people. Using text, photographs, audio, and video,  WBEZ’s Dear Chicago commentary series flips the script by having Chicago residents talk about urgent problems affecting their lives--in their own words.  Dear Chicago is a project of WBEZ’s Partnership Program.

Dear Chicago: Stop criminalizing our youth

Feb. 7, 2011
Allegations of police misconduct are not new to Chicago.

Dear Chicago: Secure space for artists to live and work

Jan. 31, 2011
This October the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the 10th anniversary of its 12x12 series. The monthly show features up-and-coming Chicago artists, most of whom have never before exhibited in a museum.

Dear Chicago: Make neighborhoods accessible

Jan. 24, 2011
Rene Luna, 55, became a quadriplegic after a car crash in 1977. Now he gets around town in a motorized wheelchair. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act as well as state laws aim to provide Luna and other people with physical disabilities equal access to businesses and public places.

Dear Chicago: Let’s clean up the Chicago River

Jan. 17, 2011
To say that fishing is the central passion of Don Dubin’s life might be an understatement. The Chicago native grew up fishing in public parks on the city’s West Side.

Dear Chicago: We need a place to live

Jan. 17, 2011
It’s estimated that over forty-thousand households in Chicago are headed by grandparents who have taken responsibility for raising their grandchildren. 61-year-old Joyce Jackson is part of that legion.

Dear Chicago: Fix our neighborhood schools

Jan. 17, 2011
Lakeesha Harris and her domestic partner, Janean Watkins blended their families more than a decade ago. Since then they’ve been struggling to secure a good education for their six children, who range in age from 11 to 18.

Dear Chicago: Fill empty lots

Jan. 17, 2011
When 23-year-old Darmika Ford looks out her home window, she imagines a community garden brimming with flowers, produce and community cooperation, but what she actually sees is nothing like that vision. Instead, she sees a vacant lot.

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