WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

One writer grapples with being part of a community while staying true to her blackness.

Sometimes, laughter can ease tension and open up the possibility for honest discussion about race. 

When we think of segregation in Chicago, schools and housing are the most obvious examples. But racial divisions also are apparent when it comes to partying in the greater downtown area.

What happens when you can't see race? Writer Beth Finke is a WBEZ contributor who happens to be blind. "I can’t judge people by the way they look," she writes. "Fat, skinny, beautiful, homely, young, old, white, black – it’s all the same to me."

Eight Forty-Eight goes to Chicago suburb Lombard on Monday morning, where we'll try to figure out how diverse the area is, how much it has changed over the years, and what that says about the racial diversity of other Chicago suburbs. 

Associate Professor Dr. Lisa Guerrero from Washington State University shares her analysis of the recent Trayvonning meme that places the internet thread in historical context. 

Poet Demetrius Amparan was a 17-year-old senior at Morgan Park High School when he competed in the Louder Than a Bomb Youth Poetry Festival in the Spring of 2008 representing his high school. As explored in the piece, Intersection, Demetrius suffered throughout his childhood at the hands of classmates that couldn't understand his race.