The Chicago Reporter articles from January 2003

The Chicago Reporter archives from January 2003

Scholar uncovers town's heroic legacy.
January 1, 2003... Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua's first book tells a bitter story with a theme that also runs through his own life. "America's First Black Town" (University of Illinois Press, 2000) is about a place filled with ambition and pride, but held back and...

Immigrants swept up in security debate. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... In the roiling wake of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed to marshal the full might of the federal government and "every available statute" to root out "the terrorists among us." The roundup that followed, conducted...

Minorities key to Democratic victories. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... On Nov. 5, Rod R. Blagojevich, a big fan of Elvis Presley, declared that he was "all shook up." As Blagojevich made history by becoming the first Democrat in 30 years to be elected governor of Illinois, he declared his "hunka, hunka burning...

CHA seals records on relocation. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... City officials have always said the 10-year Plan for Transformation is about more than knocking down old high-rises: The lives of tens of thousands of Chicago Housing Authority residents, mostly low-income African American women and children,...

Some neighborhoods still struggling. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... In mid-May, after nearly two years, the U.S. Census Bureau released economic data from its 2000 count. The news in Chicago seemed good overall: After one of the nation's longest economic booms, many residents made more money, and the...

Families fight economic dip. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... Charise Scott grumbles in mid-November as she fills out an online application for a security guard job with the Hyatt Regency Hotel chain. She gets increasingly frustrated. Not accustomed to using a computer, she pauses every time she wants...

Sentencing disparity goes unexamined. (2002 in Review).
January 1, 2003... In a year when their time was consumed by an election, a floundering economy and debate over the fate of Death Row inmates, lawmakers showed that criminal justice reform and politics often don't mix--despite Coy. George H. Ryan's declaration...