Deanna Kimberly Burrell's Blog: The Red Cup Adventures, page 4

Aaron Ireland wants to know “What are your kids doing this summer?”

Aaron Ireland was born on the south side, graduated from the Chicago Public School system (Poe Classical Elementary and Whitney Young High School), received a Masters from the University of Chicago in the Art of Teaching and has spent 15 years in the education industry. He is an educator with a desire to heighten the potential of all students. We see it all too often…especially on the south and west side of Chicago… children who have not had their interests piqued. Some have no realistic “interests,” or plan B, while others have no means to explore their passions. Too many of our kids are getting overlooked so Aaron established the LOTUS Summer Enrichment Program to cultivate in students a love for learning, exploring and living! Aaron believes that highly engaged kids are happy kids and he wants to know “What are your kids doing this summer?”

Aaron has found that the most academically successful children are those who have connected their learning to their passions…which is why he created the LOTUS Summer Enrichment Program. The summer program has two goals: 1) to prevent the summer slide which is the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year and 2) help students expand their awareness, discover their passions, and to connect their learning to their passion.

The LOTUS Summer Enrichment Program presents a summer enrichment intensive program with the following elements:

-Experiential learning in 6 high demand growth fields
-Tennis Intensive at XS Foundation
-Team Rowing at Park 571 Boathouse
-Exploration speakers including Natalie Y. Moore, Ghain Foreman, Heather Ireland-Robinson and Frankie Robinson
-Career Exploration in journalism, real estate, culinary arts, and fine arts
-City Museum Tours
-Literacy Intensive Workshops
-College tour/experience at Purdue University

The LOTUS Summer Enrichment Program will be held at the Village Leadership Academy located in the South Loop. The deadline for applying is June 10th. Visit www.LiftingOurselves.org or call 312.330.81116 for more information.

 

If you enjoy the Red Cup Adventures and Black Chicago Summer Events blogs, please support author Deanna Burrell by purchasing her two books...the best-selling novel described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", Single Girl Summer 

 and the inspirational journal Voted Most Creative . Click here to visit Deanna's amazon author page to find more about each book.

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

Black Chicago Summer Events (May 2018)

Summer in Chicago offers an array of festivals, concerts, events, parties, and outings in every neighborhood. I created the Red Cup Adventures (RCA) blog as my platform to highlight and discuss the Sounds and Sights of Black Chicago. My RCA blog covers everything from Chicago politics, my random thoughts, to hot events. This is my fourth year publishing the Black Chicago Summer Events list. Each year I tweak the format to make it more user friendly. This year, I'm going to make a big change by putting each month in its own blog post and include links for each month at the bottom for easy navigation. The summer list gets longer and longer each year so I hope this will help with the endless scrolling especially on your mobile devices.

Now without further ado, here's my list for Summer 2018 hot happenings which I highly recommend for Black Chicago. The ultimate Red Cup Adventure is hitting 5 spots in one day...use this list as a guide. Grab your red cups and get ready some amazing adventures in #SummerTimeChi #FollowTheRedCup.

May 2018

Now-May 20: Comfort Stew @ ETA Creative Arts
Now-May 12: Until the Flood @ Goodman Theatre
May 5-Jun 10: Having Our Say @ Goodman Theatre
May 10-13 (Thu-Sun): Damon Williams Presents @ Riddles Comedy Club
May 11 (Fri): Harold Green: FFTL 2018 Live! @ The Promontory
May 11 (Fri): Chicago Top 5: Larger Than Life Art Exhibit @ Connect Gallery with an after party at the Virgin Hotel
May 12 (Sat): A Chill Day – The Day Party for Cigar Aficionados @ Truth Italian Restaurant
May 12-13 (Sat-Sun): A Mother’s Day Celebration Starring Kirk Franklin & Tamela Mann @ Horseshoe Casino Hammond
May 13 (Sun): Celebrate Mother’s Day @ Peach’s Restaurant
May 13 (Sun): Festival of Laughs ft. Don ‘DC’ Curry, Tony Rock, Sommore, Arnez J & George Wallace @ Arie Crown Theater
May 17 (Thu): Grown Folks Stories @ The Silver Room
May 18 (Fri): Mother’s Day Comedy Show ft. Leon Rogers & friends @ West Suburban All Jokes Aside
May 18 (Fri): Raekwon the Chef @ The Promontory
May 19: (Sat): Free MBE-WBE Certification Seminar @ Black Wall Street Chicago
May 19: (Sat): March & Pray for Our Lives @ 79th Street from Greenwood to the Dan Ryan
May 19 (Sat): Sib’s Breakfast Club Supports the Grand Opening of Kilwins @ 310 S. Michigan Avenue
May 19 (Sat): The Grown Woman Tales VI: If I Only Knew THEN What I Know Now @ Absolutely Anything Essential Gift Shop
May 19 (Sat): We Rise Up: How Revolutionary Black Women Lead @ Chicago State University
May 19 (Sat): Bark in the Park @ Soldier Field
May 20 (Sun): A Brunch of Us (Chicago Debut) @ Currency Exchange Café
May 20 (Sun): Black Girls Gather @ South Side Community Art Center
May 20 (Sun): Dope Steez Natural Hair Jamboree @ per.so.na
May 24 (Thu): Individualism @ Gallery Guichard
May 24-26 (Thu-Sat): Chicago House Music Conference @ Chicago Cultural Center
May 25 (Fri): All Black Affair ft. Dru Hill, Ginuwine, Carl Thomas, Kindred Family Soul, Jon B & Public Annoucement @ Auditorium Theatre
May 25 (Fri): Legends of Hip Hop Fest ft. DJ Quik, KRS-One, Scarface, MC Lyte, Twista, Shawnna @ Arie Crown Theatre
May 25 (Fri): Throwback to the 90s Party with MC Lyte @ The Promontory
May 25 (Fri): The Whispers @ Horseshoe Casino Hammond
May 25 (Fri): The Windy City Cigar Lounge Grand Opening @ 43rd and Prairie
May 25-Jun 24: Father Comes Home From the Wars @ Goodman Theatre
May 26 (Sat): 3rd Annual Chicago House Music Festival @ Millennium Park
May 26 (Sat): Go Doggy Run Hot Dog Joint Grand Opening @ 808 N. Lake Shore Drive
May 26 (Sat): Rahsaan Patterson @ City Winery
May 26-27 (Sat-Sun): Randolph Street Market Festival @ 1341 W. Randolph Street
May 27 (Sun): Bike the Drive @ Lake Shore Drive
May 27 (Sun): 3rd Annual The Black Mall Awards – The Best in Black Business @ the DuSable Museum
May 5-Jun 17: A New Attitude: In Tribute to Patti Labelle @ Black Ensemble Theater

Click below to check out these related posts:
Black Chicago Summer Events (June 2018) - coming soon...after the Red Cup Adventure Facebook Page hits 1,000 likes...Click here and like the page
Black Chicago Summer Events (July 2018) - coming soon
Black Chicago Summer Events (August 2018) - coming soon
Black Chicago Summer Events (September 2018) - coming soon
What is a Red Cup Adventure? I'm glad you asked. Click here to find out.

 

If you enjoy the Red Cup Adventures and Black Chicago Summer Events blogs, please support author Deanna Burrell by purchasing her two books...the best-selling novel described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", Single Girl Summer 

 and the inspirational journal Voted Most Creative . Click here to visit Deanna's amazon author page to find more about each book.

 

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

Get Your Rahm Card today 4.30 at Kennedy King College

Pat Quinn said it best when he said "Everybody In. Nobody Left Out."

I'm encouraging everyone...I mean everyone...That means you Black Chicago...to get your Rahm Card. The Rahm Card (AKA Municipal Card AKA Chicago CityKey) was established to bring Chicago together as one community. It will enable Chicagoans to obtain an optional, valid, government-issued ID that they can use to access a range of services from both the private and public sectors, including using the ID as both a Ventra and Chicago Public Library card.



 

PROVIDING DISCOUNTS
The Rahm Card also provides benefits and passes for recreation and entertainment, sports games, cultural institutions, goods, and services at partnering businesses. If you have a business, you should sign up to have your business included in this ground breaking new program.



IMPROVING FINANCIAL INCLUSION
The city is currently exploring partnership opportunities with community banks and credit unions to improve access to financial institutions and enable residents to open bank accounts at participating institutions.

INCREASING ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES
Enabling residents to use the ID to access health services at Chicago Department of Public Health Clinics and potentially other clinics and hospitals.

For more details, visit the Office of the City Clerk's website: http://chicityclerk.com/chicagocitykey

All appointments for City Hall are currently full. Walk-ins will be accepted depending on availability on a first come, first serve basis. Your best bet to get a Rahm Card is to visit one of the mobile printing events without an appointment. I'm going today, Monday, April 30 to Kennedy King College (6301 S. Halsted St.) 10am-7pm. All you need is one piece of ID (driver's license, passport, etc) but I'm going to bring both and a few pieces of mail. Black Chicago...let's get our piece of the Chicago pie.

[caption id="attachment_1387" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Rahm Card Mobile Printing Events[/caption]

 



Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer

 and the inspiration journal Voted Most Creative. Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

Happy Secretary’s Day #CrookedClerk Dorothy Brown…Go Have All The Seats in Crook County

Today is “Administrative Professional’s Day” once known as “Secretary’s Day.” A day where historically executives and professionals (usually men) acknowledge and do something nice for their secretaries (usually women). Being a secretary can be a thankless job and a female secretary all too often also finds herself warding off the inappropriate sexual advances of her boss. Having to shut up and deal with the misogyny of office political also comes with a feeling of helplessness. In order to combat this, secretaries slowly rebranded themselves as “administrative professional” as a means to take back their power. I’m in marketing so I always love a slick rebranding campaign. I prefer the title “secretary” because I’m clear what that is. The title “administrative professional” makes me scratch my head. WTF is that. You’re a professional at administration AKA filing and moving papers around which brings me to the point of this blog.

Dorothy Brown is currently the “Clerk” of the Cook County Circuit Court. The dictionary defines clerk as “a person employed, as in an office, to keep records, file, type, or perform other general office tasks.” This is Mrs. Brown message about her office from her website:

The Clerk of the Circuit Court (Clerk’s Office) is, by law, the official keeper of records for all judicial matters brought into the Circuit Court of Cook County. The Clerk’s Office serves the 5.2 million citizens of Cook County, more than 400 judges and maintains offices in Chicago, Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood, Bridgeview and Markham.
To handle day-to-day responsibilities, the Clerk’s Office has a workforce of approximately 1,916 employees and an annual operating budget of more than $80 million. In 2008, the Clerk’s Office collected $195,000,000 in revenue from filing fees, interest on accounts earned and other sources of which 80% was sent to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office. The additional 20% in revenue was paid to over 950 state and local agencies. In 2008, there were a total of 1,705,413 new cases filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and 19,773,061 case activity transactions performed by Clerk’s Office personnel. There were also 6,273,766 public inquiries made for information contained in the Clerk’s Office’s system.

Dorothy Brown is the head secretary of all the secretaries/clerks in the Cook County Circuit Cook. So Happy Administrative Professional’s Day Dorothy Brown. Now riddle me this, why the hell is a secretary an elected office? And why the hell does a secretary how so much power?

In 2016, Cook County commissioners decided to put on the November ballot a question asking whether the recorder of deeds office should be folded in to the clerk’s office. It was a contentious debate which was whittled down to the fact that the Black recorder Karen Yarbrough would be overtaken by the white clerk David Orr. Again, why are the secretaries given so much power and why are they wasting our tax dollars dividing their offices and making their titles sound more important that they are? You are a secretary. Get in a secretaries place. File some papers. This really burns me up.

Have you ever met an over-empowered secretary? I know you have. The one that has worked with the boss forever. She has a nasty attitude cause she sick of this shit, but she won’t retire or get a new job and she knows he won’t fire her. So she spends her days throwing her weight around and making everyone’s work live hell for no reason at all. Why can’t she just be nice? Why does she have to be a know-it-all, nasty bitch who insists on doing everything the same as they did it in 1947. She doesn’t know how to use a computer and she ain’t even going to bother to try learning that devil machine. She’s inefficient, ignorant, loud, deluded, and the source of so much office drama that you just try to stay away from her. Well, that’s what we have by making the “Clerk” AKA “Secretary” of the Cook County Circuit Court an elected office. Dorothy Brown has a law degree and from the website I can see she is very technologically advanced, but everything else I described about the over-empowered secretary still applies to her.

Dorothy Brown is corrupt, selfish, and is not fit to be the next mayor of Chicago. She’s only running to raise money to pay for her legal defense on the bribes-for-jobs, federal charges that will be coming down any day now. She and the clerks at the Cook County Courthouse misuse their positions to influence the outcomes of court cases. I figured this out last week. I’m involved in a domestic dispute with Melody Spann-Cooper and Pierre Cooper, my former WVON bosses. We should not be in domestic court. We should be in civil court so I can properly sue my #SlumBossCrookedMillionaire employer for all the money she still owes me. But Melody Spann-Cooper and her #CrookedSlumLawyer Linda Chapman use the courts to bully anyone who challenges her. It was already difficult for me to find a lawyer because many didn’t want to represent me and risk being blackballed from being on-air at WVON 1690am, the only Black news talk radio station is Chicago. I finally found a white attorney, formerly a judge, who had been on WVON in the past, but he seemed like he wasn’t concerned if he was blackballed from being back on the station.

But it slowly dawned on me how chummy he was with Linda Chapman and how he was not representing me zealously. Before our last status hearing, we agreed that he would withdraw from my case. He had been compromised by the bright lights of WVON. He left the courtroom and I stayed to get my paperwork. Melody’s attorney, Linda Chapman, was called up right away. The black female clerk made me wait a long time. When she finally called me up, she glared and snapped at me like a mad dog. That’s when it dawned on me…the fix is in. That’s why even though Melody is completely in the wrong, she comes to court every time with a big smile like her shit don’t stink. That’s why every time we have a hearing, my case is never listed on the board outside and my domestic case against Melody’s husband (which started this whole issue in domestic court) is never paired with Melody’s cyber stalking case against me. Every time we come to court the judge has to order the clerk to go pull the paperwork of my case against Pierre. Why? Because the clerks are helping Melody and Linda. The fix is in and Dorothy Brown is the head of a very nasty and corrupt system.

I will be filing my complaint against court clerk in room 201 today. She wouldn’t tell me her name after she snapped at me, but I got it. I will be filing a complaint. Let’s see how Dorothy Brown responds. Oh, and Happy Secretary’s Day.

 

P.S. Dorothy Brown has a Second Chance Expungement Summit on Saturday, June 2, 2018 at Kennedy King College (6301 S. Halsted Street). It's her annual full service expungement summit for adult and juvenile application, preparation, and filing. Registration is at 830am and doors close at 6pm. Volunteer attorneys will be on site to help with expungement and sealing applications. You must bring your RAP sheet(s) which you can order from the police department and they take 6 weeks to be mailed so go do that ASAP. Filing and service fees may apply. For additional information, call (312) 603-5200 or visit www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org

Every crooked politician should at least have one good thing they consistently do for the people and this is hers. Thanks #CrookedDorothy.

 

Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer

 and the inspiration journal Voted Most Creative. Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

Someone You Should Know for Black History Month: Sibyl Holloway

I officially met Sibyl Holloway in 2014 when we were both honored as Chicago Defender Women of Excellence. I had heard her name several times before in my Chicago Black entrepreneur circle but it wasn’t until that wonderful event that we hugged, “officially” met and promised to support each other in the future. Soon after I attended my first “Sib’s Breakfast Club” event and I was super impressed by how much fun it was and how many people were there to happily support a Black business.



In 2014, I had just discovered the joys of the “dayparty”. Sib’s Breakfast Club combined a few of my favorite activities: day drinking, a live DJ, house music, a lively crowd, recycling the Black dollar, and partying close to home. One of my favorite Sib’s Breakfast Club events was at Sip and Savor on 528 E. 43rd Street. I had been there for coffee before and I couldn’t believe how many people were packed inside the cozy coffeehouse on a cold winter's day. I had a ball. There was no cover charge to enter so every thirty minutes, the DJ reminded the crowd that the goal was for everyone to spend at least $10. The cash register continuously rang off the hook. I was standing next to Sibyl when the business owner came over to her to thank her for the wonderful windfall she gifted him that day. After attending numerous breakfast club event and witnessing their success, I knew Sibyl was definitely someone special and as you can see from the picture above...someone kinda mysterious.

This year, Sib’s Breakfast Club is celebrating 10 years of supporting Black owned business. The breakfast club started informally as a way for Sibyl to connect with friends and support Black owned businesses. Breakfast is Sibyl’s favorite meal of the day and she realized that there were so many restaurants that could not afford marketing so she started inviting a group of 20 of her friends to a monthly “breakfast” outing which rotated to support different restaurants. Friends asked if they could bring other friends and Sibyl decided to make a formal “Sib’s Breakfast Club” with a website and social media marketing to maximum her goal of recycling the Black dollar.



2018 is a milestone for Sibyl Holloway. Not only is she celebrating 10 year of “Sib’s Breakfast Club”, but this year is also the 5th anniversary of her annual Game Changers program. Through her years of networking and community building, Sibyl has met so many amazing entrepreneurs and she decided to showcase a new group every January with a Game Changers photo.

Not only does Sibyl Holloway bring the party to the businesses, she also celebrates African-American Business Leaders, Innovators and Game Changers. Sibyl is constantly supporting and helping others. Being an entrepreneur can be a riskly and lonely journey so this Black History Month I wanted to make sure to salute and support her. You can find out more about Sib’s Breakfast Club events, businesses, or request an event at your business by clicking here to go to the website page or facebook page.



On January 29th this photo was taken to honor The Sib's Breakfast Club 2018 African American Business Leaders, Innovators and Game Changers. The individuals pictured above and noted below are men and women who have made a marked difference in their respective business, organization and community. Photo credit: Laurencio Miguel Nalls of Forty Photography.

Dwayne Hirsch-Real Estate Professional, Yasmin Curtis (owner of Two Fish), Tanya Richardson (owner Batter & Berries), Tiffany Walden & Morgan Johnson ( The TRiiBE ), Chef David Blackmon, Maggie Anderson of Maggie Anderson & The Empowerment Experiment Movement, DJ Vince Adams, Romina Brown of Bossbeauty and Strategic Solutions International, Inc.., Dj Mike Love, Deborah Olivia Farmer (Brown Farmer Media Group WOKE WOMEN), Jada Russell of HSMPR, Dr. Jerry L Weems of LCS-Teladoc, Daphne A. Williams of Smarty Pants Early Learning Center, Michon Stuttley of Ms. Catwalk , Nikki Hayes of Pier 31 Restaurant, Bryant Lamont of ARTepidemic, Lauran Smith (Chicago Black Restaurant Week), Bertina Power (Queen Bee Consulting), Nick Nicholson of WeJam DJ Academy, Desiree Rideaux (Strategic Alliances Inc.), Todd Prince President of Jackie Robinson West Little League, Jonathan T Swain of Kimbark Beverage Shoppe, and Jonathan Meeks of Allstate Insurance Agent.

 

Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer

 and the inspiration journal Voted Most Creative. Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

A night of Black Excellence Featuring Sphinx Virtuosi...TONIGHT

 

Join us for Sphinx Virtuosi: A Classic Night of Black Excellence. On October 24, 2017, we will present the internationally renowned, award winning Sphinx Virtuosi. The Sphinx Organization is the Detroit-based national organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. The doors will open at 6pm and show time is at 7pm. Presented by Harold Washington Cultural Center Arts Society

CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR TWO FREE TICKETS

#FollowTheRedCup #VotedMostCreative #WeHaveAllWeNeed

Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer

 and the inspiration journal Voted Most Creative. Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

TODAY...MEET DR. JERISA

In July, I featured Dr. Jerisa as SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW and the response was incredible. Well, you can meet her live TODAY!!!

Where do you STAND on your BIOLOGICAL CLOCK?

Find our during THE SECURE YOUR FERTILITY Private Meet & Greet in Chicago

Today, October 24

6-7pm

Please RSVP for location

KeymanClub2017@gmail.com

773.706.9039

 

Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer

 and the inspiration journal Voted Most Creative. Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!

Bronzeville Summer Nights, 43rd Street Grand Finale on Friday, 9/15

The Quad Communities Development Corporation closes out it's 5th season of Bronzeville Summer Nights this Friday with the 43rd Street Takeover and Grand Finale! If you have been yet this summer, then you need to be there.

This Friday evening, September 15th from 6-9pm on 43rd Street between King Drive and Cottage Grove, the entire community is invited to mix & mingle with each other and experience & shop with Bronzeville businesses. And it's all FREE!!!
Enjoy live performances and fun activities for the entire family by:


Award Winning Recording Artist Baritone at The Connection
Retail Pop Up at The Connection
Sib's Breakfast Club at The Connection
Let the World Know Balloon Art
Indigie Face Painting
Haji-Healing Salon
Chicago Blues Museum "UnSung Bronzeville" Presentation at Venue Victoria
Small Shops Cycle & Service - DIVVY and Slow Roll Bike Tour




Participating businesses include:
Bronzeville Boutique
Christian LEG Daycare
Kenwood Daycare
Sip & Savor
Ain't She Sweet
Agriculture
Amour Hair Salon
Small Shops Cycle & Service
Venue Victoria
The Connection
Bronzeville Barbershop
Honey 1 BBQ
Metro PCS



RSVP at https://bronzevillesummernightssept15.eventbrite.com

Pillar Insurance School Supply Drive for Teachers

A couple of weeks, I was saddened and upset by an interview on NPR radio with a teacher in Oklahoma who decided to panhandle on the side of the road. She was not just raising money for the school supplies she needs to make sure she and her students start the new year on the right note; but she was also raising awareness on how frustrated she is each year digging into her own pockets to pay for classroom supplies. She said her annual salary is around $35,000 and she spends nearly $2,000 of her own money each year on her classroom.

Instantly I thought of our Chicago teachers who are being cheated out of their pensions, deprived of adequate classroom funding, and watching their take home pay further decreased by soda taxes, property tax increases, and Chicago’s longstanding tradition of allowing greedy and corrupt politicians to overtax residents. Chicago Public Schools are not only failing our students, but they are also failing our teachers.

As fate would have it, I struck up a conversation with Maurice Green who owns Pillar Insurance and asked him what new projects he had coming up. Maurice told me last year held a one-day event to collect school supplies for teachers. He was able to fill four oversized boxes and the supplies were distributed to teachers at King, Dunbar, and Hyde Park High School and a couple of elementary schools. This year he wants to do even more to help.

If you also would like to help our local teachers, please drop off school supplies at Pillar Insurance at 4504 S. Cottage Grove. Donations will be accepted M-F 9am-4pm until Friday, August 25th.

If you are a teacher that would like to request supplies, click here to leave a message on the Pillar Insurance School Supply for Teachers Facebook event page.

Pillar Insurance Services is an independent insurance agency, which means they represent many different companies so they can find the one that’s right for you. They service Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri in the areas of auto, motorcycle, life, residential property, commercial, restaurant, workers comp, and contractors and business insurance. Contact Pillar Insurance at 773.288.3200 or click her to visit their website for a free quote.

African Festival of the Arts #Respect Gala 2017 featuring Regina Belle

Not only does Chicago have a large African-American population, the windy city is also home to a vast African population, which is as robust and diverse as the many countries and tribes in the motherland. We know the story of the American Great Migration where droves of African-Americans left the south for the promise of a better life in the north. When southern Blacks arrived in the north, there were numerous networks in place to help them settle and acclimate. In Chicago, the Chicago Defender newspaper and the Black church were remarkably successful in helping blacks to migrate, finding housing and employment, and ultimately adjust to their new environment.

Similarly, numerous Africans leave their continent for the promise of a better life in America. For more than 30 years, Africa International House (AIH) has served as a hub of information and acclimatization for Africans coming to Chicago. As the African population in Chicago has swelled, the mission of Africa International House has evolved to serve as a center that exposes and educates all people to the individual works, and collective contributions, of African cultures. Africa International House is a meeting place for Africans from across the Diaspora and its mission is addressed through its flagship program, the African Festival of the Arts, and through other activities that promote African-based culture.

Africa International House will host their Annual Gala, held as a precursor to the 28th Annual African Festival of the Arts (AFA), at the DuSable Museum on Friday, August 18 from 7 p.m. - 11p.m. The event will feature a special performance by singer, songwriter Regina Belle. The Gala is a wonderful sampling of African culture that features all the elements of the Festival including food, displays of art and artifacts, African fashion, and of course music. The emcees for the evening are Dana Divine and A.C. Green.

Honored at the event will be this year’s Grand BaBa Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ, and Grand YeYe, retired assistant principal Linda Murray. The theme for the Gala, and this year’s Festival, is RESPECT , which is in keeping with the city of Chicago’s declaration of 2017 as “The Year of Public Art,” which also includes the 50th anniversary of the South Side’s “Wall of Respect.”

Tickets for the Gala are $75 person/ $125 per couple. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

Deanna Burrell is the author of the best-selling novel, Single Girl Summer.

 Described as "Waiting to Exhale" meets "Sex and the City", your summer won't be complete without it. Click here to download Single Girl Summer now!

If you enjoyed this blog, type your email address in the box, click the "create subscription" button, and sign-up for my blog alerts. The list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Thanks!