Chi-Urban Excursion

Our most active day so far here in Chicago was, luckily, also the first to be graced by blue skies.  We had a packed schedule ahead of us and it seems the sun had come out to lend its support.  On this bright morning we set out in our colossal Chicago Center van to the neighborhood of Inglewood, known in Chicago as one of the more violent areas, to see the Growing Home urban farms.

The farm, nestled amidst blocks and blocks of dense residential streets, was unlike anything I had seen before.  You turn a corner, and suddenly – the smell of peat, rows of hoop-houses, fogged greenhouse windows.  Outreach Manager Sonya Harper showed us around at told us a bit about what the farm is about.

The inhospitable weather conditions unfortunately didn’t allow us to see much of the growing produce, as the spinach and radish seedlings had to be kept covered so they could survive.  But the farm’s mission certainly impressed.  Growing Home not only serves as a source of fresh, organic produce to a neighborhood with only one grocery store, but is staffed with interns from Inglewood itself, there to learn important job skills and get experience that can help them into future jobs.  The produce they grow is sold in the hip organic grocery stores of Lincoln Park, and in Inglewood, where it’s sold at half price (or even cheaper than that for customers with EBT).

Sonya tells us she’s only been working at Growing Home for a year.  She had been working in televised news for a few major networks, but grew sick of the way the neighborhood she grew up in was portrayed in the media, and the way stories of local violence rarely made it to the news.  Yearning for a job that could help build Inglewood up, she left for Growing Home.

With fresh vegetation on our mind we piled back in the van and head for Soul Vegetarian, a restaurant that serves classic soul food dishes as completely vegan meals.  We all delighted in watching Spencer and Junior take their first tastes of tofu, and delighted even more in excellent meatless BBQ sandwiches.

From there we went to the DuSable Museum of African American History, where we saw prints and read poetry from Margaret T.G. Burroughs, learned about artifacts and culture from different regions of Africa, and heard the story of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor, as told by his animatronic likeness who rarely failed to make unsettling eye contact.

After DuSable, we had a few hours of free time, so we hopped out of the van on the way home to visit the Field Museum of Natural History.  With only about two hours until closing time, we split up to make sure we could all see the exhibits we were excited about.  Ryan, Carolina, Katie, and I headed for the dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs are great.  I like to look at Triceratops skeletons and wonder how completely mindblown the first person ever to unearth one must have felt.

Once the museum closed we decided to take the Red Line back to the hostel. Our luck with weather had evidently run out – snowflakes like cottonballs obscured our vision on the walk to the train station.  Once we were home we split up again for dinner.  I made a beeline for the local Shawarma place, upon Spencer and Francis’ recommendation.  Riding an adventurous wave, I ate a parsley salad, which is a combination of two foods that I usually hate.  I liked it.

We all filled up and drank our coffee and got back in the van at about seven for the last event of the day, an open mic poetry event at the KLEO Center (Keep Loving Every One), a place for after school programs and other things of the sort that help give Chicago’s youth a safe place to be.  I was unsure what to expect from this event, as my previous experience with an open mic was partially comprised of awkward, stumbling readings of Snow White fan-fiction.  But this proved very quickly to be the farthest thing from a typical open mic.  The hosts of the event, slam poets Phenom and K-Love, created a great positive atmosphere, shouting encouragement and rallying huge applause for everyone who came up to the microphone.  The performers, mostly kids ranging from high school to college aged, were all incredibly talented, each delivering impressive slam poetry, rap verses, dances, or renditions of their favorite songs.  And none of these kids were here just to impress anyone or seek applause – there were here because they wanted so badly to express what they went through every day, growing up in rough areas of Chicago.  Their pain was so tangible in their art, and to watch their performances and see the tremendous support the audience gave them was moving to say the least.  There were stories of struggles with racism, there were stories of searches for inner strength, there were cries for respect, and each was met with overwhelming love and support.  And as the poets passed out paper plates with a single chicken wing and three or four french fries each to the kids in attendance, I found myself thinking, “This is what real Church looks like.”

So with the big day behind us we went back to the Hostel and went straight to our rooms – except for me, I wrote this until about 1:30.  I should go to bed now.  We’re getting up bright and early tomorrow for another day of adventure here in Chicago.

-Matt Dargen

Junior

Computer Science