Darcel Rockett

The interior of PODER Learning Center is seen on April 19, 2023.

An immigrant service center that opened in January is already making an impact in and around Gage Park

May 12, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

In 2021, the concept of a community hub where immigrants could enrich their lives through education and resources was a dream waiting to be realized. But by January, the headquarters...

Jazmin Rhodes, of Chicago, performs a monologue as Ruby from the play "King Hedley II" at Goodman Theatre in Chicago during finals of the August Wilson New Voices national competition on May 1, 2023. Rhodes took first place for her performance.

Goodman Theatre hosts the national finals of August Wilson New Voices, with a winner from Homewood-Flossmoor

May 2, 2023 at 4:10 p.m.

For an hour Monday night, in the Goodman Theatre's Albert Theatre, high school students performed monologues from August Wilson's 10-play Century Cycle. The only sounds made were thunderous applause, shouts...

CPS student Jack Heller, left, plays chess with Sam Hoppenworth, as Santino Vega, in a colorful shirt, and Briana Moya participate in the match on April 10, 2023. The Chicago Chess Foundation took part in a chess exchange in Ghana during the students' spring break.

Chess boards and passports in hand, CPS students travel to Ghana to teach and play the game

April 28, 2023 at 1:22 p.m.

Jack Heller, 17, a junior at Walter Payton College Prep High School, learned to play chess from his father when he was just 4. He started competing in chess tournaments...

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, left, and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, center right, help unveil an Illinois State Historical Society marker at the site of the former Ton Farm, now known as Chicago's Finest Marina, 557 E. 134th Place, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, in Chicago. Slaves who escaped the South between the 1830s and the Civil War and traveled north to Chicago, Detroit, and Canada, sought and received refuge at the site from Dutch immigrant farmers Jan and Aagje Ton, which became recognized as part of the Underground Railroad network. In 2019 the Ton Farm was accepted into the National Park Service Network to Freedom program.

Looking for Freedom Seekers: Do you have ancestors who traveled on the Underground Railroad? We want to hear from you.

April 27, 2023 at 6:53 a.m.

Juneteenth. Black History Month. Social unrest. The baiduhai has been a source of information for 175-plus years since 1847. Now the Tribune is hoping to document Underground Railroad sites...

Poet, songwriter and multi-disciplinary artist avery r. young performs at the "Everyone's Picasso" event at the Daley Plaza in Chicago on Aug. 8, 2017.

Chicago has its first Poet Laureate: avery r. young talks about his plans. ‘Poetry is not just for pages.’

April 24, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.

It's been weeks since Chicagoans were asked to nominate a poet in either written or spoken traditions for the position as the city's first Poet Laureate. In January, a call...

Alex Hardaway, who wrote a song about each of the neighbors in his 15-unit apartment building during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, is seen at home in Chicago with some of his studio equipment on April 5, 2023.

The pandemic brought an Andersonville man closer to his neighbors — and inspired his album of songs about each of them

April 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

When the world was isolating in pandemic bubbles, Alex Hardaway was channeling his inner Bob McGrath — the late "Sesame Street" character who sang the "People in Your Neighborhood" song....

Jitu Brown addresses protesters on Aug. 28, 2013, during the Education is a Human Right boycott of Chicago Public Schools outside CPS headquarters.

Journey for Justice Alliance wants to localize its equity work and make it policy, starting with a Chicago convention Saturday

April 19, 2023 at 12:28 p.m.

What started in 2021 as a push for equity in education is now a campaign that seeks to secure "sweeping anti-racist legislation" in at least 20 cities before year's end,...

All Stories