Author Archives: Richard Guzman

Era Bell Thompson: Affirming American Meritocracy

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Richard Guzman

Nearly without fail, the excerpt from Era Bell Thompson’s American Daughter, which I included in my book Black Writing from Chicago, is my students’ favorite. Leaving her native North Dakota in 1931, Era Bell Thompson came to settle in Chicago … Continue reading →

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Guerilla Gardening

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Richard Guzman

The statistics are hard to believe:  70% of Americans overweight or obese, adult obesity doubling between 1980 and 2008, but tripling for kids, so that today a third of U.S. kids are overweight or obese.  This in an era where … Continue reading →

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Audrey Petty: The Architecture of Race

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Richard Guzman

“I had to get away from Chicago to be able to really understand its hold on me,” says Audrey Petty, who spent her undergraduate years at Knox College in the largely white, far-western Illinois town of Galesburg.   Her stories have … Continue reading →

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