Tag Archives: Black Writing from Chicago

John Jones Crusades Against “Black Laws”

Born in Greene County, North Carolina, around 1816, John Jones moved to Chicago in 1845 and established a tailor shop which had many wealthy, white Chicago customers.  By the 1870’s it made him perhaps the wealthiest black in the Midwest.  … Continue reading

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J.W.M. (Colored)

I wanted desperately to start my book Black Writing from Chicago: In the World, Not of It? with something from John Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, the black man famed for being Chicago’s founder—that is, the first, permanent, non-Native American settler.  … Continue reading

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Ken Green’s One Man Parade

Ken Green (b. 1964) used to be a graphic artist for the Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago, and was perhaps the funniest slam poet on the Chicago scene, until…(see below). Though he was not the youngest writer … Continue reading

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