Pitches March 2021

[South Side Weekly]

Dear South Side Weekly journalists and writers,

You've been added to our editorial mailing list after having contributed to South Side Weekly, either recently or a while back. 

We love it when our writers move on to bigger things, but we also love it when they come back! If you are interested in contributing to South Side Weekly again, you can claim a story pitch or send us your own. (More info at the bottom.)

Most pitches are volunteer, but we offer stipends for urgent or special coverage when funding allows.

Here are some available pitches to claim:

ASSATA'S DAUGHTERS

Based in Washington Park, this organization has had an immense impact on Chicago and the lives of youth involved in its programs. Page May, co-founder of Assata's Daughters and co-host of The Lit Review podcast, is stepping away from her role as organizing director of Assata's Daughters at the end of March, according to posts on the organization's Facebook and Twitter pages. The posts honor her work in the nearly six years since Assata's Daughters was founded and ask people to write "love notes" for her. What's next for Assata's Daughters? How has their work grown and shifted in her time there? What do they want to focus on next or expand? 

VACCINE IN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

Little has been written about vaccine availability and access in neighborhoods with large populations of immigrants. Interview residents in those communities who are eligible for the vaccine, document their efforts to obtain the vaccine, analyze the resources available in their language(s), talk to elected officials about their efforts, if any, to reach those immigrants. This pitch can apply to various multilingual immigrant communities. Specify what community you're focusing on.

COMMUNITY BOND FUND

The Chicago Community Bond Fund has been bailing people out of Cook County Jail and working to end money bond and pretrial incarceration for more than five years. CCBF played a key role in the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois as part of a criminal justice omnibus bill this January; Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill a month after its passage despite significant lobbying against it from cops. The bill has a two-year rollout, but starting in January 2023, people charged with crimes in Illinois will either be held without bail according to a well-defined decision making process or released without having to pay cash—ending wealth-based pretrial incarceration in Illinois. What will CCBF do next, now that it's helped pass legislation that will eventually make its primary function obsolete? 

THE BLACK BENCH

The Black Bench is a new pipeline to develop and build civic and political leaders primarily in Black communities. In February they announced their first cohort, made up of participants from non-profit, government, military, commercial and/or religious backgrounds. What is their vision? Do they have an agenda or political persuasion? Where do they fit in within the current landscape of Black leadership? Who funds them? Interview pipeline organizers or participants, as well as other experts or critics.

ASIAN COMMUNITIES' REACTION IN THE SOUTH SIDE

After the recent act of terror in Atlanta, Georgia, compounded by anti-Asian sentiment that has surged during the pandemic, various Asian communities across the country are grieving, coping, organizing, and looking ahead. In addition to solidarity rallies, how are Chinese and other Asian communities in the South Side feeling and responding to recent events? Interview residents, Consulates, activists, and other sources native to these communities.

FATHER PFLEGER

There's been significant reporting on the child abuse allegations against the high-profile Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham. Parishioners have rallied around Pfleger, but with the church and Pfleger's activism so embedded in the neighborhood, how is the broader Auburn Gresham community responding, how has it been affected? Talk to a wide variety of people to assess the answer to that question. Other community organizations that interact with St. Sabina may be a good place to start. Most recently Pfleger said he wants to continue his community work independently from the church.

ARTISTS RETURNING TO NORMALCY

With warmer temperatures around the corner, visual and performing artists are finding ways to work and live off their work via outdoor events such as pop-ups, farmers markets, neighborhood festivals, block parties, etc. Write a series of profiles on artists who are "returning to normalcy" this spring and summer; source them from neighborhoods across the South Side or focus on one neighborhood; make sure they represent different art mediums; it would be interesting to know their attitudes on the vaccine as well.

COMMUNITY REACTION TO OIG REPORT ON CPD PROTEST MISCONDUCT

Reporter would partner with Jonathan Ballew, who wrote a thread about the report, and interview demonstrators (such as people who responded to our "What Happened May 30" crowd-sourced timeline) to get their reactions to the OIG report. Article would be a combination of Ballew's analysis, rewritten for print, and reaction quotes from demonstrators.

DISCRIMINATION IN INDIA

There is a City Council resolution proposal denouncing discrimination in India that is facing pushback from a group of Indian-Americans in the city, that some say is based on anti-Muslim sentiments. Interview community members and representatives of organizations like the Chicago Coalition for Human Rights in India, Metropolitan Asian Family Services, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago.

ANGRY BLACKMEN

The South Side rap duo Angry Blackmen have been recording experimental rap for some time now (think: Death Grips; JPEGMAFIA), but they’ve really built momentum since the 2020 EP HEADSHOTS!, which was released on Deathbomb Arc and praised by the The Wire. There are a lot of angles you could take, but we’d be especially excited to see someone chat about music in general with them—judging from Twitter, Brian and Quentin are both enthusiastic music geeks. (The flipping Kanye-samples type).

REVIEWS OF THE FOLLOWING BOOKS:

- Mariame Kaba's We Do This 'Til We Free Us

- Nate Marshall's Finna

- Marisel Vega's The Taste of Sugar

- Maria Hinojosa's Once I Was You

FULL LIST OF PITCHES:

1) Find our "Pitch Doc" at our Resource Hub

2) Type in the password: weeklypitch

3) Click any entry from the list to expand the details

4) To pick one, fill out the Pitch Claim Form

5) To send your own, click on Submit a Pitch

You can also schedule a time to meet with me.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of you!

Jackie Serrato

Editor-in-chief

South Side Weekly