Guest post by NWA writer Sylvia Taylor Three years had passed since I first saw the Odyssey Project bluish brochures and information in the NWA newsletters when I applied. My reason for not attempting before was that I did not know how my schedule would change. I figured I would be gainfully employed and did not want any interference with my new job. Well, as the years continued to progress and I did not receive anticipated [...]
Today, NWA volunteers/interns Madeleine and Maggie are hanging out with a group of middle and high school students at the Raw Voices: Teens in the Media Arts Festival at Columbia College Chicago. They’ve spent the morning talking about blogging (why to blog, when to blog, what to blog…) and are now putting their newly-learned skills to the test with this post! The new bloggers were each asked to write a little bit about what they [...]
Guest post by Glodean Champion, NWA workshop leader The Missing is a public art/ consciousness raising/ community engagement project to focus public attention on the epidemic of mass/hyper incarceration in Chicago. The goals of this project are to reduce the shame of families and others who have a loved one who is incarcerated by finding a public way to embrace them; to encourage Chicagoans to focus their eyes, ears, minds and spirits on the problem [...]
Today on the Front Porch we’re reading “A Different Trip” by Randy Ruiz, originally published in “Round About” the Winter 2008 issue of JOT. A DIFFERENT TRIP Randy Ruiz After 26½ years, I’m finally free. The time has come to go on a different trip. The time to travel to my birthplace is now here. I want to travel to the place where it all began for me – Cuba, my beautiful island home with [...]
Guest post by Mackenzie Sander, CAASE volunteer The Neighborhood Writing Alliance teamed up with the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) and the Voices and Faces Project to help writers address, understand, and fight issues of sexual violence and the sex trade. Their objective? To use writing to create change. The Words=Change workshop took place on Thursday, April 12 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Thirty-five participants gathered to learn more about how their writing can [...]
Yesterday was Earth Day! How did you celebrate? Here at the office, we’re also celebrating the release of “I Believed Every Word” with the release reading at the Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn) from 6–8:30 p.m. TONIGHT. All attendees will receive a free copy of the journal and get a chance to hear writers read their work. One of the pieces being published is Helena Marie Carnes-Jeffries “Along the Shores of the Acidic River.” Similar [...]
On Tuesday, we talked about how urban legends can make us laugh or entertain us. But there’s also a much darker side to urban legends. While many “scary” urban legends are supposed to keep kids out of trouble (the boogeyman) others seem to exist to stereotype, shame, intimidate, or exploit certain groups. In the upcoming “I Believed Every Word” issue of JOT, Rochelle George Wooding’s “Mirror, Mirror Approved” and K.C. Hagans’ “Tom’s Not Such A [...]
Today on The Front Porch we’re getting a sneak peak at “I Believed Every Word,” the Winter 2012 issue of the Journal of Ordinary Thought. “Soup Anyone?” by Barbara Banks describes her childhood fascination with a mysterious neighborhood figure, and inspired the title of this issue of JOT. SOUP ANYONE? Barbara Banks Back in the late 1950s, we lived in the Harold Ickes housing projects located on 22nd and State, which are now torn down. [...]
Many urban legends focus on moral lessons and many more on fear (The Wahoo Man, Resurrection Mary) but some are just plain funny. If a story gets a laugh, who cares if it’s not 100% accurate? In “Juan Bobo’s Pig,” published in the upcoming urban legend themed issue of JOT, Norma Mateo describes a popular story from her childhood in Puerto Rico. Juan Bobo is a naïve boy who misunderstands his mother’s request that he [...]
The release reading of “I Believed Every Word,” the Winter 2012 issue of JOT is one week away! We’re counting down to the reading with a week on the blog devoted to urban legends, the issue’s theme. We’ve talked about what urban legends are, why we believe them, how stories become legends and much more on the blog before, but today we’re going to let some of the great stories and poems from the upcoming [...]
NWA Wench Virtual Book Club, Part 2
The Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2012 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is just around the corner on June 7! Our featured speaker will be Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of the New York Times Bestseller Wench. For the first time ever, we’re hosting a virtual book club in the weeks leading up to the event! Each Wednesday we’ll be posting a piece from the Journal of Ordinary Thought related to themes in Wench, along with discussion [...]
“The opportunity to express myself in a safe environment”: Meet the Philosophers with Barbara Banks
Today in our Meet the Philosophers Series we hear from longtime NWA writer Barbara Banks! Barbara’s piece, “Soup Anyone?” inspired the title of the most recent issue of JOT, “I Believed Every Word.” What is your name? Barbara Banks If you had to give yourself a title, what would it be? World traveler How long have you lived in Chicago? Where in the city do you live? All my life. I reside in Hyde Park. [...]
Two weeks ago, former NWA intern Maggie and I had the good fortune to participate as workshop leaders in Raw Voices 2012: Teens in the Media Arts Festival. This festival is hosted by Columbia College Chicago and celebrates the work and opportunities available to teens in the growing media arts industry with contests and special workshops. Maggie and I led “Bloggers Rule!” – a workshop on the hows and whys of blogging, based on our [...]
Mother’s Day is this Sunday. To celebrate, we’re posting four different pieces honoring the important roles mothers have played in NWA writer’s lives. In “Mama” Ron Yokley writes about the devotion of his mother’s love and his resolve to live his life in a way that honors the care his mother put into raising him. In “Parenting Our Parents” Yvetta Logan explores a similar theme, and writes about the care she and her brothers are [...]
The NWA Virtual Wench Book Club, Part One!
The Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2012 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is just around the corner on June 7! Our featured speaker will be Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of the New York Times Bestseller Wench. For the first time ever, we’ll be hosting a virtual book club in the weeks leading up to the event! Each Wednesday we’ll be posting a piece from the Journal of Ordinary Thought related to themes in Wench along with [...]