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Mary A. Mitchell biography

Mary A. Mitchell is an editorial board member and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. She is a recipient of numerous journalism awards, including the prestigious …

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  • The needy also deserve a decent burial

    If we don’t care about feeding the hungry, then we certainly aren’t going to care about burying the dead. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when the state suspended its paltry funding to bury the poorest of the poor — the homeless, the seniors who …Read More

  • Devoted parents seek top schools

    Dressed in a green T-shirt emblazoned with the Gary Comer School Logo, and standing in a sea of kids wearing various school garb and colors, Danielle Johnson looked like a kid herself. But Johnson is a 37-year-old mother who is so excited about the school …Read More

    • If young whites are still shaking nooses, we have a long ways to go

    When I look at my 11-year-old grandson, I see the young man he will become. Already an exceptional scholar and gifted athlete (he is an inch and a half from towering over his 5-foot-4 mother), and he rocks the same playful dimples that make his …

    Did DCFS do enough to help mother before fire tragedy?

    I will never forget the grief reflected in the woman’s eyes when she told me two of her grandchildren were lost in a fire. We had attended the same high school, and I hadn’t seen her in 20 years. On the day of the fatal …

    Mayor saves sacred cows

    Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proving not to be such a hard-nose after all. Last Saturday, the mayor backed away from an earlier decision that closed branch libraries all day on Mondays. Although the library stalemate was always about union jobs, the American Federation of State, …

  • Reverend takes anti-violence sermon to hotel rooftop — even in snowstorm

    By now the Rev. Corey Brooks, 43, is used to welcoming visitors to the roof of the boarded up Super 8 Motel at 66th and King Drive. Gov. Pat Quinn has called. So have the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Reporters from local and …Read More

  • David Mamet’s “Race” at the Goodman Theatre looks at biases

    The first thing I noticed when I pulled into the bank driveway to use the ATM was the idling car off to the side. A young white man inside the car was trying to get my attention. I rolled down my window. “Do you have …Read More

  • Neurosurgeon could help bridge gap between blacks in both parties

    There’s probably no one better suited than Dr. Benjamin Carson to bridge the ideological gap between black Democrats and black Republicans. Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, is to the international medical community what President Barack Obama is to the political world. Despite his impoverished childhood in …Read More

    • A new GPS system that warns of high crime areas

    So I’m visiting an urban city and I am trying to find my way around. Would it be a good idea to have a GPS navigation system that could steer me away from high-crime areas in the same way it shows me how to avoid …

    Mitchell: What’s the fuss over the new Obama book?

    Excerpts from the latest book about President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle titled The Obamas is stirring up a buzz. The book, written by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, will officially hit shelves on Tuesday. Pundits are already weighing in on the portrait …

    No more excuses, seek better schooling for our kids

    When I rolled out of bed on Friday morning, the last place I wanted to go was the gym. But I went. Like millions of Americans, I practically have to kick-start my left leg because of a rusty knee. But there is no excuse for …

    There should be outrage about the teen who was raped in Logan Square

    It is a sin and a shame that an 18-year-old Highland Park woman couldn’t go to a concert in the city on New Year’s Eve without being preyed upon. After she was unable to get into the Congress Theater concert in the Logan Square neighborhood …

  • Teach young about the dangers of Internet obsession

    Last year this time, I resolved to embrace social media and to use it regularly. That didn’t happen. I dislike social networking almost as much as I dislike cocktail parties. Recently, I put the responsibility of managing my social media sites in the hands of …Read More

  • Sun-Times readers: You sent gifted student to college!

    MARY MITCHELL: You did it. Because of you, Byron Pickett, is on his way to Berklee College of Music. In less than two weeks, readers of this column raised enough money so Pickett could attend the prestigious school. “I am just amazed that so many people who don’t know me would help me,” Byron Pickett said.

  • Mary Mitchell column: We’re responsible for kids’ Christmas memories

    Christmas always comes to me in the wee hours. By then, all the presents are wrapped and stacked deep around the Christmas tree. The children are nestled in their beds. Even the dog is snoring, Christmas finds me in the kitchen chopping bell peppers, celery …Read More

    • Thanks to you, Byron is more than halfway to Berklee

    This is a real Christmas Story. Thanks to readers of this column, 18-year-old Byron Pickett has a shot at attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. I told you about him on Sunday. Byron is a talented musician and was an honor-roll student at Thornton …

    It’s not too late to give to the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust

    At this time of the year, Chicago’s generous spirit shines as bright as Christmas lights. From the ordinary people who responded to hundreds of “Letters to Santa” through the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust’s annual program to the elected officials and business leaders who personally shopped …

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