mitchell

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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  • Mitchell: Trayvon Martin’s parents deserve justice that is colorblind

    Justice is a slippery thing. Remember that in the days ahead while the Trayvon Martin murder trial is unfolding at the Seminole County criminal courthouse in Florida. Martin was 17 when George Zimmerman shot him during an encounter in a gated community where the boy’s …Read More

  • Mitchell: Hardiman case is warning to others

    The sudden downfall of Tio Hardiman, the former director of the anti-violence group CeaseFire, has some valuable lessons for young men. All it takes is one blind act of rage and your life could change forever. Think about that the next time you are fuming …Read More

  • Mitchell: Rush-Kirk clash exposes class, race divide

    The clash between Sen. Mark Kirk and Rep. Bobby Rush over how best to rid the city of gangs tells us a lot of why Chicago is struggling to end violence. The Chicago region may pass itself off as a “city of neighborhoods,” but the …Read More

    • Mitchell: Robert Larson, who found a boy’s remains, is a hero

    Robert Larson is an authentic hero. Larson, of suburban Westchester, found the remains of a baby boy in the Des Plaines River on Tuesday. An autopsy performed on Wednesday was inconclusive to determine whether the boy is Bryeon Hunter, the Maywood boy who disappeared last …

    Family and friends say Sharon Denise Dixon needs psychiatric help

    As is too often the case, Sharon Denise Dixon, the former alderman of the 24th Ward, had to do something that landed her in jail before her mental state got attention. Dixon was once a rising star in West Side politics. But on Monday, the …

    Mary Mitchell: Infant found in garbage can thrived because of love

    On Jan. 21, 1981, temperatures hovered just above freezing when a man, rummaging through a trash can in an alley in Englewood, made a startling discovery. “I got a call from an ambulance company saying they were bringing in a baby that was abandoned,” recalled …

    Mitchell: Heinous crimes could happen next door and most people wouldn’t have a clue

    In horror movies, the sadistic kidnapper takes victims to an isolated place that no one would stumble upon. But in real life, heinous crimes could be happening next door and most of us wouldn’t have a clue. That’s the most shocking part of the Cleveland …

    Mitchell: ‘New Jim Crow’ incarcerations raise uncomfortable questions

    Michelle Alexander, a civil rights lawyer, and author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” is raising uncomfortable questions. Although many of us might believe the criminal justice system has its flaws, the notion that the system is intentionally biased …

    Former franchise owners’ lawsuit accuses Culver’s of racial bias

    Whenever my sister and I drive up to Milwaukee to see my mother, we stop at the Culver’s located right off the highway. Every time I stop, the same thought crosses my mind: Why are there no Culver’s restaurants in my neck of the woods? In a federal lawsuit filed last week, the first black franchisees in the Culver’s system claimed to have an answer to that nagging question. Two former African-American franchise owners accuse Culver’s of refusing to expand its brand into black communities because of racial bias.

    Mitchell: City cops fail first heat test

    The shooting at 71st and Jeffery on Tuesday evening hit too close to home. I live within walking distance of the corner where four young men were shot, one fatally. In various parts of the city, three men were killed and at least 15 others …

    Mitchell: Decision to cancel Brooks-Payton game is a slap in the face

    Talk about dropping the ball. The spat between Walter Payton College Preparatory and Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory over a forfeited game brought out the worst in some of us. Several news outlets reported that Payton had to forfeit its game with Brooks because some of …

    Mitchell: Message “42” delivers — love conquers hate every time

    I did not rush to see “42,” even though the film pays homage to Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. To be honest, my father ruined baseball for me. I can still hear the drone …

    Too angry to cry about Cornelius German

    With all due respect to Cornelius’ parents, Ronald German and Timika Rutledge, Cornelius appeared to be the teen concerned parents are trying to protect their kids from. According to police, he was affiliated with a gang and at the time of his death, he was leaving a backyard dice game.

    Mitchell: Little Bryeon should be on our minds everyday until he is found

    Hope is fading that Bryeon Hunter’s body will be found. The toddler went missing from the Village of Maywood last Tuesday. Three Hispanic males battered her and sped off in a car with her son, according to Lakeshia Baker, the boy’s mother. Within hours, Maywood …

  • Mitchell: Mother’s claims about boy’s disappearance highlights race

    Twenty-four hours after Bryeon Hunter was reported missing from Maywood, police officials from across the west suburbs came together to search the Des Plaines River. Police vehicles and trucks lined both sides of the street on the bridge that separates Maywood from River Forest, its …Read More

  • Ministers take over Englewood home after family flees from gang

    Three days after moving into a house in the 2000 block of West 68th Place in Englewood, a couple was forced to flee after getting into a confrontation with gang members. Phyllis Robinson alleged her family ran afoul of gang members when they put a …Read More

  • CeaseFire predicts murders will be down this year

    Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire Illinois, predicted last week that Chicago is turning the corner on homicides. “Normally, there is a spike in reducing homicides during the months of March and April. We are not experiencing that spike so far this year. Whenever you don’t …Read More

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