Chicago Sun-Times

Shaka Senghor shares how he transformed his life while in prison

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:38:01 -0500

I was invited to speak at TEDxMidwest this weekend because of my work in the community as a mentor and anti-gun violence advocate. During my talk, I will share my journey from an emotionally hardened and violent “thug” into a caring and compassionate mentor who found hope despite the hopelessness that grows like weeds in prison. I was a victim of gun violence at the age of 17, which led me to become very paranoid and live in constant fear. I started carrying a gun wherever I went, and 14 months later, I found myself in a similar conflict — …

Rick Smolan says “Big Data” may be more transformative than the Internet

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:40:00 -0500

This week, I’m going to be speaking at TEDxMidwest and sharing a fascinating adventure I’ve been on with 100 of the most talented journalists in the world. I have one of the best jobs on the planet. Every 18 months, I get to dispatch a team of these talented journalists around the globe, where they’re assigned to capture the human face behind emerging topics. Our team’s previous book projects have focused on the Internet the first year it began touching peoples lives (“24 Hours in Cyberspace”), exploring how the human race is learning to heal itself (“The Power to Heal”), …

Erin McKean shares how to make the most of a conference

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:56:00 -0500

Chances are, many of you reading this column will attend a conference in 2013 — in the next few months alone, Chicago is hosting TechWeek and the National Restaurant Association Show, and this week is the Comic & Entertainment Expo. This upcoming weekend in Chicago, May 2-4, I’ll be emceeing the third TEDxMidwest, and I can’t wait. We’re bringing together 35 of the most fascinating, world-class speakers — like Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer; Julia Sweeney, an author and famous comedienne; Jeanne Gang, a MacArthur prize-winning architect; and Carol Marin, a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist — for a series …

Joel Sartore is out to save the Earth’s captive species with The Photo Ark

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:18:00 -0500

For more than 20 years now, I’ve been a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine. They’ve sent me to every continent, and I’ve worked on 34 photo essays so far. Most dealt with conservation issues. But it has not been enough. Every year, I see more habitats lost, more species barely hanging on. At TEDxMidwest this week in Chicago, I’ll be introducing my latest project, The Photo Ark. The Photo Ark was born out of desperation to halt, or at least slow, the loss of global biodiversity. The goal is to document every captive species on Earth. With The Photo …

Clyde Guilamo on the importance of mentorship for low-income students

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:17:46 -0500

‘Pay it forward.” Those words have stuck with me ever since I was 14 years old. I’m a first-generation American who grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bronx. Back then, college was a dream. I knew I wanted to get there, but I didn’t know how. That’s when Minds Matter, my mentor James Spencer and his great advice came into my life — and helped me discover my true potential. Minds Matter is a 100 percent volunteer-run organization that works with students from low-income families, pairing them with young professional mentors with the goal of bringing …

Sherri Shepherd explains how a diabetes diagnosis saved her

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:04:00 -0500

I am a Type 2 diabetic. Before you start feeling that wave of sympathy and start praying that God take the diabetes away from me … hold on. I actually want to say thank you to diabetes. Diabetes could’ve killed me, but it saved my life. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2007, right before I was offered the co-host position on “The View.” My years of stuffing my face with whatever fried, floured or sugared foods I could eat had finally caught up to me. I spent years not thinking about the risk of diabetes at all, …

Bonnie Blair on what she’s learned from her family’s struggles with cancer

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:25:23 -0500

Large families like mine tend to have higher chances of getting certain diseases, and for us, that disease has been cancer. My father, brother and sister have all succumbed to various types of cancer. My dad was a heavy smoker, and had quit for a while before he gradually started smoking again. He started at a young age when they didn’t know about the risks of smoking. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987 and died two years later — on Christmas Day, of all days. My dad was very athletic and always involved in my skating competitions. When …

Rohini Dey on the importance of women’s networking

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:04:00 -0500

Like most women, I grew up with the notion there was something distasteful about networking. It was smarmy and sleazy. People of poor character would put themselves “out there” to be seen and heard, build that Rolodex and mingle unnecessarily — quite clearly schmoozing. Networking was equated with artifice, pure and simple. As a child, I was taught not to speak out of turn, not to be precocious. Behaving meant not drawing attention to myself. And this was reinforced as a working professional — I thought if I hunkered down and did good work, good things would happen. I’d be …

Jennifer Davit celebrates Earth Day by sharing her gardening tips

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:34:52 -0500

Chicago’s front yard: How could someone’s “office” get any better than this? As director of the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, sometimes I forget I’m just steps off Michigan Avenue, in this serene respite of plants, flowers and wildlife. As the weather warms and the days are longer, the garden is filling fast with flowers and people — tourists from all over the world, Chicagoans who come here on their lunch break, young campers from the Chicago Park District and our own committed group of volunteers, who help with hands-on gardening and lead public garden tours. Visitors often ask us …

Marion E. Simon looks back on a life of turning tragedy into triumph

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:38:31 -0500

I was born in 1918. I’m turning 95 this summer, which makes me nearly a century old. A milestone like this causes you to think back on your life — both the shining moments and the days you’d like to forget. The most important lesson I’d like to impart is the importance of philanthropic work, which I feel has truly been a gift to me — one that has enriched my life and always gave me the strength to continue forward in the face of several tragedies. The first time that philanthropy changed my life was when I was a …

Manny Sanchez explains why pre-kindergarten education is essential for our country’s future

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:46:01 -0500

My parents immigrated from Mexico and did not graduate high school, though my mother earned her GED. They recognized the value of education, and pushed their seven children to see college and professional careers as dreams that were within our reach. Now, I’m the co-owner of the second-largest minority-owned law firm in the country. I never would have been able to succeed without a quality education and my parents’ unwavering support. Unfortunately, not all children grow up with these opportunities and networks of support. Each year, thousands of low-income children enter kindergarten unprepared and unable to take advantage of what …

Jaslene Gonzalez shatters common myths about dating violence

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:53:03 -0500

Recently, I appeared on the “Nancy Grace Show.” I was so surprised when I first got the call from the show’s producers. I was asked to come on the show to talk about my personal experience as a domestic violence survivor and relate it to the Jodi Arias trial. As we all know, Jodi says she is a victim of domestic violence, and says this was why she killed Travis Alexander. I’m not an expert, nor do I have a degree in the subject, but I have had firsthand experience with domestic violence: I was in an abusive relationship for …

Juddy Talt gets over the girl with the help of his new film, “Language of a Broken Heart”

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:28:01 -0500

It was Henry Miller that once said, “The best way to get over a girl is to turn her into literature.” So began my journey of writing, starring in and producing my first film, “Language of a Broken Heart,” which was filmed partially in Rockford and opens Friday at the Regal Theatres in Skokie and Lincolnshire. The film is a fictionalized romantic comedy based on all of my past heartbreaks. Did it help me get over my exes? I don’t know yet. But I certainly enjoyed taking circumstances from these past breakups and letting them play out on the big …

Bill Kurtis remembers Roger Ebert

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:42:00 -0500

We know Roger Ebert loved the Sun-Times and his career as a newspaper columnist. But ironically, it was his illness and losing his voice that caused him to explore another venue. All of us have been thinking about the future of journalism. But while we were talking, Roger was doing it. He jumped into the Internet like Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch. And for someone who lost the ability to talk, or get around easily, he realized that he could have the world at his fingertips. His volume of work was hard to believe. Unparalleled in journalistic circles. Sometimes he …

Natalie Laczek shares her stance on copyrighting in the fashion industry

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:53:20 -0500

In the early morning hours of April 29, 2011, I, like so many others, waited for Kate Middleton to enter Westminster Abbey so I could get that first look at her wedding gown. There had been speculation about which designer would be working on it, but little was known beforehand. It was a beautiful dress, and I loved the lace detail in the sleeves and neckline, the form-fitting bodice, the special cut of the skirt, the lovely train. Everything about the handcrafted gown, designed by Sarah Burton of London’s Alexander McQueen studio, was spectacular. And within five hours, a copy …

Israel Idonije on his recent humanitarian trip to Africa

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:35:20 -0500

It’s been one week since I returned from the Israel Idonije Foundation’s (TeamIIF) annual humanitarian trip to Africa, and I’m still on cloud nine. Absolutely everything about the trip — from start to finish — was amazing. This year, after many years of visiting and serving in my home country of Nigeria, TeamIIF had the opportunity to forge a new partnership in a new place: The village of Kobedi, a farming community of approximately 1,700 people in the Sunyani West District of Ghana. The name Kobedi means, “Go and come again to eat,” which references the community’s generous hospitality. Our …