Chicago Sun-Times

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

Thu, 16 May 2013 02:24:50 -0500

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 month. But police believe the body belongs to Bryeon. Hours after the body was found Tuesday, Bryeon’s mother Lakesha Baker, 21, and her boyfriend, Michael Scott, 21, appeared for a court hearing on first-degree murder charges. The pair is accused of beating Bryeon to death and dumping his body into the Des Plaines River. Baker …

Family and friends say Sharon Denise Dixon needs psychiatric help

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:17:54 -0500

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 former alderman was led into Branch 44 Courtroom on the West Side wearing a yellow jumpsuit like a common criminal. Last week, Dixon, 50, was arrested outside the Ogden District Police Station in the Lawndale neighborhood after she allegedly showed a police officer a loaded .357-caliber revolver. Police claim Dixon had been walking in and …

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

Sun, 12 May 2013 17:59:31 -0500

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 Charlene Wells, who was the neonatal nurse on duty at St. Bernard Hospital. Although the infant weighed only 4 pounds, she arrived at the hospital “warm” and “pink.” A doctor estimated the female infant to be about an hour old. The nurses named her “Relisa” in honor of the returning Iran hostages, and Wells held …

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

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:23:03 -0500

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 abductions. The kidnapper not only grabbed three women out of busy areas, but he held them for more than a decade in a house located on a residential block. Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight managed to escape after Berry kicked out a portion of a locked screen door and a neighbor came to …

Mitchell: ‘New Jim Crow’ incarcerations raise uncomfortable questions

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:20:29 -0500

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 against black and poor people is too sinister to contemplate. But that’s exactly what Alexander is suggesting. In a speech at the Union League Club of Chicago last Friday, Alexander pointed out that even though the nation elected its first black president, a couple of blocks from the White House are neighborhoods in which three …

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

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:10:00 -0500

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

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:24:02 -0500

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 were wounded during a nine-hour spree that began in the afternoon. It was the warmest day this city has seen in months. While most people were out enjoying the weather, apparently a number of shooters were out settling scores that have been simmering all winter. But Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has consistently downplayed the …

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

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:17:58 -0500

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 Payton’s parents refused to let players travel to the Far South Side in Roseland to play a game that was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Let’s stop right there. Given the steady stream of shootings and killings occurring on the South Side, I really can’t blame any parent for having concerns about a night …

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

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:10:38 -0500

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 of the White Sox announcer coming from the only TV set in our apartment. My dad loved baseball, and he didn’t miss an opportunity to remind his children about the racism Robinson faced when he was signed to the Dodgers in 1947. Still, last Thursday it was mainly out of curiosity that I went to …

Too angry to cry about Cornelius German

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:35:45 -0500

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

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 02:50:21 -0500

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 police had concluded that Baker’s story was not true. In fact, Baker and her boyfriend, Michael Scott, 21, who lives with Baker, were each charged with first-degree murder Friday night. But little Bryeon’s body still hasn’t been found. “We have searched dumpsters, alleys, vehicles and the mother’s home. We are still looking at the mother’s …

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

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:52:33 -0500

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 closest neighbor. For most of the day, under dark clouds and intermittent rain, rescue operators searched the murky brown water looking for the body of a 1-year old. The river at this location is strangled at points by tree branches felled by winter. But on Wednesday, the water moved swiftly under the bridge, as a …

Ministers take over Englewood home after family flees from gang

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:42:06 -0500

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 lock on a gate leading to a pathway where young men were selling drugs. “I was in this house three days before they jumped on me,” Robinson said standing on the front porch of the now vacant house. “They were mad because I locked my gangway gate. They usually walk through here and run through …

CeaseFire predicts murders will be down this year

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:58:09 -0500

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 have a spike in March or April, you are on your way to historic lows in homicides.” Whether the reduction is because of Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s aggressive policing strategy or the unseasonably chilly weather isn’t yet clear. On Friday, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department credited the reduction to a comprehensive policing …

MARY MITCHELL: Michelle Obama and community come together for youth

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:16:34 -0500

The crowd that filled the ballroom of the downtown Hilton Hotel for the “Get In Chicago” luncheon included many of the people who have long labored behind the scenes to improve the quality of life for black people in this city. Some are politicians. Some are civic leaders. And some are business leaders who defied the odds by building successful businesses in a city where race and class have been formidable barriers. Frankly, when black people say, “It takes a village,” these are the people who make up that village. In the face of such prolonged violence in many black …

Black clergy hypocritical on same-sex marriage issue

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:37:33 -0500

When it comes to the debate over gay marriage, I have to ask myself: What would Jesus do? Would he organize his disciples to block passage of legislation that would have allowed same-sex marriages to be legal? Or would Jesus have been too busy healing the sick, feeding the hungry and visiting the prisoners to even get involved? I’m not impressed that a group calling itself the African American Clergy Coalition has geared up to battle a bill that would legalize gay marriage in Illinois.

Mitchell: Rahm’s parents raised him not to be scared of a good fight

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:58:34 -0500

Sometimes to understand where a person is coming from, it helps to know where the person has been. That’s certainly the case with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who caught many of us by surprise when he swept into the mayor’s office two years ago with a hefty percentage of the black vote despite facing black opponents. But a contentious school strike and the mayor’s plan to close 54 schools on the South and West sides have led to a lot of grumbling among black supporters. Indeed, Karen Lewis, head of the Chicago Teachers Union, has publicly labeled the school closings as …

Mitchell: Flash mobs should be stripped of their Facebook accounts

Sun, 05 May 2013 15:08:37 -0500

Putting more cops on foot and bike patrols on North Michigan Avenue to deal with mobs of unruly black teens may discourage the next flash mob at that location. But what about State Street? Navy Pier? Foster Avenue Beach? Or the hundreds of other public places outside the ’hood that could be invaded by large groups of disrespectful teens. According to the Chicago Police Department and city officials, last weekend’s chaos was orchestrated on Facebook and Twitter and involved about 400 teens. Although there were no reports of robberies, assaults or property damage, the teens ran up and down the …