Chicago Sun-Times

Metra throws student short 75 cents off train; was race involved?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:19:11 -0600

Aronzo Traylor II found out the hard way that Metra had a hefty fare increase. Two days after the increase took effect, a conductor working the Burlington Northern kicked Traylor off the 10:33 p.m. train because the college student was short 75 cents. “I tried searching throughout my bag. I took everything out. I was really trying hard to find the 75 cents because I didn’t want to say I didn’t have it,” Traylor told me. On Friday, a spokesman for Metra acknowledged that the conductor “could have handled things differently and been more sensitive.” “During the initial period following …

Harvey debacle breaks the silence

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:06:43 -0600

When I was growing up, I played with a girl who was being molested by her father. I didn’t know whether the molester was her biological father or her stepfather. But the girl shared details of the bad things that happened when the man came into her room at night or when her mother was not at home. We were 12 years old. When another playmate tried to tell a teacher about the sexual abuse of our friend, she was put out of the classroom and her mother was summoned as if the girl had to be lying. I don’t …

Whether from the city or suburbs, all drug dealers should face the same punishment

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:47 -0600

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I couldn’t care less about what happens to drug dealers. After all, the illicit drug trade has turned quiet neighborhoods into hellholes. But should an alleged drug dealer from Chicago’s West Side be treated any differently than an alleged drug dealer from DuPage County? Of course not. But that appears to be the case with respect to two drug cases involving a troubled apartment complex in Carol Stream. Last July, prosecutors charged Malcolm Brown, a 23-year-old black man from the West Side of Chicago, with supplying the heroin that killed 38-year-old Stephen …

Black pride on display during every “Soul Train” line

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:28:51 -0600

Before “Casper” and the “Slide,” it was the “Soul Train” dance line that capped off a celebration. So I wasn’t surprised when people all over town formed a “Soul Train” after learning about the death of Don Cornelius, the inventor of “Soul Train.” The death of Cornelius, who is credited with creating TV’s longest-running syndicated program, was indeed tragic. At 75 years old, Cornelius should have been in the redemptive stage of life. Instead, he was apparently wrestling with depression and illness. His suicide shocked as much as it saddened. I spent a big chunk of Thursday looking at “Soul …

The needy also deserve a decent burial

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:12:14 -0600

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 had outlived relatives, the estranged and the mentally ill — bodies started stacking up at the county morgue. After all, in South Carolina, Republican heavyweight contender Newt Gingrich re-energized his flagging presidential campaign by denouncing President Barack Obama as the “food stamp president.” Frankly, there was more of a public outcry when the city announced …

Devoted parents seek top schools

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:49:46 -0600

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 her daughters attend, she got up at the crack of dawn on a blustery day to take part in the 5th Annual New School Expo last Saturday. An estimated 8,000 people attended the event at Soldier Field that was designed to inform parents about the network of charter schools that are now available across the …

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

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:26:10 -0600

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 father’s serious face handsome. I take in all of this whenever I watch this grandson at play with teammates who don’t look like him. For as long as he has been in school, he has been the only dark face in the crowd. If he’s ever been concerned about being the “only one” in the …

Did DCFS do enough to help mother before fire tragedy?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:16:19 -0600

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 fire, her daughter had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs. The children were upstairs in their beds, and their mother was unable to reach them. Initially, it was reported that the mother had not been home at the time of the blaze, which turned out to be untrue. But the allegation heaped more despair on …

Mayor saves sacred cows

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:11:34 -0600

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, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) did a good job of making this an issue about the city denying its citizens access to knowledge. Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, stayed on the offensive, accusing the mayor of not making libraries “a big priority.” Bayer even suggested that Emanuel should go with hat in …

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

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:27:20 -0600

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 national media are also beginning to flock to the roof where Brooks has taken his stand against the gun violence that has killed so many young black men on the streets below. “Last year I did 10 funerals for black males under the age of 25 who were being shot and killed by gun violence,” …

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

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:48:00 -0600

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 a pen?” he asked. It was dark, but I didn’t hesitate to open my purse and fish out a pen. I thought about this moments later while watching David Mamet’s “Race” at the Goodman Theatre. The play gives the audience a surprisingly hilarious look at the ways race can catch us off guard and expose …

Neurosurgeon could help bridge gap between blacks in both parties

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:28:42 -0600

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 Detroit and early academic deficiencies, Carson went on to become a rock star in the medical community, and performed the first and only successful separation of twins joined at the back of the head early in his career. He is also founder of a fund that has awarded $4.5 million dollars to more than 4,500 …

A new GPS system that warns of high crime areas

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:14:30 -0600

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 highway construction? Heck, yeah. Such a device seems to be a reasonable response to today’s unfortunate reality: Too many criminals are prowling the streets looking for unsuspecting victims. But a new Microsoft patent that could help people avoid unsafe areas is drawing a lot of heat. Aol.com interviewed Sarah E. Chinn, a Rutgers University professor …

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

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:19:18 -0600

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 Kantor has painted of Michelle Obama based on interviews with 33 current and former aides. Reviewers are describing Kantor’s book as “explosive” and “juicy,” and I suppose it is. After all, the Obamas have stuck to a careful script, granting limited access to only a handful of national reporters since ascending to the White House …

No more excuses, seek better schooling for our kids

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:33:03 -0600

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 neglecting the rest of my body. After all, you know better, you do better. Think about that the next time you find yourself making excuses for the deplorable conditions some of us are accepting. For instance, the most common excuse used lately to explain why young black males are killing other young black males is …

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

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:29:58 -0600

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 because she didn’t have identification, the woman was later found beaten, naked and bleeding outside the theater. Police were unable to identify the young woman until late Sunday morning. They believe six men may have assaulted the woman. As of Wednesday afternoon, however, three teens questioned in the attack had been released without any charges. …

Teach young about the dangers of Internet obsession

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:46:21 -0600

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 a young relative. I just don’t get why so many people want to share so much about their personal business. I mean, why do I care what a stranger got for Christmas? Frankly, I think the 21-year-old father accused of binding his toddler with painter’s tape is obsessed with the Internet. Andre Curry became the …

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

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:30:11 -0600

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.