DePaul’s Soul Food course, Summer Session II dates and high COVID-19 cases in Cook County
plus an upcoming art showcase you won’t want to miss!
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! It’s your newsletter team—Kate, Monique P., Bridget, Billie, Lauren, Emily, Grace and Monique M.—back with another Monday night newsletter.
Today, we’re featuring the renowned professor who taught DePaul’s soul food course last spring, giving you the details on an upcoming showcase at the DePaul Art Museum, the top headlines locally and nationally and a fabulous true crime documentary recommendation. We also have a great lineup of stories coming to you this Friday. Be sure to check them out on our website.
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We’re wasting no time today. Let’s get to the news!
Dr. Rita Mookerjee Brings Soul Food To DePaul
By Monique Petty-Ashmeade
DePaul University debuted a course this spring in the African and Black Diaspora Studies Department titled ABD 382: Special Topics in ABD: Soul Food, Literature, and Culture. The course was curated by Ida B. Wells Fellowship recipient, Dr. Rita Mookerjee.
Mookerjee is a Fulbright fellow, literary critic and gender studies scholar who also specializes in Caribbean literature and food studies. After receiving her Ph.D. in literature at Florida State University, Mookerjee took to Jamaica to further her studies in food literature and culture.
While Mookerjee was a newcomer to DePaul she has been formulating interdisciplinary courses for an ABD department on soul food for roughly seven years.
“The idea for this class started around 2015. When I was in grad school, I was constantly trying to sell people on the idea that food studies and food writing is literature. I still get people even now who are not sold on the idea that books such as Miss Fisher's Cookbook, that we have read in ABD 382 are literature. How can one deny it?” she exclaims.
Having to constantly defend the importance of food literature, specifically cultural food literature, is worthy of note. She felt that for years soul food and its history has been suppressed, commodified and wiped away in the context of American colonialism
“I knew going into this, It has to be a lot of things. It has to be history, anthropology, literature, blacks studies... You have to have that critical cultural component.”
The course explores the culinary genre of soul food. Soul food is traditional ethnic cuisine prepared and eaten primarily by African Americans. Much of the cuisine originates from the South and includes food such as collard greens, hammocks, cornbread, black-eyed peas, etc.
“I love soul food,” Mookerjee said. “All of the sudden…I turned around and soul food was popular. White people were making it and claiming it, none of whom are cooks, chefs or food journalists. There’s this constant commodification of this really beautiful culture.”
She continued to express her exasperation towards the modern state of soul food in society. “And so like there’s this constant commodification of this really beautiful culture and it does anger me. Whom does this belong to? Who has been written out of the ownership of this culture right?”
Though Mookerjee will not return to DePaul for the 2022-2023 academic year, her presence will not be forgotten. As for her students, she hopes they carry on the pride and joy of their culture, possibly reignited with this course.
“I wanted to hyper-empower everyone in that class to feel pride and joy about coming from such a rich place. We always hear about Black pain. I want to showcase Black joy, successes and legacies. I want to create a space of celebration. This is for joy.”
DePaul News
By Bridget Killian
Latine and Black women artists to show at DePaul Art Museum
The DePaul Art Museum will be host to four surrealist artists in a group exhibit entitled “A Natural Turn” as part of the museum’s initiative to increase representation for Latine artists. These pieces use various media and depict women and fantastical characters. A fifth artist will also be showing at the museum with an exhibit entitled “Solo(s).” Her work brings together poetry, popular culture and the histories of the Black diaspora. Both exhibits open September 8, 2022. Read more about the artists on DePaul’s website.
DePaul Summer Session II began July 18, 2022
The second summer session of the year officially began Monday. The session runs until August 21. Tuesday is the last day to sign up for a class for this session. For those enrolled in Summer Session II, the last day to drop a class is Friday, July 22 and the last day to withdraw is Saturday, July 23. Check out the academic calendar for more important summer session dates.
Chicago to honor Women’s Basketball Coach Doug Bruno
DePaul women’s basketball head coach Doug Bruno will be awarded the Title IX champion award Tuesday, July 19. He will be awarded alongside famed tennis player Billie Jean King and WNBA champion Candace Parker. For more information about the award, read the full article from Bob Sakamoto.
Chicago Headlines
By Billie Rollason
Cook County is back in the “high” category of COVID-19 transmissions — As of Monday afternoon, Illinois has reported 4,349 new COVID cases with no new deaths. The Illinois Department of Public Health shared that the "daily deaths reported on weekends and at the beginning of the week may be low" and "those deaths will be captured in subsequent days." The current daily case rate per 100,000 people is 36.3. Over half of Illinois' state population is fully vaccinated, at 65.25%. Learn more about Illinois’ COVID-19 updates in ABC7's full story.
Bike Chicago’s 5,000 bicycle giveaway now open — The Bike Chicago program will begin free bicycle distribution this summer. Their distribution kick off starts with the donation of at least 500 bikes to eligible residents. The current mission of this program is to distribute 5,000 free bicycles by 2026; as well as provide bicycle maintenance and safety equipment. Want a free bike and to learn more about this program? Check out NBC5 Chicago’s full scoop, and see if you are an eligible applicant. Applications are open until August 4!
Black and Latino-owned grocery investors plan to reopen Auburn Gresham Save-A-Lot — Today the city announced that it would award a $13.5 million grant to the Yellow Banana grocery company, reviving the Auburn Gresham store which was closed down in 2020. Along with the Auburn Gresham grocery store, Yellow Banana plans on acquiring and renovating five other Save-A-Lots. Particularly, stores operating in the South and West sides of Chicago, with a commitment to increase food access to divested communities. The project’s total cost is expected to reach an estimated $26 million and will be combined with private funds. To learn more about Yellow Banana's mission, check out Talia Soglin's full story in The Tribune.
Back-to-School Bash events across the city begin July 20th— In the coming weeks, Chicago Public Schools will begin hosting their 10 anticipated Back-to-School Bash events. These events will allow students to pick up supplies, meet faculty and prepare for the upcoming school year. Music, food, games and activities will be provided. Those attending will also have the opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID-19. For the Back-to-School Bash schedule and full scoop check out Mack Liederman's Block Club story.
National Headlines
By Lauren Sheperd
The American Public is Disheartened by the State of the Economy - A new CNN poll found that nearly 7 in 10 Americans say President Joe Biden hasn’t paid enough attention to the nation’s most pressing issues. Only 38%of Americans approve of Biden’s performance. His approval ratings have gone down recently mainly among democrats and people of color. The discontent comes mainly from Biden’s handling of the economic crisis, as only 18%of Americans say the economy is in good shape. CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta has more.
Judge Blocks 150-Year-Old Abortion Ban - In West Virginia, abortions have been allowed to return, at least for now. Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Tera L. Salango granted the state’s only abortion clinic a preliminary injuction against the centuries old ban. The state law set up in the 1800s made performing or receiving an abortion a felony, only allowing exceptions when the pregnant person’s life was at risk. This carried up to a 10 year prison sentence. Though the people of West Virginia are protected for now, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey plans on taking this decision up the state Supreme Court to get it reversed. More details can be found in Leah Willingham’s AP News article.
Failure of Uvalde Law Enforcement Led to More Deaths - There was a systemic failure by not just local law enforcement, but by state and federal officers on the day of the Uvalde school shooting, a report finds. Twenty-one people – including 19 elementary-aged children – died May 24. According to the assessment, some of these deaths could have been prevented had law enforcement acted sooner. Just under 400 officers responded to the emergency at Robb Elementary School that day, but the decision to finally confront the gunman was made by just a small group. It also took 77 minutes for law enforcement to storm the school after the gunman began firing. More details of this report can be found on the New York Times website.
Jan. 6 Trial Efforts Disrupted - According to a letter written by Joseph V. Cuffari, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, text messages from the Secret Service from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021 have disappeared. This letter was written to the leaders of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees and claimed that these messages had been deleted after they had been requested by the Office of Inspector General. These messages could contain valuable information on the actions of the Secret Service that day, as well as actions taken by former President Donald Trump. Maria Sacchetti and Carol D. Leonnig go into more detail in the Washington Post article.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Emily Soto
Girl in the Picture, one of Netflix’s latest true crime documentaries, depicts the chilling story of a woman known as Sharon Marshall and her father Franklin Floyd. The two lived by themselves in their Georgia home in the 1980s. Sharon grew up with dreams of going to college and having an ambitious career but after a surprise pregnancy, the plan would not come to be. The duo then left their home and nobody would suspect any other problems — that is until a few years later when she was killed in a hit and run.
While attempting to contact family following her death, her friends realized there might be a much bigger problem at play — the woman they knew and loved might not actually be the person they thought she was.
Whether by design or by sheer confusion of the story itself, this story takes you on an unbelievable journey that can be difficult to follow the more you learn. Sharon Marshall was a victim, in more ways than one, to the man she considered her father. The trauma she faced ranged from physical threats to sexual abuse.
To add to the confusion, Franklin Floyd’s list of victims goes beyond Sharon. From the murder of Sharon’s friend to the kidnapping of her son, he terrorized anyone who came into his life.
But at the root of this tragic story was one question. “Who is Sharon Marshall?” It was the realization that Sharon never knew her own identity that was the most upsetting part of this documentary. The search to find her real name was one that took almost 25 years and countless resources.
In the end, they uncovered her identity and she was laid to rest, but not without questions of how her life might have been different if she had never come in contact with Franklin Floyd.
Resources
Need resources regarding cooling centers, rental assistance, abortion access, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
That’s it for today! See you next Monday.
The 14 East Newsletter Team