The questions are just as thought-provoking as they are important. We invite you to join us for three special evenings as together with highly regarded thought leaders, we explore questions of race, neighborhood, and church.
Old St. Patrick’s Church Fellowship Hall
625 W. Adams Street | Chicago, IL
Entry is from Desplaines Street.
Doors open at 6:30 pm for refreshments and informal gathering.
Each program begins at 7:00 pm and ends by 8:15 pm.
Limited free parking is available after 6:00 pm in the parking garage adjacent to the 625 W. Adams Street building.
625 W. Adams Street | Chicago, IL
Entry is from Desplaines Street.
Doors open at 6:30 pm for refreshments and informal gathering.
Each program begins at 7:00 pm and ends by 8:15 pm.
Limited free parking is available after 6:00 pm in the parking garage adjacent to the 625 W. Adams Street building.
Wednesday, February 15
Is it possible to think about racism in a way that empowers Catholics to be part of dismantling it?
Is it possible to think about racism in a way that empowers Catholics to be part of dismantling it?
A Conversation with Maureen O’Connell
Maureen O’Connell is professor of Christian ethics at LaSalle University. She is also a member of Philadelphians Organizing to Witness, Empower, and Rebuild (POWER), an interfaith federation of 90 faith communities committed to making Philadelphia the city of “just love” through a more just wage for workers, fair funding for public schools, immigration reform, and decarceration.
O’Connell’s current research explores racial identity formation, racism, and racial justice in Catholic institutions of higher education. She has authored Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness (Beacon Press, 2021), Compassion: Loving Our Neighbor in an Age of Globalization (Orbis Books, 2009) and If These Walls Could Talk: Community Muralism and the Beauty of Justice (The Liturgical Press, 2012), which won the College Theology Book of the Year Award in 2012 and the Catholic Press Association’s first place for books in theology in 2012.
Maureen O’Connell is professor of Christian ethics at LaSalle University. She is also a member of Philadelphians Organizing to Witness, Empower, and Rebuild (POWER), an interfaith federation of 90 faith communities committed to making Philadelphia the city of “just love” through a more just wage for workers, fair funding for public schools, immigration reform, and decarceration.
O’Connell’s current research explores racial identity formation, racism, and racial justice in Catholic institutions of higher education. She has authored Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness (Beacon Press, 2021), Compassion: Loving Our Neighbor in an Age of Globalization (Orbis Books, 2009) and If These Walls Could Talk: Community Muralism and the Beauty of Justice (The Liturgical Press, 2012), which won the College Theology Book of the Year Award in 2012 and the Catholic Press Association’s first place for books in theology in 2012.
Wednesday, March 8
Chicago is routinely recognized as one of the most segregated cities in our nation. Is it possible to consider new ways of being neighbors? Is it possible to re-consider what it means to be a neighborhood?
Chicago is routinely recognized as one of the most segregated cities in our nation. Is it possible to consider new ways of being neighbors? Is it possible to re-consider what it means to be a neighborhood?
A Conversation with Tonika Johnson, Social Justice Artist/Activist and Janell Nelson, Graphic Designer/Executive Director
Tonika Johnson and Janell Nelson are two artists who use their practices, businesses and relationships in ways to activate and reframe the narrative of South Side communities like where they grew up, Englewood, Chicago. Both advocates for positive change, we are excited to host them as they discuss their work—both individually and collaboratively—that benefit our city.
Tonika’s acclaimed Folded Map Project visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South Sides of Chicago and investigates what urban segregation looks like and how it impacts Chicago residents. What started as a photographic study quickly evolved into a multimedia exploration with video interviews of residents. The project invites audiences to open a dialogue and question how we are all socially impacted by racial, economic, and institutional conditions that segregate the city.
Tonika Johnson and Janell Nelson are two artists who use their practices, businesses and relationships in ways to activate and reframe the narrative of South Side communities like where they grew up, Englewood, Chicago. Both advocates for positive change, we are excited to host them as they discuss their work—both individually and collaboratively—that benefit our city.
Tonika’s acclaimed Folded Map Project visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South Sides of Chicago and investigates what urban segregation looks like and how it impacts Chicago residents. What started as a photographic study quickly evolved into a multimedia exploration with video interviews of residents. The project invites audiences to open a dialogue and question how we are all socially impacted by racial, economic, and institutional conditions that segregate the city.
Her recent Inequity for Sale project highlights the living history of Greater Englewood homes sold on nefarious Land Sale Contracts in the 50s and 60s and provides an artistic, a virtual and physical exploration into how legalized theft in the past directly contributed to present inequity in Black communities.
Folded Map Project is now also a non-for-profit, whose mission is to disrupt the cycle of segregation and the inequities and exclusion that it promotes. It is also the parent entity of an initiative to utilize artists from an historically disinvested area to help fuel positive impressions and healing interactions toward true equity: Englewood Arts Collective. Through her work as Executive Director of activations of Englewood Arts Collective and Principal of Design firm JNJ Creative, Janell works with nonprofits, public agencies and artists to upend negative stereotypes and recalibrate the communal consciousness of predominantly Black and/or non-white neighborhoods in Chicago.
Folded Map Project is now also a non-for-profit, whose mission is to disrupt the cycle of segregation and the inequities and exclusion that it promotes. It is also the parent entity of an initiative to utilize artists from an historically disinvested area to help fuel positive impressions and healing interactions toward true equity: Englewood Arts Collective. Through her work as Executive Director of activations of Englewood Arts Collective and Principal of Design firm JNJ Creative, Janell works with nonprofits, public agencies and artists to upend negative stereotypes and recalibrate the communal consciousness of predominantly Black and/or non-white neighborhoods in Chicago.
Wednesday, March 22
Is it possible that church can help us think about the human community in a new way?
Is it possible that church can help us think about the human community in a new way?
A Conversation with Fr. Ken Simpson
A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. Ken has served in a variety of ministries that have included: Associate Pastor at St. Michael in Orland Park, Vice Rector and Dean of Formation at Niles College Seminary, Chaplain/Director of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University, Pastor of Saint Clement in Lincoln Park, Vicar for the Professional and Pastoral Development of Priests, and most recently, Administrator of Old St. Patrick’s Church. Concurrently, Fr. Simpson has also worked as a firefighter and EMT and served as a Chaplain to several Fire Departments.
A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. Ken has served in a variety of ministries that have included: Associate Pastor at St. Michael in Orland Park, Vice Rector and Dean of Formation at Niles College Seminary, Chaplain/Director of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University, Pastor of Saint Clement in Lincoln Park, Vicar for the Professional and Pastoral Development of Priests, and most recently, Administrator of Old St. Patrick’s Church. Concurrently, Fr. Simpson has also worked as a firefighter and EMT and served as a Chaplain to several Fire Departments.