Black Panthers heritage trail sets record straight
Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
In today's newsletter, we're looking into the new Illinois Black Panther Party Heritage Trail — and what it means to set the record straight about an often-misunderstood piece of local history.
Plus, we've got reporting on the abrupt closing of Chicago's only Pepsi plant, the restaurants that garnered 2025 Jean Banchet Award nominations and more community news you need to know below.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Illinois Black Panthers heritage trail sets record straight about its history
Reporting by Emmanuel Camarillo
In its own words: On Sunday, the Historical Preservation Society of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter kicked off its Black Panther Heritage Trail project with a private celebration at the Better Boys Center for the Arts in North Lawndale. The project aims to document and tell the stories of important sites in the history of the Illinois party in its own words.
Marking history: Last week, the organization received 13 historical markers that will be placed at sites of important structures throughout the Chicago area. The plaques include a QR code which will lead visitors to an online history of the location. Leaders of the landmark effort pushed to add its history to the National Register of Historic Places. The thematic listing, which notes several locations crucial to the group’s history, was approved last December. Since then, the preservation society has raised more than $40,000 for the markers.
Key locations: The arts center was the site of the chapter’s first Free Breakfast for Children program in 1969. Billy Brooks, a party member who started the breakfast program in North Lawndale, said it was an important initiative because many children were going to school hungry. He said many people don’t know the party offered these programs because of misinformation spread by law enforcement.
Key context: The Black Panther Party, founded in the 1960s, grew out of the Black Power movement and provided community services, such as health care. The FBI, however, considered it a violent, ganglike organization and launched a counterintelligence program against it.
Not all on board: Not everyone associated with the party was on board with the move. Fred Hampton Jr., chairman of the Black Panther Party Cubs and son of the former Black Panther leader, led a coalition opposed to the efforts. He has said that giving these sites historic recognition would further spread misinformation.
Key quote: Cheryl Peterson, a physician, said she learned valuable skills while providing health care services as a member of the party. She also worked in the chapter’s breakfast and housing programs. Peterson said she hopes the markers spur a conversation about the histories that aren’t taught. "That’s the purpose of having markers and being able to speak your own history, because it appears that no one wants to speak it for us with truth," she said.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Calls to pause permit process: Mayor Brandon Johnson should halt an operating permit review for a scrap-metal shredding operation in Pilsen, a coalition of Southwest Side community groups says.
- Pepsi closes Chicago plant: Workers at the South Side plant were not given notice of the closing, according to their union, Teamsters Local 727. The location is Pepsi's sole Chicago plant.
- 1974 — when women were allowed credit: Fifty years ago today, President Gerald Ford signed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, easing the ability of women to get credit cards. Columnist Neil Steinberg ponders the anniversary and women's continued struggle for autonomy.
- Chicago dispatcher honored in New York: Amanda Garr, a Chicago Fire Department communications operator who saved the life of a retired firefighter, was given a national award Monday at Times Square for her heroic efforts.
- Warm days coming: Record high temperatures are expected in the Chicago area Tuesday as unseasonably warm weather continues into Wednesday — but trick-or-treaters may have to bundle up Thursday.
- Full list of Jean Banchet Awards finalists: This year's list of top local food honors has the city's buzziest restaurants and chefs duking it out for categories like Best Restaurant, Best New Restaurant and, in a new addition, Best Pizza of the Year.
- Baggu opens in Wicker Park: The retailer opened its first Midwest store in Chicago Friday, as hundreds lined up to buy from a brand that has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to social media.
- 3 stars for ‘Pericles’: Visiting from England, this production gives Shakespeare's twisty play a dreamy unreality, with graceful staging and a teary ending, writes Steven Oxman in a review for the Sun-Times.
SUN-TIMES STAFF SUGGESTS ????️
Start your mornings at Dolce Arte
Today's Sun-Times Staff Suggests comes from reporter Mitchell Armentrout, who recommends stopping by Italian restaurant, bakery and coffee shop Dolce Arte, tucked away in an industrial corridor of Bridgeport.
What to order: "The classic American breakfast hit just right, but I was jealous of my wife’s steak parmesan sandwich," Mitchell tells me. The honey cold brew also slaps, he says.
Step inside: "It’s a spacious dining room that’s as good for a big brunch gathering as it is for a solo cafe work session."
Don't sleep on the pastries: "It’s worth a trip for the pastry shelves alone — the almond cornetti is not to be missed," Mitch says.
????Dolce Arte, 3622 S. Morgan St., inside the Morgan Arts Complex
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Urban Growers Collective mixes Halloween and food education at South Chicago farm
Reporting by Violet Miller
Dozens of children and parents gathered at the Urban Growers Collective’s second annual Harvest Festival Saturday in South Chicago, where the collective operates a 7-acre farm.
Roman McCruder, 9, got to make a spooky snow globe and a pin of a green spider web. Green is his favorite color. His mom, Sarah Garner-McCruder, was more focused on the fact that the farm activities were educating her kids on the seed-to-table cycle.
"It’s important for kids to learn where their food comes from," Garner-McCruder said. "There’s this disconnect between kids and the grocery store. They don’t know where their food comes from. Knowing that gives them a greater appreciation for what they have. So gratitude this time of year is important."
Mykele Deville, farm ambassador for Urban Growers Collective, was one of the many staffers helping out with farm tours and activities, which included making bouquets of flowers and a game that had kids trying to match plants with their seeds.
Deville said the celebration grew out of a desire to teach kids about farming and agriculture, especially in an urban environment where spaces like the collective’s farm are rare.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
The Jean Banchet Awards have announced a new award category: Best Pizza of the Year.
Name a Chicago restaurant you think should be nominated — and tell us why.
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers