‘Black Panther’ Director Ryan Coogler On Chadwick Boseman: ‘Because He Was A Caretaker, A Leader, And A Man Of Faith, Dignity And Pride, He Shielded His Collaborators From His Suffering”
RIP Chadwick Boseman
The Kinzie Bridge
My blog’s header image is the Kinzie Bridge in Chicago when the rail line was still in use.
According to Chicago Loop Bridges (http://chicagoloopbridges.com/bridges12/NB16/Kinzie.html),
The Kinzie Street crossing has had a long and storied history. From being the first bridge over the Chicago River (1832) to last movable bridge staffed by a full-time bridge operator on the Chicago River (1999).
Source: Chicago Loop Bridges website
Because the bridge was so low, the bridge (staffed 24/7) was raised to allow boats and barges to pass through. I remember riding in the passenger seat of our family car through the Loop when I was a child and waiting for the bridge to rise and lower to allow the passage of these boats.
All this changed, though, when a significant flood in 1992 spilled under the bridge into hidden freight tunnels:
On April 13, 1992 a section of the abandoned freight tunnel under the Kinzie St. bridge failed. Water was noticed pouring in the subbasement at the Merchandise Mart around 6 AM. Within an hour waters had reached City Hall and Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s). By 10 AM Commonwealth Edison began shutting power off around the Loop and evacuations began.
The tunnels were finally sealed and dewatered by the Army Corps of Engineers and returned to city control on May 22, 1992.
The bridge had to be rebuilt, and engineers raised it by five feet so that it wouldn’t need to be raised and lowered and wouldn’t need round-the-clock staffing. This didn’t end its history—or the interesting tales about it. The Chicago Loop Bridges website tells a funny story about the Dave Matthews Band tour bus passing over the bridge and dumping its sewage as tourists on the famed architectural boat tour passed under the bridge.
American Democracy Project Voting Resources
In case you’re interested in some well vetted resources on voter registration, voting, or social media resources on voter engagement, you might find these ADP resources useful:
ADP Political Engagement Resources
These resources result from AASCU collaboration with
- The Campus Vote Project: https://www.campusvoteproject.org/
- Circle (The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement): https://circle.tufts.edu/
- The Democracy Commitment: https://thedemocracycommitment.org/
- TurboVote: https://turbovote.org/register
- U.S. Vote Foundation: https://www.usvotefoundation.org/
Several of these sites, notably CIRCLE and The Campus Vote Project, have excellent research and other resources.
Pearls Before Swine on Individual Responsibility
A powerful social media image: Holocaust shoes
A Chicago Variation of a Meme
This is the Chicago way. https://t.co/rZwHNbOlPW
— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) July 23, 2020
Designing to survive
This Washington Post article focuses on pandemic-induced reconceptualizations of the spaces in which we live.
Designing to Survive
As we try to understand the role of architecture post-pandemic, we have to first better understand the ways we inhabit buildings and move through space
An interesting example of story telling, oral history
This is a lovely story about one woman’s response to isolation. It’s presented via her voice and the voices of friends. Enjoy!
“‘I felt like I existed’: An oral history of one woman’s first hug after 106 days of isolation”
(Maria Hergueta for The Washington Post)
Two weeks into self-quarantine, Karina Montgomery told The Washington Post she was so touch-starved that she “would pay $50 for a 2-minute hug.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/14/hug-touch-isolation-coronavirus/?arc404=true
Introverted Advocacy
For those of you who identify as introverts (as I do) and would still like to serve as advocate, here is Unitecloud’s advice:
