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DURBIN RECOGNIZES juneteenth
For many people, the terms
“African-Americans” and “Independence Day” conjure
up images of Will Smith getting jiggy with space invaders in a 1996 blockbuster. But the
holiday known as Juneteenth commemorates the day Union troops arrived in
Galveston, Texas — June 19, 1865 — with the news that the Civil
War was over and that all slaves were free. The information came more than
two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation — which was
signed four score and seven years after America declared independence from
the tyranny of Great Britain but continued to sanction slavery. “As Americans, we can’t afford to forget
the lessons learned from slavery and its terrible stain on our
nation’s history. Juneteenth reminds us to stay vigilant in our
efforts to secure justice and equal opportunity for all Americans,”
said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin last week. Durbin and several other senators, including his
junior colleague, Barack Obama, introduced
a resolution to recognize the historical importance of Juneteenth.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, of Chicago, initiated similar legislation in the House.
Naturally, as the Emancipator’s hometown and the
city where Obama chose to launch his bid for the presidency, Springfield
understandably hosts a pretty awesome Juneteenth celebration. Sponsored by
One in a Million Inc., the capital city’s festival, which takes place
at Comer Cox Park (18th Street and Capitol Avenue) on June 21 and 22,
features a parade, entertainment, and a showing of Bee Movie as part of the Springfield
Park District’s “Movie in the Park” series.
“THE GOVERNOR GOES TO JAIL”
The Second City Touring Company and its six
fast-thinking sketch-comedy masters graced the stage at the Hoogland Center
for the Arts Saturday, sending the audience into fits of laughter over
caricatures of the Bush administration’s war policies, abortion, and
even party games gone wrong. Cap City saw the evening show and especially enjoyed
the Chicago comedians’ mockery of the Prairie State. One actor
lamented Illinois’ two seasons — winter and summer —
while a fellow female player fantasized about Barack Obama, chocolate, and . . . well, you
get the picture. One unforgettable moment came during an improv game in
which actors incorporated random messages from the audience into the scene.
It was either fate or comedic timing at its best — whatever it was,
we liked it — when the Obama character pulled a scrap of paper from
his pocket and read, “The governor goes to jail.” Judging from
the eruption of hooting and applause, the crowd liked it, too. We’re wondering how small-town audiences will
react to Second City’s liberal antics when they hit up such
southern-Illinois hotspots as Centralia this fall.
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE WELL-ORGANIZED Just when you thought you’d heard the last of Joshua Foster —
whose April 26 The Revolution’s You music and art festival at Harvard
Park Elementary School drew about 2,000 people and raised approximately
$5,000 — comes word that he’s already busy planning a bigger
and better festival for next year. Foster, a 33-year-old state worker, was inspired to
improve public-school arts programs after being shot by an armed robber
[see Dusty Rhodes, “Saving the world, one note at a time,” Feb.
21]. This week he hosted a meeting at Sunsup Koffee Kafe to discuss plans
for a similar festival next year, and the meeting drew so many potential
helpers that Foster found himself uncharacteristically tongue-tied. Once
recovered, he announced that next year’s festival will benefit
another elementary school with a high percentage of low-income students:
District 186’s arts magnet Feitshans Academy. “I think it will be a great fit, because
they’re starting band in third grade next year,” Foster says. The April 25, 2009, festival will feature three stages
of live music, a silent art auction, and workshops for the kids. Foster is
also hoping to have an autumn fundraiser geared to adults who don’t
mind dressing up.
ONE OF THEIR KIND Former Springfield Police Det. Jim Graham’s lawsuit seeking to
get his job back may or may not succeed, but it proves two things: First,
the boys in blue — members of Policemen’s Benevolent and
Protective Association Unit 5 — are backing Graham, having apparently
voted to fund the legal fight on his behalf. Second, whatever charges he
faced took up 10 pages in the arbitrator’s ruling (the copy included
as Exhibit A in his lawsuit had the charges redacted as “irrelevant
to this appeal”). Graham and his partner, former SPD Det. Paul Carpenter, were fired
after the Illinois State Police completed a year-long investigation into
allegations of official misconduct and violations of departmental policies.
ISP’s 2,300-page report on the investigation has never been made
public, but a summary obtained by Illinois
Times in September 2006 alleged that each
of the detectives had broken 10 SPD rules, some several times, amounting to
approximately 30 infractions apiece.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2008.
