A lot for Chicagoans to consider.

I’ve been focusing a lot on social justice these past few years, because the rhetoric/composition course I teach at one of my universities (ah, the joys of rootless adjuncting!) has integrated social justice and care for others as part of its Jesuit curriculum. This year, my theme is Art and Protest. I’ve read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and other related books to expand my knowledge base, as well as that of my students’. Goodreads recommended The South Side to me when it saw I was reading Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, and I was intrigued. This is absolutely a worthwhile read and a terrific examination of the sociological makeup of Chicago. Pair this with Eric Klinenberg’s Heat Wave, and you have a lot to chew on, especially if you are a Chicagoan or a suburbanite (as I am). I dig into this concept more specifically in my full review.