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The Daily Northwestern Monday, October 10, 2022
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Arts & Entertainment Extended October Special Issue
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NUGW starts cardsigning campaign Union affiliates with United Electric Workers By ISABEL FUNK
daily senior staffer @isabeldfunk
Lily Carey/Daily Senior Staffer
Evanston Pride board president Jackson Adams cuts the ribbon, marking the official adoption of St. Paul’s Park by the LGBTQIA+ advocacy nonprofit.
Evanston Pride adopts city park
City’s first Pride Park, St. Paul’s Park, provides place of solidarity By LILY CAREY
daily senior staffer @lilylcarey
Decked out in rain ponchos and rainbow gear, a crowd of onlookers cheered as members of Evanston Pride snipped a
glittery ribbon Thursday night, marking the official adoption of the city’s first Pride Park. Evanston Pride, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the city’s LGBTQIA+ community, recently adopted St. Paul Park. As LGBT History Month
kicks off, Evanston Pride board president Jackson Adams said providing a welcoming space like Pride Park — a “passion project” of his over the past several months — is especially important. “It’s a beacon of light, it’s a representation,” Adams said.
“It’s like, we’re out here, and people that identify as being queer, it shows them that Evanston is an open and welcoming community.” Sporting an Evanston Pride shirt with the organization’s
» See PRIDE PARK, page 10
After six years of grassroots organizing and building community support, Northwestern University Graduate Workers launched its formal union drive at a Thursday rally. The organization announced that 95% of its members have voted to affiliate with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. More than 300 NUGW members and supporters filled Deering Meadow for the “Rally for More Pay and More Say,” distributing bright-yellow “NUGW” shirts, raising signs, cheering and joining in chants of “We don’t want your wine and cheese, pay Northwestern employees” and “We are unstoppable, another world is possible.” Unions can achieve legal recognition in one of two ways: workers show majority support and win an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, or the employers can voluntarily recognize the union. “When Northwestern says we are ‘students first and foremost,’ they wash their hands of
their responsibility to us as an employer,” fifth-year chemistry Ph.D student and NUGW co-chair Emilie Lozier said. “As a union, we are standing up together to say we deserve better.”
Working toward unionization NUGW’s Affiliation Committee began researching national affiliation throughout spring and summer. The committee selected UE, which also represents graduate worker unions at universities across the country, including the University of Chicago, where graduate workers announced their campaign for unionization in affiliation with UE last week. NUGW members began signing union cards — which show a member’s interest in being represented by NUGW-UE and support for an election to make that possible — Wednesday night after the weeklong vote to affiliate with UE. By the end of Thursday, more than 1,300 graduate workers had signed union cards, according to former NUGW co-chair and fifth-year sociology Ph.D. student Rose Werth. “The things that we are asking for and fighting for, we needed yesterday,” Werth said. “We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and basically we just
» See NUGW RALLY, page 10
Boutique offers RSL hosts Beyoncé Mass for pop icon up vintage styles The worship service used music to center Black women’s experiences Owner Toussaint fulfilled her lifelong dream By DIVYA GUPTA
the daily northwestern @divsgupt
Minouchic Boutique, full of sparkling dresses and vibrant patterns, is the manifestation of owner Mary Toussaint’s dream. Toussaint went to school in Haiti before moving to Evanston at age 12 with her younger sister, Marie Lynn Toussaint. Mary Toussaint then went to fashion school and worked in the modeling business. She said she has fashion designs that she would love to see created, though that’s not her strong suit. “I’m not good at (sketching),” Mary Toussaint said. “But I can visualize and tell somebody to make it.” Instead, she fulfilled her aspirations in fashion by opening Minouchic Boutique in November 2013.
Recycle Me
The Asbury Avenue boutique’s vintage clothing reflects Mary Toussaint’s love for unique pieces. Even though it was her dream, she said her sister supported her in creating the business. “We had been planning, finding a space and collecting clothing,” Marie Lynn Toussaint said. “It was a team effort.” Marie Lynn Toussaint’s 15-year-old son, Mardochee Jean-Charles also helped start the boutique. When the boutique first opened, Jean-Charles said he would come to the boutique from school and see a new wall built in the boutique, creating a fitting-room or storage space. Now, he said he finds pieces within the store that he loves and takes home to build his own wardrobe. “Sometimes I just go around browsing,” Jean-Charles said. “I get jackets, pants and shoes.” The boutique is split into
» See MINOUCHIC, page 10
By ESTHER LIM
the daily northwestern @eshlim1213
As the lights dimmed in Cahn Auditorium on Sunday, a traditional Christian worship service unfolded: a choir, a brief sermon, communion and, of course, music from pop icon Beyoncé. Beyoncé Mass is a service that uses the artist’s music to center the worship experience around Black women. Hosted by Religious and Spiritual Life, the program was created and curated by the Rev. Yolanda Norton, a visiting professor at the Moravian Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Along with the Beyoncé Mass team, Norton led Sunday’s service. Norton told The Daily the idea originated from a “Beyoncé and the Hebrew Bible” class she taught at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. One of the assignments was constructing a worship service, but it became clear her students hadn’t previously been able to practice centering
Black women’s experiences. “The (assignment) was a tool for them to think about how to center Black women and their narratives as sacred,” Norton said. “The idea was, ‘Let’s put together this worship service. We’re going to tell Black women’s stories, and we’ll use Beyoncé’s music to do it.’” When one of her students’ chapels requested they put on the service in 2018, the project went viral. Now, it tours churches and campuses worldwide. The Rev. D’ana Downing, assistant University chaplain, reached out to the Beyoncé Mass team to bring it to Northwestern. Downing said this year was perfect for the service. “Traditionally, folks are more used to a more buttonedup, conservative type of experience,” Downing said. “Northwestern is at an excellent time with new administration, new things, new ideas. Why not?” The service featured live music from musicians, singers and a choir of NU students as well as readings from womanist
Esther Lim/The Daily Northwestern
Toward the end of the service, attendees were invited to participate in communion regardless of their identities.
texts. Weinberg junior Chloe Porter, who grew up in a traditional Black Baptist church, said many aspects of Beyoncé Mass were unfamiliar to her, including a modified version of the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, she still found familiarity and comfort through its message. The use of the song “Break My Soul” particularly struck Porter, she said. “The message of ‘Break My Soul’ made so much sense for
this service,” Porter said. “The idea of uplifting Black women and making sure that in a world that tries to bring Black women down, your soul isn’t broken.” Bienen junior and RSL programming assistant Olivia Moyana Pierce was able to participate in the service by reading the womanist texts for the congregation. They said they appreciated the service’s direct address of Black women.
» See BEYONCÉ MASS, page 10
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Arts & Entertainment 5 | Classifieds & Puzzles 10 | Sports 12