■ Who will build the Sankofa Village Wellness Center? PAGE 8
FREE Vol. 38 No. 18
May 1, 2024 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Arlene: Prom trends leave something to be desired, page 5
Malcolm X College pays for 13 students’ travel to Kenya West Side students who attended share what they learned from the spring break trip By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Second-year Malcolm X College student Lakeith Lewis said his trip to Kenya last month seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. “My mind was so blown away to travel and get a new perspective historically, culturally, environmentally,” the computer science student said. “It was a phenomenal experience.” That’s the impact organizers of the trip to Kenya hoped for when they created the itinerary. From March 15 through 24, 13 African American male students from Malcolm X College traveled to Kenya for free to learn about culture, identity and heritage. For many of them, international travel was a first. “It’s not the first time that Malcolm X has done study abroad programs, but it’s the first time that we’ve done a program of this size and magnitude
Credit: Victor Hilitski, for the Illinois Answers Project
Mary Buchanan, 68, stands outside her home in West Garfield Park on March 21, 2024, examining the recent construction to her front lawn. She paid $12,000 to install a check valve to prevent waste water from flowing into her home the next time her neighborhood floods. Her basement was significantly damaged in July 2023 after a major storm.
Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared? When it comes to preventing severe flooding, there’s not one fix. Over the next few weeks, the Illinois Answers Project will examine what city and state agencies are doing to protect residents. PAGE 6
See KENYA TRIP on page 2
By MEREDITH NEWMAN | Illinois Answers Project, Originally published April 16, 2024
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