■ West Side authors, 20 years later PAGE 6
FREE Vol. 39 No. 19
May 14, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Can an open mic spark a ceasefire over Memorial Day weekend? Poet Kweisi Gharreau is organizing efforts by hosting open mics on Chicago’s West and South sides
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Chicago Jesuit Academy, page 8
Books not bullets West Side educator and writer Creola Thomas is creating an interactive experience to accompany storytime for children
By JESSICA MORDACQ
By JESSICA MORDACQ
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Last year, 41 people were shot in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. Ten were fatal shootings, according to the city’s violence reduction dashboard. And ten of those people were shot in either Austin or North Lawndale, with one fatality in Austin and three in North Lawndale. Chicago’s West Side is attempting to get that number to zero this year, and spoken word poet Kweisi Gharreau is helping with the effort. Over Memorial Day weekend, Gharreau is hosting a free poetry and comedy open mic at a different location every day. On May 24, that will be at 1807 S. Kostner Ave. in North Lawndale. Attendees will include Congressman Danny Davis, Cook County Commissioners Tara Stamps and Michael Scott Jr., plus Ald. Monique Scott and Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. The programming on May 23 and 25 takes place on Chicago’s South Side, and May 26’s event is held
Local teacher and author Creola Thomas is turning her works of fiction into an engaging, interactive experience for Austin children. Starting at 11 a.m. on June 28 at the North Austin branch of the Chicago Public Library, Thomas is launching an updated version of Books Not Bullets – programming designed to make reading more engaging for kids. Though Thomas has previously hosted readings of excerpts from her five books, this will be the first time she’s inviting other artists to join her and enhancing the experience for young people through music, dancing and costumes. The North Austin branch library is at 5724 W. North Ave. “It’s not just a reading series. This is making reading engaging through music, through acting, through role-playing,” Thomas, who teaches at DRW College Prep in North Lawndale, told Austin Weekly News. Thomas was inspired to start Books Not Bullets from her own childhood relationship with literature. She grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green
ANTHONY PEREZ
The DOPE acronym on Kweisi Gharreau’s T-shirt stands for Drive, Ownership, Power, Enlightenment. downtown. All artists are welcome to show up and perform – including poets, comics, visual artists, dancers and musicians – so long as they don’t include any explicit lyrics. The Memorial Day weekend programming serves as a creative, safe space, protecting attendees from violence elsewhere in the city.
“Violence is the voice of the unheard. When you don’t express yourself creatively, you tend to express yourself violently,” Gharreau told Austin Weekly News. “The ceasefire is the umbrella, but the message is peace, love and forgiveness.” See OPEN MIC on page 4
See CREOLA THOMAS on page 5
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