Reparations Media

Reparations Media - May 2026 News: Our Foundational Pillars Include YOU

Our foundational pillars — Inclusion, Integrity, Collaboration, and Empowerment — aren't window dressing. They're structural. They're what we build on and what we build toward.

And this month, we're being clear: they include YOU.

From Change Agents Season 6 translations and community listening events, to the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit, to the DePaul Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice Freelancing Bootcamp, to the final push to finish our feature documentary Civil Death — every pillar was at work in May.

The funding landscape for independent journalism is shifting. Individual donors aren't a contingency. They are the foundation.

Read our May newsletter. See the pillars in action. And if you're moved, help us finish the work. 🔗 Link in bio.

Teamwork Englewood and The Mud Theatre Project & The StillPoint Theatre Collective present:
A Story of Violence, a new original play by Toussaint Daniels and the incarcerated men of Dixon Correctional Center.

One night only!
May 30, 2026 at Kennedy King College

https://givebutter.com/astoryofviolence

Get your tickets now for an evening of art and connection, which includes a cocktail hour, performance, panel discussion, and reception.

Our first community engagement event of the year!

Join us this upcoming Tuesday at 6:30 for “Setting the Record Straight, an Introspection of Immigration.”

Come and hear from the people doing the work helping African and Haitian immigrants stay safe.

This event will be hosted at Edgewater Library meeting room B. Light food and drink will be available.

Reparations Media - April 2026 News: Know your rights. Sharpen your craft. Hear their stories.

We have teasers of new episodes of Our Underground Library, a Change Agents Season 6 listening party, a freelancing bootcamp, and a one-night-only theatrical event. Summertime Chi is almost here, and we're not slowing down.

Follow the link for more. 🔗

- https://mailchi.mp/21d36f991f20/changeagentsaug2023-16543144

🎙️NEW EPISODE: Preparing to Say Goodbye - https://mailchi.mp/057c8c9a9cf2/changeagentsaug2023-16542329

A Haitian mother wears an ankle monitor—a constant reminder her days with her 4-year-old daughter could end at any time. 💔

After fleeing gang violence while pregnant, "M's" asylum was denied due to language barriers and no attorney. Now she faces an impossible choice: deportation to Haiti or family separation. In this episode, we see how community organizations are fighting to keep families together.

Featured in CA s5ep5: Harry Peña: From Prison to Purpose

Can the skills learned on the streets be redirected to heal a city? In this Season 5 spotlight, Harry Peña discusses his transition from the "illegal perspective" of entrepreneurship to founding the Life Impactors Foundation. Harry’s story is a powerful testament to the necessity of credible messengers and the role of radical forgiveness in the reentry process. ⚖️

🚩 SAVE THIS POST / Learn More at https://changeagentsthepodcast.buzzsprout.com/1600336/episodes/17410730-harry-pena-from-prison-to-purpose
Life Impactors Foundation: https://www.lifeimpactersfoundation.org/

Featured in CA s5ep6: The Foundation of Freedom: Maria Garza & Cary Robbins
"Our reentry experience is marginalized by the fact that people believe anything should be better than prison."
Maria Garza discusses the hidden psychological toll of reentry and the essential need for stable housing on the latest episode of Change Agents.
This investigation explores the 9.5-year journey of Maria Garza and how the lack of a permanent "home" impacts the path to redemption.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1600336/episodes/17468213-the-foundation-of-freedom-maria-garza-on-housing-healing-change
What's your take? Share your thoughts below 👇

Reparations Media - March 2026 News: The stories you aren't hearing, told by the people who lived them. - https://mailchi.mp/2728d9bba7cc/changeagentsaug2023-16542351

We're honoring Women's History Month by pointing to the work. Our March newsletter is live, featuring a few Change Agents alums, a free resource guide for Haitian and African immigrants in Chicago, and a new episode!

🎙️NEW EPISODE: Radical Hospitality https://mailchi.mp/31df87885439/changeagentsaug2023-16541840

"You couldn't grow up in my family and not learn how to give."

When the 2022 migrant crisis hit Chicago, one retiree traded her quiet life to become a lifeline for 350 families. Join the Haitian Congress to see how "radical hospitality" and community-led power are breaking the cycle of isolation.
🚩 Listen: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1600336/episodes/18801778