Soleil's To-Dos!

Black Creativity: Taking Charge of You!

09 Feb 2010 15:30:00 GMT

Museum of Science and Industry
5700 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois
(773) 684-1414
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 9:30am – 5pm

Sundays, 11am-4pm

To-Do!: Explore healthier living from an African-American perspective in this year’s Black Creativity exhibition, Taking Charge of YOU! Learn how to protect and nourish the body with exercise and fresh, healthy food choices. As you consider changes you’d like to make in the new year, see the grim statistics about health challenges faced by many African Americans, including asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and stress., The exhibit also celebrates the achievements of past and present African-American pioneers of medicine, like Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who performed the first open-heart surgery, and Dr. Carla Pugh at Northwestern University, who is developing innovative technology for medical and surgical education. Discover the variety of career opportunities in the medical industry, and learn about the rich tradition of historically black colleges and universities in preparing African Americans for health care professions., Taking Charge of YOU! features lectures, panel discussions and live science experiences—for all age groups—that emphasize healthy living.
Price: $9-15
Ticket Link: Purchase Tickets!
More info: www.msichicago.org…

Heart and Soul: Coretta Scott King Award Books

09 Feb 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Art Institute of Chicago - Ryan Education Center
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 443-3600
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 10:30am – 5pm

To-Do!: Heart and Soul: Art from Coretta Scott King Award Books, 2006–2009, The hearts and souls of musicians and poets, great feats of bravery and risk, and spiritual uplift are some of the memorable messages portrayed in this collection of picture books. Heart and Soul features original illustrations by artists who have won the Coretta Scott King Award or Honor Award, presented annually to recognize the contributions of African American illustrators and authors whose stories promote an understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contributions to the American dream. The winners are selected by the Coretta Scott King Committee of the American Library Association's Ethnic Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT)
Miscellaneous Info: Monday–Wednesday, 10:30–5:00 Thursday, 10:30–8:00 (Free Admission 5:00–8:00) Friday, 10:30–5:00 Saturday–Sunday, 10:00–5:00
Price: $18; under 14, Free!
Discounts: Free admission Thursdays, 5-8pm
Other Times To-Do It: Through April 18, 2010
Image Credit: Bryan Collier, 2005
More info: www.artic.edu…

The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease

10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

57th Street Books
1301 E. 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 6 – 7pm

To-Do!: Revolution was in the air in the 1960s. Civil rights protests demanded attention on the airwaves and in the streets. Anger gave way to revolt, and revolt provided the elusive promise of actual change. But a very different civil rights history evolved at the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Ionia, Michigan. Here, far from the national glare of sit-ins, boycotts, or riots, African American men suddenly appeared in the asylum’s previously white, locked wards. Some of these men came to the attention of the state after participating in civil rights demonstrations, while others were sent by the military, the penal system, or the police. Though many of the men hailed from Detroit, ambulances and paddy wagons brought men from other urban centers as well. Once at Ionia, psychiatrists classified these men under a single diagnosis: schizophrenia., In The Protest Psychosis, psychiatrist and cultural critic Jonathan Metzl tells the shocking story of how schizophrenia became the diagnostic term overwhelmingly applied to African American men at the Ionia State Hospital, and how events at Ionia mirrored national conversations that increasingly linked blackness, madness, and civil rights. Expertly sifting through a vast array of cultural documents—from scientific literature, to music lyrics, to riveting, tragic hospital charts—Metzl shows how associations between schizophrenia and blackness emerged during the 1960s and 1970s in ways that directly reflected national political events. As he demonstrates, far from resulting from the racist intentions of individual doctors or the symptoms of specific patients, racialized schizophrenia grew from a much wider set of cultural shifts that defined the thoughts, actions, and even the politics of black men as being inherently insane., Ultimately, The Protest Psychosis provides a cautionary tale of how anxieties about race continue to impact doctor-patient interactions, even during our current, seemingly post-race era of genetics, pharmacokinetics, and brain scans.
Price: Free!
More info: www.semcoop.com…

Nikki George

10 Feb 2010 01:00:00 GMT

M Lounge
1520 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60605-2900
(312) 447-0201
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7 – 10pm

To-Do!: Nikki George was born into an artistic and show business family of vocalists, artists, writers and Jefferson Award winning performers. Like her mother, two time Jeff winner Gerry Langedon, Nikki began her acting and singing career in Chicago area theaters at an early age. While earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology, a Master of Public Affairs and honors at Indiana University; Nikki continued her love of theater and music. While Nikki has performed in Europe, New York and Florida; Chicago and the Calumet Region are places she calls home. At "home," she collaborates with high tech music composer, Keenan Baxter, and their work has been distributed worldwide. Nikki has produced national public service announcements and recorded voice overs through Millennium Productions., Nikki enjoys the freedom of jazz and cultivates her gifts on stages for corporations, private parties, fund raisers, clubs, and restaurants. She is an electrifying presence. (www.chicagojazz.com)
Author/Artist/Performer Website: www.chicagojazz.com…
Miscellaneous Info: Two drink minimum. During performances, parties of 1 will be seated at the bar.
Doors Open: 5pm
Price: Free!
Other Times To-Do It: Live Music Tuesdays & Wednesdays
More info: www.mloungechicago.com

The Old Settler (Preview Week)

10 Feb 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Writers’ Theatre
325 Tudor Court
Glencoe, Illinois
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:30 – 10pm

Matinees: 4pm, Saturdays; 2pm, Sundays

To-Do!: Written by John Henry Redwood, Directed by Ron OJ Parson, Featuring Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Alexis J. Rogers, Kelvin Roston, Jr. and Wandachristine, It’s Harlem in the spring of 1943. Elizabeth and Quilly are sisters of a certain age sharing their quiet lives together, but when they take in Husband Witherspoon, a handsome young boarder, their entire world changes abruptly. Husband, fresh from the country and adjusting to life in the big city, is on a desperate search for his missing fiancée, but ends up finding love in the most unlikely of places. Told with heartwarming sincerity, humor and a touch of poetry, The Old Settler paints a poignant picture of two women testing the bonds of sisterhood and finding the strength and forgiveness only family can offer.
Miscellaneous Info: Pre-show lectures: Sun., February 21 and March 7 at 5:00 p.m., Post-show discussions: Wednesdays February 10, 16, March 17 and 23
Price: $40-65
Ticket Link: Purchase Tickets!
Other Times To-Do It: February 2 - March 28, 2010
More info: www.writerstheatre.org

The Pocketbook Monologues

10 Feb 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Jacob Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies
Northeastern Illinois University
700 E. Oakwood Blvd.
Chicago, IL
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:30 – 9:30pm

To-Do!: The PocketBook Monologues is a collection of stories from women of color who share their heartfelt emotions about intimacy and the responsibility that goes with it. This book highlights each woman's brutally honest, funny and poignant recollection and reveals never before told stories about their "pocketbook". "PocketBook" is the term used by many older African-American women to to describe the triangle that separates their thighs.
Soleil's Take: I saw this performance in early 2008 at the Steppenwolf and thoroughly enjoyed it! Don't miss this special performance!
Price: $20
Ticket Link: Purchase Tickets!
More info: www.pocketbookmonologues.com

Blue Door

10 Feb 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
2433 North Lincoln
Chicago, Illinois
(773) 871-3000
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:30 – 10pm

5pm matinee on Saturdays

To-Do!: A soul-searching journey begins when an African-American professor is left by his wife due to his reluctance to embrace his identity. The night of their break he's visited by the spirits of several male ancestors whose stories illuminate and guide his way. Blue Door is a beautiful exploration of family and identity that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to live with—or escape—the past.
Price: $20-48
Ticket Link: Purchase Tickets!
Other Times To-Do It: January 22 - February 28, 2010
More info: victorygardens.org

The Brother/Sister Plays

10 Feb 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Steppenwolf Theatre (Upstairs)
1650 North Halsted
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 335-1650
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:30 – 10pm

The Brother/Sister Plays will be performed in repertory (for the specific schedule, contact Audience Services). Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm. Wednesday matinees on April 7, 14 and May 5 at 2pm.

To-Do!: Steppenwolf Theatre presents The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size and Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet, By Tarell Alvin McCraney, Directed by ensemble member Tina Landau The Brother/Sister Plays will be presented in repertory, with In the Red and Brown Water on one evening in rotation with the two shorter plays, The Brothers Size and Marcus, on the other (with marathon performances on the weekends). The plays can be experienced in any order, although chronologically In the Red or Brown Water comes first, followed by The Brothers Size and then Marcus. On the banks of the bayou, a small community springs to life with stories of love, sexuality and coming-of-age. Influenced by lively Afro-Caribbean folklore, The Brother/Sister Plays explore the struggles that arise when the quest for self-identity is at odds with community values: In the Red and Brown Water: Fast, spirited Oya is a promising young athlete who is offered a scholarship that could jump-start her future. Forced to choose between her dying mother and her own dreams, she makes a life-changing decision. Oya’s subsequent path to womanhood leads her to a crossroads where she finds herself torn between settling down . . . and just settling., The Brothers Size: When Oshooshi Size is released from jail, he goes to work in his brother’s car repair shop. When his best friend from prison also shows up, a tense tug of war results. The Brothers Size is a fierce and honest look at the complex bonds of brotherhood., Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet: Marcus is sixteen. He is also coming to terms with his sexuality while uncovering the mysterious secrets of his family’s past. An entrancing coming-of-age story, Marcus is about the difficult quest for identity in an outspoken and strong-willed community.
Price: $48-70
Discounts: Twenty $20 tickets are available at Audience Services beginning at 11:00 a.m. on the day of each performance (1:00 p.m. for Sunday performances). Half-price rush tickets are available one hour before each show. Student discounts available.
Ticket Link: Purchase Tickets!
Other Times To-Do It: January 21, 2010 — Sun. May 23, 2010
More info: www.steppenwolf.org