Technology

Maybe every generation rants about the ways in which a new form of technology is destroying society. Previous eras in history saw the development of electricity, cars, phones, and televisions. It is true; each of these technologies changed the way humans worked and lived and interacted with their communities. These objects are so commonplace now we rarely consider they might fit in the category labeled ‘technology.’

I am proudly an Xennial, part of the microgeneration born between 1977 and 1983. I read somewhere this means my generation was the last to make it all the way to adulthood without constant connectivity. I think it means I am qualified to prematurely grumble about “the way things were when I was growing up.” I am forty-one years old. …

Christianity

In 1633, Galileo Galilei was put on trial by the Roman Catholic Church. Galileo was an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, as well as a devout Catholic. He is best known for his development of heliocentric theory; the concept that the solar system revolves around the sun. Copernicus invented heliocentrism approximately one hundred years prior, but it was not widely accepted then. Even though we now recognize this theory as accurate, during Galileo’s lifetime it was both controversial and heretical.

According to anthropologist George Murdoch, every culture has had a framework for both religion and cosmology. Religion and cosmology each provide humans with a locus point for the world. Cosmology helps provide a reference for our physical world, the history of our origin, and has the potential to provide expectations for the evolution of our world in the future. Religion gives orientation for a realm beyond our physical reality, the purpose of our origin, and has the potential to provide hope for the evolution of our world in the future. In the seventeenth century, Galileo challenged the church’s established Aristotelian theology of cosmology by promoting Copernican heliocentrism. …

Social Issues

About two weeks after I began to write this series, the mural pictured in the photograph appeared underneath a train trestle a few blocks north of my home. I do not know who created it or why. If I were to guess, I would suggest it was initiated by a housing activist as a form of protest against the changing landscape. (If anyone in Chicago reads this and knows who created this, please let me know).

Then someone pointed out to me the mural could be read as an advertisement. I had not seen it that way, but gentrification is driven by capitalist market forces. One of the causes of gentrification is speculative buying. This happens when a buyer purchases a home because they believe neighborhood property values will increase, leading to increased equity and personal gain. This person thought a realtor could have created the mural to attract prospective homeowners. …

Social Issues

I live in a frame style Chicago three flat building. It was built in 1907. The previous residents lived here for forty years. The owner and his wife maintained a multi-generational living situation. Their son lived in the top floor unit while they occupied the first floor. Eventually, the couple felt the building was too much work to maintain and listed it for sale because they were ready to downsize. When we moved in, we quickly understood their relationship with the neighborhood. Both neighbors on either side of our home were long term homeowners, having purchased their properties over twenty years prior. My husband introduced himself to residents on the other side of the street; they were renters who had been in place for over twenty years. One neighbor explained to us that the five houses consecutively adjacent to our property all were owner occupied, and all residents had been there for at least fifteen years. We were clearly the outsiders on the block. Nonetheless, when we showed interest in building relationships we were greeted warmly. Neighbors shared lawn tools, beers on warm summer afternoons, and vegetables from their garden with us. Still, I could see our introduction was disruptive to the social order. …

Rare Disease

PKU Awareness Day falls at the beginning of December every year. If you have no idea what that means, this is exactly the point of the day. PKU is a rare metabolic disorder in which the body cannot break down phenylalanine, an amino acid in protein. It is a serious condition. If the disease is not properly treated for one’s entire life, the excess protein causes severe neurological problems. Once a year, the PKU community floods social media with posts about the condition so the general public begins to understand the burden of care for the disease.

I am outspoken about my invisible disability. This was not always the case but has been true for the past six years. This year had such an optimistic beginning. In January, I flew to Arizona for a compliance training for a patient speaker’s bureau in which I participate. In February, I travelled to Washington DC to attend Rare Disease Advocacy week. I joined other rare disease advocates to make requests of our elected officials about policy support in order to advance treatment. I walked away from the experience convinced of the magnitude of collective voice and inspired by the advocates that had been working for decades for better policy. And then by March, my patient speaking engagements were cancelled as the pandemic took hold. …

Social Issues

If we were able to step back in time one hundred years, the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago would be a fascinating place to visit. Before the Great Depression, the area was a vibrant destination. Al Capone frequented the neighborhood, trafficking below the city streets through underground tunnels.¹ In his spare time, he frequented The Green Mill, a vintage jazz and entertainment bar illuminated with glowing neon green lights that still welcome visitors to Broadway Avenue. Charlie Chaplin launched his career at Essanay Studios here.² The Aragon Ballroom, Riveria Theater, and Uptown Theater all opened their doors in the years just prior to the Great Depression. All three remain today, reminding residents and visitors of Uptown’s heyday in the Roaring Twenties. …

Social Issues

I once lived in Levittown, Pennsylvania for a few months. My tiny accessory dwelling was barely an apartment. I do not even remember whether it had been a garage that had been turned into living space or a section of the home that had been converted. The unit was a miniature studio, much too small for a bed. It was furnished with a futon, and when pulled out there was barely space between the end of the mattress and the wall in order to walk. The kitchenette did not have a stove, just a countertop with an electric hot plate and a microwave. My landlord was going through a separation and was overly concerned with what I was doing in the unit. I hated the apartment, and did not really like the town. It was an interim stop in my last year of college after leaving a bad living situation in Philadelphia. …

Social Issues

I was raised in a quiet, three bedroom home on a tree-lined street in the Chicago suburbs. During my childhood and teenage years, I rarely thought about why we lived where we lived. Back then, I never had reason to question our choice of community. My parents had been born in the same county I was, and lived their lives there just like me. My grandparents had well established lives in the nearby towns they had chosen to reside. I moved from the suburbs to Chicago almost twenty years ago, after returning from college in Pennsylvania. When I bought my first home, I learned the extent to which White flight is part of my story too. …