VOL. 3. DECEMBER 12th, 2025

AROUND THE BLOCK

FRIDAY (12/12): "Path to Parole Transformation" community education event with @ProjectSoundOff and @MacArthurJustice. 5-7PM at the Jessie White Center. Organizations hoping to table should email office@projectsoundoff.org

SATURDAY (12/13): "CHINGA LA MIGRA!" Footy Pop-Up Event @DefinitiveSelection in partnership with Crossbar Syndicate. 1795 W. 18th St. 12PM-6PM With live in store customization! Bring something in or purchase apparel on site. Live DJ set by Hameedullah . Portion of proceeds are being donated to local street vendors

IN THE NEWS

Ignored, misdiagnosed, left to die — Illinois prisoners’ health in hands of new provider with shoddy track record (Chicago Sun Times)

Another Chicago deportation blitz case rejected, this time against Laugh Factory manager (Chicago Sun Times)

Your Guide To ‘Alternative’ Holiday Movie Screenings In Chicago This Season (Block Club Chicago)

Operation Midway Bliss Brings Holiday Cheer To Families Affected By ICE Raids (Block Club Chicago)

Criminal justice advocates demand humane transfer process for people incarcerated at Logan prison (The Tribe)

As we kick off the holiday season, we are continuing to accept monetary and food donations through December 22 to support holiday meal kit prep. We’re trying to reach our $500 goal! For food donations, we are specifically in search of (canned) yams, green beans, pumpkin, carrots, corn, cranberry, as well as (boxed) stuffing, mac & cheese, biscuit mix, gravy, and baking goods. Learn more or donate at www.peoplespantherparty.org. We'll be packing additional holiday meals this week, so please reach out if you'd like to help! We will also be accepting canned good donations at the upcoming Punks4Palestine XMAS IN BETHLEHEM Show on December 13, which will be raising funds to support Reyad and his family in Gaza.

PPP UPDATE

Food Drive Drop Off Locations:

• Humboldt House

• Zins Flowers/Homegrown Studio

• Open Books (Pilsen)

• Open Books (West Loop)

• 25th Ward Office

• Pilsen Community Books

• Pilsen Arts & Community House

Panther Party Fun Fact: Panther Party Fun Fact: After being targeted by high-ranking government officials, many Black Panthers moved in to co-living spaces called "Panther Pads" to protect the identities of their families. The community hubs had 24/7 security and rotating home responsibilities, giving many inhabitants a safe place to live, work, and organize.

She made a name for herself globally, earning recognition from notable abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Mary Jane Richardson Jones.

Wells notably protested the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, speaking against the fair's showcasing of white supremacy and their refusal to feature Black voices. Wells worked in tandem with Frederick Douglass to produce the pamphlet, "The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World's Columbian Exposition."

Wells founded the first of its kind civic club, "The Women's Era Club", where she continued to make an impact on the community. She founded the "National-Afro American Council", serving as its first secretary. Throughout her life Wells continued to establish beneficial organizations for the Black community like, the "Negro Fellowship League," an organization providing community and social services to Black men.

In 1913, Wells formed the "Alpha Suffrage Club", with the help from a white suffragette, Belle Squire. The Alpha Suffrage Club aimed to further the voting rights of women, educate Black Women on community and political issues and put Black people into city offices. The Alpha Suffrage Club played a prominent role in the election of first Black Alderman, Oscar De Priest.

We're looking for interested writers to contribute poetry, reflections, articles, think pieces, etc. to our weekly newsletters. Interested? Let us know! DM us @peoplespantherparty or email us at tpppchi@proton.me

DM us @peoplespantherparty to join our Community Volunteer Signal Chat! Visit our website: peoplespantherparty.org

STAY UPDATED:

Ida B. Wells Drive, while many Chicagoans likely think of it simply as a roadway linking the expressway to downtown. But in doing so, they often overlook the trailblazing Black woman for whom it is named — a figure whose legacy extends far beyond the pavement that bears her name.

Ida B. Wells, (1862-1931) was an investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and a prominent leader in Civil Rights, as an early founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Her legacy begins in Mississippi with her raw and candid documentation of the lynchings of Black People. In her pamphlets, she called out the fallacies of false narratives and dissected the sociology of behind the lynchings.

Wells took up teaching, later moving to Memphis, where she co-owned and wrote for the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper, reporting racial inequality. Wells faced immense backlash for her brutal honesty on the evil of racism.

Eventually, Wells moved to Chicago, where she continued her mission—writing, speaking, and organizing. She was an active member of the National Equal Rights League, the National Women's Club movement, she was a women’s rights and suffrage activist, and she even ran for Senate.