In the Loop

The average comedian talks to you. But W. Kamau Bell is far from average.  His aim is to talk with you and with his entire audience. Whether he’s doing live stand-up or performing on TV, Bell starts conversations about race, class and politics that are both uncomfortable and hilarious.  Bell is the star and host of CNN’s new 8-part series United Shades of America, where part of his job is to engage folks from Alaska to Florida in those very conversations.  He’s in town to perform a benefit for Housing Forward at the Merle Reskin Theatre at DePaul University, and he joins Morning Shift to lay out his unique perspective on our current cultural moment and where he thinks it’s headed.

Women in Illinois make 79 cents on the dollar for the doing the same work as men. That puts Illinois on par with the national average.  No doubt, it’s a fact you’ve heard before. So, what are we doing as a society, a state and as a city to address that issue?  A new report out this week has some recommendations. It’s called “Mayor’s Guide: Accelerating Gender Equality,” and it breaks down some of the arenas where men and women are still not equal: Economic security, workplace policies, and girls’ leadership and STEM to name a few.  Morning Shift talks with two guests about what Chicagoans can do on a personal and citywide level to accelerate gender equality.  Veronica Arreola is assistant director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender at UIC and the director of its Women in Science and Engineering Program. Anne Ladky is the executive director of Women Employed. She was co-chair of Mayor Emanuel’s Working Families Task Force, which made several recommendations last month. We also open the phones to listeners.

In 1970s North Carolina, two bitter foes formed an unlikely alliance to improve subpar public schools.  C.P. Ellis was a leader in the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan who wanted to keep Durham schools segregated. His arch nemesis Ann Atwater was a black civil rights activist pushing for desegregation. Ellis and Atwater’s differences seemed insurmountable, but they ended up working together toward a common goal.  Their story is told in the 2007 book Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, which has been adapted for the stage in a show playing at the Provision Theater through June 6.  Morning Shift talks to the Provision’s founding artistic director Timothy Gregory and actress Felicia Field, who plays Ann Atwater, about bringing the story to audiences in Chicago.

Several aldermen lambasted the TSA at Wednesday’s City Council hearing. They proposed that Chicago take airport security measures into its own hands by joining the 21 other cities in a federal Screening Partnership program. Lawmakers also decided not to vote on an ordinance that would regulate the short-term rental market. That’s companies like Airbnb and VRBO. WBEZ's city politics reporter Lauren Chooljian stops by with an update on those and other issues the City Council tackled this week.

More than 2.7 million American children have at least one parent in prison. In most cases, it’s the father, but mothers make up a growing percentage of parents behind bars. We talk with Colette Payne, a community organizer at Cabrini Green Legal Aid and a formerly incarcerated mother herself, about the push to allow mothers serving time for low-level crimes to do it in their communities instead of in prisons that are hours away from their homes. We’re also joined by Kim Bellware, a Chicago-based reporter for the Huffington Post who brought this story to our attention in a recent report called “Putting Moms in Prison Punishes Their Kids, Too.” She fills us in on this issue and talks about how the budget impasse is affecting reunification programs that allow kids from Chicago to visit their mother at downstate correctional facilities.

In her documentary From This Day Forward, Sharon Shattuck tells the story of her father coming out as transgender woman and the impact that decision had on her family and on her parents’ marriage.  Hint: They decided to stay together, and it wasn’t easy.  Morning Shift talks to Shattuck about the film, which will be at Facets Multimedia from May 20-26.

Sarah Vaughan is one of the great American jazz vocalists of all time. Many called her “The Divine One,” and she was known for her incredible range, vocal gymnastics and biting wit.  On Friday, Dee Alexander and two other jazz singers will pay tribute to Vaughan at Symphony Center.  Alexander is a Chicago-based singer, composer and member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. She joins the Morning Shift for a live performance honoring Sarah Vaughan and talk about Vaughan’s influence on her work.

The process for applying for a license or state ID card in Illinois is about to get a little more complicated and a lot more secure.  Starting at the end of July, applicants will receive a temporary paper card when they pass a driver’s test. The actual license will arrive about 45 days later. The change in timeframe will allow the licenses and ID cards to be processed off-site in a facility that can provide anti-counterfeiting security not currently available at the DMV.  The reason for all the changes is to make Illinois licenses and ID cards compliant with the federal REAL ID mandate from the Department of Homeland Security.  Morning Shift talks to Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Dave Druker about what the new process means for you

A year ago, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart appointed Nneka Jones Tapia as executive director of the Cook County Jail.  She was an unconventional choice. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Jones Tapia did not have an extensive background in security or corrections. Nevertheless, Dart said her innovative approach to treating mental illness at the jail made her more than qualified to run a facility where one third of the inmate population is mentally ill.  Morning Shift talks to Nneka Jones Tapia about what she has done in her first year on the job and how she views our criminal justice and mental health systems.

Research shows that only one in four adults takes part in recreational sports. It’s a stark contrast to the 73 percent of kids that play youth sports.  Morning Shift talks to Chris Hastings, president of the Chicago Sport and Social Club, about what organizations are doing to get more grown-ups playing again.  We also open the phones to hear listeners talk about what sports they play as adults and how they fit them into their busy lives.