The El, or the elevated train system, is one of Chicago’s most distinctive features, “the sound of the city.” Reginald Gibbons and members of the Speak Easy Ensemble share their El-inspired poetry.

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The El Train

From the neighborhood library of Gwendolyn Brooks, to the Union Stock Yards, where Chicago became Carl Sandburg’s “Hog Butcher for the World,” to the birthplace of slam poetry, the Chicago Poetry Tour explores the city’s history through its dynamic poets and poetry.

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Educational Technology

Established in 1940 by the WPA's Federal Art Project, the South Side Community Art Center has provided a second home for the city's African-American artists. Haki Madhubuti, founding editor of Third World Press, reads.

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South Side Community Arts Center

One of the 20th century's most significant poets, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about race in America, often from the perspective of her Bronzeville neighborhood.

Hall Library

Margaret Walker's signature poem "For My People" encompasses the strengths and struggles of Blacks not only in Chicago but throughout America.

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Bronzeville

The DuSable Museum is one of the nation's premier institutions dedicated to the history, art, and culture of the African diaspora. Quraysh Ali Lansana reads from his collection They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems.

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DuSable Museum

Pilsen was a diverse neighborhood in Chicago long before anybody used the word “diversity.” Stuart Dybek and Ana Castillo read poems inspired by their childhoods there.

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The El Train

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