Welcome to a New Year, and a time to make new commitments. 2025. My heart is heavy with losses, but hope drives us, and it must propel you through the ups and downs. 2025 was a year of saying goodbye to people we loved, including Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Roy Ayers, Richard Smallwood, Jack DeJohnette, Jawanza Kunjufu, Useni Perkins, Bob Dale, Laurel Stratford, and many others. It was a year that brought a new administration, and with it came a new wake-up call for intergenerational unity. Now is the time to drop the labels, forget GenX, GenZ, Millennials, and Boomers, and come together as one united people. I believe the initial purpose of Social Media was to bring us together, not pull us apart, and now is the time for intergenerational discussions and exchanges of ideas. Now is the time for intergenerational healing.
The cover art, created by muralist and artist Damon Lamar Reed, is a portrait of our future, depicted by a young, African American male, and our clarion call: Save the Children. In this issue, the artist, Damon Reed’s article, “Fearless,” is about the subject of his art; the young lives who need our voices, and our actions and faith in them as a collective village. We proudly introduce you to Damon Reed and his story.
The collective village must care for the environment in which these young boys and girls grow up. In this issue, you’ll meet Sel Dunlap, an outstanding person who has operated as Chicago’s cleanup person. Sel’s motto is, “If it takes a village to raise a child, a clean village does it better.”
As we plan for our young people’s best futures, remember that others are planning, and their plans may not be for the best. We must serve as a guide to a good life, prepare and serve the children, even in spite of the odds. It was once said that prison planners rely on third-grade reading scores to determine the number of beds they will include in new prison construction. That has changed. Now, they are looking at Kindergarteners and First Graders. Once again, the Village is called upon to intervene; to stop this school-to-prison pipeline in its tracks. Articles in this issue, by a young Black pre-school teacher, Josh Mason’s article “Why Johnny Can’t Read?” and Emma Young’s article, “Why Johnny Goes to Prison” are essential reading. As we aspire to the good life for the children, we must do something more than hope for different outcomes. Begin reading in our homes, start reading groups, take that extra time with teachers, and really work to have our children be literate. An ignorant public will believe in anything, and that’s another subject.
Although Brandon Johnson is the mayor of the whole city of Chicago, it is evident by his actions that he is ever aware of his village duties in caring for the young boys and girls in his charge. We see this in his investment in Chicago’s educational system. He is the mayor who brought about Chicago’s first elected School Board. We see this in his commitment to the safety of our city, making youth employment a priority over policing. Filmmaker, photographer, artist, and writer, Floyd Webb wrote an article about our mayor in his Substack blog. With his permission, we reprint that excellent article in this month’s issue.
We look forward to a year of intergenerational unity, as you continue to explore and enjoy our Guide to the Good Life.
Join us as Real Men Cook® kicks off its 37th year with our annual Chili & Chicken Cook-off at The Quarry, Sunday, February 1. Culture. Food. Community.
All-you-can-taste—and all in support of Real Men Charities, building families and communities through intergenerational healing. For tickets: www.SouthSideDriveMag.com or https://www.eventnoire.com/events/real-men-cook-annual-chili-chicken-cookoff-3
