July 2025: Know Your Rights Trainings and Events, Empowering Words from NAHJ, Alliance Matters participants announced
Welcome to Reflections, the official newsletter for all things related to Public Narrative! We will guide you through news you may have missed, share local jobs and resources, spotlight events, and prospects of interest of nonprofit organizations, storytellers, newsrooms, mediamakers, and policy makers. Plus, there is a section for Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) members!
In this issue:
📰 News: Environmental education on the South and West Sides of Chicago, Officials call for ICE identification requirements, Chicago lead pipes notification delayed.
🔗 Resources: Immigrant journalist training in Spanish, Chicago Public Library Community Survey, Chicago changemakers podcast.
📅 Events: Weekly book club with BIPOC authors, Know Your Rights canvassing, and an author talk and book signing.
📣 PN Updates: Alliance Matters Editorial Collaboration participants announced, Field Foundation President offers empowering words at the NAHJ conference.
And we want to hear from you too! We won't be able to capture it all, so send us your news, and you might find it right here in an upcoming newsletter that thousands in our community receive.
See what's being published this month.
Photo by Atavia Reed for Block Club Chicago
Englewood’s Southside Blooms Is The ‘Heart’ Of New Nature Documentary // Chalkbeat Chicago
Southside Blooms, a youth-led flower shop rooted in Englewood’s farming movement, is featured in In Our Nature, a new documentary highlighting environmental education and green spaces across Chicago’s South and West sides. Read more here.
Chicago Officials Call for Identification Requirements for ICE Agents: ‘We Are Asking for Accountability’ // WTTW
City officials are calling for new policies that would require ICE agents to clearly identify themselves during operations in Chicago. The proposed measures include visible badges or insignia to increase transparency and accountability. Read more here.
Chicago Was Supposed to Warn Residents About Toxic Lead Pipes. It’s Barely Started. // WBEZ Chicago, Grist, Inside Climate News
Chicago has missed a federal deadline to notify residents about toxic lead pipes, mailing warnings to only 7% of nearly 900,000 affected homes. Most households remain uninformed of potential lead exposure. Read more here.
Alliance Matters
Graphic by Ivy Do for Public Narrative.
We are excited to announce Alliance Matters, an editorial collaboration and professional development opportunity funded by The Field Foundation, with additional support from Public Narrative, which will enable us to expand the number of participants due to the high volume of robust submissions.
Alliance Matters is a small pilot modeled after the larger scale Chicago Matters that ran for years. In this instance, members of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) use the theme “Temperature Check” with an issue or news happening in their community as the focus. It will include audio, print, podcasts, video, photography, research and surveys.
A broad range of Chicago news and media organizations are involved. The content will be offered to the public between the end of July and September. This is an opportunity to better understand the impact of our changing civic, economic, and cultural landscape from the perspective of news outlets and media makers and the audiences they serve.
The focus is on these organizations, but the project will increase awareness for all CIMA members and the innovation and resilience of local media. Stay tuned for more on the events and content! Join us in celebrating the participating organizations listed below:
Temperature Check through Field Canvassing
Cornered: Black Chicago, the Crossroads of Jobs, Housing and Survival
Move Out Fear And Change the Narrative, Together
Dziennik Zwiazkowy - Daily News
White and Undocumented
The Narrative Power of Black Storytelling
La Villita - In Community Through Chaos
Homeless on Chicago’s North Side: Warm Welcome or Cold Shoulder?
Lumpen Radio, an initiative of Public Media Institute
The Memory Project (Collaboration)
Taking the Pulse of Chicago’s West Side
Taking the Pulse of Chicago’s Black Visual Artists in a Shifting America
Content creation in the CIMA and Freelance Community
Quantum Entanglements: Communities Fight for Health and Power in the Residue of the Steel Mills
The Memory Project (Collaboration)
Staging Survival: Theater, Sounds of Survival: Music, The Art of Survival: Art/Museums, Words of Survival: Lit/Books
Explore local resources.
July 21: Cubriendo migración cuando eres un periodista inmigrante: Libertad de expresión, tu propia seguridad y la intersección con tu estatus migratorio. // Altavoz Lab, ProJourn
Altavoz Lab and ProJourn are hosting a virtual training held in Spanish where attorneys will provide an overview of your rights as an immigrant journalist in the United States, exploring the intersection between the First Amendment and immigration laws. Inscríbete aquí
Chicago Public Library Community Survey // Chicago Public Library
Chicago’s library system is planning for the future and your community’s input is key. Take the CPL survey and help shape the library’s 2026–2030 plan. Take the survey here.
Change Agents Podcast // Change Agents Studio
Listen to the Chicago-based podcast highlighting local organizers and visionaries transforming systems of education, justice, and community care. Explore the podcast here.
Explore Chicago's media/storytelling opportunities.
Civic Reporting Fellowship // City Bureau
The City Bureau Civic Reporting Fellowship is a paid, 16-week opportunity for emerging journalists looking to grow their skills in reporting, community engagement and leadership. Apply here before July 21, 2025.
Product and Ops Support Manager // Erie Neighborhood House
Erie Neighborhood House is hiring a Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator to manage disability services, support families in early childhood development, and supervise staff in the Early Childhood Education Department. Apply here.
Director of Corridor Development // Latinos Progresando
Latinos Progresando is hiring a bilingual Director of Corridor Development to lead economic and community development along the Cermak corridor. This role will support local businesses, coordinate resources, and manage improvement projects. Apply here.
Public Narrative at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists: Encouraging Words from Field Foundation’s President, Daniel O. Ash
Public Narrative’s Digital Engagement Manager Ivy Do and Field Foundation President, Daniel O. Ash at the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference. Photos by Ivy Do for Public Narrative.
Public Narrative attended the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference! Thursday’s opening session, "The Price of Truth: Media, Money and Democracy," tackled the growing threats to free press and urged us to unite in advance for all that is to come.
Powerful insights came from panelists FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey, and Field FoundationPresident Daniel O. Ash, with Futuro Media Founder Maria Hinojosa leading the conversation as the panel moderator.
Maria Hinojosa opened up the panel with a “Temperature Check” by inviting panelists to share their reflections on the country’s current climate. Daniel O. Ash took this time to highlight the need for collective action to drive change.
“The privilege of working at a foundation is that there are—in many ways—a front row seat to observing civic leaders doing what they do. These are organizations that are pushing back. We see that work and it brings me joy. We see the solidarity emerging, we see commitment… we see people, advocates, organizers, journalists taking care of one another, taking care of themselves… We need those moments to sustain the work we’ve done.”
Daniel O. Ash’s words offered a hopeful outlook and reinforced the power of solidarity and shared responsibility.
See what’s happening this month.
July 21: AMOXTLI Weekly Book Club // AMOXTLI, Ruidosa Art Collective, Pilsen Arts & Community House
AMOXTLI’s weekly book club meets every Monday to explore culture, identity, and politics through books by BIPOC authors. During July, the gathering will discuss Brown in the Windy City by Lilia Fernández, an examination of the migration of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in post-war Chicago. RSVP here.
July 29: Uptown & Edgewater Know Your Rights Canvasses // Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Join the Uptown/Edgewater Rapid Response Team for Know Your Rights canvassing to inform neighbors of their legal rights and what to do if they encounter ICE. Register here.
August 6: Author Talk & Book Signing: Savvy Summers with Sandra Jackson-Opoku // Call & Response Books
Join Chicago poet and journalist Sandra Jackson-Opoku for a lively talk with Public Narrative’s Sylvia Ewing and book signing of Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, a mystery set on the South Side of Chicago. Jackson-Opoku’s novel was selected as a Library Reads Top Ten Pick in Adult Fiction and Nonfiction RSVP for the author talk and book signing here.
30 Years After Deadly Chicago Heat Wave
Graphic from the July 1995 Heat Wave National Disaster Survey Report by the NOAA in December 1995.
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic 1995 Chicago heat wave, when hundreds of Chicago residents lost their lives. Independent media played a major role in documenting the tragedy and raising awareness about the inequities that contributed to it.
Judy Helfrich and Kartemquin Films' documentary COOKED: Survival by Zip Code remains a vital resource on the Chicago disaster and ongoing threat of extreme weather, alongside Eric Klinenberg’s book, “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.” COOKED: Survival by Zip Code remains one of the top streamed films for Kartemquin Films locally and PBS’s Independent Lens nationally.
Read more about how the film shifted from covering the deadly heat wave to exposing the injustices that turn disasters deadly.
Creative Public Funding of Local Media in the U.S.
Graphic from the NJCIC: 2024-2026 Strategic Plan.
New Jersey lawmakers have officially approved $2.5 million in funding for the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium (NJCIC). This marks the sixth year of state investment in the NJCIC, a first-of-its-kind public funding model for civic information. “New Jersey remains the only state in the country with a publicly funded civic information consortium,” says Chris Daggett, Board Chair and Interim Executive Director of NJCIC. Read more in their press release here.
Want to learn more about NJCIC’s creative public funding model? Check out their 2024-2026 Strategic Plan.
Support CIMA with a donation today!
Be a supporter of narrative change.
Reflections aims to spotlight the different worlds that make up our narrative change ecosystem. We'll share some events, call-to-actions, news stories and even people working towards shifting narratives that impact us all.
And we want to hear from you too! We won't be able to capture it all, so send us your news, and you might find it right here in an upcoming newsletter that thousands in our community receive.
Email our Digital Engagement Manager, Ivy Do, at ido@publicnarrative.org if you have any other inquiries about our newsletter.
You're receiving this email because you are part of Public Narrative's community. Know someone who could use this information? Forward this email to them!
Public Narrative is a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to cultivating narrative change and supporting community-oriented journalism since 1989.
