Category: Illinois

New “Long Live Community!” showcases events, performers, audiences and organizers

Christine Hawes
long live community cover

What’s a great way to honor and inspire community? Showing other communities in action! Long Live Community! is The Real Mainstream‘s new section devoted to pics and videos of intersectional, LGBTQ-affirming and progressive community events across Iowa and Illinois. Our first photo packages are from Davenport, Iowa City and Sioux City in Iowa, and Belleville, Buffalo Grove and Moline in Illinois. Take a peek at the event of your pick: In this new feature, you can submit pics and video of events you attended. You can submit pics and video…

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Juneteenth in Davenport (NEW: Long Live Community!)

Christine Hawes
juneteenth davenport 1

WHAT: Juneteenth Celebration WHERE: Davenport, IA WHO: Black-owned businesses and community groups celebrating the formal abolition of slavery in 1865. Coordinated by the Friends of MLK Davenport. WHEN: June 19, 2021 PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team

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Quad Cities Community Happenings (NEW: Long Live Community!)

TRM Team
quad cities community

WHAT: MICHELLE NIXON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISING BRUNCH WHERE: Mary’s on 2nd, Davenport, IA WHEN: June 5, 2021 WHO: Community members, plus friends and family members of Michelle Nixon, honoring her for her community service as a member of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities and Quad Cities Pride Festivals. The event raised more than $5,000. PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team WHAT: OUTDOOR SERVICE AT METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE QUAD CITIES WHERE: Davenport, IA WHEN: Late April, 2021 WHO: Members of MCC of the QC, which is…

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Juneteenth highlights from Hanover Park to Carbondale // Bisexual Pride offerings // Expanded health care in Central Illinois (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 17)

Christine Hawes
community briefs illinois 6 17

ILLINOIS — Juneteenth events are the top priority throughout Illinois this weekend, especially now that the federal goverment and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have declared June 19 official paid holiday, and the federal government also fast-tracked its -tracking a federal holiday designation, too, for the formal abolition of slavery. Carbondale, the Quad Cities and Springfield are among the communities with large Juneteenth recognitions this year, starting Friday and continuing through Sunday. In addition, the Black and Proud IV online comedy extravaganza Sunday showcases Black, queer performers from across the country…

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Existential condemnation of LGBTQ people continues five years after Pulse (TRM Blog)

Christine Hawes
pulse pic

“Even life, it’s like funeral practice,” wrote the beloved nonbinary poet Andrea Gibson in their piece, “Orlando.” “Half of us already dead to our families before we die, half of us on our knees trying to crawl into the family photo.” These brutal words are the most pivotal part of Gibson’s amazing tribute to Pulse Nightclub victims.  Yet, they seem to be the least-quoted, I find in the five years since Pulse. When it comes to Pulse, we’re all aware of the location (Orlando, Fl.), number of victims (49 killed,…

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A weekend bursting with Pride in 11 Illinois cities (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 4)

Christine Hawes
comm briefs illinois 6 4 1

ILLINOIS — Pride Month takes off in earnest throughout Illinois this weekend, with at least 12 events taking place in 11 communities over the next three days. The Quad Cities, where Pride at Bass Street Landing takes place today and Saturday, are especially colorful this Pride Month, thanks to a growing collaboration of two cities there with the area’s LGBTQ community center, Clock Inc. After three years working with Rock Island for annual Pride Month flags downtown, Clock Inc began working with Moline this year, too. “We cannot express enough…

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Pride Season in Illinois: the definitive list of events

Christine Hawes
illinois pride events

ILLINOIS — Pride season festivals are returning in diverse form throughout Illinois this summer, with at least 51 online or in-person events hosted by an Illinois entity and another nine highlight online events from across the nation. Among the big developments this year: The Project of the Quad Cities has stepped forth to lead six Pride or LGBTQ-related events throughout June in Davenport and Moline. New fests are popping up in communities like Galena and Mt. Carmel, several Chicago-area events are back this year as the pandemic winds down, and…

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George Floyd memorials today as police ethics face growing local, national questions

Christine Hawes
george floyd memorial

IOWA AND ILLINOIS — As the nation and several groups throughout Iowa and Illinois honor the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s videotaped murder at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, police ethics are under the spotlight anew both locally and nationally. And while Officer Derek Chauvin will serve life in prison for the murder of Floyd, more devastating videos of other Black men mistreated at the hands of police are joining with local police-related controversies to increase tension — all under the shadow of a federal partisan stand-off over…

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