I Want You to Understand Chicago Politics Chicago 2025-11-08 I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again. An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next. Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. “We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st. Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…

Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

09.11.2025 20:49 — 👍 10193    🔁 5632    💬 115    📌 339

A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.

07.11.2025 03:08 — 👍 11203    🔁 5397    💬 173    📌 1008

The FSA Store - Browse and Buy over 2,500+ Flexible Spending Account Eligible Items Online The FSA Store carries over 2,500+ guaranteed FSA-eligible products, health essentials, and more.

I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. Don't leave FSA funds on the table at the end of the year. LOTS of places like homeless shelters etc... would love donations of FSA eligible items. For the past 2 years, I've used left over funds to shop here: fsastore.com - then donate the items.

19.10.2025 21:46 — 👍 523    🔁 348    💬 10    📌 0

This is one of the most heartbreaking and infuriating things I’ve read lately.

12.05.2025 19:10 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Picture of a group of people smiling. There are people in the background in a cafe setting

Thank you SO much @walkmass.bsky.social for the Golden Shoe award & having me as your keynote!

I share the award w/ our incredible organizers & advocates, who’ve taught me so much. @kvgoins.bsky.social @ojc.bsky.social Alex Salcedo @steverolle.bsky.social & his team. Thank you for coming out!

11.04.2025 02:07 — 👍 18    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 0

At just over two pounds and 400 pages, the new Guide focuses on the "how" of designing streets and delivering networks of bike facilities--not one-offs. Bonus: it's beautiful and yet only $55. nacto.org/bike-guide

10.01.2025 16:16 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

It doesn't just feel like that, it does on purpose! 😊 Thank you for the kind words.

10.01.2025 16:06 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0