Percy L. Julian High School proudly displayed on top of its website a Sun-Times column by one of its graduates.
Lashaunta Moore wrote last summer about how her South Side high school journalism program helped her to pursue a communications career.
“People are always shocked when I reveal that I am a Percy L. Julian” graduate, wrote the social media coordinator at a Chicago company. “It finally dawned on me ... few people know about the career and technical education programs offered by Chicago Public Schools.”
Moore now is growing as a writer as one of the Sun-Times Chicago’s Next Voices columnists — Chicago area residents who won a contest designed to provide a variety of views from the metropolitan area.
The columns are part of a bigger goal in the last few years to better reflect Chicago’s diversity in our news pages and keep pace with changing times. We also have had community listening sessions and beefed up the diversity of our staff to more closely resemble the local population.
Just four years ago, the leadership on our news masthead was largely white and male. Today, the newsroom boasts its first woman and person of color as executive editor — Jennifer Kho. The same is true for the Sun-Times editorial page, which is headed by Lorraine Forte.
In terms of racial and ethnic identity, our newsroom is 64% white, 14% Black, 12% Hispanic, 8% Asian and 2% two or more races. Our news staff is 63% male and 37% female, including those who identify as transgender.
Since February 2022, 67% of new hires have made us more diverse.
Our reporting has grown more reflective of all of our communities, with more people included in our coverage. According to an independent audit completed this year, the number of sources in our stories grew 42% in 2023 compared to 2022, with coverage of 100 unique Chicago area neighborhoods across the city and suburbs — and 53.8% of local stories including sources of color — in just one month.
Community listening sessions
We had three community listening sessions this year in Belmont Cragin, South Shore and Portage Park. We also had a public safety meeting in the Loop. Overall, we have had nine community meetings throughout Chicago since 2022, including one in west suburban Berwyn.
In one session, participants helped us pick stories to promote on the front page. They also suggested story ideas and talked about their neighborhoods and favorite columnists.
Voices
For our Chicago’s Next Voices series, which started in the summer of 2023, we’ve run 17 columns by area residents, ranging from Gen Zers to seniors writing about topics ranging from race relations to parks.
“I grew up in the Chicago area and grew up reading the Sun-Times,” said Moore, 28, who has written three columns. “It is great seeing my name in print. It has given me a voice to showcase my views.”
Now, we are seeking teen voices. High schoolers have until Dec. 31 to submit columns. Under the theme “Looking Ahead,” students ages 13 to 18 are invited to send in an original, unpublished 525- to 600-word writing sample.
Teens younger than 18 must submit a parental consent form to enter.
Winners will each receive $250, and their work will appear in the Sun-Times in 2025.
An original piece can be submitted at suntimes.com/chicagovoices.
Social media gets stories to millions. But this activism often reduces complex issues to viral microtrends. Social platforms shouldn’t be substitutes for activism — organizing, educating and demanding accountability — our Next Voices columnist writes.
A suggestion that the former concentration camp should have been torn down had Chicago’s Next Voices columnist Sarah Enescu, a Willowbrook High School junior, confront how disturbing monuments help us understand the past.
By Sarah Enescu
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Steven Jiang rode the L to school in the Loop, never noticing the art all around. One day, he did. And gradually he came to think public art could breathe life into Chicago’s neglected communities.
By Steven Jiang
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Kennedy Grooms lost her father Philip Grooms to heart failure in November and has leaned on family, counseling and the example her father set as she navigates life and loss
By Kennedy Grooms
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When was the last time you saw the world from a teenager’s perspective? They’re going to help you do that.
By Mitch Dudek
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Between 1959 and 1963, an elementary school class in West Chatham went from majority white to majority Black, and Next Voices columnist A.J. Sanders witnessed history playing out.
By A.J. Sanders
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Essyl Ghim was born in Evanston, part of a traditional Korean family. Family and economic difficulties forced her family to move many times, but she was drawn back to Chicago, where she’s carving a path for herself, leaving traumas behind.
By Essyl Ghim
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Norma Jean McAdams discovered her inner blues diva late in life. With encouragement from Buddy Guy, she started a band with her guitarist husband and began performing regularly around Chicago.
Sandra Jackson-Opoku’s family moved into the Trumbull Park Homes in the ‘50s, where they encountered hatred from white neighbors and where Frank London Brown chronicled the struggles of Black lives and desegregation.
Hasta el 31 de diciembre, se anima a los escritores de 13 a 18 años a enviar al Sun-Times un relato inédito sobre el tema “Mirando hacia adelante”. Los ganadores serán seleccionados por el personal del Sun-Times y los textos se publicarán en impreso y en línea.
As a female comic in a male-dominated field, Madeline Esterhammer-Fic felt excluded. Her solution: Put on her own show in Edgewater.
Through Dec. 31, writers 13 to 18 years old are encouraged to submit an unpublished story to the Sun-Times on the theme of “Looking Ahead.” Winners will be selected by Sun-Times staff, and submissions will be published in print and online.
Nestor Gomez dragged a patio chair to the beach and watched as it was moved from shade to sun to sand. Online, neighbors complained about and defended the chair. Then, it disappeared. But that wasn’t the end of this story.
By Nestor Gomez
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They’ll be writing about Chicago communities and of the hopes, frustrations and fears that connect people.
By Mitch Dudek
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City Hall could start by lowering speed limits and building corridors for cyclists and walkers, guest columnist John F. Wasik writes.
By John F. Wasik
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Few people realize what a wide range of career and technical education programs the Chicago Public Schools offers, says guest columnist Lashaunta Moore, who learned broadcast media skills at Percy L. Julian High School in Washington Heights.
Illinois is one of the safest states in the nation for members of the LGBTQ+ community, with many protections, guest columnist Christopher Bigelow says. It’s the right thing to do as other states are making the opposite choice.
In retirement, Samuel T. Cicchelli, our latest Chicago’s Next Voices columnist, took a part-time job as a crossing guard. He says the students and family members he’s encountered have given him an education in how to appreciate his fellow human beings.
Southwest Side native Valery Pineda writes of how she never thought the doors of the downtown skyscrapers would be open to her — and how she got there and found her career.
By Valery Pineda
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We want to hear from diverse voices from across the city to be part of our Chicago’s Next Voices and tell stories of their personal experiences.
By Mary Mitchell
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