2 CHICAGO READER | OCTOBER 28, 2005 | SECTION ONE

CHICAGO READER | OCTOBER 28, 2005 | SECTION ONE 3

m

f

@

Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611

312-828-9926

letters@chicagoreader.com

You SayPotato . . .Regarding “A Dumping Groundfor the Poor?” published in theOctober 14 Reader, it seems BenJoravsky may need to do moreresearch before writing his arti-cles. He especially misses themark in his fourth paragraphwhen describing the 7600 blockof Paulina: “now occupied by twosocial service agencies and aweed-filled vacant lot.” Not onlyis there also a grocery store, aU.S. post office, a coffee shop, anda medical facility (Rogers ParkOne-Day Surgical Center) on theblock, but the lot he speaks of isneither vacant nor weed filled.

The lot in question is a gravelparking lot belonging to theGood News Community Churchand is used by staff, members,and volunteers of the church, theHoward Area Alternative HighSchool, Howard AreaCommunity Center, and theGood News Community Kitchen.Every third Monday of eachmonth the lot also serves as thedistribution point for the GreaterChicago Food Depository’sProducemobile, bringing 20-30pounds of food to each of over200 families in need. There arethree garden boxes in the lot puttogether by students from thehigh school and the ChicagoGreen Corps, a flower bed nearthe high school entrance, flowersall along the west-end fence, anda tree probably older than anyresident of North of Howard.There are some weeds, but asany gardener or anyone with aplot knows, battling weeds is aconstant effort.

Opponents of affordablehousing get the weight of quotesin this article, including fear-mongering rhetoric comparingthe idea of affordable housing to“Cabrini-Green, Robert Taylor,Henry Horner” on a four-to-oneratio. The article doesn’t makeclear how the crime statisticscompare with those of otherChicago neighborhoods men-tioned, like Lakeview or WickerPark, nor comparisons with yearspast. And though it infers moreaffordable housing would contin-ue or increase current crimetrends, there is nothing to sup-port that notion.

We are encouraged to hearthat Mike Luckenbach andfriends are “not against the poor,and we’re not against social serv-ice agencies either.” At the Good

News Community Kitchen, weserve an average of 150 mealsevery night, 365 days a year, tofamilies that are working poor,seniors, and disabled who haveto make a choice between payingrent or buying food, homelessindividuals, and anyone in need,and serve in an atmosphere of dignity and respect for allwithin the kitchen. We’re alwayslooking for volunteers that support that spirit of respect,and we warmly and openly inviteMr. Luckenbach, Mr. Fuschi, and Mr. Steward to come and serve with us.

Reverend Marilyn PaganPastorGood News Community Church

Kevin J. KintnerDirector of operationsGood News Community Kitchen

N. Paulina

Ben Joravsky replies:I wrote that the only things on

the Howard end of the 7600block of North Paulina were twosocial service agencies and aweed-filled vacant lot. But sinceyou raised the subject, I wentback and counted all the busi-nesses and agencies on the block.There were ten vacant store-fronts, one alternative highschool, and a parking lot. Therewere also four social-serviceagencies, a barber shop, a tax

service, a post office, and a coffeeshop—all closed even though itwas 10 AM on a Saturday. Andthere were five places open forbusiness—a currency exchange, a Certified grocery store, a dinerspecializing in Belizean food, a surgery center, and a storagefacility. As for the vacant lot, the brush along the fence in the southeast corner is at leasttwo feet high; the lot is litteredwith bottles, cans, plastic bags,and other trash.

Live and Let DriveDear Reader readers,

I agree with Andy Golding[Letters, October 21]. Let’s turnmost of the on-street parkingspaces into garden spaces andmake Chicago into a town forpoor persons who do not drive,and let’s definitely make thistown a home for those verysophisticated types who, in theirsuperior wisdom, deplore the useof automobiles.

Those mean-spirited personswho have money should be dis-couraged from living in this city.The great city of Chicago shouldbe for the poor masses of people.

“The city and the alderman, the 49th Ward’sJoe Moore, are contemplatinga zoning changefor the block of Paulina just north ofHoward thatmany of theneighborhood’sresidents fear wouldencourage theconstruction of more low-incomehousing.”—The Works,October 14

Publisher Michael CrystalEditor Alison TrueManaging Editor Kiki YablonSenior Editors Michael Miner | Laura Molzahn | Kitry KrauseAssociate Editors Martha Bayne | Anaheed AlaniPhilip Montoro | Kate SchmidtAssistant Editors Jim Shapiro | Mark Athitakis | David WilcoxStaff Writers Steve Bogira | John Conroy | Jeffrey FelshmanHarold Henderson | Deanna Isaacs | J.R. JonesBen Joravsky | Monica Kendrick | Peter MargasakTori Marlan | Bob Mehr | Jonathan Rosenbaum | Mike SulaAlbert WilliamsCopy Chief Brian NemtusakEditorial Assistants Pat Graham | Renaldo Migaldi | Joel ScoreMario Kladis | Michael Marsh | Tom Porter | Jerome LudwigTamara Faulkner | Patrick Daily | Stephanie Manis | Robert CassKerry Reid | Todd Dills | Katherine Young | Ryan HubbardMiles Raymer | Tasneem PaghdiwalaTypesetters Vera Videnovich | Kabir HamidArchivist Eben English

Advertising Director Don HumbertsonSales Director Ginger WadeDisplay Advertising Manager Sandra GoplinAssistant Display Advertising Manager Katie FalboOnline Advertising Coordinator Renate DurnbaughDisplay Representatives Jeff Martin | Christine ThielBrad WincklerSales Development Manager Susan ZuckertSenior Account Executives Denice Barndt | Angie Ingham Evangeline Miller | Ryan A. Norsworthy | Geary YonkerAccount Executives Nichole Flores | Julie MuellerAdvertising Project Coordinator Allison HendricksonAdvertising Assistants Katie Hennebry | Jennifer K. JohnsonKieran Kelley | Sarah Nishiura

Art Director Sheila SachsAssociate Art Director Godfrey CarmonaArt Coordinator Elizabeth TamnyProduction Director David JonesProduction Manager Bob CooperAssociate Production Manager Nickie SageProduction Artists Jeff Marlin | Jennifer McLaughlinMark Blade | Benjamin Utley | John Cross | Andrea BauerDustin Kimmel | Josh Honn | Mike BrowarskiNadine NakanishiEditorial Design Jardí + Utensil

Operations & Classifieds Director Mary Jo MaddenController Karl David WiltClassifieds Manager Brett MurphyClassified Representatives Sara Bassick | Danette ChavezBill Daniel | Kris Dodd | Chip Dudley | Andy HermannJanet Lukasiewicz | Jeff McMurray | Amy O’Connor | Scott ShehanKristal Snow | Bob Tilendis | Stephen WalkerMatches Coordinator Jane HannaBack Page Representative Chris AumanOperations Assistants Patrick O’Neil | Alicia DanielReceptionists Monica Brown-Fielding | Dorie T. GreerRobert Jacobs | Dave Thomas | Stephen Walker Bookkeeper Marqueal JordanCirculation Manager Perry A. KimCirculation Fred Adams | Sadar Bahar | Neil BagwellJohn Barrille | Kriss Bataille | Steve Bjorkland | Mark BladeMichael Boltz | Jeff Boyd | Michael Bulington | Bill DanielTom Frederick | Kennedy Greenrod | Nathan GreerScott Harris John Holland | Sasha KadukovDave Leoschke | James McArdle | Shane McDougallJohn Merton | Dave Miedzianski | Terry NelsonGerald Perdue | John Roeser | Phil SchusterDorian Tajbakhsh | David Thomas | Stephen WalkerCraig White | Dan Worland

Information Systems Director Jerry DavisInformation Systems Project Manager Conrad HunterInformation Systems James Crandall | John Dunlevy Doug Fawley | Sean PhelanSpecial Projects Coordinator Lisa Martain Hoffer

National AdvertisingThe Ruxton Group, 1-888-2-RUXTONNew York | Chicago | Phoenix | San Francisco

CHICAGO READER 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611312-828-0350www.chicagoreader.com

For recorded information on placing classified ads, call 312-828-1140 (24 hours).

The entire contents of the Reader are copyright © 2005, Chicago Reader, Inc. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, Hot Type, Reader, Reader Matches, and Straight Dope are registered trademarks of Chicago Reader, Inc.

Subscriptions are available by mail inside the U.S. for $95 per year. Foreign sub-scriptions cost $200 per year. Include check or money order payable to ChicagoReader, Inc., and mail to Reader Subscriptions, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611. Note: Subscription copies are usually received 3-5 days after publication date in theChicago area. Please allow a maximum of 4 weeks for fulfillment of your subscription.

Reader (ISSN 1096-6919) is published weekly by Chicago Reader, Inc., 11 East Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Illinois.

Postmaster Send address changes to Reader, 11 East Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611.

CHICAGO READER, INC.President Robert A. RothVice President Robert E. McCamantTreasurer Thomas K. YoderExecutive Editor Michael Lenehan

OCTOBER 28, 2005VOL 35 | NO 5 Letters

continued on page 35

34 CHICAGO READER | OCTOBER 28, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Theater

By Justin Hayford

Just when you were startingto stereotype repressive con-servatives as members of the

Christian right, along comesAhmed Rehab from the Councilon American-Islamic Relations inChicago to slap down Yussef ElGuindi’s new play about a trou-bled Egyptian-American family,Ten Acrobats in an AmazingLeap of Faith. Rehab said in aSun-Times story that he thinksit’s “unfair when a play with asubject matter that is distantfrom the classic struggles of theAmerican-Muslim community,and is moreover not endorsed byit, uses the ‘Muslim bridge-build-ing’ card to market itself.” Whatsubject is it that Rehab imaginesthe evidently monolithic Muslim-American community would con-demn? The struggle of Tawfiq, a20-year-old college student, tounderstand his dwindling beliefin Islam? The struggle of hisbrother, Hamza, to purge himselfof all homosexual impulses? Thestruggle of their sister, Huwaida,to enter into an arranged mar-riage? Or the struggle of theirfather, Kamal, to accept and lovehis children and keep his familytogether at any cost?

Apparently Rehab would prefera script that presents Muslims asthe only religious practitioners inAmerica free from secularizingforces, ambivalence about doctri-nal teachings, and spiritualdoubt. But that sort of reassuringfantasy is deadly in theater, whichis after all a communal forumthat arose some 2,000 years agoso that audiences could confront

issues threatening their culture.There can be no theater withoutdoubt. Great drama provokes,challenges, and transgresses;Hamlet, after all, offers com-pelling justifications for matri-cide and self-slaughter.

Not that Silk Road TheatreProject’s world premiere is greatdrama. Rehab has a point in criti-cizing the Muslim bridge-build-ing card, played aggressively inthe show’s marketing. Certainly

Americanmainstreamculture hasbecomeinfused withsubtle andnot-so-subtleanti-Islamicsentiment inrecent years.But one canonly smile

wearily when Guindi asserts in apress release that “any play thatattempts to flesh out Muslims ina three dimensional way is proba-bly doing a much needed job atthe moment.” For one thing, peo-ple who think Muslims are scaryor icky aren’t likely to plunkdown $25 and sit in a roomful ofthem to have their mindschanged.

Besides, theater needn’tbecome soggy amateur socialwork to prove its worth. If Guindihad actually given the Fawzi fam-ily three dimensions instead ofthe current two and a half, TenAcrobats in an Amazing Leap ofFaith might have made some cul-tural inroads in the manner of

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin inthe Sun or Michael John Garces’sActs of Mercy. But like many con-temporary playwrights, Guindi isbetter at illustrating problemsthan dramatizing them. In muchof the first act, declaration takesthe place of action. Tawfiq, forexample, says he’s become anatheist because Islam, at least aspracticed by his devout father,leaves him unable to breathe. ButGuindi never shows Tawfiqoppressed by his father or hisfaith. Similarly Hamza’s dilemmais perfunctorily revealed in a sin-gle scene in which he tries toresist the advances of a manwhose only role is to provokeHamza into displaying his BigIssue. Neither brother’s conflict

has much complicating effect on the play’s action. And whentheir father discovers their problems, he’s upset for a while,until he’s not.

Guindi invests more stage timein Huwaida and finds morenuance in her story as she tries toreconcile female independencewith Islamic tradition. It turnsout that she herself, not her par-ents, has been the one pushingfor an arranged marriage with anEgyptian national she’s nevermet. Like wearing a headscarfdespite quizzical or contemptu-ous stares, rigidly following tradi-tion offers her freedom within theconfines of a determined lifecourse. In perhaps the most emo-tionally and ethically complex

scene, Huwaida and her psychol-ogist square off over the possiblemisogynistic impulses behind herwish to veil herself and becomemarriageable.

Only a handful of scenesachieve this level of intricacy,however, welcoming the messybusiness of life onstage. At thesepoints the actors shine, revealingjust how much potential the play-wright has. In Stuart Carden’sstaging, they bring enormouswarmth to this schematic script,and by the second act their merepresence gives credence to themost formulaic moments. But if even an ensemble this talentedcan’t forge an authentic familyfrom Guindi’s words, it’s time for a rewrite. v

More Drama, Less Social WorkYussef El Guindi’s play about a Muslim-American family is best when it's messiest.

TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH SILK ROAD THEATRE PROJECT AT THE CHICAGO TEMPLE

Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith

WHEN Through12/30: Thu 7:30 PM,Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PMWHERE ChicagoTemple, First UnitedMethodist Church,77 W. WashingtonPRICE $20-$25INFO 312-236-6881

JOH

NN

YKN

IGH

T

CHICAGO READER | OCTOBER 28, 2005 | SECTION ONE 35

Letters

It should not be for the middleclass, affluent, and wealthy folkswho are using up all the petrole-um resources. These persons arestealing much more than theirfair share from the poor people.Let’s make Chicago a poor andlower-class, but completely fairand socialist, city and get rid of those greedy and backwardpersons who insist on drivingtheir automobiles.

Let’s ban all automobiles fromChicago streets! They are evil,and so are the philistines whodrive them. Build buses, buses,buses, and make the fare tencents per ride!

Don’t worry about me. I willmove to a town like Los Angeles,because, I must truthfully admit,I am one of those really nasty,inconsiderate persons who drivesa car.

The young socialists knowbetter than everyone else. Listento them, and do as they suggest.

Onward and upward Chicago,follow the path of the old SovietUnion and cheer, “Socialism—go, go, GO!!!!!”

Robert BensonN. State

continued from page 3

Ink Well by Ben Tausig

Gonzo FilmsACROSS 1. Third degrees?5. Heroin, slangily9. Turkish skewer

14. Leak slowly15. Britney is its October 2005

cover subject16. Small truck company17. Whisky or wine datum18. Type of film or following19. Hoaxes20. The Muppet ______ (1992)23. Hispaniola half24. Throat issue25. Give-break connection27. Palindromic farm mom28. Like Moore County, Tennessee,

home of the Jack Daniel’s distillery30. November winners31. High degree32. Radical 1970’s org.33. Front34. Spanish flowers?35. The Muppets ______ (1984)

39. Driving Miss Daisy playwright40. Like an octogenarian41. Put to work42. Cleric’s sch.43. Six-footer44. Mrs., abroad45. Soda sample48. Office party photocopy49. Curse of Notre Dame?51. Two octaves, say53. Muppet ______ (1996)56. Seafood choice57. Triumphant cry58. It can carry a tune59. Put through a kitchen press60. Last word of Kubrick’s last title61. Weight-lifter’s exercise62. Kathleen Battle’s field63. Displaced dog of fiction64. Pointless weapon

DOWN 1. Freudian concern2. Variety show set in Kornfield Kounty3. Honeybunch4. Sail extender5. Zen, e.g.6. Apt to trip7. ______ once8. Rakes it in9. They used to hang on the el

10. What the little hand points to11. It may keep you from achieving

your dreams12. Closet item, so to speak13. Is afflicted with21. Move crabwise22. Greek horse-man26. Responses to a massage therapist29. Joey and Johnny, for two

LAST WEEK: PLAY CALLING

44. Show the door45. Buy in a hurry46. Pay no mind47. Hawk50. BBC sci-fi series52. Carroll heroine54. Washstand pitcher55. A fan of56. What Michelle Wie recently turned

32. It's the limit, at times33. Y, in the Yucatan34. I-90, e.g.35. Circus Circus locale36. Military competition37. Selfless one38. Romanov rulers39. Coalition of the Willing member43. Bynes of What a Girl Wants