Media

I have been interviewed on television (WTTW Chicago Tonight), radio (WBEZ National Public Radio), and numerous print outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Pioneer Press and other local media.

I also write a column for Patch.

Patch editorials:

• From Houses to Homes: Toward a Humane Housing Policy in Skokie (January 14, 2023)

• Vote "Yes" for the People of Skokie (October 13, 2022)

• Our Communities Shape Us: A Highland Park and Highwood Reckoning (September 12, 2022)

• Carvana does not conform with the Skokie Comprehensive Plan (February 5, 2022)

• Antisocial Engineering: Development When Community Doesn’t Matter (January 8, 2022)

• Walking the Diversity Talk in the Suburbs: The Case for Human Relations Commissions (August 31, 2021)

• Social justice candidates can win on the North Shore – if we vote (April 4, 2021)

• Housing is for People: Elected officials promote genuine community when they ensure inclusive, mixed-income housing (January 13, 2021)

• Black Women Made Visible: Timely Reissue of 1893 Book: Review: “Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works, Invincible in Character” (1893) by Dr. Lawson A. Scruggs (Path Press, 407 pp., $19.95) (October 26, 2020)

• Reclaim Winnetka for people, not profit: Support for Black lives shines light on residents' desire for inclusive, diverse suburbs (September 9, 2020)

• Systemic racism starts and ends with housing: State deadline looming this month is chance to affirm open and welcoming suburbs (June 17, 2020)

• A Black administrator, a white campus, and social change: Review of “Nothing Beats a Failure But a Try” by Phillip E. Jones (Path Press, 182 pages, $19.95, pathpressinc@aol.com) (May 20, 2020)

The following is a sampling of my appearances. 

Bylines (see also Publications):

• 'Do We Need Affordable Housing' Is the Wrong Question to Ask (Shelterforce Magazine, February 9, 2021)

• Black Women Made Visible: Timely Reissue of 1893 Book (Metropolis, November 7, 2020)

• Systemic Racism Starts and Ends with Housing (Shelterforce Magazine, July 17, 2020). See also Wilmette Patch with the original version of this op-ed (June 17, 2020).

• Musician, champion of orchestral music dies (Cook County Chronicle, March 8, 2020)

• "Lead from the Rear" and Other Thoughts from our New Executive Director (Senior Moments from H.O.M.E. blog, August 20, 2018)

• Book Review: Mississippi Jail Hangings: Behind the Magnolias (Esther Muhammad) (Evanston Roundtable, May 3, 2017)

• Community Organizing: Integrating a Woman's Approach (Shelterforce, February 17, 2017)

• Book Review: Championing a Civil Rights Activist and Labor Leader: Nonfiction Review of “Reverend Addie Wyatt: Faith and the Fight for Labor, Gender and Racial Equality” (Marcia Walker-McWilliams), NewCity, January 20, 2017

• Gail Schechter's Best Reads of 2016 (Evanston Public Library, December 12, 2016)

Television/Video:

• On H.O.M.E., WZRD, November 29, 2021

• How Fair Housing Benefits Women: N.O.W. Nov. 2020 meeting with activist Gail Schechter

• Chicago Fast Pitch 2019: Coaches’ Award (2nd Place)

• 50 Years Later, Fair Housing Movement on North Shore Marches On (Chicago Tonight, WTTW, July 23, 2015)

• Affordable Housing in Winnetka (WTTW, Chicago Tonight, interview with host Phil Ponce, April 6, 2011)

• On "Defamation: The Play" and Race on Chicago's North Shore, Interview with playwright Todd Logan, in Evanston, IL, August 2013.

• Housing Strategies in the Northern Suburbs, Interview with Karen Chavers, interviewed by Wanda Wells, FOX TV, January 9, 2000

Radio:

• What Does Intergenerational Housing Look Like In Chicago?: Two local leaders share how they’re working to improve living conditions for seniors of all backgrounds. WBEZ, September 13, 2021

• Illinois Lawmakers Strengthen A Law That Requires Some Cities To Submit Affordable Housing Plans, WBEZ, June 6, 2021

• With No Oversight, Illinois Cities Flout State Law That Encourages Affordable Housing, WBEZ, January 21, 2021

• Despite mandate, affluent suburbs fail to build affordable housing, WBEZ, October 12, 2015

• Fair Housing Campaign in the Suburbs, WBEZ Morning Shift interview, June 1, 2015

Newspapers:

• Open Communities leader reflects on long journey as she ends run, Chicago Tribune, December 7, 2015. (if difficulty accessing, here is the article in PDF).

• Open Communities director to step down, Chicago Tribune, November 2, 2015.

• Holocaust Museum speakers discuss housing segregation in Chicago area, The Daily Northwestern, January 15, 2015.

• Sudanese leaders learn to strategize with local community organizers in Medill Reports, May 11, 2010, and in Continuum Magazine.

Music- and Humanities-Related:

• A Reading of Simone de Beauvoir, at the 2014 Nelson Algren Birthday Party, Chicago, IL

• Celebrating the UnSung, August 3, 2007 WBEZ. On Alec Wilder, with Richard Wyszynski.

• Nightfall, by John Morrissey, arr. and conducted for clarinet and strings by Richard Wyszynski, June 4, 2006, North Shore Chamber Orchestra, Alice Millar Chapel, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.