The TRiiBE

The TRiiBE The TRiiBE is a Black-owned digital publication that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago. Check out our original reporting at thetriibe.com

Our original works in journalism and documentary, alongside creative writing and video, capture the multifaceted essence of the Black experience in pursuit of truth and liberation.

NEW — A day after Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino returned to the Chicagoland area, local officials and organizers c...
12/17/2025

NEW — A day after Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino returned to the Chicagoland area, local officials and organizers continued to report more sightings of federal agents and abductions of community members.

In a Facebook video, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss unpacks his confrontation earlier today with Bovino today in the Chicago suburb.

Bovino, he said, “threatened us, said he’s going to continue the enforcement.”

And community members are coming together today to support street vendor Don Federico, a man who was detained Tuesday in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/evanston-mayor-confronts-bovino-community-raises-funds-for-detained-chicago-street-vendor/

Congratulations to Tonia Hill, our systemic racism reporter 🎊 The TRiiBE Team is so proud of you and thrilled to celebra...
12/17/2025

Congratulations to Tonia Hill, our systemic racism reporter 🎊

The TRiiBE Team is so proud of you and thrilled to celebrate this achievement. Thank you to for recognizing Tonia's impact and unwavering commitment to the stories and people she covers.

Read Tonia's work: https://thetriibe.com/author/tonia-hill/

NEW — Multiple progressive alderpeople and Mayor Brandon Johnson allies raised red flags about the potential impact of t...
12/17/2025

NEW — Multiple progressive alderpeople and Mayor Brandon Johnson allies raised red flags about the potential impact of the counter budget on vulnerable Chicago communities.

On Tuesday, the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee voted 22-13 to advance the revised counter budget to the full council’s consideration.

The revised alternative budget proposal raises the grocery bag tax from 10 cents to 15 cents to generate $8.7 million. Other items in the budget include augmented reality advertisements, increasing the liquor tax by 1.5% to bring in $6 million, expanding the congestion fee zones downtown for Uber and Lyft to bring in $39.4 million, and a projected $92.6 million in fines and fees, which includes debt collections and the selling of debt.

Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th Ward) took issue with the augmented reality ads.

“I think it’s a horrible use of privatization, of modification of public space, continuation of the family of liberal policies that brought us into this system," he said.

Ald. Red Burnett (27th Ward) took issue with the proposal to sell off the debts owed to the city for services such as ambulance rides, noting that this would add more burden to those who already struggle financially.

“I’d have to do more research. I have to just see [and] understand what that means. So that’s a piece for me that’s a little bit more challenging to digest,” Burnett said.

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/progressive-alders-and-johnson-allies-fear-alternative-budgets-impact-on-vulnerable-chicago-communities/

NEW — Creative Cypher is entering a new chapter in its mission to build opportunity for Black filmmakers in Chicago. Fou...
12/16/2025

NEW — Creative Cypher is entering a new chapter in its mission to build opportunity for Black filmmakers in Chicago.

Founded in 2014 by Troy Pryor, the Chicago-based entertainment collective is now being led by Cindy Beasley as their new president. Congratulations!

As the company continues to create pathways through festivals, partnerships, and distribution deals, Beasley says the vision is clear:

“I want Chicago to be known as a major hub for the entertainment industry, because Chicago breeds greatness.”

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/the-chicago-collective-founded-by-troy-pryor-is-proving-the-city-can-be-more-than-a-stepping-stone-for-film-and-tv-careers/

NEW — Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino is back in Chicago today. Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed Bovino’s presence in Chicago ...
12/16/2025

NEW — Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino is back in Chicago today.

Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed Bovino’s presence in Chicago during a press conference on Tuesday morning. He said neither he nor his team had been given notice that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and Bovino would be returning to the city.

“They seem to already be deploying again with masks and unmarked cars and SUVs into neighborhoods,” Pritzker told reporters. “They call it enforcement. We call it harassment, but we don’t know how long they’ll stay. It appears that they’re here for at least a couple of days, if not longer.”

Today, rapid response teams sounded the alarm on agent sightings on the Southeast Side and in the suburbs. One alert stated that at 8:15 a.m., “ICE abducted someone from the Cicero Walmart on 33rd and Cicero Ave. ICE/CBP is wearing green uniforms and vests.”

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/border-patrol-chief-greg-bovino-is-back-in-chicago-reported-sightings-on-southwest-side-and-abduction-at-walmart-in-cicero/

NEW — "They don't got a plan. They stalling as much as they want to, and we wasting taxpayers' money and time," Ald. Jea...
12/15/2025

NEW — "They don't got a plan. They stalling as much as they want to, and we wasting taxpayers' money and time," Ald. Jeanette Taylor told The TRiiBE.

As news of a caucus of moderate and conservative-leaning alderpeople backtracking on initial proposals in their alternative 2026 budget to increase garbage collection fees and freeze youth jobs, a coalition of grassroots organizers celebrated the about-face as a win.

The caucus presented new budget ideas in a written statement released today ahead of Monday’s Chicago City Council meeting, but they didn’t present an itemized list of updates as they’ve done previously.

In the statement, the caucus said, "we have come to an agreement to remove the garbage tax as part of our proposal and maintain funding for youth jobs as initially proposed in the FY26 budget."

Organizers responded to the news.

“The fact that the alders in the corporate caucus had to recognize that they couldn’t cut youth jobs and keep their own jobs is a big organizing win for our communities,” Rocio Garcia, organizing director of Grassroots Collaborative, wrote in a written statement. “Keeping youth jobs and abandoning their plan to raise our garbage fees is a sign that the community pressure is working."

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/alternative-alder-bloc-backs-off-garbage-fee-hike-and-youth-job-freeze-as-chicago-organizers-claim-victory/

OK, y’all. We’re working on a story and looking to interview Black Chicagoans who were born and/or raised here, but some...
12/15/2025

OK, y’all. We’re working on a story and looking to interview Black Chicagoans who were born and/or raised here, but somehow call themselves a Green Bay Packers fan.

This’ll be a fun story. Hoping to chat with fun people who can share their origin story as a Packers fan living in Chicago.

Please comment if that’s you, or tag the cheesehead in your life. You can also email our culture writer, Rome J., at [email protected]

NEW — The long-awaited public memorial for survivors and victims of police torture will be built in Washington Park. On ...
12/15/2025

NEW — The long-awaited public memorial for survivors and victims of police torture will be built in Washington Park. On Dec. 10, the Chicago City Council approved a plan sponsored by Mayor Brandon Johnson to transfer four city-owned lots in Washington Park to support the construction of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial.

The memorial is more than a decade in the making, and once completed, it will be the first reparations monument of its kind in the US that will memorialize survivors and victims of police torture.

“It helps to keep their names alive. It helps to educate the public about police torture that took place in the city of Chicago,” Chicago Torture Justice Center organizer and torture survivor Mark Clements told The TRiiBE. “The most important part of it is that it was a part of the reparations package. In my opinion, it took too long to be finalized. But I'm happy.”

Visit thetriibe.com to read the full story.
Link (🔗 ) in bio.

12/15/2025

NEW — Ahead of today’s Chicago City Council meeting, organizers met at City Hall to urge alderpeople to vote for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Protect Chicago Budget.”

During the rally, community member Carshina Washington, who also operates a fine arts center on the South Side, spoke out for the need for investment in youth programs in the city of Chicago.

Organizers with the People’s Unity Platform have been demanding investment for more youth jobs while also calling for the City Council to implement a corporate head tax, which the Johnson administration is calling the Community Safety Surcharge, to go toward mental health services, youth programs and community violence intervention.

More to come on thetriibe.com
📸: Corli Jay for The TRiiBE

NEW — The counter budget plan seems to have lost backing from Ald. Stephanie Coleman, vice chairwoman of the Aldermanic ...
12/11/2025

NEW — The counter budget plan seems to have lost backing from Ald. Stephanie Coleman, vice chairwoman of the Aldermanic Black Caucus, and Ald. Ronnie Mosley, a Chicago Progressive Reform Caucus member.

A faction of Chicago City Council members stood firm Wednesday on increasing regressive fees on everyday Chicagoans in their latest alternative budget plan.

The caucus of majority conservative and moderate alders’ latest effort adjusts the garbage fee increase, raising the tax to $15 instead of the originally proposed $18. The current rate is $9.50 per month.

The update also eliminates the Community Safety Fund, including $18 million in business grants anticipated to come from the fund.

Their counter plan still includes a 3% tax increase on liquor sales, freezing youth employment to maintain 2025 numbers, and small increases to violations. And there’s still no head tax in their counterproposal.

City Council must pass a budget by midnight on Dec. 31 to avoid a government shutdown.

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/faction-of-alders-double-down-on-regressive-fees-no-head-tax-in-latest-budget-counter-to-mayor-johnson/

NEW — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration announced a $600,000 investment into a new microgrant program that will sup...
12/10/2025

NEW — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration announced a $600,000 investment into a new microgrant program that will support Chicago organizations who are working to expand mental health care and other wraparound supports for formerly incarcerated people.

The inaugural Returning with Hope Microgrant program aims to strengthen Chicago’s reentry support.

“We know that our city succeeds when Chicagoans returning from incarceration are given the chance to turn their lives around. These microgrants will expand support programs, and, crucially, mental health care for Chicagoans returning to their communities," Johnson said.

The 32 grantees include individual applications and collaboratives. Individual awardees will receive between $10,000 and $20,000, while collaborators will receive $50,000 and $ 60,000 to be split between them

Read the full story: https://thetriibe.com/2025/12/johnson-administration-launches-microgrant-program-to-expand-mental-health-care-for-formerly-incarcerated-people/

12/10/2025

On Tuesday, dozens of criminal justice advocates gathered at Daley Plaza to demand that Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections adopt their rapid response plan, which aims to mitigate harm to incarcerated people should Pritzker and IDOC move to mass transfer the over 1,000 women, transgender and nonbinary people incarcerated at Logan Correctional Facility.

Last year, Pritzker announced plans to allocate $900 million from the 2025 budget to demolish and rebuild Stateville and Logan because of the unlivable conditions inside the prisons. In August, a federal judge ordered the closure and evacuation of Stateville. The last men incarcerated at Stateville were transferred out in March.

Although there aren’t any current plans by Pritzker or IDOC to transfer people out of Logan, members of No News Prisons IL and their allies are raising awareness now so that incarcerated people at Logan don’t suffer the same fate as others did during mass transfers at Stateville and Dwight prisons.

“People at Logan are anxious about when Logan will actually close, to where they will actually be moved, and how transfers will happen,” Chez Rumpf, a member of Love + Protect and No New Prisons IL, said.

🎥: Tonia Hill for The TRiiBE

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