Café Society will meet at Experimental Station on Tuesday, September 21.

What is your vision of what Chicago could be? Join us in imagining a better, more just future for Chicago as we consider the mayoral election and what it means for our city. Special guests Salim Muwakkil, senior editor of In These Times, and Therese Quinn, Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will kick off this intimate, facilitated conversation. Plus, Kevin Coval, poet extraordinaire, will open up our evening with a performance of his poem, “Remains. Jane Addams Town.”

From “Who’s Running for Mayor?” by Achy Obejas in her WBEZ blog, Citylife: Adventures, Large and Small, in Urban Living

“And now it’s Chicago’s version of the running of the bulls. With Mayor Richard M. Daley’s decision not to run for another term, anyone and everyone who ever imagined his or her self sitting on the city’s big shoulders is already out on the streets, elbowing, jabbing, leaping and dodging. But keep this in mind: Anyone can talk.” 

Questions for Consideration:  What is your vision of what Chicago could be? What is Daley’s legacy and what does his resignation mean for Chicago? How can we work together to create a more just and humane community for all Chicagoans? What changes should be made in local elections to foster a more participatory democracy? What are the most pressing issues that Chicagoans face and how can we make these issues be front and center of the mayoral race?

Want to learn more?

• Chicago Residents Contemplate Mayor Daley’s Exit
• Reflections on Mayor Daley’s Tenure
• Chicago A.D. (After Daley)
• The Daley Legacy, Inescapable
  The End Is Near for the Mayor, but Citizens’ Woes Will Go On

Free and open to the public. For more information and to register to attend, call 312.422.5580.