Divided We Fall; Together We (May Yet) Rise: A REFLECT Conversation

In our production of J. Nicole Brooks' play Her Honor Jane Byrne based on the actual history of Chicago's first female mayor, Mayor Jane Byrne's 3-week stay in the Cabrini-Green public housing residences brings into sharp focus the underlying segregation and inequities that plague Chicago, as well as most other major metropolitan city in the country. How did Chicago became so segregated, what is the impact on us now, and how might we forge a different future?

We discuss these important questions in a digital REFLECT Conversation with Reporter and Author Natalie Moore and Urban Historian Shermann "Dilla" Thomas.

Natalie Moore is an award-winning journalist, reporter for WBEZ, a contributing columnist to the Chicago Sun-Times, and the author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation, which received the 2016 Chicago Review of Books Award for Non Fiction and was Buzz Feed’s best non-fiction book of the year. For the 100th Anniversary of the 1919 Chicago Race Riots, she co-wrote a 30-minute audio drama with Make-Believe Association, which aired on WBEZ.

Shermann "Dilla" Thomas is an urban historian and the Founder of Chicago Mahogany Tours, with leads both walking and bus tours of lesser-known sites and locations in the City, including many overlooked on Chicago's South, West, and Southwest sides. Tours include Chicago South Side Murals, Historic Pullman, and Historic Roseland among many others. He has more than 200 history TikTok videos w/ over 4,000,000 views. Known to many as "The Chicago History Guy," his Twitter handle is @6figga_dilla.

Moderator: Andy White is Lookingglass' Director of Community Engagement and an Ensemble member.

The Department of Curiosity's REFLECT series:
Dive even deeper into the world of the play with the Lookingglass REFLECT Series! This specially-curated series of post-show conversations and panels offers audiences an opportunity to think, hear, and talk about the performance they just experienced. Come hear in-the-field experts offer their insights on the show’s themes and leading artists give a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Lookingglass creative process.