Cub Reporter walked over to Truman College to experience the Uptown Unity Festival on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. In case you aren't able to attend, here are some of the events going on.
A "graff wall" was being constructed for artists to showcase their skills with spray paint.
Until the wall is complete, some kids were practicing their artwork on a piece of plywood.
If walls aren't your thing, you can always apply spray paint to a t-shirt!
An aspiring young entertainer serenaded the audience with her unique blend of shouting and rap.
Weiss Hospital offered blood pressure checks, immunizations and expert manicures.
Why venture all the way down to Michigan Avenue when you can purchase the Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade or Prada purse you were eyeing right at the Uptown Unity festival!
In addition to new purses, you can buy used shoes at the Uptown Unity festival. Who needs to go to DSW when Truman College has all of the latest looks.
And, something for the kids - inflatables of their favorite cartoon character.If you check this post out before 5 p.m. on Saturday, you can experience unity at the festival too!
Ah, yes.
ReplyDeleteWe also went to Unity Fest. If that's unity, I'd like to see what the alternative is.
Our first stop was the Graff Wall. By the time we go there, there was much more on the wall than your pictures portray.
Oh, such interesting art work!
Then there was the petting zoo. Disgusting. I wouldn't let my kids go near those filthy animals.
We made our way over to the "rides". Nightmare. Dozens of unsupervised kids fighting and arguing over who was first and next in line, kids trying to walk up the giant rocket shaped slide. You should have seen the petrified suburban looking teenager working the entrance to the slide. He had no clue how to control the overbearing kids.
After I reprimanded the misbehaving children and organized the line of kids, my son finally got a chance to climb up and slide down.
There there was the disgustingly filthy space shuttle inflatable jumper/slide. This one was manned by what appeared to be a random adult yelling at 20 kids who also appeared to be unsupervised.
I let my kids go through, but after the experience, we decided to walk through the rest of the Unity Fest and go to the park.
You hear a lot about the diversity of Uptown, the multitude of languages and cultures. None of this was evident at the Unity Fest. I was one of about 20 white people I saw during my hour at the fest. I saw a few Latinos, and even fewer Asians.
The Fest didn't seem to promote too much Unity.
Why is the Unity Fest hidden away between the buildings at Truman College? If you really wanted to showcase the cultural blessings of our community, why not do it on Wilson Avenue or on Broadway? Close down the street and do a big festival that's really inclusive of all people in Uptown.
Here's another question.
Did the Alderman's office, or whoever organized this event, actively solicit participation from any groups other than ones oriented toward the African American community?
It sure didn't appear that way.
I almost forgot to mention the other Graff Wall.
ReplyDeleteAldi.
Go look at the lovely etchings created by local artists on the empty community art display cases and on the supports for whatever that thing is above where the entrance to the store should have been.