City Bureau is a nonprofit civic journalism lab based on the South Side of Chicago. We bring journalists and communities together in a collaborative spirit to produce media that is impactful, equitable and responsive to the public. The Black Chi Wealth project was produced in City Bureau’s Civic Reporting Program, a 11-week opportunity for emerging journalists and mid-career reporters to produce a journalism project on a single, big-picture sociopolitical issue facing communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
The Black Chi Wealth team
Erisa Apantaku
Erisa is a Black/biracial, queer audio producer and educator from the traditional lands of the Three Fires Confederacy of the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi nations (Chicagoland). Erisa’s work strives to be vulnerable, playful and authentic. She is the executive producer of South Side Weekly Radio and has produced pieces for BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts and Re:sound from the Third Coast Audio Festival. Find more of her work at erisaja.com.
Arabella Breck
Arabella is a Chicago-based queer writer and illustrator exploring the ways journalism can evolve to be more accessible, equitable and understandable. She’s currently a social media editor with South Side Weekly.
Davon Clark
Davon is a Philadelphia-raised artist based in Chicago that uses investigative journalism practices in his camerawork and poetry. His work looks to fill in the gaps left behind in coverage of the worlds that he lives in and peripheral to. He likes flowers and the little things in life. You can find out what he does and how he does it at www.daybydavon.com.
Olivia Cunningham
Olivia is a writer and media producer specializing in content creation and management. Her work investigates the relationship between young people of color, the media they consume, and the politics they identify with. She’s currently the Digital Content Manager at Chicago Humanities Festival.
Tonia Hill
Tonia is a freelance writer and producer from Chicago. She is a former staff writer at the Hyde Park Herald where she focused on multiple topics including the Obama Presidential Center. She’s currently a substitute teacher with Chicago Public Schools.
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