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It’s the middle of the week. Get over the Wednesday hump by reading these WTTW News stories about your city.
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The South Side Healthy Community Organization and the Chicago Birthworks Collective are partnering to provide free doula services to South Side mothers who are uninsured or on Medicaid. (WTTW News)
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For many mothers, pregnancy can bring fear and uncertainty, especially when the pregnancy is considered high-risk.
For Tiara Proctor, that fear was constant.
“My entire pregnancy, (I was) very scared because they had told me not to get pregnant because with me having Graves’ (disease) and being high-risk, it could result in a miscarriage or a stillbirth,” Proctor said.
Proctor spent months worrying about the risks to her baby due to the autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease. Eventually, her doctor referred her to a free doula program.
“I was 30 years old, so I was like, I would like to live,” Proctor said. “So I told her, if possible, I would like to of course work with a Black doula.”
Proctor was connected with a program created through a partnership between the South Side Healthy Community Organization and the Chicago Birthworks Collective. The initiative provides free doula services to mothers on Chicago’s South Side who are uninsured or use Medicaid — helping remove financial barriers that often prevent access to
this kind of care.
“Having them be able to access the doula services free of charge, I think that’s real great because that could be a barrier for some of the mothers who want doula services but they can’t afford the services,” said Keisha Taylor, a community health worker with the South Side Healthy Community Organization.
The program offers prenatal and postpartum visits, birth preparation and labor support services. Advocates said expanding programs like this could help address disparities in maternal health outcomes and improve access to care.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Black women in Illinois are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions than White women. Many of those deaths happen weeks after delivery.
What else is being done?
A new birth center that aims to provide culturally centered, Black midwife-led care for families on the South Side held a ground breaking ceremony Tuesday.
Chicago South Side Birth Center, located at 8301 S. South Shore Drive, plans to offer prenatal care, birth services, postpartum care, lactation support, holistic reproductive health care, childbirth education and community wellness programming.
The nonprofit birth center is expected to open in early 2027.
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Sponsor Message
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Make your plans to celebrate in April with the Poetry Foundation, offering a full roster of FREE public programs, including:
- a poetry reading with Chicago’s own National Book Award winner Patricia Smith;
- a live performance by chamber music collective D+Composed;
- a library packed with more than 40,000 books of poetry for readers of all ages.
Visiting Hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 11 AM–5 PM; Thursday 11 AM–6 PM
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Background: Chicago City Hall is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) Inset: Emmanuel Andre. (Provided)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson named a new deputy mayor for community safety Wednesday, moving swiftly to replace Garien Gatewood, whose public firing less than three weeks ago ignited a firestorm of controversy.
Johnson’s new top public safety adviser will be Emmanuel Andre, the deputy of policy for the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, the mayor’s spokesperson announced.
The first day for Andre, 47, a father of four who lives in Rogers Park, will be April 20. His appointment does not require the approval of the Chicago City Council.
Andre said he would double down on efforts to reduce crime and violence in Chicago using a “restorative-based lens” that addresses the root causes of harm by investing in communities and people.
That means “not just asking what crime was committed and who needs to be punished,” Andre told WTTW News. “But more so, what do we need to heal? What do we need to help build back this fabric, this community fabric? And I think that’s the critical question of our time.”
Andre said he would work to implement Johnson’s public safety agenda, which the mayor has dubbed the “People’s Plan for Community Safety.” That plan emphasizes the need for robust violence prevention programs, not just an effective law enforcement response.
Some backstory:
Before joining Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell’s office in 2021, Andre helped found Cook County’s Restorative Justice Community Courts and Circles and Ciphers, “a hip-hop infused restorative justice organization led by and for young people impacted by violence.”
In January, Johnson appointed Andre to serve on the committee charged with finding a replacement for Inspector General Deborah Witzburg, who is set to leave office later this month. Andre will step down from that role, officials said.
The political conflagration that greeted Johnson’s termination of Gatewood did not make Andre think twice about leaving the public defender’s office to take a job in Johnson’s cabinet, Andre said. Gatewood earned more than $184,000 in 2025, records show.
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Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, left, is seen along with a crowd around a vehicle on Sept. 26, 2025, outside the Broadview ICE facility. (Credit: Kat Abughazaleh)
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A federal judge has tossed out the remainder of a motion brought by the remaining “Broadview Six” conspiracy defendants that sought possible evidence showing the Trump administration had improperly influenced the politically-charged case.
U.S. District Judge April Perry on Tuesday found much of the defense motion to be moot after federal prosecutors said they found no evidence of outside communications coming from the White House or Trump officials pushing for them to file charges specifically against the defendants in this case.
Perry also rejected accusations by the remaining four defendants — Kat Abughazaleh, Michael Rabbitt, Andre Martin and Brian Straw — of a selective prosecution based on their status as political candidates or public officials.
“Being a politician is not a protected class,” Perry said, noting that prosecuting public officials is the “bread and butter” of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. “I don’t see anything in the communications that indicates one particular political class was targeted here.”
The case stems from a confrontation on Sept. 26 between protesters and federal agents outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in west suburban Broadview.
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More From WTTW News:
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Anjanette Young, a social worker who was handcuffed while naked during a botched 2019 Chicago Police Department raid, renewed her push Monday for a new state law that would ban officers from serving no-knock warrants or from pointing guns at children during raids.
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Back in the Day: April 8, 1981 - White Sox Announce ‘Dress Your Own Team’ Fan Uniform Contest
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In 1981, the Chicago White Sox were in flux. The team had just been sold from longtime owner Bill Veeck to Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, and the two new stewards wanted to make a lot of changes. Fans weren’t happy with the uniforms, which included a short stint wearing shorts. “Those sloppy shirts [worn untucked], with their old-fashioned collars blowing in the breeze, and the clam-digger pants that just hang there were universally jeered,” Cheryl Lavin wrote in the Tribune in April
1981. So, on this day 45 years ago, the South Siders announced a “Dress Your Own Team” uniform design competition. On April 8, 1981, they paraded players wearing jerseys from all the team’s eras and solicited designs from fans to find a new one. The main prize eventually went to Richard Launius, a then-25-year-old Braves fan who lived in Ohio, who was a graphic designer for a Dayton company that produced the Yellow Pages phone directories. Launius was one of 1,600 entries and inspired the team’s jersey rebrand in 1982, which they wore until 1986 and reintroduced as an alternate home jersey in 2013.
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Chicago-Area Live Music Recommendations for April 8-14
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Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.
Thursday, April 9:
Lala Lala, Mother Soki, sunshy at Thalia Hall. Tickets.
While this inventive indie rock songwriter is based in Los Angeles, she’s a Chicago artist who started and developed her career here.
Friday, April 10:
Califone, Kinsella & Pulse at Fitzgerald’s. Tickets.
Head to Berwyn for a night of immersive experimental music.
Robyn Hitchcock at Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture. Tickets.
A veteran songwriter makes a stop at a historic Lakeview theater.
The Hoyle Brothers at Empty Bottle. Free.
Want a matinee show? This honky tonk residency is always on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. and always free.
Saturday, April 11:
Lily Seabird, Minor Moon at Hideout. Tickets.
The excellent Burlington, Vermont-based headliner is gearing up to release some new music that swaps her intimate folk for rock ’n’ roll shredding.
Snail Mail, Avalon Emerson & the Charm, Sharp Pins at Riviera. Tickets.
A front-to-back excellent bill of indie darlings.
Em Spel, Edith Judith at Constellation. Tickets.
The folk project of Emma Hospelhorn is celebrating a new album.
The Courts, And I You, This House Is Creaking, Sick Day at Schubas. Tickets.
Locals This House Is Creaking are a genuinely thrilling rock band.
Loudon Wainwright and Chris Smither at Old Town School of Folk Music. Tickets.
Two icons of folk music and songwriting team up at a venue suited for that kind of thing.
Sunday, April 12:
Hatchie, Pictoria Vark at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
Atmospheric and introspective indie rock in Ukrainian Village.
Monday, April 13:
The Antlers, Tōth at Metro. Tickets.
The band behind the saddest album of 2009 is still putting out well-reviewed LPs decades into their career.
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What's your favorite book about Chicago?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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