Abu Ghraib has nothing over Chicago. Forty years ago, Jon Burge returned from Vietnam, joined the Chicago Police Department and allegedly began torturing people. He rose in the ranks to become a commander in Chicago's South Side, called Area 2. Electric shocks to the genitals, mock executions, suffocation with bags over the head, beatings and painful stress positions are among the torture techniques that Burge and police officers under his command are accused of using to extract confessions in Chicago, mostly from African-American men. More than 110 men are known to have been victims of Burge and his associates. Victims often went to prison, some to death row. Facing mounting evidence and increasing community outcry, Burge was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993.
Chicago
Afghans and U.S. war veterans unite to protest NATO: 'End this inhumane war now'
Gen. John Allen, commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals. Allen said the NATO summit in Chicago, which left him feeling "heartened," "was a powerful signal of international support for the Afghan-led process of reconciliation."
Unlike Allen, many decorated U.S. military veterans left the streets of Chicago after the NATO summit without their medals. They marched on the paramilitarized convention center where the generals and heads of state had gathered and threw their medals at the high fence surrounding the summit. They were joined by women from Afghans for Peace, and an American mother whose son killed himself after his second deployment to Iraq.
Eyewitness to the Chicago NATO protests
Days after getting my master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, I arrived in Chicago yesterday morning for a family vacation and promptly felt like the dumbest journalist alive.
I've been following the Occupy Wall Street movement since it started last September, and covered it for the Georgia Straight and Herizons. As a social justice activist from Vancouver, witnessing the birth of Occupy while living in New York this year was an exhilarating (and because of police brutality, a sometimes horrifying) experience.
Chicago 2016? Why Obama's wrong to boost Olympic bid
Recently Barack Obama criticized planned protests at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh because, as he knew from his Chicago days, "focusing on concrete, local, immediate issues that have an impact on people's lives is what really makes a difference and ... having protests about abstractions [such] as global capitalism or something, generally, is not really going to make much of a difference."
Private Luncheon with Judy Chicago at the AGO's Frank Restaurant
Location
Enjoy an intimate luncheon with artist Judy Chicago at the new Frank Restaurant. Guests will be joined by AGO Chief Curator Dennis Reid, who will speak to the group about the Gallery's new installations.
To register for this event contact Fallon Butler at 416-599-5321 x2230.
When Women Rule the World exhibition opening
Location
Join us for the opening reception of When Women Rule the World: Judy Chicago in Thread and She Will Always Be Younger Than Us. Guest curated by Allyson Mitchell.
A Special Evening and Preview with Judy Chicago
Location
Be the first to see When Women Rule the World: Judy Chicago in Thread with special insights from Chicago and guest curator Allyson Mitchell. This exclusive preview will be followed by an elegant dinner and special remarks.
To register for this event please contact Fallon Butler at (416) 599-5321 x2230.