It’s time to abandon the notion of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and instead embrace the goal of Jewish-Palestinian equality, Peter Beinart said during a Peoria Area World Affairs Council talk via Zoom conferencing. Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish…
News
Groundswell of interest: Learning to be anti-racist
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Groundswell of interest: Learning to be anti-racist
Last month, Community Word spoke with Jessica Stephenson, owner of the independent bookstore Lit on Fire on Main Street. This month, Mary Beth Nebel, owner of the independent bookstore I Know You Like a Book on Prospect Road in Peoria…
Economics 101: Racism damages Peoria’s economy
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Economics 101: Racism damages Peoria’s economy
Larry Ivory knows social and economic inequality can be measured and traced throughout American history. It’s an anchor that weighs down the American capitalist economy and is a valve threatening to explode under pressure. Ivory, president and CEO of the…
Live music slowly starts to rebound
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Live music slowly starts to rebound
Remembering music from the ’60s, one wonders when the pandemic will ease enough to move from “The Sounds of Silence” to “I Can Hear Music.” Live music is often a sidelight to fans or local musicians, but for others it’s…
Icons of justice pass the baton to all of us and tell us to pick it up and run
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Icons of justice pass the baton to all of us and tell us to pick it up and run
The deaths of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian left a legacy but also a responsibility for the rest of us to carry on the work of moving America toward its ideals and away from its blood-soaked history. Reprinted with permission…
Peoria public housing: Concentration camp/safety
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Peoria public housing: Concentration camp/safety
Indignation was heated over action the Peoria Housing Authority took at Taft Homes over the July Fourth weekend. PHA implemented measures again this year similar to those followed for almost a decade, but this year advance notification inadvertently did not…
Census count of Latino community could recalibrate Peoria
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Census count of Latino community could recalibrate Peoria
When Rigo Diaz came to Peoria from Mexico 45 years ago, he discovered a very small Hispanic community here. It was rare to see another Hispanic family in the stores. Today, leaders in the Hispanic community believe Latinos account for…
Post Office under siege
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Post Office under siege
Affordable, reliable, universal mail delivery could vanish as the United States Postal Service runs out of money this month, the American Postal Workers Union says. That’s tragic at a time when the nation is divided and the U.S. Postal Service…
How does the Post Office operate financially?
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on How does the Post Office operate financially?
Operating without tax dollars for decades, relying on the sale of products and service, USPS delivers almost half of the world’s mail, including millions of packages for UPS and FedEx. Bob Gunter, president of the American Postal Workers Union’s Heart…
Fermented food: A magic bullet?
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Fermented food: A magic bullet?
Joe Zich wants to feed your gut. Fermented foods are his passion. He has parlayed his personal passion into a small, part-time business called 309 Cultures that includes a line of kimchi and sauerkraut. Zich, 28, said when he started…