Tag Archives: public housing

Photo by David Wilson, used under Creative Commons license.

Nearly 50 years ago, fresh off the farm, I walked my almost-17-year-old self into the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago. Cabrini-Green became my first urban experience, the first place I learned about neighborhood and community and belonging in a city. Other people called the projects “dangerous” or “the notorious Cabrini-Green projects.” For me, they became the place that I learned to dance, worked on political campaigns, sang in the church choir, tutored children, and kissed a boy for the first time. Continue reading →