2008 Woodie Awards
I used to love her: Sweet Home Chicago
Donald Woodard
Issue date: 10/9/05 Section: Opinions
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The Windy City, the Second City, the
City of Broad Shoulders, Chi-Town; all
names of affection given to the city that I
call home, Chicago.
Home to such national treasures as
Wrigley Field, Lake Michigan, gospel
and blues music, the Sears Tower, the Art
Institute of Chicago, and a shopping district
known the world over as "The Magnifi cent
Mile," just to name a few, Chicago is the
only place I have ever called home.
Sure I have lived other places throughout
my life including Yazoo, Miss. and our
very own Lewis University in Romeoville
Ill., but Chicago is the only place that has
owned my heart.
I'm such a Chicagoan that just the
mention of things like Navy Pier, a Maxwell
Street Polish, Stony Island, Cottage Grove,
"Da Bulls" (I said it right), or "Harold's
Chicken" sends me into a immediate
state of nirvana-like glee that can only
be compared to that of a 12-year-old boy
during the moment he fi rst realizes girls are
good. Really gooood.
Chicago, with its rich history of great
architecture, art, music, literature, theater,
and some of the most infamous people and
events in U.S. history, has been the hub of
midwestern society for countless years.
I love Chicago and not afraid to say it.
But the Chicago I have known my entire
life is beginning to change. It's losing its
identity. My home is changing and so is my
love for it. The same place that has been
eternalized in song, dance, theater, and
countless other media, is losing its essence
and just isn't the same anymore.
I'm afraid one day I'll look
Things just aren't the same
Despite a growing trend of globalization
and uniformity that has been seen throughout
not only this country but the entire world
during the last 50 years, Chicago was
one of the last major holdouts. Due to an
increased emphasis on tourism and the
fi ght by major cities to house Fortune 500
City of Broad Shoulders, Chi-Town; all
names of affection given to the city that I
call home, Chicago.
Home to such national treasures as
Wrigley Field, Lake Michigan, gospel
and blues music, the Sears Tower, the Art
Institute of Chicago, and a shopping district
known the world over as "The Magnifi cent
Mile," just to name a few, Chicago is the
only place I have ever called home.
Sure I have lived other places throughout
my life including Yazoo, Miss. and our
very own Lewis University in Romeoville
Ill., but Chicago is the only place that has
owned my heart.
I'm such a Chicagoan that just the
mention of things like Navy Pier, a Maxwell
Street Polish, Stony Island, Cottage Grove,
"Da Bulls" (I said it right), or "Harold's
Chicken" sends me into a immediate
state of nirvana-like glee that can only
be compared to that of a 12-year-old boy
during the moment he fi rst realizes girls are
good. Really gooood.
Chicago, with its rich history of great
architecture, art, music, literature, theater,
and some of the most infamous people and
events in U.S. history, has been the hub of
midwestern society for countless years.
I love Chicago and not afraid to say it.
But the Chicago I have known my entire
life is beginning to change. It's losing its
identity. My home is changing and so is my
love for it. The same place that has been
eternalized in song, dance, theater, and
countless other media, is losing its essence
and just isn't the same anymore.
I'm afraid one day I'll look
Things just aren't the same
Despite a growing trend of globalization
and uniformity that has been seen throughout
not only this country but the entire world
during the last 50 years, Chicago was
one of the last major holdouts. Due to an
increased emphasis on tourism and the
fi ght by major cities to house Fortune 500
