GUNNING FOR GUNS
The big guns are coming! And Chance the Rapper will be wearing his holster.
Sneed is told A- List celebs and anti- gun violence activists are heading to St. Sabina South Side parish mid- month to kick off a major push for gun legislation. The lineup:
Chance the Rapper, who will push the importance of registering to vote.
Singer/ actress Jennifer Hudson, whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered in the Englewood neighborhood in 2008. Stoneman Douglas High School senior
Emma Gonzalez and 11 of her Parkland, Florida, classmates ( accompanied by their parents), who became national sensations fighting for school safety and gun legislation.
“This year the young have proven they can be leaders and have a national voice; they will run the rally . . . no law enforcement speakers this time,” said the Rev. Michael
Pfleger, pastor of the African- American congregation that has garnered national attention for its fight against gun violence.
“This is a time for the youth who have courageously risen up strong fighting gun violence and demanding safety for the young — whether in a Florida school like Parkland or the streets of Chicago,” said Pfleger.
“The rally, which is usually held at the end of the school year, normally draws about 1,400 people — but 4,000- plus are now expected,” he added.
Chance the Rapper also will emphasize the importance of voting in the mayoral and gubernatorial elections, and leveling the playing field for community resources on the West and South sides compared with the neighborhoods on the North Side.
What a kickoff!
An ERA memo . . .
Wow! Sneed was surprised not to see a mention of legendary conservative maven Phyllis
Schlafly when Illinois permitted ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment last week.
In all due respect, Schlafly must have been turning over in her grave. Who was Schlafly? Dubbed the first lady of the conservative movement, Schlafly was credited by some historians as the reason the ERA failed to pass in Illinois!
The ERA lost steam in the late 1970s because of the work of Schlafly’s “volunteer brigades,” who were known to cajole legislators with apple pies.
As the nation’s most famous antifeminist during the rebirth of the Women’s Liberation Movement decades — she was also the president of the Illinois Federation of Republican Women from 1956 to 1964.
She wore her hair up, she did not burn her bra, and you just knew she wore a girdle.
For a journalist in the late ’ 60s and ’ 70s, Schlafly’s name was in your Rolodex.
When Schlafly died in 2016, at the age of 92, her New York Times obit described her as being one of the most polarizing figures in American public life, a self- described housewife with “a moral ferocity reminiscent of the ax- wielding prohibitionist Carry Nation.”
She was a remarkable woman who, thank goodness, did not get the last word in the ongoing fight for a woman’s equal rights.
Backslap . . .
. . . Back pat: Cook County’s Stroger Hospital may be catching a lot of flak for its practices regarding receivables — aka collecting money owed to the hospital — but Sneed is told at least two of Stroger’s patients are pleased.
◆ Translation: Chicago Transit Authority Chief Engineer Jim Harper recently sent a letter to Stroger praising the medical staff for its excellent care of two CTA employees severely burned when a transformer blew up May 1.
The letter stated: “I also wanted to recognize the leadership provided by the attending physician and the chaplain, along with all the other emergency room staff that did so much to save the lives of our workers, and to provide comfort to their families. In closing, I want to personally thank the board, and the hospital leadership, for all that you do for our community.”
Sneedlings . . .
Yo, Yo, Yah! Watch for cellist Yo- Yo Ma to return to St. Sabina Church June 10 for the parish’s peace concert. ... Saturday’s birthdays: Justin Long, 40; Wayne Brady, 46; and Eddie Lacy, 28. ... Sunday’s birthdays: Anderson Cooper, 51; Al Horford, 32; and a belated birthday wish to Kirk Dillard, ageless and priceless.