Bronzeville Jerk Shack, the latest addition to Urban Juncture's revitalization of 51 st street, welcomed a crowd to its South Side location a few weeks ago for a Grand Opening Celebration. CCLF staff members including President Calvin L. Holmes joined Urban Juncture volunteers, Lisa Cooper from State Farm and Alderman Pat Dowell of Chicago's 3 rd Ward in welcoming the new restaurant.

It will probably be a few years before we really know if Kanye West is a misunderstood genius or certifiably crazy. What I do know-or at least have on good authority-is that despite evidence against it, West is a nice guy.

The first annual Chicago Black Restaurant Week concluded Saturday. Seventeen restaurants from the city and suburbs participated in the event launched by social media specialist Lauran Smith. Smith chose the second week in February to correspond with Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month founded by Carter G.

(CBS) - The state is launching a new initiative this spring,at little taxpayer cost, to create more opportunities for minority entrepreneurs starting in three cities, reports WBBM's Mike Krauser. Governor Bruce Rauner says things are pretty bleak for minority entrepreneurs so he is creating something called ADME, or Advancing the Development of Minority Entrepreneurship.

BRONZEVILLE - The new Bronzeville Jerk Shack restaurant has had success this holiday season with a special of sweet-potato bread pudding, but it's offering a different special for Martin Luther King Day: a big, healthy helping of economic empowerment.

I'm not patient at all," says Bernard Loyd, the man who has dedicated the last twelve years of his life to the commercial and culinary redevelopment of a three-block stretch of 51st Street.

Though the century-plus Forum in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood has sat practically vacant for decades it appears to be on the verge of a reincarnation. According to a stunning new photo feature on Chicago Patterns, The Forum, located just east of the 43rd Street CTA Green Line stop at 318-328 E.

On 69th and Emerald, several empty storefronts are squished together. Vacant lots are on the periphery. Englewood resident and activist Orrin Williams calls this "the aesthetics of oppression." "Who has the highest rates of asthma, lead poisoning, violence? You can do that map and it coincides with the vacant houses, the vacant lots," Williams said.

In Bronzeville, an organizer and a developer plot a course for 51st Street

Entrepreneurs cautious as they pursue deals in deflated Chicago Executive recruiter Mell Monroe has spent close to $300,000 rehabbing his historic home, with an eye toward converting it into a bed-and-breakfast. Built in the 1890s for furniture manufacturer Solomon Karpen, the three-story Romanesque Queen Anne, with its ornate woodwork, intricately carved fireplaces and eclectic mix of artwork, is a warm refuge on a cold winter day.

Community activist says a taste for ethnic cuisine will give 51st Street a boost In developer Bernard Loyd's dreams, a desolate 51st Street in Bronzeville will be transformed by an ethnic food district that acts as a magnet for other businesses and people tired of eating unhealthy food on the run.

A former McKinsey & Co. partner who worked with food industry clients hopes to land a $3-million city subsidy for his plan to provide better restaurants and produce in the Bronzeville neighborhood.