41.8949⁰ N, 87.7654⁰ W. To some, these numbers may not mean much, but to others, this is their home. This is the location that family and friends join together to exist as a community. Austin, Chicago’s largest neighborhood, has a rich history beyond the stories that are commonly heard. The history of Austin is as vast as the community itself. However, often that history is shadowed by a few stories that others may share about the community. Sasha Phyars-Burgess, a Black Metropolis Research Consortium fellow and full-time visiting artist in the Photography department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has spent the past several months trying to change the narrative surrounding the community of Austin through her photographs. On February 24th, 2020, Sasha shared these photographs and stories in a presentation that shed light on the many aspects of Austin, including the people who live there.
Among a diverse audience filled with individuals coming from different ethnic and class backgrounds, several black and white photos flickered on the screen. The images portrayed a black woman smiling, a black young man posing in his apartment, and the spaces that African-Americans occupy in Austin. In her Austin photography exhibit, Sasha imparts the vastness of black identity and tells the diverse stories of Austin residents. Many of the individuals featured in the exhibition are part of READI Chicago, a program at Heartland Alliance that strives to equip young men with jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy, and support services to decrease gun violence within the community. The audience sometimes laughed at the stories that were shared and shared a collective silence during more somber stories. At other times many were puzzled at what they see, particularly when viewing an empty lot of a former J&J Fish on Chicago Avenue.
Throughout the presentation, Sasha strived to provide context to each photo, while also encouraging the audience to think critically of what they were looking at and what that said about their beliefs, and engagement within the community. “The reason why I continue to be interested in Austin is because of the things that other people here have mentioned. It is a warm community, it is a loving community, and it is a community that deserves or needs its chance. There are so many people there that are living their lives fully and generously, and they need the support and resources that other people in Chicago get. Without those resources, they are not getting the same chance as everybody else. They are worthy of a chance, and it is their right to have a chance. It shouldn’t be denied,” says Sasha Phyars-Burgess.
While the presentation began by briefly discussing the history of Austin and the progression of it transforming from a primarily white community to a majority-black community, the discussion then expanded to discuss the impact of segregation in the community and if integration is a viable option in Austin. Among this discussion, there was a consensus that people do not see workable spaces based on neighborhood borders, even though there may be possibilities to create that community in Austin. One Austin resident stated, “I have never met such honest people that I have in Austin. If I need anything, my neighbors are there for me, and I think that is what makes the West Side very special.”
While the exhibit brought up more questions than answers for the audience, it also created a space for people to sample what integration may look like in the future. Learning to speak to others across race and class lines may be a challenge, but it may also be what we need to create a safe space for humanity in all Chicago neighborhoods.
More information on the READI program at Heartland Alliance can be found at https://www.heartlandalliance.org/readi/.
For more information on Sasha Phyars-Burgess, check out her website: https://www.sashaphyars-burgess.com/.
More information on the Balck Metropolis Research Consortium can be found at https://bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/.
Chante Gamby, Contributing Writer
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