THE DREAM: A People’s Salon

ESSC Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis
When

Sep 25, 2024
6:00pm–9:00pm

Where

Haymarket House
800 W Buena Ave
Chicago, IL 60613

Cost

Free,

Register

The next experience in Illinois Humanities' latest public conversation series, A People’s Salon, centers on the American Dream and will accompany a chef-forward menu from the culinary studio TXA TXA Club

2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document built from a dream for a new nation that was to exemplify liberty and justice for all. 

Since then, we've been striving (and often failing) to live up to this promise, but no amount of inequity and inner turmoil can stop determined people from pursuing a better life for themselves and their communities. 

Join us as we consider, question, and reimagine the American Dream today.

THE DREAM Salon Series Social Tile

The Presenters and Performers

Faylita Hicks
Faylita Hicks IMG 1212

Faylita Hicks (she/they) is a queer interdisciplinary Afro-Latinx artist working at the crossroads of social justice and spirituality, where creative endeavors become a catalyst for significant change and profound connection within the community.

A prolific creative force, Hicks is the accomplished author of HoodWitch (Acre Books, 2019), a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry, the 2019 Julie Suk Award, and the 2019 Balcones Poetry Prize. The horizon holds the promise of their upcoming poetry collection, A Map of My Want (Haymarket Books, 2024), and a debut memoir, A Body of Wild Light (Haymarket Books, 2025), offering a profound exploration of their carceral experience. 

Willy Palomo
Willy Palomo

Willy Palomo (he/they/she) is a founding member of Plumas Colectiva, a powerhouse of Latinx visual artists, writers, and creatives based in the 801. 

A veteran of the Salt Lake City poetry slam scene, his fiction, essays, poetry, and translations can be found across print and web pages, including the Best New Poets 2018, Latino Rebels, The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and more. He has performed at or keynoted the SUU Pride Film Festival, the Indiana Latino Leadership Conference, el Festival Internacional de Poesia Amada Libertad, and more. 

Palomo has taught classes and courses on literature, rap, and creative writing in universities, juvenile detention centers, high schools, and community centers. Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Utah, he is the queer son of two refugees from El Salvador. 

In April 2023, he independently released his debut rap album Enter Da Boombow. His debut collection of poetry Wake the Others (Editorial Kalina/Glass Spider Publishing, 2023) was a winner of the 2023 Foreword Poetry Prize.

Bindu Poroori
Bindu Poroori Linked In photo

Organizer, artist, and consultant Bindu Poroori (they/she) is originally from sweet sweltering Chennai, but has called Chicago home for more than a decade. 

Poroori is an organizer with Chicago Desi Youth Rising, a poet, producer+curator of performance, director, community researcher, administrator, dramaturg, union worker, and consultant. Some of her recent work has been with Links Hall, Arts Alliance Illinois, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Chicago Dancemakers Forum, Remy Bumppo, Chicago Park District, Apna Ghar, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, City Bureau, and the 47th Ward Alderman's Office. 

Poroori's personal artistic and organizing practice is rooted in questions of trust, diaspora histories, and the abolition of prisons, police, and punishment both within and without. She makes a very very good green mango dal, so please ask her about it.

Iván Resendiz
Ivan Resendiz

Iván Resendiz is a classical guitarist and the organizer of the Latin American Guitar Festival in Chicago. 

Iván has participated in numerous national and international guitar competitions, ranking among the first places in more than thirteen competitions in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Austria, Spain, Germany, Italy, Serbia and more. He also collaborates actively with organizations committed to cultural diffusion such as Progressing Latinos, Erie Community Center, Pilsen Artist Community and more. 

Iván Resendiz currently lives in Chicago and identifies as part of the migrant artistic community, he works every day to motivate minority populations to defend their civil rights through art.

More About...

TXA TXA Club
Txa txa club logo orange

TXA TXA Club is a creative culinary studio based in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Their team of artists, chefs, writers, stylists, and food activists is dedicated to making and sharing food through their catering program and monthly supper club that redefines hospitality and the dining scene through community and artistic collaborations.

Haymarket House
Haymarket House type 01 1

Haymarket House, a community space in the heart of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood and home to Haymarket Books, hosts political, cultural, literary, and community events. They are committed to uplifting the work of writers, artists, thinkers, activists, and educators who are committed to all struggles for a better world.

Venue Parking and Directions

Parking

Haymarket House is located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. There is limited, free parking in the building’s parking lot accessible via Clarendon Avenue. There is also free street parking nearby.

Parking for a fee is available at nearby Walter Disney Magnet School on Clarendon Avenue and Belle Plaine Avenue about a block away.

Directions

The 146, 151, and 36 buses stop nearby. The CTA Red Line at Sheridan or Wilson is about 7 blocks away.

Get driving directions here.

Accessibility

Haymarket House is equipped with a ramp from the parking lot to the main floor, elevators, and accessible, all-gender restrooms. There are a few steps leading up to the front door of the building.

If you require accommodations to participate in this event fully, please contact Zerline Thompson at events@ilhumanities.org at least 48 hours before the event.

Vegan and vegetarian options will be available. Please list any food allergies when registering.

A People's Salon

 A People’s Salon is a series of four energizing evenings of chef-driven meals, creative performances, and lively discussions about the big ideas and cultural movements of our moment. Each salon is curated around important current issues and features artists, thinkers, and organizers who will present original works that spark connections between our lived experiences, expert opinions, and the futures we want to see.

Learn more

Register for This Event