We Are the Culture: Black Chicago's Influence on Everything (HC) (2024)

Journalist Arionne Nettles believes it is time Black Chicagoans receive the acclaim, the honor, and the acknowledgment of their contributions to American culture and recognition of where they truly came from.

During the Great Migration, more than a half-million Black Americans moved from the South to Chicago, and with them, they brought the blues, amplifying what would be one of the city's greatest musical artforms. In 1958, the iconic Johnson Publishing company, the voice of Black America, launched the Ebony Fashion Fair show, leading to the creation of the first makeup brand for Black skin. For three decades starting in the 1970s, households across the country were transported to a stage in Chicago as they moved their hips in front of TV screens airing Soul Train. And in the 1990s, Hall of Famer Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, including two three-peats, making the NBA a must-see attraction worldwide.

It all happened right here, in Chicago, and for the past century, Black Chicago's influence has permeated not just the city but really what we see today as modern-day pop culture throughout the country, and in some ways, the world.