[VIDEO] Something posted this morning from Jahmal Cole at a local Jewel-Osco parking lot. Here's the description he wrote:
What's something simple you can do to improve your community? After I shop, I always take my cart back to the coral. This small habit helps me build muscle to take on bigger challenges. But when something is easy to do, it's just as easy not to do it.
It's just as easy not to greet your neighbor.
It's just as easy not to pick up trash.
It's just as easy not to shovel your neighbor’s snow.
Thank you Jewel-Osco for partnering to spread this message on Random Acts of Kindness Day.
[VIDEO] Major kudos to Jahmal Cole who spent some time during last weekend's snowfall doing snow removal on those blocks that could use it the most. Especially those blocks with a relatively large senior population. He definitely was using instagram to get the word out for volunteers and in no small feat got people to come out from all over the city.
I don't want to blow hot air but great things are happening for Mr. Cole. Thankfully the snow from last weekend is melting but wouldn't mind volunteering with him during the next winter snowstorm. Get a good shovel, some salt, and perhaps even a portable snowblower. There's nothing wrong with helping Chicagoans in need!
Also he got some significant media attention during last weekend's snowfall. I shared a story from NBC 5 though that wasn't the only news coverage he got!
[VIDEO] Unfotunately Mr. Jahmal Cole didn't go to the area where the 1933 Century of Progress Fair was held which was Northerly Island/Adler Planetarium/former Meigs Field. According to Cole anything built for the fair over 80 years ago is no longer standing. It's still recorded as the fourth star on Chicago's flag.
In this edition Cole pays a visit to the predominantly latino Little Village neighborhood. He purchases donuts from La Central Bakery and ask customers what the fourth star on the Chicago flag represents.
Another message from this video is basically how to break down the segregation in Chicago. Our city basically is divided into thirds between latinos, Blacks, and whites. And regardless if we cluster on the south, north or west sides of towns we all reside in this great city. The best ideas come when people of diverse backgrounds come together and share ideas.
Is this something we've failed to do in Chicago in recent years? Perhaps through this little project Cole could bridge the gap between different communities of Chicago. He says shop local and as he does in most of his videos he visits local eateries.
In the meanwhile it's time to buy myself a shirt. And you all should consider doing the same. His activities is far more than interacting with Chicago residents or even tourists. Cole has also helped innercity teens leave their neighborhoods and explore the many communities and cultures that exist in our fair city. Expand their horizons and that's certainly something we can support.
There was a ferris wheel at the exposition which took place in the Frederick Law Olmstead designed Jackson Park. The Museum of Science & Industry is the last remaining structure of that event held in 1893 which formerly housed not only the Palace of Fine Arts but also an early incarnation of the Field Musuem.
Finally Cole ends this episode at the south side's Chef Sara's Place located at 7201 S. Exchange Ave. And here's hoping the many eateries Cole visits in his many episodes of My Block My Hood My City gets much more business.
[VIDEO] I really like how the officials at the Chicago Fire Department Academy literally had to kick Jahmal Cole out of their training exercise. That is understandable at they are in training and surely there is an element of danger in their training.
Either way that segment is fitting as we explore another meaning for one of the stars on Chicago's flag - the Great Chicago Fire. We learn that there wasn't a fire started by a cow, but several fires near Lake Michigan which due to the buildings of the city at the time with wood and tar just spread all over the city.
Also ironically the alleged farm where the Great Chicago Fire started is exactly at the Chicago Fire Academy located at 558 W De Koven St.
[VIDEO] Jahmal Cole asks Chicagoans what the first star on the Chicago flag represents. That star represents Fort Dearborn located near the Chicago River at Wacker & Michigan. The fort was named for a former Secretary of War who served in the cabinet of President Thomas Jefferson, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Let's see how many people Cole meets that knew this information.
The city's flag you will see above in the header of The Sixth Ward and you will see another version below. The flag is part of this great city's identity.
