Falling Through The Cracks

 

Big Marsh Park Chicago

Photo Marc Sims

Who is falling through the cracks?  Who is not participating in a program that will positively improve their life?

I assume there are a lot of programs for children, teens and young adults to help them become successful in life. I also guess there are children, teens, and young adults who are not receiving the support they need.

With the city of Chicago's 16 billion budget and the Chicago Public School's 10 billion budget there should be enough money to ensure every child, teen, and young adult will be helped overcome any social or emotional or academic challenge they confront.

Marc Sims 

Chicago

Chicago

Nobel Prize winner James Heckman

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

https://youtu.be/56GkjzZkh-w?si=CPhcy5OclTbfGPPU&t=1503

Trump/MAGA Empire Strikes Back?

 

"The president loves Stephen," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the ABC. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)

Will what is left of the Trump/MAGA Empire Strike Back?  

Probably so, I don't know how and when. 

The USA and the world may have two more years of President

Donald Trump.

Marc Sims

Chicago

What to Expect From Lame-Duck Trump

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QB7vUUa3pMc

Trump Aide Stephen Miller's Combative Style Goes Back To High School

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/11/542867067/trump-aide-stephen-millers-combative-style-goes-back-to-high-school

 

Who is Stephen Miller? Donald Trump's powerful right hand and immigration policy architect

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-01/stephen-miller-donald-trumps-immigration-policy-architect/106272938

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The 21St Ward & Chicago's African Americans Neighborhoods

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

I never met Chicago Alderman Ronnie Mosley, however I think he has been a good elected official. He provides excellent information on Facebook and his monthly 21St Ward meetings can be viewed on Facebook. 

I'm not shocked nobody is running against Alderman Ronnie Mosley. It can take a whole lot of money to defeat an establishment elected official. Being a resident of the 21St Ward all of my life, I have seen the economic and population decline. I understand change is inevitable.

When I think about the 21St Ward and other African Americans neighborhoods of the far southside of Chicago I remember these remarks from former City of Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers; Why would they want to come back here?  Why would they want to come live here and bring their family here?  Why would they want to raise children here?

Marc Sims 

Chicago

Ald. Ronnie Mosley Running Unopposed

https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/10/27/ald-ronnie-mosley-running-unopposed-in-far-south-sides-21st-ward

Why would they want to come back here?  Why would they want to come live here and bring their family here?  Why would they want to raise children here?

Kurt Summers, former Treasurer, City of Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28QUnndoc5E&feature=youtu.be&t=1095&fbclid=IwAR0HpJs-nwSVDQIVGv4-K3xMWWnOGJOTpS9Dy3hH2GFraPN93JvIy1uEyTI

How often do Chicago neighborhoods change?

I would guess three generations.

Dominic Pacyga

WBEZ Curious City

https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/from-stockyards-to-speakeasies-a-chicago-historian-tackles-5-questions-about-the-citys-history/6dc5503c-c39f-452a-adb5-676139a58c52

Why Don’t Black Chicago Neighborhoods Gentrify?

https://www.wbez.org/stories/why-dont-black-chicago-neighborhoods-gentrify/ff0341a4-1ff2-4370-b4dd-e25dc84c5e5e

I Want To Be Respected!

 

Why do I want respect from people who don't give a damn about me?

Marc Sims

Chicago

Overcoming Fear of Judgement & Ridicule | Sadhguru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1fLidw2vrA

Googe AI Overview

You want respect from indifferent people because your mind often mistakes their approval for proof of your own worth. [1, 2]

When someone does not care about you, your ego sees their rejection as a puzzle to solve. Winning them over feels like a way to prove you are valuable. [1, 2]

Common Reasons Behind This Urge

Low Self-Esteem: If you doubt your own value, you rely on outside sources to tell you that you matter.
The "Fixer" Habit: Trying to win over cold people can feel familiar. It often repeats old patterns from past relationships where love or respect felt hard to earn.
Chasing Control: Getting approval from a difficult person feels like turning a threat into a safe situation.
Confusing Attention with Respect: You might think that making them notice you means you have won power or status. [1]

How to Shift Your Focus

Build Inner Value: Real confidence comes from how you treat yourself, not from chasing after people who offer nothing back. You can read more about building self-worth in guides like 7 Subtle Traits to Gain Genuine Respect From People.
Drop the Rope: Stop trying to impress or over-explain yourself to people who do not value your time.
Choose Availability Wisely: Protect your energy and pull back your attention from those who ignore you.

Don't Criticize Have a Conversation

 

Nikole Hannah-Jones seems very smart and very honest. Americans are basically not very honest when discussing public education. I rarely hear a discussion about the history, the purpose, and reality of public education in the United States. 

Nikole Hannah-Jones should not be criticized for not choosing a better school for her child, but exposing how hopeless public education is for most working class families.

Marc Sims

Chicago

PBS

Nikole Hannah-Jones responds to the controversy over her new essay

Nikole Hannah-Jones sent her daughter, to a local high-poverty, predominantly Black elementary school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3ny2ok8Vs

My daughter is in an all Black school, and culturally it is amazing, educationally, it is a bit of a sacrifice.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVIWFgCvcjQ&feature=youtu.be&t=2993

An Argument

Nikole Hannah-Jones

This American Life

https://www.thisamericanlife.org

Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own

Nikole Hannah-Jones

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html

Success

 A few thoughts on success

Success is a gift. "It is not the brightest who succeed . . . Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf”. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities - and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them." 

Malcolm Gladwell Outliers

"The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out. The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability." 

Seth Godin Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

You can't be successful all by yourself. Other people make you successful. That's why you have to focus on other people, not yourself. 

Al Ries & Jack Trout: HORSE SENSE 

I believe, as I suspect most people do, that the potential for change among human beings is virtually limitless. But I also believe----- and my work on this book has strengthened this belief---- that it takes a truly exceptional person to transcend his or her social environment and that we are shaped (and limited) by our backgrounds and by the thinking of our generation more than we know or are comfortable admitting, even to ourselves. 

Ellis Cose The End of Anger

Marc Sims

Chicago

Teach Money

 

I ain't mad at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. I want to teach CPS students how to get a six figure income and multi-million dollar pension.

Marc Sims

Chicago

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is currently set to receive a pension worth an estimated $3.8 million through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund and the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-public-pensions-to-be-worth-3-8m-5-5m-thanks-loopholes