Chicago's Next Voices (2025)

When was the last time you saw the world from a teenager’s perspective? They’re going to help you do that.

Kennedy Grooms lost her father Philip Grooms to heart failure in November and has leaned on family, counseling and the example her father set as she navigates life and loss

Between 1959 and 1963, an elementary school class in West Chatham went from majority white to majority Black, and Next Voices columnist A.J. Sanders witnessed history playing out.

Essyl Ghim was born in Evanston, part of a traditional Korean family. Family and economic difficulties forced her family to move many times, but she was drawn back to Chicago, where she’s carving a path for herself, leaving traumas behind.

As part of our goal in the last few years to better reflect Chicago’s diversity in our news pages, we published a series of columns written by community members and held listening sessions in neighborhoods throughout the city, among other efforts.

Norma Jean McAdams discovered her inner blues diva late in life. With encouragement from Buddy Guy, she started a band with her guitarist husband and began performing regularly around Chicago.

Sandra Jackson-Opoku’s family moved into the Trumbull Park Homes in the ‘50s, where they encountered hatred from white neighbors and where Frank London Brown chronicled the struggles of Black lives and desegregation.

Hasta el 31 de diciembre, se anima a los escritores de 13 a 18 años a enviar al Sun-Times un relato inédito sobre el tema “Mirando hacia adelante”. Los ganadores serán seleccionados por el personal del Sun-Times y los textos se publicarán en impreso y en línea.

As a female comic in a male-dominated field, Madeline Esterhammer-Fic felt excluded. Her solution: Put on her own show in Edgewater.

Through Dec. 31, writers 13 to 18 years old are encouraged to submit an unpublished story to the Sun-Times on the theme of “Looking Ahead.” Winners will be selected by Sun-Times staff, and submissions will be published in print and online.

Nestor Gomez dragged a patio chair to the beach and watched as it was moved from shade to sun to sand. Online, neighbors complained about and defended the chair. Then, it disappeared. But that wasn’t the end of this story.

They’ll be writing about Chicago communities and of the hopes, frustrations and fears that connect people.

City Hall could start by lowering speed limits and building corridors for cyclists and walkers, guest columnist John F. Wasik writes.

Few people realize what a wide range of career and technical education programs the Chicago Public Schools offers, says guest columnist Lashaunta Moore, who learned broadcast media skills at Percy L. Julian High School in Washington Heights.

In retirement, Samuel T. Cicchelli, our latest Chicago’s Next Voices columnist, took a part-time job as a crossing guard. He says the students and family members he’s encountered have given him an education in how to appreciate his fellow human beings.

Southwest Side native Valery Pineda writes of how she never thought the doors of the downtown skyscrapers would be open to her — and how she got there and found her career.

We want to hear from diverse voices from across the city to be part of our Chicago’s Next Voices and tell stories of their personal experiences.

Higher ed’s constant accommodation of students’ discomfort leaves them unprepared for what’s coming tomorrow, Chicago’s Next Voices columnist writes.

Being falsely accused of faking an impairment for a parking spot shows the need to raise awareness that disabilities can take many forms, Chicago’s Next Voices columnist writes.