>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

How a Chicago author says napping resting and taking a break.

Can all the tools used to resist oppressive systems?

>> Daley's midnight Keeper became a textbook example your cloud.

>> how Meggs field became a public park.

I love the show even before I was on it.

Generations of kids grew up with actress Sonia Manzano on playing Maria on Sesame Street and more.

>> Because we are the separate capital world.

>> And we explore the culture of the popular Chicago dance style known as Stephen.

>> And We Kick Things Off right after this.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part why the Alexandra and John Nichols family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> Taking a stand against capitalism by taking a nap.

That's the message of the woman known as the Knapp Bishop, Chicago native Tricia Hersey founded the Nap Ministry in 2016 advocating that rest is about more than just refueling for the next day's work.

But for resistance, the activist artist and author of 2 books is back in her home town to spread the word this Juneteenth.

Joining us now is the net bishop herself.

Tricia Hersey honored to have you here because I know you protective of your time.

so excited to be here.

Thank you for having We're glad to have you so your first of 4 tenants of the Nap Ministry is that rest is a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy while Florida to lot got down for us, you know, I think when I first started the work people.

>> What I what does have to do?

A white supremacy with his maps and the on labor and our lack of rest and sleep deprivation happened.

Do with capitalism.

Saw hoping to connect the dots by looking at his firm historical examination of what capitalism where it was founded.

It was founded on plantations on the backs of enslaved Africans.

And so the same engine, a dry droll that they drove all the main, the body, the commodification of black bodies working 20 hours, the agricultural chattel, slavery is the same engine that is driving capitalism today that has people working so 3, 4 jobs profit over people.

They still can't pay rent.

And so all of these things about how we see ourselves, our our bodies, what our bodies hold him, what our bodies are here to do around the idea of labor really is about that first on Tenet.

People really are like, I don't understand why I'm so exhausted.

light.

You're moving at a pace that's on sustainable capitalism demands this time this out put that is really sustainable, exhausted and not always necessarily feeling like they're getting a head because isn't that sort of like, you know, in American Montrezl that, you know work hard and you can achieve it all.

Yes, that is the one of the many lies we've info.

So one of the many things that have been >> kind of socialize and to believe that we can work our way to freedom that we can work our way into the greatness of everything.

People who are poor work the most of everyone.

So if that really was the scale of it will be a different view.

I know people.

>> My father talk about in my first book who worked himself into an early grave.

I think about people to 3 jobs.

I just read article yesterday.

Most people, if you're working $80,000 a year, you still can't afford to act to live anywhere in the United States.

That was just an article out yesterday.

So this idea of pushing in going thinking that you're worth tied to how much that you can get done.

So is for examination is awareness and opening its the connecting of the dots of the people really understand what is really happening to us with sleep deprivation and with our idea of what we in this whole hustle and grind culture, though, it's not just unique to black America right?

Right.

White Americans can fall victim to this as well as a lonely.

>> You know, this work is global work.

It's really work.

That is human rights work.

It's looking at the idea of who we are.

What we are indeed seeing ourselves.

As for divine humans, no matter how many jobs we work, no matter how many things we accomplished a matter how much money we make.

>> Is pulling veil over our eyes so that we can really see ourselves for the true nature of who we are.

Everyone is suffering under violence and terror of capitalism in white supremacy.

Even why people themselves are suffering deeply from the spiritual deficit becomes white supremacy, ideology, capitalism pushing the profit over people do anything to make money.

It's all those things are really what is really driving the So in your first book, rest is resistance.

A manifesto you mentioned, you know, all the commonly used sayings that celebrate, you know, the hustle and grind culture.

Thinking of the early Bird gets the worm might get up early.

Go to work.

I'll sleep when I'm black households.

Get a lot of people.

You know, we're used to hearing you have work twice as hard to get justice far half as far I was told that, we all and sometimes by her teachers as well.

So how do how do we begin to sort step away from what we have been conditions do?

>> Without fear of missing out on opportunities are being deemed God forbid, lazy or, you know, together yet.

I think that's such an important question.

Not get this question so many times.

Everyone wants to know like love what you're saying but have to work in Israel.

That's really the point of it.

All.

I'm really asking us to really just began to see clearly what is happening.

I don't believe that we can stop working at any time.

I don't believe me as a black woman could ever not the land around leisurely all the time.

Like I have bills saying what everyone else as we all are living in the system, demands that we have output.

What I'm asking people is that they begin to see themselves.

It's not simply just on Earth to work that their labor does is not attached to who they are and how the work of who they are.

You know, this culturally to just ahead ourselves to not see worth of who we are just simply by being alive, that we have to be able connect the dots between I have these accomplishments.

I have this much in the bank.

I've done these mean things.

And now I'm OK now.

I'm beautiful.

Now.

enough.

And I'm really asking people to say that you are enough right now that you can begin to slow down so yourself as human that you can resist the lie, that you are a machine that you can work 20 hours, 24 hours that you need So that means the monetize, every single hobby in your life that you can't have leisure, that there isn't space for you to breathe in to be that you can't connect.

And so this is really healing work.

West begins up live.

What needs to be healed?

What are the things that we've been told that have calls us to not see ourselves as whole humans.

You you mentioned that rest isn't just napping, you're the net bishop.

you talk about your grandmother, especially and how that woman she got her arrested now.

But talk about other ways that people can rest enough.

In my book, talk about Re-imagining rest light.

This idea that we're in this culture to culture that demands so much from us, though, in a cautious technologically moving, we're going we're going to have to re imagine where resting is.

It can't just be going away.

Closing the door our children, leave us alone, put themselves under a blanket.

It never coming out not being in a community with each other.

We're really going to have to begin to re.

Imagine arresting is being something simply that slows you down enough that we can make your mind and body a slow wall, yoga, meditation, prayer.

And we're looking at something.

Yeah, the events that as well, need a dream is a big really deep on the idea of daydreaming in just so.

Just be I think about my mother, Jane, every morning, taking her 15 minutes to put her jergens lotion on, you know, like even not rushing out the house, not answering the phone call immediately their infinite ways to slow down 2 arrests to connect to detox from social media feel in be surely we are outside of just labor all side of just getting things done.

You also talk about the importance of rest so that you can dream because when you're busy all the time, there's no time for your brain to just roam freely.

No time.

What's the benefit of of dreaming?

Daydreaming is really, really want to get into the science.

The neural science of sleep tells when we sleep for more than 6 hours.

More than 8 hours, a brain allows us to imagine.

he'll there moments where we can re boost our memory.

People who are creative really need time to just sit in dream and imagine.

And these have been taken from us because we've been told it's lazy.

You're wasting time, stop daydreaming, but dream itself.

When we're in a full dream cycle does so much for organs for our mental health and what the mental health crisis that is happening there on our culture, slowing down injury me in resting in danger.

Really?

It's going to be the key to so many things that are all around our wellness.

Alright, Sweet Dreams.

Tricia Hersey, thank you.

Thank you for having Thank you.

Up next, the inside story on a memorable Chicago transformation.

Still with us.

Saturday marks the official beginning of summer and Chicago has a magnificent park that you may not know about.

>> It's on northerly island between the Old McCormick Place and Soldier Field used to be an airport.

So what happened?

Our Eunice Office on has the story in our latest edition of WT Tw News explains.

>> We all know O'Hare and Midway, but along the lakefront near Soldier Field in the other planetarium is a little strip of land that was once home to a small airport.

Com makes field.

That was until one march morning.

A little over 20 years ago when the city will to find Mayor Richard Daley had the airport bulldozed in the middle of the daisha's covert bulldozing operation was the conclusion to years long political battle to the airport into what it is now Northerly Island Park.

>> So how is this even possible?

First, let's back up.

>> By the Mid 20th Century makes field was the busiest single runway airport in the country.

It was primarily used by politicians and business elites to jet in and out of downtown.

But Mayor Richard Daley had other plans for the land, the many peninsula that next we'll on was owned by the Chicago Park District.

>> And for years, some Chicagoans daily included argues Lakefront Land should instead be used as a park open to all residents.

But a series of political deals and pushback from aviation and business advocates kept the airport open so daily hatched a plan.

>> By cover of night in March 2003, the mayor's demolition crew arrived at the airport in car giant X's into the runway rendering it unusable.

And all of this was done without telling the City Council the state or the Federal Aviation Administration.

The surprise move left several planes stranded daily defended this time as unnecessary post 9.11 security measure to prevent planes from flying near downtown Chicago.

But critics and condensate the mayor was merely dodging a prolonged and expensive legal battle with various groups fighting to keep their open.

No matter the purpose of the plot, Chicago had to pay the $33,000 fine and an additional 1 million dollars to repay grant funding.

Daley's midnight Caper became a textbook example of mayoral clout and makes field became Northerly Island Park.

>> Home to an outdoor concert venue Urban Nature.

Sanctuary.

>> And a great place to visit in the summer.

You can watch our whole series of explainers on our website.

Everything from how the city's grid system works to how Chicago's pension debt is so high.

Just go to W t tw dot com Slash explains.

Up next, Sesame Street's Maria stayed with us.

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away.

That's how Sonia Manzano spent her career for more than 4 decades.

The actress hung out with Big Bird Oscar, the Grouch and the whole game while playing Maria on the beloved program, Sesame Street, Montano was recently in Chicago where she spoke with Chicago Commons and supporters about the importance of early childhood education.

We sat down with her while she was in town and took a trip down memory lane >> how did you get to Sesame Street?

It was such a wild time.

It was the late 60's.

The America was a different place.

It was an idealistic, place that was the civil rights movement and and Joan Ganz, Cooney had this brilliant idea of using television too, to reach underserved children.

Remember on a talk show, she said the people who run the world can read, therefore, these children have to know how to read.

it was an exciting time and I simply got cast.

I think the most important things happen.

See when you're not paying that much attention.

I was in a Broadway show.

I didn't realize it was going to go on and for so many years.

What was the importance of your role on Sesame Street at the time?

Because there was not a lot of Latino representation on television.

I love the show even before I was on and I saw it.

>> At the student union of Carnegie Mellon University, I walked in and there was a very bold, very young James Earl Jones reciting the Alphabet.

I said, why is goes show that live breathing?

Because, you know, very deliberate.

as he the letters last rovers had.

I said, what the heck is this?

But I saw Susan Gordon.

This beautiful African-American couple.

I was stunned because at that time you did not see people of color on television.

If you did.

They were in the beautiful, says board and they certainly weren't any let Latinos.

And I was born and raised in the Bronx watching a lot of television and wondering how could I contribute to a society that didn't see me?

You know, I was imminent.

I didn't see people like me.

People say it be a teacher when you grow up.

I don't know.

I never saw order.

Rican teacher.

You know, you do.

If you can't see it, you can't be it.

And that moment of of seeing Susan important.

Gave me a little inspiration.

Did you know that the show would be as groundbreaking as it went on to be?

No, no one could have possibly known.

It was a perfect storm.

I always think of the Beatles, you know, the Beatles separately, a great musicians, but they're not they became as the loop.

And we had Jim Henson.

Puppets them up or tear Joe Ripp Pozo a brilliant composer who was able to write really music for for children Johnstone who was a visionary as far as television goes.

And this is a great crash of creativity and and civil involvement compared to your time on Sesame Street and that what that show provides.

How does your new show Alma's How does it address the learning needs of children today of the good people at PBS?

Kids asked me create a show.

>> Latin family show signs.

course, I made it.

>> Mild neighborhood in the South Bronx is where Alma and family lives.

And I took cues from Sesame Street's Sesame Street, looked around society and said kids leave this and that's what we provided.

So I looked around today, like I said, what it means.

They and ice overcrowded classrooms.

Kids who didn't speak English.

A lot of testing and a lot of kids who if they couldn't pass tests or could memorize information.

thought they were in smart.

So the idea of Alma's way is to make sure kids everybody has a brain.

Everybody can put 2, 2 together.

That's just a given so that these children who are might be underserved already stressful situations.

Don't think that just because they can't pass a test memorize information at the same moment that the next kid does.

That's where we're having.

We want everybody to learn everything.

At the same time that has nothing to do with your intellectual powers.

Have you noticed a shift children's educational programming and how kids are taught today?

People ask me this all the time.

Kids haven't changed, but what we expect of them has changed.

We expect them on the Internet because of COVID to get classes were held on television.

So we expect that of them.

We expect them to learn at the same moment as their peers, as I mention before, not their own pace.

They are still as curious as they award.

seems like in some ways you could have did become a teacher.

>> I guess I just observe what's going on around me.

And I'm very curious this place.

me a family center was waiting in the Durham.

A kid comes in and says blueberry muffins.

I mean, she was ready to identify the objects around us.

You must been around 3.

You've written number of children's books throughout your career.

What inspired you to write your memoir Becoming Maria?

>> Becoming Mary 11 chaos in the South Bronx.

What I guess you get to a certain where you want really >> a sense of your journey and the only way to make sense of it I thought was too taken outside of myself and and write it and write it down.

had to see family hadn't seen in many years in order to.

Come to understand how we all impacted each other's lives in your book, you also talk about feeling invisible even in your own house and the struggles that happened while you were growing up.

>> But the moment you learn to read, that's when it change.

How you saw yourself.

Yes, yes, I was raised in a household that was ruled by domestic That took precedent over everything was always.

That was the ruling.

The House we're reading and Jane Books at school and I was.

Always ahead and the teacher would not let me turn the page.

I didn't know why we read these books.

And one day I was on and the 3rd avenue el.

That's why love the trains here in Chicago.

And I was looking at the has amassed my sister.

What did they say?

And she want to try reading it.

My thought reading at the reading with something only did in school and to contain books.

Well, saw the ads and all of a sudden the words just fell into place.

And I sound of the words out and it was like the world open to me.

And I say this not any way you read signs and that was exciting moment And it showed me.

>> You don't have to take a kid the whole way just plant them in a certain direction.

Just say try reading it.

And, you know, I took to the rest of way rain.

>> What's next for Sonia Manzano?

I want to work on another book.

It certainly is disconcerting that there's a new re sure of history, a desire to do that in this country.

So I feel I want write more Puerto Rican stories so we are not forgotten.

Thank you for joining us.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

>> And you can find more details about Sonia Manzano and her projects on our website.

Up next, the history of Chicago Classic.

But first, a look at the weather.

Chicago is the step in capital of the world.

That's if you ask the godfather of step in himself.

Dj Sam Chapman, who is credited with coining the term and though the dance crazes popularity has spread across the country, no one can do it quite like the hometown originators.

We recently explored the local culture and history of step.

here's another look.

>> A site on the West that Bob and Lauer, MGM grand from there.

It just exploded.

>> Before stepping became step in, it was known as bopping.

But DJ.

Sam Chapman coined the phrase in the 1960's after admiring a friend's moves on the dance floor.

Braver would be dancing with the lady and he'd be.

>> And I would say step on.

Draper said Draper and the word stepping.

thing I knew I would put on a flyer.

Its popularity expanded and other fellow West Siders became inspired to host parties to resist the disco era.

We had nowhere to go.

>> So I had this idea that, hey, I'm going to keep music alive.

A woman fondly known as Black Mary Harris hosted 7 events for more than 60 years.

>> At 17 years old, she says she became a residential sweetheart for a social club and the environment inspired her to host her own party's.

We almost got shut down.

Because we have so many people up there before graduating to big venues and clubs across the South side, Harris and her crew used whatever location was available.

Anybody that had a basement that we could use.

>> We would pay them a certain amount of money and fill out those index Carr's pass some mild and had a DJ.

And we just danced all night.

It took me almost 4 years to get one party off the ground and look what that party has turned into.

We are all over the >> Paris says hosting a steppers event doesn't require much but a few essentials.

The music had to be off the chain and the venue had to be.

>> Bathrooms, good parking a good dance floor.

Back in the day where we've learned it was always.

If the man could do I can do it.

So you're not going out to me.

Because of you do it, baby.

I'm coming back step and requires a certain skill set.

They work on a practice.

These moves.

>> Over and over and they get them down it.

>> They perfected if he did something and that did We did it together.

>> It was the Blinn, the man.

That was the footwork.

It was mannerism of how you move your body.

And though other cities have adopted Stepan, Chicagoans can always claim the original set.

We are the cav a little world.

>> Nobody can do it like Chicago because first of all, Detroit.

>> But Chicago, we do it 7 days a week, every day and all of will be packed and in addition to their moves, steppers always have to bring their looks.

You go to a step you meant?

>> Everybody is sharp.

Outfits gets you had to be right.

You know, you because you know it watching your feet.

>> And what's more 7 provided people with a space to let loose and relieve their worries ballot.

Elena first time in my party.

>> Leave all that mess outside.

You come in here, free spirit have a good time to get up.

When you my part.

And even as new dances Emerge, Chapman remained confident that step will never leave the dance floor.

>> What it has the stepping and I said we haven't even scratched surface because I'm noticing.

And grandparents to teaching children babies to step.

>> got to teach them young to originated on the West side.

Stephen is just as popular on the city's south side.

And of course, throughout Chicago.

And that's our show for this Thursday night.

Be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter.

The Daily Chicago one and wt Tw dot com slash newsletter and join us tomorrow night at 5.37, for the week in review.

Now for all of us here at Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a Straps is made possible by Clifford and Clifford Law offices, a Chicago personal injury and wrongful death.

>> That supports educational