You can understand a lot about the history of Chicago over the past 50 years just by taking a ride down Lake Street from the gas stations and fast food restaurants in Maywood, through the tree canopied streets of River Forest, through the urbanized suburban bustle of Oak Park, and into the two-flats, corner stores, and 19th century mansions of the Austin neighborhood on the city’s west side.

To ride down Lake Street into the city is to see the clear boundary lines between struggle and success, poverty and profit, comfort and carnage. Even the viaducts and walls of the Green Line tracks that run alongside Lake Street reflect the stark shift in economic realities at the Austin Blvd. border.

As I enter the building, it has the feeling of a meeting hall. With the exception of the stained glass windows along the side walls, there are not any immediately visible decorations that indicate what the space is used for. There are around 150 people in this space, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels cozier and more intimate.

This Sunday happens to be Youth Sunday, and a 20-person team of young mime actors and praise dancers from elementary to middle school age filled the front stage and main center aisle.

There is a specific kind of joy and freedom that is expressed when children dance. In some ways, this kind of joy can only be expressed by children. As I watched their performance, and the enthusiastic support of the adults in this building, I wondered what it means in the lives of these young people to have started their week in this way.

I thought about the drastically different Sunday mornings that their neighborhood friends and their peers at school must be having. What does it mean for these young people to have such a space to dance, sing, perform, play, and express?

The journey continues in the Austin neighborhood on the west side, at the corner of Austin Boulevard and Lake Street.

Intro Theme Music: Victory Lap by QSTN ft. Mecca:83
Background Music: http://www.bensound.com/

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