Marian R. Byrnes Park, one of the newest parks opened by the Chicago Park district is an open space and greyfield transformed into a park with trails. This open space has been in the neighborhood for decades. The entrance being a little league baseball diamond and an open wildlife area my neighborhood friends would often explore in the late 70’s and early 80’s. As the South Deering community went further into depression due to the steel industry leaving the area, the diamond was abandoned, neighbors and businesses moved away and we were left with open space that was not cared for and was an illegal dump site, very much like Big Marsh by the mid 80’s. It wasn’t until spring of 2007 when my interest in the prairie would be sparked by the screening of Chicago: City of the Big Shoulders. Dir. Harry Wiland. Prod. Beverly Baroff. Media Policy Center, 2006. Alexander Street Database. Web. at Cornell University’s City and Regional Planning graduate student social. This video featured my neighbors including Mrs. Byrnes and their activation of the open space then called Van Vlissingen Prairie. She engaged the community with trails she and her neighbors made as well as guided tours of the prairie for elementary school students. Upon returning to Chicago during the 2008 recession I volunteered at the Southeast Environmental Task Force of the South Deering community inspired by Mrs. Byrnes with hopes of working in the field landscape architecture and restoring, repairing sites like Van Vlissingen Prairie.
What inspired me to listen, record and compose sounds of my community is the unique soundscape, ecology, of a Black and Brown community that is often ignored by the city when it comes to funding and resources. The prairie is located between a residential neighborhood and a large rail yard. There has been a lack of investment and dis-investement we have struggled with over decades.This community has suffered tremendous loss of local economy and ecology over many years. Recording during a pandemic gave me a chance to reflect on the sound of crisis in an area lacking economic investment. These recordings offer us a way to listen to communities of color by listening for the ecological, economic and residential life that make up the community. Bird (red-wing black birds) and tree frog choruses, trains at the Norfolk Southern Calumet Rail yard arriving, departing, connecting, loading and unloading, traffic from 103rd St and neighbors bordering the east side of the park comprise the soundscape. I am also recording in a public space that focuses on the health and resiliency of the ecology and local residents, (with affordable handheld devices) as a member of the community and as a Black man economically affected by this pandemic. The recording process is also part of a practice of self care that includes walking and listening meditation. While this practice is useful in times of crisis (personal or social) it is equally effective during times of stability.
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