Culture & Wellness
Northwest Side Presente! is a 3-year initiative led by Palenque LSNA to revive our sacred connections to people and land. We make this happen through the creative expression of our collective healing from centuries of colonization. We dream of a post-colonial world where all people are honored, welcome, and seen. Colonizers engineered a brutal system of interconnected violence, including racism and el machismo, that to this day attempts to erase our identities and dehumanize us by separating our families through displacement, deportations, mass incarceration, police brutality, and economic violence. We believe racial healing is a matter of public policy and that our collective power will ultimately win. The Northwest side está presente!
Arts & culture
Using arts, culture, and design, Palenque LSNA is re-activating public spaces with our La Placita and Welcoming Corridor Projects! Our goal is to help our communities reconnect, create belonging with one another and to our physical spaces, and thrive. We will do this through the installation of public art —such as banners, planters, benches, and mosaics affixed to the exterior walls of local businesses and schools – which honors indigenous and non-eurocentric cultural histories and traditions. In addition, with the support of local BIPOC artisans, we will host arts and cultural fairs, workshops, and festivals in these spaces that are grounded in our belonging and state that the land we live on is for joy, health, healing, and sustainability.
We recognize that our physical environment is an important element of community building and has positive effects on public safety and sense of belonging. We envision art as a form of place-keeping; mirroring our culture, our people, our lived experiences. We will see ourselves reflected in these spaces in order to feel comfortable and actively engage with our families.
Sign up for our email updates and stay tuned for more information about events and projects coming to Logan Square and Hermosa this year!
Video by Christian Mejia
community-based planning
quality of life plan (QLP)
In 2018, Palenque LSNA published a five-year QLP with the support of LISC Chicago. As we sunset the 2018-2023 QLP this year, we have begun the community-based planning process to create our next three-year QLP!
We will conduct community research, surveys, and focus groups in the fall of 2023 and share the information with Palenque LSNA’s committees, who will use this along with review of the 2018-2023 QLP to craft our plan for the next three years. The committees in the winter and spring 2023 will work to identify strategies, projects, and campaigns in each broad issue area with the goal of presenting a new plan in May 2023.
Learn more about our QLP and planning process!
Palenque Fellowship
This year, we have created the Palenque Fellowship to uplift new civic leaders, build community connection, and provide deeper insights into our QLP community-based planning and internal committee work. We have chosen 23 Fellows, who are emerging community leaders across a range of ages, professions, and industries.
Through the Fellowship, Fellows will:
Strengthen Palenque LSNA’s committee work and deepen the connections between our MAC members and community stakeholders.
Gain organizing and leadership skills within the context of the Palenque values, including self-care, community care, restorative justice, and abolition.
Develop and implement strategies to help close the life expectancy gap in the City of Chicago through an equitable approach.
Explore and learn about their ancestral history through a decolonial lens.