Author: THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP

THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP is an American media company based in Chicago, IL. The company was founded by Global Influencer and Journalist Amir "King Seven" Shakur in 2000 the company produces Radio, TV, Magazines etc. Black America World News Associated, Soul America Broadcast Network, The Owl Radio, and more are affiliates. Our ideas of "Civic Responsibility," is defined as the "responsibility of a citizen" (Dictionary.com). We encourage actions and attitudes associated with social participation. Our Actions of civic responsibility can be displayed in advocacy for various causes, such as economic, civil, environmental or quality of life issues. We hope to "Help the World Sing in Perfect Harmony."

Thirty Years of Mellon Collie: Smashing Pumpkins Bring the Anniversary Home to the United Center

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Chicagoland Culture

CHICAGO URBAN DAILY

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Thirty years after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness changed alternative rock forever, the Smashing Pumpkins brought it home.

Billy Corgan and company played the United Center on October 14 as part of their “Rats in a Cage” tour, marking three decades since the 1995 double album dropped. And they didn’t do it halfway: the show ran two full sets — one devoted to Mellon Collie, one spanning the rest of the band’s career.

About 20,000 fans packed the building for a nearly three-hour night that opened with “1979” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” The hometown touch nobody saw coming: the band hauled the Roscoe Village “Rat Hole” — the famous sidewalk imprint — onto the stage as a Chicago-only prop.

The second set dug into the band’s latest record, Aghori Mhori Mei, and closed with an extended drum solo on “Superchrist.”

Love them or argue about them, the Pumpkins are Chicago music royalty, and a 30th anniversary played in their own backyard — in front of 20,000 of their own — is the kind of night this city doesn’t forget.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for more on the shows that move this city.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

Blocked Again: City Council Rejects Johnson’s CHA Nominees as the Power Fight Drags On

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in politics

CHICAGO URBAN DAILY

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— The fight for control of the Chicago Housing Authority is now the City Council’s favorite spectator sport — and Mayor Brandon Johnson keeps losing.

Aldermen this week rejected another pair of Johnson’s nominees to the CHA board, dealing the mayor a fresh blow in a power struggle that has now dragged on for more than a year. For months, the council has denied Johnson’s appointees almost unanimously, convinced he wants a board that will fire the agency’s current leader.

The current leader, Keith Pettigrew, owes his job to Matthew Brewer — the former interim CHA head who is now running for mayor against Johnson. When Johnson tried to install veteran Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett Sr. as the agency’s chief — moving his son Walter Jr. onto the council seat — the vote was delayed while the city waited on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to decide whether the elder Burnett needed a conflict-of-interest waiver. HUD said no. Brewer then appointed Pettigrew, and the war was on.

Johnson insists all he wants is to build housing, fast — especially more public housing. But his critics aren’t buying it. They say the mayor’s nominees are a Trojan horse for a board that would sweep Pettigrew out.

The stakes are enormous. The CHA is the second-largest public housing authority in America and the largest owner of rental housing in Chicago, with a roughly $1 billion operating budget serving more than 63,000 low-income families. Control of it is a prize Chicago mayors have traditionally held. Johnson may not get it back before the February election.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the council keeps saying no.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

First Goal, First Streak: Bedard Nets His First as Hawks Edge Jets 4-3 in Overtime

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Chicagoland Culture

CHICAGO URBAN DAILY

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— One game after his comeback, Connor Bedard is already back to winning hockey games for the Blackhawks.

The captain scored his first goal of the season and set up the overtime winner Thursday night as Chicago beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 at the United Center — the team’s second straight win and its first two-game streak of the year.

Bedard opened the scoring at 8:11 of the first period on the power play, taking a feed from Patrick Kane along the goal line and ripping a wrist shot from the slot. Then, at 1:37 of overtime, he fed Artyom Levshunov in the slot, and Levshunov buried it past Stuart Skinner. “Good pass by ‘Bedsy’ and a good goal by me,” Levshunov said. “That’s it. Simple, simple.”

The night also belonged to Kane. His two assists gave him 895 for his career, setting the Blackhawks’ franchise record for assists by a U.S.-born player, surpassing Phil Housley. Frank Nazar scored an unassisted beauty in his first game back from a two-game suspension for an October 8 hit on the Islanders’ Bo Horvat. Ryan Donato added a goal, and Spencer Knight stood tall with 31 saves — including a breakaway stop on Neal Pionk early in overtime.

Winnipeg didn’t go quietly. Pionk had a goal and two assists, Kyle Connor scored on the power play, and Alex Iafallo tied it 3-3 in the third off a Pionk shot.

But the Hawks held on in overtime, and the captain delivered. Two games back from shoulder surgery, Bedard already has a goal, two assists and a winning streak brewing.

“I think the win is a big deal,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We talked about it last year. We had a poor record once we got past regulation, and we need a better record than that.”

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the Hawks try to make it three straight.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

Red Alert: Suspicious Letters Hit Chicago Election Office and the Cook County Treasurer

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Breaking Chicago News

NEWS FLASH

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Three weeks before Election Day, Chicago just became part of a national scare.

The Illinois State Board of Elections’ Chicago office received what officials called a “suspicious envelope” Thursday evening, spokesman Matt Dietrich said. “We evacuated the office and notified law enforcement immediately,” Dietrich said. “The FBI now has the envelope and our office will be open as usual tomorrow.”

Hours earlier, a second scare unfolded downtown. A suspicious envelope with white powder was delivered to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office at 118 N. Clark St. Thursday morning. The substance turned out to be baking powder. A mailroom employee found and opened the envelope, then quickly sealed it inside a plastic bag and brought it upstairs. Firefighters and police responded to a level I hazardous materials alarm at 10:25 a.m. and had the situation resolved within 45 minutes. No injuries were reported.

“It’s frightening,” Pappas said. “The whole place went on red alert.” The FBI’s Chicago field office confirmed it responded to an incident “in the City Hall vicinity” Thursday.

Both envelopes are part of a sweeping federal probe. The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating a wave of letters — more than 100 by some estimates — sent to congressional offices, secretaries of state and election offices across the country. Some of the letters contained an unknown substance; the Associated Press reports that some carried threats and traces of fentanyl, prompting some election offices to stock the overdose reversal drug naloxone. Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated this week; postal inspectors intercepted a white-powder package bound for the Ohio secretary of state’s office.

Law enforcement is working to intercept more letters, but a notice from the Senate Sergeant at Arms warns “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”

The timing is hard to miss. Early voting in Illinois began September 24. A classified federal threat briefing for election officials — scheduled for the same week — was postponed Thursday after technical difficulties.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the FBI hunts whoever is behind the mail.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

The Comeback of R&B Supergroup Public Announcement | Amir Shakur Speaks

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Chicagoland Culture

R&B has a sound that never dies — and in a new episode of the Amir Shakur Speaks Broadcast Channel, Amir sits down with Andre “Dre” Boykins of the original Public Announcement for an exclusive interview on the comeback of one of R&B’s most legendary groups.

Public Announcement helped define an era of R&B — the harmonies, the stagecraft, the songs that became the soundtrack of a generation. Now, with the group mounting its comeback, a new generation is about to discover what the culture never forgot.

Andre Boykins carries the legacy of the original lineup, and this interview goes deep: the history, the hits, the grind, and what’s next. This is the kind of story Amir Shakur Speaks was built for — honoring the architects of the culture while they’re here to tell it themselves.

Watch the full interview now. Share it with every R&B head who remembers — and every young one who needs to learn.

https://www.youtube.com/live/GJKgSDFeqVg

Thwarted: 19-Year-Old Charged in White Supremacist Plot Against Aurora Hindu Temple

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Breaking Chicago News

NEWS FLASH

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Police in the northwest suburbs say they stopped a mass shooting before it happened.

Alexandros Paporakis, 19, a Taco Bell cashier from Palatine, was arrested Sunday afternoon as he left his home — the same day detectives believe he may have planned to carry out an attack, Palatine police said.

His own co-workers sounded the alarm. They told police they had received concerning digital communications from Paporakis, including an eight-page document titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto).” The document described Indian, Jewish and African American people as “subhumans” and outlined a plot to kill as many of them as possible, according to a court document obtained by the Associated Press. Co-workers said Paporakis openly identified as a white supremacist at work and told them he “couldn’t wait to kill Indian people.”

Investigators believe he planned to target the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, about 40 miles southwest of Palatine, though the exact intended location remains under investigation. Detectives who searched his home recovered a rifle, multiple loaded rifle magazines, hundreds of rounds of additional rifle ammunition, and a tactical vest containing body armor with a patch displaying imagery associated with white supremacist extremism.

Paporakis faces felony charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawful weapon possession. At a detention hearing Wednesday, a judge ordered him held; his next court appearance is October 30. The FBI is assisting the investigation.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the case moves through court.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

One Vote Short: Council Fails to Override Johnson’s Veto on Debt Rules

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in politics

CHICAGO URBAN DAILY

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— One vote. That’s all that stood between Mayor Brandon Johnson and a new check on his borrowing power.

The City Council voted 33-17 Wednesday to override Johnson’s veto of a measure requiring 30 aldermanic votes — three-fifths of the council — to approve new city debt. It needed 34. The veto stands, and the mayor’s borrowing authority stays exactly as it was.

The ordinance, led by Ald. Marty Quinn of the 13th Ward, would have raised the bar from the current simple majority of 26. Quinn argued it would make the council more independent and force a mayor to build broader support for borrowing. Ald. Matt O’Shea of the 19th Ward pointed to more than $30 billion in outstanding city debt as reason for stronger oversight.

Johnson made this fight personal before he even picked up the veto pen, calling the measure a “three-fifths compromise” — invoking the constitutional provision that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person. The mayor and some allies said the proposal carried racial motives; Quinn defended it as a purely procedural change.

On the floor, Ald. Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward warned the measure shifted power from the mayor’s office, while Ald. David Moore of the 17th Ward said calls urging him to back the override amounted to a bid to keep control of city finances from the mayor.

This was Johnson’s fourth veto — issued over the weekend after the council first passed the measure 32-15. With the 2027 budget fight heating up and a mayoral election landing in February, City Hall’s power struggle is only getting louder.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as budget season unfolds.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

He’s Back: Bedard Returns as Blackhawks Beat Penguins 5-3

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Chicagoland Culture

CHICAGO URBAN DAILY

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— The captain is back, and the Blackhawks finally look like the Blackhawks again.

Connor Bedard made his season debut Tuesday night, helping Chicago to a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center — his first game since shoulder surgery July 8, an injury sustained in an offseason training session on July 2.

It took the 21-year-old center no time to make his mark. Bedard recorded a primary assist on Roman Kantserov’s power-play goal in the first period, logged 21:06 of ice time — fourth on the team, first among forwards — and showed instant chemistry skating on the top line with Patrick Kane and Kantserov. After months of rehab, he kept it simple: “Just to be back out there … it’s what I live for.”

Teuvo Teravainen starred with two goals and an assist, including the game-winner midway through the third after Sidney Crosby’s second of the night had tied it 3-3. Kantserov scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his career, and Tyler Bertuzzi sealed it with an empty-netter. Spencer Knight held the fort in goal.

The win is just the second of the season for Chicago, which went 1-5 without its captain and was outscored 26-12. Bedard, named the second-youngest captain in Original Six history on September 15 and fresh off a $75 million extension, was expected to be out until November. He beat that timetable by weeks.

Next up: the Winnipeg Jets visit the United Center tonight.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the Hawks try to turn one win into a streak.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.

The Rise of American Idol’s Shayla Winn: A Star Is Born | Amir Shakur Speaks

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in Chicagoland Culture

Every generation gets a voice that stops the room. In a new episode of the Amir Shakur Speaks Broadcast Channel, Amir turns the spotlight on Shayla Winn — the inspiring, legally blind singer who gained widespread recognition as a contestant on season 17 of American Idol.

ABOUT SHAYLA WINN

In 2019, she touched millions of viewers with her emotional audition performance of Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” earning a ticket to Hollywood and eventually making it to the Top 40 round in Hawaii. She personally moved Lionel Richie — and the whole team that year — to tears.

Her rise is proof that raw talent, faith, and relentless work still open doors no algorithm can. American Idol has launched careers for over two decades, but every season only a few contestants transcend the competition and become cultural moments. Shayla Winn is one of those few — her journey from audition nerves to the national stage reminds every young dreamer watching at home that their gift has an address, and the world is waiting on the delivery.

This is what the platform is for. Amir Shakur Speaks has always celebrated the risers — the artists, the voices, the ones who bet on themselves when nobody was clapping yet. Shayla’s story belongs in that lineage.

Watch the full episode now. Share it with every young person who needs to see that the dream is still alive — and still worth chasing.

https://www.youtube.com/live/BjL6LxUKyNg

$261 Million for Justice Denied: City Council Votes Today on the Guevara Settlement

Posted on by THE AMIR SHAKUR SPEAKS BROADCAST CHANNEL & MEDIA GROUP in politics

NEWS FLASH

CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Today, the City Council decides what 383 years of stolen life are worth.

Aldermen are expected to vote Wednesday on a $260.8 million settlement for 17 men whose murder convictions were thrown out in cases tied to former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara. If it passes, it would rank among the largest wrongful-conviction payouts in American history — possibly the largest police misconduct payout ever.

The deal, announced October 1 by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Acting Corporation Counsel Renee Hatcher, resolves 16 lawsuits at once. The plaintiffs say they were framed for murders in the 1980s and 1990s on misconduct by Guevara and other officers. Every one of their convictions was vacated and the charges dismissed. The money would be paid out over two years, beginning in 2027.

The vote is not without friction. Ald. Raymond Lopez of the 15th Ward, joined by 12 colleagues, has pressed the city’s top attorney to rethink how these settlements get paid — pointing to Francisco Nanez, who collected an $8 million payout after his conviction was overturned in 2022 and later landed back in custody. The Law Department says this settlement will be distributed over two years rather than in a single check. Lopez called that “a step in the right direction.”

The alternative to settling is stark: city attorneys estimate fighting on could burn another $300 to $400 million in legal fees alone.

Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for the vote and what comes next.

Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.