Something told me, that morning in May 2021, I shouldn't have gone out for a third trip on the bike. The boy's bicycle with a straight bar was intended to fit my partner, not me. With my gimpy right hip…

After a lifetime of writing, I'm now helping other writers edit their work. Email me if you want me to take a look at your memoir, essay, short story, novel-- even  your bio and how you present yourself. (No porn…

In March 2021, , Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced plans to redevelop the historic Laramie Citizens Bank building at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Laramie. It will offer housing, business and culture through the neighborhood program Invest South and…

Barrelhouse Bonni's continuing education continues!  For 2020-21 she's digging into books on anti-racism, humanity and nature.  Read some of her reviews via Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/87884768-bonni-mckeown

A  big THANK YOU to everyone who donated in 2020 to keep the boogie going . thanks to you I'm on track to have my novel  edited (see "Chicago Blues Plantation" below,  and be ready for musical opportunities.  Read my…

DELTA SONG

A Novel under construction by Bonni McKeown 

Chapter 1: Two Brothers 

Marcus Sr., Mississippi Delta, October 1948 

Saturdays in October, the cotton bosses paid off. Marcus Manning and his younger brother Luther, guitars strapped across their backs, headed…

Local neighborhood papers these days are rare, but since I've had the privilege of writing a blog and news articles for the Austin Weekly News. Mainly I write about  people, arts and culture of the West Side of Chicago…

Three years ago in 2017, I spearheaded, with West Side  travel agent Crystal Dyer, a series of community talks on West Side blues and culture.

This was after a Crain's Business article showed the city is losing millions for…

The New Normal

The fraying of nerves

as democracy crumbles--

“The new normal.” “Get used to it.”

Work til you’re 85, chained and indexed,

Minimal wages.

Get used to schools that teach nothing

but how to stand in line.

Get…

As we mourn the passing of Little Scotty, yet another Chicago bluesman and Maxwell Street icon, Roosevelt University professor Steve Balkin asks why the city of Chicago can't put more value on People's History:

http://blues99percent.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/our-city-hasnt-seen-the-value-in-peoples-history/