After taking the 111th street exit off the southbound side of the Bishop Ford expressway, I notice the large Area 2 Chicago Police Department building - which takes up multiple blocks - on my left.

On my right, there’s an industrial-sized vacant lot with a sign in front. The sign features an architect’s rendering of a new Whole Foods grocery store distribution facility.

I turn onto Cottage Grove and drive past murals and street placards which commemorate the rich and proud history of the Pullman company for which this neighborhood is named. I pass by a mural of Harriet Tubman painted on the wall of a boarded-up corner store, which sat at the foot of the viaduct that carries the Metra South Shore train lines overhead.

As I turn onto to Corliss Ave. and approach my destination, it feels like I am entering the parking lot of a football stadium or an amusement park. Traffic cones form lanes that guide cars into sections of this massive parking lot, where all the vehicles seemed to be parked facing this impressive structure.

Inside, there were tables with Black History Month displays in the lobby. Three-digit seating section numbers were painted above the stadium-like entrances to the auditorium. A choir was on stage singing as I made my way to a seat a few rows into the lower mezzanine level.

This massive space is the size of a small college sports arena, but the people around me look comfortable. Many of them stood in their seats and joined the choir in song before the event began.

The journey continues in the Pullman neighborhood on the south side, at the corner of 114th St. and Corliss.

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

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