Jerome Johnson

Due to the rainy weather this morning, the Forever Mine Music Festival, which was scheduled to begin at noon, is just now kicking off. Festival gates opened at 1:00 p.m. Today’s Y2K lineup is promising with rapper Chingy, and R&B singers Mya, Mario and Monica. The two-day fest ends tonight with a performance by Grammy-winning producer and DJ, Kaytranada. So far, no changes have been made to the lineup. Artists are still set to take the stage in their original order.

The Forever Mine Music Festival kicked off today in Chicago’s Union Park. Over two days, this new festival celebrates Chicago’s history of house music, as well as the millennium R&B sound of the early 2000s. The festival will consist of two stages, with the main stage hosted by Chicago’s own DJ Pharris. Today’s lineup features legendary solo acts such as Juvenile, Mario, Kelly Rowland, Keyshia Cole, Monica, and more.

When remembering her childhood in Englewood, photographer and social justice artist Tonika Lewis Johnson doesn’t first think about the disinvestment or harmful narratives often attached to the South Side neighborhood. She fondly remembers the block of West 62nd Street and South Loomis Boulevard as a close-knit and community-centered environment where she met her first friends.