Does it have a voice?
Does it shout or does it whisper?
Is it mourning or rejoice?
Quiet as a mouse?
Quiet as the skeletons
In the closet of my house?
Quiet as the lies?
Quiet as the history
We bury deep inside?
Does it make a heavy noise?
As it seeps into the cracks
Expands into the void?
Ringing in my ear?
Desperate for attention
Saying, listen! I’m over here!
Like an empty vase?
Like the stillness of the idols,
That decorate my place?
Maybe something more?
Greater than the meaningless words
That you exhort?
When darkness swallows the light
When I’m searching for answers
And there are none in sight?
When I don’t know what to say?
When it feels like eyes are all on me
But my thoughts are in the way?
We’d rather not disturb
Because it will challenge our complacency
And force us to mature?
When everyone has left?
And it’s just the beating of my heart
And the shaking of my breaths?
Of things passing by
Of songs we never sing because
We’re always too shy?
When time has run its course?
When the candles have all burnt out
And there’s no time for remorse?
The calm before the storm?
When we hold our breaths
As the clouds begin to form?
The calm before the storm?
When we hold our breaths
As the clouds begin to form?
Like the canvas before the paint?
The wretched, abandoned house
Before the dust is swept away?
The rests between the beats?
The pauses in the melody
In the spaces of the keys?
Where I can be myself?
Where I can pour out my heart
And take it off the shelf?
Like the eye of a storm?
When I lie in the grass
While the sun gives its warmth?
To the words that say?
Does it wrap its arms around me
And tell me it’s ok?
When I grasp it in my hands?
When i look at all its colors
And I begin to understand?
Is it quiet, is it loud?
Does it shout or does it whisper?
Is it humble, is it proud?
Can you hear its call?
The way it sounds like everything
And yet, nothing at all.
Rage in the heart,
A loud desperation deep in the quickly dying spirit.
You cross borders with dreams, only to be told to leave your soul behind.
Brown, blue, green eyes,
English or your native language
It holds no value in a world full of opportunities only designated for the privileged.
Making it a “safer” place only for the “right” race.
They take away your labor but not your light.
But to the families searching for home in a land that calls you foreign
You belong, despite this world full of woe.
Now so empty in a world that turned cold,
The people so enraged at the words already written in stone.
A soul unrooted, haunted by ICE.
All that surrounds me is oblivious.
One day someone will open their eyes and question the whole,
And realize we are human too —
Born to love, live, and grow,
Not to survive and be surrounded by fear.
And We will feel no fear.
Those are the echoes I hear in my once beautiful neighborhood.
What is Listening Across Neighborhoods?
Listening Across Neighborhoods is a unique opportunity to gain skills with audio technology and public speaking while exploring the city of Chicago and learning more about your neighborhood.
- Discover: Learn about Chicago’s unique neighborhoods through sound.
- Engage: Participate in soundwalks, workshops, and public presentations.
- Create: Contribute to the Neighborhood Sound Archive, preserving the acoustic heritage of your community.
Is There Compensation?
Earn $200 for completing the program and making your public presentation.
Why Listen?
- Make a Difference: Identify neighborhood investment and disinvestment through sound.
- Develop Skills: gain life skills in active listening, sound recording, storytelling, and public speaking.
- Build Community: Connect with peers and different neighborhoods and share your findings.
Who Can Join?
High school students and youth: from all Chicago Neighborhoods.
When Is It?
- 4 Workshops between August – September, 2025
- Sound Workshops: August 9, August 16, August 23, 2025
- Public Speaking Workshop: September 6 or 13, 2025
LAN Staff
Sam Anthem, teaching artist
Sam Anthem is an artist working across sound, performance, and media to better understand social patterns of thinking of and being in the world. Through creative approaches to archives and interactive technology, they believe art can reshape how we relate to our natural surroundings and communities.
Mira Simonton-Chao, teaching artist
Mira Simonton-Chao is an artist, educator, and organizer based between Chicago, IL and Ann Arbor, MI. Their work is largely informed by their research in institutional violence, epistemicide, weaponized data, and teaching and archives, which they synthesize via an interdisciplinary making practice.
Marco Guagnelli, teaching artist
Marco Guagnelli specializes in creating, teaching and researching performance, community-based theatre and contemporary art. With over 7 years of professional experience his work uniquely combines methods of scholarly research with creative practice.
Phillip Purkett, leadership and public speaking trainer
Phillip Purkett is a senior moderator and leadership coach with over two decades of expertise as a facilitator and instructor specializing in leadership and organizational development, as well as collaboration, effective communication, individual consultation and team training. He serves in leadership roles at the local, district, and regional levels in his church. He is a community activist and neighborhood coordinator.
Eric Leonardson, project manager, Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology
Eric Leonardson, a Chicago-based audio artist, is President of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology and Vice-President of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. He is an Adjunct Professor in Art and Technology/Sound Practices at SAIC. As a performer, composer, sound designer, and inventor, he performs internationally and promotes acoustic ecology, connecting communities through sound, listening, and the environment.
Christophe Preissing, project director, NON:op Arts and Humanities
Christophe Preissing is the founder and artistic director of NON:op Arts and Humanities. He is also a composer, sound artist, producer and artistic instigator, whose work tackles social, political, and cultural issues. Since 2020, he and NON:op have been focused on facilitating radical access, experimentation, and creativity across communities while working collectively towards a more just society.
