Darcel Rockett

Darcel Rockett is a features/lifestyle reporter for the Chicago Tribune, focusing on narratives for and about populations/communities who need to be heard.

Dr. Martin Luther King is played by Edwin Edvanzd, center, who speaks during a staged reading of "Lawndale King" by Collaboraction Theatre Company at the Chicago History Museum on Jan. 19, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Willie Round’s ‘Lawndale King’ recounts the history that MLK made in North Lawndale

January 30, 2026 at 11:05 a.m.

Willie Round's work, about Martin Luther King Jr.'s eight-month stay in a Chicago apartment in 1966, recently received a staged reading by Collaboraction Theatre Company at the Chicago History Museum.

Chicago Bears fan Niyi Kuye blows a whistle while tailgating before the game against the Packers on Dec. 20, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

As the Bears gain momentum, Chicago house music staple ‘Percolator’ rises with them

January 18, 2026 at 9:22 p.m.

Chicago Bears fans are cheering the playoffs by posting social media video reels synced to the song "Percolator," the house classic track.

Natalie Merchant, center, sings and dances with Chicago Public Schools early educators during a workshop at Symphony Center on Oct. 8, 2025. Merchant created the video series the “Cabinet of Wonder,” a musical introduction to the traditional nursery rhymes of Mother Goose. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Musician Natalie Merchant brings Mother Goose and other rhymes to life for the next generation with Cabinet of Wonder

January 14, 2026 at 5:37 p.m.

Melding music, play and Mother Goose tales, singer Natalie Merchant worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on "Cabinet of Wonder."

Tenia Davis, center, owner of Beyond the Book, listens during the the store's first book club meeting on Nov. 19, 2025, in Homewood. (James C. Svehla/for the Chicago Tribune)

Homewood bookstore Beyond the Book is a dream realized for Flossmoor resident

December 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Beyond the Book, A Literary Experience opened in downtown Homewood this October.

Chicago Bears fans Tony Huette, center, and Charlie McGuire tailgate before the game against the Green Bay Packers, Dec. 20, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Bears fans celebrate winning season as team considers move to Indiana: ‘They need to stay in Illinois’

December 21, 2025 at 3:58 p.m.

The talk of stadium relocation comes as Chicago Bears fans celebrate the team’s 11-4 record — capped by Saturday night’s stunning 22-16 overtime comeback win against the Green Bay Packers...

Resident Alex Manning talks with movers in the five-story apartment complex in the 7500 block of South Shore Drive in Chicago on Dec. 11, 2025. In October, federal agents raided the building during Operation Midway Blitz. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Raided South Shore building’s tenants move out after judge denies pleas for more time

December 15, 2025 at 3:36 p.m.

Officials have called the South Shore building that federal immigration agents raided in a controversial middle-of-the-night operation “deplorable.” A court order mandated the structure be vacated by Friday.

A rendering of the proposed installation, "For Rekia, For Us." (Tatyana Fazlalizadeh)

A Long Walk Home is close to deciding the look of the Rekia Boyd Monument

December 12, 2025 at 5:30 a.m.

Artists pitch their ideas for a monument to honor Rekia Boyd, who was shot and killed by an off-duty Chicago police officer in 2012.

Chicago native Robert Townsend (Skye Townsend)

Actor and director Robert Townsend raises funds for West Side nonprofits with pop-up film fest

December 2, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Robert Townsend is in Chicago this week to host a pop-up film festival Dec. 6-7 — one that will showcase films significant to him and raise funds for the Chicago...

Sebastian White, founder and executive director of The Evolved Network, and his daughter Ever Klimovich-White, deliver meal kits to students, Nov. 20, 2025, at the Jesuit Academy of Chicago in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. White, a trained psychotherapist, uses his organization to work with youth who are gang-involved, struggling or labeled as at-risk. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Maple brown butternut squash anyone? The Evolved Network meets Chicago students where they are with food kits.

November 27, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Chef Sebastian White has been cooking his version of healing with youth for years. Now there's a take home kit where they can follow along.

Eric Dell Bovi, the executive director of the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation, second from right, talks with Adriana Martinez, from left, Marco Leyva, Michael Glynn and Dariusz Jakubowski during an alumni mixer for the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2025. (Talia Sprague/for the Chicago Tribune)

George Pullman Educational Foundation gets $10M gift from MacKenzie Scott

December 5, 2025 at 10:34 a.m.

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott fueled the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation with $10 million to help Cook County students pay for college.

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