Photograph courtesy of the Bud Billiken Parade
Chicago will open the Obama Presidential Center in spring 2026 to commemorate the first Black U.S. president, who also taught at the University of Chicago Law School and served in the Illinois legislature. Until then, the city offers plenty of other African American cultural sights to see and explore, especially in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s south side.
The Hook
Every August, Bronzeville hosts the largest African American parade in the world and second largest overall to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. The Bud Billiken Parade—stepping off at 10 a.m. August 10 and expected to again draw more than a million spectators—was started in 1929 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of The Chicago Defender newspaper. “His goal was to honor his hardworking newsboys and children in under-served communities, with the opportunity to showcase their talents,” says Taja Ferguson, marketing manager of Chicago Defender Charities, which produces the parade and day-long festival in Washington Park.
Photograph courtesy of the Bud Billiken Parade
Eat and Drink
For great soul food, you can’t go wrong with Cleo’s Southern Cuisine at the Bronzeville flagship location. Chef Kristen Harper is a former journalist and athlete from Bronzeville who’s hailed as Chicago’s Queen of Fried Chicken. The family-run restaurant is known for its warm atmosphere, where staff dish up food behind the counter and a chalkboard menu fills the majority of one of the walls. Aside from the fried chicken, be sure to try the Signature Donut Bread Pudding and Mississippi Sunshine, their sweet lemon tea.
Cleo’s Southern Cuisine, 4248 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, (773) 575-7120
Where to Stay
Photograph by Alan Shortall
Both SOPHY Hyde Park and The Study at University of Chicago are close to key neighborhood sites. The former personifies the area’s art and music scene in its choice of vibrant art displays and brilliant interiors, while The Study is a stone’s throw away from the UC campus. They’re also not far from the Bronzeville Children’s Museum, the first and only African American children’s museum in the country, highlighting some of Chicago’s most influential Black leaders in politics, athletics, and music along with Black inventors whose creations changed lives.
SOPHY Hyde Park, 1411 E. 53rd St., Chicago, (773) 289-1003
The Study at University of Chicago, 1227 E. 60th St., Chicago, (773) 643-1600
Bronzeville Children’s Museum, 9301 S. Stony Island Ave., Chicago, (773) 721-9301
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