Suburban Mosaic: The top stories from our diverse communities in 2022

In the past year, members of our diverse suburban mosaic have had many triumphs to celebrate, milestones to mark, as well as challenges to overcome, particularly affecting communities of color.

In 2022, we wrote stories about changes to state laws and education curriculum affecting how public school students are taught Asian and Black history, waves of new refugees arriving in our suburbs, outstanding suburbanites and their contributions, and communities being more inclusive of minority groups, among other topics.

Here are some the highlights. For more stories, visit dailyherald.com.

Refugee influx

Thousands of Afghan refugees who fled their nation amid turmoil in the fall of 2021 after the U.S. troop withdrawal and Taliban takeover were being resettled nationwide, including hundreds arriving in the suburbs.

Mosques in Des Plaines, Libertyville, Naperville and Villa Park were among those helping accommodate and support them after arrival as part of a coordinated effort through the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Roughly 2,500 Afghans have resettled in Illinois.

MLK and Muhammad Ali

In 2022, as Illinoisans observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17, they also celebrated another champion of civic justice. Jan. 17, 2022, marked the first observance of Muhammad Ali Day in Illinois, per a new state law.

The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition championed getting Muhammad Ali Day recognized statewide. The group also hosted a discussion that day on Ali's and King's models of hope, courage and conviction through extreme challenges with special guest Maryum Ali, Muhammad Ali's daughter.

Race education

Teaching about critical race theory in the classroom became a lightning rod nationwide. The theory is an academic examination of social, cultural and legal issues regarding race and racism in the U.S.

A state task force began its work to help school districts improve how Black history is taught in classrooms while Illinois educators received training on new culturally responsive teaching standards.

Teaching Black history

Suburban educators called for recognizing the contributions of trailblazing Blacks in various fields, such as the sciences, arts, music, education, literature, media, business, government and the humanities.

A state task force surveyed 617 of Illinois' 852 school districts. The Illinois State Board of Education's Black History Curriculum Task Force published its report detailing disparate approaches to teaching Black history in prekindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms.

Among the task force's recommendations is changing the requirement for high school U.S. history to include teaching Black history. Its report calls for professional learning for teachers to support any curricular changes and creating a resource outlining how African and African American history can be woven throughout the curricula year-round for all grades.

Punjabi language

Gov. J.B. Pritzker proclaimed February as Punjabi Language Month in recognition of the contributions of the more than 50,000 Punjabi-speaking residents statewide, particularly in Palatine, which is home to a large Sikh population. Punjabi is the ninth-most widely spoken language in the world.

Day of Remembrance

Chicago-area Japanese Americans observed the Chicago Day of Remembrance on Feb. 20, in recognition of the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry in camps throughout the U.S. during World War II.

Asian history

Public schools across the suburbs began teaching Asian American history in the fall, after Illinois became the first state in the nation to require it through a law aiming for more representation and inclusion.

Illinois adopted the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act on July 9, 2021.

Top doc

Glenview's Paramjit “Romi” Chopra received the Outstanding Physician of the Year 2021 award. A Sikh American, Chopra was chosen for the honor by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis' Illinois 7th District Multi-Ethnic Advisory Task Force. He is the CEO of Midwest Institute for Minimally Invasive Therapies Health.

Hospital chief

Dia Nichols, 47, of Inverness took the helm as president of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Nichols is among Advocate Aurora Health system's top minority senior executives, and among a small field of hospital executives who are people of color in Illinois and nationwide.

Juneteenth

Aurora designated Juneteenth an official paid holiday for city employees.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, about 2½ years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. It became a federal and state holiday in 2021.

Black studies

Elgin Area School District U-46 - the state's second-largest district - has developed a new African American studies course to be offered at all five district high schools, starting in the 2022-23 school year.

Freedom Schools

The Illinois State Board of Education launched a $17 million grant to create the nation's first state-funded Freedom Schools network to improve performance outcomes for low-income students and address the opportunity gap and learning loss caused by the pandemic.

Top speller

Grayslake speller Sahasrad Sathish was among 13 finalists competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals. He was eliminated just minutes into the eighth round, after he couldn't spell “cypsela” correctly. But Sahasrad tied for ninth place out of 234 spellers.

Losing a friend

We lost one of our own with the passing of Marco Ortiz of Lake in the Hills, a trusted colleague and avid community volunteer. He was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma - a rare and aggressive bile-duct cancer - and died May 6 at age 60. Ortiz was a bilingual teaching assistant with Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 before becoming a Spanish language translator for Reflejos, the Daily Herald's sister bilingual publication. He served suburban Hispanic communities for 17 years.

Faith trifecta

Ramadan, Passover and Easter coincided last April just days apart - a rare convergence that occurs every 33 years or so when the major religious observances of the world's three Abrahamic faiths align. The holidays generally don't overlap because they are based on different calendars (lunar and solar) and calculations.

Change agent

Wheeling-based Indian Trails Public Library's digital and maker services librarian Heidi Estrada was named a 2022 Library Journal Mover and Shaker. Estrada works as a co-leader with Sophie Kenney to develop the Reaching Across Illinois System BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) Library Workers group.

Standout teen

Adriana Demos, an 18-year-old Warren Township High School graduate, was crowned Miss Teen International 2022. Demos, of Lake Villa, also placed third in the 145-pound wrestling division of the Illinois High School Association girls state finals.

Peace and felicitations for a happy new year!

Share stories, news and happenings from the suburban mosaic at mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com.