I Care If You Listen | February 23, 2023
Uniting Voices Chicago was founded in 1956 as a direct response to the Civil Rights Movement. Originally named the Children’s Chorus of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago, the youth choir program was formed to celebrate the racial and economic diversity of the city. During the 1950s, a significant number of Black people relocated to Chicago, causing the city’s Black population to grow from less than 10 percent to nearly 25 percent in less than a decade. This rapid influx of Black people strained racial tensions in the city, and it wasn’t long before Chicago became a major center for activism during the Civil Rights Movement.