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Robert Loerzel

@robertloerzel.bsky.social

Chicagoan, journalist, photographer, author, copy editor, flâneur. https://www.robertloerzel.com/

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Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · 3h ago

as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3h ago

Reuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be ​unlikely to risk transit without paying."

Historical Marker Ahead@historicalmarker.bsky.social · 3h ago

My bone to pick with the MLK Memorial in Marquette Park is it glosses over what happened after he left Chicago: the neighborhood became a literal Nazi Party stronghold, as parodied in The Blues Brothers. bsky.app/profile/hist...

Historical Marker Ahead@historicalmarker.bsky.social · 4w ago

The MLK Living Memorial in Chicago’s Marquette Park leaves out that the rocks thrown at King led to a toothless agreement with the city and the start of 25 years of organized, open racist activity there. The U.S. Nazi party was founded there in 1970. Klan rallies happened through the late 1980s.

MLK living memorial marker in Marquette Park, Chicago. It reads: Marquette Park is of great significance to America's Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) came to Chicago in 1965 at the invitation of the Chicago Freedom Movement, a coalition of 44 organizations devoted to reforming unfair housing practices that forced many African-Americans to live in overcrowded slums. Dr. King and the Freedom Movement wanted to transform Chicago into a more racially equitable city. In the summer of 1966, Dr. King led protestors on a march into the largely white residential area near Marquette Park. Soon after the marchers entered the park, they were met by an angry mob. Dr. King was struck by a rock during the march, which took him to the ground. As a result of this march, the City of Chicago adopted the "Summit Agreement" which Dr. King considered "the most significant program ever conceived to make open housing a reality in a metropolitan area.” This Living Memorial commemorates the events of August 5, 1966, and the communities like this one and countless others across the country that have fought for justice and equity for decades. It represents the courage
Zeb Larson@zeblarson.bsky.social · 3h ago

A friend of mine, Prexy Nesbitt, was one of King's bodyguards that day. When the rock hit King, King turned to Prexy and told him "I thought you were this great football player!" (I met very interesting people doing my dissertation research, in some ways it was the best part of doing it)

Always in Movement | Antioch College Alumni Association

antiochians.org

Robert Loerzel@robertloerzel.bsky.social · 6h ago

Sixty years ago today, someone threw a rock at Martin Luther King Jr., hitting him in the neck, during a march in Marquette Park. Here’s a Tribune story by @chicagorumormill.bsky.social looking back at the history: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/30/v...

Aides shield the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after he was struck by a rock in Marquette Park during an Aug. 5, 1966, march in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune archive)
Bill Savage@rogersparkman.bsky.social · 3h ago

The Chicago Park District has a great monument to this shameful moment in Chicago History, at 67th and Kedzie. www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facili...

Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial

Sponsored by the Inner City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial was dedicated on August 5, 2016 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King’s historic march thro...

chicagoparkdistrict.com

Robert Loerzel@robertloerzel.bsky.social · 6h ago

Sixty years ago today, someone threw a rock at Martin Luther King Jr., hitting him in the neck, during a march in Marquette Park. Here’s a Tribune story by @chicagorumormill.bsky.social looking back at the history: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/30/v...

Aides shield the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after he was struck by a rock in Marquette Park during an Aug. 5, 1966, march in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune archive)
Citizen Screen@citizenscreen.bsky.social · 6h ago

On August 5, 1926, illusionist Harry Houdini spent 91 minutes sealed inside an airtight iron coffin submerged in a swimming pool at the Hotel Shelton in New York City. At age 52, he performed this feat to prove he could beat a rival's record.

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Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 17h ago

This is a wildly prescient story about Chicago's proto-RFK Jr., in charge of public health during the Spanish Flu. He thought beer killed malaria and that bathing could kill you. He had a feud with an actual TB doctor, who insisted bathing is good. He bullied the TB doctor until he killed himself.

Sachs believed that the new administration was undermining patient care by making hiring and contract decisions based on political connections. Thompson and Robertson in turn accused Sachs of being financially extravagant, incompetent, and dictatorial. As Sachs resigned from the sanitarium he had worked tirelessly to build, Frank Billings, one of the most respected physicians in the city, called Robertson “utterly unqualified.” On April 2, 1916, Sachs committed suicide. For reformers and the medical establishment, Sachs was a martyr to grotesque political corruption. Although The Republican, a propaganda sheet literally published in an office in City Hall, sneered that suicide “occasionally has been a haven of moral cowards who preferred the shelter of death to public exposure of their shortcomings,” Robertson took a less confrontational tone after Sachs’s death. Still, he refused to step down.
Chicago Collections@chicollections.bsky.social · 23h ago

A powerful statement asking all the important questions from the United International Indigenous Nations. Thanks @formidablegen.bsky.social!

The Formidable Genealogist@formidablegen.bsky.social · 2d ago

The United International Indigenous Nations has issued a Statement of Solidarity and Formal Inquiry regarding the planned closure of the National Archives at Chicago and the possible relocation of its Bureau of Indian Affairs records. Please read it and share it. #genealogy #nara #nationalarchives