Sorry if this question doesn’t apply to many people - I’m not sure where else to ask…
There is a large sign painted on a building in Chicago, facing the El tracks between Chicago and Merchanise Mart (on the Purple/Brown line). It is a large black sign with a list of names in white letters ranging from Frank Zappa to Noam Chomsky to Anita Hill.
What is it? Is there a relationship between the names?
Also, one of the names seems to have been removed recently. Which one was it? And why…
I used to ride the Ravenswood Line (OK, the Brown Line. I liked Ravenswood better.) but now live in the suburbs and haven’t seen the sign. My WAG, though, is that it’s a list of people who have actually paid for a subscription to The Chicago Reader…and someone let it lapse. Cecil?
I’ve seen that sign a bunch of times (although I haven’t rode the Brown Line in a couple of months), and I remember thinking that the oddest thing about it is the mix of names. They’re all famous or sort-of famous people, but that’s all (AFAIK) they have in common. Left wing and right wing – not too many lists include Ronald Reagan and Rigoberta Menchu! American and foreign. Every field of endeavor. You name it, they’re up there.
“I used to ride the Ravenswood Line … and haven’t seen the sign.”
Satyagrahi, that’s sign has been up for at least a few years now. OTOH, if you don’t look west at the right time, it’s easy to miss even for its size.
On a similar vein as the list of names, how about the big mural a couple of blocks down the line on the east side of the tracks with the nude woman and OJ Simpson’s head sticking out of the ground like a cabbage?!