>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part by all state at the Chicago community trust and .Good evening.

A report and thank you for sharing your night with us.

Some community members are still hesitant to receive a shot and we hear the reasoning behind some of the reluctancy and how it's addressed and the Chicago Spanish language baseball announcer slide in to talk about the post-son and next year.

Covid has shut down the independence day parade for the second day in a year but they're going ahead with plans and we talk with the event's organizers about their decisions.

>> Everything we do is about reclaiming.

>> And becoming oral historians, a new gauge park program is teaching young people to document the stories of their own communities.

First off tonight, the F.D.A.

gave approval for the Coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older at the end of August.

Just days later, doses spiked from about 26,000 on August 25th to more than 122,000 doses administered the next day.

That's according to the Illinois department of public health and hesitancy among community members to receive the Covid vaccine remains and Joaning us s to discuss the hesitations in the community is the professor of clinical family medicine at the university of Illinois college of medicine and vice president of U of I health office.

Welcome to Latia office.

>> Thank you.

>> What have you noticed to get the Covid-19 vaccine and are they particular to the Latino community?

>> Vaccine hesitancy has been demonstrated throughout all communitied, but definite bipoc have demonstrated more hesitancy than the general population and things people talk to me about commonly, I'm biased because where I take care of the patients, 80% are Latin X or African-americans.

I try to remind them that it's actually been vigorously tested and more tested than any other vaccine, upwards of ten times more than common vaccines like the human papiloma virus.

>> According to the Illinois department of public health 14% of the people getting vaccinated are Hispanic and would you say that's estimated to be Hispanic?

>> Most have been vaccinated and people who come to the doctor are more likely to be willing to share the discussion and decision with me.

There's a lag and there was data nationally that shows the Latin X vaccination rate is comparable to the Latin X and I do see that.

However, I can, fortunately, count on one hand on many that haven't taken the vaccine.

I run a food pantry and half of the clients are Latin X and we've done several events and a lot of folks have seen they've taken the vaccine and a lot were reluctant and wanting greater time.

>> Well, we spoke to Claudia Reyes, a former nurse who suffers from ALS and is hesitant on getting the Covid vaccine due to the effect it may have and due to the lack of accessibility and let's take a listen.

>> I was more concerned with how it would affect me having ALS and with breathing all together, since it is a respiratory thing.

Since I am disabled, I don't go out a lot, a lot, and now it's me get taken to get it kind of thing.

Accessibility is a big issue with a lot of people having a hard time getting around.

Yes, some people do have family and a lot of us have family that works so it's a difficult situation.

>> Doctor, have you noticed accessibility to be a common barrier to getting a Covid vaccine and if so, how can this be further addressed in.

>> Mr. Fuente, yes, equitable distribution, this has extended into vaccination.

However, our committee on racial equity in the city has gone to great lengths to make this accessible to all folks and I wanted to kind of addressed this and you are now able to contact the city of Chicago and get vaccine by contacting the city so calling 311, you can get your vaccine taken to your home if you have transportation issues and we do know now that the mass vaccination sites are not going to work as well for people with mobility issues and we predicted and we take single doses.

>> Modern is an emergency manufacture use basis and what would you say to people who ares hesitant for this reason?

>> The best vaccine is the vaccine to access.

I've taken care of patients ha have received the Johnson & Johnson and Modern and I do Covid -- I do Covid service in the hospital and I have not admitted a single patient that has had complications and I've taken care of people who have had complications from the vaccination yourself.

It's not a live virus.

It cannot give you Covid.

It uses a protein to provoke a response from your body.

You can't get sick even if you have a weak immune system.

>> She shared how misinformation or lack thereof has kept people from getting the vaccine.

Let's listen.

>> A lot is misinformation they get and a lot of times, doctors tell you get the vaccine.

They don't give you a reason why or explain what the consequences are or that you might feel sick.

I think if you get a better crowd to do things that you need them to do, it will stem from people they though.

know.Like the churches, they ard advocate sfor that.

>> Doctor, we have 30 seconds left and what would you say if people are wondering about a booster shot?

>> I think we should take whatever we have access to.

A booster shot is certainly not going to protect people who are not vaccinated.

It will help those of us vaccinated.

Booster seems to provide a subject amount, like Delta and Delta plus.

We will get it soon at UI health and I will be taking this, as well as my children.

>> Lots of great information and thank you for joining us on Latino voices.

>> Thank you.

Up next, talking baseball with a Spanish sport's broadcasters for the cubs and Sox.

Stay with us.

As the 2021 baseball reason winds down, Chicago's teams are headed in different directs.

Where the south siders are looking playoff bounds and north side is saying maybe next year and after trading away three of the marquis players and joining us to talk about the season are the Spanish broadcasters.

And welcome both of you to the Latino voices.

>> Thank you for having us.

>> We'll start off with you and the Sox are looking good and what are the playoff chances are and how deep can they go if they make it?

>> Well, they're pretty good.

My concern is injuries and it's about 28, 29 games and we know that it happened before and sometimes you have 12 games left and all of a sudden, you just disappear and somebody takes over.

So I'm afraid of the Cleveland Indians because they have good pitching and they are hitting the ball better than they were before.

Other than that, I don't think we have any problems in the playoffs.

If we can keep winning at least -- it's about 28 games left and if we can get 15 out of the 28, it's OK. Other than that, we're in good shape.

They all hitting at the end of the season and I hope this continues all the way through the playoffs.

>> It's a different picture on the north side.

The cubs traded away three of the core players and they had record-breaking losing streaks ever since and are they headed into a another rebuild?

>> I sure hope so.

It's been a difficult 2021, but, you know what, it's been a adult time, like since 2018, where I felt the offense was broken.

There was something that was just not gelling with these players, especially on the out side.

The pitching was solid and then, all of a sudden, they just decided to create the overhaul.

They did make it interesting in the first half of the season.

Right there, they were fighting and competing with the Milwaukee Bruins and right before the end of the first half of the season, things just collapsed and they just couldn't hit the ball and striking out left and right and the players responding, you know, the three-headed monster and Chris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, they weren't gelling Luke gelling likethey were in the pay gave a facelift to the team.

>> Larusso was a pick for skipper and what would you say?

He did a good job for the team, but he's a winner.

Winner in St. Louis and he's a good manager.

I mean, he's a people's manager.

He's a player's manager.

He owns stands.

He's been through thick and thin and players recognize it.

The way managers are handling things is the way the dugout.

Everybody is friendly and they are excited about being first place and probably going to the playoff for a second year in a row and everybody is playing together and the influence Tony Larus so has been great and he knows how to deal.

>> Now, Omar, on his new team, Biaz has had trouble with met's fans and Francisco thumbs down and do you think Latino ball players are perceived differently than the Latino counterparts?

>> I think to a certain extent, but, you know, specifically by Biaaz, it's one of those things where there's a lot of pressure, from one important market like Chicago and New York, which is tougher and the mets are competing and they want to compete and make it to the big show.

I think when, you know, when the situation with Biaz, there's a lot of pressure.

Leaving Chicago and going to New York, it's pressure and things were not playing out for him.

Unfortunately, when you're under stress, he's a great ballplayer.

He's a good person, I knew him personally and one of those bonehead situations.

I think his situation is a lot different from, you know, the attitude or the conduct from other Latino ballplayers.

>> This is for both of you, but I'll stick with you, Omar, first.

Major league baseball has been reaching out with heritage jerseys and what more do you think major league baseball can be doing?

Start off with you, Omar.

>> Well, I think that when it comes to celebrating the Hispanic community, it goes behind Cinco De Mayo and the other communities as well.

I think they need to hyperfocus on that and not make it -- I don't know, my perception is they make it super Mexican and I think we need to share the love throughout the platform.

>> What do you think?

What do you think major league can be doing?

>> First of all, I never liked a month or a date for any community.

We are Latinos 365 days a year and we should celebrate what we are all year long and so, just picking a month or day just to embrace certain communities doesn't go along with me.

I believe that we are good 365 days of the year and other than that, I think MLB is doing a good job with the Latino players in places like the Dominican republic where they established to help the talent that is coming up from those places and that's why you have so many players into the major leagues from different places.

You have players have anything a and Cuba, Venezuela and Panama and I think we have here to stay and we are here to play baseball as much as we can.

>> Our thanks to both of you!

Up next, teaching young people to be oral historians for their community.

>> A new program started by the gauge park Latin X to reclaim community's narrative and here is Brandice freedman with the story.

>> Reporter: Marcus Hernandez grew up in the gauge park area on Chicago's Southwest side and Hernandez says the media often focused on violence in the community without contextualizing the challenges.

>> The only narratives focuses on that trauma, and what we wanted to do is we wanted to reclaim our narratives and we wanted the people from this neighbor to tell stories on their terms.

>> Reporter: Hernandez is one of ten youths working to change this narrative and it's part of Documento Grafio.

>> A lot of our histories as Latino X folks are oral and if they are not document, they are lost when we lose generations of folks.

Wasn't to curate and protect those histories.

>> Reporter: The participants learned from curators and from residents.

They captured this through photography and oral histories.

Hernandez says that more authentic stories are hold when residents document their own community's history.

>> We get stories about joy, community, to overcome obstacles and action and we get stories that are not necessarily related to, living everyday lives.

>> The program allowed us to learn about stuff we wouldn't learn about in school and we wouldn't see in media.

>> Reporter: The participants finish by creating an outdoor exhibition of work that's run by council and before installing the exhibit, they made a blow prototype.

>> It's not just Rich people who can afford to go to museums.

And some people work at night or early in the morning and the exhibition is in the community and garden space and not locked up or anything.

>> Reporter: It connects gauge park's history with its present like issues of gentrification.

>> Connecting that to displacement to the past, whether it was this community or maybe surrounding communities.

>> Reporter: The significant covers entrepreneurship, white flight and the civil right's movement.

The vision is to continue the program and to make the cultural center is hub for gauge park's histories.

>> So that histories can live in our own communities and we're not depending on museums and institutions to do the work, to show our stories some dignity.

>> Reporter: I'm Brandice freedman for Chicago tonight.

>> It's located at south Homann avenue in gauge park.

>>> The spread of the Delta varient, and this week, for the second year in a row, the historic Mexican independence day parade down 26th street will not take place.

Here is a decision to cancel what people in Chicago can do to support the community instead of a parade.

>> The little village chamber of commerce decided not to have this parade due to the increased numbers in Covid and now the Delta varient and as you know, little village has been one of the committees with the highest rates of Covid and unemployment, so the health and well-being of our community is one of our top priorities and so, with that, you know, the hard decision of not having the parade was confluted.

This has attracted over $400,000 attendees from various communities and neighboring states.

As a result, the little village chamber of commerce decided to light the arch in the Mexican flag colors and hang pennant flags from street polls and those will remain up for the entire month of September.

So we are expecting to have an increased number of visitors for the entire month and so we just really want to encourage visitors to shop local, dine local and really focus and support or small businesses here in little village.

>> But a few miles to the north, the 28th annual fiesta remained scheduled for this weekend.

The center director told us what folks can expect to see at this year's celebration and will wil.

>> This is a festival and a lot of people know this as Bandera Bandera and has been going on for 28 years and it's a big celebration of music, food, that probably the U.S. has in general and they bring the best of their culture.

This year it's Cialis and we have a group with music and it's a true traditional culture.

We were struggling with whether to keep this festival going, especially with the rise in the Delta varient and kids going back to school and cases of Covid coming out.

What was the thing that made us want to continue doing the festival is because we were able to partner with CDPH and CPS to make sure kids can get vaccinated at the event.

Anyone who comes to the festival can get vaccinated if they're 12 and up.

>> You'll find more at little village on our website.

And that's our show for this Saturday night.

Be sure to check out our website Wttw.com/news for the latest from WTTW news including Chicago officials offering $100 gift cards for getting the Covid vaccine and join Brandice tomorrow Newt.

night and how some high schools are deciding to have police presence in their hallways and thinking outside the box with a business model.

And you can catch my reporting on 91.5 F.M.

WBEZ.

Now from all of us here at Chicago tonight Latino voices, thank you for sharing part of your holiday weekend with us.

Buenos Noches.