Today is either Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day or no holiday at all, depending on where you work or go to school. Back when I attended Fort Dearborn Grammar School in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, we got Columbus Day off every year. I myself hated school and welcomed a day off no matter what the reason - Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples' Day, or for that matter, even Alfred E. Newman Day. Which begs the question: do they still publish Mad Magazine these days? But I digress. Back in 2019 the Chicago Board of Education voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, but students continue to get the day off, although the City of Chicago still recognizes Columbus Day, as does the State of Illinois. Colorado, where I now live, eliminated Columbus Day as a holiday in 2020 but does not recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day. On the other hand, the Denver City Council voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day back in 2016. It is not a Denver Public Schools holiday, but it is considered to be a conference day, and students get it off anyway. Does that clear everything up for you? And by the way, I took the photograph above of Fort Dearborn back in 2010, when I went back to visit my old hometown. I am holding a photograph of one of the Kloak kids that I took on the school's playground after classes had let out for the day. Always a happy time.
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