This must be one of the most diverse blocks in the city. To my left, a renovated three-story brick apartment building housing a hair salon in its storefront. Next to it, a vacant lot is fenced off. Across the street, a small mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant sits next to a car repair shop, which sits next to a Walgreens.

My destination was on the other side of a vacant lot next to a hair salon. It is a nondescript two-story brick office building and blends in perfectly with the surroundings.

I’m running a few minutes late, so the sound of music was already coming from the auditorium as I walked through the fiberglass doors and up the stairwell to the second floor.

Later on, a speaker came to the podium on the front stage and gave a presentation about the good work this organization was doing in the surrounding neighborhoods through their food pantry.

The speaker noted that this partnership - between members of two different immigrant groups residing in Albany Park - was doing such a good job of providing “food for all” that the neighborhood’s alderman highlighted the work of the food pantry in the ward’s monthly newsletter.

As I joined the audience in applause, I felt a deep sense of pride. It wasn’t a sense of pride that came from accomplishment. I did not do any work related to this food pantry. I did not donate money or goods to this effort. I did not even know the pantry existed until five minutes ago.

My sense of pride did not come from a shared experience with the audience members assembled in this space. I did not know anyone here. I had not participated in the life of this community. I don’t even live on this side of town.

And yet, the strong sense of pride that welled up within me came from a sense that these were my people, a sense shared by many Americans when they are surrounded by a critical mass of people whose ethnic ancestry traces back to the same country or region as their own.

The journey continues in the Albany Park neighborhood on the north side, at the corner of Kedzie Avenue and Montrose.

Intro Theme Music: Victory Lap by QSTN ft. Mecca:83
Background Music: www.bensound.com/

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