Plans That Did Not Transform

• Thursday, February 5, 2026 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

• National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada Street, Chicago, IL 60607

• Free
• Register

Drawing together historical and political analysis to shed light on the politics of disposability through housing instability, criminalization, and school closures

Join us for a conversation with author, professor, and community organizer David Stovall, on the publication of his new book, Engineered Conflict: Structural Violence and the Future of Black Life in Chicago. Stovall will be joined by Open Mike Eagle, the museum’s 2026 Artist as Instigator, for a conversation highlighting the book’s second chapter, “Plans That Did Not Transform: the Chicago Housing Authority’s Commitment to Engineered Conflict,” in which Stovall argues that the role of CHA is central in understanding how state-sanctioned violence and abandonment impacts low-income communities.

Engineered Conflict (Haymarket Books, 2026) calls for a powerful movement against the displacement, disinvestment, and disposability of Chicago’s Black population.

FREE. Space is limited, please register in advance. The event will be recorded and a video shared at a later date.

A book signing will take place after the conversation portion of the event.

Instead of viewing CHA as a failure, engineered conflict suggests we should understand the agency and its Plan for Transformation as doing exactly what it was intended to do under white supremacy—to contain, isolate and displace while blaming those with the least amount of resources for their suffering.

David Stovall

About the presenters

David Omotoso Stovall is a professor in the Department of Black Studies and Criminology, Law & Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of Born Out of Struggle: Critical Race Theory, School Creation and the Politics of Interruption. Dr. Stovall’s scholarship investigates three areas: Critical Race Theory, the relationship between housing and education, and the intersection of race, place and school. In the attempt to bring theory to action, he works with community organizations and schools to address issues of equity, justice and abolishing the school/prison nexus. His work led him to become a member of the design team for the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice (SOJO), which opened in the Fall of 2005. Furthering his work with communities, students, and teachers, his work manifests itself in his involvement with the Peoples Education Movement, a collection of classroom teachers, community members, students and university professors in Chicago, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area who engage in collaborative community projects centered in creating relevant curriculum. In addition to his duties and responsibilities as a professor at UIC, he also served as a volunteer social studies teacher at the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice from 2005–2018.

Open Mike Eagle spent the 2010s finding comedy in rap music and American nightmares. On albums like ​Brick Body Kids Still Daydream ​and ​Dark Comedy​, he delivered hilarious socio-political insights via half-sung verses laid atop progressive production. Acclaim from publications like ​Pitchfork,​ ​Rolling Stone​, and​ NPR​ coincided with headlining solo tours and top-billing at events like Adult Swim Festival. Between studio sessions, Eagle co-founded The New Negroes, a standup-meets-music variety show that explores perceptions of blackness. He and co-founder Baron Vaughn brought the show to Upright Citizens Brigade, Comedy Central, and venues around the U.S. Since founding his record label Auto Reverse Records, though, Eagle has scaled back the jokes. He’s finally unpacking his traumas and acknowledging their impact.

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About
This event is presented as part of the National Public Housing Museum’s Transformation event series, launched in 2025 to mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of Chicago’s Plan for Transformation, the most ambitious public housing redevelopment initiative in U.S. history.

Artist as Instigator
This event is also part of a year-long event series with Open Mike Eagle as part of his 2026 Artist as Instigator residency, which leverages arts and culture to make creative public policy interventions around housing and related issues.

The Artist as Instigator residency is supported by multi-year funding from the Mellon Foundation, as well as support from the Joyce Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council.