Soap bubbles drifted through the air and burst on Ricky Malone’s shoulder as his daughter Rianna Malone buried her head in his chest. Hand-in-hand, they swayed to slow music at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center’s annual Family Dance.

“That’s a time just of love,” Malone, a Chicago resident whose daughter lives in Evanston, said of the slow dance. “Of bonding between a father and daughter. That’s all you want with your children.”

At the Family Dance — formerly named the Daddy-Daughter Dance — about 80 guests enjoyed food, coloring and crafts, though the dance floor held attendees’ attention for most of the afternoon.

But the event came amidst a time of uncertainty for Fleetwood-Jourdain. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is set to soon open a neighborhood school in the predominantly Black 5th Ward for the first time in over 50 years. 

And as the city and District 65 begin planning, some of their past design proposals have suggested closing the community center to build the school — leaving questions that Family Dance organizer Briana Jenkins said occupied her mind for the last few weeks.

“There’s some people … that have grown up in this community center — from grandparents to parents to now their kids. So we’re a part of their lives,” Jenkins said. “Taking that away, I think, from those who have grown up in this area — grown up with this center — is uncomfortable.”

Carlos Roach, a camp counselor at Fleetwood-Jourdain, said they’re one of those people. Roach said their parents grew up at the center. And they remember smiling and eating nachos while attending events similar to the Family Dance themself.

To Roach, Fleetwood-Jourdain is more than just a building: It represents Black community history. And they said they worried that the proposals for the new school would disrupt that.

Amid questions about Fleetwood-Jourdain’s future, they said events like the Family Dance have even more meaning.

“It’s important that they can see this as a community place,” Roach said. “That (Fleetwood-Jourdain) has to be here.”

The lack of clarity still leaves Fleetwood-Jourdain in a bit of limbo, Jenkins said. Until the city commits to a final plan, she said she tries to stay in the moment.

And Jenkins said the Family Dance let her focus simply on being in community, if only for one night.

“Tonight, it’s about our family dance and love and joy,” she said.

And joy reigned supreme for those couple of hours. At the event, parents and children split into teams and competed in various activities. The children did burpees and the parents interlocked arms, singing “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen.”

In the end, the children won the competition. For punishment, the adults impersonated runway models, strutting across the stage to shrieks of delight from their children.

For many parents, the Family Dance was a chance to spend time with their own kids — an opportunity Rianna appreciated.

“He works every single night,” Rianna, 9, said of her father. “I miss him sometimes, and I’m glad to spend time with him.”

Malone said he grew up going to another community center, where he gained communication skills that helped shape the rest of his life.

He’s glad to share similar experiences with Rianna at Fleetwood-Jourdain, he said.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that this place provides,” Malone said. “It’s a moment she’ll remember for the rest of her life. I know I will.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @charcole27

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