‘This is how I speak’: The influence of the Black Chicago accent

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Investigation, Chicago, Radio, Arts, Society & Culture, Public, Education, Curious, City

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A person’s accent can influence the way they are perceived. When it comes to broadcast journalism, the way a person talks is front and center and can open the door to both praise and unsolicited criticism. In our last episode, contributor Arionne Nettles looked at the Southern roots of the Black Chicago accent. It goes back to the Great Migration. Even though many Chicagoans are generations removed from their Southern relatives, some aspects of the accent persist for three main reasons: Black Chicagoans tend to live close to each other, they maintain relationships with family in the South and they like how the accent sounds. Today, we get personal with Nettles, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side. She’s a journalism professor at Florida A&M University, a culture reporter and author. As a person with the Black Chicago accent, she considered changing the way she spoke to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. She talks about what the accent means to her, and why she ultimately decided not to change it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up Chicago? I'm Erin Allen and this is Curia City.
0:07.0	Our last episode was about the Black Chicago accent.
0:12.0	As Curious City contributor Ariane Nettles told us, that accent has southern roots that trace back to the Great Migration.
0:20.0	And it has persisted for all these generations for three big reasons.
0:24.6	First, the black Chicagoans who have the accent still live close to each other.
0:29.6	Also, they still have family connections to the South.
0:32.6	And third, because they like how it sounds.
0:36.6	As you probably noticed, Aurean, And third, because they like how it sounds.
0:46.3	As you probably noticed, Arion, who was born and raised on the South Side, definitely has the Black Chicago accent. I do, I do.
0:48.3	So I love it now.
0:50.3	It feels good.
0:51.3	It feels soft and warm.
0:53.3	Mmm. But I think that for the longest, I did not know that it was a thing. I didn't notice it.
1:00.0	The way a person talks can really influence how they're perceived and how they live their lives.
1:05.3	And in the work that both Ariane and I do broadcast journalism, how you sound is under extra scrutiny. I mean,
1:13.3	let's be serious. If you have an accent that deviates from standard American English,
1:18.1	and you work in news media, you're probably going to get some emails. I certainly have.
1:26.3	So today, Ariane and I are going to talk about that accent,
1:29.3	how it affected her journalism journey and the importance of embracing your voice.
1:35.3	To start, Ariane says she didn't even realize that the black Chicago accent was different
1:43.3	than the way other black people spoke.
1:45.5	Until I went to school in the South and people thought I talked funny.
	...

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