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S O M E R V A N

@somervbenton

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Award-Winning Journalist
Culture, Community & Entertainment
📍 Chicago
💌 [email protected]

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Climate change is scary… but I’m grateful for this lingering summer weather.

Summer is my favorite season (duh) for so many reasons… and as we enter the Fall months (sort of) I hold so much gratitude for the people, places and experiences that made this summer so special.

Next summer I def need to take more (and better lol) pictures. I feel like this handful only represent the tip of the iceberg. But it’s okay because that leaves some memories for me and the people I shared them with 😌🫶🏽 taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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4 days ago

September was booked, busy & beautiful
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Storytelling, story chasing, hosting, moderating, screening. taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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14 days ago

Donda West held many titles — educator, businesswoman, Fulbright Scholar, mother to Ye — but to a generation of young Black Chicago artists, she was something more: a “village mother.”

For this story, I spoke with @rhymefest @chicagodonc @reallydoemusic and @glctheism about the woman who loved and supported them as her own, helping nurture the hip-hop legends they would become.

This week, @ye joined his brothers in Chicago for the street dedication ceremony, and the energy that radiated from that reunion was indescribable. I tried to capture even a piece of it through these stories.

And I can’t talk about this labor of love without shouting out the Black women who brought it to life: myself, @arionnenettles and @candace.dane .

Grateful to document this piece of history. taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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22 days ago

💋

… where the heart is ❤️

everyone say “thank you 6ix” 😭

big brother took me to WH 🫶🏽… I got to see all my blood siblings this week 🥹

Wish I could gatekeep @bread_and_butterfly 😭

Georgia peach, put me somewhere on a gorgeous beach

The wildcats link up was AMAZING 💜🤍

lucky youuu 💋💋💋
@yerebeauty on the lippyyy

I promise I ate more than just breakfast this week

My road dog 🫶🏽 taken in Atlanta, GA by @somervbenton

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2 months ago

caught a vibe ⚾️

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#whitesox #summertimechi #somervanbenton #ballparklife⚾️ #sportsjournalist taken in Guaranteed Rate Field by @somervbenton

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2 months ago

There are only a handful of artists who can truly make me emotional — the kind who make me feel ALL the feels. And somehow, I got to see two of them within a six-hour span. 🥹

Aside from covering some really interesting stories this @lollapalooza weekend, I had one major goal: to let myself feel it all — cry, scream, laugh, sing, whatever — with @leonthomas and @oliviadeano in Grant Park.

And we did it. By hell or high water (literally).

Enjoy the cliff notes of a night I’ll always remember. ✨

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#chicagojournalist #oliviadean #leonthomas #lollapalooza #somervanbenton taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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2 months ago

It’s the WNBA’s 2026 All-Star Weekend. Friday night, Azzi Fudd became the first rookie player to win the State Farm Arena 3-Point Contest scoring 30 points in 70 seconds. But before she hit the court and took home the trophy, WBEZ’s Somer Van Benton put her and a few other players on the hot seat.

Video: Britton Struthers-Lugo/Sun-Times by @somervbenton

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3 months ago

WNBA All-Star Weekend has officially tipped off in Chicago. This morning, young athletes nationwide joined the league for a skills clinic at the Obama Presidential Center where they heard from 3-time WNBA champion A'ja Wilson. Ahead of the 3-Point Contest, WBEZ's Somer Van Benton asked if the other players had any words for young ballers in Chicago.

Video: Britton Struthers-Lugo/Sun-Times by @somervbenton

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3 months ago

WNBA All-Star Weekend has tipped off. Today, the Obama Presidential Center hosted players for practice — marking the first time the Center has hosted a professional league. Before the athletes got started, they got a special visit…from former President Barack Obama. He congratulated them and thanked them for their hard work.

Earlier that day, Former president Barack Obama surprised nearly 100 high school freshman girls during the third annual WNBA Changemaker Day Friday morning at the recently opened Obama Presidential Center. He popped into an WNBA Changemaker Day event at the Center’s Elie Wiesel Forum just as a panel of speakers was discussing the power of perseverence.

“Hello, everybody!” Obama exclaimed, wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt. “Settle down now,” he said, smiling, as the crowd screamed.

He began by telling the girls how proud he was of them and then spoke of his own experiences from being a dad to two daughters.

“Malia is now 28, Sasha is 25, but I remember like it was yesterday when they were your age,” Obama said. “We live in a world that is a lot more complicated for you guys than it was in some ways when I was coming up. There’s so much pressure and noise and and sometimes I think – especially for girls and young women – there’s social attitudes that tell you that you need to be one kind of way.”

This is the first ever practice by a professional team at the center's Home Court.

Read more at the link in our bio or at suntimes.com

Story: Mohammad Samra/Sun-Times
Video: Somer Van Benton/WBEZ & Britton Struthers-Lugo/Sun-Times by @somervbenton

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3 months ago

I’ll never take the opportunity to document history for granted.

Juneteenth 2026 will be remembered as the day the Obama Presidential Center opened to the public.

Over the past few days, I’ve heard people describe the Center as a hub for collaboration, creativity, learning, and community building. I’ve also heard questions about its role in Chicago, rising property values, long-term sustainability, and design choices.

What stood out most during my reporting wasn’t the absence of criticism—it was the willingness to engage with it. Again and again, people spoke about accountability, civic participation, and the idea that feedback is necessary for a place like this to grow into what it hopes to be.

After more than five years of construction, people are finally getting to experience the space for themselves.

Now I’m curious to see what happens after the ribbon cuttings, speeches, and celebrations are over—when the building has been lived in, challenged, embraced, and shaped by the community around it.

Until then… we can all just enjoy this extremely long photo dump.

📷: Ashlee Rezin, Candace Dane Chambers, Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere, Cassie Walker Burke, me. taken in Obama Presidential Center by @somervbenton

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4 months ago

A dream realized. taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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4 months ago

Work has carried me all over the city this week. Very blessed and grateful to do what I do. 🫶🏽
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#chicagojournalist #somervanbenton #bgim #publicmedia taken in Chicago, Illinois by @somervbenton

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4 months ago