{"product_id":"rockford-anthology","title":"Rockford Anthology","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScrew Capital of the World. Forest City. Home of the Rockford Peaches of \u003cem\u003eA League of Their Own\u003c\/em\u003e fame. Rockford, Illinois, has many identities, most oriented toward the past. These days, the fastener industry has mostly rusted away, the trees are less plentiful than they once were, and professional women's baseball is no more. What defines Rockford today?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to \u003cem\u003eThe Rockford Anthology\u003c\/em\u003e, it's the people. Those who grew up here, who came by choice or by circumstance, or who decided to leave. People who lost someone or found a voice or built community here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this installment of Belt's City Anthology series, the people of Rockford represent themselves in essays, poetry, and photographs. Here, you'll meet someone who found the space to start a business after leaving the crowd in Chicago. Academy Award-nominee Bing Liu takes you on a personal tour of his childhood houses and the ghosts that lurk there. A local attorney and activist shares how the city pushed back when ICE wanted to bring a detention center to Rockford. And you'll learn why \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby, stand-up comedian Ashley Ray-Harris, and an introverted expat living in Taiwan always say they're from Rockford . . . not Chicago. Whether through stories of growing up or chronicles of fights to make the city better, a sense of Rockford's present--and future--starts to come into focus.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rachel León","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47286650798316,"sku":"9781540270122","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781540270122.jpg?v=1770456459","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/rockford-anthology","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}