217 Today: Congolese immigrants chase the American Dream in Galesburg

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Yannick Kapita, left, and Gogo Kupa, are the owners of the Galesburg Selfie Museum. They are Congolese immigrants who settled in Galesburg five years ago and say it was much easier to become part of the community than they expected.
  • Photo: Yuchen Wang/Tri State Public Radio

June 12, 2023

Today’s headlines:

  • Champaign police say there are multiple shooting victims after 2 incidents early Sunday morning.
  • The state network that distributes government grant dollars to Illinois’ rape crisis centers says federal funding came up short this year.
  • An Illinois Congressman is helping determine how much federal money the state needs for broadband expansion.
  • More than 3,000 athletes competed at the Special Olympics summer games in Bloomington-Normal over the weekend, two of whom are headed to the Special Olympics World Games this week.

In today’s deep dive, we hear about the journey of two Congolese immigrants and their new business endeavor in a Knox County town.

Reporting contributed by Reginald Hardwick, Lyndsay Jones, Alex Degman, Eric Stock and Yuchen Wang.

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Owen Henderson

Owen Henderson covers arts and culture, as well as LGBTQ issues for Illinois Public Media News. He studied journalism, Spanish and theater at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has worked with Illinois Public Media in various capacities since 2021.