On Sunday, August 5, Kirby Puckett will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Puckett spent his entire 12-year career with the Minnesota Twins. He was a member of two World Series championship teams and was selected as an All-Star ten times. He retired in 1995 with a .318 career batting average. Today he is an executive vice-president in the Twins organization.

Kirby Puckett grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes. Last week several brightly colored signs celebrating his induction into the Hall of Fame appeared on the cyclone fence that encloses the vacant lot, as spacious as a baseball field, where 4444 South State Street once stood.

After a few days, the hand-lettered signs disappeared. One sign remains. It reads: “Danger: Demolition in Progress.”

Sylvia Timmons grew up in 3615-17 South Federal, the first building at Stateway Gardens to be demolished. Her family now lives in 3547-49 South Federal. A student at Harold Washington College, Sylvia has a particular interest in criminal law. When she was an eighth grader at Raymond Elementary School, her teacher asked the class to memorize the Preamble of the Constitution. Sylvia struggled with the assignment until she hit upon an idea: she turned the Preamble into a rap. In the cadences of the Founding Fathers, she located rhythms she recognized. Years later, the national aspirations articulated in the Preamble, remembered as music, are secure in her memory. Here, in celebration of the Fourth of July, is Sylvia’s rap.

Listen to Sylvia’s Rap (requires RealAudio player) [Audio link is broken; will be restored as soon as possible]