SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds. Volume 9, Issue 15 Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato Managing Editor
Adam Przybyl
Senior Editors Christopher Good Olivia Stovicek Sam Stecklow Martha Bayne Arts Editor Education Editor Housing Editor Community Organizing Editor Immigration Editor
Isabel Nieves Madeleine Parrish Malik Jackson Chima Ikoro Alma Campos
Contributing Editors Lucia Geng Matt Moore Francisco Ramírez Pinedo Jocelyn Vega Scott Pemberton Staff Writers Kiran Misra Yiwen Lu Director of Fact Checking: Kate Gallagher Fact Checkers: Grace Del Vecchio, Hannah Farris, Savannah Hugueley, Caroline Kubzansky, Yiwen Lu, and Sky Patterson Visuals Editor Bridget Killian Deputy Visuals Editors Shane Tolentino Mell Montezuma Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma Shane Tolentino Layout Editors Colleen Hogan Shane Tolentino Webmaster Pat Sier Managing Director Jason Schumer Director of Operations Brigid Maniates The Weekly is produced by a mostly all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We publish online weekly and in print every other Thursday. Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773) 234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly.com
Cover Illustration by Bridget Killian
IN CHICAGO
IN THIS ISSUE
Sales tax freeze Governor J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have written into the budget direct payments for working families, as well as sales tax discounts for gasoline and grocery purchases. Each individual adult will be eligible for a check of up to $50, with households receiving an additional $100 per child. The state’s one-percent sales tax on groceries will be suspended through July 1, 2023. The state’s fuel tax will no longer be raised to reflect inflation and will be frozen at $.39 a gallon through January 2023.
el ranchero employees protest unjust
New citywide cash assistance program Starting Monday, April 25, Chicagoans can apply to a new cash assistance program. Through the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, a $31.5 million dollar program from the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services, “5,000 Chicagoans will be selected through an application and citywide lottery to receive $500 per month for twelve months,” according to the City’s website. To be eligible for the program, you must live in Chicago, be eighteen or older, have experienced economic hardship related to COVID-19, and meet the annual income requirements. For a household of one, that would be about $34,000 or less, while for a household of four, it would be about $69,000 or less. Only one applicant per household can apply, and undocumented people are eligible. Applications will be open between April 25 and May 13, and you can stay updated at bit.ly/3vkhcFa.
jacqueline serrato..................................5
firings
Inspired by El Milagro workers, employees of Authentico Foods make similar demands. jacqueline serrato..................................4 los trabajadores de el ranchero se inspiran por la lucha en el milagro
Deciden organizarse y protestan por despidos injustos. public meetings report
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level. documenters, scott pemberton............7 chicago’s welcome of ukrainian refugees may come with challenges
Afghan and Ukranian arrivals are navigating unique legal obstacles in seeking asylum and resettlement.
alexandra price, reema saleh...............8 a hug for your ears
The Bronzeville Trail Similar to the Bloomingdale Trail on the North Side, the South Side will soon see its own abandoned rail line repurposed into a walking, biking, and jogging trail. The City announced plans to expand forty-eight miles worth of trails and parks for pedestrians and bikers. Part of the plan includes turning the abandoned Kenwood CTA train tracks in Bronzeville into two miles of elevated trail. The trail is mapped out to start near 40th and Dearborn streets, end around 41st Street and Lake Park Avenue, and have an access point near the 41st Street pedestrian bridge that would connect the trail to the Lakefront Trail. Other South Side neighborhoods like Englewood and Chinatown are likely to see the development of new trails as well.
Manasseh’s mother bought him Brandy’s selftitled debut on cassette, his very first peek at the world of music beyond gospel. lauren johnson......................................10
UIC grad workers are on strike On April 18, the 1,500 members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) went on strike after more than a year of stalled contract negotiations. GEO, which represents graduate student workers who teach and research while pursuing their education, is pushing for a five percent pay increase and reductions in health care costs and student fees. According to the union, the fees can amount to ten percent of the $20,000 minimum yearly salary, one of the lowest grad worker salaries among the city’s universities. GEO has been negotiating with UIC administration for a year, but union organizers said they are stuck on pay and fees. On April 1, three quarters of union members voted and ninety-seven percent were in support of the strike. This strike is UIC’s second in three years; in March 2019, graduate workers went on strike to cut fees and increase pay and won significant concessions.
Sexual violence and rape culture are alive and thriving in places closer to home than we might fully understand. jacqueline cardenas..............................16
being the first black woman: a blessing and a curse
Black women in politics reflect on the weight of being historically outnumbered and breaking through barriers. chima ikoro............................................11 the taboo subject of sexual assault
the exchange
The Weekly's poetry corner offers our thoughts in exchange for yours. chima ikoro, imani joseph.....................18 calendar
Bulletin and events. south side weekly staff........................21
LABOR
El Ranchero Employees Protest Unjust Firings
Inspired by El Milagro workers, employees of Authentico Foods make similar demands. BY JACQUELINE SERRATO
ILLUSTRATION BY THUMY PHAN
J
ust a few days after tortilla employees declared a partial victory over El Milagro after months of resistance against an abusive workplace culture, workers from a tortilla chip factory, El Ranchero on the Southwest Side, also held a protest outside their headquarters with similar demands.
In early March, seventeen current and former employees of the parent company, Authentico Foods, which also owns La Guadalupana, a mass producer of tamales, began meeting in a church during their off time to learn about their rights. The employees reported grievances about the working conditions in three
plants—at 4457 S. Kildare Ave., 4545 S. Tripp Ave., and 4647 S. Archer Ave.— that included verbal and physical abuse, no raises or regular breaks, and retaliation for speaking up, all in violation of Illinois law. Sandra Fernández, a quality control worker who lives in La Villita, was one
PHOTO BY JACQUELINE SERRATO
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of three employees who were fired for ambiguous reasons shortly after getting in touch with labor rights organization Arise Chicago. She said workers reached out to their supervisors multiple times this year, and in March attempted to deliver letters and petitions to management but were ignored. In a statement from A lejandro Castro, president and CEO of Authentico Foods, he said, “We don’t comment on employee concerns. We have an open-door policy through which our employees are welcome and encouraged to discuss and resolve their concerns with management.” But Fernández produced videos that showed workers still wearing hairnets outside the Tripp Ave. location and knocking the door without being let inside on at least two separate occasions. They dropped the letters through the mail slot. In a press conference on April 14, workers denounced unjust firings, abusive managers and grueling working conditions. Fárnandez added, “Repeatedly I sat down with Mr. Alejandro Castro and let him know. I have emails, I'm not talking just to talk. I have the evidence in hand, and when he wants—he says he is going to meet with us—whenever he wants I can show it to him.” Fernández said she was fired on March 19 toward the end of her shift without notice or justification, and her co-workers were fired in similar fashion, which she believes has been discouraging those who were already on the fence about speaking up. César Fernández, a nine-year
FUERZA LABORAL employee who was also fired, had been selected by his peers as the workplace spokesperson when speaking to management. “Then on a Saturday, my day off, I got a call from my supervisor. He told me I was ‘no longer needed’ at the company. I asked why and he couldn’t tell me. I asked whose decision it was. He said he couldn’t tell me.” Through collective pressure, workers have been able to win verbal commitments from the company, such as one-dollar raises across the board, plus twenty-five cents extra for workers with seniority, and training for managers. But as of the press conference, terminated workers had not been offered their jobs back. The company later said they would reconsider reinstating the workers who were fired, Fernández told the Weekly. According to Laura Garza, the worker center director of Arise Chicago, “They said that they are going to fix the problems with the breaks [and] the lunch breaks, they are going to make sure that the workers take their lunch break before
the fifth hour of work, as required by state law… about paid sick days, they are going to review their policy and stop requiring medical proof or prescriptions before the third day of absence.” El Ranchero workers acknowledged they were inspired by El Milagro’s organizing, which resulted in over $1.3 million in collective wage increases, ending an illegal seven-day work week and unlawful requirements for paid sick time, anti-sexual harassment training for managers, and air conditioning in lunch rooms. La Guadalupana and El Ranchero are staple manufacturers of Mexican food products in Chicago. They each gained their brand recognition by operating in Little Village for generations, before merging under the name Authentico Foods and expanding in the Southwest Side. ¬ Jacqueline Serrato is the Weekly’s editor-inchief. She last wrote a Q&A about growing up in the Robert Taylor Homes
CORTESÍA
Los trabajadores de El Ranchero se inspiran por la lucha en El Los empleados de Authentico Foods deciden Milagro organizarse y protestan por despidos injustos.
POR JACQUELINE SERRATO
A
pocos días de que los trabajadores declararan una victoria parcial sobre El Milagro después de meses de protesta contra una cultura laboral abusiva, los trabajadores de una planta de tostadas y totopos, El Ranchero, en el lado suroeste, también protestaron frente a la sede con demandas similares. A principios de marzo, diecisiete empleados y ex empleados de la empresa matriz, Authentico Foods, que también es propietaria de La Guadalupana, un
fabricante de tamales, comenzaron a reunirse en una iglesia durante su tiempo libre para conocer sus derechos. Los empleados reportaron quejas sobre las condiciones de trabajo en tres plantas — en 4457 S. Kildare Ave., 4545 S. Tripp Ave. y 4647 S. Archer Ave.— que incluían abuso verbal y físico, la falta de aumentos y descansos regulares y represalias por organizarse, en violación de las leyes de Illinois. Sandra Fernández, una trabajadora
de control de calidad que vive en La Villita, fue una de tres empleados que fueron despedidos por motivos ambiguos poco después de ponerse en contacto con la organización de derechos laborales Arise Chicago. Ella dijo que los trabajadores quisieron contactar a sus supervisores varias veces este año y en marzo intentaron entregar cartas y peticiones a la gerencia, pero fueron ignorados. En un comunicado de Alejandro
Castro, presidente y director ejecutivo de Authentico Foods, dijo: “No comentamos sobre las preocupaciones de los empleados. Tenemos una política de puertas abiertas por la cual nuestros empleados son bienvenidos y animados a hablar y resolver sus inquietudes con la gerencia”. Pero Fernández enseñó videos que mostraban a los trabajadores, todavía con sus redes para el cabello puestas, afuera de las instalaciones de la avenida APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5
FUERZA LABORAL Tripp, tocando la puerta sin que los dejaran entrar en al menos dos ocasiones distintas. Les tuvieron que dejar las cartas por la entrada del correo. En una conferencia de prensa el 14 de abril, los trabajadores denunciaron despidos injustos, gerentes abusivos y condiciones de trabajo agotadoras. Fárnandez agregó, “En repetidas ocasiones yo me senté con el señor Alejandro Castro y le hice saber. Tengo emails, yo no estoy hablando nomas por hablar. Tengo las pruebas en la mano, y cuando quiera–él dice que se va a juntar con nosotros–cuando quiera yo se
los gerentes. Pero a los trabajadores despedidos no les ofrecieron devolverles sus trabajos de inmediato. Luego de la conferencia de prensa, la empresa dijo que consideraría reincorporar a los trabajadores que fueron despedidos, le dijo Fernández al Weekly. Según Laura Garza, directora del centro de trabajadores de Arise Chicago, "Dijeron que van a arreglar los problemas con los ‘breaks’, los descansos de almuerzo, van a asegurarse que los compañeros tomen su hora de almuerzo antes de la quinta hora del trabajo, como requiere la ley del estado... Sobre los días
las muestro”. Fernández dijo que fue despedida el 19 de marzo casi acabando su turno sin previo aviso ni justificación, y que sus compañeros de trabajo fueron despedidos de manera similar, lo cual cree que ha desanimado a quienes ya estaban indecisos de organizarse. César Fernández, un empleado de nueve años que también fue despedido, había sido seleccionado por sus compañeros como el vocero del lugar de trabajo para hablar con la gerencia. “Luego, un sábado, en mi día libre, recibí una llamada de mi supervisor. Me dijo que 'ya no me necesitaban' en la empresa. Le pregunté por qué y no me supo decir. Pregunté de quién era la decisión. Dijo que no podía decírmelo". A través de la presión colectiva, los trabajadores han logrado obtener compromisos verbales de la empresa, como aumentos de un dólar a todos los trabajadores, más veinticinco centavos adicionales para los trabajadores con antigüedad y entrenamiento para
pagados de enfermedad, van a revisar su política y dejaran de exigir comprobantes médicos o [recetas] antes del tercer día de ausencia". Los trabajadores de El Ranchero reconocieron que se sintieron inspirados por la organización laboral en El Milagro, que resultó en más de $1.3 millones en aumentos de sueldo colectivos, el fin a una semana laboral ilegal de siete días y el fin a requisitos ilegales para días de enfermedad pagados, entrenamiento para gerentes contra el acoso sexual y aire acondicionado en los comedores. La Guadalupana y El Ranchero son fabricantes establecidos de productos mexicanos en Chicago. Cada uno hizo popular su marca al operar en La Villita por varias generaciones, antes de fusionarse bajo el nombre de Authentico Foods y expandirse en el lado suroeste. ¬
“Recibí una llamada de mi supervisor. Me dijo que 'ya no me necesitaban' en la empresa. Le pregunté por qué y no me supo decir. Pregunté de quién era la decisión. Dijo que no podía decírmelo". —César Fernández
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Jacqueline Serrato es la editora-en-jefe del Weekly. CORTESÍA
Public Meetings Report
ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLEY APPOLD
April 5 Located just north of Midway Airport, the former LeClaire Courts public housing campus redevelopment continued its forward crawl over the past decade. The Community Development Commission recommended at its meeting a special taxing district to help fund the $350 million project. The commission reviewed development matters related to tax increment financing districts (TIFs) and recommended that the City Council approve the creation of the Cicero/Stevenson TIF district. It’s expected that the district would provide an estimated $80 million toward the development from tax revenue generated by the district. Ground could be broken this year. A second recommendation was for the sale of City-owned land located in the Ogden/Pulaski TIF area to Grace at Jerusalem Community Development Corporation and East Lake Management. A third encouraged the City Council to approve the sale of City land in West Ridge to NeighborSpace. It’s now maintained by community members as a garden. The commission was created by the City Council in 1992 to replace departments responsible for commercial development and urban renewal. Hosted by the Office of the Mayor, the first town hall exploring casinos for Chicago saw Hard Rock tout its “world-class brand” and entertainment reputation beyond gambling. The event at Harold Washington Library is one of three, each focused on a different finalist proposal. It drew about seventy-five participants and featured a red carpet, snacks, and a DJ. The Hard Rock proposal offered three thousand slot machines, five hundred hotel rooms, shops, and other amenities at a “tourist-centric” location near Soldier Field and the Museum Campus. City officials have estimated a casino could create thousands of jobs and play a significant role in the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Questions were submitted in writing to a moderator, though participants were allowed a fifteen-minute Q&A at the end. Attendees raised concerns about how the development might affect area property values, safety, and quality of life. The mayor created a special City Council Casino Committee to streamline review of ordinances and requests related to the construction of a casino. April 6 Designed to reduce the impact of rising gasoline prices, a new program would issue up to 50,000 pre-loaded cards for gasoline worth $150 each and 100,000 pre-loaded transit cards for CTA, Metra, or Pace Bus passes worth $50 each. Households can apply to receive the cards, which will be awarded via a lottery. The meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations was devoted largely to creating a Transportation Assistance Program, also known as the Chicago Moves Initiative, as well as reviewing amendments to the 2022 Annual Appropriation Ordinance. Committee members raised concerns about sustainability, equity, inadequate outreach to marginalized communities, and mis-prioritization of issues during the pandemic. Chair Pat Dowell designated the meeting a subject matter hearing without voting. No written text was available on the City’s website before the meeting. In its second Chicago Casino town hall hosted by the Office of the Mayor, Samir Mayekar, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Development, claimed Chicago had the lowest unemployment rate last year compared to other large cities. Jennie Huang Bennett, Chief Financial Officer, said the City has been planning this development for three decades, saying "$400 million statewide and $200 million citywide is lost each
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level for the April 21 issue. BY DOCUMENTERS, INDIA DANIELS, SCOTT PEMBERTON
year this is not opened." Soo Kim, the Chairman of Bally's Corporation, presented their development proposal at the McCormick Place site, which will include a 3,000seat theater and a sports museum. Bally's has sixteen casinos, as well as an online business throughout the country and London. A former Cabrini-Green resident and business owner said they support Bally's, but that the minority contractors they are working with have not worked with community contractors, particularly local Black contractors. Another resident said they want to ensure that twenty percent of jobs and contracts are given to Black workers and contractors, adding that Black people are being pushed out of Chicago. April 7 Ineffective communication and action concerning property tax assessments from the Cook County Assessor’s office were the focus of three public commenters during the Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting. Assessor Fritz Kaegi was elected in 2018, replacing a controversial Joe Berrios. Commenters reflected various interests of the real estate industry. Criticisms included delayed property tax bills, miscalculations, and unexpected increases in assessed property tax values. The speakers asked for “predictability and transparency prior to the reassessments” (George Chandler, the Coldwell Banker real estate company); for standardization of the tax assessment process “as soon as possible” (Adriann Murawski, Illinois Realtors); and for the board to help the “Cook County property tax system come out of the unknown” (Erik Schwab, real estate broker). President Toni Preckwinkle also introduced the first Cook County Equity Fund Report. The report was “created to address historic and continued disinvestment and inequities that have negatively impacted Black, Latine and other marginalized residents,” according to a press statement. Members of the Cook County Board Commission on Social Innovation were asked at their meeting to consider how government entities, with the support of civic leaders, can fill an anticipated void in services provided by religious communities. Guest speaker Mark Elsdon, a minister and writer, estimates that $3.5 billion in church property will be sold in the country this year and that the pandemic has accelerated the closings and sales of houses of worship. Elsdon explained that religious groups have historically provided community services such as children’s programs, overnight shelter, free meals, and meeting space for self-help and other personal development groups. He is the executive director of Pres House, a building with a church, apartment complex, and campus ministry at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He encouraged the adaptive reuse of religious properties to provide services instead of sales of the properties to private developers. The commission was created in 2016 to explore innovative approaches to workforce development, industry, and community revitalization. Would a proposed casino afford the City more control over crime and safety concerns because of its location? Developers of the Rivers 78 casino proposal insist that it would, but attendees at a community town hall hosted by the Office of the Mayor remained skeptical. Unruly attendees at times pressed Rivers Casino presenters about previous union-busting charges and how this casino would benefit Black and brown residents. A megadevelopment billed as Chicago’s 78th neighborhood, the 78 casino is planned for an area just north of Chinatown in the South Loop. It would also include a new school, park space, apartments, retail, and an observation tower promoted as “the Eiffel Tower of Chicago.” This information was collected in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 7
IMMIGRATION
Chicago’s Welcome of Ukrainian Refugees May Come With Challenges
The influx of Ukrainian refugees comes after some of the infrastructure for resettlement was lost under the previous presidential administration. BY ALEXANDRA PRICE AND REEMA SALEH
O
ver the course of the past year, two major international events– the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine–have resulted in a large increase in the number of refugees to the United States, many of whom will end up resettling in Chicago. The magnitude of the Ukrainian exodus is hard to overstate; as of mid-April, more than 4.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine to nearby countries such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and more; that’s approximately two thirds of the total number of Syrian refugees over the duration of the Syrian Civil War. In response, President Joe Biden recently pledged that the U.S. would resettle up to 100,000 Ukrainians who were forced to leave their country due to the war. This number is significant on its own, but stands out even more in the context of recent years. During the last year of the Obama administration, the United States accepted around 85,000 refugees; over the course of the Trump administration, that number dropped annually until it bottomed out at 11,814 in 2020. When Biden entered office in 2021—and especially after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan resulted in more than 65,000 Afghans being evacuated to the United States—refugee resettlement agencies in Chicago felt the shift. RefugeeOne, the largest resettlement agency in Chicago, settled around one hundred families in the last year of the Trump administration. But since July 2021, the organization has settled 600 families, 450 of which arrived from Afghanistan. Similarly, the Hyde Park 8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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Refugee Project, a local, volunteer-run Recognizing that these expectations are Iran or Pakistan and spoke one of the resettlement agency, has resettled four unrealistic for refugee families, who have languages in the country. And they were Afghan families in quick succession experienced significant dislocation and like, how can I help?” Jenschke explained. since the fall of 2021. A similar surge is trauma, RefugeeOne keeps some of its “I think that’s something that I can see expected for Ukrainian refugees. services—such as employment support— [happening] when we start getting Which is why refugee organizations available to families for up to five years. people from Ukraine as well.” are preparing. But rebuilding the For the Hyde Park Refugee Project, The uncertain legal status of Afghan infrastructure needed to resettle large the willingness of the Hyde Park and Ukrainian refugees in the United numbers of refugees is a challenge. community to step in and help has been States creates additional challenges for During the Trump administration, many instrumental to the agency’s ability to resettlement agencies. Most refugees agencies were forced to lay off staff and both meet the sudden need and sustain have official refugee status granted lost significant institutional knowledge. it over the long term. “I think the way before their arrival in the U.S. by the “The infrastructure that was in place to that we see ourselves as different from federal government or the UN Refugee welcome refugees was basically torn the large resettlement agencies is that Agency, which may recommend permanent resettlement for those most vulnerable. But displaced Afghan and Ukranian people are navigating unique legal obstacles in seeking asylum and resettlement. Most Afghans needing resettlement have arrived with “humanitarian parole,” a status determined by the federal government in response to the emergency situation. While they meet the definition of a refugee, most will still need to apply apart,” said Jims Porter, of RefugeeOne. we’re trying to provide really intense for asylum in the near future to be eligible “Basically, overnight, we were expected services [over the] long term. So we don’t for the same legal benefits refugees have. to find a way to rebuild all of that, but have hundreds of families, we have five “When it comes to humanitarian parolees, without really any immediate access to ten families that we’re working with. like Afghans, originally, humanitarian to funds.” But we’re working really closely with parole was not going to include access to To welcome incoming Afghan them,” said Lisa Jenschke, one of the federally funded resettlement services. It refugees in the fall and winter of 2021, organization’s co-directors. With the help didn't look like Afghans were going to resettlement agencies had to adapt of its many volunteers, the organization have access to the resettlement services quickly to hire language interpreters, is able to provide mentorship, English- that we offer…and they wouldn't have mental health clinicians, and additional language classes, youth summer camps, access to public benefits either,” said staff. Funding from the state has been employment support, housing assistance, Porter. “So we did a lot of advocacy on critical to building RefugeeOne’s capacity and more to the families that they resettle. that front and we were able to make sure for new arrivals. The federal government “With the Afghan evacuation at the that they did receive access to public provides funding to resettlement agencies end of last summer, what we found was benefits, and they did get qualification to support families, but this funding that we suddenly had a lot of volunteers for resettlement services.” only covers costs for three months. coming to us who were originally from Ukrainian arrivals may also initially
“Basically, overnight, we were expected to find a way to rebuild all of that, but without really any immediate access to funds.” —Jims Porter
be granted humanitarian parole or Temporary Protected Status, which provides temporary legal status to immigrants from designated countries but may mean that they will be sent back to their country of origin once it is deemed safe. Some may also come as asylum seekers, who present themselves at the border or in the country with a well-founded fear of persecution. While these designations are complicated and in flux, they have meaningful impacts on how Afghan and Ukranian arrivals can access services and reach permanent safety here. “I think they might have a grace period for a couple of years, but they probably are going to have to apply for asylum in that first year that they’re here,” said Jenschke. “And the immigration lawyers right now are really overloaded. Because who was expecting 70,000 Afghans to arrive all at once?” Refugee resettlement is dependent on community support. Both in Hyde Park and throughout the city, volunteers have stepped up to help refugee families resettle, especially those from the Ukrainian and Muslim communities. “We've definitely seen an outpouring of support from not only those two communities, but just all people in Chicago, it's been amazing to see people reaching out wanting to support,” said Porter. For those hoping to get involved, volunteer opportunities abound at RefugeeOne, the Hyde Park Refugee
Project, and other organizations. “There are so many ways to be involved. It can be running a food drive at your church. We have a lot of high-school age volunteers who volunteer with our after-school program and with our summer camp [...] Our ESL program is growing,” said Jenschke. She also encourages Chicagoans to get involved in advocacy to help address the legal challenges to refugee resettlement. “We’re going to need to help Congress understand what we need to do to support these people when they come in.”¬ To learn more about volunteer opportunities at RefugeeOne, go to https://www. refugeeone.org/volunteer.html to fill out a volunteer application or email volunteer@ refugeeone.org. You can also find resources for policy advocacy at https://www.refugeeone. org/advocacy.html. To learn more about volunteer opportunities at the Hyde Park Refugee Project, go to https://hydeparkrefugeeproject.org/getinvolved/ to fill out a volunteer application or donate to sponsor a family. Alexandra Price is a social impact professional based in Hyde Park. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, learning languages, and meeting new people across Chicago. This is her first story for the Weekly. Reema Saleh is a journalist and graduate student at University of Chicago studying public policy. She last wrote about the apparel worker cooperative, Blue Tin Productions.
ILLUSTRATED BY BRIDGET KILLIAN
APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 9
MUSIC
A Hug For Your Ears
Chicago artist Manasseh reflects on gospel roots and self-care after dropping debut album Monochromatic Dream. BY LAUREN JOHNSON
A
fter several years of writing and recording, Manasseh released his debut album, Monochromatic Dream, on March 29. How would he describe it? “It’s a hug for your heart; it’s a hug for your soul; it’s a hug for your ears.” Manasseh, a Chicago native, grew up in Woodlawn before moving to West Englewood in 1994 with his mother and brother. His mother, a “heavy hitter in church,” was one of his biggest inspirations. Following his mother’s footsteps, Manasseh has been singing since he was two or three years old. Several of the songs on Monochromatic Dream allude to Manasseh’s childhood, his gospel roots, and his personal history. “13” is inspired by Psalm 13, a scripture that his aunt recited to him when he was young. “We couldn’t listen to anything but gospel music,” he told me. “We grew up listening to a radio station called 1390, and they played all the latest gospel hits.” The Psalm asks “how long wilt thou forget me oh Lord, will it be forever”—and Manasseh admitted that he had forgotten. But his song was an opportunity to connect with the Psalm and his faith once more. Later in childhood, Manasseh’s mother bought him Brandy’s self-titled debut on cassette, which ended up being his very first peek at the world of music beyond gospel. After that, there wasn’t anything Manasseh wouldn’t listen to, and he found himself exploring all types of music whenever he had the chance. This curiosity shaped the sound of Monochromatic Dreams, which spans gospel, disco, R&B, pop, soul, and house music across its nine-track runtime. But while Manasseh plays with various musical genres, there is an 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
CAPTURED BY MARTIN SMITH
intentional repetition in his lyrics. “I know for myself I wanted it to feel like a mantra. Whatever song you listen to, I wanted you to repeat certain things to yourself—like ‘don’t be afraid to reach out.’” Creating the album was an act of self-care for Manasseh, and he hopes that the album can be a source of healing for his fans. If some of the songs from Monochromatic Dream are about Manasseh’s history, then one of his favorite tracks from the LP, “This Groove,” is a piece of history. He wrote the country-pop song fourteen years ago, performed it once, and then dropped it for over a decade. “Me and the song knew each other at one point, and we went our separate ways and matured, then came back together and had the same conversation,” he said. “We identified with each other on a different level and a deeper level.” Manasseh is grateful for the friends and collaborators that assisted with Monochromatic Dream, like friend and producer Aidan Eubanks, who he considers the foundation for the album. The album also has a number of featured artists, including Chicago rappers Boog Liberace and Galaxy Francis and St. Louis rapper J-Hop, who each brought their own sounds and expertise to their respective tracks. But above all, he’s grateful for the support of the Chicago musical community. “You know, just being around in Chicago, we move a certain kind of way, we love each other. It’s listed as the most segregated city—but when it comes down to it, we get things done for one another, and that's what I love.” As for what’s next? Manasseh
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CAPTURED BY MARTIN SMITH
WHITE MANASSEH COVER
performed at Cole’s Bar in Logan Square on April 17, and is organizing a “minitour” around Monochromatic Dream. But beyond recording and performing, he would also like to take a mentorship role and support newer Chicago musicians. “I want people to discover and polish their own sounds. It’s a learning experience for me too.” ¬
CAPTURED BY SEED LYNN
Lauren Johnson is a recent college graduate currently living in Chicago. She recently interviewed Dimitri Moore for the Weekly.
POLITICS
Being the First Black Woman: A Blessing and a Curse
In light of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's appointment to the U.S Supreme Court, Black women in politics reflect on the weight of being historically outnumbered and breaking through barriers. CHIMA IKORO
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n April 7, 2022, the United States Senate voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to serve on the high court. Despite being one of the most qualified candidates in history— she is the only candidate to have held the roles of Supreme Court clerk, sentencing commission, district judge, and public defender, for example—her hearing was marred by inappropriate questions and disrespectful antics from Republican senators, who attempted to undermine her qualifications, along with valid concerns about her past sentencing record. Jackson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1992 and cum laude from Harvard Law School four years later. After graduation, Jackson went on to clerk for judges on the Massachusetts federal court, the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and eventually the Supreme Court. After joining the U.S Sentencing Commision, she served as a federal public defender where she “won uncommon victories against the government that shortened or erased lengthy prison terms,” according to the Washington Post. Upon being sworn in, she will be the first and only Supreme Court justice to have been a public defender. In 2009, she was nominated by thenPresident Barack Obama to serve as the Vice Chair for the U.S Sentencing Commision, and in 2012, became a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In 2021, Jackson was
SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, PHOTO BY THOMAS J. O'HALLORAN, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORTS. LIGHT RESTORATION BY ADAM CUERDEN, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, of sexual assault, which is considerably in light of ongoing discussions about different than the microaggression trans rights. After Jackson stated that that Jackson faced during her own she’s not a biologist, Blackburn proceeded appointment hearing. As the hearing to berate Jackson, taking previously made came to a close, Graham and Senator quotes out of context as she made her Rand Paul intentionally violated the dress closing remarks. code, so they were not allowed to vote “Do you agree with this book from the floor with everyone else, and being taught to kids that babies instead voted from the Senate cloakroom. are racist?” questioned Senator Ted Commentators were quick to Cruz, a Republican from Texas. He call out this act and others before it as then cited books written by various disrespectful and worse. “The racist, sexist authors discussing critical race theory mudslinging at Ketanji Brown Jackson is to scrutinize Jackson, despite her mild disgraceful” read a CNN headline. responses. Tucker Carlson, a Fox News Once confirmed, Jackson’s host, boldly claimed that Jackson was appointment to the Supreme Court only nominated because she is “tanner was announced by Vice President than Joe Biden,” while also harping over Kamala Harris, the first Black woman her LSAT scores. to occupy that seat as well. Although Senator Lindsey Graham, a progressives have demanded Harris be Republican from South Carolina, held accountable for her controversial examined Jackson's religion and faith criminal justice background, this was an with a fine-toothed comb, among many undeniably historical moment. other points of extensive inquiry, while But what does it really mean to be continually interrupting Jackson as she the “First Black Woman” in politics? At calmly responded to his questions. times, it seems as though the weight of Jackson faced questions and behavior this cross speaks more to how slowly that bordered on the absurd despite times have changed, while exposing
nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by President Joe Biden, who later nominated her to fill the vacant seat of Justice Breyer on the Supreme Court. During the confirmation hearing, which took place from March 21 to April 7, Jackson was questioned in an unusual manner, particularly by Republicans. Several senators phrased their questions to discredit Jackson and mirror the current political climate and its disputes regardless of whether or Graham’s apparent promise that her not these specifics were relevant to her hearing would not be a “circus” like that of Brett Kavanaugh’s in 2018. Kavanaugh qualifications. “Can you provide a definition for the faced intense questioning from senators word ‘woman’?” asked Senator Marsha and the public over numerous allegations
“If they’re uncomfortable, you’re doing something right.” — Rep. Lakesia Collins
Black women to yet another avenue to receive racially charged and sexist attacks. The Weekly interviewed local women in politics to get their take on Jackson’s appointment and share their experiences APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11
POLITICS navigating positions of power in politics, government, and the spaces in between. he Constitution, when it was initially written, didn’t account for people like me,” said Kina Collins, a young Black woman who is running against Congressman Danny Davis for his seat in Illinois’s 7th congressional district. She is the youngest Black woman in the history of the state to run for Congress; if she wins, Collins will be the youngest Black woman to ever be elected to Congress. Born and raised in the West Side neighborhood of South Austin, and an alumna of Louisiana State University, Collins understands the needs of her communities in a way many other politicians do not. “My background is in gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform work, and I also consider myself a public health advocate. I stepped into that work because, like many young people in the city of Chicago who grew up on the West Side and the South Side, I witnessed a
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murder up close and personal in my childhood neighborhood,” Kina said, “And I knew the shooter and the victim.” Collins has a philosophy about the importance of intentional representations in places of power: true representation goes beyond identity politics. This need is demonstrated through the overlap in experiences that many Americans face regardless of race or gender. Gun violence is a prime example. Collins talked about how just as kids on the West Side of Chicago can tell stories about gun violence, so can “very affluent communities like Newtown, Connecticut, where second graders had mass shootings in their classrooms,” she said. She’s disturbed by the fact that many of the people who hold the “power of the purse” don’t share experiences with the community members that are inherently affected by policy changes or lack thereof. “Some of these folks who are making these decisions, whether it’s legislating or allocating funding, have never even heard a gun go off,” Collins said.
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON ILLUSTRATED BY BRIDGET KILLIAN
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KINA COLLINS, PHOTO BY SARAH MATHESON
In 2015, Collins joined young Black and Brown organizers in Chicago to organize direct actions around the murder of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager who was killed by then-Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The dashcam footage that showed the shooting was withheld from the public for nearly 400 days as then-mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPD attempted to cover it up. “We have to say unapologetically that excessive use of police force by way of guns is, in fact, gun violence,” Collins stated. “Our direct action turned into electoral action,” Collins said. In light of the continued organizing and protesting, Chicago got a new mayor, a new state’s attorney, new City Council members, and a continued push for a federal consent decree. “We got an officer charged and convicted of murder,” Collins said, “Which hadn’t happened in, I think, about ninety-nine years in the Chicago Police Department.”’ “I realized the power wasn’t just in the frontlines of the protests, it was in the public policy room,” she said. In 2017, as an activist, Collins wrote her first piece of civil rights legislation; House Bill 5544, the Illinois Council on Women and Girls Act, which was then filed by state Representative Anna
Moeller. The council created by the bill would advise the governor and state lawmakers on any public policy or funding that would directly impact women and girls. In 2018, the bill was amended to include transgender women and ensured the council was diverse in regards to gender identity. “We can’t subscribe to the politics of leaving people behind,” Collins said. “My bill passed in the House, it passed in the Senate, and we forced [then-governor] Bruce Rauner to sign it into law.” The council is now Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton’s premier initiative. At times, it’s clear that no one fights harder for women than women themselves. In 2020, Collins came in second place in a four-way race with Davis for the seat he has held since 1996, when she was five years old. Collins watched the recent Supreme Court appointment hearings with mixed emotions. “The fact that [ Jackson] was overly qualified for the position, one of the most qualified nominees to become justice of the highest court of the land, and she was being questioned by people who, in my opinion, don’t even have the qualifications to carry her briefcase,” she said. The most disheartening and
POLITICS triggering aspects of Jackson’s hearing for Collins were the accolades she received for handling the disrespect with so much “grace.” “That is mentally harmful to Black women, and Black women have had to hold that trauma for so many centuries— since we stepped foot here in the United States. That was very telling that people were applauding her ability to hold her pain instead of saying ‘we need a form of accountability to make sure that this never happens again,’” Collins said. “It was hard to watch her have to be badgered with these questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the job... It was hurtful, I shed a few tears watching parts of her confirmation.” “This is what violence looks like,”
Collins said of the hearing, “Violence is not [just] when you punch somebody or pull the trigger, violence is when you have an intention to harm somebody... I think that this was just another form of structural violence that America got to see up close and personal.” actually had no interest in being in politics,” said Dr. Amara Enyia, a strategist, public policy expert, and former mayoral candidate. “But because I had worked in government, I could see clearly how the decisions were being made, the disconnect between decision makers and those who are affected by those decisions and policies. That really had a strong influence on my eventual journey into the political realm.” Enyia, who currently resides
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AMARA ENYIA, PHOTO BY AARON CYNIC, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
on the West Side, is the daughter of concerned with a person's politics Nigerian immigrants. She’s proficient in than their phenotype,” she said. “By her native tongue, Igbo, as well as Spanish, that, I mean, we are at a time where French, and Portuguese. An educated we have Black mayors, we have Black woman, Enyia holds bachelors degrees police superintendents, we have Black in Broadcast Journalism and Political attorney[s] general, we have Black state’s Science, a masters degree in education, attorneys…” a law degree, and a PhD in Education But despite there being Black people, Policy. and Black women, in positions of power, In 2019, Enyia ran for mayor some continue to perpetuate harm to alongside two other Black women: Black communities. Enyia believes that Cook County Board President Toni shared experiences create empathy and Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot, who trust. became the first Black woman mayor of Enyia joined the rest of the country Chicago. The choice to run came from in watching Jackson’s hearing. Foreseeing seeing unmet needs in her communities how the hearing would play out before
“It was hard to watch her have to be badgered with these questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the job.” – Kina Collins and deciding not to wait for someone to help when she could do so herself. Enyia recalled being dismissed because of a problem similar to Kina Collins: her age. She was around twentyseven when she received her PhD, and despite her qualifications, she still found elected officials and leadership positions seemingly discrediting her on account of her age and presumably her gender. “But it never deterred me,” she said. She also noted how often community members are discredited because of their socioeconomic status. “We actually discount the legitimacy of people because they may be poor,” Enyia said. “There is a very powerful phenomenon that's very troubling, where we [associate] morality, intellect, competency, with income.” Enyia started to notice these misconceptions more when running for mayor. “‘How can you manage a city if you’re not a millionaire? How can you manage a city with this budget?’ What I would say [is], ‘Well, we’ve had millionaires as mayors for almost the entire history of the City, and still, we have a structural deficit and a financial mess’” she said. For Enyia, representation goes beyond identity politics. “I’m more
a single word was said, Enyia still found herself shocked and disgusted with the way certain senators questioned Jackson. “I’ve been there. I know. You could be the most qualified person in the world, but it's not about your qualifications. There is this constant attempt to discredit and delegitimize,” she said. Like Collins, Enyia was uncomfortable with the celebration of Jackson’s ability to appear unbothered. “I don’t want Black women to now have to be put in this box where they cannot respond to blatant disrespect—blatant abuse, even.” she said. “I feel like it just falls into that trope of Black women as the mule, Black women as the recipients of all these things, and ‘we’re so strong that we can just withstand.’ That can be quite harmful for Black women or really anybody.” tate Representative Lakesia Collins (no relation to Kina) has no desire to let the expectation of Black women to keep quiet hinder her. A former youth in the foster care system, Collins’s journey to politics and government was set apart from some of her counterparts. After being emancipated from the foster care system, she was attending community college when she got pregnant with her first child. Facing a need for stable
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APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 13
POLITICS income, Collins got her Certified Nursing Assistant certification and began working at a nursing home. Collins became involved with her healthcare union, which opened the door for her to start learning more about policies and gain interest in politics. “I got tired of the same old politics, I felt that this was a time that we needed someone with lived experience,” she said. “Someone who comes from labor, [a] working class person needed to be in our government. So I stepped up to the plate to run.” “No matter the title or position you hold,” Collins said, “Black women have to work three times, or more, harder
LAKESIA COLLINS, FROM LAKESIA4REP.COM
than their counterparts.” Having faced disrespect from her colleagues, she admitted it is easy to feel powerless at times, calling the treatment of Black women in political spaces “disheartening.” “I do belong here, and I have to keep reminding myself that I do belong here, I am good enough. That's something that I think Black women in this space have to think about more often,” she said. 14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
When faced with blatant disrespect, Collins sees the incessant speaker. Collins said he has remarkable such as the kind Jackson contended with questioning Jackson received as a display leadership skills. She pointed out that he during her hearing, Collins sticks to one of white supremacy and privilege. “It’s has encouraged an exceptionally diverse response: call it out. Unafraid to speak the privilege of being able to think it’s leadership team, and women make up the up regardless of if she receives support, Collins has noticed that when her white colleagues speak passionately about an issue, it’s seen as just that—passion. But if she uses the same zeal to speak up, let alone defend herself, it’s not perceived as positive. “The message I get from society is that it’s not okay for Black women to be passionate about anything,” she said. Collins is also a single mother, for which she’s received unsolicited sympathy, as if it’s a handicap. Lakesia Collins found Jackson’s okay to question someone’s qualifications majority of the chamber. She reiterated when you know she’s qualified or overly that the disrespect was centered on the qualified. For her to be the first Black speaker, recalling that she’d heard many woman, that said a lot,” she said. people agree something like this does not For Collins, the appointment of normally happen. “They’re only doing Jackson to the Supreme Court is a blessing this because they’re testing him. It was and a curse, as it is for every “first Black evident that they were testing him.” woman,” she said. The blessing is that this It was only women and Black men feat was witnessed in our lifetime; the in the chamber that came to her defense curse is the looming pressure of “messing in that moment, while other colleagues up” under this burning magnifying glass. reached out after it transpired. In Any mistake can be used as an excuse to situations where non-Black women have say this phenomenal woman is, in fact, been attacked, she’d seen more of her unqualified. colleagues step in, but she wasn’t awarded “That’s how I felt when I ran for that same protection. “[They didn’t] this seat,” Collins said, “I didn’t think I understand that in that moment, that was was good enough. I didn’t think I would the perfect opportunity for anyone to say bring something different to my district. ‘this aint right,’” she said. Still, Collins I knew that I would always be under is grateful that she had support from this microscope, I knew that folks would some, and she sees the positive in putting always compare me to the folks that came herself on the line. “The beating that I before me. That's stressful.” took for that, it did inspire other women. In February, Collins found herself I tell every woman I’ve talked to, ‘Don’t in an escalated situation when she be afraid to be who you are. Let your light motioned to remove nine Republicans shine, call it out for what it is. No matter from the chamber of the Illinois House what space you’re in, call it out,’” she said. for not wearing their masks. She saw “If they’re uncomfortable, you’re this as neglectful and inconsiderate, doing something right.” especially toward representatives such hearing all too relatable. Looking on as herself who have children at home. etanji Brown Jackson sits sidesocial media, she joined several other Some of Collins’s white male colleagues by-side with a long list of Black Black women in agreeing that the attacks threatened her and cursed at her. Despite women who are, and have been, were not only familiar, but unfair as eventual reconciliation, she is still marred brave enough to set foot in a line of work well. Whether these Black women are by the fact that anyone would think that dominated by white men, in a country that elected officials, receptionists, legislative behavior was acceptable. once did not consider them fully human, assistants, or any other occupation, she’s Collins also felt their refusal to let alone fit to have a seat at the political observed that this same storyline persists: wear masks was disrespectful toward table. In order to better understand the “I feel a sense of ‘cool, it’s not just me,’ but Speaker of the House Emanuel Chris nuanced implications of her appointment, I see it every day in my space, too.” Welch, who is the statehouse’s first Black it’s important to consider the personal
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“You could be the most qualified person in the world, but it's not about your qualifications. There is this constant attempt to discredit and delegitimize.” – Dr. Amara Enyia
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POLITICS underfunded campaign was consistently ridiculed. “Being Black is definitely a handicap in the United States because racism has been very inherent in [our] institutions,” Chisholm said in a BBC interview. Robert Gottlieb, a student coordinator for Chisholm’s presidential campaign, recounted organizing students in North Carolina and traveling with promotional items for distribution that read ‘Chisholm for President.’ “I took a plane to Raleigh, North Carolina. And I go to pick up my bags and the brochures and bumper stickers from the luggage carousel. And scrawled all over it was ‘go home n*****.’ That's how the campaign began,” Gottlieb said. Chisholm’s attempt at the presidency was more than just symbolic. On numerous occasions, Chisholm advocated for diversity in politics and seats of power across race, age, and gender, among other identities. Chilsom spoke to the need for representation as an avenue for true equality in a country that could barely understand why she believed she could win the election. Chisholm spoke passionately about the reduction of Black people to ‘look how far you’ve come,’ which brings an important point for consideration: how good is a door forced open if it is a mere crack that is still too small for anyone else to fit through without struggle? Similarly, hailing from the South Side of Chicago, Carol Moseley Braun made history when she was sworn into CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN, UNITED STATES CONGRESS, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS office in 1993. Not only was she the first “Fighting Shirley,”' as she was Black woman to be elected to the Senate, experiences of the women who stand at nicknamed, became a champion for racial she was just one of two Black senators in this same intersection of identity. “Create your own tables, bring your and gender equity while introducing a the country’s post-reconstruction history. own chairs, like Shirley Chisholm said,” notable amount of new legislation during In an interview with Jasmine Cannon, a Kina Collins advised young Black women her time as congresswoman. But all the film student at Northwestern University, fight in the world could only protect Moseley-Braun said, “I’ve never been who hope to operate in political spaces. The late Shirley Chisholm is a her so much; Chisholm experienced anything other than a Black female, so both from white I see the entire world through those matriarch of Black women in politics. In discrimination 1968, Chisholm, a New York native and counterparts as well as Black men, in the set of experiences... I hope that set of the daughter of immigrants, became the Congressional Black Caucus specifically, experiences allows me to give back to the first Black congresswoman in American as she ran for president. “I have certainly world something unique and something history. In 1972, Chisholm made history met much more discrimination in terms different that it needs to have.” She attended Parker High School, again for both women and Black folks of being a woman than being Black, in more recently known as Paul Robeson, as she became the first Black person and the field of politics,” Chisholm once said. a school in Englewood that was closed Chisholm was not allowed to woman to run for presidency in one of in 2017. After high school, Moseley the two major political parties (she ran as participate in the highly anticipated Braun received a bachelors in political televised primary debates, and her a Democrat)..
science from the University of Chicago, and found her way to working for Harold Washington’s mayoral campaign, who went on to become Chicago’s first Black mayor. Moseley Braun worked as a prosecutor in the office of the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, and then in 1978, winning the election, she joined the Illinois State House of Representatives. Colleagues referred to Moseley Braun as “the conscience of the House,” because of her dedication to equality. In 1984, she proposed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. In a monumental case over political gerrymandering, Crosby v. State Board of Elections, Moseley-Braun sued her own party and the state she represented as she fought for Black and brown citizens. After a decade serving on the Illinois House of Representatives, she was elected the Recorder of Deeds for Cook County, making her the first Black person to hold an executive position in this county. To this day, Moseley Braun is just one of two Black women who have held a seat in the Senate; the second is Kamala Harris with a twenty-four year gap. In the U.S. Senate’s 233-year-long history, there have only been eleven Black senators. “Absolutely, I experienced both racism and sexism, but you just keep one foot in front of the other, keep doing your best, [and] try not to get distracted,” Moseley Braun once said. ¬ Chima Ikoro is the community organizing editor for the Weekly
APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15
EDUCATION
The Taboo Subject of Sexual Assault
Two Latinx university students share their experiences of sexual violence, and how they sought help.
BY JACQUELINE CARDENAS Content warning: Mentions of domestic and emotional abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. Resources listed at the end.
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strella was a junior in high school when she and her boyfriend of three years got into yet another argument about him inappropriately touching her in public. Whether it was groping her or speaking to her disrespectfully in front of his friends, the arguments often resulted in him crying and giving gifts in an attempt to earn her forgiveness. The two had driven to a secluded area late one night to discuss his behavior. Estrella said despite intending to break up with him that night, his promises to change his ways gave her hope and kept her in the relationship with him for another year. They talked for an hour that night. He threw the flowers, a jacket, a sweater and a blanket he gifted Estrella to the backseats of his car. He began kissing Estrella and forced himself onto her. “I always blame myself because I think ‘Why would I let that happen,’” Estrella said. Now a college sophomore, Estrella is among the many women who blame themselves for the sexual violence they have endured. Out of every thousand sexual assault cases, 310 go unreported to the police, according to the largest sexual violence organization, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Estrella is one of those cases. She said it wasn’t until two months after their breakup that she realized her ex-boyfriend had sexually assaulted her. 16 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
She said her failure to recognize the severity of the situation was partly rooted in the way her Latinx parents raised her to support men and take care of them. Estrella said she would vaguely communicate to her mom about the various instances her boyfriend made her feel uncomfortable, yet her mom would suggest “that’s just how men are.”
Nina Wilson, a DePaul women and gender studies professor, works on the education team at Resilience, a non-profit sexual violence resource organization. Wilson said toxic masculinity and misogyny are a response to the historical mistreatment of Black and Brown communities. Wilson said she thinks the two are natural responses to
ILLUSTRATED BY JOCELYN DIAZ
“My parents were old fashioned in that sense, they made me think that if a man did something to me it was because it was my fault,” Estrella said, leading her to believe the way she was being treated was normal. Estrella said that toxic masculinity, the cultural expectation for men to behave in stereotypically masculine ways such as through exerting dominance or aggression, is prevalent in Latinx culture. Out of 5.4 million Hispanic/ Latinx women, 36.1 percent experienced sexual violence, according to a 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
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systems of violence such as colonization, imperialism and contemporary variants of capitalism and neoliberalism. “A lot of these processes used gender-based violence to enact harm and Black and Brown people have unfortunately had to assimilate, having to succumb as well as perpetuate harmful gender roles, or die,” Wilson said. The perpetuation of sexual violence is not just exclusive to Latinx communities. “It really is a systemic issue, it happens everywhere,” Wilson said. Sexual violence against women of color has deep roots in U.S. history. Enslaved Black women were commonly
raped by their white slaveholders, according to Prevent Connect, a national project that helps prevent sexual assault and relationship violence. After slavery ended, physical and sexual violence remained prominent against Black and Indigenous communities, causing Black women to become some of the first women to break the silence about rape. “Particularly in the community of women of color, where other forms of trauma such as systemic oppression and discrimination already exist, they may experience intense response or worsen symptoms that they already had [to sexual violence],” said Sara Heidbreder, a sexual and relationship violence prevention specialist. Yasmine is another Latina who experienced sexual violence. During their high school winter break, 15-year-old Yasmine was smoking a marijuana blunt with her friend in his room. The two had met the summer before eighth grade and had established a good friendship, often bonding over similar family problems growing up. After smoking, he offered her a yellow Xanax pill. Although hesitant to take it, Yasmine said it happened quickly and her friend assured her that everything would be fine. Yasmine said he further persuaded her by telling Yasmine that her boyfriend would come over soon. Yasmine’s boyfriend never came that night. Within a few hours, Yasmine and her friend had finished an entire prescription bottle of Xanax. Yasmine said she has no recollection from that night. She later found an image on her phone of her and her friend laying on his bed. In his hand were thirteen yellow pills. She woke up the next day and her friend told her they had sex. “I couldn’t even believe it, I was so astonished and disgusted,” Yasmine said. It wasn’t until two years later, when Yasmine fell into a depressive episode because she couldn’t bear the silence anymore, that she told her parents she was raped. Yasmine remembers her dad asking if anyone had touched her and the way it triggered her emotions. “I wasn’t going
to lie, I just started crying and balling my eyes out,” Yasmine said. “Immediately they knew that something had happened. I broke down and told them the whole situation, all the drugs, everything.” Rocio Lozano, the sexual assault program director at Mujeres Latinas en Accion, said stigma still exists in the Latinx community when trying to find professional help. “[Latinos] care a lot of what our family thinks of us, culturally we are always trying to please the family and in trying to please the family, or to avoid what they will say then we do not seek services,” Lozano said. Survivors may also refuse to seek professional help because the perpetrator could live within proximity such as on the same block, apartment building or neighborhood Lozano said. Most children and teens who face sexual violence are committed by someone they know. Out of the sexual abuse cases reported to law enforcement, ninety-three percent of juvenile victims knew the perpetrator most were either acquaintances or family members, according to RAINN. “The fact that the survivor knows this person is already traumatic and it prevents them from asking for help,” Lozano said. Heidbreder said survivors should be empowered to make their own decisions on who and where to seek help. For Estrella, reaching out to professional help was difficult, she felt distrust in predominantly white institutions. “A majority of white therapists would not understand the cultural differences the same way,” Estrella said. Heidbreder said for some, reaching out to family or community members may feel much safer than reaching out to the professionals. Megan Greeson, a psychology and gender-based violence expert, said seeking professional help can help survivors cope with some of the repercussions of sexual assault like anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self-harm, disordered eating and more. “The most important thing is to believe them and share empathy,” Greeson said. “Don’t question or judge them or suggest the survivor should have
behaved differently.” Estrella said survivors should take it minute by minute. “It's so hard when you realize what has happened to you,” Estrella said. “You just feel so naked no matter how many layers you put on, you try to scrub it off in the shower, you try to do everything you can to get this feeling off. No matter how hard someone holds you, you kind of just stay with that feeling but it eventually goes away. You feel it every once in a while, but it gets better.” ¬ Names of survivors have been changed for privacy and identities of alleged perpetrators kept out because they were students at the time of the incidents. Resources: If you or someone you know have been abused, resources are available via the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at rainn.org. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673. This story was originally published by La DePaulia on April 10. Reprinted with permission. Mujeres Latinas en Accion has three Chicago locations—Pilsen, Brighton Park and North Riverside. Bilingual services are available to anyone regardless of immigration status. Not By My Own Community offers domestic violence help services located in Hyde Park. Center for Advancing Domestic Peace located on 813 S. Western Avenue offers professional resources for substance abuse treatment, psychology and community counseling. Jacqueline Cardenas is an undergrad student majoring in journalism with a concentration in Latino Communications at DePaul University where she is the editor-in-chief for La DePaulia. She is a first generation Mexican-American. This is her first story in the Weekly.
APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 17
POETRY
Our thoughts in exchange for yours.
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he Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
THIS WEEK'S PROMPT:
“WRITE AN HONEST PIECE THAT CHALLENGES THE SHAME THAT IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH GRIEF. ” THIS COULD BE A POEM OR A STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS PIECE. SUBMISSIONS COULD BE NEW OR FORMERLY WRITTEN PIECES. Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com. This section publishes creative writing submissions from the public that do not necessarily reflect the views of South Side Weekly or its editors. Featured below is a reader response to a previous prompt. The Path BY CHRIS CANTELE
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The whispers of a gentle breeze Movement in tall grass Deep sounds of the ocean Sultry smell in the air
Would you share parts of my path? Would you laugh and cry with me? Would you breathe the silence between us? Just take my hand, touch me.
The paths of us are many The depths of our sorrow profound The songs of our joy amazing The light of our dreams brilliant
Let's see Chris Cantele is a poet from South Loop. You can find him on Instagram @cantele3!
POETRY
11:35 BY CHIMA “NAIRA” IKORO for Bryan Snow; Happy Heavenly Birthday But he’s my friend, Jesus must have said. All the blind I have given sight, all the broken I have redeemed, all the deaf who gasp. their first sound–my voice just for me to hear my friend. and I loved every last one of those who needed me, even before and if they never agreed. But Lazarus? Lazarus was my friend. And there it was; the shortest verse in the Bible with the longest sound; “Jesus wept.” Yesterday, and on your last birthday, I did not get it. But today, sitting in my car, in a parking lot off 55th, in the rain, as my tears speak: but he was my friend, and when I heard he’d died… I could not manage to just cry. I wept. And I imagine that the apostles and all the Mary’s, seeing Jesus spread like eagle wings, couldn’t help but feel “Yes, He’s our savior, our messiah, but He was also my family. He was also my friend.” Less important, but so deeply saddening to consider the pain a person must feel as they identify the spot an angel was just pulled from. Used to be more than just a tomb to be vacated. My friend, I wept. You were my friend Chima Ikoro is the community organizing editor for the Weekly.
APRIL 21, 2022 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 19
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CALENDAR
ILLUSTRATION BY THUMY PHAN
BULLETIN Día de Los Niños Parade
Plaza Tenochtitlan, 18th St. & Blue Island Ave., Saturday, April 30, 11:30am. Free. facebook.com/ChicagoDiadelosNinos/ Celebrate the children in the community! The 22nd annual parade of Día de Los Niños is back at Plaza Tenochtitlan in Pilsen. The new route will go along Blue Island between 18th and 21st streets and end at Benito Juarez High School’s soccer field. ( Jackie Serrato)
Good Times, Kind People
National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Friday, May 6, 6:00pm– 10:00pm. $30. bit.ly/3McbwUv Join the National Museum of Mexican Art’s youth initiative, Yollocalli Arts Reach, for a night of dinner, drinks, raffle prizes, music, and dancing. 100% of ticket and raffle sales, donations, and tips will support Yollocalli’s youth programs based in Little Village. You must be 21+ to attend this event and have proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Buy tickets in advance at bit.ly/3EpdzBX. (Maddie Parrish)
Rollerskating at Hamilton Park Hamilton Park Cultural Center, 513 W. 72nd St., 5:30pm–7:00pm. $10 Registration fee. chicagoparkdistrict.com
The Hamilton Park Cultural Center is hosting free skate sessions every Tuesday and Thursday. Bring your own gear. There may be someone there to teach, but be prepared to be on your own. Must be eighteen years or older. Registration fee is $10. Sign-up in person or online at chicagoparkdistrict.com (Adam Przybyl)
Free Dental Screenings
Pilsen Family Health Center, 1713 S. Ashland St., Saturday, April 30, 9:30am– 12:00pm. Free. Dental students at UI Health and the UIC College of Dentistry are offering free screenings every Wednesday, no appointment necessary. Call the clinic for more information at (312) 413-4179. ( Jackie Serrato)
South Side Critical Mass Bike Ride
Nichols Park, south end, 1300 E 55th St, Friday, May 6, 5:45pm–10:00pm. Free. bit.ly/CriticalMassBike Do you want to bike around Chicago, but are worried about being the only cyclist on busy streets? At the critical mass bike ride, you can join a large group of cyclists and bike for around fifteen to twenty miles at a moderate pace. In addition to being fun, the event raises awareness about cycling and making
streets safer for cyclists. The organizers of the event remind attendees that you come at your own risk and to bring water, a bike lock, a mask, and to wear a helmet. The group will meet at the south end of Nichols Park and ride at 6:15pm. The event takes place on the first Friday of the month throughout the year except winter. Next dates are May 6th and June 3rd. (Adam Przybyl)
EDUCATION LSC Elections
Virtual, Wednesday and Thursday, April 20-21, 6:00am–7:00pm. bit.ly/3NNrGW8 Polls to vote for your school’s LSC open at 6am! Parents, legal guardians, and temporary custodians of students enrolled in the school, as well as people who are at least 17 years old who live within the school’s attendance area or voting district, are eligible to vote in a school’s election for parent and community representatives. All students may vote for a student representative at their school. In order to vote, you must be present at the school and vote in person. For more information on voter eligibility and requirements, visit bit. ly/3J9XAbu. You can view candidates for each school at bit.ly/3DJgMMu. Elementary school elections take place April 20, high school elections take place April 21. (Maddie Parrish)
Assata’s Daughters Spring Programming
Misc dates through Sunday, June 19. Free. bit.ly/37mwoK8 Assata’’s Daughters’ spring programming is for young Black folks of high school age in Chicago who want to build community with their peers, learn movement history and organizing strategy, and support their community, all while earning money. Priority is given to those who are ages thirteen to seventeen, girls/women, and gendernonbinary folks. Sign up at bit. ly/37mwoK8. (Maddie Parrish)
Summer 2022 Cantonese Community Language Class
Monday, June 6, Free. bit.ly/3vsQABR People Matter is looking for thirty community members of color who are interested in English and Cantonese classes from Bridgeport, Chinatown, McKinley Park, Armour Square, Pilsen, Douglas, and/or Bronzeville to join them for a free language class to learn Cantonese for six weeks from June 6-July 15. Apply by May 1st, 2022 at 11:59pm at bit.ly/3vsQABR. (Maddie Parrish)
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CALENDAR
April Board of Education Meeting
CPS Loop Office, 42 W. Madison Street, Garden Level, Board Room, Wednesday, April 27, 10:30am–5:00pm. Free. bit. ly/3vl4lCE Advance registration for speakers opens April 25, and thirty public participation slots will be available to members of the public who can participate in person or virtually. You can register to speak at www.cpsboe.org or by phone at (773) 553-1600. The public will have access to the meeting via livestream at cpsboe.org. (Maddie Parrish)
FOOD & LAND Reuse-a-Palooza at The Plant
The Plant, 1400 W. 46th St., Sunday, April 24, 11:00am–3:00pm. Free. This event will provide opportunities to repair clothing and household items, safely dispose of tricky-to-recycle items, and donate books, bicycles, and more, all the while bringing attention to strategies to reduce waste. Participating organizations will include Community Glue, Working Bikes, Open Books, Tinyshop Grocer, and other wastereduction and repurposing enthusiasts, as well as Microsoft’s EcoPod in partnership with the Environmental Law and Policy Center for interactive presentations and discussion. Also in the works is a free film screening in partnership with One Earth Film Fest. Questions can be directed to (773) 357-7192 or info@bubblydynamics.com (Kevin Lilly, Bubbly Dynamics)
ARTS Unfolding Disability Futures’ Community Dance Workshops The Plant, 1400 W 46th St., Saturday, April 30, 1:30pm–3:00pm. Free.
Join the artists of Unfolding Disability Futures for free movement workshops hosted at The Plant! Led by choreographers and performance artists involved in the project, the workshops 22 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
will explore creative movement practices related to the theme of “disability futures.” A second workshop will be held Sunday, May 15 from 3:30-5pm. In alignment with the Chicago theaters COVID-19 guidelines, masks and ID with a vaccination/booster card or proof of a negative COVID-19 within the last 48 hours before the event test are required. (Kevin Lilly, Bubbly Dynamics)
The Art of Race in Revolutions
National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Saturday, April 30, 11:00am– 2:30pm. Free. bit.ly/3JWhvLH Join photographer, printmaker, and installation artist Delilah Montoya in conversation with curator Mia Lopez to explore the role of visual art in revolutions across the United States and South America. The conversation will focus on how the art reinforced and critiqued racial hierarchies and caste systems. Event is free but registration is required online at: bit.ly/3JWhvLH (Adam Przybyl)
Rudy Lozano Exhibit
UIC’s Richard J. Daley Library, 801 S. Morgan St, Through April 2022, 7:00am– 9:00pm. Free. Chicago’s most well-known Chicano activist is the subject of a new exhibit at UIC’s Richard J. Daley Library, “A Search for Unity: Rudy Lozano and the Coalition Building in Chicago,” which runs until next fall. The exhibit is made up of papers, photographs, posters and other memories about Lozano, who was murdered in Little Village when he was 31, after losing a bid to become the city’s first Mexican-American alderman. Saturdays closed. Check the library’s COVID guidelines. ( Jackie Serrato)
Center Days: Open Arts
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Saturday, April 23, 1:00pm–4:00pm. Free. bit.ly/3NNzJSI Join Hyde Park Art Center for their spring Center Day. The day will be packed with activities including open
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school studios with class demonstrations from teaching artists, art making activities inspired by our exhibitions, printed art swag takeaways, studio visits with their Creative Wing Resident Artists, Earth Day activities from the Gardeneers, a food truck, and more! (Maddie Parrish)
One of the longest-running youth open mics, Worldplay, is back every Tuesday on Instagram Live. The virtual open mic is hosted by DJ Ca$hera and showcases music, spoken-word performances, and featured artist. (Chima Ikoro)
Chess Records Tours
Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott
Chess Records, 2120 S. Michigan Ave., 12:00pm–4:00pm. $20 donation. info@ bluesheaven.com
A comprehensive retrospective exhibits the work of Robert Colescott, a Black twentieth-century artist and satirist who took aim at race, class, and gender in America, will be on display through May 29. ( Jim Daley)
Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven, the foundation that owns the building formerly known as Chess Records, is resuming tours of the place that saw some of the most legendary Black artists in the ’50s and ’60s: Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Etta James, among them. The second floor is dedicated to Dixon, and the recording studio displays period artifacts. Tours are Thursday through Saturday afternoons. (312) 8081286 ( Jackie Serrato)
Chicago Cultural Center, Exhibit Hall, Fourth Floor, 78 E. Washington St., Through May 29. Free. bit.ly/3NOq12l
Young Chicago Authors Wordplay Open Mic
Instagram Live, Every Tuesday, 6:00pm–7:30pm. Free. instagram.com/ youngchicagoauthors
Scan to view the calendar online!