sentence: criminal? november 2014

Issue 74, November 2014

BROAD A Feminist & Social Justice Magazine

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Cover Artist: Goin, goinart.net

sentence: criminal?

BROAD A Feminist & Social Justice Magazine

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BROAD 2014-15 ISSUES September

#feminism October part 1

What’s Your LGBT-IQ? October part 2

In g/God(s) We Trust November

Sentence: Criminal?

December

BROAD Love January part 1

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Dis(sed)-abilities February

Living In Color March spring break issue

Body Talk March issue

Broads & Babes O the Places You’ll Go May

In Labor

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April

adjective: 1 having an ample distance from side to side; wide | 2 covering a large number and wide scope of subjects or areas: a broad range of experience | 3 having or incorporating a wide range of meanings | 4 including or coming from many people of many kinds | 5 general without detail | 6 (of a regional accent) very noticeable and strong | 7 full, complete, clear, bright; she was attacked in broad daylight noun: (informal) woman. slang: a promiscuous woman phrases: broad in the beam: with wide hips or large buttocks | in broad daylight: during the day, when it is light, and surprising for this reason | have broad shoulders: ability to cope with unpleasant responsibilities or to accept criticism | City of broad shoulders: Chicago synonyms: see: wide, extensive, ample, vast, liberal, open, all-embracing antonyms: see: narrow, constricted, limited, subtle, slight, closed see also: broadside (n.) historical: a common form of printed material, especially for poetry

BROAD Sylvia Bennett

Diversity & Assessment Editor

Meaghan Cook

Website & Archives Editor

Ellie Diaz

Content & Section Editor, Art Director

Patrick Fina

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Kait M

Content & S

sentence: criminal? quotes:

“Prejudice is a form of untruthfulness, and untruthfulness is an insidious form of injustice.” ~Miroslav Volf

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in ~ Martin Luther King Jr. reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

Section Editor

J. Curtis Main

Advisor, Consulting Editor

MISSION:

Broad’s mission is to connect the WSGS program with communities of students, faculty, and staff at Loyola and beyond, continuing and extending the program’s mission. We provide space and support for a variety of voices while bridging communities of scholars, artists, and activists. Our editorial mission is to provoke thought and debate in an open forum characterized by respect and civility.

WSGS:

Founded in 1979, Loyola’s Women’s Studies Program is the first women’s studies program at a Jesuit institution and has served as a model for women’s studies programs at other Jesuit and Catholic universities. Our mission is to introduce students to feminist scholarship across the disciplines and the professional schools; to provide innovative, challenging, and thoughtful approaches to learning; and to promote social justice.

Mario Mason

Publicity & Social Media Coordinator

Gaby Ortiz Flores Consulting Editor

Maggie Sullivan Publicity & Social Media Coordinator

Elishah Virani

Diversity & Assessment Editor

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Madsen

SENTENCE CRIMINAL

Welcome to the first ever BROAD themed issued focusing on Criminal (IN)Justice. Given the recent, heartbreaking and sombering events in Ferguson, MO, we hope this issue will spark critical conversations towards social justice and positive change rooted in the humanity we all possess that we sometimes neglect.

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Insight o

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Gone Girl: by Gillian Flynn

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words are useless

Order in the Court

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We Voted for Change

Melissa West

Lady Justice Bleeds Bam, Baminks.com Unjust Sarah Allegra Busted Betty Gretchen Matta My Own Kelly McCollum Hands Up Don’t Shoot Chelsea Ragan Queer Demands Roan Boucher Crime and Woman WIDA Design, Emre Yurtseven

message me you know people in jail privilege over the law

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Judgement Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi

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Political Play: Soft on Crime

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fractured identity Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi

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why should I love thee Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi

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artic “A Selfie in Ferguson” Kelsey Henke ”Binary Poles” A. J. DeGala ”Victim Blaming Attitutudes and Our Police” anonymous ”An Immigrant’s Wife Place?

In the Home, According to Via Policy” Pallavi Banerjee

CONTENTS

on In(Justice)

stice and a Community of

ng Care” Kait Madsen

Kaleidescope

The Pink Paperbacks “Exposing Corruption and Violence...The Girl with

Atheist

the Dragon Tattoo”

Ellie Diaz

Fault for Issues of Injustice” Peach Stephan

Manga Addict

g Above

on system” Gaby Ortiz Flores

“Lady Snowblood” Julia DeLuca

And Still I Rise “be free.” Yolanda Barnes

d of Women

mmitted no Crime” Elishah Virani

cles “Heading to Geneva... to Charge Genocide” Martabe Kaba ”Interpersonal & Institutional”

Sanity Optional “Criminal Coverage: Why Media is at

All Boys” Mario Mason

broken…is not just our

“The Value of a Person” Sabrina Minhas

&

Status Quo Combustion “The Criminal Mind Hypothesis” Lubna Baig

Liberation Leaders CeCe McDonald

Career Call Stephanie Atella, Senior Health Educator Adela Carlin, Community Lawyer

Gwen Kaltis

“Speech: Domestic Violence” Jessica

WLA (Re)Animated Good Friday Walk for Justice

”...the Case of KAN-WIN” Inhe Choi

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West-CLUW Protesting

Letter from BROAD State of the Magazine, November 2014 Kait Madsen

Sentence:

Criminal?

Dear Readers, The timing of this issue on criminality and the justice system could not be more relevant and important right now. The polarized, emotional, and painful responses following the November 24th grand jury decision in Ferguson are tragic reminders of some of the sharp divisions facing the United States and the public opinion on issues of justice.

As I look at my Facebook newsfeed, listen to mainstream media outlets, and overhear conversations about Ferguson, I’m struck by the lack of humanity shown in response to the tragedy. Why is there defense of pride when there should be defense of rights? Why is there racism when there should be solidarity? Where is the love?

If Ferguson has taught (or reminded) us of anything, it’s that racial tensions and injustices run deep in U.S. soil.

In Ferguson, in domestic violence courts, in prisons, in deportation centers, in conversations about alternative forms of justice… what needs fixed? What’s working?

Above all, I hope that this issue can be a starting point for dialogue about Ferguson and other issues related to the justice system. I desperately hope that we can begin to cross the deep barriers separating us and our viewpoints in order to make change. I hope that we can learn to recognize the causes of deep wounds and the ways in which our positions in society can intentionally and unintentionally maintain unjust status quos. More than anything, let’s talk. Let’s stop letting fear, pain, ignorance, and pride get in the way of empathy, compassion, and honesty.

Kait

Visiting Organization Join BROAD’s team for Your Issue CMBWN

Chicago Metropolitan

Battered Women’s Network

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The Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network is a collaborative membership organization dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by domestic violence through education, public policy and advocacy, and the connection of community members to direct service providers – Each step taking us closer to ending society’s tolerance of domestic violence.

broadside poetry in street lit style submision

criminality Why am I hurt, why am I in pain, Why am I treated like I am insane, Why am I scolded and why am I hit, Why do I always feel like a misfit. , Why must I hide, while you show your face to chase.

When it comes to love, I shouldn’t have Respect is not a privilege, it is a right, t.

Then why does it seem like a constant figh Why am I punished every single time, When being a woman is my only crime.

message me we asked. you answered.

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BROAD November 2014

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Friend of mine was driving with shitload of hash oil and got locked up for a month with $10,000 bail. He was 20.

My middle school art teacher was arrested for breaking into cars to steal credit card numbers.

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sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Kelsey Henke

A Selfie in Ferguson It’s 2:00am and my sister and I and hundreds of other protestors who turned out for the Ferguson Weekend of Resistance are standing still on the sidewalk that runs along South Grand Boulevard, waiting for the folks in the back of the march to catch up to the group. We’ve been outside for four hours already and have walked approximately two miles. I am at the height of unease. I’m hungry and tired and frustrated with all the rules of march so far: stay on the sidewalk; no yelling or making loud noises; the destination of the march will be revealed later. There is a man moving through the crowd writing a legal fund number on protestors’ arms in case of arrest and a group of women nearby are spraying vinegar on their handkerchiefs in preparation for teargas.

My sister and I are in the middle of strategizing how we will eventually get back to the space where we parked are car when she quickly moves to avoid being in the background of someone’s photo, a selfie.

The selfie seemed weird and impertinent in this situation, but not un-

precedented. In fact, I’d seen dozens of selfies at the protests in Ferguson. There were selfies taken in front of the Ferguson police station, during marches, in the seats at the Cornel West lecture.

There was the selfie taken by FergusonOctober organizers Ashley Yates and Tef Poe from a stage overlooking a crowd of marchers with their hands raised above their heads. There was the picture of a protestor taking a selfie with police chief Sam Dotson that went viral in the middle of August. The national president of the NAACP, Cornel Williams Brooks, delivered a speech anchored on the refrain “If we took a selfie of social justice…”

“...politics of Ferguson protests selfies are complicated.”

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ing as a livestreamer, or even a legal observer.

What is most ominous about the Ferguson protest selfies is the possibility that they might be another example of how protests are becoming marketable spectacle events. These photos offer staged and styled content that integrates well with social media platforms. They are consumable in the way that a unsettling image of police militarization often is not.

One might see a parallel in the functions of these photos and the costumes and props of “professional protestors” such as Marni Halasa, recently chronicled in New York Times. While costumes and smiling self-portraits do subvert notions of the angry protestor, we musts also recognize the opportunity cost in accepting a new form of protest that already has social media concerns built in. For better or worse, a selfie is non-threatening.

Ultimately, the politics of Ferguson protests selfies are complicated. On one hand, they can be seen as a part of the movement-building process. They are a means for communicating to others that, yes, people are still out there actively protesting. They are images of solidarity and support. On the other hand, Ferguson protest selfies are self-portraits at their core and not documents of protest activity.

They have the same patina of self-indulgence that envelops all other selfies.

Link to photos mentioned: https://twitter.com/brownblaze/status/520995234948198400/photo/1 FergusonOctober protest organizers Ashley Yates and Tef Poe https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/500088995087663104/photo/1 St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson taking a selfie with a protestor

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What do these selfies mean? At worst, we can read these selfies as digital evidence that confirms fist-shakers’ allegations of millennial narcissism.

Admittedly, there does seem to be something crass about self-styling in the context of such a somber event. Just like taking a selfie at a funeral or in front of the site of the Chernobyl disaster, the protest selfie seems like an act of irreverence, a short break to reorient the focus towards oneself during a period of commemoration. The selfie as a form inherently makes the face the focus of the photo and relegates any other subjects to the background, in this case, relegating the fight for justice in the death of Michael Brown to the background.

However, we cannot explain Ferguson protest selfies through the lens of vanity alone. There is something more complex going on here. If we accept James Franco’s commentary in the New York Times, that the selfie is about the inherent power in attention, these images can offer Ferguson visibility. These Ferguson protest selfies could be an advancement in the tradition of social media activism, sometimes referred to a “hashtag activism,” “clicktivism,” and “slacktivism.” The trend shares a common thread with internet campaigns such as #BringBackOurGirls, #Kony2012, #JusticeForTrayvon, and the Ice Bucket Challenge that seek to bring awareness or donations to their respective cause. The protests in Ferguson have spurred their own image trends: #IfTheyGunnedMeDown and #HandsUpDontShoot.

Both internet-based protest trends and Ferguson protest selfies are working to create an online conversation about race and the American justice system. Further, they allow individuals who are constrained from attending protests to show their allegiance for and solidarity with the cause. But what differentiates Ferguson protest selfies from all other forms of internet activism is that the photographers are actually present at the protests.

A third explanation might see these selfies more on par with citizen reporting, a practice that has become an increasingly important part of the Ferguson protests. Alongside livestreams and blogs, these selfies contribute to a crowdsourced narrative of the Ferguson protests. And the movement needs this narrative. Every textual and visual depiction of peaceful protestors can work to combat the claims that the protestors are violent, threatening, and aggressive, to replace images of fires and looting that might remain in the public consciousness. Documenting by protestors allows for the protestors to provide their own version of events. But it’s hard to argue that a selfie is doing the same kind of witness-

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough John Rademacher

Artist: John Rademacher

www.etsy.com/shop/GrayClothing

Political Movements Pocket

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Shirts

Liberation Leaders Illuminating Then & Now, Inspiring Forever CeCe McDonald

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warning: results with assumptions Autocomplete Criminality

Sanity Optional Beyond this point Peach Stephan

Criminal Coverage

Why the Media is at Fault for Issues of Injustice

When Justin Bieber was charged with a DUI last year, the story dominated all three of my news apps during my usual skim over breakfast. After digging past the flippant pieces, I read morsels of real news, cleared my bowl of oatmeal, and went to class. Even though I (regrettably) have plenty of my own poor decisions to carry around with me, Bieber’s DUI stayed with me for the rest of the day, goddammit. Not because I am a “True

Belieber” or give half a damn that he put his hair on the line by driving drunk, but because PEOPLE WOULDN’T SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Frantic debates and criticisms of his behavior flourished around me. Everyone had heard the “breaking news” that *gasp* a child star has gone wild.

In the meantime, wars were starting, politicians were lobbying against personal rights, industrial farmers were pouring chemicals into the food we

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Isn’t that the point of reporting—to tell the ugly truth?

To use images to communicate a situation too horrific to be described in any other way?

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eat, people were dying of diarrhea because they lacked basic health care, entire cultures were being annihilated, and a million other injustices that we don’t even know about were occurring because the stories went uncovered.

When asked if I’d heard the dreaded Bieber news, I gave my peers the same dazed look they had given me the week before, when I wanted to rant about the BP oil spill that happened in Lake Michigan, our own backyard. This abhorrent mistake slid under the radar of many Chicagoans despite its proximity and vast impact on Chicago’s drinking water, environment, and beaches. But uninformed people are not to blame. It is the media’s fault for not screaming, objecting, and thrusting the facts in front of our faces. It is their job to be society’s watchdog, not dirty hounds that scavenge for scandal to compete with E! News.

Negligent media coverage is the most problematic crime of all because it affects every aspect of social justice. When news outlets place celebrity gossip above pivotal issues to gain hits, it skews readers’ perceptions of the world, as if Bieber’s arrest is most worthy of the public’s attention and insight. This process of thinking makes it

easy for the public to slide into a comfortable state of submission—feeling as if it is OK to be passive about government, rights, and responsibilities to the suffering.

If newspapers are the first draft of history, years from now textbooks will be lacking the beginning story of many conflicts because the media wasn’t paying proper attention to the start of conflicts. This is becuase there are areas of the world that receive very little or no coverage at all from U.S. foreign reporters. The New York Times reporter Anjan Sundaram asserted, “As the news has receded, so have our minds,” meaning issues of criminality, violence, and corruption are dismissed because the media fails to send reporters to unpopular destinations. As a result, criminality in those areas festers like a sore, refusing to relent because there is no one to communicate the injustice and no one reading about it. If ISIS’ beheading of reporters has taught us anything, it is that journalism poses a very real threat to injustice. While news articles aren’t an instant fix, getting the information out into the hands of people who can is the first step towards ameliorating a situation.

Ironically, most criticisms of the media involve incidents of overcoverage. Controversy arises when photographers capture a moment that is “too graphic” and when reporters reveal “too much” information about the U.S. government.

Isn’t that the point of reporting—to tell the ugly truth? To use images to communicate a situation too horrific to be described in any other way?

And to avoid secrecy of officials who hold public office and are responsible for the well-being of our country? The press does not need to be limited any further; it needs to be expanded.

Legendary media man Bill Bernbach said, “All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society, we can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it to a higher level.” Decreasing crime and oppression begins with knowing about it in the first place.

This demands reporters to be creating a stir about unjust happenings, and the cooperation of major news outlets to promote the circulation of stories that matter rather than flippant entertainment pieces.

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quote corner

“

just words? just speeches?

Wendy Davis

I will try to explain the history of the failed legislation before us, the impact of that legislation and, most importantly, what history tells us about these policies and the motivations behind them.

I hope telling the story of how I went from being a single mom to serving in the Texas State Senate to running for governor will remind others that with the right leadership in government, where you start has nothing to do with how far you go.

Lawmakers, either get out of the vagina business, or go to medical school.

There are people, of course, in the world of politics, who look for things to be critical about. But those people are already against you.

Texans don’t want to sit back and watch Austin turn into Washington, D.C. State leaders in power keep forcing people to opposite corners to prepare for a fight instead of coming together to get things done.

While Texas women have the right to safe, legal abortion, in reality there are already very few facilities in Texas to provide this essential care. In 2008, 92 percent of Texas countries had no abortion provider.

ADS MAD TE QUO ER N COR

tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) Violence like a contagious diseas

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http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_slutkin_let_s_treat_violence_like_a_contagious_disease?language=en

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sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities A.J. De Gala

Binary Poles Holmesville, a city in the Midwestern United States.

It’s a city about the size of Chicago, with as many people and neighborhoods. And, just like any other major city, it has its fair share of crime.

On a breezy fall day, a young man entered the Holmesville District Attorney’s office. He has dark, medium length hair and a sharp pair of glasses, along with a neatly-pressed three-piece suit. In his hand is a briefcase that is currently empty; however, by the end of the day he hoped it wouldn’t be. Fresh out of law school, this young man was a local boy by the name of Miles du Basque.

Ever since he was a child, Prosecutor Miles knew he wanted to make a difference, and was always an ardent believer of the criminal justice system. To him, it was a glorious institution that meted out fair punishment; it delivered justice for the victims of dastardly criminals-turned-defendants who thought they could get away with their crimes. He studied hard all his life, and eventually he fulfilled his dream. Now, as Holmesville’s shining new knight of the law, he would ensure that fair justice was done.

As per instructions he had been given earlier that week, Prosecutor Miles stopped by the District Attorney’s office. Knocking on the door, he proceeded inside when a gruff voice told him to come in. Stepping inside, he saw a pristine office brimming with law books, diplomas, certificates, pictures with various

VIPs, and other such items. Behind a large oak desk was the District Attorney, and in front of him was an older man with greying hair a worn suit.

“You must be Mr. Miles du Basque,” the DA began.

“Yes sir. I’m reporting for duty,” Prosecutor Miles confirmed, serious but cheery.

“Good. I’m assigning you to two cases that Mr. Gregory Finch,” here the DA gestured to the older man, “will be prosecuting today. Stay quiet and learn from this pro.” Turning then to Mr. Finch, the DA instructed, “Now, listen Greg. I know that this is your last day, so try and teach the new kid as much as you can, alright?” Mr. Finch grunted, and the DA sent the two off to prepare for the two trials.

As the two walked towards Mr. Finch’s office, the older prosecutor asked Prosecutor Miles, “so kid, tell me something: why’d you want to be a criminal prosecutor?”

“Simple enough,” the latter responded. “I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to make sure that those who hurt others got the fair justice they deserve.”

“Ha!” the older lawyer laughed cynically. “Fair, huh?

Kid, there’s no such thing as ‘fair justice.’ You either do what you think is fair, or you do what you would call justice. In our system, you don’t get both.”

“That’s the truth, kid,” Mr. Finch retorted. By this time they had reached the office, and entered it to prepare for the trials. While they were inside, Mr. Finch sat down on his desk and began pulling out folders, taking notes on a legal pad and occasionally muttering something to himself. Meanwhile, Prosecutor Miles was directed this way and that by Mr. Finch to look for files, evidence, or whatever else he needed for the trial. Aside from trial strategy they were mostly quiet, though this was mainly because the young man tried to think of a response to the older man’s cynicism.

When at last Mr. Finch had finished preparing for both trials, he packed up his case files, placed them in his briefcase, and made to leave his office. Before he could, he was stopped by Prosecutor Miles, who asked, “I don’t believe you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Mr. Finch.

“I believe in this system. I believe that what we are doing is both fair and just.”

Mr. Finch chuckled. “You know, you remind me of me when I was starting out. I believed in the system. I

You know, you remind me of me when I was starting out. I believed in the system. I was young… and naïve.

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was young… and naïve. My first trial was during the War on Drugs. Like you, I was placed under the wing of a pro, and sat in on two trials. Two men were being tried for drug possession: one of them was a black man that we charged with criminal possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine, the other a white man we charged with criminal possession of 5 grams of powder cocaine. Of course, we won both trials. Now, tell me kid: what’s the difference between crack and powder cocaine?”

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“That’s harsh, Mr. Finch,” Prosecutor Miles remarked.

“There isn’t much of a difference,” Prosecutor Miles answered. “Maybe some slight variations in the ingredients and how it’s made, but no major differences whatsoever. They’re both essentially the same drug.”

“Good, you did your homework,” Mr. Finch commented. “When it came time to sentencing, the man charged with 5 grams of crack received a mandatory minimum of 5 years. The other man only got probation and rehab.”

“Wait, what?” Prosecutor Miles exclaimed. “But how?”

“The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. It mandated a 100:1 ratio of crack to powder cocaine. So, in essence, we weren’t charging the two men equally, even though they had the same amount of what’s essentially the same drug. We charged one man with having 5 grams of crack; we charged the other with having 5 milligrams of crack, or 5 grams of powder.

Now, you could say that they received justice that day: they were in criminal possession of illegal substances, and they were arrested and convicted. But tell me kid, was it fair?”

“No, but-” “I went on to prosecute many more cases like those two. I used to object, but pressure from the DA made me go through with it. Even though I said it wasn’t right, or fair, or whatever else, the DA’s office could not be seen as weak on crime, especially not when the DA was up for re-election. Eventually, I stopped objecting altogether.”

Prosecutor Miles was silent for a few moments, before responding, “But that was the ‘80s. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 made things more balanced, and I’m sure that we could only move forward from there! And maybe-”

“You’ve got optimism, kid,” Mr. Finch interjected.

“Keep that. Maybe you will be able to do something about our messed up system. I doubt it- I think I’d have better odds of winning the lottery ten times- but you keep that optimism and you might be able to do something. Now come on: we’ve got a trial to prosecute.”

Mr. Finch led the way out of his office, Prosecutor Miles right behind him. Soon they arrived outside of the courtroom of their first trial. “You ready, kid?” Mr. Finch asked the younger prosecutor.

“I guess,” the latter responded. “One question though: what’re the cases?”

“The DA is charging us with convicting two men of criminal possession of cocaine. One of them had 5 grams of crack, and the other had 5 grams of powder.

All the evidence is in, and we’ll have an easy time winning both cases. When it comes time to sentencing, one of them will be charged with possessing 5 grams of powder, and the other will be charged with possessing 28 grams of powder. Guess who’s getting the harsher sentence?”

“But that’s not fair-” Prosecutor Miles began to object.

“But that is justice,” Mr. Finch retorted. “Like I said, kid, there’s no such thing as ‘fair justice.’ You either do what’s fair, or you do what’s just. You can’t have them both.”

Mr. Finch was about to open the doors to the cou rtroom when Prosecutor Miles said, “I know we’re being ordered by the DA, but can’t we do anything about it? Can’t you? You said you used to be like me.

You said you used to believe in the system. Can’t you do anything?”

Mr. Finch gave a sad smile. “Why do you think I’m retiring?”

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough

My Own Artist: Kelly McCollum

“My Own” is an affirmation of sorts. All politics are personal, so make sure your voice is heard. Make sure your message doesn’t get overpowered by pundits and politicians who do not speak for you.

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Kelly McCollum

Career Call Learn about the Workplace Stephanie Atella, Senior Health Educator

Senior Health Educator College Health

Describe your job and its duties in one paragraph.

I am a senior health educator at Loyola University Chicago’s Wellness Center. I promote Wellness Center services, plan outreach programs and events, manage the sexual assault and domestic violence advocacy services on campus and lots more. Overall, I am here working to improve individual and campus health – with a large focus on gender-based violence.

Why did you get the job?

I studied community health as an undergraduate and public health in graduate school – which is a perfect background for a health educator to have. I also came to the table with experience as a health educator. I worked in a high school in New York City doing health education and LOVED IT. So, I think my passion for health education showed through too. I’m lucky that folks here at the Wellness Center thought I would be a good fit!

How did you get the job (online app, in person, nomination, etc.)?

I applied online during my last semester of graduate school – you can never start looking/applying too early! Seriously.

I graduated on a Friday and started work on Monday. It was crazy. Loyola waited a few weeks for me to be done with school. I am really glad I applied as early as I did and that folks here were flexible with my start date.

Did you hear about the job through word of mouth? If so, by whom?

Nope, I found it on LUC’s website myself. I had never even been to Loyola’s campus. My dad drove me to my first interview and would probably love to still be driving me to work every day if I let him (I haven’t lived with my dad since 18, he would seriously drive in from the suburbs though).

Did you have help getting the job by inside recommendations?

I did not. I knew no one here on campus – but, as I have worked here for five years I have seen people from high school, graduate school and other parts of my life who are also now working here!

Are you using or did you use some of your education for the job?

Yes, as I mentioned, I majored in community health as an undergraduate and went to graduate school for public health. I am also a certified Health Education Specialist.

Is this a job for the long-term? Why or why not?

Yes, it is a long-term position for me at Loyola. I have already been here almost 5 years. Loyola is a wonderful place to work and I have been able to experience more here than I ever imagined when I accepted the position. I love working with young adults and I don’t plan to ever leave the field of health. So, this is an ideal position for me.

Does the job and employer reinforce current social conditions or try to change them?

How? Your thoughts?

I believe Loyola is working to change current social conditions for the better in all kinds of ways.

Social justice is a large part of Loyola’s mission and it is reflected in the work, programs and initiatives that it supports – helping the poor, building environmentally conscious structures, etc.

What are the strengths of the job?

One real strength of my job is that I work in an integrated Wellness Center. I get to spend my time with mental health professionals and medical professionals, so I am always learning something.

It’s a great feeling to know that we are equipped to help the whole person.

Weaknesses?

Sometimes I do outreach and education around topics that students don’t seem very interested in.

It can be very disheartening to work for weeks to plan something and then have 5 students show up to participate. I understand it’s not easy or fun to talk about sexual assault, dating violence or stalking though and those 5 students that do show up always put a smile on my face.

Would you recommend this job to others?

Yes, I would. I’m thankful every day that I have a job where I feel like I’m making a difference.

What would you do differently with this position?

That’s a great question – the first thing that comes to mind is advertise it more! I want all students to know I am here to help. I would also require a uniform for the position. I went to private school for only four years of my life and loved every minute of not having to pick out my clothes every morning. Turns out that I feel the same way about getting dressed in the mornings now as I did at 14!

Describe the people above you in terms of Socioeconomic Status. Do the same for the people below you.

Well, there’s the top “1%” (and several other socioeconomic statuses above me before the 1%) – but, this small group is consists of those people who control lots of our country’s money. It is my opinion that the top 1% doesn’t always have the larger population’s interests/well-being in mind, which is discouraging. Then there are those people in our country who are living at or below the Federal Poverty level. The people who are living off of lesser means usually have additional obstacles like little to no access to some essential services, such as healthcare.

Share your most memorable experience(s) from the position; good, bad, funny, and ugly Oh man, well over the past five years there have been lots of highs, lows, fun times and ugly times. I would say a good and memorable experience that comes to mind for me, is when Jiff the famous Pomeranian dog came to the Wellness Fair in 2013 and put on a show for the people who were walking through. People. Loved. It. I have never seen a dog do what he did, for example walk on his hind legs. Sadly, Jiff has gotten more famous, I’ve heard he’s even in a Katy Perry video, and didn’t have time to come to the fair this year.

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What level of survival and comfort did/do the benefits/pay allow?

Loyola is competitive in terms of benefits/pay for a health educator position.

bookmark here find your next social justice text here BROAD Readers

First Sentence: “I just like the night.”

Released: 2012

Genre: Thriller

Recommendation: of spectaculars and horFlynn’s writing is nothing short rp wit that invades the rifyingly suspenseful, with a sha ting perspectives lay pages. Layered plots and conflic of the novel, slowly in a tangled ball at the beginning r. A second reading of unraveling through each chapte ails and plot lines that the thriller will uncover more det nn uniquely sets up seemed unimportant before. Fly nor trustful. They are characters that are neither likable bt and emotional dou capable of anything and conjure e. pag h eac h oug erraticism thr verness that remarks Amy’s diary reveals a chilling cle romantic relationships on the expectations of women, son. The words are and just being a functioning per m a perspective of a haunting, especially since it’s fro missing person

Overview: Gillian Flynn’s G on chological explor e Girl is a terrifying psyation of a seemin nocent married couple in North gly inCa Missouri. The fa çade of happines rthage, s is shattered when Am yD the couple’s fifth unn goes missing on w all evidence poin edding anniversary and ts to her cheatin g husband Nick Dunn.

Th and Amy’s diary, rough Nick’s thoughts th leaves the crimin e mystery unravels and al sentence to th er. Readers mus e readt question who holds the guilty knife and co title of “innocent nsider the complicated .”

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Limitations

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broadside poetry in street lit style submission

streetwalker My body is mine my breasts my thighs.

And they make money selling print ads

of perfume derrieres and bare boob booze while I make money selling my sex

and you label it criminal.

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an entrepreneur selling what’s mine

WLA (Re)Animated Reimagine and Relive our Pasts “Good Friday Walk for Justice”

Commentary:

8th Day Center for Justice, founded in 1974 by six congregations of men and women, is a Roman Catholic non-profit organization that now pools more than 40 religious communities together. This flyer, created by the organization in 1981, provides details on its “Good Friday Walk for Justice” in which participants stopped at banks, corporate offices and government buildings to reenact moments of Christ’s life. The objective of the walk was to “recall the sufferings of different peoples in the world as a result of government and business policies and actions.” The walk paid particular attention to those “seeking liberation from oppression” in South Africa, South Korea, El Salvador and the United States

WLA Mission Statement:

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.

broadside poetry in street lit style Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, PhD

This is not a myth.

It is a fable instead, That tells an untold story about

No fire was burning inside me.

They bought my body and choked me up With dancing shadows of phallus and with their They fitted into me; their love.

No breathable space lied in those thin layers.

My body looped, leaped, pooled, and spurted.

And they burnt, bit, stung, and sprung.

No one saw their dancing shadows.

Their ill-considered gestures-up and downRemained permissible, and they surpassed human dignity.

Why should I love thee?

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Only my body was burning. d.

It was in rage when they were in cold bloo

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Submission

Victim-Blaming Attitudes

and our police

I grew up in the suburbs. Automatically, your schema of a suburb springs to mind: white-picket fence, Georgian-style two-story homes with small bushes standing outside the front windows, and quiet, safe streets. For the most part, that’s what it looked like. Being in a suburb of Chicago, you heard about violence on the news—gangs, gun violence, armed

robberies, and murder would all make appearances on the nightly news. But we were in a suburban bubble, that would never happen here. I certainly had that mentality.

Until it happened to me.

After they left, I called my mom and called the police. Three police cars shot down my street. They tell me I can’t stay in the home because I may mess up possible fingerprints left from the two men.

I now sit in my neighbor’s house. She and my mom are friends, and she was happy to help in any capacity. My mom had gotten my message and had left work. She was in shock, just like I was, but definitely wasn’t as calm. Armed robbery? Home invasion? How could this have happened? I’m still struggling with an answer to that one.

The police sit me down and say, “If you know anything, you have to share the information.” Questions flew at me, rapid-fire: What type of gun was it?

Were they wearing gloves? What did they take? Do you know who they are? They then ask if I had set up a home invasion to piss off my parents. They tell me I need to come into the station the next day for more questioning. Meanwhile, a forensic team is sweeping the house, looking for fingerprints or any other possible evidence the men could have left behind. She said if there were any fingerprints, she’d have to cross-reference them with their system to see if they got a match. After she left, we were allowed back into the house.

The next morning, my mom and I drive to the police station. The same officers from yesterday greet me and bring me back into one of the interrogation rooms. They begin the same way: if I know anything, if I’m involved in setting up this home inva-

What did they take?

Do you know who they are? They then ask if I had set up a home invasion to piss off my parents. sion, I could get into a lot of trouble.

Let me make one thing clear: I did not set up this home invasion. I wasn’t looking to “piss off my parents.” I didn’t know the men that threatened my life. But these officers treated me like a suspect instead of a victim. I was in the interrogation room for over an hour, and they finally decided that I didn’t know anything. So I was free to go home.

I was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder a few months later. Mayo Clinic defines Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as “a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.” Someone with PTSD may experience intrusive thoughts, avoidance of stressful or triggering situations, feeling emotionally numb, and feeling immense guilt or shame, among other symptoms.

I experienced all of these symptoms, especially the emotional numbness and the feelings of immense guilt. For about two months after the home invasion, I walked around in a blur. It’s as if I was asleep for those two months—I don’t remember anything. I was able to emotionally shut down until May, which is when I was finished with my junior year in high school. But the summer provided new demons that I would have to address, considering my time was no longer occupied by the 8AM-4PM school day.

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“I’m going to die”.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

As one of the men scoured through the house, the other kept the gun firmly pressed to my forehead.

I can honestly tell you I have never felt so calm.

As they were shouting derogatory names at me, I kept very still and very calm. If you’ve never been in shock, that’s what it feels like: calmness. It feels as if you are floating effortlessly as the room spins around—everything is flying and it’s complete chaos, but you’re removed from it all. That’s how I felt: mostly removed, except for the bare minimum of my conscious mind. The part of me that was engaged allowed me to process what was going on.

And from this part, the thought, “I’m going to die,” slowly flittered through me.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

I was sixteen years old when two men came in through the back door, held me at gunpoint, and robbed the house. I was home alone.

I remember sleeping during the day and then staying up until 2AM. The thoughts of how my life could have ended so easily would intrude, and I would spend most of my waking hours crying. I couldn’t help it—I was just so lost, confused, and most of all, depressed. I barely left the house, or my room, for that matter. My mom had finally had enough, and told my therapist that therapy on its own wasn’t working—I need medication. She wholeheartedly agreed, and we set up an appointment with a psychiatrist. I was prescribed an antidepressant and an antianxiety to help combat my crippling feelings of depression and to maybe get me out of bed for more than a few hours a day.

You can never be “cured” of PTSD, necessarily. But I’ve braved the storm of this illness: I’m a successful college student and community member. I no longer think about the home invasion on a daily basis, and when I do think about it, it doesn’t immobilize me anymore.

The one aspect missing from my recovery would be the decrease in feelings of guilt or shame. My feelings of guilt were aggravated by those police officers, who didn’t believe me when I told them I didn’t set up my own home invasion. We live in a culture that perpetuates victim-blaming, because we are so shocked that people would do horrible things to other people, so we try to find an exception or a reason as to why this awful thing would happen. That exception or reason would be the victim. You hear it all the time: victims being asked what they did wrong and told they caused this to happen. These victim-blaming attitudes don’t come just from the general public, but from those in power, like the courts and the police. Crime victims’ voices are automatically silenced because it’s the easy way out.

I know police get immense training on how to handle victim-crimes, and they are told how to be empathetic and how to help the victims. But those training sessions aren’t enough. Our culture tells us it’s okay, and ultimately expected, that we blame the victim.

So going into a training session that tells you to do the opposite of what society is doing isn’t going to change the course of our culture—and it isn’t going to change an officer’s attitudes. The institutional support of victim blaming has to be addressed to help bring peace to victims’ lives.

I wish I had a clear-cut answer to the problem of victim-blaming, but if there was a clear-cut answer, we probably wouldn’t have this problem. I still feel

guilt in the pit of my stomach from the home invasion, even though I know it was out of my control.

The criminal justice system has worked for some, and has failed others. In this situation, it has failed me. Victim blaming doesn’t just harm the victim, it harms the whole system. Until those in power understand the detriment of our culture’s flawed ideology, we will always blame those that need our support.

words are useless

After Ferguson

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sometimes words aren’t enough Jeff Lassahn

The Pink Paperbacks Novel reflections from a bibliophilic feminist Ellie Diaz

Exposing Corruption and Violence

A Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

“18 percent of the women in Sweden have been threatened by a man.”

And so begins the emotional rollercoaster and spine-tingling mystery of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The first installment of the Millennium trilogy exposes themes of inequality and violence toward women while creating a character that will have readers rushing to find a Lisbeth Salander-worthy dragon tattoo.

Every year since his granddaughter Harriet’s disappearance, millionaire Henrik Vanger receives a framed exotic flower. To uncover the mystery, Vanger challenges Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who recently retired from his own political magazine after a nasty libel conviction, to solve the 43-year-old case in one year.

Lisbeth Salander, a badass computer hacker who possesses a photogenic memory, is fighting her own battles. After seeking revenge of her rapist, Salander teams up with Blomkvist and moves to the cold and isolated Swedish island. Together, they attempt to piece together Harriet’s disturbing past by tracking down pictures, decoding her diary and interviewing unwilling and eerily suspicious family members that populate the island.

But someone on the island is determined to hunt them down and will do anything to stop the duo from uncovering family secrets.

How is this a pink feminist novel?

Each part of the bestselling novel, which is titled Men Who Hate Women in Sweden, begins with a statistic about violence against women that remains in the back of readers’ mind as they unfold the truth of Harriet’s past. The book is filled with cruelty: animal cruelty, family violence, incest, political inequality, harassment and murder, much of which is projected at women.

Larsson’s inspiration to write about inequality partly stems from his grandfather, whose strong anti-Nazi opinions allegedly led to his imprisonment in a work camp. According to the author’s biography site, Larsson “wanted to protect equal rights and fight for democracy and freedom of speech in order to prevent history, and what happened to his grandfather, from repeating itself.”

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“Stieg was a true idealist, a feminist, a believer in freedom,” Ekman reports. “He dedicated his whole life to fighting the right-wing extremists. The biggest thing Stieg did was not the books. It was the work he did for democracy.”

Stieg also writes about violence toward women because he feels guilty about what he witnessed when he was a boy. When he was 15 years old, Larsson watched his three friends rape a 15-year-old girl. He later asked for the victim’s forgiveness and she refused. The victim’s name was Lisbeth and since then, Larsson has been plagued with guilt. In the novel, Lisbeth Salander comes to the conclusion that the Swedish government largely ignores the rights of women. Larsson bleeds his guilt into the novel, creating a badass character that advocates for equality.

While presenting political and societal corruption, the novel also presents characters that refuse to follow the norms. Blomkvist has a long and open affair with his friend and business partner. Salander doesn’t restrict herself to loving one gender and refuses to label herself.

She wears dark clothing, rides a motorcycle and has tattoos and piercings. She’s labeled clinically insane yet is a gifted and intelligent hacker who doesn’t take shit from anyone.

Five Reasons Why You Should Read this Novel 1. Blomkvist and Salander’s friendship will make your feminist heart tingle. Blomkvist does not give a flying hoot that Salander is not stereotypically “pretty” or that she doesn’t open up to people. He bases his judgments and respect on how well Salander can do her job and how she treats him.

Salander, so used to getting harassed and mistreated, is surprised at Blomkvist’s actions towards her: “She had been sharing a house with him for a week, and he had not once flirted with her. He had worked with her, asked her opinion, slapped her on the knuckles figuratively speaking when she was on the wrong track, and acknowledged that she was right when she corrected him. Dammit, he had treated her like a human being.”

2. There are females. Lots of them. If we’re lucky, a mystery plot might feature a minor female character that says something witty or seduces the bad guys. Every female The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduces is intelligent, capable, intriguing and forces readers to listen.

The male characters are also wise and interesting. Will you like all of them? Not a chance. But this novel doesn’t need a sexy minor character or a dimwitted fool to move the plot along. Stereotypes? No thank you.

3. Reading it is like an adult game of Guess Who. Remember that fun game where you flicked down pictures

While presenting political and societal corruption, the novel also presents characters that refuse to follow the norms.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

of people until you guessed your partner’s person? This novel is just a darker, more misogynistic and scary version.

4. Steig Larsson is haunted by his past. A book is never merely a book. It’s a lesson. Larsson wrote this novel (and series) to expose Sweden’s corruption and inequalities. He was a social justice activist who put his life in danger daily. He didn’t even know of the novel’s success before he died. Larsson is forever haunted by what he witnessed as a boy, and has tried to pay tribute and justice through his words.

5. Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth Salander.

Did I mention “Lisbeth Salander”? Outsiders are revolted by her appearance, but the novel mentions that her “greatest fear, which was so black that it was of phobic proportions, was that people would laugh at her feelings.” Aren’t we all afraid of that?

She also acknowledges that the cards are stacked against her in Sweden’s detrimental and disturbing society.

“As a girl, she was a legal prey, especially if she was dressed in a worn black leather jacket and had pierced eyebrows, tattoos, and zero social status.”

Fun fact: Lisbeth’s Salander’s outfit caught so much attention that the fashion retailer H&M decided to launch a line.

This novel demonstrates that every character doesn’t have to have a black-and-white persona. Females are complex and, like men, they have the capability to be kind, evil, intelligent, cruel or helpful. If you’re in the mood for a kick-ass and fierce feminist thriller that exposes corruption and women killers, (let’s be honest, who isn’t?) purchase this novel and treasure it forever.

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According to a New York Times article, Larsson’s friend Mikael Ekman describes the author as an experienced advocate for democracy.

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madads busted advertising, bustling economy Political Play: Soft on Crime

Consider: There is a trend in political smear campaigns to label opposing candidates as “soft on crime.” It’s typically used by a more conservative candidate to attack a more liberal opponent.

1. What sort of cultural and national ideas do these ads use?

2. What is the impact of ads like this on the public’s perception of criminals?

3. Is this fair? Necessary? Honest?

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QUOTE CORNER

tell-a-vision

MADADS

visions & revisions of our culture(s) “My World”

TELL-AVISION

SCREEN/ PLAY

BOOKMA RK HERE

TELL-AVISION

QUOTE C ORNER

BROAD FACULTY FEED

BROAD RECAP

LIBERATIO N LEADERS

CAREER CALL

WLA REANIMA TED

VOLUNTEE R VOICES

BROADSID VISITING E Consider: ITOR schoolMand ESSAGthe 1. What do you think the poet means when she says, “Because here,EDthe E MEprison are intertwined?”

MICsurrounding 2. According to this poem, what are some of the issues the school-to-prison pipeline?

RO AGRES 3. What role does race and institutional racism play in the school-to-prison pipeline?

ADVAN SHUN S

CE

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4qASIBFWhE

BROAD

WE’VE GO T MAIL

“

just words? just speeches?

Nelson Mandela

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

Nothing is black or white.

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

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No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

quote corner

Manga Addict Analyzing Anime and Manga Via Gender Julia Deluca

lady snowblood Hello fans! I know I haven’t written in a while. It’s been a busy past few months. Searching for and finding employment, and I have been doing quite a bit of volunteer work. Took a bit of time to secure a balance between the two. A lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. But I’m back, and I got a great review for ya.

As this month’s issue is about Criminal Justice, I decided to review one of the most popular mangas ever: Lady Snowblood, written and illustrated by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura respectively. This manga, which ran from 1971-1972 in Japan, follows the story of Oyuki, a woman assassin in Meji-era Japan (Japan in the 19th century, beginning the process of modernization). As she makes her living as an assassin for various clients, she is also on the hunt for three who were responsible for the death of her mother’s husband and son, as well as her rape and imprisonment.

Interestingly, the manga inspired a movie by the same name in 1974, and was credited for being the inspiration to Quentin Taratino’s film Kill Bill.

Synopsis: Lady Snowblood is a 4 volume manga which tells

the story of Oyuki, a skilled and expensive assassin hired by various clients throughout the series. In order to get close to her targets, Oyuki uses a combination of treachery, cunning, and her feminine charm. With others believing that as a woman she poses no threat, it becomes easy for Oyuki to pulls out a katana hidden in the hilt of her parasol and kill them on sight. She is not only beautiful, but smart, skilled and deadly. Oyuki had been trained from infancy at the request of her mother to become a deadly assassin in order to find three of the four people responsible for her torture. As the manga progresses on, the reader learns that Oyuki’s mother was brutally raped, and her husband and son were murdered by these same people. She managed to kill one, but was imprisoned before she could com-

plete her revenge. Knowing she would never be able to do so herself, Oyuki’s mother seduced every man she could while in prison in order to get pregnant, and requested that her daughter carry out her wish: to kill the remaining three who stole her life and self-value.

needs to be addressed. But sometimes I feel like the creators were mostly providing sadistic porn for the reader than trying to have us feel for the characters.

A decoration not a person to pity and make us want to do something about her situation. And sadly,

Sadly, as great as this manga is, there are flaws. The villains who raped Oyuki’s mother were basically flat sociopaths who had no personality, and no ambition. Then there’s the whole “Rape as a Backstory” that is all too familiar with media. Yes, rape does (tragically) happen and it is a serious issue which

while I did say Oyuki got some character development, the development of a personality was not included. Instead of being a character, it felt more like she was the plot. Some of the story chapters in the manga were the same formula over and over. There were no surprise twists: very formulaic, no sense that Oyuki is more than a tool of revenge.

Overall: If you’re looking for a good story with plot twists, memorable characters, and great action scenes… this might not be the best manga to do so. It’s your basic revenge story with plenty of torture, rape, and sex scenes, and little else. However, if you just want a basic revenge story with good art and a protagonist who can kick butt, then you may enjoy Lady Snowblood. You can find the manga online.

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Cons

BROAD Info + Editors

The artwork is very distinct. Some would say the style is very “aged” or “outdated” but also keep in mind this manga was published in the 1970s. And as I said above, the details are just amazing. The reader is also treated to some history of Japan during the Meiji Era: the conflicts between Westernization and Nationalization (showing the good and bad of each without vilifying one over the other), the struggles the everyday people faced while adapting to changes, and it also talked about the issue behind honor and revenge. As Japan was Westernizing and the day of the Samurai were coming to an end, it was becoming unacceptable for one to take revenge on another. It was no longer tolerated, even if it was seeking revenge for the death of a loved one. As we are discussing Criminal Justice and right and wrong, I felt this was a good point to discuss. So this manga is good at showing the clash behind the cultural values of the old ideologies as progression comes.

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Pros:

She is not only beautiful, but smart, skilled, and deadly.

Oyuki had been trained from infancy at the request of her mother to become a deadly assassin...

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Wow. Just…just wow. This manga was very detailed in everything: the fight scenes, death scenes, blood, sex…just about everything. This is one of the best revenge themed mangas written. It’s dark, gritty, and has a little bit of humor mixed in. I also like that the protagonist Oyuki does get some character development. She starts out cold and unfeeling due to her upbringing and position, but gradually becomes more open and considerate of certain people. The histories of some of these characters, including some of the assassination targets, are also heart breaking. One in particular only wants to look for someone to be in a relationship with, but has felt ostracized his whole life due to his size. It’s hard to go into detail about it without spoiling the story, but believe me when I say how much I enjoyed this.

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My opinion:

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search this

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warning: results with assumptions Autocomplete Criminality

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tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) different approach to school safety

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status quo combustion Lubna Baig

La masculus Versus La femina

the criminal mind hypothesis In the year 1981, a young boy named Adam Walsh was abducted and subsequently murdered by notorious serial killer Otis Toole. A missing child safety program called “Code Adam” was launched in retail stores around the nation. Congress even passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was signed into law by the then President Bush in July 2006. Adam Walsh was just one of many innocent kids that were exploited by people like Otis Toole. Really, the first boy that was featured on the side of a milk carton was Ethan Patz and 33 years after his kidnapping/murder an arrest was finally made. Jaycee Dugard, Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, Elizabeth Smart, etc… all were rescued and got the justice they deserved after years of trials, tribulations, and torture. For a superpower such as the United States, justice seems to be difficult to come by. Who can forget the gruesome murder of famous Hollywood actress Sharon Tate at the hands of Charles Manson and his family?

Or the rape/murder/ dismemberment of over 17 men/boys by cannibal/necrophiliac/pedophile/ rapist/serial killer Jeffery Dahmer? Or the inhumane mass murder of prostitutes by the Green River Killer, Gary

Ridgeway? Then there is famous football player/ broadcaster/actor O.J. Simpson who is now a convicted felon currently incarcerated in Nevada for numerous felonies like drug trafficking, robbery, and wrongful death of spouse Nicole Brown Simpson…We have the singer Rihanna suffering physical abuse at the hands of her boyfriend Chris Brown and a good kid like Justin Bieber getting charged for numerous DUIs. After extensive research and combing through all these cases, I can’t help but thinking…aren’t we all criminals in some way?

In his book, The Republic, Plato states that justice is a necessary evil which stems from human weakness and vulnerability. According to him, man, by nature, is not really just. People practice law/justice because they are scared that some-

We have all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the path we chose to be on.

Bad things do happen to good people but we

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shouldn’t let those bad things have the power to make or break us. We are humans. Family, friends, love…these thing break you beyond repair. That’s life. Life is messy sometimes. And yes, we are all criminals in some way. We are guilty of hurting someone due our massive egos and selfish hearts. Some criminals are born and some are created by us. But I say, it’s our life. So we should have the power to control our thoughts/actions/feelings/behavior. Your mom doesn’t want you. No problem. Move out and learn how to pay your own bills. Your boyfriend wants to break up and date other people or he cheated on you. No problem. There’s plenty of fish in the sea. Things just don’t seem to work out for you. Well, you should remember there’s a shining light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, all that matters is your ability to survive no matter how hostile the world is. “Survival of the fittest” has been the law ever since the universe came into existence. Only you can help yourself. So, you should keep in mind that you are made of stronger stuff and stand up on your own two feet. And that’s all that matters.

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Sometime ago, I was watching famous track/ field athlete, motivational speaker and businessman Bruce Jenner share his recipe for success.

According to him, you can reach the ladder of success IF YOU SURROUND YOURSELVES WITH PEOPLE THAT MOTIVATE YOU. Your surroundings make or break you. This is also seen in plants. If they have access to the right amount of sunlight, water, and food, they grow fast and healthy. Similarly, if a child is raised in a stable and happy environment where he has the right amount of food, clothing, shelter, education, and religion, he would grow up to be a normal, happy person on his way to success. Had Manson, Dahmer or Ridgeway been raised in a stable environment, they wouldn’t have turned out the way they are today i.e. serial killers and all their victims might have been alive as well. Man is known by the company he keeps. Maybe if Justin Bieber spent less time on spirited socializing with people who do pot or shots of tequila, there wouldn’t be so many DUIs to his name.

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When you look at all those heinous murderers like Manson, Dahmer, Toole, or Ridgeway, you can see that they all came from broken or unstable families. Dahmer and Ridgeway both had parents with broken marriages filled with domestic violence. Ridgeway even had a domineering mother. Manson’s mother dedicated her life to promiscuity and robbery. She rejected him and tried to place him in a foster home despite his objections.

According to him, man, by nature, is not really just.

People practice law/justice because they are scared that something worse might happen if they deny justice to the one that needs it.

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thing worse might happen if they deny justice to the one that needs it. Human nature makes us unjust to one another. Man is selfish. In his selfishness, he does things which he has no right to do. That is the reason why men enter into a social contract; the contract that states that we practice just laws so that everyone dwells in harmony with each other. Plato conducts a thought experiment to prove his point. He states that if a good/just man is given something like a ring or cloak that makes him invisible, he would do all those things that bad people do knowing that no one can see through his ring/cloak of invisibility.

Given the circumstances, a good man would be vulnerable to bad deeds. I completely agree with this.

message me we asked. you answered.

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The rich do.

No, society would be corrupt if we did

The elderly can get away with anything.

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Do you think you have any sort of privilege over the law?

I vote for the laws so yes, I think that gives me privilege over them

My whiteness makes me less likely to be pegged as a criminal

Politicians, celebrities, and corporations are always evading the law—that’s privilege

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I vote for the laws so yes, I think that gives me privilege over them

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tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) real prison reform

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And Still I Rise Find yourself. Lose yourself. Repeat again.

Yolanda Barnes

be free.

I’m exhausted. This country and all its broken systems have worn me out. Two days ago, the grand jury in the Michael Brown investigation decided not to indict Darren Wilson. After the decision was

shared with the world I witnessed similar reactions from people in my community.

We were not surprised, but it still hurt.

I will have to teach him to place his hands on the steering wheel immediately after being pulled over

Why do I have to teach my nephew to be a version not of his true self, just so he can survive in America? I’m angry about the world my nephew and maybe one day my future children will have to live in.

After much reflection and lots of tears, I’ve decided I will not allow this anger to take over my life. I will rise above the hate to create positive social change in this world. I recognize the fight for justice will be a never-ending battle, but I’m ready for the fight.

J. Cole wrote a powerful song soon after the shootings in Ferguson. His lyrics captured everything I was feeling and still experiencing to this day. I want to end my column with a few words from, Be Free.

Are we all alone fighting on our own Please give me a chance I don’t wanna dance Something’s got me down I will stand my ground, Don’t just stand around Don’t just stand around All we want to do is take these chains off All we want to do is break the chains off All we want to do is be free All we want to do is be free All we want to do is take these chains off All we want to do is break the chains off All we want to do is be free All we want to do is be free

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I’m hurt by the grand jury’s decision for multiple reasons. I’m hurt because there was no consideration in providing justice to the family and loved ones of Michael Brown. I’m hurt because I have a 6-year-old nephew who will one day grow up and be considered a threat to society simply because of the color of his skin. I’ve always known that as my nephew gets older I will have to teach him how to best navigate a system that was not created for him.

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For me, it felt like someone dropped a bag of bricks on my chest. My first reaction was to cry. I cried not only for the memory of Michael Brown, but for the sad reality of the country we live in. I cried for Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Eric Gardner, Tamir Rice, and many more black and brown bodies that have received no LOVE from society. We live in a broken world and I’m at a point where I’m not sure what to do.

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I will now have to teach him to be careful with the toys he plays with outside, because you can be killed by the police or a neighborhood watchperson if they believe you to be dangerous.

by the police, even if he was not at fault. I will have to teach him to always be on his best behavior in class, because we would not want him to end up in the school to prison pipeline system. I will teach him to be brave and strong, even when people on a daily basis are oppressing him. After the recent shooting death of Tamir Rice, I will now have to teach him to be careful with the toys he plays with outside, because you can be killed by the police or a neighborhood watchperson if they believe you to be dangerous.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Gretchen Matta, gretchenmatta.com

Busted Betty Artist: Gretchen Matta, gretchenmatta.com

Convict Carla

There have always been mugshots of men seen throughout history, but where are the women? So “Busted Betty” was born!

I was recently in an art show where it was the first showing of my Busted Betty Series, and the reaction people had was so great! Everyone wanted to know why each woman was busted, what had they done? I already had my own stories but asked them all to tell me what they thought based on the woman’s facial expression and name. I heard some fantastic detailed stories!

words are useless

unjust

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sometimes words aren’t enough Sarah Allegra

World of Women Measuring the Strength of Women in Pounds & Kilos Elishah Virani

the prisoner committed no crime She awoke just as the sky turned orange and peeked through her little window as the sun began to rise.

She hurried to the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for her husband and two children, one 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. It had taken a lot of convincing for her husband to allow both of the children to go to school. She considered herself and her daughter blessed because it was rare in this little village of India for girls to be educated. She woke both of her children up and ensured that they were out of bed and getting ready in their uniforms before she left the room to go wake her husband up. “It’s time for work,” she said, but it evoked no response. She said a bit louder, “You should get up now, it’s time for work.” He grunted and got up off the bed, pushing past her toward the bathroom.

She went back to the kitchen and started feeding her children until her husband came in, dressed for work. He drove a taxi on the streets of the city, trying to scrape up enough money to be able to pay for the children’s tuition and to afford food. She placed his plate of eggs, roti bread and a cup of chai before him, and she immediately recognized the look of distaste that swept across his face. “These eggs are burnt!” he yelled. “I work hard all day long so I can give you a roof on your head and you only have one job, but you can’t even do that right!” He pushed the plate across the cold floor that they used as a dining table, and it flipped over, its contents spilling all over the floor. He got up angrily and went to his room to grab his wallet. The children watched silently, knowing that this was the usual start to their day, and that saying anything could result in some-

thing worse than just yelling. He stepped out of the room and walked past them yelling, “And clean that up, the last thing we need is more cockroaches.” He slammed the front door shut behind him.

She began picking up the remnants of his breakfast while subtly trying to wipe the tears that started to trail down her cheeks. “Come on now, finish your breakfast or you’ll be late,” she said to her children, and they obediently followed her instructions. She picked up the last few pieces of egg and put everything away, just in time for the school bus to arrive.

She grabbed the kids’ backpacks and lunch boxes and rushed them out the door. She kissed them goodbye and watched as the bus drove away. She went back into their little house and opened the only two little windows to let in a little light. It was the same routine every day. The yelling, the crying, the children leaving for school and her getting left behind to clean up after everyone and do nothing but keep the house clean and tend to everyone’s needs. The children would come home, and once they were asleep, her husband would too, angry with stories of rude customers. He would yell at her because the food didn’t taste good and then slap her for moving his stuff while cleaning. It was always the same thing and she was so tired of it, but what else could she do?

She knelt on the floor by one of the windows, gazing out at the world she would never be a part of. She committed no crime, yet she lived like a prisoner.

After all, she was a woman, and women are no different from criminals in her little village.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough

Immigrants Never Surrender

Artist: John Coakley, https://www.etsy.com/shop/PostcardsFromNYC

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John Coakley

broadside street lit style Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, Ph.D.

judge the old shop.

It was 9.00 am. Surya was standing outside sh dusting.

He was waiting for the pawnbroker to fini enous as he had skipped Reasons: he was jobless, and he was rav old chap did not have last two meals. The poor eighteen years worthless soul. anything to place as a pawn except his own spaper for a helper Yesterday, he read an advertisement in new ry small work.’ The saying: ‘Required a worker for almost eve ry tough job.’ simple line means ‘we want a guy for eve shop. To look at The shop was looking more like an antique y stuffs lying in various from a distance, there were most ordinar ed for the lovers of glass-racks. Actually, the shop was packag es dangling from the old miscellaneous artefacts with golden glob rful butterflies. ceiling and shiny stickers fluttering like colo his gaze but caught by Their eyes met. Surya tried to slip away ards him to come. The the pawnbroker’s index finger pointing tow ‘How lucky I am,’ he unemployed Surya took it as an invitation. calling me.’ Keeping up thought ‘even my prospective employer is p-keeper. a brave smile, he walked straight to the sho pawnbroker ‘do you ‘Hey, boy,’ said the forty year old clumsy want to earn some money.’

ement ‘Of course, that’s why I am here.’ said Sur ya with a hesitating tone accompanied with instant skepticism .

The pawnbroker smiled mischievously. Wit h his typical laconic wit, he pointed a small cabin at the back of the shop with his left hand, and pinched him on his chest with the right.

Surya smiled, and said nothing simply wai ted for this oddity to be over. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘I am here for ‘almost every small work’.’ ‘I thought you need a helper’ he added.

‘Yes, yes. this job is very tiring, you kno w. I want some relaxation. I want to be relieved first.’ Paw nbroker said smilingly.

Surya thought for a moment. ‘Yes, it is true that poverty degrades humans but he is not that human.’

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His purpose for being there was over. Now he needed a job.

Rising Above An act you do for yourself is an act of Love.

Gaby Flores Ortiz

Whats really broken... is not just our immigration system.

However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796 On Thursday Obama announced his most recent executive action on immigration. I wondered if it would be positive or just another disappointment.

Though DACA offers many opportunities, it is not perfect and neither is Obama’s latest executive action. Obama claims to want to keep families together while holding them accountable and ensuring that they are contributing members of society. Part of the stipulations of the executive action require undocumented immigrants to pay taxes. The fact is that undocumented immigrants already pay taxes

and claiming otherwise perpetuates the idea that they are free loaders.

My real concern, however, is that undocumented immigrants are being asked to register. DACA has a similar requirement which concerns me for the same reason. If undocumented immigrants register, what is to stop future administrations from using that information against those who have registered?

What is to stop the government from rounding them up and deporting them en mass? The primary beneficiary of this executive action much like the previous one seems to be the Democratic party. Yes, this action could and will keep families together, however, the message is now clear that in order to maintain the executive action one must vote

Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I am paranoid. I have reason to worry. Like many other Latinos, I have loved ones who this impacts. That I am one of the lucky to have gotten my “documents” during the amnesty past by Reagan is not lost on me. I could still be undocumented. I have a Republican to thank for my own status but that does not mean that I should vote Republican. I am grateful that my own status was not predicated on whether or not I voted Republican and I do not think that it is fair to hold millions of people hostage so that their loved ones who are citizens are pigeonholed into voting for a particularly party.

One could argue that it is a choice. After all if you are really passionate about one issue why on earth would you vote for the party that is against that issue? You wouldn’t but people forget that there are more than two party options in this country. The Democrats and the Republicans have a duopoly in government and in elections, specifically in the presidential elections. Other parties aren’t even allowed to be a part of the debates, as was proven in the last presidential elections when the presidential candidates from the Green and Libertarian parties were forcibly escorted away from the the debates as they protested for not being included.

The system is broken but it is not just the immigration system. Government is broken because there are not enough voices at the table. It’s two voices and two agendas controlling the system and being controlled by the highest bidder. The ones who lose out in all of this are the people. There are many critics who claim that we are not living in a Democracy anymore and it is getting easier to see why that might be the case.

I have no interest in continuing to support a party that claims to care about keeping immigrant families together while deporting them en mass. I am not interested in supporting a party that claims to care about immigration reform but then releases two executive actions that are released at critical points in which that population is pulling support from the party. I am not interested in this executive action because it is not real immigration reform

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It’s just one vote, right? Yet, there are millions who will have to vote Democrat because of this executive order.

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and saying otherwise is a lie. Mostly I am not interested in the executive action because it is holding people hostage and forcing them to vote for a party that claims to do much for immigrants but has actually done very little. It is clear that my vote will not be my choice during the next presidential elections. If I vote for any party other than the Democratic one, these executive orders may be retracted and the government will have a nice large database full of people to deport. So I am stuck because I do not believe in what the Democratic party stands for (if it still stands for anything anymore), but I can currently see no way out of not voting for them without possibly putting millions at risk.

It’s just one vote, right? Yet, there are millions who will have to vote Democrat because of this executive order. This is not the tyranny that many conservatives are claiming but it sure isn’t democracy either.

The real question is how do we rise above this?

How do we make our voices heard in such a way that our opinions and beliefs are actually reflected in our government and in our policies? How do the people take back the government?

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for a Democratic president. Democrats lost big in the most recent elections and President Obama is trying to ensure that it does not happen again by appealing to one of the largest demographics that voted him into office. I do not see this executive order as a “win” or as a real sustainable way of fixing the system. I see this as another ploy to ensure that the Democratic party survives the next elections.

Career Call Learn about the Workplace Adela Carlin, Community Lawyer

Community Lawyer 1. Why do you call yourself a community lawyer?

Because my legal career has been shaped by my life experience and I contribute my legal skills to support disadvantaged communities.

2. What life experiences inspired you to become a community lawyer?

I grew up in La Villita, a culturally rich but economically disadvantaged community in Chicago. At a very young age, I realized that although the community generates remarkable amounts of revenue, many community members, including my family, were living in poverty. I also realized that my community, like many other urban communities, was and continues to be plagued by violence. I went to law school determined to get an education which allowed me to make a difference in La Villita and other communities facing similar structural challenges.

3. Where did you begin your legal career?

Immediately after graduating law school, I started working at a legal aid organization in Chicago. I focused on representing survivors of violence. Most of my clients were women from disadvantaged communities. I continue to work at the same organization, but my focus has changed from court representation to community education and advocacy.

4. What do you do now?

Currently, I lead a team of attorneys, paralegals and volunteers focused on community engagement. My responsibilities include building partnerships with community groups, providing a series of free “Know Your Rights� workshops and supervising legal clinics. I also participate in a community council to increase resources in the community and an advisory council to increase access to the courts.

5. What type of training and education did you undergo to become a community lawyer?

During law school, I received traditional training on reading, analyzing and applying the law. However, I sought out courses which helped me apply these basic legal skills to structural issues faced by disadvantaged communities. I enjoyed seminars on critical race theory, gender studies and jurisprudence. I also participated in the legal clinic and had an internship at a civil rights law firm.

6. What type of networks do you belong to?

I am a member of the local bar association, and serve on the legal aid committee.

Through this committee, I have met many community lawyers and collaborated on several projects. I am also part of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network.

Through this Network, I received formal training on structural issues impacting women and girls.

7. What type of challenges do you face?

I am not a typical lawyer and that can be unsettling for people, especially people in positions of power. I have to work very diligently to build trust and establish credibility. I also have to be my own advocate and talk about issues that worry me or affect me. This is one of the reasons that I decided to participate in this interview. I hope it helps future community lawyers pursue their goals, build their own career path and become their own advocates.

8. How do you overcome challenges?

My work requires frequent communication with community leaders and other community lawyers who help me stay focused and motivated. I also have a loving family to support me. I enjoy sharing my success and challenges with my three boys and my husband. I can always count on their support and encouragement to keep going!

9. Can you share one memorable experience from your career?

Two years ago, I received a fellowship to continue my work and pay off the remainder of my law school loans. The fellowship provided a great sense of economic relief and validation for my work. When I received the award, I broke down in tears. I realized that I had come a long way but much more work remains to be done.

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10. What advice would you offer future lawyers?

Community lawyers can make a significant impact in the lives of individuals and communities. There is no single path to become a community lawyer. You can build your own path to a challenging but rewarding career!

Angry Atheist Angry. Godless. Opinionated.

Mario Mason

Why I want all boys Despite the fact that I am not even 20 yet, my friends and I always engage in conversations about starting our own families and I never hesitate to say that I want all boys. This is usually responded to with something along the lines of *chuckle* “It’s because you’re such a manly man and you want to do manly things with your child right?” No, that’s not it at all. I can very much play football and go fishing with my daughter if I had to. No, the reason I want all boys is much deeper than that. I know that if I have a son, his values will always be worth something and his existence will never be questioned. I first realized that I wanted all boys when I read a news article a while back about these two 16-year-old boys who raped a girl. After the verdict was announced, CNN was concerned more with the fact that these boys will no longer have a football career. They said nothing of the girl who has to live with the idea of being raped growing inside of her. If I were the father of this girl, I most certainly would have done something crazy because this is just not OK. It’s not OK at all.

I also want all boys because I feel this is the best way for me to make a change. For most men, fatherhood is either fight or flight and way too often most men flight. Who will our boys learn from if not a father figure? Rape culture often steps in as the father figure for these boys and it’s the worst thing that one can learn from. Rape culture teaches “Do not get raped” rather than “Do not rape.” It teaches men that they are entitled to a woman’s body after he buys her a few drinks and that a short skirt and a smile is a welcoming sign to do as we please. It teaches us that unless someone steps in then it’s OK. It teaches us that unless she says, “I have a boyfriend” we must keep making advances.

This is why I want all boys. These realizations make me fume with anger.

What makes me disappointed is the fact that we trust the police more than our own children. We throw them in prison rather than get them the help they need. We ignore the signs until it’s too late. We give up on our youth and celebrate each time another one goes to prison. Because logically speaking, prison will teach him how to respect women. Prison, where the norm is for men to rape other men, will teach these boys how to respect another person’s right and body.

Instead of seeing juvenile centers as daycares, imagine how powerful it would be if we didn’t give up on these young men? Prison will not fix the broken. It will damage them beyond repair. They will become mangled and broken and have so many sharp edges they will end up hurting everyone around them.

I’m not saying to feel sorry for them but I’m also not going to apologize for the way I feel about this complex issue. So many of us limit ourselves to only loving those who have been on the receiving end of a bullet, the barrel of a gun or the edge of a knife, but I will be the first to say I have enough love and sympathy for all parties including the one who’s holding the weapon.

One day I am going to be a father and I’m going to have boys. If I don’t raise him in such a way that will allow him to free himself from his sexism and masculinity and if he does not learn from me, then rape culture will teach him for me. He will be as good as gone and as good as a womanizer, hopeless prison fiend or wife beater. He is not different than all the other men of color apologizing and crying to the girl he assaulted. That “he didn’t know” or “he didn’t mean for it to go down like that.” He will sit there and say I taught him better, hoping someone will forgive him. I want all boys.

words are useless

Order in the Court

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sometimes words aren’t enough Anthony Falbo

WLA (Re)Animated Reimagine and Relive our Pasts West-CLUW Protesting

Commentary:

This photograph shows Peggy Roach, civil rights advocate and administrative assistant to the Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, holding a sign at the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The peaceful demonstration was to show support for a civil rights bill and to stand against segregation in schools. It was the largest demonstration held in the capital and is remembered for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. This piece can be found in Loyola’s Women and Leadership Archives in the “Margaret (Peggy) Roach Papers” collection.

WLA Mission Statement:

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.

The Coalition of Labor Union Women, formed in 1974, seeks to unite all union women, promote affirmative action and increase women’s roles in politics. The organization advocates for affordable health care, equal pay and protection from sexual harassment. This photograph, which shows CLUW members protesting outside the Chicago Tribune building in 1985, can be found in Loyola’s Women and Leadership Archives in the “Mollie Lieber West Papers” collection.

WLA Mission Statement:

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.

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Commentary:

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Chelsea Ragan, chelsearagan.com

Hands Up Dont Shoot Artist: Chelsea Ragan, chelsearagan.com

“Hands Up Don’t Shoot” is a mini art book which depicts scenes of looting during the riots of Ferguson, MO in August 2014. The event of Ferguson have been documented in many different ways and viewed in many different lights. I wanted to focus on the ambiguous nature of looting in the face of a social revolution. Everything is not Black or White.

broadside poetry in street lit style Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, PhD

fractured identity I am a woman, an Indian woman.

No, not an upper caste India woman, But a lower caste, dalit woman.

Power is contested on my body.

Politics is playing with my rights.

People are prejudiced to my freedom.

Perhaps they want to make me less human. national flag.

Sometimes, I am not allowed to hoist the cow dung.

At times, I am forced to drink urine, and ote villages.

Often, I am assaulted and murdered in rem Because I am an Indian dalit woman.

Do they hear my cries or it is just a clink? es Soon forgotten over discussing feminist issu dinners In conferences, over expensive wines and d identity.

Leaving my withered soul with its fracture

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e.

Recently, few disrobed me at a city-junctur g.

I barely escaped being raped, but how lon new clothes.�

They said, “a dalit woman cannot dress ere else.

O God! I wish I had a better life somewh

Insight on (In)Justice Because sometimes justice starts with a conversation...

Kait Madsen

Restorative Justice and a community of healing care

If there’s one thing I’ve learned as I’ve grown up, it’s that truth and reality often lie in grey areas. Questions of morality, of right and wrong, often must be qualified with “moral for whom?” Life is messy, imperfect, and complicated. Most of us are doing our best to find meaning in the complexity, and to find solid footing in the ever-changing world. We can both care for someone and be hurt by them at the same time; we can believe in an ideal but disagree with the approach to it. We can feel liberated and angry, saddened but at peace, joyful yet terrified. Finding purpose and direction amidst chaos is arguably what makes us human. Yet we also crave structure and order, and, as a result, we try to order our world by creating laws, contracts, and institutions to govern ourselves. The United States justice system tends to be a pretty black-and-white approach to crime and wrongdoings, one that says that you’re either a bad criminal or a good non-criminal, period. It says that justice is bad guys in prison and good guys serving as productive members of society, and that the issue with wrongdoing is that laws were broken.

Yet this retributive approach to justice is often described as “broken:” the United States has the largest prison population of any developed country in the world, both in percentage and sheer numbers (Source: International Centre for Prison Studies).

There is a tendency for the United States to solve problems by putting the “trouble-makers” in prison, making them out-of-sight and out-of-mind.

We try to mend hurt in situations by filing it away, labelling criminals with terms like “scum,” and expecting victims to move on. But this approach ignores the humanity and complexity of situations, and often disrupts true healing in the community and those affected. In my personal explorations

with ideas of power, privilege, change, and transformation, I’ve been drawn to the ideas of restorative justice and transformative justice as alternatives to our current justice system, alternatives that are community-based and grounded in ideas of transformation, accountability, and healing. Because I think we need more of all three of those concepts: we need justice that is transformative and has the ability to address structural inequalities and hurts, we need justice that holds both the aggressor and the community accountable to addressing harms, and we need justice that promotes community healing, rather than allowing prison to be a band-aid that covers a deep gash of issues that lead to criminal behavior.

I was first introduced to the concept of restorative justice when I applied for a position on the Student Community Board at Loyola three years ago. The Student Community Board, or SCB, is a hearing board that hears cases of alleged student misconduct. It’s part of the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution.

I am not claiming that restorative justice practices can completely overhaul the current justice system. But I do believe that if they’re implemented in certain times of violations and law-breaking, we can begin to change the culture of crime and justice in the U.S. Here are my 5 reasons restorative justice matters: 1. It gives victims/survivors a voice.

At the heart of restorative justice is the opportunity for victims and offenders to have a conversation about harm that was done with the support of the community. It’s key, then, that restorative justice is a voluntary experience, especially when practiced with survivors of violence. Unlike in the traditional justice system, in restorative justice practice, survivors of violence or other forms of harm have the opportunity to tell their story and the impact of the incident to both the offender and the community at large.

2. It focuses on correcting harm through holding “harmers” accountable.

Restorative justice takes a unique approach to offenders: rather than believing offenders should be separated from the rest of society, it acknowledges that offenders should have an opportunity to take responsibility and acdmit harm done, and then also demonstrates the possibility of reconciliation and reintegration into society. This reconciliation, however, is still done with an emphasis on accountability: offenders caused harm

and that must be addressed. But it provides an opportunity for offenders to play an active part in the process, because offenders are viewed as part of the community.

3. It holds the community accountable.

When more than 60% of incarcerated individuals in American are people of color, when African American males have a one-in-three likelihood of ending up in prison in their lifetime compared to one-in-seventeen white men, when two-thirds of the people in prison for drug-related offenses are people of color, we have to ask ourselves: what are we, as a community, doing to prevent racial disparity in sentencing? (Source: The Sentencing Project). There are inequalities in our justice system, and through dialogue and a community-based approach, restorative justice provides an opportunity for communities to examine structures and practices that are unjust. Further, as an alternative approach to justice, it has the possibility of reducing the amount of people in jail and disrupting patterns like the school-to-prison pipeline.

4. It avoids a one-size-fits-all approach.

One challenge of restorative justice is that it is an involved, time-consuming, emotionally invested form of justice, but its investment is exactly what makes it an appealing alternative form of justice. Justice takes work.

The same solution doesn’t work for every person and every incident; an approach that ignores the nuances of situations and individual experiences is not going to be as effective as one that strives to make justice work for all people, in varied ways.

5. It sees the humanity.

Restorative justice sees the potential in situations: the potential of the aggressor to have rehabilitation, the potential of the survivor to heal, and the potential of the community to reconcile. I think that this is at once the most challenging and most necessary part of restorative justice.

As a cultural anthropology major, I’m constantly thinking about how our culture, values, and institutions are entirely socially constructed; justice, therefore, isn’t some innate, natural concept, but one that humans created and have the ability to re-create in accordance with new value systems. I say this because our ideas of what makes a criminal, what’s morally right and wrong, and what should be done to address harm in communities is decided, ultimately, by those who live in a community.

When it comes down to it, we have the power to make “justice” a concept that works based on our community values. I strongly believe that restorative justice is an approach that needs more research, more implementation, more practice, and more support, because it has the potential to be transformational.

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For people who aren’t familiar with the office, the idea of why anyone would chose to serve on a board that gets other students “in trouble” is probably pretty mind boggling. But the power and transformative nature of working on SCB is the philosophy of restorative justice that underlies the work we do. SCB hearings are based on conversations, and board members serve as a voice of the community in the process. A typical hearing looks like this: the board listens as the students explain what happens, and, if needed, the board has an opportunity to say, “Hey, as members of the Loyola community, this is how that incident impacted our community.”

We have a chance to talk to the students about their experience at Loyola, their goals, their values, and their accomplishments, and then the students explain to us “harm” that they believe they caused in the incident, to themselves, others, or the general community. If the student is found responsible, SCB then determines sanctions based on the students’ personal needs and goals, and, most of all, in order to restore the community. For example, if a student was found responsible for an incident that was disrespectful to an RA, the sanction may include a (voluntary) apology to the RA and service hours that give back to the community that was harmed at fitted the interests of the student. It’s an experience that’s tailored to the needs of all involved parties, and dialogue is at the heart of the experience.

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Jessica

DOMEST VIOLENCE AWaRENESS MONTH SPEECH aT COOK COUNTY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTHOUSE My name is Jessica, and I am a very lucky woman.

I’m lucky that I’m alive, that my son and I suffered no lasting physical damage, that my son was young enough that he probably won’t remember.

I’m lucky that my abuse lasted only six weeks. These six weeks began with the sentence, “If you don’t come home right now, I’m going to snap our son’s neck and hang myself.” My son was two and a half.

He would tell me I was a terrible person and deserved to die, I should be strangled – whenever he threatened my life it was always strangling and choking.

He told me that if I ever didn’t do what he wanted he would ruin me. He would take my private correspondence and send it to my family, my grandmother dying of breast cancer, to every theatre in town so I would never work again. He wanted me to have sex with him. And I didn’t think I could say no.

The tactics he used to control and scare me at first were things that sound stupid when you say them out loud. So he blocked me from leaving the room, boxed

me into a corner. If I shake and get nauseous when he touches me, isn’t that my own problem? Can I really walk into the 24th District for every shove, every twisted arm, every lunge at my throat, every death threat, every promise to kidnap my son away to Israel and find him a better mother?

I was a stay-at-home mother and he controlled the money. But that’s not illegal. Nor is it illegal to isolate me from anyone who might help me. He monitored my phone, and when he found a text he didn’t like, he smashed my phone next to my head. I suspected he put spyware on the computer. He would buy our friends drinks and cry about how much I’d hurt him.

He was the victim. I have no family in the Midwest. I had nowhere to go. So I bought a burner phone with change I’d saved from grocery trips and told a few people who I wanted to care for my son if anything ever happened to me. One of them finally called the cops.

An officer who responded gave me the number for North Side Community Resources, where I met victim advocate Jennifer Caruso. She gave me a phone, she helped me make a safety plan, she told me to start filing non-emergency police reports to document all the violence. When I filed the third police report, I asked the officer what to do, since I was terrified of my husband but I couldn’t leave my son behind; I might never see him again. And if I took him with me I knew perfectly well my husband would charge me with kidnapping.

On Monday, June 24, 2013, my son sat in his bath and screamed as he listened to his father hurting his mother. This time I was brave enough to follow the officer’s advice.

When I got to court Jennifer had a victim advocate, Jemeika, waiting for me when I arrived. This is just one more way I was lucky. There’s no way I could have gone through the criminal process without her.

Every single person I met here at the Cook County Domestic Violence Court was wonderful, from the assistant state’s attorney who actually asked if I wanted to press rape charges, to the staff, Patty, who photographed my injuries and wrote my OP and called DCFS, to the deputy who saw me in the line for the metal detector, shaking with the fear I might see my husband there, and escorted me through security and into the victim room.

But not everyone is as lucky as I was. The 35 people who are here today only as cardboard cutouts are proof of that. There aren’t enough victim advocates for everyone. And I have to wonder if my experience was representative, given that I was the picture of a good victim: a crying, shaking, middle-class white girl.

The people in this courthouse are good people, though, who did everything in their power to help me. But their power was limited by the realities of our legal system. Even though he was charged with reckless conduct for hurting my son, I was told I had to modify my order of protection from no contact with my son to no unlawful contact, because he was objecting to it and this court doesn’t have the power to restrict parental rights. That’s the job of family court.

But family court didn’t want to take any action while a criminal case was still pending. Despite a huge stack of paper documenting my husband’s pattern of violence, he received no jail time. My OP specifically prohibits him from following me or using visitation as a means to harass me, but he does.

The real problem is that an order of protection is just a piece of paper. The court can make my abuser attend domestic violence classes, but it can’t make him listen to them. The court can punish him for attacking me, but it can’t punish him for the intimidation and isolation that made it possible for him to violate and hurt me for weeks. The legal system can only address violence after it has happened. It can’t prevent domestic violence, or the conditions that allow it to happen. That’s not its job.

For us to be truly safe, we have to expand our focus from simply improving the police and legal response to domestic violence to a community response. The police who responded to the calls to my house, my victim advocates, the ASA, the court staff, they treated me with a respect and dignity that I didn’t receive even from many of my own family and friends. The professionals told me, “What happened to you IS abuse, it is not okay, and you did not deserve it.”

My friends, however, said they didn’t want to take sides, even though one of those sides was violent.

One friend said she couldn’t take us in because it might put her own children at risk. My grandmother was disappointed we couldn’t just work it out. My own mother pressed me to drop the charges so the breadwinner wouldn’t lose his job, told me I provoked him, and then finally said I deserved what I got and that I was dead to her. And people ask why we stay.

For us to be truly safe, we need our families, our friends, our neighbors, to care about domestic violence as much as everyone in this courthouse does.

When the Centers for Disease Control says that one in four women experiences domestic violence in her lifetime, that 20 people per minute experience intimate partner violence, it is naïve to expect that a problem that touches almost every person in America can be solved in this building.

The change needs to happen in our communities and it’s up to us to start the process of change. We need to call the cops when we hear the neighbor beating his wife, we need to listen when our friends talk about their boyfriends’ control and jealousy issues, and we need to teach our daughters what healthy relationships look like.

I’m not going to let my abuser silence me anymore and pretend that what he did was no big deal. I’ve filed for divorce, gotten a job, and started volunteering for the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, whose mission is to end society’s tolerance of domestic violence. Because if a court-ordered class can’t convince an abuser he’s wrong, the only hope is a chorus of voice from people the abuser respects, his friends and family. More than likely, we are his friends and family. And hopefully my husband’s new girlfriend will never have to hear the terms “real abuse” or “rape-rape.” Hopefully, eventually, no one will.

Thank you for listening.

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But my husband grabbed my head and smashed it into the door. And my two-year-old’s head smashed into the door too. He began kicking and stomping on me, and I rolled over onto my son so that my own body would take all of the blows. I thought he was finally going to kill me, like he had been promising for weeks. Once he realized the police were on their way, he told me he was going to make us watch him kill himself. This time, when the police asked if I wanted him arrested, I said yes.

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just words? just speeches?

Marquis de Sade

In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.

The law which attempts a man’s life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold.

The law which attempts a man’s life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold.

Now let us consider theft. From the standpoint of the wealthy, this is, of course, an horrendous crime.

But, laying partiality aside, let us ask ourselves as republicans: shall we, upholding the principle that all men are equal, brand as wrong an act whose effect is to accomplish a more equal distribution of wealth?

Theft furthers economic equilibrium: one never hears of the rich stealing from the poor, thereby aggravating the economic imbalance; only of the poor stealing from the rich, thereby correcting it. What possibly be wrong with that?

Now we come to the crux of my philosophy: if the taking of pleasure is enhanced by the criminal character of the circumstances -- if, indeed, the pleasure taken is directly proportionate to the severity of the crime involved --, then is it not criminality itself which is pleasurable, and the seemingly pleasureproducing act nothing more than the instrument of its realization?

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Jessica Smith, Lady Jamz

Artist’s Description “MINE” speaks to the ownership of body and reproductive choices and time. The issue of time is important in this discussion, as my stance is not anti-family - but is pro-choice and demands relief from the consequences of mistimed or unwanted pregnancy.

The right time can mean the further pursuit of education and/or career and betterment through personal growth prior to parenthood. This can promote healthier family dynamics when the time is right and have societal benefits at the macro level. The disruption of access to reproductive freedom - be it cost, proximity, or legality - is the impedance of these pursuits prior mentioned. And this is a detriment to society as a whole: women and men alike. Catholics and Atheists alike. Those most concerned with the rights of humans and those most concerned with the state of the economy alike.

Republicans and Democrats. Current and future generations. All of us.

Stand strong sister, your body is yours. YOURS! And I will fight by your side until they understand - until they let you free.

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MINE

kaleidoscope BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Sabrina Minhas

The Value of a Person Americans confronted terrifying reminders of their mortality in the early ‘80s. An epidemic crept into the consciousness of medical professionals as they noticed a stark rise in the rare lung infection pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in communities of gay men (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 2014). The CDC received waves of reports describing gay men suffering from rare diseases due to compromised immune systems, and formed a task force in response. There were 270 reported cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men in 1981, and 121 of those infected died (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 2014). The infection rate skyrocket the following year until it was estimated that tens of thousands of people were infected or at risk of infection.

Medical professionals were confounded by the onslaught of infections, but it was marginalized communities who experienced the brunt of the suffering.

NBC readers submitted their memories of the epidemic, and survivors described witnessing vibrant communities decimated as healthy men suddenly fell ill and slowly withered away before their eyes. Survivors recounted holding as many as 16 dear friends in their arms as each passed away. Survivors expressed the heartache of walking through familiar spaces devoid of the community members they saw daily.

Human life lost its façade of stability. People became transitory again, transforming into nightmares before they simply faded away.

Individuals infected with HIV/AIDS were treated like lepers during the beginning of the epidemic. The medical professionals they turned to often refused to take their cases or even touch them out of fear of

being infected. They were denied basic medical care and even moderate relief of their symptoms. Community members ostracized individuals with AIDS, refusing to interact with them or harassing them for contracting the disease and introducing it to their community. Fear infiltrated the majority of their interactions at a time when they most needed support.

Individuals with AIDS were confronting the confusion of a deadly virus and witnessing the horrors it inflicted while simultaneously navigating stigma, prejudice and harassment from society.

Cases with the ability alleviate the stigma trickled in and slowly gained attention. Heterosexual individuals who were infected through blood transfusions or sexual encounters shifted the focus from marginalized communities to mainstream society, encouraging further research and understanding. Clinics opened to serve those infected and the public was informed that HIV was passed through blood or sexual contact.

There were movements encouraging the public to treat individuals who had HIV/AIDS with respect,

The issue presents a difficult moral dilemma. I am

It is especially difficult to remain compassionate toward those who have committed injustices, as with ex-convicts. often an angry person. I am angry at injustices. I am angry at the depth of human suffering that has become common and normalized in our culture. I am angry at wrongdoers, like many in our society. This issue asks the same activists who fight against injustices to support those who may have committed the injustices in the first place.

Reality, however, is more nuanced. Our justice system is plagued with a myriad of issues. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world (ACLU 2014), harsh sentences for non-violent crimes, an expensive prison industry, racial biases, wrongful convictions and systematic discrimination that places minority communities in a cycle of reoffending with few opportunities to succeed without crime. We cannot assume every convict is a terrible person deserving of constant suffering when each is an individual story riddled with personal struggles and underlying systematic abuses.

There are fundamental question at the heart of this debate. What is the value of a person regardless of their identities and what they have done with their lives? When do we stop fighting for justice and human rights? Can we distinguish the scum of society from those who simply need help, and do we have the right to make that distinction? Individuals who suffered from HIV/AIDS and were treated cruelly by their communities demonstrate that we do not always get the answer right when we question the value of a person.

We must consider that carefully when questioning the rights of prisoners and ex-convicts too.

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America was renowned for its commitment to rehabilitate offenders. Rehabilitation was unheard of in Europe at the time, and the United States was innovative in its treatment of prisoners. Ex-convicts today, however, face discrimination in every facet of their lives, making it nearly impossible to reintegrate into society.

“Offenders’ educational, mental, and social problems are not addressed in prison,” resulting in widening educational and social gaps between ex-convicts and their peers (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment 2000). Ex-convicts often experience emotional and cultural shocks after being released from prison, and find that the skill sets needed to survive in prison vary significantly from the skills needed to be successful in mainstream society. They struggle to find jobs due to stigmas, often do not have access to healthcare, and are more likely to experience mental health issues, placing ex-convicts at a significant disadvantage.

Ex-convicts are likely to reoffend because their opportunities are highly restricted.

Women in particular are more likely to have a dual diagnosis of substance abuse disorder and psychiatric disorder, experience multiple incidents of physical and sexual abuse, be responsible for their children’s support, and be forced by economic need to participate in sex work or prostitution (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment 2000). Women released from prison are often traumatized and in dire need of economic stability, but have even fewer job opportunities than men, greatly reducing their likelihood of reintegrating in society (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment 2000).

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It seemed we realized that anyone could be subject to horrors, and those suffering deserve compassion. We still question the inherent value of people, however, when confronted with situations that challenge our morals, beliefs or understanding. It is especially difficult to remain compassionate toward those who have committed injustices, as with ex-convicts.

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and lawsuits fighting discrimination against medical professionals who treated the disease began.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic caused society to question the value of individuals who were infected, scrutinizing their choices and the importance of structural injustices they faced. The humanity of individuals with HIV/AIDS was ignored or forgotten because they were seen as the manifestation of society’s fears. Oppression experienced by the gay community was worsened when they became affiliated with the disease. It took cases in mainstream society to challenge preconceived notions. The treatment of individuals with HIV/AIDS in the early ‘80s was a blight in our history.

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Mariame Kaba

heading to geneva... to charge genocide.

On Saturday, November 8, 2014 a group of eight young people of color (ages 19-30) from Chicago boarded a plane to Geneva. There, they were presenting a report about Chicago police violence against young people of color to the United Nations Committee Against Torture. It’s been difficult to articulate my thoughts and feelings

about this trip and this delegation of incredible young people. I have too many emotions wrapped up in the endeavor.

As I type, I remember the sense of helplessness that threatened to overwhelm me when I saw and heard Damo‘s friends pour out their grief at his killing by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in May 2014. I also admit to being scared of the chain reaction of pain and hopelessness that this loss could engender in our close-knit community. As I considered ways to honor Damo’s life and to transform our grief into healing, I turned as I often do to history. I was still a young person when I first read “We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief From a Crime of The United States Government Against the Negro People.” The petition and especially the story of how much was overcome to actually present it to the United Nations have stayed with me for years. Wading through grief, fear and anger, I returned to “We Charge Genocide” as a vehicle that could be retooled and reinvigorated in this historical moment. The organizing that my initial call has engendered is incredible and I claim no credit for it. The group of people involved in this effort are committed, selfless, smart and talented. The outpouring of community support has been inspiring.

There have of course been critics and that’s to be expected. Critique is good, cynicism is not.

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Thousands of young people of color in Chicago are being failed on a minute by minute basis.

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Some delegation members have been told that the UN is a toothless, corrupt and/or useless institution. To be sure, there are many legitimate criticisms that can be leveled against the UN. I have my own. All institutions should and can be critiqued. And yet, many of the critics miss the import of this trip for the delegation heading to Geneva and for our communities. Some of loudest and most cynical people about this effort have been white. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence. For too many white people, representation matters little. They are not invisible.

They are always centered in all narratives. Whiteness has the power to invisibilize and consume everything in its path. So for some white people, it means nothing that this is the first time that a delegation of young people of color will appear before the UN Committee against Torture to make a case against police violence. But I promise that it means a lot to the young delegates that they have an opportunity to be “seen” and “heard” on the international stage if only for a few minutes. To be clear, a number of white people have supported the delegation and its efforts (including being members of WCG) but it’s been instructive that the most vociferous critics have also been white. White critics have also taken issue with the name “We Charge Genocide” but that’s for a future post.

Beyond representation, the WCG delegation is carrying the stories of many young people in Chicago who have for the first time publicly

shared their experiences of being targeted and tortured by the police. These stories were previously buried and the pain, though real, remained bottled up for too many. At the August youth hearing where WCG collected some of these stories, many young people thanked us for the opportunity to share and as one young man put it: “to finally let it all out.” WCG delegation members are acutely aware that it is a sacred trust to carry and then share these stories.

Poet Kevin Coval writes that “(e)very institution in Chicago fails Black youth.” And he is right.

Thousands of young people of color in Chicago are being failed on a minute by minute basis.

We must condemn and hold accountable the systems and institutions that are supposed to ensure the health and well-being of young people in this city. Going to the UN to demand that they call out the Chicago police for its torture of young people of color is an outside/in strategy to insist on accountability. It is just one strategy but we have to rely on all available tools and resources at our disposal if we want to transform our conditions. This has always been part of our history as black people in particular.

It matters too that WCG delegates are making an international claim. It’s an acknowledgement that this struggle for justice is a global one. For this trip, a number of the delegates applied for their first passports. For many, it was the first time they’ve ever been outside of the U.S. and this too matters. Sometimes, one can only understand their country by leaving it and seeing it again through outsiders’ eyes. There would be delegates at the UN from countries all over the world. This would offer an invaluable opportunity to learn from them about their struggles and to make some connections that can enhance the work here.

Finally, I return to Damo. It’s difficult to express how much it means to members of the WCG delegation that they would be able to invoke Damo’s name and share his story at the UN. Since I don’t have the words, I’ll let his friend Ethan speak the final ones: #ChiCopWatch @EthosIII

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words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Bam

Lady Justice Bleeds Artist: Bam, bambinks.com

My inspiration for the piece is due to our current governing state and how it has integrated itself into our everyday lives. Justice is a tricky thing and having corporations that pretty much control our government makes me mad to say the least. I used Lady Justice since she is a powerful symbol in order to showcase how things are not justified today. Corruption and war, useless distractions that keep Americans from taking action against government these days, are all a part of this piece. However, I didn’t want her to be completely negative. Like most of my pieces, there is always light in the dark, a hope that things will get better. That is why she still holds her sword and her left hand is intact. The scales of justice are in the shapes of boats so that she won’t drown. She is not blindfolded, therefore she will see the truth.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough

Emre Yurtseven, WIDA Design

Crime and Woman We, as WIDA Design, always ask questions and seek for answers through our artworks. What do we mean by that?

Art is/should supposed to make us question, act, deliver, draw attention to the problems we encounter and help us to change our point of view while seeking the answers. Crime has always been/will always be a global and inevitable issue. In this artwork, we tried to emphasize the relationship between crime and exposure to crime as women, directly or indirectly.

As for the words that have been used in the print, well, those words and many similar ones (guns, drugs, money, wars, fights, murders etc..) are associated with men and their power but through men, women have to face unbearable things in life. Most of the time, “justice has not been served” for women. We are against this injustice.

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Artist: Emre Yurtseven, WIDA Design

broadside poetry in street lit style Elizabeth O. Smith

4 1/2 hours

, as the city of Ferguson burns, It’s been 4 1/2 hours since Michael was laid to rest, in my heart

on the streets is frozen in my min For that moment in time he was shot at least 6 times, and left the light of a useless thug.

He joins a sea of other slain sisters and brothers, all cast in Black lives matter!

Brown lives matter! a trial!

No grand jury has the right to deny him

No one’s asking for Wilson’s lynching, but rest assured more people of color will be facing said accusations, Feelings of worthlessness will invalid them young, as children internalize the messag e that America considers their very existence an act rebellion against the status quo, Privilege is being able to say this too will past, when our day to day existence is survival of the lightest.

Black lives matter!

Brown lives matter!

No grand jury has the right to deny him a trial!

They’re demanding these “rioters” be thrown in jail, for private property and flags mean more to them than our blood spilt again and again, When white hands wield weapons it’s considered conducive to justice, When black and brown ones do the same they’re labeled a mob

e

Brown lives matter! a trial!

No grand jury has the right to deny him

the police rolling in with The news casters and President are urging calm, and ignore armored cars. that devalues fellow And, I’m tired of being told to submit to abusers, to a system humans. “demons”, and young men I watch as trigger happy cops call unarmored black children and woman who peacefully protest are ignored.

Black lives matter!

Brown lives matter! a trial!

No grand jury has the right to deny him

It’ll be 4 1/2 hours forever in my mind, 100 days up until the corrupt court system freed a killer, And 50 years since the Civil Rights Movements.

Black lives matter!

Brown lives matter!

No grand jury has the right to deny him a trial!

It’s been 400 years since my ancestors were raped and beaten and delivered onto the shores of the beautiful state of Maryland, 17 years I’ve been told that I have to be twice the citizen a white person becomes, And, black people in America are still waiting for reparations and justice and some semblance of advancement in this country we all call home.

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nd,

Black lives matter!

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Mandy Keelor

Modern Mother Blaming and the myth of motherhood The dichotomous mother-valor/mother-blame rhetoric of historical institutions remains of serious import because it criminalizes motherhood today which does not satisfy modern, middle-class medical and gender role expectations as framed by media and policy-makers. Not only does feminist scholarly work on modern mother-blaming point out the greater criminalization of lower-class and minority women that occurs but the remaining problem of biological reductivism for all women. Further, the study of mother-blaming is important because it supports other research on families, which has found the preponderance of individual culpability vs institutional culpability and the continuation of traditional gender roles to negatively affect child well-being. For the benefit of women, children, and families the myth of motherhood as propagated by middle and upper class policy-makers must be debunked and a dignity of reason restored to women.

For several decades scholars have recognized and studied the historical tendency to ascribe mothers with more power and influence in shaping their children than they perhaps hold. For instance, mothers have been blamed throughout history for delinquency, schizophrenia, communism, and crime among a whole spectrum of other atypical development in persons (Blum 2007:203; Sousa 2011:222). Michael and Marikay Vander Ven (2003) note in their article “Exploring Patterns of Mother-Blaming in Anorexia Scholarship…” that anorexia is one of the most studied diseases, and that for more than sixty years the vast amount of scholarly work attributed the disorder solely to negative characteristics of the mother such

as her ambition, inner conflict between her role as career-woman or homemaker, jealousy, and overbearing control among others (114). Bruno Bettleheim even argued in the 1980s that cold-hearted “refrigerator mothers” were equivalent to Nazi SS guards and were the cause of autism in children (Sousa 2011:222).

As Linda M. Blum’s (2007) research indicates, this mother-blaming was shaped in the early twentieth century by public adherence to strict religious teachings, then adherence to medical-scientific authority by the mid twentieth century, and finally adherence to mental health authorities at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries (203).

The phenomenon of mother-blaming, as historically dictated by certain institutions, continues: …in modern western cultures, to hold mothers responsible for child outcomes and thus for the health

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These mothers-tobe are criminalized because their behavior “represents a threat to ‘healthy families’ and even to a ‘healthy society.’ too much care or not being involved in promoting masculine characteristics enough (Blum 2007:206).

Others simply share the stigma of their disabled child because they have failed to produce a healthy child, and thus attempt “to satisfy the culturally sanctioned role of ‘good mother’ by offering unconditional love and self-sacrifice on behalf of their children” (Sousa 2011:230). Even if they become experts in navigating the educational and healthcare systems among others, these mothers are still accused by each system (which does not want to bear the cost of an unproductive citizen) as not trying hard enough (Blum 2007:217).

The result is that mothers-to-be and mothers of disabled children are still being blamed for falling short of an ideology of the ‘good mother’ because they are producing unproductive citizens or increasing their unborn child’s risk of becoming such a citizen (Sousa 2011:220). According to the dominant ideology of motherhood, a mother fails to be a ‘good mother’ and produce productive citizens because she does not engage in “concerted cultivation” and the gender role expectation of “intensive mothering” (Sousa 2011:228). Pregnant women who smoke, drink, and do drugs are condemned for what is assumed to be a lack of a bond or unconditional love for the unborn child. These mothers-to-be fail the tenets of concerted cultivation because they do not follow the norm of pre-natal testing, educational and exercise classes, healthful eating, and safe lifestyle choices (Sousa

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Thus, ‘good mothers’ are praised for mother-valor because they succeed producing upstanding citizens, while ‘bad mothers’ receive mother-blame because they fail to produce productive citizens. To understand the significance of this mother-blame, it is important to first understand what standard mothers are being held to and the consequences of public and private policing practices today.

Mothers are still being blamed for the outcome of children as measured by their productivity as citizens.

Two groups of women in particular bear the brunt of the mother-blame today: pregnant women and mothers of disabled children. As Laury Oaks (2000) describes in her research, pregnancy has evolved over the last several decades from a private matter into a public matter (64). Increased mother-blame of mothers-to-be has evolved simultaneously with increased antismoking advocacy among health professionals and antiabortion advocacy among pro-lifers. Both advocacy groups have framed pregnancy in terms of fetus-as-person with the goal of decreasing the amount of women who smoke, drink, and do drugs during pregnancy as well as those who opt for an abortion (Oaks 2000:64). The result is that pregnant women who do smoke, drink, or do drugs during pregnancy, even in moderation, are actively vilified by society as “selfish” or otherwise “powerless addicts” (Oaks 2000:72). The same holds true for pregnant women who seek abortion early-on and even for those who refuse a Cesarean section which endangers their life later in the pregnancy (Annas 1982:16-17).

These mothers-to-be are criminalized because their behavior “represents a threat to ‘healthy families’ and even to a ‘healthy society’” (Oaks 2000:70). In her research, Oaks (2011) found that it was often women of low socioeconomic status (SES) and color who were criminalized most often as irresponsible and immoral (71).

Women who give birth to disabled children are also criminalized. Whereas these mothers were maligned throughout the twentieth century as the cause of their child’s disability, today they are denounced for not curing their child and thus being a “proximate cause” (Sousa 2011: 235). Just as mothers have been alternately blamed for being too loving and too uncaring throughout history, mothers are criticized by some today for feminizing their homosexual sons with

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of families, future citizens, and the nation. Such good mothers, with ostensibly selfless devotion, are policed and police themselves through fear of mother-blame, being judged inadequate, unnatural, or selfish (Blum 2007:202).

2011:223). Mothers of disabled children are blamed by social work, education, and medical sectors because they fail the concerted cultivation responsibility of raising an upright, successful, productive citizen (Sousa 2011:228). Even if they become a “warrior-mother” by advocating for their child, the equivalent to demonstrating mother-valor, mothers of disabled children continue to be criticized and criticize themselves for not being a ‘good mother’ (Sousa 2011:223).

What are the consequences of the myth of motherhood as it is sustained by modern day mother-blaming? For one, when pregnant women’s bodies and choices that affect her body are policed by the public, it sets a dangerous precedent of wresting control away from the mother and valuing the life of the fetus over the life of the mother. According to some state legislatures, women who do not follow the prescription of their doctor to stay off their feet or abstain from sex while pregnant can and have gone to jail because the baby was stillborn or born brain dead (Annas 1986:13). In these cases, only the mother was prosecuted. Not only to do we criminalize mothers-to-be in our popular discourse if we disagree with their lifestyle choices while pregnant, but we legally prosecute them for not following what society tells them to do with their bodies. This precedent, which has been so successful because of the fetus-as-person advocacy movement, is frightening because it assumes that pregnant mothers who do not exactly fulfill societal ideals of ‘motherhood’ must be unacceptably selfish or negligent, rather than merely exercising their rational capacity to choose (Oaks 2000:72). Modern mother-blaming and policing of pregnant women is sustaining a cultural legacy of biological reductivism in this country which has deprived and continues to deprive women of control over their bodies and treat them as non-persons, or biological incubators (Annas 1986:14).

Another consequence of the myth of motherhood that must be addressed is how, in addition to all mothers-to-be, mothers of low SES and color are relegated to second class citizenship status because of continuing gender roles and their inability to participate in concerted cultivation. As Crittenden notes (2001:9): It isn’t fair to expect mothers to make sacrifices that no one else is asked to make, or have virtues that no one else possesses, such dignified subordination of their personal agenda and a reliance on altruism for life’s meaning. Virtues and sacrifices, when

expected of one group of people and not everyone become the mark of an underclass (as cited in Sousa 2011:234-235; emphasis added).

I would add to this statement that women of low SES and color are consigned to an even lower citizenship class status than white, middle-class women. The right of women of low SES and color to motherhood has been historically curtailed by sterilization and welfare policies, and continues to be disproportionately curtailed by mother-blaming today (Springer 2010:495). For instance, policing practices of mothers-to-be are especially harsh for poor and minority women who are most often disparaged by media for alcohol, tobacco, and drug use while pregnant, even though statistics show that white women ages 15-30 engage in that kind of behavior more often than women of color (Springer 2010:495). Besides being unfairly targeted for inappropriate pre-natal behavior, women of low SES and color are disqualified as mothers because of their inability to not only cultivate their disabled children, but ‘typical’ children as well due to a lack of resources (Sousa 2011:228; Oaks 2000:92). A clearer picture of the problem thus comes into view: the myth of motherhood, as elucidated in the mother-blaming of failed adherence, is a middle-class ideology of medical and gender role expectations which devalues other ‘types’ of motherhood and women’s autonomy in general.

The sociological value of this observation is evident in the context of other studies on the ideology of families. Susan J. Ferguson’s (2011) anthology “Shifting the center: understanding contemporary families” contains an excellent array of studies which augment the mother-blame and myth of motherhood observations of this paper.

For instance, research on the myth of motherhood and modern mother-blaming reveals the predominance of individual (mother) culpability over institutional culpability as a consistent point of interest among scholars. In both areas of modern mother-blaming: policing of pregnant women and mothers’ efforts at intensive mothering/concerted cultivation (especially for disabled children), mothers are fully accountable for the outcome of their child and their so called “moral failure” to produce productive citizens relieves the government and social institutions from the burden of responsibility (Springer 2010:496). Vander Ven (2003) describes this historical tendency of experts and policy-makers to not take into account the social and institutional forces which also shape children as the

It is probably not coincidental that government is trying to blame the pregnant victims of poverty for their problems at the same time it is cutting funds for maternal and child health care and nutrition. If the state really wants to protect fetuses it should do so by improving the welfare of pregnant women – not by oppressing them (14).

Clearly, the myth of motherhood remains a dangerous middle-class, patriarchal ideology which makes a scapegoat out of all women through biological reductivism, but especially mothers of low SES and color.

Many articles in Ferguson’s anthology support the argument that a myth of motherhood benefits only those patriarchal, institutional forces which uphold it. Frank F. Furstenberg’s article “Values, Policy, and the Family” (2004) and Shirley A. Hill’s article “The Politics of Theorizing African American Families” (2006) both point out how individuals, especially single-mothers of minority background, have been held responsible for not only child, but societal well-being historically. Furstenberg in particular questions, like many mother-blaming scholars, whether more responsibility for child welfare should be given to educational and social systems since the ideology of the ‘traditional’ family is actually a myth, just as the ideology of the ‘good mother’ is also a myth. Other articles such as “Fathering” (2004) by Scott Coltrane suggest that there is still a very real division of gender roles and responsibility for child outcome between mothers and fathers, which mother-blaming scholars also note and account for with calls to give greater responsibility to both institutions and fathers. Even more articles, such as “Mothering for the State” (2004)

by Teresa Toguchi Swartz, “Mothering from a Distance” (2001) by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, and “Negotiating Work and Parenting over the Life Course” (2009) by Joanna Dreby highlight the ways in which the individual culpability of mothers quickly leads to the devaluation of motherwork by institutions, such as the welfare system and by mothers themselves, who studies reveal bear greater guilt when separated from their families than men do (Dreby 662). The common conclusions and observations drawn by both scholars of mother-blaming and authors of Ferguson’s anthology establish the significance of moth-

er-blaming to the study and well-being of not only families, but women themselves.

The myth of motherhood is significant to society because of its pervasive presence in every woman’s life. As noted above, Ferguson’s anthology posits the idea that there is not one type of family and that the ideology of the family is a myth. However, there is no current consensus among sociologists or public discourse that there is more than one type of mother or that the ideology of motherhood is a myth; in fact, the opposite is true. As Oaks (2000) articulates it, there are “…assumptions about how women ‘bond’ with the baby to be” which fail to recognize the real plurality of motherhood which exists (85). This plurality is the source of harmful mother-blame today, because women of different colors, economic backgrounds, and personalities are expected to experience the exact same selfless joy and unconditional love as a mother.

This, of course, is impossible. Yet, women are suffering the consequences of the myth of motherhood in the pressures to become a mother, the blame they receive when unable to participate in intensive mothering/concerted cultivation or when they exercise choice in regards to their bodies, and ultimately the guilt of not fulfilling the ‘good mother’ role. Children, such as myself, have also suffered from the myth of motherhood because of disappointment and hatred towards a mother who was not fulfilling the ideological role which I saw in movies, TV, and neighbors’ homes.

Thus, I think a widespread acknowledgment across scholarship, public discourse, and institutional rhetoric that there is not one type of motherhood needs to take place so as to mitigate the deleterious effects of mother-blaming which continue to this day. This can be achieved by affording greater respect to every woman’s individual, human experience of mothering and by allocating more responsibility for child outcomes to fathers and social institutions (Oaks 2000:98). These efforts will reduce the fetal-mother conflict of biological reductivism by acknowledging mothers’ dignity of reason and valuing their right to determine the nature of their relationship to the fetus (Oaks 2000:97). Further, shifting the understanding of motherhood to reflect a plurality of experiences will lessen the disproportionate blame put on mothers of low SES and color for not achieving middle-class medical (pre-natal lifestyle) and gender role (intensive mothering/concerted cultivation) standards of motherhood. Every woman has the right to be the authority of her own body and to determine her own experience of motherhood.

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“fallacy of autonomy” (103). Kristen W. Springer (2010) suggests that this omission of institutional responsibility is purposeful and aimed at maintaining upper-class economic power through criminalization and thereby control of lower-class behavior (73).

George J. Annas drew a similarly chilling conclusion in 1986 when he said:

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough

Roan Boucher

Queer Demands I designed these posters in response to a political climate that celebrates marriage and other neoliberal goals as major achievements for LGBT justice. I don’t view marriage as a win for queer liberation, or even as a “step in the right direction” (as those of us with objections to legal marriage’s fundamentally conservative nature are pressured to concede). This poster series is an effort to untangle queer political imaginations from the goals of capitalism, white supremacy, and the state, and to amplify the perspective of liberation-oriented queer movements that are working for queer justice rather than a narrow/assimilationist vision of ‘equality.’

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Artist: Roan Boucher, tyroneboucher.com

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Pallavi Banerjee

An immigrant’s wife place?

in the home, according to visa policy

Do most of us still live in a 1950 nuclear family where dad goes off to work and mom stays home to take care of the family? Not in real life. But that lifestyle is enshrined in the United States’ dependent visa policies. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Leave it to Beaver way of life is the only way skilled workers’ migrant families ought to live.

It all begins with one simple fact. There is a shortage of high-tech workers in the United States. We don’t produce enough computer engineers, analysts, programmers, engineers, and doctors, to meet the country’s needs. The United States tries to solve this problem by allowing U.S. businesses to hire high-tech workers from other countries by granting H1-B non-immigrant visas

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to individuals from other countries seeking temporary work in “specialty occupations.”

These visas allow a U.S. company to employ a foreign individual for up to six years with the possibility of permanent residency. To further entice migrant high-skilled workers to leave their homeland and come to the U.S., they offer H4 dependent visas to their spouses and children.

In 2010, from India alone, there were 138,431 high-skilled Indian immigrants and 55,335 Indian immigrants on H-4 dependent visas.

But the “dependent visa” puts many restrictions on the spouses, usually women, of the skilled workers who have an H1-B visa. The dependent visa holder is not allowed to work for pay until the lead migrant has gained permanent residency in the U.S., a process that can take six years or more. In some states, the dependent visa holders are not even allowed to drive.

When I studied families with an H1-B/H-4 dichotomy I found that most adult recipients of the H-4 dependent visas are highly qualified

One of my study informants described her H-4 visa as a “vegetable visa meant to make you vegetate.” Others called it a “prison” or “bondage” visa. Another woman told me “You lose your individuality and in time all your confidence – and one day suddenly you realize you are just reduced to being a visa number in your head. It is scary – it’s like losing your head.”

Gaining permanent residency in the U.S., which would allow spousal employment, could take many years for H1-B workers. This means these women will be legally unable to work for years on end. Some of the women I spoke to simply could not handle their situation and decided to return to India. One high-tech worker who recently went through divorce told me, “we had absolutely no problem as a couple, it’s this visa situation…she was unhappy and depressed and it was not going to get better. We had to take the very hard and cruel way out – the many pains of being a foreign worker.”

As the U.S. debates Comprehensive Immigration Reform and considers increasing the number of “high skilled foreign workers,” lawmakers should reconsider the constraints on spouses embedded within dependent visas.

Immigration policies designed to bring highskilled workers and their dependents to the U.S. fill a need in the high-tech industry, but they fall short in building gender equal, stable, happy, and viable families. The 1950s are long gone. It is time to let wives work. Why force migrant families to live in the past?

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The dependent visa holder is not allowed to work for pay until the lead migrant has gained permanent residency in the U.S., a process that can take six years.

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women. They experienced a loss of dignity and self-deprecation. Some women told me they felt they were thrown back into a model of the “traditional family” where women are not valued at all outside of the home. They talked about being rendered invisible, feeling lost, and for some, suicidal.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Shayne Davidson

Beautiful Rogues Artist: Shayne Davidson, www.etsy.com/shop/ArtLovesHistory

Seeking a non-didactic approach to arousing interest in history, my work highlights prisoners from the early 1900s, using mugshots and text from prison records as a “jumping off” point. During that time, women and children were sent to new federal penitentiaries housing adult male prisoners. The transition, in the United States, from the nineteenth century to the modern period caused a clash in values that is reflected in this work.

words are useless

WE VOTED FOR CHANGE

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sometimes words aren’t enough Melissa West

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Gwyn Kaitis

Interpersonal & Institutional Violence: The Fear of Homelessness “No matter how severely beaten, it may not surpass the fear of homelessness for you and your children.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children.� –Gwyn Kaitis There are thousands of women in Illinois who would leave their abusers if they could.

told we, the people who are their link to escaping violence, have nowhere for them to go.

Traditionally we have attempted to get them into a

They face a horrifying decision that most of us will never have to make: leave and risk homelessness or stay and suffer abuse.

If all victims who wanted to leave their abusers had housing to go to, we would see a drastic decrease in domestic violence in our society.

On a daily basis, the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline receives an average of 30 to 35 requests for emergency domestic violence shelter services. One or two may actually get that service.

In Chicago, a city of 2.5 million people, there are just 112 total beds for women and their children in these shelter programs. Some areas of Illinois have but one shelter that serves as many as seven counties.

There is, more often than not, no bed available at any given moment in time.

Victims calling the Hotline have taken a brave first step in seeking help. Imagine how it must feel to be

homeless shelter however lately we are being told there are no spaces available in those shelters either.

Victims who must leave and have nowhere to go live in cars with their children and even their pets for lack of any other option.

All this is to say that nuisance ordinances are compounding an already critical problem, that of securing both emergency and permanent housing for victims of domestic violence and now for retaining that housing when it is available.

Break the silence to end domestic violence.

That has been a rallying cry of the domestic violence movement for the past 40 years.

It’s not a private family matter. Tell people, call the police. We made great strides in getting this message out: while still underreported, many more victims report crimes to police than at any other time in history.

Now we find ourselves saying, “Break the silence, but only if your community doesn’t have a nuisance ordinance”. Break the silence only if it won’t put you at risk of homelessness, thus potentially compounding your problem a thousand-fold.

We have spent the past 40 years encouraging victims

and police to work together to end domestic violence. Encouraging better police response. Encouraging victims to report crimes to the police.

These nuisance ordinances are undoing all of that hard work in virtually no time at all. The work that domestic violence advocates have been working towards since the movement began in the 1970’s.

We have worked with police to increase officer sensitivity and to adopt protocols to protect and enhance the safety of victims so that calling the police can meet their immediate need for safety when violence has occurred or is about to occur. We have worked with the courts to hold abusers’ accountable for their actions, to recognize that the victim does not have control over the abuser’s behavior and in fact the violence is how the abuser holds control over the victim We are once again reverting back to the notion that calls to police can have nasty and negative consequences, such as losing your home.

No matter how severely beaten, it may not surpass the fear of homelessness for you and your children.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children. Last month in the city of Chicago, none of the homeless shelters had space, including the emergency domestic violence shelters.

We have had victims sleeping in their cars, and in one case, in the car of a co-worker when they didn’t have a car themselves.

Treating calls to the police as a “nuisance” sends yet another victim-blaming message: it implies that the victim somehow is responsible and has control over

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Undoubtedly lives have been lost because victims could not leave their abuser. One study found that 46% of homeless women reported staying in an abusive relationship because they had nowhere to go.

Meanwhile society asks the women who do stay, why they don’t just leave. We have heard that question over and over, most recently in response to the NFL and the Ray Rice case. The real question is, why does he do it and why isn’t the abuser held accountable for his actions so that the victim is not the one left homeless?

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...we have to factor in that in many locations in the state, doing so may place the victim at risk for eviction.

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Even the lucky few who do get into domestic violence shelter often become homeless or return to their abuser when they are unable to locate affordable housing during their time limited stay in the shelter program. These shelters are filled with victims unable to move on to permanent housing.

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Victims of domestic violence often have trouble finding apartments because of poor credit, rental, and employment histories as a result of their abuse.

Money can be scarce particularly for those victims who are un- or underemployed.

In 2008, the Equal Rights Center investigated 93 rental properties in Washington, DC to determine whether landlords discriminated against domestic violence victims. Overall, 65% of applicants seeking housing on behalf of a domestic violence victim were denied housing or offered less advantageous terms and conditions than an applicant not associated with domestic violence.

the behavior of the abuser. Nothing could be further from the truth. Domestic violence is all about power and control, all of which is wielded by the perpetrator of the violent behavior.

We tell victims that the violence is not their fault, that they do not have control over their partner’s choice to use violence. These ordinances undermine that message.

Victims cannot afford to lose their housing. As I mentioned previously, there are virtually no spaces in emergency domestic violence shelters.

In one case we had a call from a victim whose abuser threatened to call police himself while taunting the victim that she would be evicted due to the nuisance ordinance. Abusers can be very savvy about using laws to intimidate their victims.

Domestic violence advocates work with victims from an empowerment model. We train advocates to allow victims to make their own choices once they know what options are available.

There have also been victims who believe that landlords haven’t rented to them once they have disclosed they were fleeing domestic violence. Will landlords think twice about renting to victims concerned that they will be “nuisance” tenants? Will a landlord rent to a victim whose previous landlord had to evict her due to nuisance calls to the police?

In many of these cases, the abuser does not live in the home with the victim. Routinely, year after year, a steady 25-30% of the victims who call the hotline are being hurt, threatened or intimidated by ex-spouses or ex-partners.

We never envisioned that their choice may need to be reporting the crime to the police thereby facing the possibility of losing their home or not calling the police when it is necessary or would be desirable to do so.

Will this trend lead to further underreporting of domestic violence and possibly an increase in domestic homicides? Most likely, yes.

My experience in dealing with crime free ordinances is that police departments often do not consider the impact on victims of violence and their willingness or unwillingness to contact the police as a direct consequence.

In my own community when it was in the process of adopting one of these ordinances, I pointed out to the Chief of Police that this ordinance would make victims less likely to call for assistance when they need help. He looked shocked and immediately said that wasn’t at all the outcome that he would want.

In collaboration with the Shriver Center, we subsequently rewrote the ordinance to specifically exclude domestic violence and sexual assault victims.

This is the exception rather than the rule, however.

Some municipalities in Illinois actually specify in the ordinance that domestic violence is indeed a crime that can trigger eviction.

This new environment of victim blaming ordinances has changed the way that we at the Domestic Violence Hotline work with victims. Now when a victim is debating whether or not to report an incident to the police, we have to factor in that in many locations in the state, doing so may place the victim at risk for eviction.

Victims need to know this information and are shocked to learn that this is even a possibility.

Just because someone has left an abuser, the violence often does not stop and in fact may escalate.

Leaving is the most dangerous time in any abusive relationship. The abuser feels a loss of control over the victim and in response increases his efforts to exert his control and regain his position of power.

One study revealed that 25% of women murdered by their abuser had in fact left their abuser and had an active order of protection at the time of their death.

So we are back to “suffering in silence” instead of breaking the silence of domestic violence.

We are confronted with victims not calling police for fear of eviction; landlords telling their tenants to control their abuser’s behavior or face eviction; abusers intimidating their victim by threatening to call the police themselves in order to trigger eviction; and landlords not wanting to rent to victims who may potentially require calls to the police.

In summary, nuisance ordinances perpetrate institutional violence upon victims of interpersonal violence. *Gwyn Kaitis, is the Director of the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline, which is an important component of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network. Ms. Kaitis is has a Master in Social Work and is an Illinois Certified Domestic Violence Professional.

words are useless

Justice System

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sometimes words aren’t enough Sam Raycraft

sentence criminal BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Inhe Choi

DEVELOPMENT OF CHICAGO’S KOREAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S COMMUNITY in the case of KAN-WIN The more we share pain, the less it gets. The more we share joy, the bigger it gets. In the spirit of this Korean folk wisdom, a small group of women began working together to build Korean American Women In Need (KAN-WIN).

Beginning KAN-WIN first met on May 11, 1989 to address the issue of battered Korean women. At the time, Korean American social service agencies in the Chicago area were being informed about a heightened level of domestic violence incidents in the Korean community. These agencies provided some translation services for the police and the mainstream domestic violence and sexual assault programs that were not equipped, linguistically or culturally, to serve Korean clients. There were, however, no Korean community-based services that addressed the needs of victims of domestic violence. In fact, there was a lack of recognition of domestic violence and sexual assault as a community-wide concern at the individual, organizational and institutional levels. Those who had the courage to identify themselves to the social service community, either Korean or mainstream, as needing help with a domestic violence situation were rarely met with adequate understanding and services. The most obvious barriers were the lack of Korean language services, community education and advocacy within the Korean community, which remained virtually mono-lingual.

The group was first interested in establishing a

shelter for Asian American women who were victims of domestic violence and a general social service program for Asian American women who were victims of any form of abuse. Some basic research into other similar agencies around the country made it clear that we lacked the human and financial resources to take on such an ambitious project so soon. It appeared much more reasonable to begin with a hotline which would be crisis-intervention centered. This would also fulfill other important steps such as: general community awareness and education; leadership development among Korean women of all ages and educational backgrounds; and establishment of a library of Korean language and culturally appropriate training and community education materials.

Founding Members Initially the group consisted of Helen Um, 1st generation, founder and executive director of a grassroots community service center, Comprehensive Korean Community Self-Help Center, with extensive experience with Korean battered women; Sun Bin Yim, 1st generation, Ph.D in Sociology with a research background on domestic violence in the Korean community; Mimi Kim, 2nd generation, community educator and counselor for rape victims; and Inhe Choi, 1.5 generation, community organizer for the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Asian American Affairs under the Harold Washington administration. This group then expanded with Isabel Kang, 1.5 generation, Korean Brazilian, social worker; Elia Armstrong, 1.5 generation, Korean Canadian, with an international development policy and counseling

With community support, training, translated materials, incorporation of the organization and a press conference, KAN-WIN was ready to start. On August 15, 1990, KAN-WIN opened its doors with a telephone crisis intervention hotline and referral services. We chose August 15th, “Kwang Bok Jul,” Korean Independence Day, to mark our vision for women’s lives free of violence.

Philosophy The philosophy that guides the work of KAN-WIN from its inception to now is that all women have the right to live free from fear of violence, whether it be psychological, emotional, verbal, sexual or physical.

Specifically: • We believe that violence against women is one symptom of subordination of women in our society.

As long as women are not recognized as equals, violence against them will be perpetuated and tolerated.

• We believe that our objective, as women-centered, feminist organization, is to produce social change through needed services.

• We believe that abusive situations can be changed and women can be empowered through intervention, advocacy, education and self-help.

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Those board members who completed the training then translated the original training materials and presented the Korean language training for volunteers. One of the participants in the training was a reporter for Han-Kyoreh newspaper who wrote extensive articles on the issue of domestic violence which brought the issue and KAN-WIN to the wider Korean community.

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To make KAN-WIN a community-based project, we needed to have information, educational materials and training available in Korean language. First the bilingual board members and volunteers received training on the issue and dynamics of domestic violence and sexual assault, how to provide crisis intervention, how to provide legal, medical and social service advocacy, and basic counseling skills. Staff members from the Loop-YWCA, Women’s Services Program, Life Span, Rape Victim Advocate, and Travelers and Immigrants Aid (renamed to Heartland Alliance), planned and facilitated the training.

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We were determined to create a program that addressed the need for linguistically and culturally appropriate services for victims of domestic violence in the Korean community. We also were committed to structuring the work in a way that involved the broader Korean American community. We held meetings with already existing Korean American social service organizations and women’s groups in Chicago to collaborate. These groups included the Comprehensive Korean Community Self-Help Center, Korean American Community Services, Korean American Senior Center, Korean American Association, the Salvation Army, the Korean American Women’s Organization of Chicago, Korean Nurses’ Association and the Korean Wives’ Association. We also contacted some of the churches to which our board members belonged, understanding that working with churches is necessary in order to involve the Korean community.

We were determined to create a program that addressed the need for linguistically and culturally appropriate services for victims of domestic violence in the Korean community.

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Outreach & Training

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background; and Yeahwa Lee, 1.5 generation, artist.

This group became the founding board members of KAN-WIN.

• Though those who commit acts of violence against women are ultimately responsible for its eradication, we feel that it is women who can best act on behalf of the interest of women.

• We will work collectively to promote the philosophy of equality without regard to race, class, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

• We will exercise this principle of equality through a consensual decision-making process.

To promote this philosophy, we believed we should practice it ourselves. One way we decided to do this was to create an organizational culture that reflected the egalitarian, supportive, and grassroots elements of our philosophy. We began by structuring the organization to have no hierarchy but a collective model in which all members contribute and help govern. There would be no executive director, but rather a group of coordinators working together to make day-to-day decisions of the organization. Staff would also be a part of the board that collectively review and set policies and directions for the organization. The board would support staff, carry out the work that is not currently staffed, set policies and directions, and raise funds. All who were involved, staff, board and volunteers would receive 40 hour training and be committed to the work of KAN-WIN. We also believed that the success of this project relies upon the level of ownership felt by the Korean American community. To that end, we dedicated ourselves to carrying out this work with community education and outreach. Throughout the entire history of KAN-WIN we have stressed the involvement of extensive media coverage, community outreach at various social services, traditional community leadership, churches, women’s leadership and grassroots support.

KAN-WIN Services KAN-WIN began its operations with 23 volunteers and a 7 member working board, with a budget of about $3,000. We raised money from individuals as

well as private foundations. We were provided with a desk space for the hotline at the Korean American Campus Ministry with the help of Rev. Chongho Kim. Because we did not have a staff member, we had the crisis phone line forwarded to volunteers’ home phone lines. Then the volunteers, depending on the call, coordinated to provide services such as crisis counseling, referral for shelters, translations, accompaniment to courts, hospitals and various social services. We were averaging about 3-5 hotline calls monthly.

Hotline calls increased gradually from 1990 - 1995 with about 50 - 70 calls per year; jumping to about 120 calls per year from 1996 - 1998; then to about 140 - 160 calls per year from 1998 - 2000; and staying

at about 170 calls per year since 2000. We view this pattern of increase not as an indication of growing domestic violence cases in the Korean community, but rather to people finding out about accessible services, linguistically and culturally, and telling others about it. KAN-WIN also increasingly received referrals from existing shelters, other social service programs and police. As the demand for KAN-WIN services grew, so did our program, budget, and staff to provide an appropriate level of services.

Types of Domestic Violence Cases seen through KAN-WIN What type of calls does KAN-WIN receive? Calls range from a need for immediate safety, formulating a safety plan for impending violence, short and long-term counseling, legal information and advocacy on domestic violence, legal information about family and immigration, information about various social programs and more. On a day-to-day basis, the majority of calls are from women who talk about their situation and want to discuss their options.

What types of domestic violence cases does KANWIN see in the Korean community? We see all forms of abuse – physical, emotional, psychological – being committed on Korean American women across all sectors of our community regardless of class, educational background, immigration history, language abilities, religion or age. We have served women who have been abused by professors, ministers, elite university graduates, 2nd generation professionals, and more.

Why does domestic violence occur? Our response to that question is that some people think it is okay for husbands to beat their wives, just as they think it is okay for parents to beat their children. This societal permission generally extends to the idea that whoever is strong can beat the weak, which crosses lines of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, age, and ability. Using violence to resolve conflict, as individuals, as groups of people, and as nations has been the accepted practice throughout civilizations.

Within this context, we have seen a pattern of elements that seem to contribute to domestic violence in the Korean American community. Here are some examples as experienced by KAN-WIN clients: Change in the power structure - For immigrants,

the definition of power has the added components of language and cultural ability to cope in the new life. In general, women are making money, learning to speak English quicker and adjusting better to the American way than men. Often, men now rely more on their wives for survival.

People working together - Majority of Korean Americans either work or operate small businesses, and often as married couples. Working together 12 hours a day, commuting and living together may leave people no outlet. Sometimes KAN-WIN receives hotline calls from women during midday when the husband is out on an errand. Such sporadic 15 minute periods may be their only time alone.

Isolation - Immigrant life is an isolating experience, particularly for the 1st generation who make up the majority of KAN-WIN clients. Often people are isolated from their families, close friends and support network and have no outlet to work through their troubles.

Racism - Koreans experience racism in their immigrant life, resulting in loss of personal pride and insecurity. For some men, women and children have been an easy outlet for expressing pain and anger and exerting power through violence. Particularly in this post 9/11 era, with the USA PATRIOT Act and War on Terrorism which points to North Korea as an “axis of evil,” Koreans are feeling more uncertain and vulnerable.

Gambling - Casinos have increased in the Chicago area and are aggressively targeting the Korean community. More people are gambling, causing increased economic stress, resulting in an increase in domestic violence. Gamblers Anonymous is a growing program in Chicago’s Korean community.

Immigration laws - Constantly changing immigration laws are becoming much more punitive toward non-citizens, especially the undocumented immigrants who are less likely to seek needed social services including help for domestic violence. This is yet another source of Korean immigrant men feel more vulnerable.

Asian Financial crisis - Korean immigration increased during the financial crisis experienced in Korea in 1998 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis. Many women immigrated to the US seek employment and ended up getting jobs at bars as hostesses. This situation increased the number of sexual harassment cases by male customers and male staff and employers. This also increased

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As KAN-WIN celebrates its thirteenth year of operation in 2003, we now average about 170 hotline calls per year and sometimes 3 - 5 crisis calls per day. With an operating budget of about $350,000, we now have five full-time staff members, 9 working board members, and about 25 volunteers running the organization. Our program also has expanded to be more comprehensive and aims to reach beyond crisis intervention toward long-term solutions.

KAN-WIN now operates a 24 hour hotline, short and long-term case management, a children’s program and a transitional housing program designed to help women become financially independent through up to 18 months housing, counseling, jobs program, children’s counseling and other necessary support.

the number of men going to hostess bars, which increased domestic disputes. KAN-WIN received numerous calls from hostess bar workers and wives since the IMF crisis.

Trans-continental Marriage - Korean American men have historically gone to Korea to find Korean wives. Sometimes this has been a marriage of foreign affairs as the Korean American experience and the Korean experience in Korea are very different.

While Koreans in Korea are rapidly becoming globalized, Korean Americans have romanticized the old “Korean Way” as a way to hold on to the motherland they no longer belong to. There are cultural clashes which make marriages difficult.

In addition, Korean American husbands use immigrant status as a way to control their wives who have not yet received their permanent residency. Korean brides have created an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants. KANWIN’s work to help women get legal status through Violence Against Women Act, which allows women to file a petition without the husband’s sponsorship if there is proven domestic violence, has mostly involved women from Korea who married Korean Americans.

As seen above, many elements are unique to immigrant experience, for which cultural competency is essential to effective service delivery. KAN-WIN staff, board and volunteers are 1st, 1.5 and 2nd generation immigrants and share the experience of being immigrants in the United States, in the Midwest region, and in the Chicago area. Bilingual services and service delivery by people who share the same culture and immigrant experience are major factors that make KAN-WIN an invaluable and effective program.

Impact of KAN-WIN’s Work Individual Women The core of KAN-WIN’s work is to make services available for Korean women wanting to live in a safe environment and to improve their lives. Just in the past three years, KAN-WIN has answered about 600 hotline calls and provided close to 900 hours of counseling and legal advocacy services. About 200 women are served each year by KAN-WIN. Through direct services and advocacy, women benefit in a variety of ways, such as: establishing safety; gaining information on issues, policies and resources; realizing their own abilities and potential; building support systems; and using commitment, knowledge and skills to build

stability. Whether a woman receives 30 minutes of counseling over the hotline or works closely with staff over a 6 year period, KAN-WIN supports each woman’s choice of action and timing. KAN-WIN works with each woman at her own pace until her goals are met.

Here are some examples of KAN-WIN’s work successfully assisting women. In all the cases, KANWIN provided needed services to the women, but it was their own commitment, strength and ability that transformed their lives to be independent and free of domestic violence. Names have been changed to preserve confidentiality.

Ms. Kim, is a 67 year old Korean American woman who had suffered daily and severe sexual abuse from her husband who eventually abandoned her.

In the 6 years KAN-WIN has worked with Ms. Kim, she moved from an emergency shelter, to a transitional home for 2 years, before finally being able to live on her own. A related issue that arose from her husband’s abandonment was her loss of legal immigrant status. In collaboration with lawyers and social service providers, KAN-WIN helped her apply for legal status under the Violence Against Women Act. After six years of legal advocacy, on-going counseling, and advocacy toward finding housing, Ms. Kim obtained legal status, senior permanent housing and independent living without violence.

Ms. Kim currently is writing a memoir with the hopes of inspiring others to break free from violence.

Ms. Kwon, is a mother of four children forced to leave two different shelters staying at each for three months. Within that time period, Ms. Kwon was not able to find a job that would enable her to pay for housing, basic living and childcare expenses.

After leaving the shelter, she and her four children were forced to move into a one bedroom apartment with a family of four. From there, Ms. Kwon and her four children moved into a homeless shelter until KAN-WIN was able to secure transitional housing.

It was within the transitional housing program that Ms. Kwon received on-going counseling, a drivers license, successfully filed for divorce, attended English as a Second Language classes and job training.

At the end of her stay, Ms. Kwon was able to find a job as a dental assistant, while saving money to eventually afford her own apartment. Ms. Kwon told KAN-WIN staff that it was the “security of knowing that you had housing for 18 months” that gave her the hope and energy to establish an independent life without going back to her abusive husband.

Ms. Yoon, is 32 years old and was married to her

Korean American Women’s Community One of the core values of KAN-WIN is to carry out the work of the organization by involving community members at all levels. We believe that ending domestic violence is a community issue and building a strong base of community members to work together in a structured way is critical to effectively addressing the issue. To that end, KAN-WIN has, from the beginning, instituted a bilingual, biannual volunteer 40-hour training program and community education as a way to bring new people into the organization on a regular basis. Since 1990, KAN-WIN has provided about 1,000 hours of volunteer training through about 25 training sessions, each session averaging about 10 participants. Participants have ranged from 1st generation women in their 60s with limited English speaking abilities to 2nd generation college students with limited Korean speaking abilities. Some stayed active and became board members and/or staff, and some continued as volunteers participating in specific projects.

Because the organization was built by grassroots community women with no one being an expert in the field, all who were involved in the organization had no choice but to embrace the learn as you go approach. In the process, KAN-WIN became a tremendous learning ground. Through KAN-WIN, Korean women learned about areas such as domestic violence, legislation and public policies on violence, immigration, welfare, housing, social service systems, and court systems. KAN-WIN women also gained skills in areas such as counseling, advocacy, translation, facilitating meetings and events, orga-

nizational development, critical thinking, public speaking and writing. KAN-WIN women routinely speak at local, regional and national conferences; serve on boards of government advisory councils, community organizations and national groups; and get jobs and build leadership in related fields across the country.

In addition to the tangible gains, one of the more meaningful ways KAN-WIN has impacted the Korean American women’s community is the role it has played in creating a community for the isolated and disenfranchised members of our community. It has been a place where people who feel out of place in the mainstream Korean American community can go and work together for change. People who have come to KAN-WIN include: domestic violence victims, liberal to radical thinkers, people with no higher education, 1st generations speaking little or no English, 2nd generations speaking little or no Korean, people who do not belong to a church, people who are married to non-Koreans, lesbians and bi-sexual women, adoptees, divorcees, people who have never been involved with Koreans as a group, and people who have just moved to Chicago. KANWIN has brought all these people together, often all at the same time, and created a powerful community of Korean American women across boundaries.

For many of us, KAN-WIN provided our first experiences - first time working with just Korean American women, first time working with women of all generations, first time building friendships with Korean Americans, first time speaking in public about what they think and believe, and first time learning how to manage a non-profit organization. Often KAN-WIN was one of the very few places we could express ourselves as individuals, women, Korean women, women of color - not just as mothers, wives and daughters/daughters-in-laws. These firsts have been powerful experiences which often grew into life transforming experiences.

Korean American Community KAN-WIN is the first independent organization in the nation established solely to address violence against women and children in the Korean American community. The organization remains the only comprehensive domestic violence agency for Korean Americans in the Midwest. Through KAN-WIN’s efforts over the past 13 years, the Korean community has begun to take responsibility to understand violence as an unacceptable form of social behavior.

KAN-WIN’s education and outreach to community organizations, churches and area colleges/universities has helped the Chicago Korean community to

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husband for several months. During that time she was subject to emotional, verbal and physical abuse that led her to leave. Ms. Yoon was a resident of the transitional housing program for 6 moths, less than the average program participant because she had no children. While participating in the program, Ms. Yoon secured full-time employment at clothing wholesaler and began to receive one-to-one English language tutorship. KAN-WIN also provided her with legal advocacy including self-petition for the Violence Against Women Act. She also received life skills training such as budgeting, financial management as well as issues training such as accountability and the cycle of violence, abuser profile, and more. This training along with on-going counseling and support provided her with the ability to undergo a period of self-realization about herself and her abuser and gained the confidence to assert herself and live independently. Upon leaving the program, she expressed her feeling of freedom from no longer living a life of abuse with her former abuser.

not professionals counseling people in need.

Yet, despite the criticism, community members seek KAN-WIN help, community organizations send their professional counselors to be trained by KAN-WIN and refer more complicated domestic violence cases to KAN-WIN. As well, community organizations and projects invite KAN-WIN to discuss domestic violence in the Korean community.

Clearly there is a recognition that domestic violence needs a community response such as KAN-WIN, that a group of women are doing effective work, and that women’s voice in our community is critical. KAN-WIN has impacted the Korean community in the Chicago area to take steps toward rethinking societal and cultural norms toward women.

KAN-WIN also participates in city, state, regional and national gatherings of women, Asian Americans and people of color. KAN-WIN has served as a vehicle for Korean American analysis to be included in the broader public discourse.

understand violence in relation to power dynamics, be educated about alternatives to violence, and move towards long-term prevention. Overall, the Korean community is more aware of the issue of domestic violence, and other women’s issues, and more receptive to women’s voices. Increasingly, KAN-WIN is invited to participate in community-wide discussions by academics, community organizations and media.

Inclusion of and appreciation for KAN-WIN did not come easy. At the outset, despite the support, a portion of the community felt uncomfortable about the nature of the work of KAN-WIN. Some held rigidly to the belief that domestic violence is an individual domestic matter and accused KANWIN of creating trouble in the community. Some argued that KAN-WIN promotes divorce and therefore breaks up families. Some dismissed our work by saying that the organization is run by atheists at odds with the increasingly growing fundamentalist Christian community. And some said that we are

Dynamics of Korean American Women Working Together - Observations Reflecting on our experience of running an organization with multiple sectors of our community, there has been a range of challenges and inspiring experiences. I have been involved with KAN-WIN since the inception of the idea. The level of my involvement has varied over the history of KANWIN, but I am one of the few that have been able to experience various phases of the organization.

My role has always been an active board member dealing with administrative and organizational development needs rather than the day-to-day work of the organization and its direct services to victims of domestic violence. It is in this context that I share my observations of how organizational strategies evolved and how we as a group worked together to develop KAN-WIN over the past 13 years. These are merely a brief look at often complicated matters that need much involved discussion. KAN-WIN as an organization did not discuss these issues. These are my perspectives. I am a 1.5 generation immi-

Cross-generation Here is a broad definition of Korean American immigrant generations that I use to talk about cross-generational issues:

1st Generation: Schooled (high school and up) in Korea, some monolingual Koreanspeakers with little or no English, and some comfortable in English but dominant in Korean.

1.5 Generation: Partly schooled (primary and high school) in Korea, comfortable in both Korean and English, although not always evenly - some more comfortable in Korean and some in English.

2nd Generation: Born in the US or immigrated at early age (up to early primary school age), some monolingual English speakers with little or no Korean, and some proficient in Korean but dominant in English.

Adoptees: Born in Korea, brought to the US (as infants or very young age), in most cases, by non-Korean adopted parents, hardly any exposure to Korean culture or language growing up.

There are also intricate differences based on factors such as – age when we immigrated; age when we left Korea; the year we left Korea; immigration status; whether we were adopted; amount of schooling in Korea and the US; level of language proficiency; and our present age.

KAN-WIN brings together a multi-generational group of Korean American women with a range of experiences, skills and perspectives. Fusion of our diverse strengths creates empowerment at KANWIN. Empowerment also results from struggling through challenges posed by our differences, which at KAN-WIN frequently fall on generational lines.

For example, our understanding of issues such as race and class can be different among generations.

1st generation immigrants, who grew up in a homogeneous culture, experience racism differently living in a foreign land than the 2nd generation, who experience racism from early childhood in their native land. The 1st generation can view their immigrant life as outsiders - in fact it takes much effort for them to consider themselves as insiders in American life. A 2nd generation technically born an insider in the US may not feel a sense of belonging

either in the US mainstream or the Korean American community; and is perhaps more vulnerable culturally. 1.5 generation identify with both the 1st and 2nd generation experience, although not usually in even ways. They have the benefit of having had early child to adolescence years firmly rooted in a Korean culture but also experiencing racism from earlier years in the US. Adoptees have unique experiences around racism which for many began in their own homes with their white parents.

Living environment also creates varying experiences. The 1st generation’s community is mostly the Korean American community, which they have pioneered, and they have limited contact with broader communities. While this may keep them safe, they are often at a disadvantage when they do have to interface with the mainstream world. The 1.5 and 2nd generations and adoptees are more likely to work and live within the broader and mainstream society and experience more racism on a day-to-day basis.

At the same time, they have more capabilities than the 1st generation in terms of language abilities, access to information and motivation and resources to defend themselves from racism.

Another difference between the groups seems to be the 1st generation’s dilemma with class definitions.

In many cases, immigrant life has redefined people’s class background or identification - from being professionals in Korea to being service providers in businesses such as dry cleaning, restaurants and shoe repair in the US, or from being well-educated in Korea to not even being able to read their own mail in the US. This often prompts the 1st generation to emphasize the value of higher education, professional jobs, and main-streaming as ways to cope with the pain of losing their past and what they perceive to be a more meaningful life. The 1.5 and 2nd generations who grew up with this pressure try to understand their parents, but criticize that perspective as being blindly rooted in the American Dream.

These broadly defined differences provide some level of transparency as we interact with each other and between generations. As immigrants, we are aware of the basic history of both the Korean economy and the US immigration legislation relevant to Koreans: mostly around 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act that reopened the immigrations for professionals from Asia. Based on the year of immigration and the immigrant generation, it is not too difficult to get a general sense about the education, profession, and class background of 1st generation members, and their 1.5 and 2nd generation children. Our language and cultural competency, both

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grant who left Korea and came to the US at the age of 12. I am bilingual in Korean and English and bicultural in Korean and the US.

in Korean and English, also get generalized by the immigration timeline. Often, at first meeting, we are asked when we, ourselves or our family came to the US. Based on that, despite our individual context, our basic identities as Korean Americans may be defined.

As such, we are more aware of our strengths and weaknesses. As Korean diaspora, our security and vulnerability frequently get determined by our language and cultural competency within both the mainstream and the Korean community. At times we help ourselves to strengthen ourselves and at other times we know how to target our vulnerabilities. Sometimes we dismiss our ideas and thinking using our knowledge about each other as immigrants. For example, discussions about how to serve our primarily 1st generation clients, whether to apply a white feminist model of counseling or a more personally engaging Korean model of support, can lead to debate over who really understands the work of fighting domestic violence, overshadowing the importance of culturally appropriate services. And a discussion about whether to try a western style method of fundraising can lead to debate over who understands the Korean culture better, overshadowing a new idea to gain support from the Korean community. We sometimes find ourselves being paralyzed as an organization with our desire to exercise power which stems from our vulnerability as immigrants.

At other times, our differences lead us to have dynamic discussions that are filled with assumptions, disrespect, and yet, openness. Some issues are personal and some political, arising from our work with KAN-WIN. The more we have open conversations, we increasingly become aware that the roots of our varying perspectives and dysfunctions often are linked to our varying immigration experiences, which may not be wholly understood by those that do not have the same experience. Through these often difficult interactions, KAN-WIN has been a forum for multi-generational discussion on topics such as the role of women, how to relate with English speakers and Korean speakers, young and old people, people of different races, racism, churches, the definition of success, dating, and child rearing.

Because of our differences, we have expanded our understanding and inclusion of women and children who are adoptees, lesbians and bisexuals and mixed-race, just to name a few. Our differences, which sometimes have pained us, have also created beautiful and strong bonds between people that can provide a long-lasting source of energy and hope.

Cross-issue analysis KAN-WIN was founded with a commitment to provide necessary services as a way to work toward achieving systemic change in our society. Hence, from the outset, KAN-WIN adopted an analysis that violence against women and children occurs across all boundaries of class, race, sexual orientation and immigration status, and that various issues often are intertwined. For example, a woman calling the hotline may be abused at home, employed at a place that mistreats its workers, and an undocumented immigrant. We work with our clients knowing that domestic violence generally is not an isolated issue that can be resolved on its own, but exists with other social issues that create a dangerous, unhealthy environment. This has made our work with clients effective. This provided KAN-WIN with an understanding that to create safety at home requires fighting for a safe, fair and healthy environment around the home.

To that end, KAN-WIN supports work on other community issues, such as the fight for workers’ rights, immigrant rights and women’s rights. We have been involved in education, discussion and supporting other organization on issues such as the impact of US militarism on women, past and current struggles of the Comfort Women, and the impact of the USA PATRIOT Act and the US War on Terrorism on immigrants. We believe that violence at home against an individual is connected to the violence committed by one nation against another. Our aim is to work in our specific field within the context of understanding the broader connection.

While social and political analysis in the context of domestic violence service delivery is appreciated

by KAN-WIN workers, cross-issue analysis in KANWIN programs sometimes has created confusion and disagreements within the organization. Some, often the 1st generation women, have difficulty visualizing KAN-WIN’s work beyond the scope of domestic violence and women. For example, our 40 hour volunteer training includes a session to discuss various forms of oppression and how domestic violence fits in. We cover a range of social issues we grew up with, such as sexism, classism, regionalism, and heterosexism, and discuss broader Asian American, mainstream feminist, and/or people of color perspectives. The English speaking younger generation who grew up and were educated in the US usually appreciate understanding domestic violence in a political context. At the same time, the1st generation have difficulty understanding or identifying the context. Some of the 1st generation women have expressed anger that they were getting

After about two years in operation, we have developed what I believe is an effective model for talking about the various forms of oppression by using all Korean and Korean American everyday experiences.

For example, we talk about types of name Korean women and men are given - that men’s names often mean power, strength, ruler, and wisdom, while women’s names often mean grace, beauty, flower, and one to bear a son. We also talk about how women are taught to serve our father, husbands and sons and to serve the in-laws even as a ghost. Often those sessions generate one of the more dynamic discussions within our training program. These discussions have been instrumental in helping women connect their personal experiences to a broader social and political context. Over the course of KAN-WIN’s history, I have seen women involved, especially the 1st generation, trying to be more expansive in their understanding and supportive of KAN-WIN taking positions on other social and political issues.

Egalitarian Structure KAN-WIN’s deliberate struggle to create an alternative structure and culture of shared power has been a great learning experience. We have pushed our own organization to rethink internal power relations and structure as well as communicating our rationale to our funders, media and other community organizations. People have embraced the concept, and we carried out the collective structure for 11 years. While we have gained tremendous amount of skills, knowledge and analysis, it was difficult to carry out the principles of collective. Although we tried our best, we could not escape from the reality that we have been indoctrinated in a hierarchical, patriarchal culture. The notion of collective responsibility and accountability was often difficult to practice and manage well, particularly as the organization grew.

It was particularly difficult for staff who had different concepts of what this meant on a day-to-day basis; and there was limited training and dialogue to ensure common understanding. It was at first the 1st generation and then later the 2nd generation as well, with little or no experience in community organizations, who were put into the structure and expected to manage and succeed. Beyond a good vision, we did not really understand how to support the structure. Staff disagreement on issues that ranged from day-to-day administration, operations, programming and budgeting occasionally created

deadlocks that were unresolved. Board members were placed in the role of micromanaging the organization in personnel matters such as work hours, vacations and reimbursement, as well as disagreements over case management.

We also lost some opportunities as a result of this structure. For example, the absence of an executive director limited funding opportunities from certain funders that only support organizations with an executive director at the helm. Thus while we succeeded in securing grants from important foundations and government agencies, we also knew that we could do significantly better if we presented ourselves as an organization with accountable and traditional leadership.

The collective structure also became yet another outlet for generational differences. The young generation took the model as a way to have their ideas heard and play equal roles in the organization. They wanted to be considered colleagues as opposed to little sisters and daughters, which the 1st and older generations often did. They addressed the older generation women by their first names, disregarding the Korean tradition of using honorific terms such as “unni” or “nim.” While English is the language we use to maintain KAN-WIN as a professional organization, it also became a language that neutralized generational differences and allowed people to stay focused on organizational needs. Meetings were translated, but all written materials were in English.

This placed the 1st generation women in a difficult predicament as they did not accept criticism from the younger generation easily. At the same time, the 2nd generation sometimes exerted their sense of equality without considering the cultural context.

Organizational Development The alternative structure of shared power described above contributed to problems of organizational development. Our aim was rooted in building a strong community, but we, at times, were rigid about how we worked and who we worked with, and tended to work in isolation within the Korean and broader women’s community. We focused more on providing access to the isolated, and opportunity for the inexperienced, and less on building a strong organization. We were less successful at connecting with a broad spectrum of resources in our community to strengthen KAN-WIN as an organization.

For example, within the first 10 years of operation, KAN-WIN resisted some opportunities to grow and expand which limited our capacity to build our direct services, particularly in the areas of documen-

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a sociology lecture when they came for training on how to answer the hotline.

tation, data collection, analysis, evaluation and policy impact opportunities. On many occasions, we declined working with academics and other opportunities to conduct research of KAN-WIN’s work. While our instincts were to protect confidentiality and the experiences of KAN-WIN clients, we did not develop a broader vision for utilizing various resources and tools to understand our work more in-depth.

As an organization that began with a $3,000 budget, and 32 volunteers, including the board, KANWIN relied heavily on volunteers for day-to-day administrative work. Also with English proficiency being a critical need for KAN-WIN, people with language skills often were sought out for help.

Often the 1.5 generation, who is able to speak both languages and negotiate between the two cultures, were looked to for many aspects of the organization’s work. With the exception of 2 staff members who between them have worked for about 5 years of KAN-WIN’s 13 years of operation, KAN-WIN experienced difficulty hiring staff due to the unique background and experience the position required.

It was the board that helped manage the day-today operations.

In retrospect, we are fortunate that KAN-WIN continued operating through difficult periods.

Countless hours of volunteer work by a few people helped manage the organization, but did not yield a full understanding of appropriate capacity needs to sustain the organization, especially to carry the organization to a higher level. We established a pattern of reliance on just a few people which created burn out and lost leadership development opportunities for others. This resulted in board members staying on beyond 10 years, a longevity that created informal leaders that often were more influential than any formal leaders. As well, the board became exhausted, over extended and often lacked a fresh perspective.

Overtime, staff and board recognized these problems and decided to restructure the organization.

After 11 years of operation, in 2001, with a budget of over $350,000 and 5 full-time staff, KAN-WIN changed the structure to have an Executive Director. Our goal is to better manage the work of the staff and relieve the board from personnel management to focus on more appropriate board’s role of policy setting and fundraising. KAN-WIN is still committed to working collectively by involving all people in the decision making process. This change has been a huge success in terms of better defining various roles and stabilizing the organization. We are fortunate to have our first Executive

Director who has laid a solid foundation for this new structure. This has created yet another cultural shift within the organization, especially among the staff. But there is full support and commitment by the staff and board to grow the organization more strategically.

KAN-WIN is now preparing to launch a strategic planning process to move the organization forward.

Some aspects of this plan include: strengthening service delivery through research and evaluation of KAN-WIN’s past work; developing a Korean American model of counseling and community accountability; instituting a stronger grassroots leadership program with appropriate support; developing a more solid community organizing component that connects with the direct services; engaging in public policy work to insert Korean American voices in the public debate; working towards establishing a women’s center to provide resources and perspectives on empowering Korean American women in the Chicago area.

Conclusion

I believe that the intricacies outlined here of working cross-generationally, challenging social and cultural norms, and creating alternative methods, are not unique to KAN-WIN. At the same time, KANWIN experiences can contribute to the continued community-wide dialogue around how best to build our immigrant community. As we commemorate 100 years of Korean immigration to America, and our community continues to evolve, our on-going challenge and success seems to be building a solid infrastructure for our community to meet its needs, build capacity and flourish. How we accomplish this while working across generations, community issues, and community members with in the Korean community and beyond can be one of the factors that defines success over the next 100 years of our immigrant history. Despite the challenges, KANWIN has made headway in working toward that vision. Infusion of creativity, flexibility and resources can help us move toward creating a healthier community. As one community member said, healthy women is healthy community.

“

just words? just speeches?

Michel Foucalt

But the guilty person is only one of the targets of punishment. For punishment is directed above all at others, at all the potentially guilty.

Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.

The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body.

Schools serve the same social functions as prisons and mental institutions- to define, classify, control, and regulate people.

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...if you are not like everybody else, then you are abnormal, if you are abnormal , then you are sick. These three categories, not being like everybody else, not being normal and being sick are in fact very different but have been reduced to the same thing.

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BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

Contributor Guidelines How to be BROAD BROAD Team

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