9-30-21

SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds.

Volume 9, Issue 2 Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato Managing Editor Martha Bayne Senior Editors Christian Belanger Christopher Good Rachel Kim Emeline Posner Adam Przybyl Olivia Stovicek Sam Stecklow Arts Editor Politics Editor Education Editor Housing Editor Community Organizing Editor Immigration Editor

Isabel Nieves Jim Daley Madeleine Parrish Malik Jackson Chima Ikoro Alma Campos

Contributing Editors Lucia Geng Matt Moore

Francisco Ramírez Pinedo Jocelyn Vega Scott Pemberton Staff Writers Kiran Misra Yiwen Lu Data Editor

Jasmine Mithani

Director of Fact Checking: Kate Gallagher Fact Checkers: Susan Chun, Grace Del Vecchio, Hannah Faris, Maria Maynez, Olivia Stovicek Visuals Editor Haley Tweedell Deputy Visuals Editors Shane Tolentino Mell Montezuma Anna Mason Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma, Shane Tolentino Layout Editors Haley Tweedell Davon Clark Tony Zralka Social Media Editor Webmaster Managing Director Director of Operations

Davon Clark Pat Sier Jason Schumer Brigid Maniates

The Weekly is produced by a mostly all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We distribute each Wednesday in the fall, winter, and spring. Over the summer we publish every other week.

Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773) 234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly.com

Cover Photo by Anonymous

IN CHICAGO

IN THIS ISSUE

Obama Center is official On September 28, the Obama Foundation, local officials, and former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama officially broke ground on the Obama Presidential Center. This comes after nearly seven years of speculation about where the site would be located, whether it would be a library or a museum, and who would benefit. Photos released in recent weeks, and found in this issue, show the early environmental impact of the development on Jackson Park. Rising rents and property taxes are still of concern to residents in neighboring communities, as groups like the Obama Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition continue their push for protections that could help prevent the displacement of current residents.

The foundation was subject to a long federal review process to get here, as well as a lawsuit from local groups, but the project is moving forward and its impacts will become more measurable as time goes on. The process has met with resistance from the beginning. Environmental groups and activists have been sounding alarms about possible negative impacts on the surrounding community since the Jackson Park site was first announced. But on the topic of a community benefits agreement, Obama explicitly stated that he would not pursue one—a fascinating position considering the project required the acquisition of nearly twenty acres of public land that was frequently used by residents in the area. "This is the community that sent him to Springfield, this is the community that sent him to the Senate, this is the community that sent him to the White House. We should be the community that gets to stay and benefit from the Presidential Center,” activist Dixon Romeo said. It would be devastating to Obama’s legacy if the dire prophecies of the Center’s neighbors came true.

public meetings report

State relief for families Governor J.B. Pritzker recently announced $327 million in relief funds through the CEDA Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Community Services Block Grant program with support from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The initiative is meant to assist families with rent, electric, and gas bills, as well as food and other expenses, regardless of immigration status. Up to $1,000 for utilities could be awarded to households in the program year 2022, up from an average of $750 last year. Recommended documents for application include a Social Security card or I-TIN, or other identification, and proof of income. Applicants need to supply their utility bills for LIHEAP and lease for rental assistance. People may apply through May 31, 2022 and can visit helpillinoisfamilies.com.

Chicago can expect “more than 500 Afghans [to] make their home here.” max blaisidell.....................................13

CORRECTION: The Weekly made some errors in our Best of the South Side 2021 issue (September 16). In the Auburn Gresham & Chatham section, the correct business address for Oooh Wee It Is is 33 E. 83rd St.. In the Gage Park section, the photographer credited should have been Jesús Hidalgo. And in the Hegewisch section, the photo of Melany Flores should have been attributed to Valentina Pucarelli. We apologize and regret the mistakes.

A bill would allow non-citizens to vote in the school board elections across Illinois. madeleine parrish..............................17

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level. documenters, grace del vecchio and scott pemberton..................................4 q&a: the covid-19 delta variant

Physician Alana Biggers discusses the latest COVID developments. katrina miller......................................5 el milagro employees say they’re worked like machines

A toxic work culture has contributed to a nationwide shortage of the popular tortilla. jacqueline serrato...............................7 on strike with chicagoland auto mechanics

Hundreds walked off the job for eight weeks before reaching an agreement. hannah faris.........................................8 remembering the trees

A photo essay. jacqueline serrato.............................10 chicago welcomes afghan refugees

social security document backlogs leave unhoused populations vulnerable

Since the start of the pandemic, SSA offices have failed to meet the demand. noah tesfaye and peter winslow.....................................16 the push for noncitizens to vote in illinois school board elections

the exchange

The Weekly’s poetry corner. chima ikoro, china smith..................19 from flirting with death to finding hope

Rap artist Sterling Hayes documents his path to contentment in new album. ryan rosenberger...............................20 calendar

Bulletin and events. south side weekly staff....................21

Public Meetings Report ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLEY APPOLD

Aug 26 A lack of affordable housing was a major concern at the Department of Planning and Development meeting. Prioritizing transit-oriented developments and closing loopholes that allow developers to alter designated “affordable” units later for different uses were issues raised by public commenters. In addition, even with increases in affordable housing standards taking effect on October 1, there may not be enough units to meet demand, and, commenters emphasized, more investment in affordable housing is critical.

Aug 27 At the Cook County Health and Hospitals System board meeting, board members discussed how the pandemic has both taken a toll on hospital workers and put a relative strain on hospital finances. Revenue is rebounding for Cook County Health (CCH) though. The Human Resources department reports a higher number of separations than previous years, meaning that CCH is losing employees. The directors have questions about the possibility of the mandatory vaccine driving up separations.

Interim CEO Aaron Galeener said that with the governor’s vaccine mandate for health care workers, it would not be a decision to leave CCH, but one to leave the profession altogether.

Chicago water bills have tripled in the past ten years, and at least a dozen Council members are backing the “water for all” ordinance. Yet discussion was limited at the City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy meeting because only seven of fifteen committee members were present. Chicagoans dealing with significant water cost burdens are encouraged to apply for the existing Utility Billing Relief Program.

Aug 30 Divisions remain over how to allocate $1.9 billion in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) relief funds approved in March. At the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations meeting, plans to use about eighty percent of the ARP funds to pay off $965 million in debt were supported by the City’s budget director, Susie Park, and chief financial officer, Jennie Huang Bennett. Such debt saves money in the short term but increases debt in the future, Bennett said. Some council members challenged that approach, citing the potential need for additional COVID-19 allocations and relief for working-class families reeling from difficult financial problems.

Sep 1 At a meeting of the City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations, Matt Richards, deputy commissioner for behavioral health, explained the Crisis 4 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level for the September 30 issue.

BY DOCUMENTERS, GRACE DEL VECCHIO AND SCOTT PEMBERTON Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) co-responder program pilot.

Emergency response teams will consist of a crisis-intervention, team-trained police officers, a fire department paramedic, and a mental health professional. The pilot will begin late this year in thirteen Chicago community areas with high volumes of crisis calls. Council member Rossana Rodríguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) emphasized the need to invest more in the City’s five remaining mental health clinics. That would allow the CARE teams to transport individuals experiencing mental health crises to excellent free care instead of simply providing a list of resources. The committee also unanimously supported a federal bill, known as the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, that would allow individuals to determine their political status.

Sep 2 At the Commission on Chicago Landmarks meeting, the “Bienvenidos a Little Village” arch at 26th and Albany was approved for preliminary landmark designation.

Built in 1990, the arch pays homage to Mexican colonial architecture, such as the capilla abierta “archways found in churches” and partitions in haciendas. The arch spans the street and is considered to be in the public way. Its maintenance falls to the Chicago Department of Transportation and is also undertaken by the Little Village Chamber of Commerce. When the final status is approved, architect Adrian Lozano will be the first Mexican to be recognized by a Chicago landmark designation. He also designed Pilsen’s Benito Juárez Academy and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.

Sep 8 Changes to the City’s cannabis zoning ordinance were approved at a meeting of the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. Many of the changes would deregulate business operations. Concerns remain about whether the ordinance, which skeptics considered was “rushed through,” will benefit social equity businesses as intended. For example, social equity licensees might find that applying and then selling their business to the highest bidder to be more profitable than operating the businesses themselves. Business licenses are awarded by the state, but the City regulates when, where, and how businesses operate. The proposed changes would reduce the size of the downtown exclusion zone significantly and ease restrictions on other areas where cannabis businesses can operate. The required proportion of affordable units in housing developments will double to 50 percent from 25 percent.

Sep 9 “The racist colonial rule must end,” alderman Roberto Maldonado (26th Ward) declared at the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Board of Commissioners meeting. He was urging federal legislators to support the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, which is currently in the Senate. If the federal bill is passed, a commission would be established to explore options for Puerto Rico, such as independence or becoming the 51st state. Alderwoman Rossana Rodríguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) lived in Puerto Rico until she was thirty and talked about the U.S.’s role in water shortages, the bombing of Vieques, and the Hurricane María response.

This information was collected in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.

HEALTH

Q&A: The COVID-19 Delta Variant University of Illinois at Chicago physician Alana Biggers discusses COVID-19 and vaccinations with the Weekly.

BY KATRINA MILLER

BY JOSHUA CLARK

Dr. Alana Biggers, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine and internist at the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Biggers earned a master’s in public health with a focus in chronic disease epidemiology from Tulane University, attended medical school at UIC, then completed a residency in the greater Milwaukee area.

She returned to Chicago in 2014, and now researches methods to reduce health disparities in underserved communities.

Biggers discussed the COVID-19 delta variant and the effectiveness of currently available vaccines with the Weekly. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is the delta variant?

The delta variant is one of many variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Viruses get smarter over time and can mutate from their original form, so the delta variant is the fourth mutation. (Doctors use Greek letters to distinguish each variant.)

That means we’ve already seen the alpha, beta, and gamma strains of the virus.

How is the delta variant distinct from earlier COVID-19 strains?

It is more contagious. The delta variant is about fifty percent stronger than the original alpha strain. With earlier strains, a person with an active infection could, on average, spread it to two people. But with the delta variant, a person can spread it to about five people. Over eighty percent of cases in the nation are now from the delta variant. It’s currently the predominant strain in the United States.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you likely will not be able to tell if you caught the delta variant or another strain. Studies show that while coughing and loss of smell may be less of an issue with the delta variant, other symptoms including fever, headache, runny nose, and sore throat are still common.

What should we do to protect ourselves from the delta variant?

You should wear a mask and socially distance yourself from others. Also, get vaccinated if it is available to you. Even if you do get sick, the vaccine helps protect you from serious illness and hospitalization.

How does the vaccine work?

There are two types of vaccines available for COVID-19. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both mRNA vaccines; mRNA is genetic material that teaches your body how to make proteins. We inject a small amount of mRNA into your body for your cells to make copies of the spike protein that is found on the coronavirus. Your body will recognize these proteins are foreign and rev up your immune system to fight them off. It is important to add that your cells will break down and get rid of this mRNA as soon as it is used.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a different approach. Rather than mRNA, it uses a harmless, inactive version of the common cold virus to carry information about the coronavirus spike protein into your cells. As before, your body will then create spike proteins, recognize them as foreign, and make antibodies to get rid of them.

Both methods will protect you if exposed to COVID-19 in the future. Your body will remember that those spike proteins don’t belong there and will already know how to fight them off.

Why do some people report feeling sick as a side effect of the vaccine if it does not contain the COVID-19 virus?

Many people won’t experience side effects from the vaccine, but some may have flulike symptoms that will clear up within thirty-six and seventy-two hours. This is your body’s response when creating the antibodies. You are not getting COVID-19 or the flu, because you are not being injected with either virus. It’s the body’s way of reacting to something foreign being there, and trying to fight it off. Actually, it’s a sign that your immune system is working the way it is supposed to.

If the vaccine was created to target the earlier COVID-19 strains, how can it be effective against the delta variant?

The vaccine provides you with a boost in immunity by allowing your body to develop antibodies to fight COVID-19. The components of the original virus strain and the delta variant are the same, so your body will still recognize the virus and have that antibody response.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5

HEALTH

Some people are hesitant about getting the vaccine. How do we know that it is safe?

What is a booster shot and why do we need them?

I understand the hesitancy. But I understand the science, too. The vaccine development wasn’t rushed, and it is not some type of mystery or experimentation on the general public. The mRNA vaccine technology, in particular, has been around for years, but there wasn’t an urgent need for a coronavirus vaccine until the pandemic hit. When it did, infectious-disease researchers got an influx of money and resources to carry forth in developing the vaccine quickly and safely.

All three COVID vaccinations are safe and effective and are constantly monitored by the CDC and the FDA for serious adverse events. Over 386 million doses have been given with very few serious side effects reported thus far.

The effectiveness of the vaccine wanes over time. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are over ninety percent effective against infection in the first two months, but drop to about sixty percent after four to five months. Booster shots are recommended to give people a boost in their immunity against COVID-19. This will allow you to have a stronger immune response if you are exposed to the virus.

The Biden administration recently announced that booster shots will be ready toward the end of September. [Editor’s note: on September 22, the FDA approved Pfizer booster shots for adults aged sixty-five and older, as well as younger adults who have certain health conditions and people who work in frontline jobs.]

What is a breakthrough case?

When will life go back to normal?

Breakthrough cases are COVID-19 infections that occur even though a person has been vaccinated. This happens when the antibody response your body has from getting the vaccine is not strong enough to kill off the virus. Breakthrough cases are more frequent now because the delta variant is more contagious, so the vaccine may be less effective against this strain.

I wish I knew—if only I had a crystal ball! The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 lasted for two years. If we are not able to get the COVID-19 virus under control, we may have to get a COVID-19 vaccine every year like we do with the flu shot. But we’re still within the first year of understanding the vaccine and its effectiveness. Regardless, the quickest way back to normalcy is for everyone to get vaccinated, wear masks, and socially distance themselves. Katrina Miller is a University of Chicago physics PhD student and freelance science journalist. This is her first article for the Weekly.

6 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

LABOR

El Milagro Employees Say They’re Worked Like Machines

BY JACQUELINE SERRATO

L

ast week, dozens of employees walked off the job in two of El Milagro’s tortilla plants, citing low wages, high turnover, and a toxic work culture that has contributed to a nationwide shortage of the popular tortilla.

Rumors of poor working conditions began circulating in early 2020 when, at the height of the pandemic, El Milagro management not only failed to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to their employees, but allegedly discouraged them from bringing face coverings from home.

Five employees died of coronavirus complications, among them Roberto Escobar, who workers say proactively brought his own face mask into the workplace, but was reprimanded for using it. While El Milagro closed down for two weeks after his death, workers say it was due to public pressure and that few safety measures were implemented. They also said not enough support was offered to the deceased nor were workers properly notified of at least eighty-five confirmed cases of COVID-19—they found out through word of mouth.

Hours before the work stoppage on September 23, former employee Rosalba Durán went to the human resources office inside El Milagro headquarters on 26th Street to pick up her last paycheck. To her surprise, she found the place closed.

“They never close,” she said. “They must know something’s up.”

Close to 5pm that day, workers nervously gathered by La Villita Park behind the Discount Mall. Organizers from the workers’ rights organization Arise Chicago helped them craft their demands and take ownership of their voice. The workers marched across the parking lot, crossed 26th St., and formed

BY JACQUELINE SERRATO

a picket line in front of El Milagro’s flagship location, chanting, “The people united will never be defeated!” ¡Milagro, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” (Milagro, listen up, we are in the fight!) and “¡No es El Milagro, es el maltrato!” (It is not El Milagro, it is maltreatment!).

It was peak rush hour. Cars and semitrucks honked their car horns in support of the workers. Arriving customers did not walk inside El Milagro and instead stood on the curb listening to the workers’ grievances.

“The working temperatures go above ninety degrees, and instead of addressing the issue, management has sent anti-union [representatives] who have discouraged workers,” said Pedro Manzanares, an El Milagro employee and La Villita resident. “Not all of us are here, many people stayed behind in fear.”

He added that workers feel as if they’re being worked like machines. “The machines are so fast that our hands are not quick enough to keep up,” he said.

“We try to do our best, but there comes a point where you say, ‘ya basta’ (enough is enough), I can't take it anymore. My arms, my back, my waist, are in pain.”

Jacinta Castro worked at El Milagro since 1979. But while she has been supportive of her co-workers, has signed letters, and attended the protest, she said she resigned because she was fed up with the mismanagement of the company under managers Alex Arevalo and Hortensia Calderón.

She said she noticed the work culture began to shift after the death of the founder, Raúl López, in the 1990s, who she said was hardworking and well respected. She agreed that El Milagro overworks employees and has herself witnessed co-workers who have repeatedly fallen or hurt themselves and

were expected to immediately return to work.

El Milagro owns four plants and five restaurants with more than 600 employees in Illinois, according to tenyear employee Martin Salas, and they own plants in other states.

Outside the flagship El Milagro, workers complained about the lack of pay raises, saying that new employees are often getting paid a higher wage than people who have been there for years, even decades. Not only that, said worker Luis Oliva, they have to train the new workers, who many times choose to leave after they’ve been trained once they realize how exhausting the production line is. “They want to make us work seven days straight,” Oliva said.

After the walkout, many employees returned to their sites of employment at the plant on 2140 S. Western and management locked them out for a few hours until the police arrived and escorted

employees to pick up their belongings.

“Even if you don’t have a union, it’s legal to organize yourselves through worker committees and set demands,” said Jorge Mújica, a strategist at Arise Chicago. “The company is required to sit down with you. They don’t have to negotiate a contract until [the workers] have a majority vote, but they have to sit down and talk.” El Milagro workers’ demands call for implementing a wage scale based on seniority and qualifications, an end to sexual harassment that some women employees said was an ongoing problem, and reducing the work flow back to normal levels. They seek a response from management by September 29 or, as they chanted, “Milagro, we’ll be back!”

Jacqueline Serrato is the editor-in-chief of the Weekly. She contributed to Best of the South Side 2021 as the neighborhood captain of La Villita, Pilsen, and Back of the Yards.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 7

LABOR

On Strike with Chicagoland Auto Mechanics Hundreds walked off the job for eight weeks before reaching an agreement for a new four-year contract.

BY HANNAH FARIS

I

PHOTOS FROM LOCAL 701

t’s a ninety-five-degree day in midAugust and Bob, a thirty-four-year journeyman and shop steward in Englewood, camps outside South Chicago Dodge Chrysler Jeep with a simple sign that reads, “On strike. Auto Mechanics Local 701.”

Bob is among dozens of mechanics in Bronzeville, Englewood, Chicago Lawn, and Archer Heights picketing for eight hours a day, rain or shine, on the sidewalks and boulevards outside their shops.

“Nobody wants to be here; we all want to be working,” Bob said. “We'll sit here as long as we have to.”

On August 1, more than 600 auto mechanics, all members of the International Association of Machinists Local 701, gathered in a union hall on the outskirts of Chicago to vote on whether to ratify proposed a four-year collective bargaining agreement that they say would not only effectively lower wages and increase workload, but also give disproportionate bargaining control to the car dealerships they work for.

Over ninety-seven percent of membership rejected the agreement, then voted to strike nearly unanimously, 597 to six. The next day, more than 800 mechanics 8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

walked off the job, shutting down service at fifty-six Chicagoland dealerships.

For nearly two months, strikers endured severe weather, a union-busting campaign, and thousands in lost wages, determined to stay out as long as it takes to win a fair contract. On Monday, the mechanics returned to work after voting to ratify a new four-year contract.

During the strike, the mechanics sacrificed nearly two months’ worth of wages. The union strike fund only compensates them for one third of lost pay.

“People didn't really start feeling it until week four,” said Dan, an eighteen-year journeyman in Archer Heights. “Insurance drops, then [dealerships] start threatening to remove toolboxes.”

This tension is exacerbated by the New Car Dealers Committee (NCDC), a bargaining arm of the Chicago Auto Trade Association, which represents the dealerships. According to the union, on July 31, after months of inconsistent communication, the NCDC sent their proposal less than one hour before the previous agreement expired.

“There’s been no meaningful communication since [contract] expiration, besides online propaganda,”

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

said Ronnie Gonzalez, a representative from Local 701.

On the picket, in their email, and mailed to their homes, mechanics say they routinely receive NCDC-produced ‘factsheets’ with titles such as “The High Cost of a Strike''—a reminder of how much each worker is losing in weekly wages—and “Your Right to Resign Union Membership.” These documents are also available on the NCDC’s website, which opens with the line “We’re sorry that you and your family have to go through another labor strike.”

According to both the union and NCDC, the three key points of dispute in negotiations are employer contributions to a health and welfare fund, changes to base pay guarantee, and a “Most Favored Nations” clause.

For incentive-based service technicians like Andres at Rogers Auto Group in Bronzeville, the NCDC’s proposed change to a base pay guarantee could mean drastic wage cuts and instability.

While incentive-based mechanics work forty-hour weeks, they’re compensated by how much work they book in-shop.

If business is slow due to current

new car shortages, dealer politics, or a pandemic, mechanics may not book forty hours of work, but under the previous contract, mechanics were guaranteed pay for at least thirty-six of these hours. Under the new contract, however, if Andres only books twenty hours of work, despite working in the shop for forty, he will only be paid for twenty.

“What if this week is bad? What if this week is slow?” Andres said, noting that dealers dispatch customers to mechanics, which has a direct impact on production.

The NCDC argues this guarantee is intended to improve productivity at shops and allow mechanics ‘more opportunities than ever to book hours and get paid more money’, but mechanics are skeptical. “They want to make sure they got a whole staff on their shop floor. And they don't want to pay them,” Dan said.

Mechanics also object to a proposal that offers raises in lieu of increased contributions to employee health and welfare funds, which they say are already minimal. Car dealers “try to make it look good with a raise, but it doesn't matter if you're paying more into insurance anyway,” said Tony, an eight-year journeyman at Kingdom Chevy in Chicago Lawn. “Do

LABORS

you really take home a lot more?”

Even if these proposals were removed, mechanics say, the “Most Favored Nations” clause would undermine all collective bargaining agreements. The clause would allow dealers to adopt terms from any of the fifty-six other NCDC dealership contracts that it sees as “more favorable” at any point throughout the next four years.

“If the employees at one single dealership vote in less favorable terms against the union’s recommendation,” wrote Gonzalez, then every other dealer could force those terms on their employees.

If a dealership in Naperville signs a contract with lower wages and no pension, a dealership in Chicago Lawn could immediately drop their wages and pension. “With that clause, nothing else matters either way,” said Tony.

Striking “has nothing to do with money,” said Mike, a journeyman and shop steward at Rogers Auto in Bronzeville. “It all has to do with [most favored nations] language that they're trying to put in a contract, so they can take stuff away from us any time.”

“If they take something now, then they're gonna keep going with that,” said Shorty, a journeyman at Metro Ford in Englewood. “They're gonna keep taking away and taking away, and then there goes the union.”

While the NCDC claims Local 701 “seems intent on doing everything it could to hurt the dealerships,” some mechanics are concerned that dealerships are trying to hurt the union.

Many point to the Chicago Auto Trade Association having one of the nation’s largest labor relations law firms, Littler Mendelson, on retainer to advise dealerships during negotiations. Notorious for unionavoidance consulting, Littler Mendelson is reported to charge hourly rates as high as $700, and has provided legal services and consulting to McDonald’s and Uber during two of the largest labor battles in the last decade: the national fight for a fifteendollar minimum wage, and the campaign that opposed California’s Proposition 22, which made app-based gig workers exempt from receiving minimum wage, insurance, and collective bargaining rights.

Although only 129 of more than 400

dealerships in Chicagoland are unionized, many mechanics say the union is vital to raising standards across the industry.

Several strikers have previously worked in non-union shops, and recount long days of low wages, no insurance, and being asked to attempt repairs well beyond their training and pay grade.

“It's favoritism. There's no set wage scale. There's no standard,” said Sal, a journeyman’s apprentice at Ray’s Auto Service in Archer Heights. “There's fullfledged journeymen that have been there for years only making like low twenties, eighteen [per hour].”

“When I started out, I started at independent shops. I was doing twelvehour work shifts, six days a week,” Andres said. “That's why we're out here, making it better for everyone.”

As cars increasingly become more technologically advanced, the country is experiencing a labor shortage of skilled auto technicians. Mechanics on the picket line say they want to bring more young technicians into the trade, but that won’t happen until conditions improve.

Much like the larger 2017 strike, where over 2,000 mechanics shut down dealerships for seven weeks, Local 701 strikers aren’t on the picket alone. In solidarity with them, customers have refused to cross the picket, and neighbors and members of other locals, such as SEIU and CTU, have delivered food, water, and cash to the lines. “The moral support we’ve gotten is great,” Andres said. “It keeps us going.”

“Now more than ever, it seems like there's less and less unions out there. And they really are looking out for us,” Sal said.

The strike “is rough, it's tough, but in the long run it's worth it.” ¬

“If they take something now, then they're gonna keep going with that. They're gonna keep taking away and taking away, and then there goes the union.”

This story was first published online on September 9 and has been updated for print.

Hannah Faris is a multimedia journalist in Chicago and an associate editor with The Wisconsin Idea, a rural reporting project by In These Times magazine. This is her first piece for the Weekly.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 9

Remembering the Trees

BY JACQUELINE SERRATO

M

onths before the official groundbreaking of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), residents and commuters were already noticing changes to the landscape near the lakefront. Prep work began with the closure of familiar streets like Cornell Drive and Midway Plaisance, which will undergo alterations that are changing traffic patterns and is thus far complicating crossing the street or taking the bus.

Yet, for many people, the scope of the area’s impending transformation didn’t really hit home until the trees came down, hundreds of trees—some more than century old—seemingly taken for granted by OPC planners. Last month, construction crews tore up the track and turf field near sixty first St. to make way for the project. And the Women’s Garden at Jackson Park was recently uprooted to the dismay of local residents who’d been told by the Obama Foundation that it would be left intact.

It does not take a “tree hugger” or a preservationist to realize the ecological damage that has been done overnight, which has wider implications for the city. The Southeast Side, for example—if not the entire South Side—notoriously suffers from environmental pollution and can hardly afford to spare a square foot of greenery.

Studies show the Jackson Park trees removed about 350 pounds of air pollution a year and absorbed two hundred tons of carbon. They additionally provided a cooling effect and a needed respite for Chicagoans. Proponents of the OPC in Jackson Park 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

BY DOUG SHAEFFER

have assured the public that they will replace the tree deficit with the same number of young trees, but frankly, we may not see the Lake Shore canopy return to its former glory in our lifetimes or ever.

The trees that were cut consisted of roughly forty species of mostly healthy mature trees with trunks that were up to fifty-nine inches in width and acted as both food and shelter for birds and wildlife. The majority of birds that inhabit or migrate through the state descend upon the shores of Chicago’s Lake Michigan in a route that is known as the Mississippi Flyway. All kinds of bird species, plant species, and animals and insects were co-dependent on the Jackson Park ecosystem that has been disrupted.

This piece of protected land has been coveted ever since it was host to the World’s Columbian Exposition and dating further back. But today, through a combination of legislative maneuvers, Jackson Park has gone from having public oversight to being controlled by private hands.

With the lack of community input or a comprehensive community benefits agreement it’s unclear what other changes are coming with this development. But up until this point, much has already been lost.

Jackie Serrato is the editor in chief of the Weekly. She was recently a neighborhood captain for Best of the South Side, where she covered La Villita, Pilsen, and Back of the Yards.

BY BARBARA KOENEN

“The scope of the area’s impending transformation didn’t really hit home until the trees came down.”

BY BARBARA KOENEN

BY BARBARA KOENEN

BY ANONYMOUS

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11

PHOTO BY DENISE NAIM

Chicago Welcomes Afghan Refugees, But Many More in Dire Straits are Left Behind

BY MAX BLAISDELL

“O

ur nation made a promise to the brave Afghans that stepped forward to protect our military, diplomatic, and NGO personnel in Afghanistan. Now is the time to keep our promise by evacuating allies and finding safe places for them to live and thrive in the United States.…

We invite Afghan refugees to join us in Chicago, to share our home, and to build something greater together,” reads a letter sent to President Biden on August 30,

signed by seventeen alderpersons from Chicago’s South, West, and North Sides, along with twenty-five local organizations tasked with transforming that welcoming invitation into reality.

By that date, the United States government completed the evacuation of 120,000 Americans, Afghans, and other foreign nationals in what was one of the largest airlifts in U.S. history.

Polling done by the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs and Ipsos suggests that

the American public are firmly behind efforts to resettle Afghans who worked with American military, contractors, or NGO (non-governmental organization) workers, with eighty-six percent of Democrats in support along with eighty-one percent of Republicans and seventy-seven percent of Independents.

Large, cross-partisan majorities are also in favor of evacuating Afghans who are in imminent danger under Taliban rule.

With thousands of refugees living in

Chicago and more than 500,000 foreignborn residents from countries as diverse as Iraq, Nigeria, and the Philippines, Chicago stands as a prospective haven for Afghan refugees.

Neha Gill, Executive Director of Apna Ghar (Our Home), an organization dedicated to helping refugee and immigrant survivors of gender-based violence, is confident that Chicago is prepared for this undertaking. “Here in Chicago, there are organizations that can

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 13

IMMIGRATION help get people apartments, counseling services, legal services, and resources,” she said. “All in all, we have a very low number of refugees coming into our country despite our tremendous size and capacity.” Gill, who has led Apna Ghar since 2013, is in the thick of conversations at the local and national level regarding Afghan refugee resettlement, serving on Cook County’s Commission on Women’s Issues for the 10th District and having advised government officials, the staff of UN agencies, and international NGOs. According to RefugeeOne, a West Ridge-based refugee resettlement agency and a signatory to the August 30 letter, Chicago can expect “more than 500 Afghans [to] make their home here.” This non-profit organization offers apartment assistance, English classes, job training and search services, mental health, youth programming and mentorship, and immigration legal assistance.

Through the State Department’s Refugee Administration Program, RefugeeOne aims to assist refugees in finding fulltime, living wage employment within three months of arrival, and attain self-

sufficiency within six to nine months.

They are currently seeking volunteers who speak Dari, Pashto, and Farsi to assist with the incoming Afghan families.

At the time of this writing, few Afghan families have passed through the terminals at O’Hare and been resettled into the broader community. “In terms of resettling people, while some of those who were evacuated are arriving, however, they are being taken to military bases, to await further processing,” Gill said. “The only people being resettled are those refugees who were already in a third country. Paperwork for refugees is processed and provided prior to entry” by the UN Refugee Agency and the State Department, according to Gill. Thus many Afghans who would like to leave would need to first travel across the border before they could apply for refugee status.

This is corroborated by a government document uncovered by The New York Times, detailing how thousands of evacuated Afghans are stuck in military bases in the United States or abroad as they go through medical and security screenings. More than twelve

PHOTO BY DENISE NAIM

14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

PHOTO BY DENISE NAIM

thousand are housed at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, a little more than a four hours’ drive northwest on I-94 from Chicago. It is likely that many will remain there for weeks if not months more.

Gill added that there have been some unaccompanied minors among the refugees. “I think some families in Afghanistan had to make the difficult decision to get their children out first,” she said. On September 22, seventy-five unaccompanied Afghan minors arrived in Chicago via a flight from Qatar and were greeted by local leaders of various organizations involved in the resettlement process. Hurdles remain for the children, as they will either be placed with a vetted relative or have to remain in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Sima Quraishi, executive director of the Muslim Women Resource Center located in West Ridge and an Afghan refugee herself, was present at their arrival from 6am–4pm. She told me that many of the children “lost their parents at the airport of Kabul...because there was chaos at the airport.” She added, “One

of the kids was telling me that [he] lost [his] parents’ hand and by the time he was looking [for them] he was already on the plane.” Quraishi did note that the children “are in good hands, I can say that, and I’m very, very happy to have seen what I saw.”

Quraishi has dedicated her life to working with refugees in Chicago, first with Bosnians arriving in the 1990s after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and later with people from Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Her story of flight from the country was also due to conflict. “I was born in Afghanistan, and I left…when I was around five years old. We left… during the Russian War.” She said that when you are a refugee “you lose not only your family, you lose your community” and “a part of your childhood.”

She founded the Muslim Women Resource Center shortly after 9/11 because many Muslim women “didn’t speak English and were always staying at home. It was hard for them to even buy milk,” Quraishi told me. Sher and her staff, which includes six Afghan-

IMMIGRATION

PHOTO BY DENISE NAIM

Americans, have been working weekends and nights assisting Afghans in need. “As soon as I get home I get another call that really breaks my heart because the stories are really unacceptable what others are going through with the bases, with unaccompanied minors.

Families are being separated from each other...every family is missing a child or a woman or a man,” Quraishi said.

Because of their language skills and resources, the Muslim Women Resource Center is currently helping six Afghan families get situated in Chicago, but they are in need of assistance because it may take the families time to start receiving government benefits and begin working.

Biden tasked the Secretary of State to “lead the continued coordination with our international partners to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan.” In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee given on September 14, Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave assurances that “there is no deadline” for the evacuation of Americans still in Afghanistan and “Afghans to whom we have a special commitment”, but he provided no details about what efforts to get them out would entail.

A formal proposal to Secretary Blinken drafted by Gill and Sherizaan Minwalla, an Iraq-based human rights attorney, identified two thousand women and children living in twenty-eight

U.S. government-built shelters across Afghanistan as endangered by the Taliban regime with little hope of fleeing the country. “These people took tremendous risks because they believed what we said. We provided this information and some options, and now we’re just saying goodbye,” said Gill. Gill has spent her career advocating for and assisting survivors of gender-based violence from more than sixty-five countries through an innovative service model designed in conjunction with Loyola University of Chicago.

If the United States Government is concerned or committed to the fates of these women and children who believed our promises to shelter and care for them as survivors of gender-based violence, then they should be “designated as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern,” Gill said, and evacuated as soon as possible.

“The destruction we’ve caused in Afghanistan is extensive and there are many people left in Afghanistan, but very few are going to be able to leave. This doesn’t mean everyone wants to leave, however, of those who need to leave, very few will be able to,” Gill said.

by more than one hundred Chicagoans.

The DePaul student-led group formed in January to champion issues such as freeing Armenian POWs held by Azerbaijan following the war over the NagornoKarabakh and promoting a GoFundMe for a Palestinian medical student. In a statement issued by the group, the aim of the protest was to “demand accountability and justice from all involved governments and parties for their irresponsible involvement and demand the U.S. opens its borders to Afghan refugees looking to flee the country.”

Despite goodwill at the local level, Gill said resettlement remains a federal issue. “The mayor has been very strong in support of our immigrant and refugee communities. She’s renewed the commitment of Chicago as a sanctuary city and her administration has been very supportive in making resources available…but immigration is ultimately a federal process.”

For those concerned about what comes next for Afghanistan, it is

imperative that Illinois’ congressional representatives and senators know that this issue remains important to their constituents. While Illinois Senator Durbin did sign a letter on August 25 to Secretary Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in support of efforts to “provide humanitarian protection to those Afghan nationals in need,” the substance of their proposal only urged clearing the backlog in visa processing and using humanitarian parole for Afghan nationals with family members already in the United States.

As Gill said, “I know that Biden said August 31 was the deadline, but we can still do more evacuations, and certainly we should be doing more and being more supportive of accepting a larger number of people. We owe it to them.” Max Blaisdell is an educator and basketball coach based in Hyde Park. He is originally from New York City and later served in Peace Corps Morocco. This is his first featurelength contribution to the Weekly.

T

o pressure the government into action on those Afghans still endangered by Taliban rule, the SouthWest Asia and North Afrika Collective (SWANA) led a protest at Federal Plaza on August 22 attended SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15

HOUSING

Social Security Backlogs Leave Unhoused Populations Vulnerable Administrative challenges at the Social Security Administration compound precarious circumstances for unhoused populations

BY NOAH TESFAYE AND PETER WINSLOW

F

or the past six months, Michelle Thomas, a youth case manager at The Night Ministry has been trying to get a new Social Security card for her twenty-two-year-old houseless client.

After months of contacting different offices and scheduling an emergency visit to a Social Security Administration (SSA) office that was initially denied, Thomas’s client is still waiting for a card to arrive in the mail.

Thomas has also been trying to obtain housing for her client through an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) voucher.

“The people who are distributing this voucher through DCFS and CHA, I don't think that they’ve been the most understanding in our frustrations or understanding that this literally is the last thing that we need to turn in before people get their housing,” she said.

Thomas’ story is not unique. Since the start of the pandemic, SSA offices have failed to meet the demand for Social Security cards.

Amid an ongoing economic crisis, along with predictions that nearly 750,000 renters face eviction following the Supreme Court’s ruling that ended the Biden administration’s eviction moratorium, the need for Social Security cards for housing and employment applications is ever-growing.

Before COVID-19, people could 16 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

receive Social Security cards via virtual or in-person applications. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a forty percent increase in virtual applications, according to a SSA dataset.

In July, the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an interim report addressing the backlogs of unprocessed applications for new or replacement Social Security cards through mail and enumeration services during the pandemic.

Of the seventy-three SSA facilities audited for the interim report, one field office had 677 unprocessed applications dated as early as July 2020 while another SSA facility had over 9,000 unprocessed applications dated as early as May 2021.

The report did not specify where the problem offices were located.

Local social-service organizations fear that unless Social Security Administration offices remedy their administrative pitfalls, applicants will not find success in obtaining vital materials, subjecting them to an increased risk of remaining unsheltered and unemployed.

The OIG concluded that the SSA “lacks comprehensive policies and procedures to track and return original documents—including driver’s licenses, birth certificates, passports, and naturalization documents that customers provide as proof of eligibility for benefits or a Social Security number card.”

The interim report did not provide

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

potential or immediate solutions to the document request backlogs or procedural pitfalls.

“We plan to issue our final report on the mail audit by the end of the calendar year, and our enumeration audit in the first quarter of 2022. Both reports will provide more detailed information about our work, and SSA’s response and planned actions,” said a spokesperson from the Office of the Inspector General.

Document request backlogs and office closures have worsened pre-existing challenges that unstably housed youth face, according to Beth Cunningham Malik, who is the associate director of The Law Project and lead attorney for the Youth Futures mobile legal aid clinic at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). The Youth Futures program serves young persons between fourteen and twenty four.

According to a recent report from the University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab, out of students that attend CPS for four or more years, thirteen percent of those students

experience homelessness. Among Black students, that number increases to twenty-five percent. In a given year, one in twenty CPS students is experiencing homelessness.

“Our clients, given the fact that they're often moving from place to place, have to carry all their belongings with them, they're having their belongings thrown away or stolen on a regular basis,” Cunningham Malik said. “It's really hard when you have to start from scratch or start from the beginning to access all those vital documents. [The] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires certain documentation like a Social Security card and the state ID or birth certificate, and if they don't have it, they're at risk of losing that housing opportunity, which is huge.”

The lack of in-person appointments has prompted the SSA to get people to apply for replacement cards through their My Social Security account. But “It's very hard for individuals within the community that we serve to set up these accounts,'' Cunningham Malik said,

EDUCATION, IMMIGRATION referencing internet accessibility issues.

Additionally, the lack of address history makes young people more vulnerable to the closure of the SSA offices since the websites still heavily rely upon a permanent address or prior history of addresses to send further verification.

Housing shelters also face barriers for their clients due to the type of address they have. La Casa Norte and the Night Ministry, two organizations that provide services to people experiencing homelessness, both have had challenges because their offices are considered to be business addresses. In the last eighteen months, case manager Erin Ellenbolt at La Casa Norte has only had one client successfully obtain a social security card because the client had access to their grandmother’s address. But in many other instances, Ellenbolt said Chicago Housing Authority officials refuse to offer her clients housing because they did not receive their cards to claim a housing voucher.

In her experience, urgent appointments were almost never granted by local SSA offices.“The Social Security office will do appointments now on an emergency basis,” Ellenbolt said. “But in no way have we been able to convince them that somebody's housing is an emergency.”

The SSA now allows in-person appointments for Social Security cards for individuals age twelve and older who are applying for their first Social Security card or need to update their SSN information, or for individuals who need to “obtain income, resources, or medical care or coverage, or other services or benefits, applying (for example filing a tax return, applying for housing, or seeking an Economic Impact Payment),” according to its website.

“If you're making this an option,

which it hasn't been for the majority of the pandemic, how are you communicating that to those who can now access this?” said Serena Chapa, a drop-in specialist at La Casa Norte. “That's something even we struggle with.”

Since the end of the eviction moratorium, the pressure to process document requests in this heightened period of economic distress is compounding on an agency that has fallen behind and has understaffed offices, according to local advocacy groups.

“Each week we are increasing the number of personnel in our field offices to provide more in-office appointments … We are also reaching out to those who may be most impacted by office closures,” said Doug Ngyuen, Regional Communications Director of the SSA. “Our reentry plan will be phased and will take into consideration health conditions and any applicable labor obligations.”

As short-term solutions are slowrolling and require more attention from state and federal officials, the prospect of long-term, remedial administrative policy remains top-of-mind for housing advocacy organizations wanting to safeguard their service populations.

“Say we go back into shelter-in-place or another crisis happens,” Chapa said.

“Is this population going to be forgotten again?” Peter Winslow is a freelance journalist and investigative journalism student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He last wrote about the Exchange 55 warehouse in La Villita for the Weekly. Noah Tesfaye is a Bay Area-born journalist and rising third-year at UofC studying political science and critical race & ethnic studies. He last wrote about tenant organizing in the South Side for the Weekly.

“The pressure to process document requests in this heightened period of economic distress is compounding on an agency that has fallen behind and has understaffed offices.”

The Push for Noncitizens to Vote in Illinois School Board Elections

As advocates celebrate Chicago’s first-ever elected school board, some are turning their attention to the next task: fighting for noncitizens to be able to vote

BY MADELEINE PARRISH

A

s advocates and organizers celebrate Chicago’s first ever elected school board signed into law on July 29, some are turning their attention to the next task: fighting for immigrant parents and noncitizens to be able to vote for school board candidates as well.

Democratic representation on Chicago’s Board of Education is something that organizers and advocates in the city have been fighting for for decades—currently, the board consists of seven members appointed by the mayor.

According to the bill signed into law by Gov. J. B. Pritzker on July 29, Chicago will be transitioning to a fully elected, elevenmember school board by 2027, with the first elections in 2024 being held for a hybrid board—eleven appointed members

and ten elected members—that will be installed in 2025.

But the ability to vote and run in school board elections will be limited to U.S. citizens.

Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) introduced SB1565 in the Senate in February. This bill would allow non-citizens to vote in the school board elections across Illinois.

“The conversation was always that this is a trailer bill,” she said. “That this is gonna go right after, and that we’re gonna move this, and put our energy in this, once we pass the elected school board.”

Before being elected to the General Assembly in 2018, Senator Villanueva, who was appointed to the State Senate in 2020 to fill the vacancy left by Martin Sandoval’s resignation, worked as an

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 17

EDUCATION, IMMIGRATION immigrant rights organizer at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). “I very much carry the experiences of the people in my community into the legislation,” she said, explaining that she represents the most Latinx state senate district in Illinois. “I have a huge population of non-citizens in my district.”

According to the Chicago Teachers Union, immigrant students make up more than forty percent of Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) student population. And according to CPS data, as of October 2020, 46.7 percent of students in the district were Latinx and 4.3 percent were Asian.

“My parents, at one point, would’ve been covered in the scope of this bill, and they had CPS kids,” Villanueva said.

Although she introduced the bill, Senator Villanueva stopped short of claiming credit for it. “The idea of this bill was not mine,” she said. “This is something that had been percolating for a while with the different members of a coalition of community-based organizations that had been working on and really thinking about what an elected school board would look like in the city of Chicago.” These organizations include the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA).

Among these organizers is Monica Espinoza, a coordinator organizer at LSNA, a parent of two CPS graduates and two students at McAuliffe Elementary School, and a member of the McAuliffe Local School Council (LSC). For the past ten years, she has been organizing for an elected school board.

Espinoza is also undocumented and now that the elected school board has been won, she is advocating for non-citizen parents like herself to be able to vote.

“At this point, I definitely refuse to let my people become a statistic just defined by migratory status which is the result of many years of racist policies,” Espinoza said. “And I feel this is a perfect opportunity to change that, and to give our children a voice and become part of the school governance.”

Some advocates, though, are concerned about the risks of the bill as it is. Since noncitizens would still be unable 18 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

to vote in other federal, state, and local elections, the bill would create a separate voter-registration affidavit specifically for them to vote in the school board elections. “The downside of that is that these are people who would be known to be noncitizens,” said Fred Tsao, Senior Policy Counsel at ICIRR. “And once that information is disclosed on the part of the noncitizens, there really is no way to stop that information from being shared.” In Illinois, statewide state political committees and government entities can buy statewide voter registration lists, and they are also available for public viewing in person at the State Board of Elections office.

According to Jianan Shi, the executive director of Illinois Raise Your Hand, two big concerns are protecting non-citizens during the voting process—specifically by making sure that groups like ICE are not able to use the information—and communicating to families the risks of registering to vote. “I was a noncitizen before, I understand how serious that is, and how much is at stake compared to one vote at a school election.”

Illinois is not the first state to consider noncitizen voting in school board elections, and advocates like Shi have been looking at its implementation in other places to inform their approach here. In November 2016, San Francisco approved a measure allowing noncitizens to vote in their school board elections. But its approval alone was not enough to guarantee successful implementation.

“San Francisco educated 60,000 immigrant families about this,” Shi said.

“They formed a collective and they’ve done a lot of education to inform families what are their rights, how they can vote, how they can be protected, and how they can get actually involved in that part of their children’s schooling.” Even still, the city saw low registration rates among noncitizens, likely due to the warnings they received. “San Francisco has a pretty damning affidavit that they put right at the top [of the voter registration form], and it’s like this could be used against you, please consult a lawyer, and so that’s pretty scary to put up there,” said Shi. San Francisco’s voter registration form for noncitizens explicitly warns that any information provided to the Department

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

of Elections may be obtained by ICE and other agencies, organizations, and individuals. “Those sort of warnings that they included for all the right reasons had the effect of deterring people from registering and voting more than they would have,” said Ron Hayduk, a professor of political science at San Francisco State University whose work focuses on political participation and immigration.

San Francisco spent more than $300,000 on new registration and outreach conducted by advocacy groups and community organizations to implement the bill. Right now, the Illinois Senate bill does not set aside money for outreach or education.

In contrast to statewide elections, noncitizens are allowed to run and vote for LSCs—elected boards at each public school in Chicago whose duties include approving the school budget, selecting principals, and approving the academic plan—because their elections are conducted within CPS. “I’ve been part of the LSC on and off for a good eight years, I would say, without fear of being wronged,” Espinoza said.

“The schools have protections, there's confidentiality there,” Hayduk said.

“They are able to be confident that their immigration status is not known, or if it is found out by a school board official or school official, that that information is confidential and is prohibited from being made known to entities outside the school system.”

Advocates have other concerns as well. Right now, the bill introduced by Senator Villanueva would only allow noncitizen parents, guardians, or caretakers of children in the district to vote in the school board elections. “As someone who does not have kids but is still concerned about educational issues, I would hope that the right to register and the right to vote would be extended beyond [them],” Tsao said. He

added that it would be important to ensure that information about school board elections and voter registration would be available in multiple languages beyond English.

Despite these concerns, advocates and organizers across Illinois are going to continue to push for enfrenchisement of noncitizens in school board elections.

SB1565 is still in the Senate, and there was a subject-matter hearing for it last month where advocates such as Tsao and Espinoza spoke. “I think that there’s a lot of folks that support the idea of it, but are also very interested in the process and how we get it done correctly,” Villanueva said. “So there’s still ongoing conversations around it.”

“We see this as just the beginning of building the right protections, having the right conversations to make sure this is inclusive, because there aren’t many areas that have done it,” Shi said.

And noncitizen parents say they will continue to fight for the ability to vote and influence their children’s education. “I don’t understand why our future generations of children have to pay and suffer for the hate of today,” Espinoza said. “If we come together and we really put our heads and our hearts, and we are honest with ourselves, we definitely need a board that represents a community that is underserved and is under-resourced.”

“I feel my kids deserve quality education, and I’m gonna advocate ‘til the end because I want to make sure that the sacrifice of me walking on that scorching heat in the desert leaving tears, sweat, and blood, literally, I hope that’s worth it.” This story was first published online on August 20 and has been updated for print.

Madeleine Parrish is the Weekly’s education editor. She last wrote about CPS High Schools voting to keep or remove police.

The Exchange Our thoughts in exchange for yours.

T

h e Exchange is The Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly. ¬

THIS WEEKS PROMPT: “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GRIEF THAT GROWTH CAUSES AND THE GROWTH THAT GRIEF CAUSES?” This could be a poem, a stream-ofconsciousness piece, or a short story.

Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com.

The Negro Speaks of Dryland (For Adam)

BY CHIMA “NAIRA” IKORO After The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes I’ve known vacant lots: I’ve known vacant lots ancient as gang signs and older than “I’ll bring your bike back, I promise.”

Featured below is a reader response to a previous prompt.

Power!

BY CHINA I wonder who coined this term I think they confused it with force They wave their hands and make us bow down I thought power was effortless…

Here we are, confined And they dangle the keys in front of our faces I think they confused it with the devil…

White man, you meanie!

Don’t you know that brute force is nothing to real power?

And while we haven’t all United it’s because we’re picking up the pieces It’s because you set an ongoing booby-trap So now half of us still can’t read It’s because we still fighting for benches And painting white fences Black And you’re the mad scientist watching it happen Watching us scramble for the scraps And you profit off of our backs I’m not a person, I’m a number Someone in the IRS’s check A check off the checklist Sometimes this feels like some sick game that we were born to play Now I’m chained to my bed figuring out how to make bread You breadcrumb us and dumb us down Now we numb, but you curse your own tongue That ain’t power! That’s pitiful!

My freedom shouldn’t be political I think you confused it with propaganda It’s right when your system doesn’t suffice But it’s wrong when we stand up?

It’s right that when your officer shines their light We put our hands up?

And I know you can’t understand us But we understand you Let us pull back the veil and show America’s truth.

China Smith is an artist and activist from Englewood. You can find them on Instagram and Twitter!

My soul has grown gardens by force like the vacant lots.

I drank from hoses when my dawgs were young.

I built my friendships near train tracks, the same ones that lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon my homies and imagined Us growing old on this side of Earth.

I heard singing at funerals when some didn’t make it, and I’ve seen

pall bearers without a single gray hair.

I’ve known vacant lots: Ancient, unpredictable vacant lots.

My soul has grown gardens like the vacant lots.

Chima Ikoro is the community organizing editor for the Weekly.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 19

From Flirting with Death to Finding Hope

Rap artist Sterling Hayes documents his path to contentment on new album Beam Scale

BY RYAN ROSENBERGER

I

PHOTO BY TROY GUENO

n the spring of 2020, Hyde Park rapper Sterling Hayes found himself “flirting with death.”

In his studio album of the same name released during that same time period, Hayes confronted his battles with depression, anxiety and addiction, all while facing the destructive consequences that come along with battling such afflictions.

At one point, Hayes even considered leaving the rap game for good.

Since that tumultuous time in his life, Hayes has since found God, (mostly) gotten sober, started attending therapy and even changed his diet in an effort to overcome his struggles.

The end result is his brand new album Beam Scale, a ten-track effort filled with back-to-basics hip-hop production and a series of lyrical diatribes centered around hope, wellbeing, and family.

Conceptually, Beam Scale is much more uplifting than its predecessor.

Instead of penning tales about his selfdestructive habits, Hayes devises a simple recipe for making oneself well again, which includes simple tropes such as eating more fruits and vegetables, taking vitamins and supplements, and self-education.

The uplifting sentiments are reflected on the album cover too, which shows 20 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

Hayes being pulled up off the ground by his wife with his daughter standing nearby.

“The last album was flirting with death…physical death, spiritual, emotional,” Hayes said. “This [album] was more of the glory because I’m not flirting with it. It’s all about life, abundance, health, and wisdom. That’s why the music sounds more uplifting, because I have been uplifted.”

Aside from changing his habits, Hayes also credits his wife and daughter for helping get back on his feet, noting that having a daughter has forced him to value his life more. “After having my daughter, you start wearing your seatbelt all the time, you start driving slow,” Hayes said. “Family became more important than my self-destruction.”

Hayes conveys the album concept right away with the track “INTRO,” where he delivers a poetic set of bars reflecting on his journey towards feeling whole again. “Livin’ too fast, movin’ so fast, I can’t breathe/Depression and anxiety and drugs, there was no peace,” he spits over an ethereal-sounding instrumental.

Along with its introspective, personal themes, Beam Scale sees Hayes oozing with charisma and confidence. On tracks such as “HEALTH IS WEALTH RANDY MOSS” and “OMK FAKE

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

WEED,” Hayes comes through with grimier flows and gritty lyricism.

Despite being a stark departure from the more introspective material here, it also shows Hayes at his best.

“I can feel the music, shades on like I’m Stevie, I knew I would be the man ever since a peewee/ Tear the club up and peel off to the green just like a kiwi,” he flexes on “OMK FAKE WEED.” Complementing Hayes’ stark introspection on the production side is a series of beats that are soulful, dense and brimming with detail, featuring a very traditional Chicago hip-hop sound, courtesy of Chicago producer Peter Cottontale, who Hayes said produced ninety percent of the album.

Hayes said he wanted the album to reflect the city he calls home. “That’s who it’s for,” Hayes said. “It’s for the city, it’s for my people. The music industry is very fickle now; you got these fans, they love you and then they hate you…so for my core fanbase, that’s who I do it for.”

Instrumental highlights include the album’s opener “INTRO,” with its heavenly, layered vocal passages and pretty sounding string sections, and “INTERLUDE: BROTHER,” a hardcore boom bap joint with a bluesy vibraphone loop.

The album’s soulful vibe gets interrupted towards the end with “HEALTH IS WEALTH RANDY MOSS” and “OMK FAKE WEED,” two ferocious trap bangers where Hayes ditches introspection for some intense, braggadocious lyrics. While these tracks offer a drastic switch in aesthetics, they also do a brilliant job at resetting the pace of the album.

“I wanted to add some bangers on there in an attempt to have some club or car value,” Hayes said. “I just didn’t want to hip-hop this shit down. I gotta chop it out because that’s still Chicago, too.”

Perhaps above all else, Beam Scale is a time capsule that documents Hayes’ transformation from wrestling with personal struggle to achieving personal contentment—a reminder that everything will be alright in the end as long as he has his family by his side.

“Everybody ask me, how is married life? I will not get married twice/This little family saved my life,” he raps on the album’s closing cut. Ryan Rosenberger is a Chicago freelance music journalist who has been covering the local hip-hop scene for three years. A resident of Bridgeport, he last wrote about hip-hop artist D2x for the Weekly.

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ILLUSTRATION BY THUMY PHAN

BULLETIN City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations Meeting

121 N. Lasalle St., September 29 to October 8, 9:00am.

Free. www.chicityclerk.com In a series of meetings held over three weeks, the committee will consider how the proposed 2022 budget will fund various City agencies.

Instructions for in-person and remote participation are outlined at chicityclerk.com.

Written public comment will be accepted at Committeeonthebudgetandgovernmentoperations@ cityofchicago.gov until 9am on the day prior to the subject department or agency's hearing date. A full list of hearings is available at bit.ly/BudgetSched21. ( Jim Daley)

Mobilization to Defend Reproductive Rights

Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St., Saturday, October 2,11:30am. Free. bit.ly/AbortionDefense Ahead of the Supreme Court reconvening on October 4, more than ninety organizations—including the Women's March, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood, and Working Families Party—are organizing nationwide marches in response to the new Texas state law that allows anyone who helps a person obtain an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to be sued for up to $10,000. ( Jim Daley)

Pride South Side 2021

DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl., Saturday, October 2, 2:00pm–8:00pm. Free. bit.ly/3zJBYOD Pride South Side is an annual family-friendly festival featuring LGBTQ vendors, games, a bar, and sounds by DJ Zolita, DJ Dapper, and DJ Duane Powell.

(Alma Campos)

Obama Center CBA Town Hall

Parkside Community Academy Park, 6938 East End Ave., Sunday, October 3, 6:30pm–5:00pm. Free. bit.ly/CBASShore The Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition is hosting a town hall to discuss its principles and meet with community members to craft a list of demands for an ordinance for South Shore. In-person and virtual attendance options are available. For info, call (312) 880-7265. Register at bit.ly/CBASShore. ( Jim Daley)

Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting

69 W. Washington St., 22nd Conference Floor, Wednesday, October 6, 10:00am. Free. bit.ly/CookZone The Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing. To submit public comment email: zba. emails@cookcountyil.gov. ( Jim Daley)

Cook County Board Meeting

Online, Thursday, October 7, 10:00am. Free. bit.ly/CookCountyOct The Cook County Board of Commissioners will hold its regular monthly meeting virtually. Agenda items and meeting details will be available online at bit.ly/ CookCountyOct. ( Jim Daley)

Healing in the Park—GoodKids MadCity

Rekia's Tree in Douglass Park, 15th St. and Albany Ave., Sunday, October 10, 12:00pm–5:00pm. Free. bit.ly/HealGKMC At Rekia's Tree—named after Rekia Boyd, who Chicago cop Dante Servin killed in 2012—GKMC and partner organizations will host a healing space and mutual aid supply drop-off site. Food, acupuncture, reiki, a healing circle, and spoken-word performances will be offered. ( Jim Daley)

EDUCATION Ask the Expert: Re-Engaging Parents and Students with Chief Segura Online, Thursday, September 30, 4:00pm–5:00pm. Free. cps.edu/calendar/

Join CPS Family and Community Engagement Chief Adrian Segura to learn more about what CPS is doing to re-engage parents and students for the 2021-22 school year. Register at bit.ly/3m2YQUA. (Maddie Parrish)

ARTS Spooktacular Films

One City Tap, 3115 S. Archer Ave., October 7 to October 28, 8:00pm. Free. bit.ly/3APh7e5 Adults twenty-one and older are invited to One City Tap every Thursday in October for "cinema that will make your skin crawl." Guests will get complimentary popcorn and bar staff will be offering a Halloweenthemed cocktail special. (Alma Campos)

All That Good Stuff Comedy Show

Cork & Kerry, 10614 S. Western Ave., Wednesday, October 6, 7:30pm–9:30pm. $10. bit.ly/ATGS106 The Beverly-based roaming standup comedy show— featured in the Weekly's 2021 Best of the South Side issue—debuts its fall series with five local comics performing at one of the neighborhood's bestknown pubs. Tickets and more information at bit.ly/ ATGS106. ( Jim Daley)

Center Sundays: Hack-a-Thon

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Sunday, October 3, 1:00pm–4:00pm. Free. bit.ly/3AJAa9v Join Hyde Park Art Center this month on Center Sundays for a public drop-in demonstration led SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 21

EVENTS by artists on methods of dissecting, cooking, pressing, shredding, and other techniques that are used to produce new art materials out of organic and inorganic substances. This all-ages event will allow the public to create materials and discover the value of transformation.

Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test seventy-two hours prior is required to attend. (Maddie Parrish)

Chicas de Hoy

National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Friday, October 1, 7:00pm– 10:00pm. $30. bit.ly/3kIqHdf Join the National Museum of Mexican Art for the return of Chicas de Hoy. This retro-themed dance party includes performances by Chicago’s leading Mexican drag artists. Dance the night away to favorites like Flans, Timbiriche, Jenni Rivera, and other artists of yesteryear. Attendees must be twenty-one years or older and have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Purchase tickets at bit.ly/3kIqHdf. (Maddie Parrish)

Listo Para el Museo: Día de los Muertos

Online, Saturday, October 9, 10:00am. $20 suggested donation. https://bit.ly/3oa4lUb Looking for a fun activity to do with your toddler? Join the National Museum of Mexican Art for Listo Para el Museo.

In this Zoom-based class you and your little one will explore this year’s Day of the Dead exhibition followed by artmaking. You’ll both have a better understanding of the Día de los Muertos holiday as you use different shapes and colorful felt to personalize your own decorative sugar skull. $20 suggested donation includes all materials needed.

To register, email Gabriela at Gabriela@ NationalMuseumofMexicanArt.org.

(Maddie Parrish)

Quiet Place II (10/1), and Mean Girls (10/2). (Isabel Nieves)

Local Vibe: An Art Event

Pilsen Art House, 1756 W. 19th St., Saturday, October 2, 6:00pm–10:00pm.

Free. bit.ly/3ok8ODw Join Pilsen Art House the first Saturday of the month for Local Vibe, an art event that features artists, vendors, food, and music. Free to enter. (Isabel Nieves)

2021 Black Arts Expo

The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. W., Sunday, October 3, 10:00am–2:30pm. $5-$50. bit.ly/39HSyE2 Come to the first annual art show and pop up shop! Organizers say, "This FUBU event is designed to redefine the minority with visual art from community artists such as Lavelle Harris, Nakia Dukes, Ms. Mighty, and aartvixen. We'll providing power behind the phrase "Black Lives Matter," while supporting local businesses such as Kayla Customs and TAMINGOFTHEMOOSE." Doors open at 10am. Power hour with live sounds by DJ Such N Such from 122pm. (Isabel Nieves)

American Mariachi

Goodman Theater, 170 N. Dearborn, September 18 to October 24, Various times. $25-70. bit.ly/americanmariachi Set in the 1970s, this co-production with Dallas Theater Center tells the story of how a forgotten record sparks an ailing mother’s memory, inspiring her daughter Lucha and her cousin to create an all-women mariachi band. The play is infused with live ranchera music and includes performances by the local Sones de México Ensemble. ( Jacqueline Serrato)

A Time to Grieve: Día de Los Muertos Exhibition

ChiTown Movies

National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., September 10 to December 12, 10:00am–5:00pm. Free. bit.ly/3AOqjiK

Enjoy blockbuster and classic movies at ChiTown Movies drive-in theater in Pilsen. Coming up: Top Gun (9/30), A

This year’s exhibition pays tribute to and remembers the numerous individuals from Mexico and the U.S. who in the past two years have died from

2343 S. Throop St., Thursday, September 30. $33 per car. bit.ly/3B0y9WZ

22 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

¬ SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

COVID-19. The National Museum of Mexican Arts invites all to contemplate this moment with new artistic expressions by local artists and sitespecific installations created by artists from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Adam Toledo, the thirteenyear-old whom Chicago police shot and killed earlier this year in La Villita, is also being remembered at the museum's exhibit. (Alma Campos)

HOUSING Association House of Chicago Association House, 1116 N. Kedzie Ave., Saturday, October 2, 10:00am–2:00pm.

Free. https://bit.ly/House4All

Organized by State Rep. Delia Ramirez, the Housing Fair for All is an event that will provide residents with educational resources re: financial options to keep or acquire new housing, find ways to save on property taxes, and apply for affordable housing in the area. The event is also sponsored by 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata, and housing organizations like LUCHA and La Casa Norte. Open to all. (Malik Jackson)

Chicago Tenants Movement Citywide Casework Meeting

Online, Monday, October 4, 6:00pm. Free. bit.ly/ctm-casework The Chicago Tenants Movement hosts a weekly online casework meeting for residents around the city. If you're in a precarious situation with your landlord, this is the place to workshop solutions!

(Malik Jackson)

FOOD & LAND Wood Street Farm Stand

Wood Street Farm Stand, 1844 W. 59th St., every Thursday through October 31, 11:00am–5:30pm. Free.

Hosted by Growing Home, the farm stand includes cooking demonstrations with free samples and recipe cards for healthy meals. Free farm tours are also available. WIC, SNAP, EBT, and Senior Coupons are double valued. The farm stand runs every Thursday through October 31. (Maddie Parrish)

Plant Chicago Farmers Market Davis Square Park, 4430 S. Marshfield Ave., 11:00am–3:00pm. Free. bit. ly/3A2TBtd

Plant Chicago hosts a weekly farmers market through November 15 featuring locally grown produce and flowers, plus honey, coffee, baked goods, and more.

The nonprofit also runs a community composting site where residents can drop off their food scraps. Link card purchases are matched up to $25. (Martha Bayne)

61st Street Market

Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave., 9:00am–2:00pm. Free. bit. ly/2UqRuQo Chicagoland farmers, cheesemakers, bakers and others hawk their wares every Saturday outside the Experimental Station. The market accepts LINK and Senior Farmers Market Coupons, and all LINK purchases are matched up to $25.

(Martha Bayne)

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2021 PEGASUS AWARDS CEREMONY Celebrate the brightest lights in poetry, including Chicago’s Patricia Smith Oct 21

Register for FREE at PoetryFoundation.org/Events