The Gate Newspaper by The Gate Newspaper

2 | TheGateNews August 2018

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

A note from the editor Trump administration is ordered to restore DACA Youth unite to paint mural for the community Garage Roofs A new website for future middle school graduates Family Wellness and Back to School Fair Advocacy group advices workers to check their checks

A note from the Editor Dear readers, As the Back to School season peaks it’s nose through August I wanted the newspaper to focus on a theme that was heavily influenced by education. Back to School for me is a little crazy. My 9-year-old son is starting the 4th grade at a new school this year. That can be scary, even for a parent let alone a child. A good friend of mine said she enjoys shopping for school supplies. What are some of the things you enjoy about getting yourself or your children prepared for school? In this issue, you’ll find a few Back to School events that might be helpful to you. Most of the events are in or near Back of the Yards and are put together by local organizations. One of my favorites is the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council’s Back to School Fair because it gets to the brim with residents from the neighborhood. This particular fair is put together in hopes that it lessens the financial stress for families. I like to learn from parents and children about what they’re expecting this upcoming school year. I have yet to encounter someone who is unwilling to share a few words with me, but I’m prepared to take an L. I empatize with people and understand how vulnerable it feels to share things about themselves as well as their stories. As the editor, I remind myself constantly that I need to be as flexible as possible with people who might need time to get comfortable with sharing and being vulnerable with a stranger. This work requires constant flexibility and redirection.

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Dependable Community Journalism Serving Back of the Yards, Little Village, Pilsen, Brighton Park, Archer Heights, Bridgeport, Stockyards, and West Englewood since 2010.

1823 West 47th Street Chicago, IL 60609 773-523-4416 www.thegatenewspaper.com

PUBLISHED BY

The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council Craig Chico, BYNC President cchico@bync.org Edwin Garcia, BYNC Director of Finance egarcia@bync.org Gloria Talamantes, editor editor@thegatenewspaper.com

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Speaking of direction, this month The Gate partnered with Toltecas Checagou, a storytelling and writers collective that leads writing workshops for people in the community. Most recently, they’ve led free workshops at The Port Ministries. They’ll be sharing a story a month with The Gate and readers like you. Featured in this issue is Ricky Muñoz who shared his story Garage Roofs. It took me back to my childhood; I couldn’t climb garage roofs with the boys on 25th street in Little Village because it was not something for young ladies. While our stories are different we connect through them, the similar parallels that exist are enough for us to bond when we see each other. By the way, I still climbed garage roofs, but I was a straggler. I’m glad he shared this story. These are the stories The Gate is here for We are here to support writers write about themselves or their neighborhood. If you’d like to share yours, please do. If you need help writing don’t hesitate to contact me directly. Your stories help connect the past, the present and the future. I believe that it is the sharing of our stories that can inspire others and help us all through our life journey. Last month, my co-worker and dear friends Lidia Huante, gave me a book and I haven’t been able to put it down at night. The book I’m reading is, All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom. It is a compilation of essays by different women who are giving me life in times where the news can

be a lot to take in. What are you reading? I want to know what you like reading, send me your letters, emails, whatever is clever. This summer I was able to read short reads, like books with various essays but mostly poetry books. Citizen Illegal is one I truly enjoyed. I recommend it to everyone especially young people still navigating to find their own identity and understanding of culture. In mid-September The Gate will host the poet with a book signing. You’ll get to meet Jose Olivares and ask him questions in person. This event will be one of a few events that we are looking forward to and we want to continue promting literacy. For more information, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I’d love to hear from you and about your thoughts on the newspaper. You can email letters, stories, pitches, or events to me via email at editor@thegatenewspaper.com or via snail mail to: The Gate News 1823 W. 47th St. chicago IL 60623 Thank you for taking the time to read the newspaper. I hope you all are enjoying your summer and I look forward to meeting more of our readers in person. -Gloria Talamantes

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Trump administration is ordered to restore DACA By Gloria Talamantes Millions of undocumented youth and their families have been waiting in limbo due to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is undergoing court procedures. DACA is a program that was introduced in 2012 by the Obama administration to protect immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. As of February 13, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed renewal of DACA applications and on February 14 it stopped accepting new DACA applications. On Friday, August 3, the Trump administration was given a court order by U.S. District Judge John Bates to restore DACA fully. It is uncertain as to what a full restoration of DACA will look like if the Trump administration’s appeal is unsuccessful but according to the official website of the Homeland Security, the DACA policy will operate on the terms that were in place before it rescinded in September. According to NPR, the judge set a 20-day deadline to restore the program. DACA will have to be fully restored if the Trump administration’s appeal petition is unsuccessful. On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration made a recission decision to stop DACA applications until further notice. Immigration organizations and advocacy groups

are mobilized to prepare renewal applications for Dreamers. In Chicago, immigrant organizations like Protection for All are urging DACA recipients to apply for the renewal of their DACA 2-year work permit. While the court order does not mean that the U.S. government can not revoke DACA, the order states that it has 20 days to make an argument on how it is illegal. For more information about how to apply for DACA or to check if one qualifies for other relief, it is suggested that individuals consult legal defense to review each person’s case. Programs like Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) can be reached at 312-660-1370 for legal intake appointments. Enlace and it’s partner Community Activism Law Alliance (CALA), have a free legal clinic for residents of Little Village every Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. You can call 773-893-0798 for more information. Currently, Protection for All is asking for donations to cover the renewal expenses for those who are unable to afford the renewal application fees. To donate funds for renewal fees contact the Protection For All Movement via email, protectionforallmovement@gmail.com

Do you have questions about Medicare or about public benefits? Tíene usted preguntas acerca de Medicare o acerca de programas de asistencia? Medicare Medicaid Extra Help (Ayuda Adicional) SNAP (Food stamps) (Estampillas de Comida) CountyCare Ride Free & License Plate Discount (Pase para la CTA & descuento de Placas) The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council provides these services every Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m by appointment only. Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council ofrece estos servicios todos los jueves de 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m necesita cita para ayuda con servicios.

For information or to make an appointment call Mon-Fri from 8 am-4 pm/ Para información o para una cita llame de lunes a viernes entre 8 am y 4 pm: 312-743-0493 Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council | 1823 W. 47th Street, 2nd Floor

4 | TheGateNews August 2018kyards . West Englewood

Youth unite to paint a mural for the community

Husband and wife duo Brenda “Kozmo” Macias and Manuel “Matr” Macias pose for a photo as the One Summer Chicago muralists paint flowers (the Gate/Sara Mendez)

Young One Summer Chicaogo muralists take instruction from artist Brenda “Kozmo” Macias while painting the mural (The Gate/Sara Mendez)

By Sara Mendez Local youth engage in painting a mural while having a history lesson about Back of the Yards. On 47th and Marshfield, open your eyes and see the beauty created by more than 10 young people. The youth working on the mural are working for One Summer Chicago, an initiative that provides youth with employment and enrichment opportunities during the summer months. While speaking to Sandra Santoyo and Angelica Cartagena, some of the youth working on the mural, they both explained that the mural represented how the community of Back of the Yards was before and how it is now. Specifically, Cartagena said, “it’s about introducing people to the then and the now of Back of the Yards.” As of now, the group of students are not looking for new recruitments but want people to come out and look at the mural when finished.

Some residents of Back of the Yards are already stopping by to admire it. Diego Mateo Mardoqueo, 35, has been living in the United States for seventeen years. For the past eleven years he has resided in the Back of the Yards community. Mardoqueo is from Guatemala, but he grew up in Mexico where he now has a son, 17, and a daughter, 16. As Mardoqueo was gazing at the mural ahead he said, “It’s beautiful, just beautiful.” expressing that this is what the Back of the Yards community needs. He goes on to say, “This is what I want to see, not guns, it needs to change for the better.” Mardoqueo repeats and repeats that all people want is peace, and the mural is a way to bring peace. Other residents agree. Macareo Padilla, 62, has lived in the Back of the Yards community for forty years. Mesmerized by the mural he says, “It’s very beautiful. The mural can provide a way to do

better in this community.” Padilla and Mardoqueo are similar in a way where they both want peace in their neighborhood. Padilla goes on to explain that it’s young people who have the power to make a difference. By creating a mural, this puts young people in a place to get involved in their community and make a difference in their own lives by staying productive over the summer. The mural provides scenery and a way for people to bond over a piece of art. By creating this piece of cultural art, people from not only the Back of the Yards community but other communities are drawn in by the colorful detail put on each flower, dancer and the buildings. Anyone that appreciates history and art can bond over the memories, which for some can be what it was like before coming to the states because the mural has a cultural stance that represents where a lot of people from the

neighborhood are from. Something as simple as a mural or a small painting can really make a difference in the community. On the news, Back of the Yards is portrayed as a community where all there is is violence and uselessness. What people don’t get to see is the hard working people willing to work day and night to provide for their family. With this mural, it is hoped that people see Back of the Yards for what it really is, and not what a news report makes it look like. As Cartagena said, “it’s about introducing people to the then and the now of Back of the Yards.” By introducing people to the then and the now, they will be able to be educated on the true facts of the Back of the Yards.

Garage Roofs

(The Gate/Mariana Rueda)

By Ricky Muñoz Growing up in my neighborhood my brother and I always had neighbors to play with. Our yards, alleys, and garage roofs were our playground. One of our favorite things to do was run and jump from one garage roof to another. Our neighbor’s garage had a giant tree right beside it with a rope. My brother and neighbors would all swing off of it but never let me get a turn, you see I was the youngest and if I fell and got hurt that would be the last time we’d get to use it because our parents would find out about it, at least that’s what they told me. One day all our neighbors were busy and my brother and I were the only ones out. We decided to swing

off the garage roof, well he would swing I was just sitting on the roof watching him. After a few minutes, my mom pokes her head out the window to call us in for dinner. When she saw what we were doing, she flipped “Que estan haciendo!? Ya metanse!”(What are you doing!? Get inside!) She roared so loud the whole neighborhood heard. Right after that my brother swung down and ran inside. I was walking towards the gate to climb down when it hit me. Now is my chance to finally swing off the roof I thought! It was a chance I couldn’t pass. I walked up to the rope, grabbed it tight, took a few steps back,

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ran, jumped and WHOOSH! I was flying, I was soaring through the sky, for that split second, gravity did not apply to me. It was the best feeling I have felt to that point. I thought to myself I can go inside to eat or I can swing a couple more times. It was a no-brainer. I ran up and swung again and again, A few minutes later, my brother ran out the back door screaming “My mom’s going to kill you! My mom’s going to kill you!”. I was on the garage roof and decided to swing down and go in. As I was swinging, I see my mom walking towards me furiously. She was so mad that the look on her face sent chills down my spine but

what terrified me was the fact that she had a knife in her hand. “My mom’s going to kill you!” Crossed my mind. So I fell to my knees and started crying and begging her not to kill me. “Porfavor Ma ya me voy a portar bien! Porfavor no me mates! Ya me voy a portar bien!”(“Please mom I’m going to be good! Please don’t kill me! I’m going to be good!”) I begged. She was still walking towards me and was furious. So I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. When a few seconds passed and nothing happened, I opened my eyes. Turn back and saw her cutting the rope.

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6 | TheGateNews August 2018Stockyards . West Englewood

A new website for future middle school graduates

Family wellness and Back to School Fair

Belen Aleman at the Chavez end-of-school festival (The Gate/Gloria Talamantes)

By Gloria Talamantes In tandem with preparing students for testing, a new website launches at Chavez Elementary School to help prepare families and students for the high school selective enrollment selection process. “The high school application process is pretty complicated. We want to make sure that kids go to a school that is a good fit for them,” said Dassinger. Each high school has different criteria when it comes to accepting and enrolling incoming freshmen. Some high schools, for example, look at 7th grade NWEA test scores, attendance percentage and many other measures to determine their selections. Belen Aleman, who graduated from Chavez in July said she prepared for her last grade school year with the help of her teacher who helped students if they had any questions while they used a program called ALEKS. “We worked on a workbook that talks about a lot of stuff that I honestly didn’t know about until she showed it to us,” said Aleman. Aleman is referring to her 8th grade math teacher Mary Iverson, a teacher for more than 20 years at Chavez. “Our math team has been in place for many years. I think [more than] 10 years. We are very familiar with what we teach and the curriculum, so it filters up and the kids are very well prepared. We try to make sure there aren’t any gaps in the curriculum when they come to us,“ said Iverson. Iverson says that it’s an overall community effort to get students to study and care about learning. She explains that it starts with the leadership of the school, staff and families. “We have an excellent team. The community parents are very supportive. I feel like I have a really good team with my partners. The staff has a really good relationship with each other. The kids know, they can feel that.” Students like Aleman are just one of the many that have benefitted from this learning environment. Aleman was well prepared and scored 291 out of 300 in her placement test and is now getting ready to start her freshman year at Whitney Young High School. The website is meant to help students and families understand the process of selective enrollment planning, high school application

requirements and criteria that is necessary for them to work toward their high school of choice. “There’s still some cosmetic changes we want to make to [help] it look better,” said Dassinger. Students enter information such as grades and attendance. The website then generates matches for the schools that are highly compatible as well as the requirements for schools that aren’t as compatible with their entries. This system allows them to see what things they’ll need to focus on if the school of their choice isn’t matching up with their entries. According to Dassinger, many people don’t know that some schools look for a high 7th grade attendance percentage rate as a requirement. There are a number of schools that have a variety of honors programs and the website allows them to explore what each school offers. Because grade point averages aren’t part of the 7th grade gradebook, entering the grades helps suggest their grade point average for them. Teachers also work together to ensure that students are meeting or exceeding test scores. Science teacher, Litaysha Turner, says they meet and work together to help each student individually. “Every week we sit down and talk about what we’re learning in class, what the kids should be doing in the ALO (Additional Learning Opportunity) program which is our after-school tutoring. These programs help them prepare for the standardized tests,” said Turner. “We check in with each other to make sure that the students are on track and if we notice that a student is struggling with reading for example, ‘what can I do as a science teacher to help them pass this reading assignment’.” The Chavez team leads us to conclude that it is vital to start preparing students for the selective enrollment exams early on. Many times preparing for exams begins with social-emotional connections between teachers and students as Iverson points out. “When the teachers are getting prepared for testing days they prepare the students by complimenting them. Make them feel like they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread because they truly are.” The website had it’s unofficial launch sometime in late March. Students and families can visit the website at the following link http:// chavez-hs-planner.com/

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News Wire Assistant Majority Leader Iris Y. Martinez (D-Chicago) will hold her annual Family Wellness and Back to School Fair. The Fair will be co-hosted by State Representative Jaime Andrade Jr. (D-Chicago), along with Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Ald. Deb Mell and Commissioner Luis Arroyo Jr. “For students to have a great school year, they need to start school healthy,” Martinez said. “With health care costs being so high, this event is an amazing opportunity for parents to get free services for their children like dental work and school physicals.” The fair will take place on Thursday, Aug. 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Avondale Logandale

School, 3212 W. George St., on the corner of Kedzie Avenue and George Street. Kids who attend with parents will receive school bags while supplies last. They can also get immunizations, vision screenings and even dental services like fillings and teeth cleaning. Services will be available for parents and other adults, including health screenings, CountyCare Health Insurance registration and assistance from the Illinois Secretary of State. Representatives from the City of Chicago CityKey Program will also be on site. For more information on the Family Wellness and Back to School Fair, please call Martinez’s office at 773-278-2020.

August 2018 TheGateNews

Advocacy group advices workers to check their checks By Gloria Talamantes

Maria Medina and her daushter at Arise’s office (The Gate/Gloria Talamantes)

(The Gate/Vanessa Burciaga)

Arise is urging workers across Chicago and surrounding suburbs to check their July checks. On July 1, the minimum wage in Chicago went up to $12 an hour and groups like Arise, an organization that partners with the immigrant community and other community leaders in the education, labor, government and other fields to end work abuse. They want workers to be informed and ensure that their checks are reflecting the recent minimum wage increase. Chicago’s minimum wage will only go up to $1 from it’s previous $11 hourly wage. Some suburbs will see the minimum wage increase to $11 an hour. Two suburbs will experience an increase of a considerable $2.75 increase, taking workers who are getting paid $8.25 an hour to $11 an hour. For Maria Medina, it is essential to stay informed regarding these changes because she says that the times are hard and she is barely able to make ends meet, having only enough to pay the bills and rent and sometimes it isn’t enough for her to buy food let alone eat out. “We don’t have the luxury to eat out because everything is expensive,” said Medina. “If they raise [the wage] to $1 more, it is already progress because I need more money. My daughters need clothes, shoes and sometimes it’s not enough to buy [clothes] for the both of them. If I buy something for one, I don’t buy for the other one.” There are other luxuries that Maria explains she is not able to give herself and her daughters, like buying things they see while they walk down the street. She advises for people who are uninformed and afraid to speak-up, especially if they aren’t getting

paid the minimum wage increase yet. “As soon as they get their check, check and see if they were given the increase and if they haven’t they can come to the offices of Arise Chicago and they can help them here, and not only with their check [but with] many other things,” said Medina. Strategic Campaigns Organizer for Arise, Jorge Mújica says that there are many steps workers can take if the wage increase is not reflected in their check. “If a worker notices that they haven’t paid them the minimum wage salary, depending on where they are working there are many resources available to them,” said Mújica. “You can file a complaint with the city of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, in the suburbs you can file a complaint with the Cook County Commision on Human Rights.” He also invites workers who aren’t comfortable going through the process to visit the Arise offices at 1436 W. Randolph St. Suite 202. In the city of Chicago, workers can expect $1 increase in 2019 and in Cook County a $1 increase is expected in 2020, under the Minimum Wage Ordinances. After this time period, the wage increase will be determined according to inflation. This increase is part of the ordinance that was passed December 2, 2014, by the Chicago City Council with the purpose to increase the minimum wage for workers across Chicago. By mid-2019, the minimum wage is set to rise to $13 an hour across the city.

(The Gate/Vanessa Burciaga)