7/31/2019 Jahmal Cole interview

1/2

Chatham-SoutheastAudit Bureau of Circ

Member

Week of May 30, 2012 Vol 47 No 10 www.thechicagocitizen.com

MY

NEIGHBORHOOD

nSEE MORE Page 11

Entertainment

nSEE MORE Page 2

www.thechicagocitizen.com 47 years of serving the Black community

News

nSEE MORE Page 12

Civil RightsLeaders, ClergyRespond toObamas Positionon Same-Sex

Marriage

Calendar

JazznOn theSouth Side:

Dee AlexandernSEE MORE Page 6

10 Killed,40+ InjuredChicagoover LongWeekend

The 2012

ESSENCE Music

Festival ExpandsTo 4 Days

South Shore HighSchool to Become

SelectiveEnrollment

By Rhonda Gillespie

They aced an

uphill battle to bring

a new high school

to the South Shore

community that

would be attractive to

neighborhood students.

But last all the SouthShore International

High School Planning

Committee reveled

in the opening o the

school, starting only

with a reshman class

in a brand new $94

million state-o-the-art

building.

nSEE MORE Page 8

Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), above, who grew up in the South Shore area and

attended then-Chicago Vocational High School, feels students shouldnt have to

travel across town to get a quality education. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie.

Chatham Resident PenBook about CommunitOrganizationsBy Thelma Sardin

Jahmal Cole is a Chatham community activiswho was inspired to write a book because o hisgenuine concern or issues eecting Chatham.

According to Cole, The Torch o Decency,Rekindling the Spirit o Civic Organizationsreveals the purpose o local community groups sucas Greater Chatham Alliance, Chatham Avalon PaCommunity Council and Chesterfeld CommunityCouncil and why it is important to join them.

Cole, 28 is currently the membership chairmaor Greater Chatham Alliance where he has been amember or more than three years.

Research or the book took over six months an15 interviews with longtime Chatham residents,Cole said. It took him three months to write it.

On Saturday mornings, I would sit down andwrite at a dierent park in Chatham, he told theChicago Citizen. This helped draw up inspiratio

Cole moved to Chatham only fve years ago in2007 but says that does not hinder his concern or

the community.

nSEE MORE Page Jahmal Cole is a Chatresident, author andcommunity activist this passionate about th

communitys future.(Photo Courtesy o

Jahmal Cole)

7/31/2019 Jahmal Cole interview

2/2

8 / CITIZEN Chatham Southeast / Week of May 30, 2012

www.thechicagocitizen.com 47 years ofserving the Black community

news> Local

> National

> International

CCNG publishers o the Chatham-Southeast, South End, Ccago Weekend, South Suburban and Hyde ParkCitizen is publish

weekly. Written permission is required or reproduction in who

part rom the editor. CCNG does not a ssumed responsib

or nor is unable to return unsolicited materials.

Deadline or advertising is every

Monday at noon.

For subscription or advertising inormation,

call (773) 783-1251

or ax (773) 783-1301. Our ofces are located at

806 East 78th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60619.

CHATHAM SOUTH-EASTServicing Chatham

West Chatham Calumet Heights Burnside South Shore Park Manor

Avalon Park Greater Grand Grossing Auburn-Gresham

Chesterfeld West Chesterfeld Areas

CEOWilliam GarthPRESIDENT/PUBLISHER

Darrell Garth

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER/

GENERAL MANAGER

Janice Garth

MANAGING EDITOR

Larissa M. Tyler

ART DIRECTOR

Jesus Antonio Fernandez-Davila

You cant choose whereyoure born but you can choosewhere you want to make adierence, said Cole who was

born in Waukegan.The books title, The Torch

o Decency, Rekindling theSpirit o Civic Organizationsholds special meaning to theauthor. The Torch shines

bright and that representsthe Pride o the people, heexplained. The same pride thatmade Chatham the center o

black middle class living. Thattorch now needs to be passeddown to the next generation ocommunity leaders.

The community advocatebelieves that the spirit ocommunity organizationsneeds to be rekindled. Colesays residents should becomeinvolved with businesses o thecommunity.

Just like we wouldntexpect big city government

to mow our lawns or shovelthe snow rom the ronts oour businesses, we shouldntexpect them to choose which

businesses or which schoolsbelong in our community, hesaid. Those decisions can best

be determined by the peoplethat live in the community.

Cole doesnt believeChatham is a mecca orsuccessul Arican Americans asit once was; however he says thecommunity has the ingenuity torebuild itsel.

We have the talent, people,and skills but were locked into

what we used to be, he said.What made us wonderul is

holding us back. The samepride, strength, and residentialstability, that represents theTORCH, thats now workingagainst Chatham residents. Thechildren that were blessed tocome out o Chatham homesand nuclear amilies were

launched ar out into the worldbecause their parents sacricedand wanted better or theirchildren. Guess what, childrengrow up and want somethingdierent.

Cole says he hasinterviewed many seniors

whose children have attendedstellar universities but very ewreturn to Chatham and as aresult the talent and creativity

that Chatham helped createfourishes elsewhere.

The torch ovalues that waspassed downis shining

bright inother partso the

country, Cole said. The newresidents that move to Chathamnow might not have the same

values that Chatham residentsexpect them to have they sawa or rent sign and moved in. I

think this has many Chatham

residents concerned so theyall back into talking aboutmemories o what Chathamused to be. Memories are onlygood i you can get youngerolks to embrace the vision oneighborliness and striving or

better.Cole says what he loves

most about Chatham is that itsactually a community.

Theres a big dierencebetween a neighborhood anda community, he told theChicago Citizen. A community

works together to producetangible results. I enjoy

the Chatham residents. Aopportunity I see or Chatis our elders embracing th

young people and becomirole models. The world isdierent now, there are mdistractions.

Cole told the ChicagoCitizen that the purpose o

book is to restore the saeand security o the commu

while providing readers wsolutions and ways to rek

the community pride thatonce Chathams claim to

Assuming responsibor the preservation o theacclaimed accomplishmenChathams previous generis a torch o decency that should carry, he said.

Coles book is availabonline through Amazon.c

www.rolemodelmovemenChatham residents can piup the book at Chatham F

located at 327 E. 79th St.

Twitter: @thelmasardin

However, the committee, supported by Ald.

Michelle Harris (8th) and community residentslike Henry English , would not r est on it s lau rels .It wanted more or the school and the surroundingcommunity. The committee wanted SSIHS to bea selective enrollment school, the only one on theSoutheast Side o town.

Our goal is to help our new school build thecapacity it needs to launch a robust, world classsustainable international program or our children,said English, who is president o the planningcommittee.

The Chicago Board o Education approved tohave SSIHS become a selective enrollment schoolduring its May 23 meeting. The chie executiveoicer o the citys public schools said the board washelping to ill a demand on the Southeast Side.

This is a push to have in South Shore a greatinstitutional icon, Ald. Harris told the ChicagoCitizen regarding the move to have the school

become Selec tive Enro llment. We nee d to have our

own selective enrollment program so that that the

top t ier o ki ds do nt h ave to leave o ur community,go to the Far South Side to Gwendolyn Brooks (or)downtown. Well have that jewel right here on theSoutheast Side.

For Harris, who grew up in the South Shorearea and attended then-Chicago Vocational HighSchool, eels students shouldnt have to travel across

town to ge t a q uality educatio n. She ex plainedthat the curr ent academ ic standing o South Shorehigh school including the programs being phasedout is sub-par but having an opportunity

to pi ck s tudents or t he school who ar e alr eadyacademically on the ball would be a boost or thecommunity.

The alderman added that pushing orselective enrollment was not about shutting theneighborhood kids out and making a qualityeducation inaccessible to them. She said the SouthShore area needed to have an alternative or

students to not have to travel so ar rom home to

attend other selective enrollment schools.

Our children arent staying in the community(to go to high school), theyre leaving, she said.Theyre travelling almost two hours away rom(their) community. Why, when they could have thigreat institutional model in their own back door?

The board also approved a boundary change SSIHS which will make Chicago Vocational Caree

Academy the new ne ighbo rhood school o r studenwho live in th e SSI HS att endance ar ea. C PS sa idit is pushing to increase the academic standingsat CVCA, including orging partnerships with theCity Colleges o Chicago to have some o the highschools course work be worth CCC credit. Further

the s chool was currently awarded a $75 mill iongrant or capital improvements.

Were committed to working with communitiin every corner o the city to ensure all studentsand amilies have access to high quality educationoptions in their neighborhood, said Jean-Claude

Brizard, head o CPS.

South Shore High School to Become Selective... Continued From Page 1

Jahmal Cole told the Chicago

Citizen that the purpose ofhis book is to restore thesafety and security of thecommunity, while providing

readers with solutionsand ways to rekindle thecommunity pride that wasonce Chathams claim to

fame.(Photo Courtesy of Jahmal

Cole)

Chatham Resident Pens Book about... Continued From Page 1