Here are highlights from the May/June 2010 issue of The Chicago Reporter. You may cite this publication as often as you wish. Also, you may reprint any of the articles without cost. The Chicago Reporter attribution is required.

The shocking truth about Taser useTaser incidents are under-reported at a Kankakee County jail housing Cook County residents

CHICAGO, (May 6, 2010) — Prison guards are shocking inmates with 1,400 volts of electricity–even while they are restrained. An analysis by The Chicago Reporter reveals that detainees were restrained in one out of four Taser incidents documented at Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee County.

The Reporter found:

• Correctional officers at the Jerome Combs Detention Center only report four percent of their use of Taser incidents and sometimes use Tasers when it may have been unwarranted. But, essentially, for every Taser firing reported, 27 actually occurred.

• In several cases, officers at the Kankakee jail use a Taser on detainees without first trying other methods of restraint, such as physical force. By December 2009, a total of 15 lawsuits alleging Taser misuse were filed against staff at the facility, implicating at least 21 employees.

• Cook County spent $1.4 million of taxpayer dollars to send detainees to the Jerome Combs Detention Center. Four of the lawsuits were filed by detainees from Cook County, which prohibits Tasers. Yet, officials in Cook County continue to send inmates to the prison.

Some believe there are “terribly systemic problems in this jail,” said James Rowe, a lawyer for two of the plaintiffs filing lawsuits against staff at Jerome Combs Detention Center. “I think it’s the result of malicious officers who know that they can act without consequence or without any type of accountability.”

To read the full story visit: www.chicagoreporter.com.

-Continue-

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Al Shaw, Media Relations Telephone: 312.673.3865

Cell: 312.593.0719 ashaw@communityrenewalsociety.org

Kimbriell Kelly, EditorThe Chicago Reporter

Telephone: 312.673.3838kkelly@chicagoreporter.com

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 6, 2010

-2-

Also in this issue:

Chicago transit disparityBudget cuts for the Chicago Transit Authority have a disproportionately negative effect on minorities.

Access denied in minority areasIn the digital age, black and Latino communities in Chicago have the lowest range of internet access.

The media melting potVeteran reporter, Stephen Franklin, discusses the current state of the media and his chosen career path.

Public schools fail at graduationChicago Public Schools’ dropout rate in the 2007- 08 school-year was the highest it has been since 2003.

To subscribe to the Reporter go to: www.chicagoreporter.com

The Chicago Reporter is published by the Community Renewal Society. The Reporter is an award-winning bimonthly print and online newsmagazine that serves as a watchdog of government and other institutions. Community Renewal Society empowers people to build just communities by working to eradicate racism and poverty. It does so by publishing newsmagazines, organizing in progressive communities, providing training, and encouraging individuals and communities in sustained and strategic efforts to create systemic change.

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Shocking Results

By: R. ThomasForty-nine miles southwest of Chicago, in Kendall County, officers at the courthouse useTasers to control unruly people involved in litigation. Three miles northwest, at the Kendall CountyCorrections facility, officers do not.

But perhaps, soon, they will.

It used to be rare that correctional officers used Tasers. However, in recent years, the device has becomemore popular. An analysis by The Chicago Reporter shows that 57 percent of Illinois county jails—55of 97—use Tasers. Of those jails, four—in Fayette, Kankakee, Lake and Sangamon counties—are beingsued for their use of Tasers, according to a Reporter analysis of a sampling of 97 lawsuits.

William Collins, a corrections law attorney who runs a consulting service and newsletter to help jailsand their attorneys comply with the law, said he is troubled because the more the weapon is madeavailable, the greater the chance of abuse.

But officers at jails in Illinois say that they use Tasers because more violent people are being arrested intheir counties. That fact has led jail officials to purchase Tasers to reduce injuries and maintain officerand inmate safety.

“It’s very common for law enforcement officers to have an automatic [weapon] on one hip and a Taseron the other,” said David Parrish, a retired jail administrator in Illinois. He said that Taser usage isincreasing. “Now we’re seeing that that kind of thing would be expected to carry over to the correctionalsetting as well.”

Kendall County could become the 56th county jail to adopt Tasers. The county began considering theoption after determining the interactions between correctional staff and detainees led to expensivemedical bills for the county, said Staff Sergeant Joseph Gillespie.

The county began comparing medical expenditures with the cost to outfit its correctional officers withTasers, Gillespie said.

A Taser X26, which is used by law enforcement officers, costs $810. Each cartridge, which costs about$20, lasts for one shot. In order to buy Tasers, the county decided it would need to make an initialinvestment of $49,000. That cost included the price the county would pay to purchase and train its 48officers to use the equipment.

The county decided that by 2011, the jail will gradually train and implement a plan to use Tasers at thejail, which has a capacity of 203, Gillespie said. Current budget constraints may affect the start date, headded.

The DeKalb County Jail, in northern Illinois, began outfitting its officers with Tasers in 2008 afteraltercations between officers and inmates. It was a logical decision made by the jail, which experienceda growing number of violent offenders who were being housed in the facilities, said Lieutenant JoyceKlein.

The number of altercations in the county has not decreased since adding Tasers, Klein said. But “unrulyinmates” respond faster to officers’ orders when the Tasers are drawn, and the Tasers’ probes piercetheir skin, she added. “A person would comply just to get those probes removed because it’s just thatuncomfortable to have those probes in your skin,” said Klein, an officer since 1980.

There are many jails that don’t employ Tasers or, if they do, are cautious about how they are used. The55 Illinois jails with Tasers rarely use them, if ever, officials told the Reporter. They prefer to use other

methods to maintain or restore order, such as verbal commands, batons, pepper spray and stun guns.

Other Illinois jails avoid Taser-related lawsuits by restricting their officers’ access to the weapon. Insome jails, Tasers are placed in a lock box that can only be opened by authorized personnel. In others, apaper request must be submitted and the supervisor’s permission granted.

On the other hand, there is at least one facility that has issued Tasers to every officer in the building,Collins said. The current opinion of most courts nationally is that a Taser is an acceptable tool to use ina jail under the right circumstances, Collins said.

Taser International, the maker of the devices, says the weapons are nonlethal, but at least 14 Illinoisresidents since 2001 have died after being shocked by a Taser, including one case at the SangamonCounty Jail. The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined that one of those deaths wascaused by a Taser.

Amnesty International has asked correctional facilities and law enforcement agencies worldwide to onlyuse Tasers as substitutes for lethal weapons. Additionally, since 2005, the United Nations ConventionAgainst Torture has investigated six countries and uncovered Taser misuse–including in the UnitedStates, United Kingdom and Australia.

While some officials believe Tasers are effective, others think that there are other ways to maintain orderin jails. “I think verbal commands can still be the thing that you can use in controlling a situation,”Klein said.

Tara García Mathewson, Amalia Oulahan and Kelly Virella helped research this article.

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Increase in Tobacco Tax Leads to Decrease in Tax Revenues FromCigarette Sales in Chicago

Posted By R. Thomas On November 13, 2009 @ 12:01 am In City Life, Local Politics, Money

Matters | Comments Disabled

James Gibson recently asked a man for a cigarette, to which the man replied that he

“just bought this one for 50 cents.”

Gibson, 33, said he asked a number of “passers and mouth flappers” for a cigarette as he

waited for a bus in front of a gas station on the corner of 35th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. Drive.

After negotiating with a fellow smoker, Gibson finished a “bummed” Newport cigarette before he

boarded the bus.

“If I ask enough people, it will help me avoid paying for cigarettes at the gas station and on the

streets,” said Gibson.

Scenes like this are becoming increasingly common as high taxes on cigarettes are changing

buying habits in Chicago.

A pack of cigarettes is worth 98 cents per pack to the state of Illinois and $1.01 per pack to the

U.S. federal government. After state, local and federal taxes — the city of Chicago adds 68

cents while Cook County adds $2 in taxes — a pack of cigarettes in Chicago is one of the most

expensive in the Midwest, according to a yet to be published report by David Merriman [1], a

professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago [2].

While neighboring states have increasingly higher tobacco taxes in Iowa–$1.36, Minnesota–

$1.50 and Wisconsin–$2.52, Illinois’ residents in Chicago may be decreasing the city’s tobacco

tax revenue by buying elsewhere, according to data received from Chicago’s Department of

Revenue [3].

Buying habits have changed. Instead of buying cigarettes in Chicago, now consumers buy

cigarettes outside the city, or even outside the state to avoid paying taxes, according to an

emailed statement from Ed Walsh, spokesman for Chicago Department of Revenue.

Sales tax revenue on cigarettes in Chicago has decreased 67.78 percent since 2001, Walsh said.

On the South Side [4] of Chicago, neighbors have witnessed last spring’s federal tax increase

lead the distribution of cigarettes from stores to street corners where they are cheaper.

One local resident said he sees cigarettes sold on the corner of 47th Street and Cottage Grove

Avenue when he heads to work at 6 a.m. and when he returns home at 7 p.m.

“From the moment I go to work until the moment I get off of work, I see them guys out there

selling cigarettes,” said Tony, 52, who asked that his last name not be disclosed. He also said

people can usually buy a single cigarette or a pack of cigarettes from men on the street

because they are “cheaper.”

Experts believe that the increase in taxes could decrease Illinois’ tobacco tax revenue and

increase illegal sales. Peddlers on the street are making a $2 to $3 profit on each pack sold.

“The proximity of Chicago to other cities could lead to an increase in smuggling in Chicago if

taxes are raised,” said Michael LaFaive, executive director of the Mackinac Center for Public

Policy [5].

Professor Merriman’s report says a ratio of 3 out of 4 packs of cigarettes smoked in Chicago are

purchased in neighboring states to avoid Illinois’ tobacco tax laws.

Since the tobacco tax increase in 2006, 289 businesses were cited for violating the tobacco tax

law, according to Efrat Stein, spokeswoman for Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and

Consumer Protection [6].

And in 2008, 473 businesses in Chicago were cited for violating tobacco tax laws, Stein said. In

the last two years, the city produced $600,000 in revenue from fines, she added.

The department has over 65 business inspectors, and 26 of them covertly and overtly enforce

[7]

and investigate the sales of cigarettes at over 70,000 businesses in Chicago, Stein said.

Stein could not give numbers on the fines given to street peddlers, but said the department

does investigate and fine them, too.

“We have a responsibility to even investigate and fine street peddlers that sell cigarettes

without a license, not just businesses,” said Stein.

Article printed from Chicagotalks: http://www.chicagotalks.org

URL to article: http://www.chicagotalks.org/2009/11/13/increase-in-tobacco-tax-leads-

to-decrease-in-tax-revenues-from-cigarette-sales-in-chicago/

URLs in this post:

[1] David Merriman: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/pa/faculty/merriman.html

[2] University of Illinois-Chicago: http://www.uic.edu/index.html/

[3] Chicago’s Department of Revenue:

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?

entityName=Revenue&entityNameEnumValue=36

[4] South Side: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Side_(Chicago)

[5] Mackinac Center for Public Policy: http://www.mackinac.org/

[6] Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection:

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?

entityName=Business+Affairs+and+Licensing&entityNameEnumValue=147

[7] Image: http://twitthis.com/twit?

url=http://www.chicagotalks.org/2009/11/13/increase-in-tobacco-tax-leads-to-

decrease-in-tax-revenues-from-cigarette-sales-in-

chicago/&title=Increase+in+Tobacco+Tax+Leads+to+Decrease+in+Tax+Revenues+From+Cigarette+Sales+in+Chicago

Copyright © 2009 Chicagotalks. All rights reserved.

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Cigarette Tax Money Goes Up in Smoke

Chicago residents forced to buy cigarettes elsewhere

By NICOLA ORICHUIA

Updated 12:15 PM CDT, Sat, Nov 14, 2009

Getty Images

Fewer cigarettes sold doesn’t necessarily mean less smokers, but it does mean less revenue in local, stateand federal taxes.

Cigarette sales in Chicago have seen a huge decrease over the past several years, leading to a decreasein tax revenue.

Since 2001, tax revenue from cigarette sales has decreased by almost 68 percent, Chicago Departmentof Revenue spokesman Ed Walsh told ChicagoTalks in an email statement.

A major blow to cigarette sales in the city was given in spring, when an almost 62-cents-a-pack federaltax increase was issued. Now a pack of cigarettes in Chicago includes 98 cents of taxes to the state of

Illinois, $1.01 to the federal government, 68 cents to the City of Chicago and $2 to Cook County.

That’s $4.67 in taxes.

But instead of quitting, many smokers are buying their cigarettes elsewhere or relying on illegal sales bypeddlers on street corners.

“The proximity of Chicago to other cities could lead to an increase in smuggling in Chicago if taxes areraised,” Michael LaFaive, executive director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, toldChicagoTalks.

The city has also seen an increase in tax law violations by local businesses.

Efrat Stein, spokeswoman for Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, toldChicagoTalks 289 businesses had been cited for violating the tobacco tax law since 2006.

With 65 business inspectors, the city has produced $600,000 in revenue from fines in just the last twoyears, Stein said.

First Published: Nov 14, 2009 11:37 AM CDT

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Police Shooting On Upswing

By: R. ThomasThe news:

Nationally, 125 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2009—the fewest since 1959, according to the National LawEnforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Behind the news:

The statistics aren’t as encouraging for people who interacted with Chicago police officers during the past decade. Between 2005 and 2009,75 people were fatally shot by police officers, an increase of 74.4 percent from the number of fatalities—43—between 2000 and 2004,according to the City of Chicago Independent Police Review Authority and a Chicago Reporter analysis.

The deadliest year came in 2008, when 22 people were fatally shot by Chicago police officers. The fewest fatalities from police gunfire—five—were recorded in 2001.

Robin Hood, pastor of Redeemed Outreach Ministries in North Lawndale, believes that the increase in the fatal shootings shows that policeneed to forge a better relationship with the communities they serve.

Hood stressed the importance of police officers engaging youth, noting that such a relationship will lead to mutual respect and perhapsfewer police shootings.

“Police come in the neighborhood, pull an African American over, put him against the fence, either take him to jail or something happens,”Hood said. “That has been the relationship for over 20 years, which has built resistance and fear in the younger people.”

Jon Loevy, a civil rights attorney, said the lack of accountability within the department contributes to a culture that condones the use ofexcessive force.

Loevy said the police review authority was established to serve as a watchdog, but it has been ineffective. “They need different personnel,”he said.

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Key IssuesChicago Matters Child And Family Criminal Justice Education Employment/Labor Government and Politics Health Housing ImmigrationMedia/Entertainment Religion/FaithSpecial Projects

The Chicago Reporter • 332 S. Michigan Ave. 500 • Chicago, IL 60604 • Tel: (312) 427-4830 • Email: tcr@chicagoreporter.com Content©2010The Chicago Reporter is a publication of the Community Renewal Society, which also publishes Catalyst-Chicago and Catalyst-Ohio.

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Season Ends at Wrigley Ice Rink, Future Remains Uncertain

Posted By R. Thomas On February 28, 2010 @ 5:06 pm In A & E, City Life, Festival & Special

Events, Outdoors, Sports | Comments Disabled

The Rink at Wrigley [1] closed its gates for the season on Feb. 28, and it may not

return next year.

Over 12,000 people this winter visited the ice rink, which was located for the first time this

winter [2] on the northwest parking lot of Wrigley Field, according to Chicago Park District

spokeswoman Monique Lehman.

“Compared to last winter’s 10,623 patrons (who visited) Midway Plaisance Ice Rink [3] on 59th

Street and Woodlawn Avenue, the Wrigley ice rink was competitive,” Lehman said.

But, Lehman said, the Wrigley rink did not produce as much money as hoped for the park

district, returning only about $72,000 of a $300,000 investment by funders. This leaves

organizers unsure whether the rink will return next winter.

If the rink had generated excess revenue , it would be used to fund its reopening. But the rink

did not meet that mark, said Max Bever, community outreach director for Ald. Tom Tunney

(44th) [4], who is also a funder for the rink.

“The rink was an experiment,” said Bever. “It’s possible that it may open up next year, but its

depends on funds.”

Using outside funders is not unusual for the park district; most district projects rely on state

funds, aldermen’s menu money [5] and/or private sponsors, Lehman said.

Other rink sponsors included the Ricketts family, the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago, Westrec

Marinas, the Blackhawks, McDonald’s, Harey Carey’s and the Central Lakeview Merchants

Association.

Sponsors and organizers met on Nov. 9 to lay out plans for the rink. Their money, along with

funds from the park district, covered the expenses. Westrec Marinas built the rink, which

opened Dec. 19.

Kevin Jericho’s family of three visited the rink around five times this winter, but he thought it

was pricey.

“I thought it was expensive.” said the Lakeview resident. “So we brought our own skates and

season passes.”

Admission to the rink was $10 for adults and $6 for children, plus an additional fee for skate

rentals. All proceeds helped offset the city’s costs — about $100,000, said Lehman.

Whether the rink will reopen next winter depends largely on the community’s response and

support. To voice your opinion, contact Ald. Tunney’s office at 773-525-6034 or via email at

ward44@cityofchicago.org, Bever said.

“The park (district’s) efforts alone wouldn’t make it happen again, ” said Lehman. “It would

require community effort.”

[6]

Article printed from Chicagotalks: http://www.chicagotalks.org

URL to article: http://www.chicagotalks.org/2010/02/28/season-ends-at-wrigley-ice-

rink-future-remains-uncertain/

- Lake Effect News - http://www.lakeeffectnews.com -

Season Ends at Wrigley Ice Rink, Future Remains Uncertain

By R. THOMAS

ChicagoTalks.org

The Rink at Wrigley closed its gates for the

season on Feb. 28, and it may not return next year.

Over 12,000 people this winter visited the ice rink, which was located for the first time this

winter on the northwest parking lot of Wrigley Field, according to Chicago Park District

spokeswoman Monique Lehman.

“Compared to last winter’s 10,623 patrons (who visited) Midway Plaisance Ice Rink on 59th

Street and Woodlawn Avenue, the Wrigley ice rink was competitive,” Lehman said.

But, Lehman said, the Wrigley rink did not produce as much money as hoped for the park

district, returning only about $72,000 of a $300,000 investment by funders. This leaves

organizers unsure whether the rink will return next winter.

If the rink had generated excess revenue , it would be used to fund its reopening. But the rink

did not meet that mark, said Max Bever, community outreach director for Ald. Tom Tunney

(44th), who is also a funder for the rink.

“The rink was an experiment,” said Bever. “It’s possible that it may open up next year, but its

depends on funds.”

Using outside funders is not unusual for the park district; most district projects rely on state

funds, aldermen’s menu money and/or private sponsors, Lehman said.

Other rink sponsors included the Ricketts family, the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago, Westrec

Marinas, the Blackhawks, McDonald’s, Harry Caray’s and the Central Lakeview Merchants

Association.

Sponsors and organizers met on Nov. 9 to lay out plans for the rink. Their money, along with

funds from the park district, covered the expenses. Westrec Marinas built the rink, which

opened Dec. 19.

Kevin Jericho’s family of three visited the rink around five times this winter, but he thought it

was pricey.

“I thought it was expensive.” said the Lakeview resident. “So we brought our own skates and

season passes.”

Admission to the rink was $10 for adults and $6 for children, plus an additional fee for skate

rentals. All proceeds helped offset the city’s costs — about $100,000, said Lehman.

Whether the rink will reopen next winter depends largely on the community’s response and

support. To voice your opinion, contact Ald. Tunney’s office at 773-525-6034 or via email at

ward44@cityofchicago.org, Bever said.

“The park (district’s) efforts alone wouldn’t make it happen again, ” said Lehman. “It would

require community effort.”

Article printed from Lake Effect News: http://www.lakeeffectnews.com

URL to article: http://www.lakeeffectnews.com/2010/03/09/season-ends-at-wrigley-

ice-rink-future-remains-uncertain/

Posted By Lorraine Swanson On March 9, 2010 @ 2:16 AM

Copyright © 2009 Lake Effect News. All rights reserved.

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Black Leaders Push Obama for Action at Forum

Posted By R. Thomas On March 23, 2010 @ 12:01 am In City Life, Community Concerns, Faith &

Religion, Local Politics | Comments Disabled

[1]

Black leaders debate President Barack Obama's

public policy plans for African–Americans at a

forum at Chicago State University on Saturday.

(Photo by Sean Evans)

On the eve of the U.S. House of Representatives’ historic vote on health care reform [2],

thousands of black Chicagoans attended a symposium to urge President Barack Obama to form

public policy with African-Americans in mind.

The president has highlighted his administration’s efforts to overhaul the health care system,

reform mortgage lending practices, improve the economy and improve education as policies

that will impact the nation as a whole, not just blacks.

But some noted black leaders at Saturday’s forum, “We Count! The Black Agenda is the

American Agenda [3],” argued the president needs to focus on blacks, who disproportionately

lag behind in all these areas. They urged Obama to reach out to their community, which gave

him 97 percent of their votes in the last presidential election.

The forum resembled a church session from the start as attendees stood and Father Michael

Pfleger of St. Sabina [4] opened with a prayer. Moderator and talk show host Tavis Smiley [5]

introduced the panelists to the audience and emphasized that the debate would remain positive

by displaying a cube with the word “love” written on all sides.

“I want to make sure that love is so central to this dialogue.” said Smiley.

Panelists used the word “love” to indicate that they were not dismissing the president’s domestic

policies, and they referenced times in history when other leaders used the word as the basis for

their public policy agendas for blacks.

“When Herald Washington was mayor of Chicago, he said, ‘Because I love black people doesn’t

mean that I don’t love anybody else,’” said former Chicago Ald. Dorothy Wright Tillman [6], one

of 12 panelists at the event.

Other panelists, including Rev. Jesse Jackson [7], Minister Louis Farrakhan [8] and professor

Michael Eric Dyson [9], said blacks should not compare Obama to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Instead, Dyson compared Obama to African-American baseball great Jackie Robinson [10] and

[18]

said he may have to wait for “the Willie Mays [11] of politics” to see the “black agenda”

executed. Robinson is known as the athlete who broke the “color barrier” in baseball, but Mays

is often credited as the greatest player of all time.

The panelists agreed that in order for blacks to see action from Obama’s administration, they

would have to approach the situation the same way that blacks approached John F. Kennedy.

“If [blacks] get something, it is because we organized and forced the government to speak to

our needs,” said Farrakhan, whose Nation of Islam [12] followers provided stringent security for

the event at Chicago State University [13].

Outside the event, Philip Jackson, founder of Black Star Project [14], a grassroots program that

mentors young black boys, passed out fliers to recruit mentors for young black males in

Chicago, but he said no one took them.

He added that the forum about the president’s efforts needed to be followed by actions. He

urged leaders at the event not to just talk but to walk away from the conversation and work

with those organizations trying to affect change in Chicago.

“They’re talking there and not essentially doing anything,” said Jackson. ”If they’re saying you

can only talk so much, at that point they should have all gotten up and walked off the stage.”

Last week, the debate over the “black agenda” resulted in a public discourse between some

black leaders. Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network [15], and Smiley, who

hosts the “State of the Black Union” event, expressed their varied opinions about Obama on the

radio.

To view the forum, click here. [16]

[17]

Article printed from Chicagotalks: http://www.chicagotalks.org

URL to article: http://www.chicagotalks.org/2010/03/23/black-leaders-push-obama-for-

action-at-forum/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.chicagotalks.org/2010/03/23/black-leaders-push-obama-for-

action-at-forum/we-count-3/

[2] historic vote on health care reform: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-

ap-us-health-care-overhaul-house,0,5151416.story

[3] We Count! The Black Agenda is the American Agenda: http://www.tavistalks.com/we-

count-black-agenda-american-agenda

[4] Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina: http://www.saintsabina.org/

[5] Tavis Smiley: http://www.tavistalks.com/

[6] Dorothy Wright Tillman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Tillman

[7] Rev. Jesse Jackson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson

[8] Minister Louis Farrakhan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Farrakhan

[9] Michael Eric Dyson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Eric_Dyson

[10] Jackie Robinson: http://www.jackierobinson.com/

[11] Willie Mays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Mays

[12] Nation of Islam: http://www.noi.org/

[13] Chicago State University: http://www.csu.edu/

[14] Black Star Project: http://blackstarproject.org/action/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 23, 2010

REACHING BLACK BOYS SYMPOSIUM, TO ADVANCE BLACK BOYS’ ACHIEVEMENTEducators, advocates and community leaders convene to talk solutions for Black Boys in Chicago

(Photo with Caption)

CHICAGO, April 22, 2010— More than 200 educators, policymakers and community leaders gathered at National-Louis University, on Tuesday morning, to discuss promising practices for raising the achievement of black boys. The “Reaching Black Boys” symposium was inspired by the findings in the June 2009 issue of Catalyst Chicago.

Nearly one in four black male students was suspended at least once last year, a rate that is twice as high as the district average. This finding is part of an upward trend that has resulted in a near doubling of the number of suspended students over the past five years, according to Catalyst Chicago. The Golden Apple Foundation, MAGIC of Woodlawn, National-Louis University, Urban Prep Academies for Young Men and Catalyst Chicago discussed what leaders can and need to do to improve educational outcomes of black boys and change the community’s view of the issue.

Keynote speaker Dr. Pedro Noguera, a New York University professor who is a national authority on minority males and the achievement gap, said that no one really knows why the school system is failing young black and Latino men.

“The way we socialize boys might be implicated in this,” Noguera said. “The women’s movement was very clear that what we have to fight against is the narrowness of gender roles… (but) there has been no corresponding movement among men.”

Noguera also called attention to factors like the chronically high unemployment rates among African-American young men and the growth of the U.S. prison system.

Black male students lag behind their peers academically in every grade, have the highest dropout rate of any racial or ethnic group (54 percent), and fewer than half of those who graduate go on to college. For the young men, these numbers are a tragedy, and for society it is a crisis.

Three teenagers were also present at the symposium. Faki Mohn, an 18-year-old senior at Hales Franciscan High School and member of MAGIC of Woodlawn, said students need to see the connection between school and adult life more clearly.

“Some of them may not want to go to college… (but after dropping out) they can’t even get the job they want,” Mohn said.

Panelists suggested that making changes, incorporating rituals and values in schools, the use of restorative justice discipline methods like peer juries, and parent education would help address the challenges African-American and Latino boys face.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Al ShawTelephone: 312.673.3865

Cell: 312.593.0719 ashaw@communityrenewalsociety.org

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“This symposium is one additional step along many thousand miles of steps,” said Reverend Calvin Morris, executive director of the Community Renewal Society, which publishes Catalyst Chicago. “Challenge us to do the kinds of things you wish us to do, and after that, come do it with us.”

Panelists at the symposium included: the Reverend Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ; Jefffrey Jackson, president of 100 Black men of Chicago; Dennis Lacewell, principal of Urban Prep Academy for Young Men, Englewood Campus; Shelby Wyatt, a Kenwood Academy High School counselor who helped launch the Brotherhood mentoring program at the school and wrote a guide to successful mentoring; and Keilan Bonner, a Golden Apple scholar currently teaching math at King College Prep High School.

Catalyst Chicago is published by the Community Renewal Society. The Community Renewal Society empowers people to build just communities by working to eradicate racism and poverty. It does so by publishing newsmagazines, organizing in progressive communities, providing training, and encouraging individuals and communities in sustained and strategic efforts to create systemic change.

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www.chicagotribune.com/features/happynews/ct-met-trice-blackboys-0419-20100418,0,5675141.column

chicagotribune.com

Improving the lives of black boys

Woodlawn nonprofit joins national 2025 campaign

Dawn Turner Trice

6:08 PM CDT, April 18, 2010

When Bryan Echols was at Southern Illinois University inCarbondale in the early 1990s, his father would drive himto and from school. Once, during one of their many roadtrips, Echols made a confession to his dad.

"I told him that I didn't really like him much growing upbecause he was so strict," said Echols, the youngest of hisparents' eight children. "He said, ‘You weren't supposedto like me. I wasn't your friend. I was your father. I hadone goal and that was to bring you into manhood and getyou to college — and here you are.'"

Now Echols, 39, is the executive director of theMetropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization, anonprofit youth empowerment agency based in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. MAGIC, along withseveral other Chicago agencies, has signed onto the national 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys.

In a way, the campaign has one goal — albeit a humongous and multifaceted one — and that is toimprove the lives of black boys, ushering them into manhood. The Harlem-based Twenty-First CenturyFoundation, one of the oldest black philanthropic foundations in America, started the campaign in 2007.The mission is to boost the quality of life for black boys born in 2007 so that by the year 2025, whenthey turn 18, they're heading to college and no longer the poster children for so many of society's ills.

"We want to tell our own stories beyond the drive-bys and mug shots," Echols told me as we sat in hisoffice on the University of Chicago campus. "The campaign focuses on the family, education, economicdevelopment, health care and the criminal justice system. A generation is how long the campaignbelieves it will take to turn all the ‘isms' around, the statistics."

One tragic statistic is that, in the Chicago Public Schools system, only 40 percent of African-Americanmales graduate high school.

To some, turning around the lot of young black men may sound ambitious. To others, it soundsimpossible. But not to Echols, who on Tuesday will participate in a symposium, "Reaching Black

Boys," hosted by the Golden Apple Foundation, Catalyst Chicago, National-Louis University, UrbanPrep Academies for Young Men and MAGIC.

The symposium is an opportunity for people who work with black boys to share what works best inreaching them. (Urban Prep Academies for Young Men has been exceptional in this regard. In March,the school announced that all 107 young men in its first graduating class have been accepted to a four-year college. Only four percent of these students were reading at grade level as incoming high schoolfreshmen.)

Echols said that MAGIC signed onto the 2025 campaign and the symposium because his award-winningorganization — which has helped form tenant organizations, create social services networks, build youthjobs initiatives and host health and wellness fairs — has successfully changed the lives of hundreds ofyoung men growing up without fathers and direction.

Echols joined MAGIC in 2003, a year after it began, and has seen the devastation from the front line.He knows that a turnaround is neither easy nor without its ups and downs.

He tells the story of one young man who had three mentors at MAGIC, including Echols.

"And he still chose his own path and got caught up in gang life and went to jail," Echols said. "When hegot out, I had money to pay for a youth organizer and he's been here in the mix ever since. He's in hissecond year of college, and he's created a program called Dovetail, geared toward teaching youngfathers — such as himself — how to become better fathers."

Among MAGIC's programs are "Hip-Hope," a mentorship program for men recovering from violentlyacquired spinal cord injuries; and "Fatherhood to Further Hood," whose goal is to get black fathers toreclaim their neighborhood.

"We're hoping to offer ourselves as a model for how to improve the lives of black men and boys inIllinois," said Echols. He added that the state has a task force whose goal is to improve the condition ofblack boys in Illinois and is similar to the 2025 campaign.

Echols said he does this type of work in part because he understands the importance of productive menbeing in the lives of boys.

"My parents just celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary last fall," Echols said. "My father's impacton me was tremendous.

"I want my young men to participate in all that's good in America. They have a right to it. I want themto be husbands and fathers and happy and whole — to not fear the unknown, and go outside their fourblocks to see how great Chicago, the world is. I'm utopian in my thoughts, and I firmly believe that if Ican think it, it can be."

dtrice@tribune.com

Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune