Peace Fellows Present to Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities
On July 24, a delegation of Chicago Peace Fellows presented their work together thus far to a large meeting of 2019 grantees as well as the funders of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a coalition of more than 40 Chicago philanthropies and donors who have provided grants to community groups trying to reduce violence in disproportionately affected neighborhoods on the South and West sides.
The Peace Fellows were part of the agenda for the conclave at the Hatchery, a spacious new not-for-profit on the West Side that provides training as well as modern facilities to aspiring food entrepreneurs, including equipment for cooking, freezing and storage as well as events.
Attending on behalf of the Goldin Institute were Fellows Maria Velasquez, Robert Biekman, Jacqueline Moore, Pamela Butts, Jamila Trimuel, and Gloria Smith along with artist Cecil McDonald, who is documenting the program in video and photography, Lisa Dush, a professor at DePaul University who is conducting a professional evaluation of the GATHER software and curriculum, and Goldin staff members Oz Ozburn and Burrell Poe.
Burrell began with a brief summary of the genesis of the Peace Fellows, explaining that Goldin staff conducted extensive interviews with previous grantees of the Partnership to find out what they needed and how a curriculum could serve them. All of the Peace Fellows are previous grantees of the Partnership, and many have received current grants as well.
Each of the Fellows then took turns presenting different aspects of the program, interjecting their personal experiences and observations at appropriate moments along the way.
Maria described the strong sense of camaraderie among the Fellows, and extolled the practical benefits of collaboration and sharing:
[quote]I’m just so happy to be a part of this cohort, because it makes our communities strong. -- Maria Velazquez[/quote]
Robert explained that he was thrilled to discover that the Peace Fellows curriculum was focused on action, rather than theory, as well as accountability that came through honest collaboration and support. In his work as a pastor and organizer, Robert has participated in many different programs and fellowships, but he often lost interest as they proved impractical or didn’t sufficiently involve community residents. He remained highly involved with the Peace Fellows, however, because it provides access to places and people who would not be available otherwise. In particular, the curriculum has allowed him to continue the connections he established with young men in different stages of the criminal justice system beyond the short terms of the grants from the Partnership. He has even been able to build bridges between different groups working on violence-related issues from multiple angles and involve them in efforts to craft solutions.
[quote]Using the tools that GATHER has provided in the curriculum and also working with Peace Fellows, it has allowed me to take that moment and make it into a movement, to go from a place where we are doing community outreach to do community engagement, to be able to build the kind of relationships that provide long term sustainability for the efforts we are engaged in. -- Robert Biekman[/quote]
Robert continued, “GATHER has allowed me to create a community of practice with all of those who are directly impacted by the issues of our community, to gather us together to see what are the real key issues and most importantly to invite them to participate in making the changes that are necessary because those who are closest to the problem often have the best solutions.”
“So often, we do this work, and we do it by ourselves, and for me what this has provided is a watering hole where I’m able to go in the midst of all the other work we do in order to drink deeply with others who are doing the work we are doing. That gives us a personal sustainability to each of us.”
Gloria said that the individual Peace Fellows are all part of broader group of community-based organizations that often work together. She recently moved to Chicago after the death of her brother, Phillip Jackson, and took over as executive director of the organization he founded, the Black Star Project. She has hit the ground running, maintaining and even expanding partnerships and initiatives, and on one day, Gloria found that she had three commitments for the same day, so she asked another Peace Fellow, Velvian Boswell, to stand in for her. She was greatly appreciative for that level of support from the Peace Fellows.
[quote]“We’re all connected. We’re all a network of hope. -- Gloria Smith[/quote]
Pamela Butts echoed the sentiment that the collaboration with her peers – people with similar experiences in community work – has been extremely rewarding: “Peace Fellows has given us an opportunity to develop relationships, resources and opportunities we never dreamed of.”
[quote]These are folks who have been out there on the front lines for years just doing the work just because people have needs. -- Pamela Butts[/quote]
Jamila said she had participated in multiple fellowships and residencies, and wasn’t inclined to apply for another one, but when she received the e-mail from the Goldin Institute during a college tour with the girls in her program, she thought the Peace Fellows would be different. She was intrigued by the prospect of working with other organizers in Chicago:
[quote]I wanted to connect more with people on the ground. It’s hard to find that kind of learning community here in Chicago. -- Jamila Trimuel[/quote]
“I took a pause (to check out the Peace Fellows) because I realized for the first time I would be part of a fellowship program where there would be people who are on the ground who are from communities, who love Chicago like I love Chicago and who want to ensure that Chicago is a better place to live and to serve.”
Jamila recounted several emotional meetings, including one where the Peace Fellows advised the staff at the Field Museum of Natural History about the future presentation of an exhibit with a racist and colonialist past. On another group outing to a neighborhood, the Peace Fellows saw a police action, while across the street children were playing, a sad juxtaposition that reflected the realities for too many families in Chicago.
“We know we’re here to stay we’re here to make a true, lifelong difference in our communities and that’s what’s so special about Chicago Peace Fellows,” Jamila summed up.
Jacquelyn explained that the Peace Fellows had agreed on a set of guiding principles that were used to evaluate all proposals for summer projects, which would be supported by a fund assembled by the Goldin Institute. Among other principles, the group agreed the summer projects should promote peace, embrace new challenges and accountability, and include authentic community participation.
Ultimately, the group approved eight different projects, all of which incorporate multiple principles, ranging from information fairs to help ex-offenders expunge their records to a retreat for the Fellows to practice self-care and reflection.
“The projects are all very different. Collectively, they serve the entire city, are a great opportunity to show off what we’ve learned while we’re promoting peace and giving all of you guys the opportunity to partner with us,” Jacquelyn said.
Peace Fellows visit 10 Point Coalition in Indianapolis
On Tuesday, July 23rd, Chicago Peace Fellow Robert Beikman and his organization, Alternatives to Incarceration Collaborative, took a group of youths involved in his restorative justice program to Indianapolis to learn about the 10 Point Coalition and the work they do to tackle the issue of violence in their city.
The day started with a conversation with the Rev. Charles Harrison and Indianapolis Police Chief Bryan Roach, who talked about how the program started. The 10 Point Coalition started in Boston in 1992 as a response to violence in that city as a partnership between the police, clergy and community youth organizations to conduct outreach and connect with community members who are most at risk of being a victim or perpetrator of violence. The partnership encourages community leaders to work with police to prevent acts of violence from occurring by providing services such as mentorship, housing, and jobs.
Robert Biekman and his Alternatives to Incarceration team came to learn about the lessons of their actions. The group toured the neighborhood to get a feel of what it looks like in Indianapolis and some of the challenges they face around poverty, gangs and substance abuse. On the tour, an Indianapolis police officer got out of his car to join the tour and talked about his experience working with the program. Since the program began, there has been a decrease in violence in some of their most difficult communities.
[quote]They attribute the drop in violence to better relationships between the police and community. The tour really highlighted the severe challenges faced by the community and some of the similarities with Chicago neighborhoods such as Roseland.[/quote]
The young people that Robert brought from Chicago are a part of a program that provides an alternative to incarceration and teaches them how to be community leaders. All of the youth have been involved with the criminal justice system and the program partners with the courts to keep them out of jail. They attend training and do community service as an alternative to being incarcerated for low-level crimes, and the program helps them chart a new path.
10 Point participants voiced their concerns with the police and community leaders in Indianapolis about the hopelessness they face in Chicago and how violence is so widespread. Many feel that because of issues of hostility, it is difficult to chart a new path. Robert and the Rev. Harrison worked hard to assuage these fears and reinforce the idea that changing their lifestyles is worth the peace and freedom it brings. Overall, everyone involved found it a valuable experience.
To learn more, check out the local news coverage from Indianapolis which features a video review of the meeting.
Alderman Walter Burnett Advises Peace Fellows at City Hall
On July 16, the Peace Fellows met with one of Chicago’s most influential elected officials, Alderman Walter Burnett of the 27th Ward. Fellows Jacquelyn Moore, Pamela Butts, Jeanette Coleman, Gloria Smith and Adi Lerner as well as Goldin Institute Executive Director Travis Rejman and Coordinator Burrell Poe met with Ald. Burnett in his City Hall office.
The conversation began with an overview of the Chicago Peace Fellows program and then Travis set the context by asking how the Peace Fellows can enhance city-wide initiatives and, more generally, how grassroots leaders can connect and collaborate with their elected representatives.
Fellows Jackie Moore, Pam Butts and Adi Lerner all work with organizations that need additional space for programming, and asked Ald. Burnett if his office could assist them with accessing facilities owned by the city. The alderman explained that the city controlled mostly vacant tracks of land as well as distressed properties, which can be turned over to not-for-profit organizations if they have the resources to rehab, maintain and secure the buildings. The city prefers to sell former firehouses and empty school buildings to the highest bidder, while the county-controlled Land Bank has properties in their portfolio, the alderman added. Newly elected Mayor Lori Lightfoot is changing procedures to reduce aldermanic control, but may make the community’s input a more significant factor in determining the fate of the properties.
Responding to a request, Ald. Burnett offered to introduce Peace Fellow Gloria Smith of the Black Star Project to an official at the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department who might be able to help expand her group’s neighborhood clean-up program from a month-long to a year-around effort.
Ald. Burnett also discussed the city’s violence prevention efforts, noting that he was waiting for the new mayor to announce her administration’s strategy and reveal her priorities in the upcoming budget. He was personally motivated to see a reduction in the frequency of gun violence, noting that the son of one of his staff members was shot 3 times the previous weekend.
Burnett has a special perspective on the issue both as an elected official and as an ex-felon himself. At 17 years old, Burnett participated in a bank robbery and pled guilty to a charge of armed robbery, for which he was incarcerated for two years and three months. Today, he maintains relationships with many different neighborhood residents as well as with police officers.
[quote]I know people on the corners. I know the people coming home from prison. I know those guys, but I also know the police. The police ask me for help but they have a different perspective, a different job. -- Alderman Walter Burnett[/quote]
Burnett hopes that others who emerge from prison will be involved positively in peace-making. Often, these men fear that communicating with their former peers will leave them vulnerable to further criminal prosecution, but Burnett pointed out that Ceasefire and other programs have successfully employed these men to negotiate truces between rival factions and obviate violent incidents before they happen.
[quote]My way is to work behind the scenes to interrupt the cycle of violence. I'm an ex-offender, I know what this is like and what people can do. For me, it’s like a ministry.[/quote]
Peace Fellow Adi Lerner asked the alderman what the top priority should be for local government officials in this environment, noting, “For many people in our community, they don't see any help from the city.”
Ald. Burnett answered that jobs and economic opportunities were essential to reducing the incidence of violence in the short term, and that long-term plans would have to be implemented.
Several participants noted, however, that programming to reach younger teens was also necessary. Jackie Moore said employment was essential as part of a holistic package that includes education and social services for young men at risk of criminal behavior.
[quote]They want the things that jobs can give them. Responsibility and hope. They get criminalized so quickly and then the path to the future is closed. They can't get jobs if they have a record. We need to focus on teens that may have made a mistake to make sure they have a path forward outside the streets. -- Jacquelyn Moore[/quote]
Peace Fellow Pamela Butts noted that many of the young people in her programs are confined to certain areas because of gang boundaries: “We have programs for the kids that do well academically. We have things for athletes. We have things for kids that are in trouble. We don't have anything for the kids in the middle. How can we take better care of the kids that aren't already high achievers or at risk and tailor things to what they are actually interested in?”
Alderman Burnett quickly agreed, and said that even young people participating in programing in his office had to navigate gang lines: “The biggest challenge I see is that everyone feels invisible. We need to talk to people, especially kids. They want to hear from us. We need to adopt our kids and make them feel like kids, otherwise they try to act like adults when they need to be cared for.”
Peace Fellows Trained in Kingian Nonviolence
On Monday, July 8, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago hosted a Kingian Nonviolence workshop for the Chicago Peace Fellows and grantees of the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities. The Institute for Nonviolence is a street outreach organization that specializes in connecting with individuals who are most at risk of being a victim or perpetrator of violence. They also provide support for families of victims of violence and help people returning from prison find resources such as jobs, housing or health related services. The Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities provide small grants of up to $10,000 to grassroots community leaders who are hosting activities in neighborhoods on the West and South sides that have high rates of violence. All of the Chicago Peace Fellows were recipients of these grants in 2018.
The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago invited the Chicago Peace Fellows and grantees of the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities for training led by Benny Lee on the steps and principles of nonviolence as taught by Martin Luther King Jr to his organizers in communities across the nation. Benny is a former leader of the Vice Lords, a notorious gang on the West Side, who spent decades in prison. Benny talked openly about his stint on death row after he and several others were charged with inciting a prison riot in the ‘70s. He shared about how nonviolence principles changed his life and helped him learn how to solve conflict and fight for justice in a different way.
Through the training, Benny shared his vision for building the Beloved Community, an all-inclusive society built around universal acceptance, healing from trauma, and celebration of successes. He encouraged the participants of the workshop to join him and each other in building the Beloved Community.
The Chicago Peace Fellows and other grantees asked questions and participated in conversation with Benny and each other. One Chicago Peace Fellow, Adi Lerner, who works at the Westside Justice Center as a program director, asked,
[quote]“How do we truly embrace nonviolence in violent circumstances?” -- Adi Lerner, Chicago Peace Fellow[/quote]
Adi stressed that often she finds many of the people she works with are victims of overt violence but also violent systems such as forced poverty, mass incarceration and systemic oppression. Benny shared his experience in fighting against these forces for returning citizens, people coming home from prison, and how he has made breakthroughs in returning their rights such as getting licenses that they were previously prohibited from getting by the state of Illinois. He said the principles are his grounding metrics for how he takes action to fight for peace.
The Nonviolence Principles are as follows:
- Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
- Building the Beloved Community is the goal.
- Attack the forces of evil, not persons doing evil.
- Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the Just Cause.
- Avoid inner-violence of the spirit as well as outwardly physical violence.
- The universe is on the side of justice.
Overall, the group really enjoyed the experience and connected with one another around the material. The Institute for Nonviolence hosts 3 day nonviolence workshops that are open to the public. Please visit their website to learn more about the organization, their upcoming events and trainings.
Neighbors Celebrate Family and Youth Peace Day
Along with my collaborator Gloria Smith of the Black Star Project, I am pleased to share an update from the 2019 Family and Youth Peace Day. This project is one of eight projects the Chicago Peace Fellows collaboratively designed and supported to put our principles and insights into practice to build peace over the summer.
What has your team accomplished over the past two weeks?
There were over 200 people participating in the event on June 27! There were several organizations from Bronzeville involved. Chicago Cares coordinated the planning, Chicago Youth Programs on 54th and Prairie was the site of all activities, the Community Builders had a table offering affordable housing, Pastor Chris Harris of the Bright Star Church brought a bus load of youth from Kenwood, Cigna brought 60 volunteers who played games with young people, prepared lunch, and built five raised garden boxes. 2016 Ma’at helped with these projects and helped build planters while seniors from our asset mapping project came and participated. The event started at 10 am and ended at 3 pm.
All Bronzeville organizations described their programs and all present felt the event was successful.
What have you learned?
Organized groups that keep their commitments can be very impactful in very resource challenged communities.
What is coming up that's important?
In the coming week, we will begin installing block club signs and planning for additional Family and Youth Day celebrations. We need all the help we can get.
How can other Peace Fellows or the community support you?
As we complete our asset mapping and begin planning what the community wishes to see built in their community, some of GATHER staff may be helpful in creating the plan!!! If there are Peace Fellows or neighbors who have built housing or created community plans, they also could be helpful.
Peace Fellows visit Field Museum to Explore Role of Race in Peacebuilding
The Chicago Peace Fellows visited the Field Museum of Natural History on June 19, 2019, for a guided tour of the "Looking at Ourselves: Rethinking the Sculptures of Malvina Hoffman" and discussion on the theme of the Role of Race and Representation in Peace Building with museum staff.
The exhibit brings to the public the controversy around the collection of bronze statues created by artist Hoffman in 1933, depicting people from different cultures across the globe, men and women, indigenous as well as white Europeans, including busts as well as figures in dramatic poses and conducting daily activities such as agriculture and hunting. The exhibit, originally called “The Races of Mankind,” was popular for decades, but later became the subject of a national anti-racism campaign and ultimately was put into storage. Recently, in an effort to account for the past and improve the museum’s connection with Chicago’s communities, the statues were brought out of storage and placed in a new context that features explanatory signs recounting the statues’ divisive history, and the Peace Fellows were asked by museum staff to provide their comment and critique.
The Field Museum’s Alaka Wali, curator of North American Anthropology, and Jacob Campbell, an urban environmental anthropologist with the Keller Science Action Center, hosted Fellows Frank Latin, Dawn Hodges, Pamela Phoenix, Jackie Moore, Jamila Trimuel, Gloria Smith and Robert Biekman along with GATHER alumnus Raymond Richard as well as photo artist Cecil M Donald; Deborah Bennett, senior program officer at the Polk Bros. Foundation; Kristen Mack, senior communications officer at the John D. and MacArthur Foundation; John Zeigler, director of the Egan Office of Urban Education and Community Partnerships at DePaul University; artist Mike Bancroft; and a delegation from the Goldin Institute led by Founder and Board Chairwoman Diane Goldin; Executive Director Travis Rejman; Chief of Staff Oz Ozburn; Delasha Long, media and content specialist; and Burrell Poe, coordinator of the Chicago Peace Fellows.
The meeting took place on Juneteenth, the anniversary of the date many African Americans discovered they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, and Alaka and Jacob welcomed the group in a Maori House built in 1881 on Tokomaru Bay, one of only four such Maori meeting houses outside of New Zealand. Jacob explained that the Field had acquired the house without consulting its Maori builders, but as the culture within the museum changed, they sought out leaders of the Tokomaru Bay communities and developed a relationship with them, ultimately securing permission to keep the house at the institution, albeit with instructions on how to properly respect and care for the structure.
[quote]“The Field Museum was built as a colonial institution. The question about this exhibit and ‘The Races of Man’ is ‘Do they transcend that colonial burden?’ And how do we make them transcend? How do we repurpose an old and problematic collection?” -- Alaka Wali[/quote]
The group then toured “Looking at Ourselves: Rethinking the Sculptures of Malvina Hoffman,” as Alaka explained the statues had originally been used for “an explicitly racist purpose” despite the ambivalence of the artist, with the statues arranged in a way to show a purported hierarchy of human ‘types.’ Once prevalent among intellectuals, the idea of an evolutionary hierarchy among humans was thoroughly discredited as racist, and the exhibit was put away in 1969. But in 2016, the statues were restored and placed back on display with explanatory signs.
The Peace Fellows and the Field staff then returned to the Maori House for an extensive conversation. Frank Latin began by citing a recent study about Contract Buying in Chicago entitled "The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago” by Samuel DuBois at the Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University and mentioned a forthcoming documentary about the topic from filmmaker Bruce Orenstein, artist in residence at Duke. Contract Buying was a discriminatory practice of home selling that cost tens of thousands of African American families somewhere between $3.2 to $4 billion during the 1950s and 1960s.
[quote]“I’m seeing how much institutions like this contributed to what we see today. We’re dealing with the after-effects.” -- Frank Latin, Chicago Peace Fellow[/quote]
Cortez Watson, a new staff member of The Black Star Project, mentioned the Black List series on HBO as a useful counter-narrative to “The Races of Man,” noting that Volume One is available without charge on Vimeo.
Robert said that he was particularly affected by one statue, a bust of Ota Benga, an African man who had been placed in a cage in the Bronx Zoo in 1906 before protests led by African American-owned newspapers and advocacy organizations forced his release. As a resource, Robert recommended a book by African American advertising executive Tom Burrell entitled "Brainwashed" and a video discussing his work.
“We need to continue the struggle,” Robert said. “The struggle is real and deep.”
Jackie Moore said she was disappointed with the exhibit’s efforts at contextualization and worried that the statues were only perpetuating rather than dispelling stereotypes. She also urged the Field Museum to ensure that its admission prices were not preventing members of the community from seeing its exhibits. “All I saw was a different flavor of the same ice cream,” Jackie said.
[quote]“It makes me think, ‘What scientific racism are we being fed today? -- Deborah Bennett, Polk Bros. Foundation”[/quote]
GATHER alumnus Raymond Richard recounted his personal journey through the criminal justice system to advocate for rights and opportunities for returning citizens, and said the exhibit opened his eyes to the historical challenges faced by African Americans, particularly African American women.
“We don’t know our history,” Ray said. “If young people knew, they might make change.”
DePaul’s John Ziegler said the exhibit raised many important questions, especially “How do we begin to disrupt this narrative?”
“The thing that is really disturbing is that this is the Field Museum – you’re supposed to come here to learn something.”
Jamila Trimuel discussed a statue of a young Ethiopian woman, whose hair was braided in a style similar to that used by African American women today, explaining that American corporate culture continues to discriminate against African American women while American culture as a whole defines African American women as unattractive. “We have not grown,” Jamila said. “I could not have worn the hair style my sister rocked all those years ago.”
Dr. Pamela Phoenix said she was particularly disturbed by a statue of a naked white European man in an athletic pose.
“It looked like he was the hero,” Pamela said. “I thought, ‘Not this story again.’”
Several participants mentioned the connection to the conversation around reparations and the testimony of Ta-Nehisi Coates at the House of Representatives and his Case for Reparations from the June 2014 issues of The Atlantic, while others noted the resonance with the ongoing debate to remove Confederate Statues across the country.
Chicago Park District Explores Partnerships with Peace Fellows
On June 18, 2019, the Chicago Peace Fellows met with Derrick Faulkner, the Area Manager, and Art Richardson, the Regional Director, from the Chicago Park District. Together they held an open discussion of how the places and programs of the Park District can be used to further peace building and violence prevention over the summer. Art opened the conversation by acknowledging that "outreach is not engagement" and that the Park District relies on partnerships with community leaders like the Peace Fellows to authentically hear from the community and to establish collaborations that respond to the challenges and aspirations of all Chicagoans.
The Fellows were excited to learn about the Park District's "Summer Pass" initiative which allows one child per pass to attend any of their neighborhood Parks' summer programs free of charge. The Park District is rolling out this pilot program in specific west and southside parks to bolster participation and provide opportunities for youth who might not otherwise afford the fees of summer programs.
Each Fellow was also given a Summer Pass to pass out to a member of their communities.
[quote] "We measure success not by how much money we bring in, but by the number of children we serve. No family will be turned away from Park programs because of an inability to pay. We'll make it work for families." -- Art Richardson, Regional Director[/quote]
Art and Derrick spoke about the other free programming the Park District offers throughout the city, including initiatives like free music and art programs in Lawndale and mentoring and leadership camps. Such programming is paid for by large city events like Lollapalooza, through sponsorship from large companies such as Nike and LL Bean, or through partnerships with institutions such as the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Peace Fellow Robert Biekman asked how the Park District sought to "build community as a means of violence prevention instead of waiting for a tipping point" and then having to use programming as a reaction. Art Richardson shared his commitment to "recruit Ambassadors from the community" where local residents can enter into a "give and take relationship" with the park, working together as a partnership to build safe neighborhoods. Currently Park Advisory Councils (PACs) are the primary place for this to happen, but Art and Derrick both also noted how conversations with change makers such as the Peace Fellows lead to productive partnerships.
[quote]"It is better to do it together than fail alone." Art Richardson, Regional Director[/quote]
Peace Fellow Jacquelyn Moore asked about programming for teenage youth, a demographic she targets in her work. She shared that there is generally ample programming for young children but fewer opportunities for teens.
[quote]"You turn twelve and the world turns its back on you and then wonders why you are a mess." -- Jacquelyn Moore, Chicago Peace Fellow[/quote]
Art admitted that previous difficulties in working with teens had led to reduction of programs for that age group but gave examples of how the Park District is actively reversing that trend to create more opportunites for teens oustide of their successful youth employment programs. The "Extreme Team Camp" is a successful 6-week program that happens in 35 parks and is looking to grow.
Diane Latiker, a Peace Fellow from Roseland, asked about the Chicago Park District's strategy to follow-up with and stay engaged with the children and youth it serves. Derrick and Art invited advice and partnerships around keeping youth engaged and seeing them return to programs each year. Diane suggested that the Peace Fellows could work with the Park District to help create a follow up program, or perhaps be the follow-up mechanism, for the children, youth, and families that utilize the summer programs. "How can we be that continuity and connect for the Park District after the summer programs end?" she asked.
The two-hour conversation ended with the exchange of contact information and several follow-up meetings schedule for fellows with the manager of their neighborhood park. Art Richardson let all the Peace Fellows know that he would happily provide support and waive fees for Chicago Peace Fellow events and was looking forward to speaking individually with Fellows about their shared summer projects and neighborhood initiatives.
Peace Fellows Visit Telpochcalli in Little Village
On Friday, June 14, Chicago Peace Fellow Maria Velazquez invited her peers to the Telpochcalli Elementary School, an institution in the Little Village neighborhood that the community organization she leads, called the Telpochcalli Community Education Project, helped to create.
Maria hosted a street festival for members of the community to enjoy time together to start the weekend. The event featured a youth band and stoneware made by students of the school. The festival featured an all-youth band and food provided by local residents. The tortillas were hand-made and the aguas frescas (juice) were freshly squeezed. Around 100 members of the community sang and danced to enjoy the breezy spring evening.
According to their website, “Telpochcalli (Nahuatl for "house of youth") is a small school dedicated to integrating the Mexican arts and culture into an innovative academic and social experience and development of fully bilingual/biliterate students in English and Spanish. The school is comprised of students, teachers, parents and artists who aspire to nurture an understanding and appreciation of the self, family, community and world.”
Maria, a Chicago Peace Fellow, has been the executive director of the Telpochcalli Community Education Project for over three years. She started out as a volunteer at the school and when the position of executive director opened up, she was reluctant to apply at first. Maria can be shy but she is very loving and compassionate and works really hard to take care of the people she serves. She explained, “I do this work to help people. I really like to see people happy.”
Maria gave other Peace Fellows a tour of the school and their community space. She showed her “living” asset map where she encourages parents and volunteers to add what they see as assets in the community to the map. She noted that it helps people see the value of their community and people really like doing it. Maria talked about her summer program with teens that is completely led by the teens. This summer, they are focusing on health and how they can have an impact.
“It took some time to get them going [in reference to the teen council], but now they are leading it and we are now working to get younger people involved so that they can learn how to lead earlier".
The Telpochcalli Community Education Project’s roots go back to 1998, when a group of parents in the Little Village neighborhood got together to advocate for better educational facilities. Just as it is now, Little Village’s population was growing fast with new immigrants as well as many young families, and the parents were upset by the failure of the Chicago Public Schools to fulfill a promise to build a high school in the neighborhood.
Many parents participated in a sit-in and hunger strike that got public attention and ultimately, a new administration at CPS agreed to build the Little Village/Lawndale High School. Under Maria’s leadership, the Telpochcalli Community Education Project has continued to be a strong advocate for Little Village, recently stopping a merger of the Telpochcalli Elementary School, which is already overcrowded, with a high school in the area.
The Chicago Peace Fellows will be active all summer with events and knowledge sharing. Stay tuned for more articles and opportunities to join us.
Peace Fellow Spotlight: Robin Cline
How has Gather informed the work that you do? Have you made any meaningful connections between Gather and your work?
These past few weeks, I’ve been reading “Winners Take All,” by Anand Giridharadas. This book, a sort of “emperor's new clothes” take on how social innovation projects are packaged in the modern context of wealth, philanthropy, and big technology, is not an enjoyable read. The book presents person after person involved in social innovation projects that at first glance are projects touted for the greater good, but upon closer inspection are problematized by deep power imbalances.
While making my way through this good but troubling read, I was spending time with neighborhood leaders from parts of Chicago struggling with violence in their communities. The book didn’t talk about people like us. In “Winners Take All,” there was no mention of the urgent and sometimes invisible work of boots-on-the-ground work folks do, bringing people together, connecting with those in need, being a bright spot resource for communities, noticing and connecting community assets.
[quote]I am thankful for the Peace Fellows opportunity to brighten the light on the invisible work we do in our communities, but most importantly, for making us visible to each other. I’ve gotten a lot of tidbits of wisdom in these last few months simply by being in the presence of the other fellows, but also from literal things they have said. -- Robin Cline[/quote]
A recent new friend from the Peace Fellows, Diane Latiker, shared that she tells teens she works with, “We don’t do what we don’t want to do.” I understood what she meant right away. That as a culture, we are we excited to shop for the shoes we want, we know how to crave the food we want, we know how to want certain things. But we are less skilled in knowing how to want important things, like peace in our communities, and civic action. As part of the Chicago Peace Fellows, I appreciate the time to think about how to activate and steward civic desire. And on the other hand, another Peace Fellow, Jacquelyn Moore, when speaking of desire, said, “Passion is not a business plan.”
Identifying and activating the passion, then putting tools behind it, came up over and over again in our conversations. The biggest advice from all the Fellows that was more implicit than stated was, “Don’t stop. Keep doing. That’s what we do.”
As we embark on making decisions about our Chicago Peace Fellows summer projects, I gather the advice, the experience, and the new shared language we have about technical and sticky problems, and am eager to “Not stop. Keep doing, because that’s we do.” I look forward to discovering how we make the space and set the conditions for peacemaking in our neighborhoods. GATHER has given us the gift of time to attune ourselves to others in this city who are doing the vital work of acknowledging and lifting up both the pain and the peace that exist alongside each other in our city. GATHER has given us a chance to work together, nudge each other with new shared language, help each other, and make what we do stronger.
What are some important updates in your current work?
I am lucky to work for two organizations doing community cohesion work in Chicago. I work for NeighborSpace, a land trust in Chicago that supports community-managed leaders in many neighborhoods throughout Chicago. Summer is a particularly vibrant time for NeighborSpace, as you can imagine. Neighborhood leaders are gearing up to host community builds, garden celebrations, skill shares, and planting days all over the city. We are particularly excited about this summer as our community partners kick off both nature play/build projects and programming in Little Village, neighborhood farms in Bronzeville, and urban ag projects in Englewood. I also lead the organization Opera-Matic, a participatory arts group based in Humboldt Park. We are presenting a three-part summer series in three Chicago Park District parks entitled “Lost and Found.”
This project highlights for families and neighbors the ways in which we honor both the loss we experience as a community and the empowerment we mobilize as a group when we remember our shared places together. At “Lost and Found” events this summer, we will sing, remember, find things, and enjoy each other.
Peace Fellow Spotlight: Gloria Smith
What are some important updates in your current work?
The Black Star Project is a multifaceted initiative known for its actions with programs on education, culture, economic and workforce development, mentoring, tutoring and youth development, public policy and advocacy and violence prevention. Our programs encourage a holistic, intergenerational approach to community building.
Phillip Jackson, our founding director, passed away in November 2018. Phillip was a great inspiration to many and we have been challenged to determine how best to continue cultivating and sharing his wisdom with the world. While many of our supporters keep up with our work through the Black Star Project website and Facebook page, we also have a radio program on WVON on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and a periodic newsletter that is shared with a national and international audience.
Some of our recent projects include economic empowerment and non-profit management workshops, Saturday university academic programs, and Becoming Chicago’s Next CEO, a summer program for interns interested in learning investment skills. Most recently, we participated, along with our Young Black Men of Honor, in the Chicago Community Trust’s On the Table event by sending a letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot sharing their thoughts on addressing violence in the community.
As Phillip's sister, I along with my staff and a host of organizations and supporters remain very much engaged in “the good work” that Phillip left for us to do and to share with as wide a community as possible.
How has GATHER informed the work that you do? Have you made any meaningful connections between GATHER and your work?
“Gathering” is at the heart of our work at The Black Star Project. We know this: What has always strengthened and encouraged Black and Brown people is our histories of struggle, our creativity, our humanity in the face of trauma, our connection to elders and ancestors, and the love and encouragement we must pass along to our young people.
We believe that we need to be together. To spend time with each other – in small gatherings and large, sharing the wisdoms we’ve learned from our experiences. Our programs share the resources of history, spirit and culture that have provided strength and renewal to people struggling for the expression of their humanity in Chicago and elsewhere in the world. This is work we’ve done since our founding in 1996, work we remain committed to, and work that is very similar to the peacemaking efforts of GATHER and the Goldin Institute.
