I try as much as possible to document activism & resistance by youth in Chicago on this blog. I do this because I am profoundly committed to the idea of youth leadership development and voice. I am co-founder of the Chicago Freedom School and these issues are central to our mission. I also see the activism of youth in this city as critical to prison abolition.

Anyway, today over 100 people gathered on the Southside of Chicago on 61st & Cottage Grove as part of an event organized by youth from FLY (who I’ve referenced several time on the blog) and members of Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools (CSOSOS).

The Chicago Tribune reported on the event:

The protesters [sic] staged a “die-in” about 4:45 p.m. on South Cottage Grove Avenue at East 62st Street to make the case that school closures will force displaced students to cross gang lines. The protesters wore mock blood-stained shirts as they blocked traffic at the intersection before being arrested. Goldenberg said.

The protest was intended “to demonstrate to Mayor (Rahm) Emanuel the loss of life that he will be responsible for if he and his appointed school board go through with the proposed closures,” the group said in a press release.

DNAinfo Chicago offered more details:

Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, an organizer with Southside Together Organizing for Power, and others called the event — in which students blocked traffic in the intersection of 61st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue — a “die-in.”

Students wore mock-bloody clothes in an effort to show the effect they believe school closings will have: more violence and death for the young students forced to cross new gang territories.

“The message is that school closings are killing people,” Ginsberg-Jaeckle said. “Everyone knows what will happen when these kids start crossing these gang lines.”

The students laid down in the intersection, blocking traffic for several minutes before being taken away by police after refusing to leave, witnesses said.

Police could not confirm immediately confirm any arrests but said the protest was “peaceful.”

According to witnesses at the scene, the students were led away in handcuffs.

Kelly High School teacher William Lamme said two of his students were arrested in the protest.

“They wanted to do something to show how they feel,” said Lamme, a Kelly social studies teacher. “Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel is certainly creating a school for young activists.”

Nearly 100 activists, parents and students were at the event, initially arranged by parents from Fiske and Sexton elementary schools. Sexton is slated to close and merge its students into Fiske.

“We have to make our voices louder and our actions stronger,” said Lamme, who came to support his students. “This is civics 101.”

Here is a brief video of a student whose school is targeted for closure speaking the importance of keeping it open:

As per usual, the amazing and intrepid movement photographer, Sarah Jane Rhee was on the scene to document the student resistance. She posted her terrific photographs on Facebook. I share some of them below.

by Sarah Jane Rhee (5/15/13) – Vigil to Stop School Closings

by Sarah Jane Rhee (5/15/13) – Vigil to Stop School Closings

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photo of Kiera Wilmot

Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn’t the kind of kid you’d expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but that’s exactly what happened after an attempt at a science project went horribly wrong.

On 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. The reaction caused a small explosion that caused the top to pop up and produced some smoke. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.

Prosecutors have charged her with several felonies and are considering potentially trying her as an adult. Read more from the post here.

I was outraged last night but then had to run to the police station overnight to address an issue that came up with a young person. I spent part of this morning searching for more information about the case. WTSP in Florida filed this report about the incident. The principal said that this was not a malicious act:

“She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don’t think she meant to ever hurt anyone. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did. Her mother is shocked too.”

For those who want to speak up and take action to rectify this outrage. You can do a few concrete things:

1. Someone has launched a petition demanding that charges be dropped against Kiera and that she be re-instated at her school. You can sign here.

2. You can contact FL State Attorney Jerry Hill and tell him not to prosecute 16 year old Kiera Wilmot as an adult. Call him at 863-534-4800 or email his office here.

I personally called the office this afternoon and spoke to a woman who said that the case is still under investigation and that the office would have no comments at this time. I let them know that the entire country is watching to see what they will do. I expressed my outrage that they would consider charging her with felonies and as an adult.

3. You can also call the school district’s Superintendent: Dr. John Stewart –(863) 534-0521 to ask that he intervene on Kiera’s behalf and ask law enforcement to drop the charges. Ask him to re-instate Kiera in school.

4. To learn more about the increasing criminalization of black girls at school, read Monique Morris report.

You should also read Sesali Bowen’s blog post published at Feministing today that addresses this incident & raises important points about the criminalization of youth in schools.

5. For those who are interested in reading in greater depth about the criminalization of black & brown youth in the U.S., I put together a short bibliography of articles to read a couple of years ago here.

There are some updates to the story that can be found here.

I wrote about the fact that Chicago students were organizing a boycott on April 24th. Yesterday, students from various Chicago high schools boycotted the second day of standardized testing (PSAE). They were protesting the role of testing as a factor in school closing decisions. Instead of going to school, students showed up at CPS Headquarters to make themselves heard.

Robeson High School student, Brian Stirgis, explained the reason for the protest: “We’re under-resourced, over-tested, and we’re fed up with the policies that are put in place by CPS officials.”

photo by Sarah Jane Rhee (4/24/13)

photo by Sarah Jane Rhee (4/24/13)

Laura McCauley reporting for Common Dreams wrote that “Over 300 students from over 25 different Chicago public schools ” boycotted PSAE testing yesterday.

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This weekend, I was privileged to participate in an event about the promise and pitfalls of youth-driven digital media. I joined the panel at the last minute when one previously scheduled speaker fell ill.

When I got home, I checked Twitter and saw the following video produced by Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools (CSOSOS – @ChiStudentsOrg) announcing their April 24th boycott.

You can also listen to 17 year old high school senior Brian Stirgus talk on Power92 about the impact of the school closures and about their planned protest this Wednesday. The traditional media has also covered the students’ efforts here.

I am so heartened to see that young people across Chicago continue to organize for social justice. It’s exciting that they are using digital media to help mobilize and engage others in their struggles. We should hope that these protests grow because this would signal that young people remain idealistic and retain some hope. I submit that the moment when these protests cease is when we should deeply worry. Young people who have no hope that their actions can impact positive change become nihilistic. Thank God that our youth in Chicago continue to believe in their own power to affect change.

I so wish that I could join in their action this Wednesday but I am organizing another event that conflicts. If you are a parent or guardian, I hope that you will support these young people by encouraging your own children to participate in the boycott. I hope that you will also show up as an adult ally to support these youth.

All of the information about Wednesday’s boycott is below. Please spread the word to others about this action. You can learn more at CSOSOS’s Facebook page and Tumblr.

Last month, I spent the day at a high school on the West side of Chicago. I was there with my friend the talented Debbie Southorn. Our goal was to document how this particular urban school manages student safety. Debbie is a filmmaker and an organizer. We are both keenly interested in how to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. After the Newtown massacre, both of us were concerned that the response might be to add more cops to our schools.

Immediately after President Obama unveiled his gun reform proposals in January, I got to work organizing against more police in schools. With several other people, I launched the Yes To Counselors, No To Cops Campaign. In just a few short weeks, our loose coalition of individuals and groups hosted two community meetings, created a website, launched a petition, letter and postcard campaign, organized a call-in day to our Senators, and more. As part of this work, we also wanted to demonstrate that there are urban schools serving black and brown youth that do not rely on harsh disciplinary policies or law enforcement to achieve their goal of ensuring a safe educational environment. I enlisted Debbie to help and the result is the short film that you can watch below. I have also written a few words about the school as well.

Please share the video with others who might be interested in learning about how we can keep students safe without relying on law enforcement and harsh disciplinary policies. In Debbie’s words, NLCP “cultivate[s] school safety and peace culture in really transformative ways! (Spoiler alert – without cops or metal detectors, with counselors, nonviolence training and political education).”

I am indebted to Debbie for all of her hard work on this film. She filmed and edited it in record time. I think that the film is wonderful and I am grateful beyond all words. Thank you Debbie. Thanks also to our friends at Free Spirit Media for sharing some of their archival footage with us. Finally, a huge debt of gratitude to the administration, staff, teachers, and most importantly students at NLCP for welcoming us (on short notice) and letting us share your story.

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Since I started this blog, I have wanted to feature the voices of the young organizers and activists who I have the pleasure to work with and to know. Today, I am thrilled to feature a post by Michael Johnson who is a community organizer with the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE). Michael offers his unique take on some of the rhetoric that has been adopted by opponents of Chicago Public School closures in the past few weeks. This blog post originated from a Facebook status that I read on Michael’s page. I was intrigued by his words and asked if he would consider expanding them into a post here on Prison Culture. These words represent Michael’s views.

I have been closely following the latest round of school closings as a community organizer with the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE).  Throughout the process, I have noticed a tendency by those arguing against the closures to rely on particular arguments to make their case. These arguments usually have several overlapping components. School closing opponents argue that there is a need for quality education for ALL Chicago children and they also emphasize the costs of destabilizing student’s learning environments. In addition to these arguments, some community leaders, parents, and educators have also articulated their concerns about the safety of the children who will have to attend new schools in the fall.  Time and again, the idea of safety has been raised and with it the spectre of gangs as the primary threat has loomed. I worry that by framing the closures as primarily a threat to student safety, we are missing an opportunity to discuss our opposition on educational, civic and economic grounds.

The report backs on the many CPS hearings and CTU press conferences as well as media coverage have leaned towards a very particular narrative that has been emerging as the dominant one. In making the case against closing schools in Chicago, some have suggested (as I mentioned earlier) that this is a bad idea because it puts students at risk of gang violence. Further, the suggestion is made that CPS could not possibly protect these students from the “gangs” in the territory around their new schools (sources 1). 

This argument has been advanced by some youth leaders as well as some community organizers. I don’t dismiss the validity of the real concerns being expressed.  However I find myself conflicted as I listen to some of this rhetoric being used by the opponents of school closures. I fear that they are inadvertently adopting the city and the police’s language and framing around the “gang problem” in Chicago.

I have witnessed opponents of school closures fall into the same problematic terminology framing these communities as “gang infested areas.”(source 2, 3,4).  Whatever good will and sympathy might be engendered by this description of some neighborhoods, these come at a great cost as well.

The very young people who this movement is seeking to invest in end up being demonized instead. Ultimately, it leaves our young people and our communities more marginalized in the long-term.  The “gang” argument plays into the deeply embedded racist fears with the gang (read black youth) as predators that must be cleared out to ensure better educational opportunity. These youth that are so called “infesting” our community are human and worth engaging constructively. They come through the same systems, communities, families and kitchen tables as the current elementary school students that so many are rightly fighting for by opposing school closures.

I worry that an over-reliance on claims of safety rooted in a fear of gang violence is sowing the seeds of further oppression of black and brown youth in Chicago. I fear that any potential victories will purely be a “faux progress” based in the politics of fear. Fear of the “other” and criminalization will only serve to isolate our children further and strengthen the school to prison pipeline. It’s a poor trade off, more policing instead of quality educational opportunities that serve the entire community.  This mode of operating begs for crumbs not seeing a future in our schools or our children beyond just getting them out alive. The nearsightedness of this perspective ignores the common root of violence and educational inequality. It ignores the history and context that has facilitated this environment: where the poorest areas, most violent areas, areas of the highest rate of lead poisoning, foreclosures and school closures are all mostly African American.  This city is entrenched in a socio-economic system akin to Apartheid and the time to address the redistribution of resources is now, not blaming systemic poverty and the failure of institutions on the children they have failed (source 5 6 7).

I also wonder about the organizing beyond just fighting closures. These schools have failed due to mismanagement on the local and national levels. How do we move beyond counter-positioning and move into the offensive, utilizing schools as we see fit, pushing for quality education and  innovation in our own image?  See: Freedom University  Freedom Schools, CFS, Detroit FS These are some of the liberatory questions that I think we need to answer in this historical moment in Chicago.

It’s been a couple of weeks (at least) since I first learned that the NYPD had killed another 16-year old black boy in Brooklyn. His name was Kimani Gray. I admit that I took note of the incident without reading about it in any depth. I’ve been dealing with a lot lately in my work and in my life. I didn’t want to dwell in the grief of another young black life snuffed out in its prime. It hits too close to home.

I tried to avoid any photographs of Kimani Gray. I preferred that he stay amorphous and abstract. Looking into his eyes might mean that I would “recognize” him. I don’t want any more reminders of how precarious the lives of young people in my family and life are.

Then the youth of Flatbush took to the streets for several days to express their anger at state-sponsored violence, in this case police murder. They protested and I was forced to pay attention.

This week, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) released a comprehensive report titled “Operation Ghetto Storm” about the extrajudicial killing of 313 black people by police, security guards, and vigilantes in 2012. One might think that this report would garner significant attention, right? Well, it hasn’t and we should not be surprised.

The report declares that: “Every 28 hours in 2012 someone employed or protected by the US government killed a Black man, woman, or child!” In the preface of the report, Kali Akuno writes:

“Operation Ghetto Storm is a window offering a cold, hard, and fact-based view into the thinking and practice of a government and society that will spare no cost to control the lives of Black people. What Operation Ghetto Storm reveals is that the practice of executing Black people without pretense of a trial, jury, or judge is an integral part of the government’s current overall strategy of containing the Black community in a state of perpetual colonial subjugation and exploitation.”

Reading these words, it’s easy to see why the report wouldn’t be embraced and covered by the mainstream press. It specifically calls out racism and is unapologetically interested in valuing and grieving the loss of black life. I urge everyone to take the time to read the report even though it is emotionally difficult to get through.

I resisted focusing on Kimani as a person: a son, brother, friend. There is something to be said about buffering ourselves against pain. It’s emotionally safer to focus on a symbol than on an actual person. To think of Kimani as flesh and blood is to invite more grief. Then I read a letter written by Kimani’s principal expressing his school community’s devastation at his loss. I had a physical reaction when I read the following sentence: “My hope is that as a community we can agree that the death of anyone so young is tragic.” Why did the principal feel the need to remind people about this? It’s because, in fact, we don’t agree “that the death of anyone so young is tragic.” There is a hierarchy of death and the deaths of black youth are deemed par for the course. They are the casualties of an undeclared war on black bodies that has been ongoing for generations.

I cannot avert my eyes from injustice even as I try to on occasion. I must be a witness. So I searched the internet and found a photograph of Kimani and I made myself look.

Sure enough, I did “recognize” him and the pain of that recognition is real. There is nothing alien, foreign to me about this young man. There’s something about Kimani that I find familiar and I mourn his loss. Next year, when the MXGM puts out the 2013 version of its report cataloging extrajudicial killings of black people, Kimani Gray’s name will appear on the list. I promise to take note and to allow pain and grief to flow through me. I will continue to bear witness…

Once again, the terrifically talented Sarah Jane Rhee was present with her camera at Wednesday’s Chicago School Closings Protest. I have selected some of the photographs that illustrate the message that we need to fund schools rather than prisons/jails.

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/27/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/27/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/27/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/27/13)

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Source

Fund Schools Not Jails!
March 27, 2013

Erica R. Meiners is a Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Education at Northeastern Illinois University. She is the author of Right to be hostile: schools, prisons and the making of public enemies (2009) and articles exploring the school to prison pipeline. She is a member of her labor union, University Professionals of Illinois, and actively involved in a number of non-traditional and popular education projects including an anti-prison teaching collective (Chicago PIC Teaching Collective) and the Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE) and she is currently teaching classes at Stateville Prison and St. Leonard’s Adult High School. 

Thousands of people converged downtown today to speak back to Chicago’s unelected school board against the proposed closure of fifty-four public schools in Black neighborhoods. Amidst the colorful and pithy signs held up by teachers, parents, and young people my favorite (topping even the signs from the fall 2012 Chicago Teacher’s Union strike proclaiming Rahm loves Nickelback) was Fund Schools Not Jails!   

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/27/13)

While it might appear that the struggle to shutter our prisons, to decriminalize marijuana and sex work, or to release people from prison early on “good time,” is disconnected from the fight to keep open and fully funded high quality neighborhood schools in Black communities, the two are intimately linked.
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