NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2021
Politicized Grief: A Week of Mourning for our Movement
Left: Art by Peregrine Bermas from our new Politicized Grief zine. Read on for a preview in this month's newsletter. Download the full version for free: bit.ly/ctjcgriefzine.
Earlier this month, the Chicago Torture Justice Center We have lost so many other loved ones not named made the decision to officially close for a week of here, each significant to our community and close to mourning to allow our bodies to feel and process recent our hearts. We have not had the time as an losses in our community. We did so with the intention organization to mourn our dead before news of another of honoring the lives and deaths of all our loved ones by loss breaks. Each time, our community and individual bearing witness to their memory, nurturing connection, trauma is compounded by the knowledge that, in and tending to our heavy hearts and bodies. Grief has addition to accidents and natural causes, these deaths many faces and forms, and tending to it can look a lot are all too often direct or indirect results of anti-Black of different ways. Where do you feel it in your body? state and systemic violence. What would movement toward care and release feel Malkia Devich-Cyril recently wrote: “As we seek to like, for you? breathe a new world into being, being an effective Our week of mourning was one way CTJC seeks its changemaker demands the right and power to feel our larger mission: to support survivors of torture and losses rather than escape them.” At CTJC, we live this police violence in life and death. Recently, we have belief through our politicized healing framework. been surrounded by the latter. We have lost Anthony Politicized healing means recognizing that our politics Porter, an integral member of our survivor community are healing and our healing is political. In living this who was key to both the abolition of the Illinois death framework, we heal ourselves and our communities, penalty and the origins of the Center. We have lost dismantle destructive systems that perpetuate Irving King, a beloved and active participant in our trauma and disappear our loved ones, and create new programming and survivor of police torture. We have possibilities. lost Malik Alim, a family member to our staff and a long time comrade in our work for justice, who spearheaded Throughout the week, we gathered together at the the successful Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA). Malik #BreathingRoom Gardens & Farm, with offerings in art pushed PFA to make Illinois the first state in the making, space for reflection, and grief counseling. country to abolish cash bail, worked with the Chicago Partners of CTJC also made drumming and gentle Community Bond Fund and was co-director of the Let bodywork/yoga available, and Dorothy Burge led a quilt making session to honor Malik Alim. Us Breathe Collective. We're grateful for you—our community—during this time, and we're holding you close. P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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In early July, the news of Anthony Porter’s death left us heavy with a sense of grief, failure and responsibility. That collective grief was soon compounded by feelings of anger and frustration as we read reports on Anthony Porter’s passing in the media. The Chicago Sun Times article commenting on Porter’s death noted his landmark 1999 exoneration—one which helped abolish the Illinois death penalty—but said nothing of his character or life. Instead, the article ended by stripping Porter of his dignity in two sentences: “Porter was arrested in 2011 for stealing deodorant from a Chicago pharmacy. He pleaded guilty to retail theft and was sentenced in 2012 to one year in prison.” The article, authored by the Associated Press, triggered the wounds of oppressive abuse and trauma held in our space, but also reminded us of a painful lesson. The violence and criminalization enacted upon our people doesn’t begin and end in police stations, courtrooms and penitentiaries. The harm and neglect perpetuated by the carceral state seeps past prison walls and is continued by many of the institutions that shape our daily lives. This includes journalists, legislators, business owners, and our neighbors. If it is not immediately clear why the AP/Sun article was violent towards Porter and other incarcerated survivors, consider the pain of having your own life reduced to one desperate moment in print. Focusing on Anthony's actions in 2011 ignores the systemic and structural failures of the carceral system that abused and abandoned him, leaving him with no support or options long before he entered the pharmacy that night. Anthony Porter had a life beyond the incidents in which he crossed paths with police. He was free-spirited and kept a sense of humor. His mother was his rock until her death soon after his release in 1999. He loved good food. He was a survivor of deep trauma at a time when resources were not widely available to treat it. Many people who might have helped Porter over the course of his life did not. Porter was 27 years old in 1982 when he heard that his name was being tied to a double murder case. He went to the police station where, despite his protestations of innocence and the lack of physical evidence connecting him with the murders, he was beaten, arrested, and charged. His lawyer fell asleep during the trial. The attorneys that helped free Porter in 1999 neglected to connect him with support for his drug abuse and housing insecurity coming out of prison. Though lawyers sought his assistance over the years to help free other wrongfully imprisoned inmates, none helped him find stable housing and move out from under the CTA stop on 47th Street. When Porter stole deodorant from CVS in 2011, the manager refused to settle the issue even when someone offered to pay the four dollar tab for Porter. Instead the police were called, and Porter was charged with a felony. (continued -->) P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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The grief we feel at Anthony Porter’s passing—and that of all of our other loved ones—is also grief for the failures of our city and communities to support people like him. We can GRIEF and must do better. Grief has a place in social movements. HAS A PLACE Hold your local media outlets accountable in opposing institutionalized racism and IN SOCIAL violence. Advocate for the instrumentalization of repair in the form of state-sponsored MOVEMENTS. reparations for police torture survivors. If you live downstate among legislators still upholding carceral logics, reach out to them to tell them you are not okay with that. Join us in practicing politicized healing. People that are released from Illinois prisons, regardless of innocence or guilt, must be provided with respect and dignity, something that Porter did not get an opportunity to enjoy. Our criminal justice system as a whole must be held accountable for the neglect of those it incarcerates, especially those who have been left to carry the weight of their wrongful imprisonment. Charges Dropped Against Police Torture Victim Sean Tyler
Press release by the Exoneration Project: exonerationproject.org.
Left: Sean Tyler gives a symbolic wave goodbye to the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after his court appearance on September 17, 2021. Photo by Teddy Gonzales.
On Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, the Cook County State’s Attorney moved to dismiss all charges against Sean Tyler in the Cook County Criminal Court. Tyler was 17 years old and had no criminal record when he was tortured and coerced into signing a false confession by a team of Chicago police detectives in retaliation for his involvement in exposing their torture of a 13-year-old in a different case. In 1991, Sean Tyler witnessed a shooting. One adult and five juveniles, including 13-year-old Marcus Wiggins, were arrested. Wiggins alleged that he was tortured into a false confession via beatings and electro-shocks. Tyler knew that Wiggins’ confession was false but was terrified to come forward and cross the police officers for fear of retribution. Ultimately, a judge entered a protective order mandating that: “No Chicago Police Officer, involved in the arrest and/or interrogation of … M.W. … shall have any contact, verbal, physical or otherwise, with Shawn [sic] Tyler,” and “No Chicago Police Officer not involved in the arrest and/or interrogation of … M.W. … shall have contact … with Shawn [sic] Tyler … unless authorized in person by the Honorable Judge Earl Strayhorn.” Eventually, Wiggins and his co-defendants were all either acquitted or saw their charges dropped. The Office of Professional Standards subsequently determined that detectives had violated Wiggins’ and his codefendants’ rights. Wiggins brought a federal civil rights lawsuit. In 1994, 10-year-old Rodney Collins was shot and killed when he was caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shooting. The police officers involved in the Wiggins case used that as an opportunity to seek revenge against Tyler. The officers—still subject to the protective order entered in the Wiggins case and at the time defendants in Wiggins’ federal civil rights suit—eventually arrested Tyler, beat him until he vomited blood, and forced him to sign a false confession. After Tyler signed the false confession, he was taken to the emergency room. (continued -->) P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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In 2015, the Illinois Appellate Court ordered an evidentiary hearing in Tyler’s case. The appellate court noted “countless instances of claims of police misconduct cited in [Tyler’s] petition [that] establish a troubling pattern of systemic abuse by the same detectives that interrogated him and investigated his case that calls into question whether [Tyler’s] confession was in fact the product of physical coercion.”1 The appellate court ordered a hearing in the trial court at which a judge could “determine whether any of the detectives who interrogated defendant may have participated in systemic and methodical abuse[.]” That hearing was to have started today. Instead, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office moved the court to dismiss all the charges against Tyler and his co-defendant Reginald Henderson. *** Justice Quilting to Memorialize and Honor our Community
During our week of Mourning our Movement, fabric/multimedia artist and community activist (or self-described "quiltivist") Dorothy Burge led us in a workshop to co-create a quilt honoring the life of beloved organizer, father, and community builder Malik Alim. A longtime partner in the fight for justice for survivors of police torture, Dorothy uses quilting "as a tool to teach history, raise cultural awareness, and inspire action." (dorothyburge.com)
Dorothy is working on two projects right now. Here's how you can participate:
For survivors who are still incarcerated: Dorothy is creating a justice quilt in honor of torture survivors who are still inside. She wants to include your voice on a quilt square. In 6 words or less, please let us know: What do you want people to know about you? Send your 6 words to our PO Box below or to info@chicagotorturejustice.org.
Images: samples of quilt squares honoring survivor Gerald Reed (left) and organizer Malik Alim (right).
If you would like to create a quilt square for Malik, we have a supply packet for you—all you need is a pencil, scissors, and glue stick. Dorothy will assemble the finished squares into a beautiful quilt for Malik's family. To receive your packet and a brief how-to, please write us at our PO Box or email cindy@chicagotorturejustice.org. P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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Sharing our new resource on Politicized Grief
On the next two pages, we've included excerpts from CTJC's new zine on Politicized Grief, which was the result of collaboration between artists and practitioners in our community. While we work to get copies printed and mailed to our community members who are incarcerated, we're sharing these pages to offer a first look:
Download our Politicized Grief zine: bit.ly/ctjcgriefzine P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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Download our Politicized Grief zine: bit.ly/ctjcgriefzine
P.O. BOX 647 EVANSTON, IL 60204 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
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