J T U E L C E O O P E N
P R A C T I C E
CO M M I T T E E
P R E S E N T S
Seeing and Writing and Both: A conversation with Teju Cole WED, NOV 15, 7PM // FREE RSVP ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED: BIT.LY/TEJU_UCHI
Essayist, photographer, and art historian Teju Cole will join the communities of the University for a public conversation about the ways in which images and image-making inform and propel our contemporary discourse about the intersections of artistic practice and civic responsibility. Followed by a Q&A with the audience. DOVA.UCHICAGO.EDU/CALENDAR
A N D T H E LO G A N C E N T E R F O R T H E A R T S N G V I S I T I N G A R T I S T F U N D A N D T H E K A R L A S C H E R E R C E N T E R F O R T H E S T U DY O F A M E R I C A N C U LT U R E . PHOTO BY MARTIN LENGEMANN
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SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent nonprofit newsprint magazine written for and about neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. We publish in-depth coverage of the arts and issues of public interest alongside oral histories, poetry, fiction, interviews, and artwork from local photographers and illustrators. The South Side Weekly is dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists. Volume 5, Issue 7 Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors
Hafsa Razi Julia Aizuss, Andrew Koski
Directors of Staff Support Baci Weiler Community Outreach Jasmin Liang Senior Editor
Olivia Stovicek
Politics Editor Education Editor Stage & Screen Editor Visual Arts Editor Food & Land Editor
Adia Robinson Rachel Kim Nicole Bond Rod Sawyer Emeline Posner
Editors-at-Large
Christian Belanger, Mari Cohen
Contributing Editors
Maddie Anderson, Mira Chauhan, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Sam Stecklow, Margaret Tazioli, Yunhan Wen
Data Editor Radio Editor Radio Host Social Media Editors
Jasmine Mithani Erisa Apantaku Andrew Koski Bridget Newsham, Sam Stecklow Visuals Editor Ellen Hao Deputy Visuals Editor Lizzie Smith Photography Editor Jason Schumer Layout Editor Baci Weiler Staff Writers: Elaine Chen, Rachel Kim, Ashvini Kartik-Narayan, Michael Wasney Fact Checkers: Abigail Bazin, Sam Joyce, Bridget Newsham, Adam Przybyl, Hafsa Razi, Sam Stecklow, Rebecca Stoner, Tiffany Wang Staff Photographers: Denise Naim, Jason Schumer, Luke Sironski-White Staff Illustrators: Zelda Galewsky, Natalie Gonzalez, Courtney Kendrick, Turtel Onli, Raziel Puma Webmaster
Pat Sier
Publisher
Harry Backlund
Business Manager
Jason Schumer
IN CHICAGO IN THIS A week’s worth of developing stories, odd events, and signs of the times, culled from the desks, inboxes, and wandering eyes of the editors
A Farewell to DNAinfo At local civic journalism lab City Bureau’s fundraiser last Thursday, one former Weekly editor remarked, “This is kind of like an apocalypse party”—and indeed, the news of the shuttering of DNAinfo and Chicagoist hung like a heavy cloud over the gathering. All of Chicago owes a tremendous debt to DNAinfo, and its dedication to covering the goings-on in every corner of the city. We at the Weekly would be remiss if we did not note that this notes section in particular owes a heavy debt to DNAinfo, with its steady stream of reliable reporting we could wryly riff on. In recent days, many have been looking toward solutions and replacements, calling for more donations to organizations like ProPublica and City Bureau and, well, us—but the fact is, no one in Chicago is doing anything close to what DNAinfo provided. With a full-time staff of nineteen reporters, each dedicated to a few neighborhoods in the city, DNAinfo did on-the-ground daily reporting that we do not have the capacity and infrastructure to do—the kind of reporting that is simply not in our mission. In a way, these differences were at the root of some of our criticisms of DNAinfo. With the rapid pace of its reporting came the uncontextualized cataloguing of violent crime and the occasional article that didn’t go beyond the press release. But we like to think of ourselves as two sides of the same coin—their foundational reporting sparking our imagination, our long-form stories building on their work with history and context. The South Side deserves both kinds of reporting. It deserves someone to keep a constant eye on the alderman and the developers, someone to cover the community protest, the business opening, the retirement of a veteran coach. It deserves—it needs—reporting like DNAinfo’s. From Protests to Public Office “A People, United, Will Never Be Defeated,” thundered the spacious hall at the IUOE Local 399 on Sunday afternoon as a thousand people from across the city and suburbs gathered to hold several elected officials accountable. The public meeting was organized by The People’s Lobby, a grassroots progressive movement in Illinois that focuses on community organizing and supports causes like a global minimum wage and an end to corporate tax loopholes. The event featured speakers sharing their stories of struggle with inaccessible healthcare or racist “tough-on-crime” policies, connecting them to a broader fight against “racial capitalism.” In addition to having several elected officials make public commitments, including Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx pledging to fight mass incarceration, the meeting ended with more than thirty people from the audience declaring their commitment to run for office in the coming years. The message was clear: establishment candidates beware—and listen to the people!
ISSUE A NARRATIVE THAT HAS NO HOLES
“A covenant / of closed schools and colored girls clawing their way out of me” patricia frazier...............................4 ART ON THE BLOCK
“They wanted to show people they had something to be proud of.” bridget newsham.............................5 FROM LITHUANIA TO CABRINI-GREEN
“We were fighting for our neighborhoods. Leading marches because we knew it was us versus them.” julie xu..............................................7 OPINION: WHY ARE OUR HOME SALES UP? BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE
Local organizer and writer Scott Smith weighs in on recent growth of Beverly and Morgan Park scott smith.......................................8
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The paper is produced by an all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We distribute each Wednesday in the fall, winter, and spring. Over the summer we publish every other week. Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773) 234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly.com
Cover design by Jason Schumer & Lizzie Smith
The Weekly is seeking submissions for our
Holiday Issue
Email editor@southsideweekly.com with your holiday memories and traditions, in the form of a story, poem, or family recipe.
NOVEMBER 8, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 3
LIT
A Narrative That Has No Holes
Funeral Scene Where it isn’t Raining (a retelling) After Eve Ewing She died on a hot september night. Her spirit rose from her body like a bird fleeing a falling tree, transcending the green and yellow bathroom walls. She flew over the empty plain we used to call home, moonwalked across the McCormick place bridge, and into the uber on 22nd street, where her granddaughter received the news. Her granddaughter hung up the phone and fell into the arms of the car door, weeping into a cup holder. The sun fell with her granddaughter’s breath, the driver redirected the route. The car rises off the ground, the driver pulls the gear shift one notch past L. The car tilts upward, the engine smoking like the head of a cigarette. The car spins the granddaughter’s brain back in time. Gyrating as though driving through a vaguely familiar giggle. It is 1998 and she died years before of old age. The granddaughter exits the vehicle and the doctor shouts ”It’s a girl!” and it is a selfish new world. The granddaughter cries as Jay-Z raps a Hard Knock Life, but the granddaughter will never know.
Two poems by Patricia Frazier
C
hicago’s second-ever Youth Poet Laureate is artist and activist Patricia Frazier. Frazier grew up in the Ida B. Wells Homes in Bronzeville and later in Englewood, and has been writing poetry since elementary school. She was a two-time finalist at the Louder Than A Bomb spoken word competition while a student at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep. In her poems, she says, she is “trying to disrupt mainstream narratives as often as I can, and also trying to make space for everyone’s narrative, and trying to make space for detail and specificity. A broad narrative is okay, but a narrative that has no holes, that does not tell a single story, is the most important to me.” She’s now publishing a collection of poems with Haymarket Books, which will be out next summer; in the meantime, you can follow her on Twitter @hakunamattities. To hear the Weekly’s interview with Frazier, tune in to South Side Weekly Radio on Tuesday, November 14 at 3pm on WHPK 88.5, or listen online at southsideweekly.com/ssw-radio.
A Black Girl’s Attempt at Escaping Gentrification Engle1 En´gle verb 1. To cajole or coax Wood2 wood/ Noun 1. an area of land, smaller than a forest, that is covered with growing trees. Land of finesse Land of growing giving birth burning Bush Black belt in redlining Urban planned and dictionary decoded Noun most ghetto neighborhood in all of Chicago Englewood the bloody name nobody wants to have, but everybody wants to hold. I heard folks made me a token for black death Made a sacrilege of me before even stepping foot on my soil I heard white kids been beat boxing my name in their poems An imperialism jukebox produced by Fox News They made a SoundCloud chopped and screwed diss track of my body for street cred A white girl called me a war zone but ate my name in the trenches of her teeth anglewood Guess nobody told her my curves too obtuse to fit comfortably between her lips My name is Something earned
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a plus sized pilgrimage only bucket boys know A covenant of closed schools and colored girls clawing their way out of me My name is screaming a pleading no while Rahm does what Daley did to my sister Hyde Park Another gentrified black girl gone but us black girls don’t be getting no amber alerts. Tried to do the same to me once Bombed the first black family to make a home in my skin Gave up when there became more black people than bombs to throw Realized how to colorbomb through the tv screen call it modern warfare technology Why you think the anti-englewood rhetoric percolates its way through Chicago bodies A blood clot of blackonblack crime When northside neighborhoods get to call their violence inter-communal The whip of white savior wordplay The lash is the lasting effect you won’t see coming until the Whole Foods is a town made for holes Grave plots for those who couldn’t be whited out and abandoned buildings turned into condos They’ve discovered me Immortal black woman They’re trying to make an organ trade Send me to the sunken place I pray y’all make my name a good poem A liquor store lacquer A flash mob crip walk on Garfield I pray somebody writes an ode to englewood Turn my name into a city of God in gold A black hole of black girl resurrection Y’all rather my name The tree that is soiling the rest of the forest Cut down hill to a landfill where white privilege plays Rahm the builder with the bloody syllables of my limbs and nobody ask me for consent before taking my name to make Chicago whatever they need it to be I raised a girl that wrote poems Heard she say my name real well Call me a non-perishable If you’ve ever called me anything else you shouldn’t be writing poems about Englewood
VISUAL ARTS
Art on the Block
Ward residents build public arts projects in Chicago’s 50x50 project BY BRIDGET NEWSHAM
“C
hicago is one of the cultural powerhouses of the world,” muses Mark Kelly, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “We have thousands of great artists and so we need to support our artists, we need to value our artists and then…they can…make our city a better place by bringing their art onto the streets.” Kelly is referring to the 50x50 Neighborhood Project, a Year of Public Art initiative announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in late 2016 to install public art in every ward in Chicago in 2017. The Year of Public Art is an initiative committed to bringing more public art into the city as a whole. It’s also, in part, a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of two of Chicago’s most famous public art pieces: the “Chicago Picasso” in Daley Plaza and the
COURTESY OF THE GREEN STAR MOVEMENT
“Wall of Respect,” a mural that once existed at 43rd Street and Langley Avenue and is largely regarded as the beginning of the community mural movement in Chicago. Both pieces introduced new forms of art into the public arena. The “Wall of Respect” brought awareness to Black artists and historical figures in a very public way, and the “Picasso” brought modern art, typically seen only in museums, into everyday life. “People were horrified when they first saw it,” Kelly said, but he now considers the Picasso one of the “most beloved” elements of Chicago’s downtown. As a part of the 50x50 program, each alderman could choose to contribute $10,000 to a public art project, which would in turn be matched dollar for dollar by the mayor’s office. Due to the nature of the funding, however, some wards opted out of
the program to save their often tight budgets for what 2017 menu allotments are typically reserved for: infrastructure maintenance and more tangible improvements to their wards, such as filling potholes. As reported in the Weekly last March, some were concerned the funding would make the initiative inaccessible to some wards. At the time, thirty-eight wards confirmed participation. Out of the fifty wards, thirty-five ended up deciding to participate in the program, bringing fresh public art to a substantial portion of the city. Of the fifteen that did not participate, nine are on the South and West Sides. Proposals and completed projects range from murals to dance performances to large sculptural installations—making for an exciting combination of artwork reflecting the variety of forms that the fiftieth anniversary honors. NOVEMBER 8, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5
VISUAL ARTS
The Weekly sat down with artists and organizers from three of the completed projects for wards on the South Side.
Woodlawn Mural, 20th Ward: “Woodlawn has a reputation amongst people outside of the community for being a dangerous place…I think the residents were really interested in changing that perception,” mural artist Devin Torres said. The 20th Ward’s public art installation is a mural at 65th and Dorchester. The mural, at nearly 4,200 square feet, is “a long reflection on the past and present through images and patterns.” It incorporates well-known individuals from the community, including famed Chicago musician Minnie Riperton. She’s one of the many figures and accomplishments you see as you walk along the mural to its end, which depicts modern Woodlawn using images of birdwatchers, impassioned protesters, and residents enjoying their outdoor space. Torres was the lead artist on the project. He’s a teaching artist with Green Star Movement, the nonprofit group that was selected by the Ward to complete the mural with Woodlawn. “Residents wanted to demonstrate their community has produced positive things and people in the past, and they will continue to do so in the future,” Torres said. “They wanted to show people they had something to be proud of.” The design was a collective effort of Woodlawn residents and Green Star Movement artists. Residents submitted ideas and themes they wanted to see on the wall and eventually voted on which compilation was most representative of those ideas. The choice of mosaic tile as the medium meant the mural required exceptional community participation in order to meet Woodlawn’s early October deadline. When over 1,000 volunteers ended up showing up to help throughout the process, Torres was blown away. “People would just hang out, they would cheer us on, they would bring us snacks or play music if they weren’t working on the wall,” Torres said. Why were residents so committed to this project? “Public art such as this mural has the ability to create spaces that may not exist,” Torres said. “It brings a collective idea on what a community would like to reflect about themselves and makes that [idea] clear to the world.” 6 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
Pullman Mural, 9th Ward: Rahmaan Barnes is a Chicago-based artist working as a muralist and graphic designer. Starting off as a graffiti artist in middle school, Barnes eventually progressed into larger scale public art projects as a teen; he has been a staple in the city’s public art community for years. Having spent his high school years in Pullman, Barnes is familiar with the challenges the community faces in terms of violence. As he approached the Pullman public art installation, he was committed to creating something that residents could be proud of—and “something to focus on to remember the brighter side of things,” Barnes said. Barnes held three community meetings to present sketches and ideas to interested residents. During this process, the railroad industry and community organizing emerged as points of pride in the community. “It was important to everyone to make it clear there was no question about what had been achieved here,” said Barnes, “and [to] pay homage to all the people who worked at [the Pullman factories] and made that success possible.” In creating the mural, Barnes enlisted over seventy high school students to assist in painting the larger portions. He wanted the mural to be a source of creative expression for the community as well as a source of continual inspiration. He wanted the process of creating the piece to be therapeutic in and of itself. “I have noticed a lot of people in our… lower income communities are lacking a creative outlet, creative expression in any way. This mural allowed for some young people to come out and fulfill that need for creativity,” Barnes said. “Having a creative outlet on a daily basis is like a mandatory mental exercise that keeps you grounded in this chaotic world we live in.” The final product, standing twelve feet high, is an expansive 160-foot sepia-toned mural depicting images of factory workers, train porters, and Barack Obama (who started out as a community organizer in the Pullman neighborhood). Barnes chose the sepia tone so it would age in a way that could be transformed over time, just as Pullman has, since many of these images were the reality of the neighborhood. When gazing at this mural, it is without question what a profound legacy the Pullman community has had on Chicago, transportation, and beyond.
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35 of the 50 wards in Chicago participated in the 50x50 neighborhood art initiative. Some wards either didn’t have an artist or community group propose a project, or decided not to use $10,000 of their discretionary budgets typically reserved for road resurfacing and sidewalk repair on an art project.
Pilsen Mural, 25th Ward: At the corner of 21st and Peoria stands an oasis known as El Paseo Community Garden. The garden is known for its monthly outdoor yoga sessions and work on monarch butterfly preservation—a butterfly famous for its journey from Mexico to the Midwest. The garden also happens to be one of the first stops on the controversial El Paseo Trail and the spot chosen for the 50x50 mural in Pilsen. Artists Eric J. Garcia, Diana Solís, and Katia Pérez-Fuentes had a large task in front of them: to design a mural that was representative of a rapidly changing community, and to honor the traditions of public art in Pilsen. The artists decided to hold three separate meetings: one for individuals who had lived in the community and participated in the garden for years, one for “the gardeners” or the main planters in the garden, and an open meeting for all residents of Pilsen. Consistent themes began emerging through these meetings: immigration, erasure of previous works and identities, environmental issues and contamination, and, of course, the butterfly. Knowing many residents were concerned the mural would be a driving force in further development and gentrification along El
Paseo Trail, Garcia, Solís, and Pérez-Fuentes made sure those who had participated in the meetings felt heard and reflected in the work. “If there are things that are going up that don’t reflect you or you’re not comfortable with, it gives you a sense of who has power and who has ownership over that space,” Pérez-Fuentes said. The outcome was a 2,700 squarefoot piece that took over fourteen weeks to complete. Sixty community members came out to help at an all-day community paint day, and garden organizer Paula Acevedo described the project as “a mural by the community and for the community.” The wall both alludes to and depicts the struggles and growth community members outlined as important to them. There are layers of different landscapes overlaid with barbed wire as a reference to immigration and migration, images of industry, and symbols of growth, prosperity, and community. Laid over the entire piece is a subtle, yet important, homage to murals that no longer exist—including the famed Casa Aztlan painted subtly over in gold. “There were several murals that came down while we were developing this mural,” Pérez-Fuentes said. “It was our responsibility to honor them, and ensure the people who made them would not be forgotten.” ¬
HOUSING
From Lithuania to Cabrini-Green
Cross-cultural event offers new perspectives on housing and displacement BY JULIE XU
T
JULIE XU
wenty-two year old Raymond Shaq McDonald was a child when the high rises at Cabrini-Green fell. Nijole Kasuba, a grandmother now, was just seven when her family decided to flee the advancing Red Army after they saw family members deported and killed in Siberia during the first Soviet Occupation in the 1940s. Their stories of displacement might seem very different, but last Saturday’s event, part of Inherit Chicago’s intercultural festival, explored the similarities in these stories of displacement. The Chicago Cultural Alliance is an organization that connects different ethnic museums, cultural centers, and historical societies across Chicago. The organization intends to “connect, promote, and support centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive Chicago” and launched Inherit Chicago, a series of events around the city, for the first time this year. Included in the programming was this panel discussion about displacement at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in West Lawn. The discussion centered on stories of displacement from both the Baltic nations and public housing in Chicago. It was an odd pairing that Robert Smith, Associate Director of the National Public Housing Museum, acknowledged in his opening remarks. “In conversations with each of the panelists over the phone and in person,” Smith said, “I’ve learned more and more about the shared experiences [of ] the
people from these two communities— [communities] who don’t share a language or a national homeland or perhaps much else in a highly segregated city like Chicago.” Panelist Nijole Kasuba spoke about the loss of her family, her parents’ jobs, her home, and her country during the war. Her experience in the displaced persons camps, where two or three families would be in one room for upwards of five years, was different from panelist and current member of the Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Panel, Raymond Shaq McDonald’s experience of community organizing and marching. “We were fighting for our neighborhoods,” McDonald said. “Leading marches because we knew it was us versus them with their plans for transformation. It still felt like a war zone, but a different kind of war zone this time.” The discussion had started with a brief history of public housing in Chicago ,starting with background on the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Plan for Transformation in 2000. This plan was a pledge to rebuild 25,000 homes after the demolition of high rise public housing units at Robert Taylor Homes, Cabrini-Green, and elsewhere by 2009. As of today, the Plan for Transformation has been marked by long delays with minimal construction. CHA housing quotas have been largely filled with vouchers for housing in private buildings while large stretches of land in the State Street corridor intended for new
U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT
Top: Suitcases arranged in front of a photograph of displaced persons at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture. Bottom: Displaced persons, going to the United States under the new Displaced Persons Law, leave the train at the Bremerhaven Port of embarkation and board the U.S.A.T. “General Black.”
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HOUSING
public housing remain empty. Only about eight percent of displaced peoples have been relocated into mixed income housing. Hearing stories of displacement from different time periods and different places shows that anyone can be displaced. The similar social and political powers that are able to displace peoples with impunity and the similar resistance of the people are particularly moving. But in connecting these stories of displacement, there is the potential for over-simplification of issues that are quite complex. While both McDonald and Kasuba were displaced from their childhood homes, for example, they lived through different fights at different times. The Balzekas Museum, host of the displacement discussion, is currently featuring an exhibit called “No Home to Go To: The Story of Baltic Displaced Persons 1944-1952.” The persecution of Lithuanians by the Soviet Union in the mid- to late twentieth century is the exhibit’s theme. The exhibit shows the history of Baltic immigrants to the U.S. through objects of memory, such as wedding dresses, toys, luggage, and more, serving as tactile reminders of the past. The memorabilia on display traces the specific paths of displaced persons from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia and their struggles in finding a new home. Similar to the National Public Housing Museum, the exhibit focuses on sharing stories of displaced peoples and passing on oral histories that might otherwise be lost. This exhibit helped educate a new audience drawn by their interest in the National Public Housing Museum. In a room filled with Lithuanian greetings of “labas,” it is clear that without the Chicago Cultural Alliance, connections between the displaced peoples of the Baltic region after World War II would not be readily made to displaced people in Chicago public housing. Yet the common stories of communities working to support each other while others try to tear them apart offers an inspiring cross
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cultural story of resilience. While it was an informative discussion, questions still linger about the fate of displaced persons in Chicago and the fate of public housing. Eileen Ryan, an attendee at the event and a resident of Ravenswood, said, “I don’t know how I see myself fitting into the discussion around public housing. I don’t know if they gave a path forward, though I know there were some options like the woman from Pilsen said and community organizing and getting involved. So I think this panel reminded us that people are just like us or they’re one generation removed. We’re all human and we all need to be neighborly and help each other find decent housing. [Housing] is a human right that society doesn’t necessarily embrace. The cultural aspects are very good but also how to create action—that is often the next step that doesn’t happen.” The Baltic displacement of peoples is a historically important event and the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture is right in telling this history. But what type of role will the National Public Housing Museum play in Chicago as people fend off further cuts and “redevelopment” in an ongoing public housing battle? As a museum whose goals are to “preserve, promote, and propel housing as a human right,” their institutional role within contemporary politics remains unclear. If we are to take seriously the lessons of Baltic displaced peoples, perhaps it is also necessary to take preventative actions that stop future losses right here in Chicago. ¬ The National Public Housing Museum is set to open in Chicago by the end of 2018. Their current exhibit “Housing as a Human Right: Social Construction” is open until January 8 at 625 N. Kingsbury St. “No Home to Go To: The Story of Baltic Displaced Persons 1944-1952,” The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 S. Pulaski Rd. Extended indefinitely. MondaySunday, 10am–4pm. $9, $7 students and seniors, $3 children 12 and under. (773) 582-6800. balzekasmuseum.org
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Opinion: Why Are Our Home Sales Up? Because of the People Who Live Here How community-driven organizing, not politics, has strengthened Beverly and Morgan Park BY SCOTT SMITH
L
ast week in Crain’s Chicago Business there was an article about how home sales in Beverly are on the rise and some of the reasons why. Before saying more about that article, a couple of declarations are in order here. Neighborhood development— specifically in my neighborhood of Beverly/Morgan Park, but also the general concept—has been on my mind for the last couple years due to volunteer work I’ve been doing. I serve on the board of the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA), I’m a board member with the Southwest Chicago Diversity Collaborative (where we’re working on the launch of a spring festival that highlights the need for more bike- and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods), and I work with the Beverly Area Arts Alliance, where I produce a live storytelling series called The Frunchroom that tells stories about the South Side that don’t always make the headlines. Like most volunteer work, there are intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. I love where I live and I want to see great things happen here. I own a house, so a good neighborhood means good property values. More art and less racism means my blood pressure stays low. That sort of thing. But I also see it as part of a larger belief about where neighborhood development should and must come from: a participatory community that has a voice in our neighborhood—and city. It’s the opposite of the typical top-down, politically driven model Chicago has often embraced.
How Beverly Creates Community A couple years ago, I wrote and performed “May the tavern rise up to meet you” at The Frunchroom. (Say, have you checked out our podcast, The Frunchroom: Stories from Chicago’s South Side, yet?) In it, I suggested that bars can be a place of true community and an economic driver, particularly in those places that elevate artists and writers. It may have been a bit self-serving or even meta, considering that I was saying it in a bar during the storytelling series I was producing with a group that showcases art in bars, but that didn’t make it any less true. I’d witnessed it as over the last few years more young families had moved into Beverly and Morgan Park, attracted by the home values and classic Chicago neighborhood feel. This week, no less than Crain’s Chicago Business backed up this assertion with data and reporting: “Beverly ended September with a steep increase in home sales for the year to date, according to Crain’s analysis of Midwest Real Estate Data’s sales information. In the first nine months of the year, 185 houses sold in Beverly, an increase of more than twenty-seven percent over the same period in 2016.” The piece goes on to quote real estate agent and Morgan Park resident Francine Benson Garaffo, who says that new groups
EVENTS
BULLETIN and businesses formed in the past few years have “brought a new energy into Beverly,” and highlights two new breweries and a meadery, as well as the Arts Alliance and The Frunchroom. (The Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery is near the 91st Street Metra on the border of Beverly and Washington Heights but grew out of a brewing supply store on Western Avenue.) We have to recognize what a hard turn this was, especially when the Arts Alliance’s Art Walk and Horse Thief Hollow (one of the two breweries mentioned) debuted. At the time, there was nothing like those breweries in the neighborhood. While both were warmly embraced, Western Avenue was (and still kind of is) a haven of shot-and-a-beer joints. And while there were some art galleries in the neighborhood, most are like the Vanderpoel Art Museum—gems galore, but hidden away, and not something the neighborhood was known for to outsiders. These changes are due to individuals who envisioned change and put entrepreneurial thinking behind it. It wasn’t thanks to a city or ward office development plan (though such a thing would certainly be welcome—and come to think of it, why doesn’t that exist?). It was people—many of them volunteers—banding together in common cause who then attracted likeminded folks to follow behind them. Horse Thief begat Open Outcry and the Meadery. The Art Walk begat The Frunchroom. Et cetera. You see this spirit of volunteerismmeets-entrepreneurialism in BAPA as well. Though it has only three full-time staff members, it has an army of volunteers, homeowners, and local businesses who make it possible to create a yearlong slate of events like the Ridge Run, the Beverly Home Tour, Bikes and Brews, and more. They’re also not afraid to take on the city and advocate for the neighborhood, like in the current campaign to save the Ridge Park fieldhouse after years of neglect.
How Beverly Fought for Our Public Schools The Crain’s article also had something interesting to say about public schools in our neighborhood: “Schools were the top draw, Clinton
added. ‘It was important to me that if we’re paying Chicago property taxes, we don’t also have to spend the money to pay for private school. I want a good school paid for with our taxes.’ The elementary school that serves their new home, Kellogg, scores a seven out of 10 points on Great Schools.” In a time of upheaval for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), it’s worth noting that people are moving to the 19th Ward because of our public schools. The article specifically mentions Kellogg Elementary as a reason why this family moved here. And that’s in spite of—not because of— efforts by our alderman and the mayor’s control of CPS. Because if they had had their way, Kellogg would be closed. In September of last year, 19th Ward Alderman Matt O’Shea revealed to the public a plan that would close or merge three 19th ward public elementary schools: Keller, Kellogg, and Sutherland. This would have had deleterious effects on Black and low-income students and would have affected the two schools (Keller and Kellogg) with the highest CPS ratings. Due to significant public objection, O’Shea dropped this plan, which was supposed to be necessary to provide $40 million to solve overcrowding issues at two other public elementary schools in the Ward: Esmond and Mount Greenwood. Somehow, even without closing or merging those three schools, the $40 million was found anyway and the plans to build annexes at Esmond and Mt. Greenwood proceeded. Since then, there’s been little public information provided on the status of these plans. As for Keller, Sutherland, and Kellogg: • Keller has maintained a 1+ rating (which indicates that the school is in ‘good standing’) for two years running with a slight (0.41 percent) enrollment increase. • Kellogg has maintained a 1+ rating for two years running and increased enrollment by three percent this year, bucking both ward and city trends for CPS. • Though Sutherland’s enrollment dropped, its rating improved to a 1 and it recruited a new principal with such a stellar record that the Local School Council voted unanimously to hire her without having to narrow its choice down to a set of finalists.
Like our burgeoning art and microbrewery scenes, this all happened because of people who stood up for the kind of community they wanted to see thrive here. But in the case of our public schools, it required them to stand up against Chicago’s ward/machine politics and literally fight City Hall in the form of a 250-person march last September. See, back in July of last year, it turned out that O’Shea was talking to Mayor Emanuel about his schools plan—a month and a half before he talked to any administrators at the affected schools, LSC members, public school parents, or the general public. All this was revealed in the email dump spurred by a Freedom of Information Act request from the Tribune and the Better Government Association.
Michelle Commander – “AfroAtlantic Flight”
Being the Change We Wish to See
UofC Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, 5733 S. University Ave. Thursday, November 9, 6pm–8pm. Free. (773) 702-8063. bit.ly/WallOfRespect
It’s great to see Beverly’s arts scene, new restaurants, and public schools creating an atmosphere where home sales and prices are on the rise. There are two lessons here: 1. If you have a vision for change in your community, you and your friends have the power to make it happen. 2. Decisions about our communities— especially our schools—should be participatory, not hatched in secret. When the 2019 mayoral and aldermanic campaigns roll around, I expect that O’Shea and Emanuel will talk about Beverly’s home prices on the rise and take some credit for that. But I wonder if they’ll mention the people who actually made it happen, sometimes in spite of their own wishes. They’ll talk about how much money they’ve brought to two schools in our community. (I’ll never forget how Emanuel said the money was coming to Mt. Greenwood “because your alderman was nice to me.”) They’ll hope we’ll forget they tried to damage three schools experiencing growth and success. I hope we won’t. Scott Smith is a resident of Beverly/Morgan Park and the Editorial Director at TeamWorks Media. He also runs the blog Our Man in Chicago, where this article was originally published in different form.
Seminary Co-op, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave. Wednesday, November 8, 6pm–7:30pm. Free. (773) 752-4381. semcoop.com During this talk, Michelle D. Commander, an associate professor of English and Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee, will discuss her new book Afro-Atlantic Flight, which analyzes the relationship Black Americans have with “imagined Africas” and the importance of refiguring widespread U.S. narratives about slavery. (Bridget Newsham)
The Wall of Respect Book Release and Discussion
Join the editors of a new book about the Wall of Respect mural that was painted on an abandoned 43rd Street building in the 1960s. The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago is an in-depth illustrated account of the mural’s creation that collects essays, poetry, and primary documents into one text. (Sam Stecklow)
Beyond One Chicago: Resisting Divisions of the Prison Industrial Complex UIC Student Services Building, 1200 W. Harrison St, conference rooms B and C. Friday, November 10, 6:30pm, doors 6pm. bit.ly/BeyondOne Hear from community organizers as they discuss ways to resist criminalization, policing, and the problematic database behind CPD’s Strategic Subject List. BYP100, Organizing Communities Against Deportation, and Mijente will all be featured at this event hosted by Critical Resistance. (Adia Robinson)
Learn to be an African Heritage Cooking Superstar! St. Ailbe Church, 9015 S. Harper Ave. Saturday, November 11, 12pm–3pm. Free. RSVP at bit.ly/ATOAHTraining
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Loved last May’s Weekly article “Tradition in the Kitchen” and want to get involved in more A Taste of African Heritage cooking classes? Join the Ridgeland Block Club Association in the kitchen at St. Ailbe Church to learn how to teach your own A Taste of African Heritage class. “Get equipped with the skills, knowledge, and recipes to bring ‘Health through Heritage’ back to the community at your church, mosque or community group.” (Andrew Koski)
November Story Time: The Joys of Being a Little Black Boy Build Coffee, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Saturday, November 11, 11:30am–12:30pm. Free. (773) 627-5058. bit.ly/LittleBlackBoyStoryTime Join former Weekly executive editor Bess Cohen and 57th Street Books children’s manager Franny Billingsly, as well as special guest author Valerie Reynolds, for a November story time for all ages, but especially those between zero and six. They’ll be reading from Reynolds’s picture book The Joys of Being a Little Black Boy, which was featured in the Weekly’s 2017 Lit Issue. (Sam Stecklow)
VISUAL ARTS CHILL SET 2017 – Teen Night at the NMMA The National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. Friday, November 10, 6pm–10pm. (312) 738-1503. nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org The National Museum of Mexican Art will be hosting Teen Art night in honor of Dia de Los Muertos. There will be a live art battle, button-making, live music, dancing, and more! If you’re a teen and you’re into art (or even if you’re not), come on over to this Pilsen museum to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos the right way! (Michael Wasney)
Folk Art of Mexico: Alebrijes of Oaxaca Workshop Blackstone Library, 4904 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday, November 11, 2pm–4pm. Free. Children ten and up. Registration required. (312) 747-0511. chipublib.org/blackstone Join the Blackstone Library as they welcome Oaxacan artist Carlos Orozco for a workshop on the traditional Oaxacan art form of alebrijes. Also known as Mexican folk art, alebrijes are colorful carved wooden animals. Orozco will present the history of alebrijes, and participants will be able to paint their own wooden animals. (Roderick Sawyer)
7th Annual Beautiful Coffins Show The Surreal Rabbit, 2059 W. 18th Street. Friday, November 17, 6pm–10pm. Free. (312) 285-2795. facebook.com/surrealrabbit Every year, at the behest of the all-woman art collective Mujeres Mutantes, painters, poets, artists and other community members can decorate fifty handcrafted mini coffins to honor loved ones in a celebration of both Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween. This year’s theme is the number seven and the search for truth. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Alejandro Cesarco at the Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue (Cobb Hall, 4th floor). Saturday, November 18, 5pm–8pm with artist talk at 6pm. Free. Exhibit through January 28, 2018. (773) 834-8049. renaissancesociety.org The Renaissance Society presents a conversation and an exhibition with artist Alejandro Cesarco. Cesarco’s newly commissioned work combines video, sound, and photography as an exploration of elements such as time, memory, and meaning. Cesarco will lead a conversation on his work starting at 6pm. (Roderick Sawyer)
YCA On The Block: Pilsen La Catrina Café, 1011 W. 18th St. Through Dec. 1. Fridays, 6pm–8pm. Free. In collaboration with Yollocalli Arts Reach and La Catrina Café, Young Chicago Authors will be hosting free open mics and workshops every Friday. Come through and learn how to write poems and hear others perform. (Roderick Sawyer) 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
MUSIC Party Noire After Dark: Dance Hall & Juke Joint The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West. Thursday, November 9, 9pm. $5 presale, $7 day of. 21+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com
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Party Noire at the Promontory is back—this time, after dark—as they present “Dance Hall & Juke Joint.” The night will kick off with screenings of some of the best current Black indie films. Afterwards, expect some jams brought to you by DJ Rae Chardonnay and Lisa Decibel. It’s not a night to be missed! (Michael Wasney)
Nuestra Gente: Mexico & Puerto Rico Fundraiser The Dojo (message on Facebook for address). Saturday, November 11, 7:30pm. $5-$10 donation. thedojochi.com Worried that your Saturday nights out on the town aren’t doing enough to save the world? Then come to the Dojo’s Nuestra Gente for a night of art, music, and social justice. Proceeds will go to the areas of Mexico and Puerto Rico impacted by recent natural disasters that still lack adequate emergency funds. So think of it as a two-fold moral obligation: to save lives on the one hand, and to enjoy an artand music-filled night on the other! (Michael Wasney)
Turnover Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Friday, November 10, doors 7:30pm, show 8:30pm. $18–$25. 17+. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com Turnover is touching down in Chicago this November as part of its U.S. tour. And the indie darlings are bringing friends: special guests Elvis Depressedly and Emma Ruth Rundle are starting the night off. Bring your own friends for a music-filled night in the historic venue. (Michael Wasney)
Brian Fresco Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Sunday, November 12, 6pm. $10–$12. All ages. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com The “street ambassador” for the Save Money collective, Brian Fresco has been making a name of his own over the past couple years, being named in RedEye’s “Top 15 Acts to Watch in 2015,” releasing his second mixtape Casanova in 2016, performing with MC Tree and Juicy J in Los Angeles as part of Red Bull’s “30 Days in LA” concert series, and headlining his own shows everywhere in between. Catch him at Reggies for what is sure to be a fire set in front of a hometown crowd. (Andrew Koski)
Isaiah Sharkey The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West. Thursday, November 17, 8pm. $15 and up. 21+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com Grammy award-winning songwriter, South Side legend, and guitarist extraordinaire Isaiah Sharkey is coming to The Promontory to celebrate the release of his debut album, Love.Life.Live. Come through to enjoy his idiosyncratic, finger-snapping style that mixes soul, R&B, rock, gospel, and jazz. (Michael Wasney)
The Dojo Presents: Queendom Come The Dojo, message on Facebook for address. Saturday, November 18, doors 8pm, workshop 8:30pm, music 9pm–1am. $5 donation. BYOB. thedojochi.com The queens in question at the Dojo next month will be Jovan Landry, Tee Spirit, Freddie Old Soul, DJ Gr-illa, and host for the night Fury Hip Hop. In perhaps less queenly but reliable fashion, F12 Network will be hosting a workshop again at 8:30pm, and nonprofit organization Activist In You will be vending throughout the night. ( Julia Aizuss)
STAGE & SCREEN Made in L.A. (Hecho en LA) Casa Michoacán, 1638 S. Blue Island Ave. Wednesday, November 8, 7pm. Free. southsideprojections.org Immigrant organization network Alianza Americas, the Smart Museum of Art, art gallery and music venue Casa Michoacán, and South Side Projections have teamed up to screen the 2007 documentary Made in L.A. The film, which follows three undocumented Latina immigrants in a quest to win labor protections from Forever 21, will be followed by a discussion—come by Wednesday to find out with whom. ( Julia Aizuss)
The Belle of Amherst Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Thursday, November 2–Sunday, December 3. $35–$68, discounts available for seniors, students, faculty, and groups. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org Emily Dickinson could not stop for death, but you should stop by the UofC’s Court Theatre to see William Luce’s play about the
EVENTS revered poet’s reclusive life in Massachusetts. Kate Fry stars as the prolific Dickinson who “dwells in possibility” and famously characterized hope as a “feathered thing that perches in the soul.” ( Joseph S. Pete)
The staged reading will revive a play as part of Court’s Spotlight Reading Series, which aims to bring the works of people of color to the fore. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Re:sound Live! Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Wednesday, November 8, 7:30pm. $25. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com Part of the Third Coast International Audio Festival’s two-week curated live podcast festival, Re:sound Live!—described as a “narrative mixtape”—brings together disparate storytellers and podcast hosts for an evening of live original stories and audio experiments. (Sam Stecklow)
BCH Mixtape: Vol. 1 Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Friday, November 10, 7pm–10pm. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org Seven short films will mark the debut of a new Black Cinema House series showcasing the independent short film of Black filmmakers. A discussion afterward will hone in on the artists and the “breadth of Black perspective and imagination” demonstrated in their works, from intergenerational violence to sexual and cultural identity. ( Julia Aizuss)
The Revolution Will Not Be Improvised The Revival, 1160 E. 55th St. Every Saturday through November 11, 7:30pm. $5–$15. the-revival.com Ever since Gil Scott-Heron, people have speculated on what the revolution will not be. The Revival’s Fall South Side Sketch Comedy Review adds to that conversation and wrings needed laughs out of the current sociopolitical climate. Max Thomas, Elias Rios, Jared Chapman, Lexi Alioto, Sara Savusa, and Mo Phillips-Spotts blend improv humor and music under the direction of Molly Todd Madison. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Spotlight Reading Series: “Trouble in Mind” South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Dr. Saturday, November 11, 3pm. Free, reservation required. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind offers a satirical take on racism in American commercial theater, spoofing a “progressive” Broadway play about race that’s anything but.
FOOD & LAND Dolores Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. Friday, November 10 through Wednesday, November 15. See website for showtimes. $11, $6 for members. (312) 846-2800. siskelfilmcenter.org California grape boycott organizer Dolores Huerta, who teamed up with Cesar Chavez to found the nation’s first farmworker’s union, has been hailed as a real-life superhero. She’s the subject of Peter Bratt’s documentary, recently brought back to the Siskel due to popular demand. It features on-screen interviews with Huerta herself, as well as with significant historical figures like Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Creative Kimchi Playshop
Bike trip: Pullman Porter Museum, The Big Marsh, and ACME The Spoke & Bird, 205 E. 18th St. Sunday, November 12, 8am–5pm. $20 (includes museum admission). adventurecycling.tours A forty-mile, daylong bike tour will take cyclists to the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, through the historic factory town of Pullman, to the 278-acre Big Marsh, and onto the abandoned ACME Coke Plant that once baked coal into steelmaking-grade coke in more than fifty ovens. Cyclists will be able to take in the area’s wealth of industrial history, architecture, and nature. ( Joseph S. Pete)
Chicago Food Justice Coalition Inaugural Meeting Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, 120 S. LaSalle St. Monday, November 13, 10am– noon. RSVP requested by Wednesday, November 8; fill out survey at bit.ly/FoodJusticeSurvey. (312) 347-8350. Email dedelstein@lafchicago. org if interested but can’t attend. lafchicago.org
Anyone interested in using legal and political advocacy to work on food justice and equity—whether in Chicago, Illinois, or all the Midwest—is welcome to this meeting and workshop. Come to help LAF get community input on this new project, as well as to start discussing and collaborating on issues surrounding food and agriculture. ( Julia Aizuss)
Olmsted and Beyond: Parks & Open Spaces on the South Side DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. Tuesday, November 14, noon– 1pm. (773) 947-0600. dusablemuseum.org At this short, lunch-hour lecture, photographer/architecture critic/new DuSable Vice President/possible Renaissance man Lee Bey will walk attendees through the South Side’s green and open spaces, and the history of their development. No need to pack walking shoes, though—Bey will use slides and, presumably, his own photographs, to cover all that ground. (Emeline Posner)
Eco Collective, 2042 W. 21st St. Saturday, November 11, 1pm–3pm. $35, scholarships available. (773) 467-7891. ediblealchemyfoods.com Whether you wish to ferment for “health,” “taste,” or “radical self-sustainability” (or all three), fermenter extraordinaire Andrea Mattson-McGaffey—manager of the Edible Alchemy Foods Co-op and the Eco Collective’s rooftop garden—will be willing and able to help you experiment with making kimchi out of a range of vegetables at this workshop. ( Julia Aizuss)
Composting in Public Spaces Workshop Montessori School of Englewood, 6936 S. Hermitage Ave. Saturday, November 11, 9:30am–3pm. Free. Register at tinyurl.com/compostingSOUTH All the questions you’ve ever had about composting in public spaces will find answers at this all-intensive community workshop led by NeighborSpace. Hear from the experts on best practices, learn how to build your own bin, and talk through the new requirements of the Chicago Composting Ordinance. Breakfast, snacks, and lunch provided for free. (Emeline Posner)
Left: Mariia Feliksovna Bri-Bein, Woman Worker and Woman Collective Farmer, Join the Ranks of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, 1934, lithograph on paper, Ne boltai! Collection. Right: Olga Chernysheva, March, 2005. Courtesy: Diehl, Berlin; Pace, London; Foxy Production, New York.
Smart Museum of Art The University of Chicago 5550 S. Greenwood Avenue smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
NOVEMBER 8, 2017 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11
Blackstone Bicycle Works Blackstone Bicycle Works Weekly Bike Sale Weekly Bike Sale Every Saturday at 10am Every Saturday at 10am Wide selection of refurbished bikes!
(most are between $120 &bikes! $250) Widebikes selection of refurbished (most bikes are between $120 & $250) Blackstone Bicycle Works is a bustling community bike shop that each year empowers over 200 boys andcommunity girls from bike Chicago’s Blackstone Bicycle Works is a bustling shop that south mechanical business each side—teaching year empowers them over 200 boys andskills, girls job fromskills, Chicago’s literacy and how to become responsibleskills, community members. south side—teaching them mechanical job skills, businessIn our year-round ‘earn and learn’ youth program, participants earn literacy and how to become responsible community members. In bicycles and accessories forlearn’ theiryouth work in the shop. In addition, our our year-round ‘earn and program, participants earn bicycles and accessories fortutoring, their work in the shop. In addition, youths receive after-school mentoring, internships andour youths receive after-school tutoring, mentoring, internships and externships, college and career advising, and scholarships. externships, college and career advising, and scholarships.
6100 S. Blackstone Ave. 6100 S. IL Blackstone Chicago, 60637 Ave. Chicago, IL 60637
A PROGRAM OF A PROGRAM OF
WRENS IN THE PARKING LOT
January 7
Hours Hours - Friday 1pm - 6pm Tuesday 1pm- -5pm 6pm Tuesday - Friday10am Saturday 10am - 5pm Saturday (773) 241 5458 (773) 241 5458
BROWN PEOPLE ARE THE arts.uchicago.edu/logan/gallery
THE LEO S. GUTHMAN FUND THE THE LEO LEO S. S. GUTHMAN GUTHMAN FUND FUND THE LEO S. GUTHMANFUND FUND S. THE LEO S. GUTHMAN GUTHMAN FUND THETHE LEOLEO S. GUTHMAN FUND THELEO LEOS.S.GUTHMAN GUTHMANFUND FUND THE THE LEO S. GUTHMAN FUND THE LEO S. GUTHMAN FUND THE LEO S. GUTHMAN FUND
Logan Center Gallery • Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts • 915 E 60th St Chicago IL 60637
Opening Reception & Town Hall — November 10, 6pm
November 10
youthsrec iveafter-scho ltuoring,mentoring,internshipsand ext rnships,coleg andcare radvisng,andscholarships.