January 11 - 17, 2021 Vol. 29 No. 02
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Arts & (Home) Entertainment
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SportsWise
We are replacing our usual calendar with virtual events and recommendations from StreetWise vendors, readers and staff to keep you entertained at home! Looking at inclusiveness in sports in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
Cover Story: MLK jr. Day 2021
In our annual edition to mark the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we reflect on a TV interview in the last year of Dr. King's life in which he said the Civil Rights Movement had achieved basic decency and needed to shift toward economic equality. That struggle is reflected in today's concern about the snowballing "wealth gap" between Blacks and whites.
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From the Streets
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Inside StreetWise
The Homeless Memorial Service held annually on or near the longest night of the year goes virtual to acknowledge that homeless people's lives mattered, despite the emptiness of their pockets. Also, the documentary "Pushout," based on the book of the same name, describes how African American girls are misunderstood from an early age in school, which often leads to their expulsion and criminalization. StreetWise Vendor Jimmie Beckless introduces his stepson Semaj to the vendor workforce.
The Playground THIS PAGE: Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in Chicago in 1966, Bob Fitch photography archive, Š Stanford University Libraries.
Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
dhamilton@streetwise.org
StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI
Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Amanda Jones, Director of programs
ajones@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, Executive director
jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616
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ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time. To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of things to do at home and why you love them to: Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org
Months of Entertainment!
Steppenwolf NOW Steppenwolf NOW is a new virtual programming stream featuring six breakthrough stories written by America’s most talented voices, spotlighting the nation’s premier ensemble theatre. Offering an innovative slate of immersive and visual experiences, radio plays, bite-sized programming and episodic work, all six productions are crafted specifically for the virtual platform. Become a virtual member for just $75 and stream content wherever you are, whenever you want. With a virtual membership purchase, you can stream all Steppenwolf NOW content through August 31. But hurry—the sooner you become a virtual member, the quicker you’ll get access to the new content once it’s released at www.steppenwolf.org. Here is the full lineup of Steppenwolf NOW virtual productions:
(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT
A FILMED PLAY: "What Is Left, Burns" by James Ijames, now streaming. Two poets separated by age and distance engage in a video call rendezvous after 15 years. Keith, a distinguished poet and professor of literature is moving towards retirement after a recent divorce from his wife. Ronnie, his younger former lover and mentee, has a New York Times-bestselling book and a burgeoning career ahead of him. The two men wade through the connection they once had as they struggle with the desires that still bind them.
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A TWO-ACT RADIO PLAY: "Wally World" by Isaac Gómez, now streaming. It’s Christmas Eve and a group of Wally World employees are about to lose it. On the one day of the year the megadepartment superstore is supposed to close its doors, tensions between co-workers threaten to destroy more than their holiday cheer. Their manager Andy is doing everything in her power to keep her store in line and her employees in check. But can she be everything at once: caring, efficient, protective, firm and kind? Wally World is a festive, poignant examination of finding magic in the mundane, as 10 employees do all they can to find purpose in a place that has never seen purpose in them. AN ILLUSTRATED SHORT PLAY: "Red Folder" by ensemble member Rajiv Joseph, now streaming. The red folder belongs to a first grader. It is the source of all his woes. Years later, he seeks vengeance. A FILMED PLAY: "Duchess! Duchess! Duchess!" by Vivian J.O. Barnes, streaming in February. A Royal Wedding is looming. The Duchess and the Soon-to-be-Duchess are meeting face-to-face for the first time to go over everything you ever needed to know to become a duchess. There are rules. There’s a way of doing things. Remember, everybody is watching. And you don’t want to know what happens if you step out of line. "Duchess! Duchess! Duchess!" looks at the hidden costs of being the “luckiest girl in the world.” A FILMED PLAY: "Where We Stand" by Donnetta Lavinia Grays, streaming in April. W hat does community mean? And what do we owe to one another? W hen a man who has been shunned by his town makes a deal on behalf of it with a mysterious stranger, he must stand before his community to ask for forgiveness in hopes that they might answer these enduring questions as they determine his fate. Through poetic verse and music, this work challenges our capacity to forgive and our ideas of mercy and who might deserve it. .
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A FILMED PLAY: "Ages of the Moon" by Sam Shepard, streaming in June. Byron and Ames are old friends, reunited by mutual desperation on a hot summer day. As day turns into night and the bourbon keeps flowing, they sit, reflect and bicker about 50 years of love, friendship and their rivalry.
Make It!
Take Care with Art After Dark: Making a Scroll Unroll a scroll on a new year from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 20 with a guided art-making session and discussion. Led by Kathryn Fitzgerald, lead museum educator at the Smart Museum, this virtual gathering mixes art-making and conversation, inspired by the Smart’s exhibition "Take Care." You’ll reflect on the past year and consider plans for the coming one as you engage with Mary Frank’s work in the exhibition. Join in from home for an evening of art exploration and creative drawing within a supportive, caring community. The event is FREE, but to help build a community of participants, capacity is limited and advanced registration is required at smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
Art History!
Art Deco Gods and Goddesses Art Deco epitomized the exuberance of the Roaring 20s, but it also included motifs from ancient times. See how images of Greek gods and goddesses added art and meaning to many of Chicago’s most beautiful Art Deco buildings at this virtual program. Images of classical deities are often used to identify a building’s purpose. This virtual program will showcase gods and goddesses that identify a post office, an electrical substation, a musicians’ union and more than one bank. In each example, the gravitas and familiarity of the classical deities complement the gaiety and novelty of Art Deco, making the building both identifiable and easy to love. The event will be at noon on January 13. Tickets are $8 for general public, free for CAC members and students, at architecture.org; click on Live Events Calendar.
Shop from Home!
Wicker Park Farmers Market Winter Market The nonprofit Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce announces the return of Wicker Park Farmers Market Winter Market, on the W hat’s Good app and website for the first time. Operated under social distancing guidelines, the Market offers weekly ordering available Monday through Friday for contactless pick-ups every Sunday 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. from behind the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce office at 1414 N. Ashland Ave. The Market is currently scheduled to run through April; for updates on the closing date visit www.wickerparkfarmersmarket.com. All vendors will continue being plastic-free. Weekly ordering will open every Monday morning at 8 a.m. and close on Friday at midnight. Orders will be packaged in a sanitized environment with market staff wearing gloves and masks at all times. Each customer will be given a designated one-hour window to pick up orders, with more detailed instructions sent out with every order placed. Delivery options will be offered in the near future. The Market’s current vendor lineup includes Fehr Bros., Having Fons, Jacobson Family Farm, Joe's Blues, Jacobson Family Farm, Le Master Family Kitchen, Letizia's Natural Bakery, Nutmeg’s Spreads, Sfera Sicilian Street Food, Soap Junkii, Tamales Express, Tomato Bliss, Tinyshop Grocer, Tortello, and Westside Bee Boyz. For the latest updates on vendors, visit www.wickerparkfarmersmarket.com and follow on social media (@wickerpark_farmersmarket). .
Improv Hijinks!
ComedySportz Chicago: Virtually Live! Get ready to laugh in your living room! ComedySportz now comes to you four times a weekend on its brand new Twitch channel! Two teams virtually take each other on for your laughs, chats, and emojis. The classic games you love with new twists. Players come to you live from their living rooms to provide the perfect end to your stressful week. All matches end with the insanely intense Six Things Face-off, made popular by online audiences. FREE on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at twitch.tv/csznchicago
-Compiled by Dave Hamilton & Suzanne Hanney
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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
SPORTSWISE
MLK Jr Day 2020: Inclusion
Donald: I’ve been through a lot in my life, including many years at StreetWise. The annual issue of the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK), is the one that means the most to me. I’ve looked up to MLK when that’s all I could do; walked hand-in-hand in my mind with MLK through the years; I’ve been MLK in my expressions and teachings throughout my life. Patrick: Anything you’ve expressed over the years you’d like to share? Donald: Although there’s many I’d like to share, one thing has always permeated all, and that’s that, due to MLK, I’ve never been afraid to speak my mind. To my peers, to those who could be my sons and nephews, to those—male and female— who may be ignorant to some of the ways of this world. But I’ve also been brave enough to hold my tongue in situations that weren’t worthy of me losing my self; those situations that require a more “overall” healing.
Russ: Don, let me get in here for a second. First, let me say “Happy Birthday, Dr. King. Thank you for your movement.” I remember when Blacks couldn’t play sports with whites, and Dr. King stepped to the forefront and fought for this right. One specific moment I remember is when the Negro League played the white MLB team, the Negro League team kicked their butts. So what happened is, it morphed into “If you can’t beat the Negro League, then let them join us.” Patrick: Who were some of the Negro League players who helped kick in the doors? Russ: To name just a few, Henry “Hank” Aaron, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. They, and everyone else involved in the movement led by MLK, helped change the game of baseball. John: But when I hear certain media outlets and sports
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leagues discuss filling GM and other ownership positions with more Blacks—in some cases, only Blacks—to me, isn’t that defeating the purpose of the spirit of MLK? Patrick: My perspective on this is that MLK, as well as those fulfilling his wishes, wanted fairness. To have fairness, there must be a similar starting line and, unfortunately, Blacks (and other minorities) had not—and still, to this day, have not—even seen that line. When a group has been held back for so many years, only to see those keeping them down power forward into positions that enable them to keep the status quo, it is only right, in my opinion, to attempt to level the playing field. So, I believe, MLK wanted there to be opportunity for all to excel. This not only elevates society as an entity, but also elevates individuals to come together for the same mission; something
I like to refer to as an “evening.” John: When any business opens to hire only Blacks, this is as bad as a business that opens to hire only whites. Donald: True. And the ideal down the line is that neither will be the case. However, we have to progress to that point, and there’s a ways to get there. I believe, in my lifetime, we won’t get to this ideal, but we must continue the charge. We must all—everyone who wants change for the better— fight to make this a reality. Patrick: So, any last words? John: A color-blind society is not achieved by people judged by the color of their skin—but by their character and merit. Donald: We’ve never had a great America, but we have the resources to do so. Russ: Agreed. Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org
WHERE THE PROTESTS END, OUR WORK BEGINS. For nearly a century, we’ve been working to promote racial justice. Help us achieve it once and for all. UntilJusticeJustIs.org
MLK JR. DAY 2021: FROM DECENCY TO ECONOMIC EQUALITY by Suzanne Hanney
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the last year of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, his dream of people judged by their character, not their color, had “at many points turned into a nightmare,” he said in an NBC News interview televised June 11, 19 67. Exactly four years earlier, President John F. Kennedy had announced legislation that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Racial segregation in schools and public accommodations as well as racial employment discrimination became illegal. The Voting Rights Act followed in 1965. The Civil Rights Movement had gone from a struggle for decency to one for genuine equality, and his “superficial optimism” was dosed with reality, Dr. King said. “I think that the biggest problem now is that we got our gains over the last 12 years at bargain rates, so to speak. It didn’t cost the nation anything,” Dr. King told NBC correspondent Sander Vanocur. “In fact, it helped the economic side of the nation to integrate lunch counters and public accommodations. It didn’t cost the nation anything to get the right to vote established.” But the right to eat at a lunch counter was meaningless if Black people couldn’t afford it, so economic equality was always on Dr. King’s mind. Simultaneously, in 1967, Dr. King saw that the Vietnam War limited the federal government’s capacity to create the full-labor economy he thought was necessary. “People must be made consumers by one method or the other. Once they are placed in this position, we need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted.” What made Blacks different from European immigrants who also struggled, Vanocur asked King rhetorically. Was it color alone? Color had become stigmatized, King responded. “But at the same time, America was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and Midwest. Which meant that there was a willingness to give the white peasants from Europe an economic base, and yet it refused to give its Black peasants from Africa, who came here involuntarily in chains and had worked free for 244 years, any kind of economic base. “It was freedom without food to eat or land to cultivate and therefore was freedom and famine at the same time,” King said of the Emancipation Proclamation. “I believe we ought to do all we can and seek to lift ourselves by our own bootstraps, but it’s a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”
The Emancipation Proclamation and the Homestead Act both took effect on Jan. 1, 1863. The former freed the slaves while the latter granted 160-acre plots of public land for a small filing fee and a pledge to live on it for five years. Before it was repealed in 1976, the Homestead Act resulted in the settlement of 10 percent of U.S. land: 270 million acres, according to History. com. Out of four million claims, 1.6 million deeds were officially obtained. Native Americans, meanwhile, were forced onto reservations to make way for the homesteaders. The land was open to any citizen, intended citizen or even freed slaves, although few laborers had access to livestock, tools and crops in order to build a farm, according to History.com. In the late 1870s, however, African American “exodusters” who took their name from the biblical book, moved from the South to Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas; they accounted for about 25,000 more people in the 1880 Kansas census. Robert Johnson, chief economic inclusion officer and general counsel at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, sees the Homestead Act as one more government method that contributed to today’s “racial wealth gap.” The typical white family has a net worth of $171,000, compared to $17,150 for the typical Black family, according to the Brookings Institution. “The government was complicit in the segregation that followed slavery; you were relegated into a sharecropper existence, another form of slavery where you could never own anything, but you were enriching the land of the people for whom you were working,” Johnson said. “From Jim Crow to redlining, where Black folks were forced to live in certain areas where there was no access to financing, whereas others were financing the American Dream, government played an active role. When you say there is no systematic racism, you ignore the history of this country. From its inception, there were choices to benefit some groups and not others, and that’s why you have a wealth gap, why white families have 10 times the net worth.” The racial wealth gap has grown over the last 30 years and persists at every age and income level. Inheritances are the biggest socioeconomic factor behind this historic inequity, according to the Brookings Institution. Only 8 percent of Black families, for example, receive in-
heritances, compared to 26 percent of white families, according to McKinsey & Co. And when Blacks do receive an inheritance, it is 35 percent on average that of a typical white inheritance: $83,000 vs. $236,000. Inherited wealth is a cushion, say Brookings and McKinsey, that allows families to weather setbacks like illness or job loss and to take risks, to start new businesses. The wealth gap, on the other hand, can contribute to homelessness. Almost 70 percent of middleclass Black children will fall out of the middle class as adults, according to McKinsey. The racial wealth gap is also bad for the U.S. economy as a whole, because it is projected to mean $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion less in anticipated consumption and investment from 2019 to 2028, according to the McKinsey study. Closing that wealth gap, however, would bring $1.4 trillion worth of African American consumption of goods and servic-
es to the U.S. economy, said YWCA Metropolitan Chicago’s Johnson. That’s right below Canada's GDP (Gross Domestic Product). “Republicans like to say a high tide lifts all boats,” he added. “If you give them a boat and give them an opportunity to row in that same ocean, it creates a ripple effect. Black folks never asked for handouts, only that you not exclude us from opportunities, not even extra privileges. Just get your foot off my neck. It’s not about us being favored, although you have been favored. We’re just asking for equity. Give us the opportunity to compete. Remove the weights off our ankles so we can walk forward and jump higher.” Even if not funding the full employment programs Dr. King sought, government should be a catalyst, Johnson said. He praised Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s INVEST South/West initiative for bringing public and private partnerships together to spur investment in 10 underserved neighborhoods and to grow the city’s tax base. Similarly, the non-profit YWCA Metropolitan Chicago (YWCA) has worked with the private-sector JP Morgan Chase on homeownership. Only 40 percent of Black families own their homes, compared to 73 percent of white families, according to McKinsey, so home ownership is important to building wealth and is roughly one-third of Johnson’s focus.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his I Have a Dream Speech at the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. 08/28/1963 (National Archives). NBC correspondent Sander Vanocur during his 1967 interview with Martin Luther King Jr. (NBC News). Robert Johnson, chief economic inclusion officer and general counsel at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago.
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JP Morgan Chase, meanwhile, has committed $30 billion over the next five years to advance racial equity, including 40,000 loans for Black and Latinx households, refinancing lower rates for minorities and even hiring 150 community managers to open branches in underserved communities. According to McKinsey, better bank access could save a Black family $40,000 instead of using check cashing services and prepaid cards over a lifetime.
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This year the YWCA itself will launch a financial product, the Respect Card, aimed at people in banking deserts. As a prepaid debit card, the Respect Card will allow renters to build credit – the first step toward home ownership – without risk of debt, because of the limits on the card.
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The YWCA’s focus on home ownership is to provide affordable housing counseling, mortgage and rent assistance, foreclosure counseling and reverse mortgage counseling within the Financial Inclusion Institute. Housing is roughly one-third the YWCA’s focus on reducing the wealth gap, employment accounts for roughly 22 percent and entrepreneurship 45 percent, Johnson said. “There are 2.6 million black businesses in the United States and 96 percent have no employees,” Johnson said. “They are solo entrepreneurs, operating out of their home or in the ideation stage: mom and pops, but not employing folks. We could eliminate Black unemployment if all of our small businesses could hire one employee. The idea is to work with our small businesses to get them to grow so they could be legitimate businesses and not a side hustle, so they could get access to capital to expand, get into storefronts and commercial corridors. We don’t have that in our community. A dollar only cycles in the Black community six hours before it goes out. The idea is to grow our businesses, put our money back into the community where folks can live, work, pray and play, like it used to be, the suburban model. The wealth gap and the retail gap are inextricably intertwined.” Interestingly, Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, so Johnson and the YWCA are in the process of launching a Women of Color Entrepreneurship Center with the DePaul University Women in Entrepreneurship Institute. While there is already a lot of attention to startups, he sees fewer resources for later-stage companies and wants to help them grow through strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. “Women entrepreneurs don’t typically get funded by venture capitalists; less than .05 percent of venture capital goes to them. We are focusing on trying to develop cohorts of women
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Statistics provided by McKinsey & Company.
businesses – scalable businesses – and providing them with access to high-net worth individuals, helping them to grow enterprises.” Besides Chase Bank, BMO Harris and Bank of America are committed to similar efforts, he said. Since Black Americans account for $1.4 trillion in consumption annually, the issue is not scarcity but rather, “How do we leverage the money we already have so we can grow it? My goal is to distill all of this into very accessible principles that are time-honored and never change.” Besides owning your own home, “pay yourself first” is one of these principles, because “You’ve got to have a base. The psychology of money is once you start saving, it becomes hard to spend. Once you understand your value you understand it’s more valuable to have freedom – which is money in the bank – versus a whole closet full of designer goods that have lost most of their value since you bought them – a depreciating asset.” Self-worth is something people should feel on the inside rather than from designer labels, “but we’ve all succumbed to Madison Avenue: advertising and immediate gratification," he said. “People who understand wealth creation understand you buy assets, and assets buy your toys. You cannot create generational wealth quickly. A lot of this may not occur in our lifetimes.” However, Johnson understands the history behind the mindset. “From our landing in this country, tomorrow was not promised to us. That goes on today, why you are seeing the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd. That fragility makes it hard to get past the PTSD, the idea that life could end at any moment so that people can’t get past today, plan for tomorrow.”
Similarly, on April 3, 1968, the night before his death, Dr. King presented a similar message of economic empowerment. Two Memphis sanitation workers had been crushed to death by a faulty truck and so he urged a citywide strike and Black boycott of white businesses. He told the crowd at Mason Temple that Blacks were poor when compared with white society in America, but collectively richer than all the nations of the world except for the U.S., Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany and France. American Black annual income was $30 billion a year – more than the national budget of Canada. “That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.” Dr. King described how he had been stabbed by a demented woman while signing autographs for his first book 9½ years earlier, when he was just 29. And earlier that day, technicians had carefully inspected and then guarded the plane carrying him to Memphis, to ensure his safety. He lived with the possibility of death. “Longevity has its place,” Dr. King said. “But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. I have been to the mountaintop. I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, 1964 (Library of Congress). Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. Founded in 1877, the current red-brick building was constructed between 1883 and 1889 and is a national historic landmark. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the pastor from 1954-1960, and began his quest for civil rights here (Library of w Congress). ww.stree
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Homeless Memorial service adapts for covid-19 by Suzanne Hanney
The annual Homeless Memorial Service takes place close to the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, to acknowledge the valuable lives of homeless people who have unceremoniously passed away – “and to consider the harsh reality that any one of us could experience homelessness. “It could be you. It could be me. As a matter of fact, not too long ago, it WAS me,” said Edrika Fulford, a grassroots leader with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). Fulford quit her job to spend five years taking care of her ailing mother, who died peacefully. Afterward, Fulford’s house went into foreclosure and she lost her car. “But I have a college degree. People with college degrees aren’t homeless – or are they?” she said as testimony during the December 15 virtual presentation organized by CCH; Franciscan Outreach; Harmony, Hope & Healing; Ignatian Spirituality Project and Old St. Patrick’s Church. Fulford thought she would go to a shelter to gather herself together but found instead that she fell through the cracks. “The reality is, I was not a victim of domestic violence, not a veteran, didn’t have any small children and was not experiencing substance abuse.”
FROM THE STREETS
Because of the stigma of homelessness, she didn’t even tell her two adult children, who thought she was staying with friends. Her friends thought she was staying with her children.
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Actually, Fulford was sleeping on trains and washing up at McDonald’s. As a 50-year-old with a five-year gap in her resume, she didn’t feel much in demand – until she met CCH Director of Organizing Wayne Richard. “The coalition gave me hope. Unfortunately, many experiencing homelessness die before hope arrives.” Richard, in turn, read his poem, “Our Voice,” which said, “We remember our brothers and sisters because their lives mattered, despite the emptiness of their pockets or that their clothes may have been tattered. Watching the powerful ones take all that they had left, it’s not enough for us to just say, ‘oh, that’s a shame.’” Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rev. Thomas J Hurley, pastor of Old St. Patrick’s, recalled that the church was under construction in 1853 when a cholera epidemic killed many of its immigrant parishioners and its pastor. A new wave of immigrants, and a new pastor, completed construction in time for midnight mass in 1856 and the church has stood through the Civil War, the Chicago Fire of 1871, the
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We remember our brothers and sisters because their lives mattered, despite the emptiness of their pockets or that their clothes may have been tattered... it’s not enough for us to just say, ‘oh, that’s a shame.’
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-Wayne Richard, cch director of organizing
Great Depression, two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, 911. “It has been a sanctuary where people have stood for 165 years because of their faith in the Risen One,” Hurley said. “He walks with us always, with our sisters and brothers, for those who find themselves on the margins of society.” The list of more than 40 who died while homeless in the past year came from Breakthrough Ministries, Franciscan House shelter, North Side Housing, the Salvation Army Booth Lodge, SRHAC (Single Room Housing Assistance Corporation) and the Lawrence and Wilson viaducts over Lake Shore Drive: M. Rogers and L. Ward, Women’s Center; P. Washington and J. Green, Men’s Center; A. Williams, shelter staff; J. Richardson, A. Harris, V. Bell M., Scott S., Canty S., Mr. Canty’s Wife, N. Squier, C. Hunter, J. Johnson, M. Cox, Westlaw L., Thomas L., Carlos C., Kenneth P., Jeremiah W., David G., Reginald H., Wayne W., Tyrone B., Carl James C., Ernesto O., Colton G., Freeda A., Robert H., Kyra F., Yuanyuan, Joel G., Torrence W., Derius W., Kenneth H., Tameryra R., Michael C., Cynthia M., Duane P., Ricky S., Joseph Slovenic, Z. Williams, Johnny V.
Documentary examines the school-toprison pipeline for females of color by Octavio Cuesta De la Rosa
In discourse about the school-to-prison pipeline, the experiences of young women and girls of color are often overshadowed by their male counterparts. United Methodist Women hosted a virtual screening of “Pushout,” the documentary film based on the book of the same name, which focuses on the challenges and traumas experienced by African American girls at home and in the classroom. Retelling the stories of five Black girls, “Pushout” exposes the criminalization of Black girls in schools and the education system’s refusal to understand their lives. Pushout’s five stories show just how pervasive and seemingly benign the traumas and challenges Black girls must endure in their childhood really are. Ariana and Emma were bullied by their classmates. Samaya was bullied by her teacher. They found no support at home or at school. Kiera, a daughter of Haitian immigrants, was arrested and expelled for defending herself. Terriana, overwhelmed at school and alone at home, dropped out and turned to the streets until her arrest for prostitution. The most common theme across Pushout’s five stories is isolation. Lacking African American educators and administrators in schools, young Black girls are held to arbitrary standards that do not take into consideration their identity as African Americans, socioeconomically or biologically. “Pushout” explains that because Black girls reach puberty much earlier, they are all-too-often “adultified” – effectively assumed to be adult mentally because they appear to be adult physically. Being held to adult standards despite still being children, their antics receive adult punishments. Similarly, the behaviors of Black girls are alien to many teachers and administrators. From chronic tardiness caused by long commutes and responsibilities at home right up to their distinct mannerisms and laughter, Black girls are held in constant suspicion by their educators, who frequently over-punish the slightest infraction. In schools with few African American staff, the lack of understanding lays the foundations of the schools-to-prisons pipeline; while it starts off with detentions and dressing-downs, it gradually escalates to suspensions and expulsions, pushing Black girls out of schools. The most striking aspect of “Pushout” is that all of its exploration into the schools-to-prisons pipeline is done handin-hand with an exploration of the solution. To address the schools-to-prisons pipeline, “Pushout” calls for Black educators and administrators to be hired to shepherd Black girls through their formative years. Knowing what it’s like to be a Black girl, a more diverse staff would not criminalize their behavior when it’s childish. Black teachers and administrators are only part of the solution. Having placed trauma at the center of its narrative,
“Pushout” argues that social workers and counselors in schools are crucial to the academic success of Black girls, as well as to their mental health. Without the guidance and support necessary for Black girls to process the traumas they experience at home or at school, ensuing episodes of anger or frustration are criminalized by an education system that is unwilling to understand them or even help them. With the support of guidance counselors, however, Black girls would receive the understanding necessary to overcome these challenges without being criminalized. The role of social workers in schools is also intended to extend beyond guiding children. “Pushout” argues that social workers would help educators and administrators better understand their students, especially Black girls. By creating a culturally-responsive education, social workers would engineer a loving and supportive environment for all children at schools and bring an end to the suspicion and criminalization of Black boys and girls. In the discussion that followed the screening, the United Methodist Women echoed the film’s closing arguments. “It’s not that radical to love our children,” they reminded us, and by reforming our schools into loving and supportive environments, the trauma and inequity experienced by Black girls can be decriminalized, ending the schools-toprisons pipeline. Octavio Cuesta De la Rosa is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, where he majored in history and minored in French and urban planning. He volunteers with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. www.streetwise.org
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StreetWise vendor Jimmie Beckless introduces stepson sEmaj to the vendor force by Samantha Friedkin
Jimmie Beckless has been a StreetWise Vendor for 13 years. Over the years, Jimmie has moved around between three different spots, but he has been able to settle into one location with loyal and friendly customers. Jimmie was homeless for about four years before coming to StreetWise. His friend and fellow vendor, Charles Dixon, brought him to the organization and he’s been with StreetWise ever since. Even during the pandemic, Jimmie has been able to build up his customer base at a Chicago Starbucks location. “The management and customers are really great,” he mentioned while talking about his vending experiences throughout the pandemic.
INSIDE STREETWISE
One of the biggest challenges for Jimmie has been connecting with the local residents and finding opportunities to tell people what StreetWise is and why he is selling the magazine. At first, “a lot of people would turn their heads and not even look at me.” Jimmie said. This was “good with him” and he tried to not let it discourage him or let it anger him.
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“I had to let people know what StreetWise is about: that it helps prevent people from being homeless and it empowers them to work,” Jimmie said. “People saw me out there every day trying to support myself.” Jimmie mentioned one of his biggest strategies to do this was to let people into his life. He would talk to his customers about his life before StreetWise and about his military career. Jimmie said that he would talk to people every day as they walked by. He learned to tolerate it and accept it if people did not want to talk back to him. Jimmie learned that if he didn’t let this bother him, “people would start to talk with me and engage, and eventually they would buy a magazine.” Jimmie says that the one thing keeping him out and selling StreetWise is his family. “They have been very supportive and understanding.” Jimmie said. He has a 14-year-old son who is a straight-A student and Jimmie wants to see him graduate from high school in a few years.
Recently, Jimmie has brought his stepson Semaj to StreetWise. Semaj was always interested in StreetWise and learning the ins and outs of sales. “He wanted to get into it to learn more about how to sell, and he thought this would be a good way to do it.” Jimmie found him a location a few blocks away from his own location at another Starbucks. Although they do not sell together as a team, Jimmie is still able to help Semaj learn and grow through his own experiences vending. The management and the customers at Semaj’s location know Jimmie very well. He said “They look out for [Semaj] and they support him.” Jimmie is committed to selling StreetWise as long as needed to support his family. Even through the pandemic, Jimmie has maintained a positive outlook and looks forward to greeting his customers each day. “I want to say thank you to the customers who have supported me and I appreciate their cooperation with me,” Jimmie said. He wished the world “a very happy holidays” and he hopes “COVID-19 will end soon because people need to be healthy and survive this thing.”
Jimmie and Samaj (Amanda Jones photo).
Streetwise 12/28/20 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Sudoku
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1 Mustard family member 2 Furious 3 Cold war initials 4 Impersonator 5 ___ a high note
10 11 12 13 19
Crowns 38 Desertlike Taro root 39 Medicinal Cat call amount Hock 41 Chopper part Nuclear 42 Business weapon wear 22 Automobile 44 Come-___ sticker fig. 45 Fond du ___ 24 Skier’s aid wn 47 Failure 1 One-dish meal 25 Red Cross 48 Lima’s land 2 Semitic deity supply 49 Shades 3 Auto pioneer 26 Stretched 50 Chooses 4 Ben Jonson 27 Foundation 51 Expunge wrote one to 28 Jagged 52 Dressed himself 29 Kind of queen 53 Choir voice 5 Wearisome 30 Oar pin 54 Hammer part 6 Brunch serving 31 Mountain 56 Wanted 7 Some stingers lakes letters 32 Draw forth 8 Add years to 57 Kind of RadioPuzzleJunction.com message one’s lifeCopyright33©2020 dance 35 Involuntary 9 “Scream” 59 Big coffee twitch director Craven maker
Copyright ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com
©PuzzleJunction.com
Sudoku Solution last week's Puzzle Answers
Solution
Sudoku Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at
PuzzleJu
Crossword Across 1 Blackens 6 Attention getter 10 Kind of test 13 Bratislava native 14 Mathematical statement 16 Contrary doctrine 17 Most unshapely 18 Corn serving 19 Bone-chilling 21 Farm division 22 Steer clear of 24 Wood sorrels 26 Religious offshoot 28 “Charlotte’s Web” girl 29 Stops sleeping 31 Old French 56 Uris coin protagonist 32 City-like 57 High priests 34 Electrical 59 Get even for circuits 61 Slope 36 Leave 62 School text stranded 63 Frigid 38 Red shade 64 Caddie’s 39 Bygone bagful money 65 Sacrifice site 40 Blasé 41 Giant Hall-of- Down Famer 1 Split 42 Goofs 2 Repulsion 44 Persian. e.g. 3 ___ Maria 48 ___ ex 4 Tore down machina 5 Hebrides 50 Strike out island 51 OK, in a way 6 Seabird 52 Ear-related 7 Close call 54 Hex 8 Bottom line
©2020 PuzzleJunction.com
9 Spanish appetizer 10 German diacritical mark 11 Rocket part 12 Army member 13 Bundle 15 Nervous twitches 20 Eurasian tree 23 Become accustomed (to) 25 Gutters 27 Harbor craft 29 On the train 30 Father 33 Learning style 35 Arête 36 Fast
37 38 39 40 43 45 46 47 49 51 53 55 57 58 60
Shrewdly Kitchen gadget Pea jacket? Round soft masses Ebb Land on Lake Victoria Bigger Circular Window feature Carpenter’s tool Play group Poet Teasdale Fraternity letter Windsor, for one Consume
www.streetwise.org
How StreetWise Works
Our Mission
Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.
Financial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.
Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.
S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.
THE PLAYGROUND
To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.
Solution
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PREV
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WISE
THE CHICAGO PREMIERE
THE MOST SPECTACULARLY LAMENTABLE TRIAL OF
MIZ MARTHA WASHINGTON James Ijames Directed by Whitney White By
The recently widowed “Mother of America”—attended to by the very enslaved people who will be free the moment she dies—takes us deep into the ugly and thorny ramifications of America’s original sin.
RADICALLY VULNERABLE, OUTRAGEOUSLY HILARIOUS
APRIL 2 – MAY 17 | steppenwolf.org | 312-335-1650 MAJOR PRODUCTION SPONSOR
2019/20 GRAND BENEFACTORS
2019/20 BENEFACTORS
