May 18 - 24, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 20
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$1.10 goes to vendor
StreetWise Vendors are Feeling Supported StreetWise has been honored by the tremendous support for our vendors and jobseekers during this very crucial time. StreetWise works in a unique nexus between homeless and employment services. More than 250 people rely on StreetWise for immediate employment through the sale of StreetWise Magazine and workforce development services to reenter the labor market. The pandemic effectively laid off more than 120 magazine vendors as they are unable to purchase the magazine for 90 cents, then sell the magazine in the community for $2. Jobseekers in the workforce development program face challenges with employment and skills gaps for the current available new jobs. But that isn't how the story ends! Each week we have: • Distributed more than 400 meals and pantry items to our community. 45% of our vendors rely on StreetWise as their main source for food (thanks so much to our friends at World Central Kitchen, Isaiah Project, The Zwirn Family and The Daily Planet Ltd.); • Handed out more than 150 hygiene kits including extra soap, and more than 200 masks-and now disposable gloves (thank you to the staff and families at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy); • Encouraged regular hand washing and sanitizing to keep all our vendors and their families safe. This week, we stocked up on 5 gallons of hand sanitizer for people to continue staying safe at StreetWise Headquarters (thank you to our new friends at Thornton Distillery and Apologue Liqueurs). These items are essential for the health and safety of our participants and allow them to direct other cash relief toward housing, utilities, phone, transportation, and medications.
DONATE
Contributions to the Vendor Emergency Relief Fund provide a lifeline for those cut off from income earning opportunities. Since the shelter-inplace went into effect, we have: • Distributed more than 250 cash subsidies totaling over $15,000 so far; • Provided critical technology access and support to assist vendors and jobseekers applying for additional emergency relief including federal stimulus and private funds (thanks to our partners at the YWCA). You can also support your vendor by purchasing digital issues and subscriptions to StreetWise Magazine. To do our part to flatten the curve, we have: • Launched the "I'm Still Here" Campaign to encourage purchases and subscriptions of StreetWise Magazine - published exclusively online. Since the launch, digital sales have increased by 150%; • Kept our promise to provide socially-conscious news and raise awareness on the impact of poverty and homelessness in Chicago, across the nation, and around the world. These efforts provide vendors with some income and preserve the StreetWise model to provide a hand up, not a handout. It is essential for StreetWise to keep its doors open to provide emergency relief and support, to serve as a place for vendors to get up-todate information, and to check in and maintain their connection to the broader community. Your continued support is crucial in this effort! We thank you for all you have done to support our vendors at this time and look forward to a time when we can reconnect in person. We know our vendors can't wait to see you again! Please stay healthy, Julie Youngquist Executive Director | StreetWise
To make a donation to StreetWise, visit our website at www.streetwise.org/donate/ or cut out this form and mail it with your donation to StreetWise, Inc., 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616. We appreciate your support!
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SportsWise
The SportsWise team reacts to ESPN's "The Last Dance."
Arts & (Home) Entertainment
As all Chicago events and gatherings are cancelled until further notice, we are replacing our usual calendar with recommendations from StreetWise vendors, readers and staff to keep you entertained at home!
Cover Story: Jane Fonda
Actor Jane Fonda has gained even more attention for her outspoken support of liberal causes and her activism and protests. Now 82, she's as vital as ever.
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From the Streets
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The Playground
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In a personal message to the street paper network – expressing his solidarity with its journalists, its frontline staff, its volunteers and its vendors – Pope Francis hails the work being done by street papers to help “the vulnerable and invisible” in the trying circumstances created by COVID-19. Additionally, organizations that are doing outreach for Census participation are getting creative with their efforts during shelter-in-place mandates.
ON THE COVER: Jane Fonda photographed by John Russo. THIS PAGE: Actress Jane Fonda is arrested by U.S. Capitol Police officers during a "Fire Drill Fridays" climate change protest inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., Nov. 1, 2019. (REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)
Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
dhamilton@streetwise.org
Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Amanda Jones, Director of programs
ajones@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, CEO
jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616
StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
ESPN's 'The Last Dance'
rebounder, and Rodman needed an organization that could keep him contained… and let him be himself. Rodman didn’t have that in, say, San Antonio, where David Robinson was the leader; David simply wasn’t charismatic enough for Dennis. If you’re way square in Dennis’s eyes, he’s unable to take guidance fully. Patrick: Well said, John. I— and, I’m sure, everyone who knew his history—was waiting for him to implode at any moment…but he never did. Donald: Now, he had his moments. That one time when he asked Coach Phil Jackson for time off for vacation because he was bored. When you’re as phenomenal as he was, with his ability to change a game just by rebounding and defense, occasionally a bending of rules is in order. Patrick: And, remember, Jordan and the others helped get
Dennis Rodman
him to be cool for the good of the team. Donald: Exactly. So, yeah, when he asked for the vacation during season three, the team allowed it—despite Jordan’s wishes. Jordan reasoned Rodman wouldn’t return. This was even before anyone knew his target was Las Vegas. Even so, Phil gave him the weekend to party. John: Even though Jordan had to find him, Rodman returned with his mojo rejuvenated and helped defend the championship—the final one of the second threepeat. Russ: I think many people forget that Rodman was homeless just after high school. In the streets during his college-aged years. Obviously, he never gave up, which is a lesson to all reading this that to give up is to lose… See, Dennis wanted to win. And he did. A lot of people at StreetWise are homeless or were or may be one day;
I know how it is because I’ve been there. That’s why I want and need to keep that rhythm going by getting back out there to work. Donald: To do what we do. Russ: Exactly. Patrick: Y’all will get back out there and, I believe, it’s going to make y’all even better than y’all ever been. Y’all muhgs chompin’ at the bit, and I honestly can’t wait to witness it. Seriously. John: Dennis suffered—on and off the court. And came up out of it with love intact for all people and for himself. Kudos to him. Patrick: I remember despising Rodman when he was with the Pistons…but loving him when he came here. And now he’s helping keep us safe with his international connections! Donald: Greatest rebounder in NBA history and over in North Korea handling business like he knows something! Russ: Thank you, Dennis.
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SPORTSWISE
Donald: Today, we’re going to speak about one of the former Bad Boys of Detroit: Dennis Rodman. The Chicago Bulls scored big time when he was brought in, in the 1995-96 season, when he helped them win their 4th championship in 6 years. This led to their second 3-peat performance. Russ, give me something. Russ: Don’t mind if I do. Dennis was a beast. Simple. Two rings with the Detroit Pistons and three with the Bulls. While with Detroit, Rodman gave Jordan hell— shoot, he gave every Bull hell. But because he was one of those dudes who everyone hates to play against but loved to play with. He came to the Bulls and became one of the most loved and inspiring players in team history. John: The best thing about the union was that though he was a beast on the court and still had his outside hang-ups, he stayed with it for three years. A perfect marriage for both: the Bulls needed a dominant
and
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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 and why you love them to: Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org
Get Crafty!
Renegade Virtual Craft Fair For two hours every Friday and Saturday in May at the Renegade Craft Virtual Fair, dive into artists’ portals and connect with creatives from all over the world. Look forward to behind-the-scenes demos, studio and home tours, Q+A’s, fireside chats, tutorials, meditations, performances, how-to’s, DJ sets, and much more! Fridays from 5 - 7 p.m.; Saurdays from noon - 2 p.m. through the rest of May at renegadecraft.com/fair/virtual
(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT
Listen to Angelic Voices!
The Chicago Children's Choir's 'Paint the Town Red!' concert The Chicago Children's Choir's Paint the Town Red! concert will be offered online this year, 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 21 at ccchoir.org/paint-town-red-2020/ Paint the Town Red is an annual, free concert featuring all 5,200 young Chicago Children's Choir singers along with special guest artists TBA. Past guest artists have included cast members from the HAMILTON Chicago Company, the Q Brothers Collective, CCC alumna and singer/songwriter Jamila Woods, interdisciplinary instrumental ensemble Mucca Pazza, CCC alumna and Broadway star Allison Semmes, and more. Tune in to see who’s joining them virtually this year! The non-profit CCC inspires and unites youth from diverse backgrounds to become global citizens through music. Founded in Hyde Park in direct response to the Civil Rights Movement in 1956, CCC has grown from one choir into a vast network of inschool and after-school programs driven by the mission to change lives through music.
Learn More!
The Role of Judges, Attorneys, and Bar Associations During the Holocaust How did the legal profession operate under – and cooperate with – the Nazi regime? In this program, legal scholar Cathy Lesser Mansfield will explore the conduct of key legal players under Nazi dictatorship and whether the American legal system could ever be at risk of supporting such a regime. Lesser Mansfield participated in the 2007 Silberman seminar at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and is executive director of the Master's of Financial Integrity Program at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Thursday, May 21, 6:30 - 7:45 p.m. Cost is $15 adults, $10 seniors, $8 students and $6 children age 5-11 at bit.ly/2wlyxCG
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by Katherine Smyrk / The Big Issue Australia / courtesy of INSP.ngo
Jane Fonda has been in jail twice. First in 1970, when she was 32, after being arrested on suspicion of drug possession. The alleged drugs turned out to be vitamins, and the whole arrest turned out to have a lot more to do with her very vocal stance against the Vietnam War. The second time was in November last year, just before her 82nd birthday. After protesting against the US government’s inaction on climate change outside the White House, Fonda was handcuffed and escorted to prison, where she spent the night. She’s pretty blasé about the whole thing – “One night, big deal!” – pointing out that as a rich, famous, white lady she was never really at risk. “The plastic handcuffs hurt more than the metal ones and I discovered that it’s not easy for an 82-year-old to get in and out of a police paddy wagon without the use of her hands,” was all she said about it in a droll summary on her blog, which is a delightful catalog of her recent activist endeavors. You might know Fonda best from her glittering film career, appearing in more than 40 films and winning two Academy Awards for her films Klute in 1972, and Coming Home in 1979. Accustomed to the spotlight as the daughter of revered actor Henry Fonda, she rose to prominence in the 1968 erotic cult sci-fi Barbarella, directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim. You might know Fonda best from those '80s workout videos that brought the world of boisterous exercise in high-cut leotards into people’s living rooms. Her Jane Fonda’s Workout series went on to sell more than 17 million copies around the world. You might even know Fonda best for her starring turn in Grace and Frankie, a current Netflix series about two women in their 70s (long-time collaborator Lily Tomlin is her co-star) who are forced into an uneasy friendship when their husbands leave the women for each other. The show has been a surprise smash-hit and is set to become the longest-running Netflix original series. Scrolling through the pages on janefonda. com, or reading any of her many interviews,
it is evident that it’s activism to which Fonda is most devoted. “I became an actress because I didn’t know what else to do!” she admitted to Harvard Business Review. “I was fired as a secretary, and I had to earn a living. That was the way I thought about it. It was a job.” The activism came into her life in her early 30s: “There was a lot going on in the world and I was pregnant, which makes a woman like a sponge, very open to what’s going on around her. It was around that time that I began to realize that I wanted to change my life and participate in trying to end the war.” She formed the Free the Army Tour with actor Donald Sutherland in 1970, speaking out against the Vietnam War around the US – it was during this tour that she had her first stint behind bars. In 1972 she travelled to North Vietnam to learn more about the local people and to publicly urge troops not to bomb citizen targets. But she was photographed laughing and sitting on top of an anti-aircraft gun, creating a storm of controversy back home and earning herself the nickname Hanoi Jane. She has since apologized numerous times for causing offense to American troops, but amid the controversy continued to campaign furiously against the war. She held fundraisers for the Black Panthers around this time, and was a vocal supporter of Native Americans during the occupation of Alcatraz. Her film choices often had a foundation in activism too: Coming Home was about the Vietnam War; 1979’s China Syndrome was about nuclear disaster; 9 to 5 (with Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin) was about sexual harassment and working women reclaiming their power in 1980. Even those renowned workout videos had a political core – the money she made from Jane Fonda’s Workout went to the Campaign for Economic Democracy, a leftist political organisation founded by her then husband, Tom Hayden. In 2005, along with Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, she founded the Women’s Media Center, an organization that aims to ensure women are better represented in the media, and advocates and campaigns for various women’s rights issues.
Jane Fonda is arrested at the Capitol for blocking the street after she and other demonstrators called on Congress for action to address climate change on Oct. 25, 2019 (J. Scott Applewhiite photo).
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And then, at the end of 2019, Fonda bought a bright red wool coat, publicly vowed that it was the last new piece of clothing she was ever going to buy, and launched Fire Drill Fridays. A series of weekly protests – part sit-in, part rally, part large-scale education event – Fonda named the event after the much-touted warning from teen climate activist Greta Thunberg that “our house is on fire.” Fonda even temporarily moved to Washington, D.C. to enable her to take part, and went out every Friday for four months, always wearing that bright red coat. And while these events are the work of many, including Greenpeace, Fonda has used her decades of influence in the world of Hollywood to pull her famous friends into the fray. The call sheet of arrests from the protests includes Joaquin Phoenix, Catherine Keener, Rosanna Arquette, Ted Danson and Martin Sheen. As she told The New York Times: “Why be a celebrity if you can’t leverage it for something that is this important?” Fonda was arrested five times during Fire Drill Fridays. On one of those occasions she received word that she had won a BAFTA – the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – and recorded a video acceptance from the scene of the crime, shouting “BAFTA, thank you! I’m very honored” with her wrists tied in front of her, a police officer leading her away.
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“One of the reasons I’ve moved to Washington, D.C. for four months was to get out of my comfort zone and put my body on the line, as Greta Thunberg calls us to do,” Fonda explained to Who What Wear in January. “I want to help wake people up. I want to try to role model with my own body.” While the campaigning continues, she recently had to leave Washington to film the final season of Grace and Frankie, which she was unable to delay. But this show too seems to perfectly tap into her passion for changing the world for the better. While it is a resolutely light-hearted series that includes scenes like Frankie (Tomlin) trying to teach Grace (Fonda) how to make personal lubricant out of yams, it also shows the complexities and desires and stories of women at an age we usually don’t see on our screens. “I have long wanted to give a cultural face to old age,” Fonda told Vogue. “I thought this was a show that could potentially give a lot of hope to people, especially to older people, especially to women. And I think that’s actually happened.” It’s a show about reinvention, and women coming into their own at a later part of their lives. And that’s something Fonda knows all too well. “I was in my 60s before I realized that I could just be who I was, and that was okay,” she said in a moving 2013 interview on the podcast Death, Sex & Money.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Jane Fonda attends the debut of "Grace & Frankie" (Charley Galloy photo). Frankie (Lily Tomlin, left) and Grace (Jane Fonda, right) on "Grace & Frankie" (Netflix photo). Jane Fonda peering through a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in Hanoi in July 1972 (Bettman photo). Mug shots of Jane Fonda from her first arrest in 1970 (AP photo). THIS PAGE: A Classic promotional image for Jane Fonda's Workout series (Harry Langdon photo). Jane Fonda photographed by John Russo.
Fonda has spoken very publicly about her personal battles, particularly as a young person. At the age of 12 her mother, Frances Ford Seymour, killed herself – a fact Fonda learned from a movie magazine.
“
I
N E V E R WOULD HAVE EXPECTED MY LIFE TO GET SO MUCH FULLER AND, IN SOME WAYS, MORE MEANINGFUL AS I MOVED INTO MY [NINTH] DECADE.” -JANE FONDA
Fonda also struggled a lot with her identity and body image as a teenager. “Nothing seemed normal, I didn’t get my period until I was 17, I was at boarding school,” she wrote in Being a Teen. “I would buy [tampons] every month and pretend. I pretended a lot of things because I wanted to fit in. But I didn’t fit in. First of all, my father was famous and second of all, I actually did think that I was maybe supposed to be a boy.” She was in her 50s when she went to therapy for the first time. And after divorcing her third husband, CNN founder Ted Turner, at the age of 64, Fonda says that she finally felt free. “There was this voice that said, I’m okay. For the first time in my life I do not need a man to be whole. And that’s what life is supposed to be about,” she told Death, Sex & Money. “I have a lot more time behind me than I have ahead of me,” she added. “And living with the awareness of that helps me make decisions in life. It helps me not squander time.”
And for Fonda, the most important thing for her to spend her time on is climate change.
“Why spend your time on what’s not important? There’s no question that of all the things that I have ever focused on there’s nothing more existential than climate change,” she told radio station WBUR FM. “And it’s a terrible thing that it’s not all anyone talks about now. I know that until I decided to move to Washington and engage in these actions, I was getting quite depressed because I knew I wasn’t doing anything.” Since then, she has not only inspired many to get involved in the cause, she has been revitalized by action. “I’m learning so much,” she wrote on her blog. “And I’m energized to a level I haven’t felt maybe ever.” She may have been campaigning for a better world for 50 years, but Fonda is resolutely showing the world that giving a shit is something that doesn’t have to stop when you hit 82. If anything, it’s only more important. As she herself wrote: “I never would have expected my life to get so much fuller and, in some ways, more meaningful as I moved into my [ninth] decade.”
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Pope Francis sends a message of hope to Street Paper vendors and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic by Tony Inglis / courtesy of INSP.ngo
Pope Francis has continued to show his support for the street paper movement and those living in poverty with a special message for the street paper network as it adapts to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
FROM THE STREETS
In the personal address, included in the Holy See’s daily bulletin, the Holy Father expressed his solidarity with all those involved with street papers, especially their vendors. He acknowledged that many of those who sell street papers are “homeless, terribly marginalised, and unemployed,” and that “those most vulnerable, the invisible, those without an abode, are at risk of paying the highest price” as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to impact all facets of society.
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Pope Francis ended his message with a rallying cry: “The pandemic has made your work difficult, but I am sure that the great network of street papers will come back stronger than ever. These days, turning our gaze to the poorest can help all of us to realise how much is actually happening to us, and what our circumstances really are.” Read Pope Francis’ message in full on the opposite page. Maree Aldam, chief executive of the International Network of Street Papers, with headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland, responded to the Pontiff ’s message with gratitude. She said: “The International Network of Street Papers is pleased to once again have the vocal support of Pope Francis, especially as the world's most vulnerable and marginalized people face uncertain times ahead while society fights back against this pandemic. “It is essential that world and community leaders of all stripes come together in solidarity to raise up those in poverty, and back the organizations - like street papers - that do such great work in helping those most in need.”
Pope Francis has been a long-time supporter of the work of street papers, and has been interviewed by INSP members on two previous occasions. In 2015, Marc, a vendor of Utrechtbased street paper Straatnieuws, alongside the publication’s editor Frank Dries, travelled to the Vatican to interview Pope Francis. In 2017, Stefano Lampertico, editor of Italian street paper Scarp de’ tenis, and Antonio Mininni, one of the magazine’s vendors, did the same. Both resulting interviews became the most republished street paper story of their respective years. The Pope’s message comes at a time when street papers across the world are facing unprecedented circumstances, with many having paused print production and temporarily removed vendors from the streets on which they normally sell the publication. Street papers are constantly adapting in order to make sure that their vendors can continue to rely on them for an income while riding out the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. INSP would like to thank its volunteer translators for their tireless work, especially Marta Anna Segit, Lisa Luginbuhl and Shanon Richardson, who ensured Pope Francis’ message was translated into three languages from the original Italian.
wow, that's awesome coming from the pope! I really feel blessed we will bounce back. this made my day! take care everyone. -StreetWise Vendor Russell Adams
D.S.M, 21st April 2020
The lives of millions of people, already facing numerous difficult challenges in our world and oppressed by the pandemic, have changed and are being severely tested. Those most vulnerable, the invisible, those without an abode, are at risk of paying the highest price. I would therefore like to acknowledge the world of street papers, and especially the vendors, for the most part homeless, terribly marginalised, and unemployed - thousands of people across the world who live and have a job thanks to selling these extraordinary newspapers. In Italy, I think of the beautiful experience of Scarp de’ tenis, a Caritas project, which allows more than 130 people facing difficulties to have an income and thus access to fundamental citizens’ rights. And not only that. I also think of the experience of more than 100 street papers all over the world, published in 35 countries and in 25 different languages, which provide 20,500 people in the world with employment and an income. For many weeks now, the papers have not been sold, and the vendors have not been able to work. Therefore, I would like to express my solidarity with the journalists, the volunteers, and the people living thanks to these projects and who these days are doing everything they can thanks to many innovative ideas. The pandemic has made your work difficult, but I am sure that the great network of street papers will come back stronger than ever. These days, turning our gaze to the poorest can help all of us to realise how much is actually happening to us, and what our circumstances really are. My message of encouragement and brotherly friendship goes out to all of you. Thank you for the work you do, for the information you provide, and for the stories of hope that you tell.
Translated from Italian by Marta Anna Segit
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Encouragement to participate in the census gets creative during COVID-19 mandates by Suzanne Hanney
LOTERIA
THIS PAGE: Examples of the Loteria cards made by Latino Policy Forum. OPPOSITE PAGE: Social Media poster promoting the dance party that encouraged Census participation.
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CENSUS
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TELL YOUR FRIENDS
CENSUS DATES
REPRESENTATION
As of May 7, Illinois was 7th in the nation for self-response, with 62.4 percent of its population counted, compared to the 57.3 percent national average, Illinois census officials said. Because of the pandemic, the self-response phase has been extended from July 31 to October 31; the nonresponse follow-up period, originally set for May 13-July 31, is now August 31-October 31. Immigrant neighborhoods remain some of the hardest to count, with one reason being the fear of a citizenship status question sought by the Trump administration but struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Still, census officials say that they’ve seen some significant improvements. State Senate District 11, which includes Little Village, Brighton Park and Garfield Ridge, was at 35 percent in early April and is now at 49 percent. SGA Youth & Family Services, which works with Latino communities in Pilsen, Back of the Yards, Brighton Park and Little Village and with African Americans in Roseland, switched to social media for outreach when its offices closed in March. On Fridays since then, SGA has partnered with Pilsen Wellness and Pilsen Neighbors Community Council for the caravans, targeted to streets that have been low in census participation. “Everyone was social distancing, in their closed cars, wearing a mask, creative in decorating their own cars,” said SGA Census Coordinator Diana Perez of a recent Friday that drew 40 vehicles. “We were making a lot of noise so people would be curious and would go to their windows. The point is to remind everyone to fill out the census.” A Wednesday night dance party on May 6 featured two DJs spinning cumbia and ranchera music, with appearances by state
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CONSTITUTION
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Auto caravans, online dance parties and drag shows are creative responses Illinois nonprofits are using to urge people to fill out the 2020 U.S. Census in the wake of COVID-19 mandates against face-to-face contact.
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Rep. Karina Villa (D-Batavia) and Oswaldo Alvarez, Illinois census director. Former U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez (DChicago) spoke on another Facebook Live segment. “He emphasized people have to submit the census,” Perez said. “It goes back to the way the community is funded. If we want a better community, we have to do the census.” Latinos are 17 percent of the state’s population, but they are also highly represented among typically undercounted people: immigrants, low-income, renters, children under 5, according to the Latino Policy Forum. Since the census determines representation in Congress and spending on federal programs, if Latinos are undercounted, they are also underfunded and underrepresented, according to the Forum. In an e-blast, the Latino Policy Forum assured its 200 partner organizations about census confidentiality. It has also developed a variation of the Mexican card game Loteria, in which participants match riddle answers to pictures on their game boards. The census Loteria discusses confidentiality, Illinois’s potential loss of a seat in Congress in the wake of an undercount, the census impact on federal spending for education and seniors’ programs and more; it has also been used for Facebook Live events, said communications coordinator Steven Arroyo. Rather than risk losing more of its Blue State representation in Congress, the state of Illinois is spending $29 million – more per capita than any other state – on education and outreach about census importance. The hub-and-spoke system uses “regional intermediaries” (RIs), or trusted messengers, to reach hard-tocount populations. The YWCA Metropolitan Chicago is one of the grantees and SGA is a subgrantee. Howard Brown Health Center, another YWCA subgrantee for the LGBTQ+ population, is planning a drag show on Facebook Live with census information during the “commercial breaks,” said Regan Sonnabend, vice president of marketing and com-
Journalism for the people, by the people:
A fundraiser to support 40+ independent Chicago media outlets Independent Media outlets in Chicago remain curious about the spectrum of human experience in the most resilient, incredible and segregated city in the world. Through integrity and grit, journalists comb the streets to find out what is happening from the people who know best, everyday Chicagoans. munications and census director at the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. “They’ve done a remarkable job of doing things that appeal to the masses because there are a lot of people that feel this is a political issue and a snoozefest,” Sonnabend said. “So what Howard Brown has done is made it hip and cool with some of these events, an act of resistance.” The YWCA and SGA Family & Youth are planning a Boystown census caravan for June, “as something positive and festive,” since the annual Gay Pride Parade has been postponed, she added. Phone banking is the latest outreach tool, because it can be targeted to specific blocks or census tracts with low participation, whether they are LBGTQ or parents of children under age 5, Sonnabend said. For the former, the nonprofit State Voices has helped access Voter Action Network data on households of same-sex males or females, while for the children, it looks at households of three to 10 people headed by someone age 18 to 35. Sonnabend pointed to children’s outreach at food pantries in DuPage county that gave people censusbranded, reusable grocery bags and water bottles as well as baseball caps. Similarly, up to 25 StreetWise vendors will wear census logo jackets as they distribute censusbranded water bottles, baseball caps, and census information at the places where they shelter or visit, in order to spread the word among the homeless population. “We’re giving something to grab people’s attention [so] then they will listen to what you have to say,” she said.
Deadline June 5, 2020
savechicagomedia.org
StreetWise vendor Ladydavid shares quarantine feelings I'm Straight Outta My Mind With Anxiety Trump Or Biden I Ask You Both What's It's Gonna Be Sitting Here Can't Even Count The Tears Going Thru My Brain Going Fucking Insane On Lockdown Can't Even Go Or Be Around Not Even Selling StreetWise I Gotta Get Wise To The Quarantine People Now Drinking Chlorine In Dallas Had To Leave My Ghetto Palace I Tell You, What Will Be, Will Be I Just Hate This Anxiety! (5/5/2020)
INSIDE STREETWISE
vendor Steve Garron spends quarantine time farming
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StreetWise Vendor Steve Garron could always be found with fresh copies of StreetWise in the Loop pedway, right outside of Macy's entrance. During quarantine, Steve joined one of his regular customers and spent his time learning farming skills. Steve is a man of few words, but he did send over a couple of pictures. We cannot wait to hear more and to have him tell you about his full experience on the farm in a future edition of StreetWise!
Streetwise 4/20/20 Crossword numbers 1 to 9. Sudoku
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the
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1 Partner of void 2 Eye amorously 3 Waikiki welcome 4 Wax-coated cheese 5 Penury 6 Irritable 7 Animal shelters
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Sudoku Solution Last Week’s Puzzle Answers
Solution
Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org
Crossword
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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.
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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