R_WURD Magazine - Columbia Links, Columbia College Chicago

Chicago’s teen magazine; written for us, by us

2011 Colorism: Light, dark or in-between?

Scholars in a Snooki world Regret that tattoo?

No way!

The fight against cyberbullying

2011

www.columbialinks.org

A haven for LGBTQ teens

DENIED

NOT HIRING:

The Plight of Jobless Teens

Ch e the ck o u pa poet t ry ge 46. on

FALL/WINTER 2010-2011

SPRING 2011

SUMMER 2011

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www.columbialinks.org STUDENT STAFF High School Al Raby High School Alcott High School for the Humanities Best Practice High School Bogan High School Chicago High School for the Arts Dunbar Vocational High School Elk Grove High School GED Graduate Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory High School Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory High School Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory High School Harlan Community Academy Harlan Community Academy Harlan Community Academy Harper High School Kenwood Academy King College Preparatory High School King College Preparatory High School Latino Youth High School Lincoln Park High School Lincoln Park High School Lincoln Park High School Lincoln Park High School Lindblom Math & Science Academy Muchin College Preparatory High School Muhammad University of Islam High School New Millennium School of Health Oak Park/River Forest High School Olive-Harvey Middle College Perspectives Math and Science Academy Rauner College Preparatory High School Rich East High School Simeon Career Academy Steinmetz Academic Centre Thornton Township High School V.O.I.S.E. Academy Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center Westinghouse College Preparatory High School

First & Last Name Linzell Stackhouse Christine Vi Shaquana Nelson Vinessa Russell Kumari Mason Corrina Qualls Roderick Phillips Natalia Yarbrough Jameliah Salter Belinda Grant Kristen Jackson Ashley Chandler Wesley Bogard Brittney Dillon Paicheal Petty Chevelle Blackburne Alexandra Dodson Paisley Thompson Kevin Alcaide Ana Patricia Juarez Donnell McLachlan Pauline Day Ashley Walker Logan Lawson-Parks Kristen Laws Moracco Alexander Jenetta Lumpkin-Bradley Londen Mance Darius Fields Taerynn Khai Owens Isaac Howard LaRon Rogers Tametrius Files Crystal Phillips Trevon Jackson Ramone Simmons Orlando Santiago

PROFESSIONAL STAFF Brenda Butler, executive director Kevin Obomanu, program coordinator Billy Montgomery, professor and teacher coordinator

LINKS MENTORS Journalism graduate students: Brandon Campbell, Columbia College Chloe Riley, Columbia College Julia Wisocki, Columbia College Journalism undergraduate students: Lee Golden, Columbia College Safiya Merchant, Northwestern University Professional journalists: Nia Andrews, editor, One Purpose Magazine, and Columbia College graduate

Celia Daniels, reporter and editor (Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, St. Petersburg Times) Tracey English, media consultant and reporter (Chicago Sun-Times) Vee Harrison, reporter and Columbia College graduate Lynette Holloway, contributing editor, TheRoot.com and reporter (Ebony Magazine and The New York Times) Allison Hunter-Williams, producer (WGN-TV, KTLA-TV, WYCC at Kennedy-King College) Glenn Jeffers, freelance reporter (Chicago Tribune) Doug Scott, editor, Patch.com and (Chicago Tribune) Avis Weathersbee, editor, Jetmag.com (Chicago SunTimes), blogger, media consultant Jean Williams, reporter and editor (Chicago Sun-Times) Michael Zajakowski, picture editor, Chicago Tribune

Cover illustration and magazine design by Erik Rodriguez, art director, www.erographics.com

Ashley Wright

Special thanks to Omar Castillo, Konrad Biegaj, Lauren Nisavic and Chris Richert of the Columbia College Journalism Department; video editor Ribo Ramses Espino, of Columbia College and Street Level Youth Media.

Columbia Links is committed to supporting and providing quality journalism instruction and training to Chicago teens and teachers.

Columbia Links is the product of the leadership and commitment of Columbia College Journalism Department chair Nancy Day and associate professor Curtis Lawrence.

Columbia Links is supported by Columbia College Chicago and funded by the McCormick Foundation and Dow Jones News Fund.

If you are a teenager in Chicago interested in participating in Columbia Links, call 312369-8993 or email columbialinks@colum.edu

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Inside the minds of Chicago’s youth

Jobs & Teens The summer of our discontent ......6 Get a job or else..............................8 Here’s where it gets tricky ............10 FYI, DIY! ...........................................12 The new high .................................14 Sentenced for life .........................15 What not to wear .........................16 Hooked on hoodies .....................17

Education Nation Gang love....................................18 Fighting words: zero tolerance......20 The message is real .....................22 Don't wait to participate.............23 Scholars in a Snookie world ............24 Electronic aggression ..................26 A bad rap .....................................28 Far from Boystown .......................30

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Back at You Reviewing ‘The Interrupters’ ............33 Weapon of choice ...........................34 Private vs. public ..............................37 Together but separate.....................38 The darker the berry ........................39 It's not abuse, is it? ...........................40 What’s the real deal? .....................42 Character assassination .................43 Fall In, fall out ...................................44 The lessons of gardening ................45

Urban Rhythm Dropping the bomb .......................46 "I hear Chi-town singing"................48 "These streets"...................................48 "Untitled No. 9"..................................49 "Lemme speak".................................49 "You don’t know spit!".....................50

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JOBS & TEENS

Numbers don’t

T

THE SUMMER

OF OUR DISCONTENT By the Columbia Links staff

6

he latest government figures show teen unemployment at 25.4 percent nationwide in August 2011, nearly triple that of other major worker groups: adult men (8.9 percent), adult women (8.0 percent). Overall, 14 million Americans or 9.1 percent remain mired in joblessness.

In addition, the sad season was even bleaker for black teenagers as unemployment rose to 46.5 percent in August, up from 39.2 percent in July.

The teen employment rate last summer was just 29.5 percent, tying 2010 for the lowest rate since the end of World War II. That means only one-fourth of the 16.7 million teens between ages 16 to 19—worse than any other age group—had a job this summer, the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University reports.

It seems the biggest loser isn’t a reality show; it’s real life.

Without a job, teens say they don’t think they will be able to accomplish some things in life. Others relate the frustration of finding a job in the city when they have little or no work experience.

The prospects are dismal in the suburbs, too. Just ask 16-year-old Christopher Rodgers of Bolingbrook in search of his first job.

“Chris,” a junior year at Naperville Central High School, hoped to earn money last summer to buy gas for his first car. He had filled out 35 applications, only to snare one interview with retailer Best Buy, where the manager said the interview went well, but you don’t have any experience, there are 16 people vying for only four positions, and returning college students and adults are at the front of the hiring line. Economists call this labor market shift “bumping down,” which virtually eliminates the younger and less-experienced job seekers from the competition.

“I’m running out of places to apply,” says Chris, whose back-up plan included taking a U.S. history class in summer school.

What’s a teen to do? Hopefully, not anything illegal. With no plan by local or national politicians to stop the 10-year

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

lie decline in jobs for teens, Chicago Urban League President Andrea Zopp in a statement warns officials not to ignore young people “who are most at risk for potential violence as a result of being left on the streets in the summer months when crime is at its most explosive.”

The nation’s inability to generate summer jobs is critical, particularly for younger, low-income, and minority teens.

In Chicago, 54.9 percent of black teens are jobless compared to 32.5 percent Hispanics and 30.9 percent whites, the Bureau of Labor Statistic reports. In other words, teens who need work the most are the least likely to find it.

Much like a neglected parched lawn, funding for summer jobs has dried up.

Illinois is losing 18,000 youth jobs because there is no federal stimulus money.

Chicago-area organizations are trying to stave off any threat of unrest by holding job summits and calling on Congress to restore funds for the Summer Youth Jobs Program.

After months of stagnant economic reports and congressional gridlock, in September, President Obama unveiled his $447 billion American Jobs Act that included $5 billion for summer and subsidized employment programs for low-income teens.

The consequences of an idle summer don’t end when school resumes; limited summer opportunities reduce fall prospects, the center reports. Teens who work in high school, especially boys, are less likely to drop out and engage in criminal acts. For girls, pregnancy rates increase when there are few jobs available.

The future success of our teens depends on what we do today. In its 2010 report—”Vanishing Work Among U.S. Teens…What a Difference a Decade Makes!”—the center notes “the employment rate for upper-middle income white teens was four times as high as that for low-income black teens, 401 percent vs. 9 percent.”

Teens with less experience will find it harder and harder to compete as they grow older. The gap only gets wider, giving a whole new meaning to the term “no child left behind.”

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JOBS & TEENS

GET A JOB OR ELSE? The pursuit of employment creates teens who are obsessed with finding one

By Ashley Walker

Lincoln Park High School

W

ith unemployment at almost 9.9 percent in Illinois, jobs are treasured and hard to come by. Once you have one, it can be a fight to keep it.

This can be especially hard on teens.

According to a study by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, teen unemployment this summer was the highest ever. Yet, are jobs really needed for teens who are still trying to get an education?

Another recent study shows teens that work while getting an education are less likely to finish college. According to the Developmental Psychology Journal, only 20 percent of students who worked 31 hours or more per week went on to graduate college.

“Issues like the dropout rate, sex and loss of education have become the norm.

Society is preparing people for failure,”

8

said Dervel Jackson, 18, a senior at Curie High School. “It’s all about choices, but what about those teens who don’t know about making good choices? What do they do?”

More and more frequently, teens are competing for jobs. But maybe they should be focusing on getting an education to get a better job.

“It seems like teens have lost all regards for their education,” said Melody Anderson, a youth mentor at Clarendon Park. “Some teens will get a job and completely let go of their education. It’s really sad.”

While society points its finger towards the child for lack of guidance and morality, some believe society is too willing to take childhood away.

“Society seems to be giving up on our kids,” said Anderson. “I’ve talked to some

“Money is a distraction from education,” says student Toni Ladao, 17. Photo by Ashley Walker

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EXTRA, EXTRA! “Society demonizes poor children, lost parents, young parents and it’s unfair. Children need support systems to guide them through the complex issues they’ll be faced with.”

— Dr. Carl Bell, director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at UIC

Academics come first, but your activities reveal a great deal about you.

In addition to demonstrating your interests, they can show that you are able to: Make a meaningful contribution to something.

Maintain a long-term commitment.

Manage your time and priorities.

teens who felt working was way more important than finishing school. They see what the media is glorifying money.

When teens make mistakes, adults and some of their peers turn their backs on them as if to say, you only get one chance.”

Whether or not teens fight for employment is more than relevant, but do they really need employment while trying to receive an education?

“Money is a distraction from education!” said Toni Ladao, 17, a student at Lincoln Park High School. “An education is not easy to come by. You need an education in order to get most jobs. Teens need to start helping their selves by knowing when they’re doing too much and putting a halt on their future.”

So where do we go from here? What is a way to help teens stay off of the violent streets while staying focused on their education?

Dr. Carl Bell is the director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at UIC. Bell said teens should have a positive founda-

“

tion in their lives.

“Teens need a strong support system behind them,” he said. “They need it more so than babies, now that they’re able to see exactly what society is expecting of them.”

Melody Anderson and many other parents believe extracurricular activities may be the solution rather than employment.

“Educational based programs are great!

Programs that reinforce and apply things that are learned are important,” she said.

“This will help produce the next doctors, lawyers and presidents! We need to push them towards success.”

“Too many times we look at the poverty level,” said Jennifer Johnson, an AfricanAmerican history teacher at Lincoln Park High School.

“Academic achievement is important to students’ lives,” Johnson said. “A person who is suffering from poverty can be an AP student. Extracurricular activities help students receive the grades that can push them to a brighter future.”

It seems like teens have lost all regards for

Haven’t gotten involved yet?

Many school, community and religious organizations give you chances to explore your interests and talents.

There are lots of opportunities to try different things. If you’ve got multiple interests, and have the time, try activities in more than one area. For example, write for the school paper as well as join the band.

School activities It’s easy to find out about activities available at school. The challenge may be figuring out how much to do.

Here are some quick tips: When you find something you like, stick with it.

Don’t worry about being president of the club, or captain of the team.

The key is whether you’ve done something significant --center stage or behind the scenes.

Give your all to each activity, and, most importantly, to your schoolwork.

their education, some teens will get a job

Community service

and completely let go of their education. It’s

You can also gain skills and experience through volunteer work, such as by tutoring elementary school kids or spending time at a local hospital.

Some schools even offer academic credit for volunteer work.

really sad.”

– Melody Anderson Youth mentor at Clarendon Park

— Courtesy of The College Board 9

JOBS & TEENS

Here’s where it gets

TRICKY The challenges of the hiring process can also work for you

By Taerynn Khai Owens Perspectives Math & Science Academy

U

nemployment has hit teen what they know and fired for who they workers considerably hard are. For this reason the whole interview in the current recession and process, the application, interview quesfurther challenging their job tions, initial offer and the surrounding search efforts are “tricky” job negotiations—even company orientaapplications and interview questions. tions—can be a test of behavior and According to the Illinois Departpsychology.” ment of Employment Security (IDES), Starting with the application,often the state’s unemployment rate (at time done online these days, teens are someof publication) is at 9.9 percent while times placed at a disadvantage. Some teen unemployment lies at 25.4 percent. applications are more favorable toward Landing a position is tough for adults, people with more job experience, which who may be better prepared to deal can leave teens at the tail end of opporwith job-search challenges that probe tunity. for extensive personal information. But With the unemployment rate being teens—who may high for adults as favor retail jobs well as for teenagInterviewers are finding such as those that ers, some teens that people know how can be found at may be competing to give answers that they Home Depot, A'gaci with adults for and Burger King— think the interviewer wants jobs. Verble says may be stumped by that lengthy apto hear without actually applications and plications could be having the experience or interview questions a plus or a minus skill set the interviewer is used to determine for teens. “Lengthy attitude, character applications can looking for.” and morals and to be a deterrent for – Molly Verble predict behavior. most teens,” she Director of programs at Youth Job Center, Evanston “Employees are says. “However, collooking for candilege and scholardates who have the technical skills and ship applications are often extensive. Job abilities to perform well, but they are also applications mirror real-life experiences looking for people who will fit in with teens will have to master in order to be the existing team and company culture,” successful.” says Molly Verble, director of programs at Ruben Goff, career development workYouth Job Center of Evanston. “A popular shop facilitator at Jobs for Youth Chicago, cliché states that people are hired for says that interview questions indeed can

“

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be posed in a tricky manner. However, he says that it's a means to an end rather than a trick for trick's sake. “Usually those questions arrive when the recruiter feels the need to explore the applicant further in order to ensure the right candidate for the job,” he says.

Hiring managers just want the truth, Goff suggests. The questions that they ask are intended to give the candidate the opportunity to highlight actual skills and abilities.

“Interviewers are finding that people know how to give answers that they think the interviewer wants to hear without actually having the experience or skill set the interviewer is looking for,” Verble says. “If the interviewee cannot provide evidence or support for answers, the interview may not result in a job offer.

Employers are looking for the best skill and personality match, and the interview process is the only chance to gather information before making a hiring decision.”

Roger Peden, director of employer services at Jobs for Youth Chicago, says that hiring managers may use different techniques to get the truth. “They ask the same questions multiple ways to ensure the answers are consistent,” he says.

Then, how do teens effectively present themselves as the best candidate? They have to be more than just the best candidate during the interview, these experts suggest. “The best candidate doesn't land the job,” Goff says. “The candidate that best sells himself or herself most effec-

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“

Applicants should answer using the P.A.R. method: describe the Problem, the Action you've initiated and the Result that occurred.

— Roger Peden

tively gets the job.”

Thorough answers are a good place to start. “Concise, but informative answers are best,” Peden says. “Elaborate answers tend to muddle the focus. During an interview, it's good to have a definite beginning, middle and an end with tangible results.”

Potential employers often would like to know how you would react when con-

fronted by a particular situation. Peden suggests applicants answer using the P.A.R. method: describe the Problem, the Action you've initiated and the Result that occurred.

“The answers need to be descriptive, but not necessarily wordy,” Peden says.

Teens also shouldn't forget that an interview can be a two-way street for sharing information.

”

Director of employer services at Jobs for Youth Chicago

“Remember, an interview is your opportunity to find out about the company as well as their opportunity to find out about you. Take the time to do some research on the company to be able to ask informed questions,” Verble suggests. “Be at your best, dress appropriately, bring your resume and use your professional manners. And always be confident in your skills and accomplishments.”

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JOBS & TEENS

FYI, DIY!

Response to unemployment leads to new businesses

By Ana Patricia Juarez

I

Lincoln Park High School

t isn’t only affecting your folks. As unemployment has gradually risen in Chicago, teens have been out of luck when applying for summer jobs. The days are gone where we can just walk down to our nearest mall strip and ask for an application with the full expectation of being hired.

Chicago had 22 percent fewer jobs for youth this summer, 4,000 fewer than last year, the Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies reports.

The findings aren’t news to tattoo artist Fentu Due, 17. “I applied a lot and never got hired,” says Fentu. “I had no option but to get into tattooing because I had no job.”

The Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas, Mo.based firm that has studied entrepreneurial activity, coined the phrase “jobless entrepreneurship” to describe Americans’ response to high unemployment rates.

“It’s really hard finding a job in the city,” echoes Lincoln Park High School student Jenny S. Morales, 17, who paints nails for a living. “Especially for teens, when you’ve only had a couple of job experiences.”

The job market has gotten so bad that the Center for Labor Market Studies expected only 1 in 4 teens between the ages of 16 to 19 to find a job in summer of 2011. That’s roughly 12 million jobless youth nationwide.

The numbers make it even more difficult for teens who want to transition into adulthood and be more responsible when there are no jobs to help you toward that goal. Cicero High School student Benito Juarez, 17, who barbers out of his home for extra money, talks about the stress of not having a job.

“Teens are at an important age in life where they want to go to college or move away from their parents,” says Juarez. “[Without a job] you feel like you won’t be able to accomplish some things in life.”

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“As a kid I was always getting a haircut in the barbershop and the guys there inspired me to cut hair,” Juarez says.

Teen entrepreneurship instills a sense of pride for hard work and lays down the foundation for teens to pursue excellence. “I have a bit of an obsessive attitude toward my work and anything that isn’t perfect I won’t put Teen entrepreneur Anthony Driver is the 2011 winner of the Future Founders citywide competition for his “Charge ‘N’ Go” my name on it,” says business concept.

Holiday.

“You have to put time However, teens are learning how into what you want to do and put your to help themselves—a few in risky heart into it,” says Morales. ways. “More and more everyday kids Due says that working as a tattoo artare selling weed,” says Due. But that ist showed him how to survive real life. doesn’t mean that’s the only means for “I learned how to talk to people, handle obtaining money. Other teens are findmoney and how to survive on an everying more creative—and legal—ways to day basis.” For Holiday, having her own make cash, mainly through starting business taught her, in some ways, how their own businesses that are centered to manage her money. “I usually split my on their talents.

In a Harris Poll commissioned by the Kauffman My business started out as more Foundation, www.kauffof a hobby. Then once I started man.org/ young people reported that they “want getting serious, it was more as a to be their own boss.” Adnecessity because it became my ditionally, the 2007 online survey of 2,438 youth ages 8 means of income.” to 21 found that 63 per – Ashanti Newt Holiday cent believe that they can Teen owner of a silk-screening business become entrepreneurs. That is why it is no surprise that profits into two, one side goes into my so many teens are starting small busipocket and the other is put away in case nesses.

I need to restock my materials,” she says.

Bogan High School student Ashanti Because these teen entrepreneurs Newt Holiday, 17, decided to be her own recognize how hard it has been to have boss this summer. She works out of her a business, they have advice for those home, owning a small silk-screening looking to get in on the action. Advice, business where she prints on T-shirts, they say, they’ve applied to become more posters and any other flat surface she successful with their businesses. can find.

“Stay positive no matter what.

“My business started out as more of Sometimes it may seem that all odds a hobby,” says Holiday. “Then once I are against you, but if you don’t give up started getting serious, it was more as a things will turn around,” says Ashanti. necessity because it became my means With passion and determination in of income.” She learned how to do silkhis voice, Due, who has had a lot of presscreening at a mixed-media program sure from family to do other things with through the After School Matters prohis life, offers this advice: “If the people gram. As well, both Juarez and Morales around you aren’t there to motivate you, started their businesses as hobbies.

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then screw them. Do it, if you know what you want to do—do it.”

Although teens are determined they can do it on their own, there are foundations that set out to discover teen entrepreneurs and assist in funding their goals, such as the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.

Because of the increasing demand for entrepreneurial exposure, the CEC launched the Future Founders program in 2005, which sets out to give motivated high school students an opportunity to experience what it means to own a business.

Anthony Driver, 18, a student at the Chicago International Charter School’s Ralph Ellison Campus on the South Side, won the 2011 Future Founders Citywide Business Plan Competition with an invention he came up with in an entrepreneurial class. He won more than $7,100 for his concept. Entrepreneurship had never crossed Anthony’s mind before his invention of the “Charge ‘N’ Go.” “It’s basically a kiosk box where you swipe your credit card and pay for your phone, laptop, iPod and other technology to be charged,” Driver says. “You’d pay one dollar for every 10 minutes worth of charging. It’s like a locker where you can charge all of your electronics.”

Driver says the idea grew out of a discussion in class on a need in society that had to be fulfilled: “I knew that people’s phones were always dying so that was my idea. The benefit of [“Charge ‘N’ Go”] is that people need their electronic devices in dire situations. For example, after prom it was raining but none of us could call our driver because all of our phones were dead...”

A confident Howard University-bound, Driver says that it isn’t a matter of whether or not big companies will take off with the idea; it’s more of a question of when. “These will definitely be around in 10 years,” he says.

Although Driver recognizes that there are many problems with increasing teen unemployment, he sees the positive side.

“Having no jobs for youth supports entrepreneurs,” he says. “It motivates teens to do more, work harder, and really just do more with their lives. It gives them the opportunity to look at things they might have missed with getting a job quickly.”

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JOBS & TEENS according to a study released by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in May 2011.

And now marijuana use by teens is at an all-time high, even beating out tobacco.

In fact, more than 20 percent of high school seniors are using the drug, compared to about 19 percent of seniors who only smoke cigarettes, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In 2008, the institute conducted a study showing that students who smoke marijuana tend to get lower grades and drop out of high school.

That same year the World Health Organization ranked the United States first among 17 European and North American countries for drug use.

For Korzeneiwski, his drug use not only affected the jobs he has been able to get, he says he dropped out school because of his habit.

“Most of the teens that come in to this office that have problems with drugs are not working,” said Mark Hasselman, a social worker and addiction counselor for Professional Consultations Inc., a drug treatment provider for adolescents and adults licensed Increase in smoking pot puts by the Illinois Department of Human Services. teens at risk of losing their jobs “Especially with pot, there’s the anti-moand failing random drug tests tivational syndrome that goes along with that. You just really aren’t motivated to do a lot, so work is pretty low on their priority

By Crystal Phillips list.”

Steinmetz Academic Centre Hasselman said teens with or teenagers, this summer’s job drug problems differ from ...There’s the anti-motivational opportunities are dwindling while adults because usually teens syndrome that goes along with that are in treatment against their marijuana use is increasing and [smoking pot]. You just really aren’t will, whereas the adults he anti-drug advocates are warning that the spike in drug use will make the teen sees tend to seek help themmotivated to do a lot, so work is unemployment problem worse. selves. pretty low on their priority list.

“Since I cannot pass a drug test it is But not all teens see marimuch harder for me to get a job so I’m stuck juana use as being a negative – Mark Hasselman influence in their lives. working at delis for now,” said 19-year-old Addiction counselor Patrick Korzeneiwski, a recent high school While Korzeneiwski strugdropout. employer think I’m some kind of reckless gles to keep a job with his drug use, Natalie His drug use has limited his job opportudrug addict makes it 100 times worse.”

Myczk, a high school senior and grocery nities and academic success.

The number of youths, 16- to 24-yearstore cashier, said she has had no problems Korzeneiwski works for less than miniolds, looking for jobs skyrockets every year in getting or keeping a job. mum wage and sees no room for promotion. between the months of April and July, ac“At my job, there are even employees who He even has problems at work since his cording to the Department of Labor. sell drugs at work.” said Myczk. boss assumes he does drugs, which has Last year the department recorded an 11.5 “I am a recreational user of marijuana, caused more problems. percent growth of 2.4 million to 22.9 million and for me there is no problem in getting a “I get called into my boss’ office if I go to youths who were employed or “actively job or keeping a job since marijuana is more the bathroom too many times in an hour looking for work.” sociably accepted. Problems do not arise if But for this summer the national teen because she thinks I’m in there trying to you are either high at work or talk about the employment rate for 2011 is projected to get high,” Korzeneiwski said. “My job deals concepts of being high, as long as you can fall to a historic low of only 25 to 27 percent, with a lot of stress by itself, but having my do your job.”

The new

HIGH

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Sentenced

for life

Teens with a criminal record run into the brick walls of unemployment

By Pauline Day

Lincoln Park High School

T

wenty years ago, Jeff Chears, a teenager, made a choice. He refused a plea bargain and went to trial. Found innocent, his record was expunged, and no one could guess he had ever been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

His friends weren’t as lucky. They accepted the plea bargain, and now it’s a part of their permanent records. “[My friends] might not have gotten jail time, but they are living jail now.”

According to Illinois state law, any felony conviction of a teenager—age 17 and up—is deemed an “adult” crime by the judge and noted on a public record. For Chears’ friends, applying for a job has become impossible—their own jail sentence.

In the job application process, name, address and educational info have taken a back seat to more personal data. It is the dreaded box that reads “check and explain if you have committed any felonies” that has taken the wheel, and is causing hundreds of teens job searches to crash and burn.

By law, applicants are required to check yes, or no, honestly, and with new technologies such as background searches that have been legalized in the job application process, there is no hiding one’s criminal record from the boss.

“They can see everything—from a baby arrest when you were a teenager, to a felony committed as an adult. If you were in the station, they know it,” Chears says. Luckily, Chears was aware of his rights and moved to have his record cleared, but his friends weren’t so savvy and now cringe at the job application process. With felonies on their record, and in light of the current economic crisis, finding a job, or building a career has become a non-starter.

“The only way in is through connections. You will never make it you don’t know anyone,” Chears says.

With nowhere to turn, many of Chears’ friends have had to turn to the very cause of their problem: crime. According to Chears, “They sell drugs now.

What else are they going to do?” This often results in them being rearrested, and the vicious cycle continues, highlighting the dismal prospects for previously convicted teenagers in the workplace.

Without a hope for reintegration, teen felons become prey to the “easy money” appeal of crime, slowly losing all hope for a future career, or even future employment.

Robert Aspholm directs a youth employment

Would you hire a formerly convicted teenager to work at your business?

Are you crazy? Never!

20%

Jeff Chears pleaded innocent and was acquitted, freeing himself of a criminal record that leaves teens paying the price the rest of their lives. Photo by Pauline Day

non-profit organization, MAGIC (Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization). He argues that convicted teenagers, or even teens with a criminal record, are the ones who need employment the most.

“We need to keep pushing programs to train youth for employment, so that they do actually feel like they have a way out,” Aspholm says.

“Leaving troubled teens on the street only opens up the possibilities for crime. They need to be working.”

As both unemployment and crime rates rise for teenagers, the big question has become: How do we get troubled teens off the street if we won’t accept them into the work force?

Whose role should it be to solve this problem?

Should the government step in?

Should one’s future dreams be silenced due to possibly one mistake made during his developing years? The tough realities faced by Chears’ friends indicate that the thin line between punishment and banishment has become blurred.

In school we are taught that punishment should be a tool to put you on the right course, to provide a lesson to prevent further wrongdoing and allow for second chances. With young people striking out on employment—thus striking out on their future because of mistakes made during the years they are supposed to be learning right from wrong—the criminal justice system has failed, and allowed the criminal teenage population to grow.

And yet, the silent question remains to be asked.

What about you?

Would you give a previously convicted teen a second chance? Would you hire them?

I’m not sure... I guess my decision would be on an individual basis.

40%

Absolutely! Everyone deserves a second chance.

40%

If you are a formerly convicted teenager who has been looking for a job, which of the following match your experience?

Finding a job has been impossible. No one will hire me due to my record.

40% It’s been a tough search, but I was lucky enough to find an employer willing to hire me.

40%

I don’t think my record has impacted my job search at all.

20% *Online poll results as of 9/28/2011

15

JOBS & TEENS

Photos by Vinessa Russell

What not to wear Bold fashion expressions may be great for city streets, but not for the workplace

By Vinessa Russell Bogan High School

A

lot of teenagers seem to be lost when it comes to the world of fashion, especially when they’re job hunting. So, in an effort to help them find their way, we spoke with Roger Peden, director of career and employer services at Jobs for Youth in Chicago.

Although he runs a huge service organization, Peden still focuses on the details — and appearances do count. And with so many teens using their dress to make bold personal style statements, we asked him what they should wear on job interviews?

Peden, who says he “just spoke with a couple of girls on this topic the other day,” replies with a mix of concern and authority... : “Well for my guys, they should wear college shirts, no more than two [coordinating] colors like dark blue or dark olive 16

...dark colors really,” he says. “A suit would be fine, but no bright colors.”

Peden also noted that tattoos are not appropriate for a workplace, so if you do have them don’t make them known.

To finish it all off, dress shoes.

“Girls,” Peden says, “should wear a [nice] shirt [with slacks or skirt] or a nice pants suit.” Colors that they wear should be simple, dark, or not too bright.

And, bad news for Nicki Minaj wannabes, Peden advises: “[Girls’] hair should not have bright colors in it; it should be human hair — with human color spectrum.”

And when it comes to shoes and accessories? “Heels should be no higher than two inches to three inches, or flats are acceptable,” Peden notes.

“Earrings should be no larger than a quarter ... not too long.

Neutrals seem to be the word when it comes to primping. Peden says nails should be painted with clear or neutral

DON’T (far left): An overly bright shirt and casual shorts may be a great style statement at school, but not in the workplace.

DO (left): A nice, neutral blouse— not too tight or revealing—along with well-groomed hair is a good look for a job interview.

Style tips for teen job seekers Check out the place you’ll be interviewing at in advance and observe what those who work there already are wearing and mimic them.

Guys: No visible tattoos.

Guys: If you can’t tie a tie, purchase a nice clip-on tie.

Guys: Pull your pants up to the waistline.

Girls: Hair should be neat and tidy.

Girls: Nails should be well groomed — not chipped or bitten.

Girls: Clothes should not be tight or revealing.

polish. “And makeup should be consisted of natural tones,” he adds.

How does the average teen measure up when it comes to the standards Peden has outlined? The Jobs for Youth director pauses, then replies, “Eeeghh...

There are several different averages among teens. Some dress more average than others, some dress more professional than adults!”

Whether you’re a girl or guy on the hunt for a job, according to Peden, you can’t go wrong with a nice suit.

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Hooked on hoodies

Does this fashion choice lead to stereotyping teens?

We asked fashion expert, Elaine Welteroth, beauty writer and editor for Glamour magazine.

Elaine Welteroth

By Vinessa Russell Bogan High School

W

hile a lot of teens hit the streets making a very bold style statement—otherwise known as the “street-chic look,” there also is another camp—kids whose wardrobes are built on two items: hoodies and jeans. We wondered what message this fashion choice presents to the world?

So, we turned to Elaine Welteroth, beauty writer and editor for Glamour magazine, to deconstruct the “hoodies and jeans” look and to tell us if she thinks negative assumptions get attached to the teens who constantly wear them...

VR: When you see someone walk into a store or restaurant with a hoodie and a pair of jeans on, what comes to mind?

EW: It depends on how the outfit is put together. These days, you can really make a trendy fashion statement with just a hoodie and jeans. See any new Chris Brown video.

This fusion of hip-hop culture and "skater" style has given rise to street lines that promote this casual, colorful aesthetic, especially for young

men. The jeans are fitted and cuffed and paired with clean kicks. The hoodie is usually colorful and designed with a soft high grade cotton (fuzz-ball free!). I think this look is stylish and of-the-moment.

That said, all hoodies and jeans are not created equal. If the pieces were oversized, unclean and thrown together sloppily, I may have a negative perception of the person's sense of style and overall manner.

Also, it depends on the social norms of the venue. If it is a dressy, upscale environment, jeans and hoodies may seem inappropriate and disrespectful. If it is a "come-as-you-are" casual setting, I think people would generally be less judgmental about people's attire.

VR: Why is it that the way a person dresses can lead to generalizations?

EW: In general, one's personal style sends powerful messages to the world about who they are and what they aspire to. If you are careless in your dressing, people will assume you are just as careless in other aspects of your life.

17

EDUCATION NATION

Gang

LOVE

Families compete with the streets for teens’ time

By Ana Patricia Juarez Lincoln Park High School

M

any, upon entering the commu- ily, young adults continue to embrace some cases, breaking it apart with dire nity of La Villita (Little Village), the gang life, which is evident in the consequences. Desiree Valdez, 16, a immediately feel the presence National Gang Threat Assessment’s junior at Lincoln Park, lives with her of its abundant culture and bursting latest figures on Chicago. Since 2000, mom and stepfather. It was hard for livelihood. Street vendors howl out gang membership has increased from her growing up, however, knowing that deals on little Mexican treats that 70,000 to 105,000 in 2010. her dad was in jail. will speak to your senses like “He wanted a home and a ambrosia-battered home lot of his friends were in gangs The streets seemed better, like I becooking. too . . . that influenced him,” longed there. [I could] just leave and The bells of various Desiree says of her father’s atchurches ring faintly in go where they’d hang and just talk...” traction to gangs. Desiree has the background, only to be seen much of the gang life and disturbed by police sirens little of her father because of

– Jazmin Maldonado his imprisonment from before seeping through the neigh Hindsdale Central High School borhoods, a reminder of the she was born. underlying discord gangs “I don’t have my real dad now,’’ “It’s a teen’s refuge, the second home, she says. “I don’t like [gangs] at all. bring. On the street, next to schools, in the street that someone goes to in orfront of stores and against playground They just take away innocent lives.” der to feel important and appropriately gates, young men clad in matching In addition to Desiree’s percepwelcomed,” says Lincoln Park High colors and style gawk at cars passing tion of why young adults join gangs, by, ready at any moment to “throw up” School junior Aldo Molina, 17, whose police and sociologists point the finger insight comes from having once been their gang sign. at various factors including poverty, In spite of the risks from other gangs friends with gang members. unemployment, lack of education, peer Gangs are replacing the family, in and police, and the threat to the fampressure—even boredom. The cause

“

18

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may also be found in a teen’s home when there is a breakdown of the family structure.

Looking back, Eddie Lopez, 36, became involved with La Villita gang activity his freshman year of school. “I left home, not knowing that the streets were colder than my house was,” he says. The cycle seems never-ending but for many it seems like no other choice. “I felt like that was what I was supposed to do. Everyone was involved, even family…, ” says Lopez, who supervises a gang-intervention program at CeaseFire in Cicero.

Years later, the same inclination toward joining a gang is found in Jazmin Maldonado, 15, who has been tempted to join because it ran in the family.

Jazmin has spent most of her life in the midst of La Villita’s most dominant gangs, the Latin Kings and the Two-Six. “My uncle and dad were Kings,” she says. For her, partaking in gang-related activities was simply “stepping into their place.”

When things would get heated in Jazmin’s home, the gang gave her an opportunity to leave the house, to escape the increasing fights between her parents. “The streets seemed better, like I belonged there”, she says. And whenever she wanted, she says she would “just leave and go where they’d

hanging in the streets.” If you give teens an alternative to their boredom and create a safe environment where they would want to hang out, then their inclinations toward mischief might be subdued. Beyond the Ball is a sports-based youth-development program where sports are used as a means to mentor young people. Chaundry also believes that family involvement and intervention can decrease the violence within the community.

At a recent neighborhood forum on community development, Zach Massey, father of two and community activist, says that “[getting] all people in the community invested, willing to sacrifice” is crucial.

Urban Life Skills, an organization that deals with court-mandated teens to help with substance abuse, provides workshops and administers group sessions, and does its part in the community through Nueva Vida (New Life) church in La Villita. The organization works to get kids who have been arrested back on track and to inspire gang members to choose another lifestyle.

Frank Fabela, 18, of Urban Life Skills, says that although it’s only about “two out of five kids [who] leave gangs and actually move forward” there’s no reason to be bummed out about that figure; that with time it will increase.

Fabela believes that the most effective way to reach out to these gang Desire Valdez, members is to give them realis16, has seen tic situations and questions that much of gang might reflect their every day lives, life but little so that they might be given a of her father chance to reflect on what they’re because of his doing out in the streets. None of imprisonment. which can occur without building Photo by Ana the foundation of spending time Patricia Juarez with them first.

“You can never express your opinion on an idea until you know the people,” says Fabela.

“Once you get to know them, you can think of the solution.”

hang and just talk about it.” They knew how she felt; they had been in the same family predicament as her, she says.

Jazmin believes that so many of La Villita’s teens join gangs because “they feel like their families don’t want them anymore” and that “being in a gang was a way to feel loved.” She says the gang life seems like a way not to be alone in anything. The comfort in knowing that people understood her situation was enough to attract her to the lifestyle. Before Jazmin could delve deeper, her parents moved to the suburbs, where she is a freshman at Hinsdale Central High, to ensure that she would no longer be held down by the pressures of her environment.

So what is the solution to what is going on, on La Villita’s streets? Many say after-school programs are key to warding off increasing gang membership.

“Providing extracurricular activities that involve bringing rivals together in team-building exercises” is a way to end the gang-related violence, says Steven Ngo, a La Villita high school principal.

Hassan Chaundry, 23, program monitor at Beyond the Ball, agrees that supervised extracurricular activities during late hours are the solution because it “gives kids an alternative to

For more information on gangs visit the National Gang Threat Assessment’s website: www.justice.gov/ndic/ pubs32/32146/ 19

EDUCATION NATION

FIGHTING

WORDS: Zero Tolerance Chicago Public Schools’ automatic suspension policy is no quick fix for students in conflict

By Jenetta Lumpkin-Bradley New Millennium School of Health

A

17-year-old (who we’ll call “Matthew”) got a first-hand look at the Chicago Public Schools’ Zero Tolerance policy when another student came up to him after school one day...

According to Matthew, the student said, “So I hear you’ve been putting my name in your mouth. . . . What’s up!,” the student asked as he dropped his coat and book bag. “We can get down right here, right now,” he said.

“Let’s fight!”

Matthew says he responded: “Man, I’m not even trying to fight you. I’m trying to get home. It’s the end of the day, I’m exhausted and ready to go, get off that.” Matthew says he then walked away, avoiding a confrontation.

The next day Matthew told a school

20

security guard, whom he was comfortable with about the incident. Matthew says he told the security guard that officials needed to intervene, “Because the next time he comes in my face I’m going to drop him where he stands.” According to Matthew, the guard responded, “Well man, do what you do.”

Minutes later, students at the New Millennium School of Health cried out, “It’s a fight! Fight! Fight!" That same day, Matthew was hit with a five-day suspension.

According to CPS’ policy, Zero Tolerance (initiated in 1995) is “enforced for students who commit acts of misconduct which seriously disrupt the orderly educational process.”

Ironically the student who Matthew alleges started the altercation was only suspended for two days.

Melissa Shikany, assistant dean at New Millennium, says Zero Tolerance

teaches kids the consequence of the choices they make. She says it helps kids learn to follow rules and makes other kids feel safer.

But, according to Northwestern University associate professor of law Bernardine Dohrn, who also is director of the Children and Family Justice Center, “Zero Tolerance is not applied evenly to all kids... I believe there is a large element of discrimination – and no one can provide all the evidence with racism and discrimination. They do not understand that the Zero Tolerance policy effects students in the long run.

“There are many students who have difficult circumstances and need different learning techniques.

The Zero Tolerance policy should be more focused on knowing who the students really are before punishing them.”

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At New Millennium, a suspended student is given a recovery packet, but it doesn’t allow him to make up all that he misses. In addition to written assignments, teachers award students points toward their final grade for class participation, in-class assignments, etc. A suspended student loses those points. So, a suspension affects a student’s grades and ultimately, his future.

Matthew felt that the lack of structured learning during his suspension made it a waste of time – all he did was watch television and go outside during what would have been school

program for girls in grades 9-11 that helps them to make choices to better themselves; and the last two programs consist of confidential sessions for students who are thought to be in serious crisis – they teach them to appreciate inappropriate choices and address students with short tempers and failing grades.

Matthew thinks the reason he gets into fights is because other students keep starting altercations with him, but instead of being proactive in the situation he just ignores it or just talks with staff members like the security guard who he socializes with.

He feels the fight could have been There are many students who have difficult prevented if circumstances and need different learning only his peer techniques. The Zero Tolerance policy should would have maturely be more focused on knowing who the come to him students really are before punishing them.” and dis– Bernardine Dohrn cussed their Associate professor of law at problems Northwestern University so that they could come hours. And, he says the school never to a solution. tried to get him to turn in the makeShikany says that the security up work in the recovery packet given guard in such a situation should out when students are suspended to have brought Matthew to the dean to keep their grades up. According to investigate the matter to de-escalate Shikany, it’s the responsibility of the the conflict. student and his/her parent to pick up Shikany says the Zero Tolerance and use the recovery packet. suspension policy at New Millennium But for kids who are already marapplies to fighting and for students ginal academically, being suspended not wearing the appropriate school won’t pressure them to work harder. uniform. She explains that the length “No, it doesn’t help them, it makes of the suspension depends on how them anxious,” Dohrn says. severe the case may be, for instance if Because of all the problems suspen- a student hits a teacher they get a 10– sions can create – such as poor grades, day suspension, while a smaller fight lack of knowledge, influences to use might result in two to five days. A the time off for negative pursuits and fight that breaks out between groups an increase in drop-out rates – it’s im- of students is an automatic 10-day portant for students to learn how to suspension. avoid conflicts and fights.

However, she says the adminisShikany says the following protrative staff does give students an grams are offered to help students opportunity to speak and tell their avoid and resolve conflicts: The first side because they do believe that it’s is an anger management program for possible it could be more to a story students who are referred by teachthat was discovered. ers; another is the New Millennium New Millennium dean, Woodric Diva program, which is a mentor Spencer, says that they still have to

“

adhere to CPS law during the process.

He says the Zero Tolerance policy has reduced the number of fights this school term over the previous one.

Last school year, he says, there were numerous riots and fights, while as of December 2010, there had been only eight fights.

However, Dohrn, who has studied the policy in her work says, “There is no evidence on Zero Tolerance reducing the number of fights.”

We asked Matthew how the policy had impacted his actions. I’m still the same. I just keep walking away from drama but if somebody put their hands on me I’m going to do the same.”

So, there are no easy answers when looking at the Zero Tolerance policy in Chicago Public Schools. While reducing the number of fights creates a better learning environment where students are more prepared and focused, the policy needs to be applied fairly.

And, perhaps the best approach to prevent any students from slipping through the cracks is to place more efforts on diffusing conflicts before they start and on trying to assess and then address the individual needs of students.

Jenetta Lumpkin-Bradley is a student at Olive Harvey College in Chicago.

What is your opinion on the CPS Zero Tolerance policy?

I’m for it; it reduces violence in schools.

33.33%

I’m against it; it punishes students who are merely defending themselves.

66.67% *Online poll results as of 9/28/2011

21

EDUCATION NATION

The Message is real Y

Teens talk about their reasons for getting tattoos, and not regretting them at all

By Shaquana Nelson

Best Practice High School

ou open the door and see mirrors, posters, needles, skulls decorating the shelves, instantly creating an intimidating environment. Painted tattoo images on the walls-- some in dark colors and others vibrant--and creepy music in the background put you in an uneasy state of mind.

You are shown to a black leather chair that looks like it belongs in an asylum.Already nervous, you sit there wondering to yourself: “Do I really want to do this?”

Needles are buzzing and you get wobbly and queasy when you hear people screaming. This is what they go through when they make the life-changing decision of getting a tattoo.

Some do it for love, a vow of friendship, a show of bonding or just because it is trendy. Getting one may make you feel edgy, sexy, even rebellious. Many teens do it with or without their parent’s permission.

The foreboding tattoo chair at Windy City Ink. Photo by One thing is for sure, however.A tat- Shaquana Nelson too is often permanent, and can stay is very strong,” said Rosmon. “He got my with you for the rest of your life. name, so I got his.”

Eighteen-year-old Patrick Davis, who Others simply get tattoos for sentimental attends Best Practice High School, feels his reasons. tattoo makes him feel spiritual and strong.

“My father died, and I wanted to get it “I got a cross and that helps me get to show people he died, and I really just through my father’s death,” said Davis. want him to be remembered,” said Patrick Ciara Cates feels that her tattoos make Davis, who has a tattoo on his upper arm to her feel very family oriented. remember his father who died in 1995.

“All of my tattoos are names of people According to a survey done by the vanthat I love the most, my family,” said Cates. ishingtattoo.com. 84 percent of people with When people get tattoos they have to tattoos do not regret getting them. However, first decide on what to get. Some of these there are people who do or will regret them include: names of deceased family memover time. bers, names of current or former significant James Wilson, 39, a security guard at others, meaningful pictures, phrases or Best Practice High School, got his first tatquotes. too when he was 20. Now 39, he’s thinking For example, Jamia Rosmon, 18, of Best twice about the tattoos. Wilson said that Practice High School, has the name of curhe knows with time his tattoos will get rent boyfriend Maurice on her lower back. wrinkled and rub off.

Some may feel this is a risky trend, but Wilson is not alone. Most of the people Rosmon disagrees. who did regret their tattoos, according to “I don’t regret it because the meaning another survey done by vanishing tattoo.

22

com, regret them because they are permanently marked for life, and they think they were too young when they got them.

How young is too young? The law in the United States requires all people to be at least 18 to get a tattoo.

Many states, however, allow minors under 18 to get a tattoo with written parental consent.

The law in Illinois states that if a minor wants to get a tattoo, the parent or legal guardian has to be present.

“When I was 16 my mom took me to get my tattoo. She said it was my body and I will have to live with it,” said student Antonio Spells.

Victoria Lautman, a Chicagoan who writes about arts and culture and authored the book “The New Tattoo,” thinks underage teenagers often make judgments about things that feel perfect at the moment but end up causing unexpected results later.

“Most teenagers don't have the money, patience or connections to get a good quality tattoo which they've considered in depth: what should it look like, how will it look in two years, 10 years, 30 years? How will the sentiment or design change over time?” Said Lautman, who’s book traces the origins of tattoos.

Pony Lawson, a tattoo artist at Windy City Ink (see video), admits to doing a tattoo on a minor, but says he regrets it because of the legal consequences. Lawson had to attend court and almost had a lawsuit filed against him.

In 2006, the Pew Research Center estimated that 36 percent of people ages 18-25 have at least one tattoo, and 40 percent of people ages 26-40 have tattoos. Tattoos are a common trend, especially among teens and young adults. However, whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s exactly what you want, as it may be with you for the rest of your life.

Shaquana Nelson is now a freshman at Western Illinois University in Macomb.

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Don’t Wait to Participate W

hether it is president, governor, or even a mayor, each one is an extremely important role. Young adults have the right to vote for whom they feel is best suited to run our government. When you turn 18, you have the ability to make a difference. The right thing to do would be to take full advantage of this opportunity and vote.

When talking to young adults (ages 18 to 23), some say that they have not, do not and are not planning on voting. A couple of them say that there is no importance in voting because it won’t help them anyway.

When I heard this, I knew I had to shed some light on young politics.

Even at the age of 17, I know that it is important for me to read up on my government officials and candidates. I understand that having the right people in office means a better life for my family and me. What I am trying to do is get my peers to understand this same concept.

In 1971, the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. Many young adults don’t know the history of voting rights. When you think of voting you might think of the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement had a great impact on voting.

Think of this, young people, how many of your friends are white male property owners? Probably none, right? When the Constitution was first written, only white men who owned property were given the right to vote. According to www.infoplease. com/, that was only about 10 percent to 16 percent of the nation’s population. Could you imagine our country if only white men who owned property could vote?

Yet, some of my peers would still ask, “Why vote?” My answer: Why not? Why not make a difference? Why not let your voice be heard? Why let someone else

Young voters should let their voices be heard on Election Day

By Natalie Yarbrough GED Graduate

Emanuel, and many young people were expected to vote for the first time (including this writer). The four leading Democratic candidates were contacted about the importance of young people participating in the election but only Gery Chico’s campaign responded. The other candidates did not respond in time.

Spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said: “Gery is the father of five young adults.

They all went to Chicago public schools and so did Gery. He understands the importance of being engaged. He avidly reaches out to youth and we have a lot of young volunteers for the campaign. He thinks that it is very important for young adults, whether they are registered or not, to pay attention to their public officials. Gery asks that every young student talk to their family and friends and encourage them to get out there and vote. There is nothing more important than for someone to be able to vote.”

You are never too young to learn about what is going on in your country, state, city, or even your community. Do some research and find out more about what you can do. One vote can make a difference, because the ones add up. So, before you decide that you aren’t going to Illustration by Tim Jackson vote, remember your opinion counts. If you have already decided not to aid and SNAP (food stamps)? Who do you participate, you should reconsider because think gets to decide whether they get the your voice matters. help that they need? The government gets The Chicago Board of Elections is to decide all of that. By voting, you can be a holding “voter engagement” forums to part of that decision-making. increase turnout among young voters for Public assistance is not the only issue decided by politicians. They also influence the March 20, 2012 Illinois primary and complicated social and personal issues November 2012 general election. Election such as abortion. Yes, the government Day registration is one of the hot topics on could control laws that impact your body. the agenda. The board’s outreach program For those of you who are pro-choice, some- can be found on Facebook. one in office can take that decision away from you. However, if you vote, you have Chicago Election Board the ability to let your voice be heard. These 69 W. Washington St., 6th fl are reasons that make it important to vote.

Hours: Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Chicago elected a new mayor, Rahm www.chicagoelections.com/ dictate your future?

The government gets to decide what laws are passed. They get to decide how much help we need and get, including financial aid for college What if someone was elected and decided that we don’t need any public assistance? What if that someone was elected because you didn’t vote?

How many 18-year-olds do you know can afford thousands of dollars per semester for a class? How about paying for room and board? Let’s not forget hundreds of dollars per book. Can you afford that?

Probably not.

What about people who are on public

23

EDUCATION NATION

By Christine Vi

Alcott High School for the Humanities

E

Image courtesy of pro.IMDB.com

Scholars in a

Snooki World 24

In an age of ‘Jersey Shore,’ brainy students feel they have to fight for attention

lizabeth Best, 15, is a flesh-andbones version of a Lisa Simpson, the smart, socially conscious character in the Fox cartoon “The Simpsons.”

Best is a straight–A student and a member of her school’s debate team. To top it all off, she is ranked No. 1 at Alcott High School for the Humanities in Chicago.

But ask schoolmates to vote for Elizabeth or Snooki in a popularity contest, the behaviorally challenged party girl, whose real name is Nicole Polizzi, would probably win.

Centuries ago, it was the beauty versus brawn idea that was epitomized by the ancient Greeks. Brains were relegated to a lesser role then, but not anymore.

While beauty remains a potent adversary, having brains has moved up in this technologically savvy world.

One reason that beauty remains formidable is the media’s glamorization of it in advertising and casting. “Jersey Shore” features a clique of cohabiting “pretty” people who have gone from making $2,200 an episode in the first season to at least $30,000 for each taping in the second.

“I think you have some very, very solid norms for how people are supposed to look, and I think people play a role when they try to fulfill those norms,” said Kevin Hirn, a debater at Whitney Young Magnet High School who rejects being called a geek because of its ‘negative’ connotation.

“So you try to perform how you experience the world—you act a certain way, you dress a certain way, you talk a certain way to try to get responses from people in a certain way,” he adds, commenting on the teens who may emulate behaviors or roles portrayed in the media.

Youth are highly influenced by mediadriven forces that may seem to neglect those who are smart for those with fabulous features. Even though there are “smart” shows such as “Nova” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” there are far more shows like “Gossip Girl,” “Hellcats” and “Vampire Diaries” on regular network TV. Teen-targeted shows focusing on the school nerd or the girl

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genius are hard to find. edu/2009/05/11/brainsvsbeauty/]that explored On cable, “Jersey Shore” was able to draw the link between good looks and good 8.4 million viewers on the week ending salaries.

Jan. 9, 2011, according the Nielsen ratings.

It found that attractiveness, combined According to a 2009 study by The Nielsen with confidence, may help a job-seeker Company, teens are not abandoning TV for stand out among the pack. In the study new media. In fact, they watch more TV of about 200 men and women ages 25 to than ever, up 6 percent over the past five 75, good-looking people tended to view years in the U.S. themselves and their worth more highly, Teens watching TV are bombarded with which led to more money and less finanadvertisements showing mostly glamorcial stress. ous and attractive pitchmen and women.

Judge contended in the article that the Most programs feature cutesy teens who potential income pay off of education and get by in life on the basis of their looks, not intelligence was still greater than good their brains. This can warp a teen’s sense looks alone. that intelligence does matter, considering Oh, about Kardashian. Her family has the big payoff for the “Jersey Shore” cast. those E! reality shows on cable TV and she But let's take at look at Kim Kardashian appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.” The and Marissa Mayer, for example. Kardashi- Los Angeles socialite recently married NBA an's name will ring a bell. But Mayer, who basketball player Kris Humphries. Now she is she? is marketing fashion and makeup.

Both are very attractive women in their Her lifestyle plays right into the media 30s but what separates them is how they storyline: shining the spotlight on people put their intellect to use. Kardashian gets known as party girls and leaving the all the press due to her voluptuous derschool valedictorians in the dark. riere, star-studded boyfriends and business “There are not a lot of party girls foundenterprises. Mayer gets much less attening Microsofts,” noted Hirn. tion for her accomplishments as the first “I like being a nerd,” said Sydney Doe, 16, female engineer at Google, a highly touted also a member of Whitney Young’s debate vice president who supervises an army of team. “I feel like I am similar to other product managers and software engineers nerds, so I have a good group of friends at the Internet and technology behemoth. there.”

"Marissa is surprisingly pretty So you try to perform how you experin person,” said ence the world—you act a certain Valleywag blogger way, you dress a certain way, you talk a and editor Owen certain way to try to get responses from Thomas in a recent San Francisco magapeople in a certain way.” zine article. (Val –Kevin Hirn leyway is a Gawker Debater at Whitney Young media blog about Magnet High School Silicon Valley celeb“I feel like I wouldn’t really get to be rities.) “That in itself is a rarity in Silicon myself around party girls,” she added. “I Valley, and you’d have to be naïve to think feel I just don’t care as much about being that doesn’t color people’s views of her.” noticed as the party girls would.”

A 2009 article in the Journal of Applied This reporter conducted a survey of 50 Psychology indicates having both beauty students from three Chicago high schools: and brains aren't bad qualities to possess.

Whitney Young, Lane Tech and Alcott. Of “We've found that, even accounting for the 50 respondents, ages 14 to 18, the findintelligence, a person's feeling of selfings revealed: worth is enhanced by how attractive they 14 of the teens would watch the PBS are and this, in turn, results in higher science series “Nova” over the CW's pay,” said Timothy Judge of the Univerteen drama “Gossip Girl.” sity of Florida about a study [news.ufl.

“

36 were unfamiliar with “Nova.”

43 chose the MTV reality show “Jersey Shore” about the exploits of eight co-ed housemates as their favorite television program.

“Nova” is not alone in getting shortchanged. On Dec. 29, 2010 “Gossip Girl” had recorded nearly 7.6 million “likes” on Facebook compared to the Discovery Channel 's almost 1.6 million. The goes along with the more than 2 million TV viewers drawn each week to the drama about privileged young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

“I feel like it is significantly more entertaining to watch, you know, pretty people,” Doe said. “I feel like sex sells and our society definitely has an obsession with it—with sexuality.

“So pretty people and sexy stories are more interesting to people,” the teen debater noted.

“So they, the media, focus on that because it sells.”

The fact that Snooki and her cohorts on “Jersey Shore” trump “Nova” in the informal survey by a 3:1 ratio may not be too startling, considering that youth in the U.S. spend more time watching TV than doing homework.

So more are familiar with the gossip of celebrities than the answers to a geography quiz. This heavy exposure to television can distort reality for teens in their formative years. They may ask themselves about Snooki’s housemate Jenni Farley: “If J-Woww gets drunk every night on ‘Jersey Shore’ and still is fine by the next episode, why can’t I?” Reality television gets confused with the realities of real life.

But all is not lost. In a survey of 25 of about 175 students at Alcott High School, 18 said the cheerleaders were not as popular as the highly successful debate team, which beat 42 opponents in a November match up. Whitney Young’s team in the Academic Decathlon has won 24 of 25 annual state competitions, including first in 2010, and placed third in the national tournament last year. Also the 2000 movie “Cheaters” is loosely based on the academic squad’s exploits.

The two schools’ athletic teams or cheerleaders can’t make similar boasts about their achievements. Brains can trump beauty and brawn. So, Snooki, consider yourself snookered.

25

EDUCATION NATION

Electronic Aggression apolis, physical abuse starts its ascent in elementary school, reaches its apex in middle school and begins its descent in high school. However, the agency notes that verbal abuse stays constant.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has done research on some of the traits among bullies. Here are some characteristics of a serial harasser:

Chicago school district joins wave of punishing rules to hit back against cyberbullies

● Impulsive ● Easily angered ● Temperamental ● Dominant ● Easily frustrated ● Lacking empathy ● Difficulty following rules ● Anti-social behavior

By Trevon Jackson

Thornton Township High School

I

n the bully’s world, turnabout is fair play.

Sheano Gold can attest to that.

Gold, a student at Thornton Township High School in suburban Chicago, doesn’t look like the typical bully. But his slim, 6-foot-tall frame is deceiving, as it enabled him to intimidate the less fortunate. He started out bullying his little cousins because he was bigger and was not concerned about how they felt being picked on.

In grade school, problems at home led him to harass other students. Gold said in an interview that he was abusive toward peers because it was his way of exacting revenge for all the hurtful things that occurred to him. He didn’t need the Internet since he preferred to do his bullying in person.

Eventually, the 18-year-old Riverdale 26

resident had a long talk with his father about being a bully and hurting others and underwent a change of heart.Although Gold ended his reign of terror, many others don’t.

So political, municipal and school authorities are hitting back by cracking down on those who harass their peers, especially if done through online sources. Last summer, the Chicago Public Schools board joined efforts that stiffen penalties to prevent abuse and intimidation via the Internet.

Bullies usually justify their actions because it is what others are doing in their circle of friends; or it makes them feel empowered or superior; or it keeps other bullies at bay. In some cases, the acts can turn violent, such as punching, shoving or throwing objects.Thirty-two percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied in 2007.

According to the Pacer Center in Minne-

The federal agency notes that home environments of disinterested parents and an abusive household— physical or mental—are contributing factors in the creation of a bully.

Though Gold took a more conventional approach of intimidating his targets, others are increasingly turning to the Internet to act out their maliciousness. For bullies have adapted to the times, going from verbal inyour-face confrontations to the subtleties of cyber abuse as access to computers, smart phones and other technologies has spread.

Studies have found that some children turn Internet Dennis the Menaces as early as age 9.

What is cyberbullying? Well, it can take on several forms such as sending someone vulgar or threatening messages or images, lying about someone in emails, excluding someone from an online group or using someone’s identity to damage his or her reputation.

The growth of cyberbullying over the Internet has drawn the attention of private and public agencies, as a third of U.S. teenagers acknowledge that they have been victimized.

Last year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) labeled "elec-

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

Tips on battling cyberbullying The Cyberbullying Research Center and Cybersmart.org offer a few prevention pointers to combat the problem.

Have open discussions about the effects of cyberbullying and create etiquette or rules for interacting with other teens online or cell phones.

Become familiar with the school district’s policies and programs regarding computer use and harassment.

Provide an adult role model for children to follow in regards to technology use.

Monitor or supervise what children do while online through discrete surveillance or direct involvement.

Employ software to filter or block undesirable sites or messages to ensure Internet privacy and safety.

Be aware of the warning signs that cyberbullying is a problem, such as becoming withdrawn, frustrated or obsessive Internet use.

Develop and publish guides about cyberbullying, offering information on what to do and where to go for help.

Examine school disciplinary policies to determine whether they adequately address the problem.

Schools can develop online procedures to report incidents of cyberbullying.

Schools can provide lessons, programs and opportunities for conversations about online harassment.

Have students become engaged in developing programs and policies to deter cyberbullying.

tronic aggression"—its term for cyberbullying—an "emerging public health problem.” It noted that more than 40 percent of middle school students had acknowledged being cyberbullied, but only 9 percent had reported the incidents. When asked about the origin of the abuse, they pointed to websites such as MySpace, instant messages and emails.

Internet Solutions for Kids’ website, cyberbully411.org, reported that 21 to 30 percent of youth had used web resources to harass others. It also found that 63 percent of the harassers were 18 or younger compared with 14 percent who are older than 18.

A CDC report titled “Electronic Media and Youth Violence” found anonymity was a big part of electronic aggression. It found that 13 percent to 46 percent of the victims did not know their harasser.

Though data differ, studies have found that the intimidation is more prevalent among girls than boys, according to the 2008 CDC report. Research notes that girls use more subtle forms of bullying—ridicule, teasing and cliques—and mainly target other girls while boys tend to be more physical and target both sexes.

Regardless who is doing it, the problem has become so epidemic that millions of teens have felt the vise of cyber intimidation. It has caused some youth to go into deep emotional stress or depression or even take extreme actions.

Last March, Massachusetts prosecutors charged nine teenagers over their "unrelenting" bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide two months earlier.

Phoebe Prince, a recent Irish immigrant and freshman at South Hadley High School, hanged herself on Jan. 14, 2010, after nearly three months of harassing text and social networking messages. Prince was reportedly resented because she was dating an older football player.

Another case that drew wide media attention was the suicide in 2006 of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old Missouri resident who received insulting messages via MySpace from a neighborhood mother pretending to be a teenage boy.

Some, however, have not heeded the lessons from those earlier tragedies.

Two local incidents have been reported in the media. In December 2010, two Park Ridge middle school students, ages 13 and 14, were charged with harassing a 13-yearold classmate by setting up an offensive site on Facebook. More recently, Oak Park River Forest High School took disciplinary measures against a student accused of circulating via printouts and Facebook an “inappropriate ranking list” of 50 girls based on their body features, promiscuity and other disparaging terms.

Susan Swearer, associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska, said communities must join forces to prevent the abuse. “Children who bully and victims all must take proactive stands against these statistics by getting involved in their school and their community,” the author, who has written about bullying and victimization, explained on the university's website.

So officials have taken steps to prevent

bullying and to punish offenders.

Across the U.S., states have laws against cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. To protect minors, more than 30 states have enacted anti-cyberbullying laws.

Illinois enacted a cyberbullying statute in 2009 that allows authorities to charge anyone 17 or younger who transmits nude or sexually explicit materials via an electronic device with a Class B misdemeanor, subject to up to six months in jail and a $1,500 fine. Minors who exchange "sext" messages face a Class A misdemeanor, which can mean up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.Those who post a sexually explicit image with malicious intent and leave it up for 24 hours face a Class 4 felony charge that carries a one- to three-year prison sentence.

In July, Chicago Public Schools stiffened its penalties.The district of at least 670 schools and more than 400,000 students already had disciplinary guidelines regarding the misuse of classroom computers. During the summer, the board of education took those rules into the realm of cyberbullying with a tougher Student Code of Conduct.

The new guidelines equate severe online misdeeds—either on or off school grounds— as serious offenses, such as aggravated assault or burglary. Perpetrators will be suspended from five to 10 days and could face expulsion. Police will also be notified about the incident and they could file criminal charges.

Other fight-back measures include lectures about cyberbullying prevention by the Cook County Sheriff's Youth Services Department and raising sensitivity about the problem during the National Cyber Safety Awareness Month, which was held in October 2010 and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Beyond Media Education and The Mikva Challenge have collaborated on a fee-based video called “Your Social Life,” which comes with a teaching guide. (For more info, go to www.beyondmedia.org) However, the No. 1 tip to victims of bullies, either offline or online, is to report the incident to their parents or other authority figures.An investigation will help police determine what action to take, including possible charges.

27

EDUCATION NATION

RAP Hip-hop music has positively changed the lives of teens, despite its often negative connotation

By Donnell McLachlan Lincoln Park High School

D

aily fights in the morning. The recurring shots of gunfire in the evening. The sound of sirens reverberating through the night.

This is what life is like for senior Richard Gustave, 18, of Sullivan High School.

Gang violence has become as much a part of his life as breathing. With his future, and his very life at risk on a daily basis, how does he stay out of trouble? By creating rap music.

You see, Gustave isn’t your ordinary African-American male. He happens to be an aspiring rapper who writes, records and produces his own music. His group, Them MCs, features Gustave and several other teenage African-American musicians (including this reporter).

“This is the only way I keep sane, man,” says Gustave. “Rapping has kept me out of

28

a lot of trouble.”

Gustave has considered rap music, in a way, a savior from the harsh reality that is his life.

Group members, Rohan McLachlan (the brother of this reporter) and Brian Morgan also attest to the many great things they say rap music does for them.

McLachlan, 18, also a senior at Sullivan High School, says writing rap music helps him to relieve anger.

“When certain situations happen, and I want to retaliate in a physical way, I just write lyrics, and it helps me calm down,” McLachlan says. “I can’t explain how.”

So why does this music retain such a bad reputation? Why does this music seem to be the scapegoat for the negative behavior of African-American teens?

Hip-hop began as a rejuvenating music that positively revitalized the povertystricken streets of the Bronx in the 1970s, and since then, many would argue it’s taken a turn for the worst. What caused

this change of direction?

Jeffery Sweeton is the manager of the recording studio at the Howard Area Community Center’s Computer Clubhouse Arts and Technology Center in Rogers Park. He gives under-served youth, including members of Them MCs, a chance to express their artistry. Exposed to this music daily, he believes that the media, including radio stations and TV channels such as BET and MTV, are the reason for the terrible connotation of rap music.

“There have been unfortunate marketing choices that have been made with hip-hop . . . where [rap music] has been able to have been sold and made popular by record companies by having a negative connotation in the music,” he says. “There is a lot of hyper-sexuality [in rap music videos].”

Sweeton is referring to the misogynistic ways of many rap videos: women in bikinis, leaning over luxurious vehicles, observed by the rapper who’s trying to

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

“get with” them. Degradation of women in videos almost seems like a second-nature thing for most rappers—just as secondnature as violence, foul language and drug consumption are in the lyrics of the music.

In his 2009 hit single, “Love That Gun Sound,” mainstream rap artist Waka Flocka Flame raps: “Light-skinned Rasta, move like the mobster I’ll rob yo’ a** for ganja, so give it up partner I hang with the killers, go ape like gorillas.

First we gone rob you, then we might kill ya’.” “…Quite frankly, it scares a lot of people,” Sweeton says, “…because nobody likes violence.”

So can the actions of African-American males really be attributed to the message in most rap music?

Dr. Nathan Bakkum, a professor at Columbia College Chicago, teaches courses in music history and popular music. He believes that rap’s power is simply too relevant to be ignored.

“Hip-hop's power comes from how thoroughly listeners can relate to it and take ownership of it,” Bakkum says. “Teenagers are particularly focused on social concerns—feeling like part of a group, etc.—and hip-hop becomes a way of con-

Them MCs, rappers Richard Gustave (left) and Brian Morgan work on putting their positive music on the internet. Photo by Donnell McLachlan

their emotions, causing them to re-enact what they hear,” says Thompson, whose church is located in the city’s crimeplagued Englewood neighborhood.

How can rap’s negative connotation change for the better?

Local Chicago MCs such as Lupe Fiasco and Common have built successful careers by making positive music, yet they still aren’t as highly marketed as rappers with more negative mesThis is the only way I keep sane, man. sages. In Common’s song, “Changes,” Rapping has kept me out of a lot of he continues to see hip-hop as a way of trouble.” spiritually uplifting

– Richard Gustave the people, as was its Senior at Sullivan High School original purpose in the Bronx of the 1970s: necting to other people, both locally and virtually, and forming a community.”

Welcome children, welcome me McLachlan can attest to this power.

You sentiments is felt in me “If [Grammy Award-winning rapper] Lil I see the future and the walking path Wayne wore his hat upside down, then Don’t let these fools take you off everyone would wear their hats upside your path down,” he says.

So laugh if you need to, laugh if you District Elder Winston D. Thompson, need to pastor of Ebenezer House of Prayer on the Life’s a long trip, ride long and proceed to South Side, believes that it’s a mind thing.

Try and believe, too. Do what you “Rap music gets into the subconscious wanna do mind of the listener, and messes with Remember that you’re all Kings and

“

Queens...

Rapper Rohan McLachlan believes the solution is very simple: “Speak the truth.”

Recording studio manager Sweeton also agrees with him.

“An authentic voice is very crucial. The more positive [the voice], the more serious the message,“ says Sweeton.

Them MCs rapper Brian Morgan struck a positive tone in the song “MC Exhibit”: “African kids are gettin’ killed to make watches in America So you can get the fame, make people stop and stare at ya Analyze ya character, then they start comparing ya But I don’t need mass bling to cause mass hysteria.”

Sweeton thinks that positivity is an amazingly effective force that seems to be missing from most rap music.

“That’s why I feel it’s a great thing for a positive artist to get his message out, “Sweeton says. “It helps them get a more serious message heard that isn’t as marketed, but probably should be.”

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EDUCATION NATION

Far from Boystown

LGBTQ teens search for resources closer to the South Side

By Darius Fields

Olive Harvey Middle College

T

he Center on Halsted, located on Chicago’s North Side, serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and is a major hub for social gatherings, cultural teachings and just a good place to hang out. It is definitely a safe haven for LGBTQ teens.

For an LGBTQ youth living on Chicago’s South Side, however, the Center is a long trek from home. And resources that the Center offers like the “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Institute,” which provides educational support, and its Youth Program, which presents a variety of activities and discussion groups, are out of reach for teens who reside 100 blocks away.

So where does a South Side LGBTQ teen go to receive support, informative programming, acceptance, and to just have fun? Is there any safe haven for LGBTQ youth on the South Side?

30

Health Collective, says, “Unfortunately Michael O’Connor, a gay man, author there are few resources on the South and local activist who grew up Catholic Side for LGBTQ youth.” Besides Brothers, on the Chicago’s South Side, says those Cabbler cites Chicago’s Childcare Society, formative years were not easy for him.

South Help Center and Beyond Care. Inc. There were no places to turn to and no “[They] are putting their resources toprotections for the community back gether to make a life-saving services for then. “There was no ordinance for LGLGBTQ youth,” he says.

BTQ,” O’Connor states.

“We live in an age where we can Today, O’Connor can name a couple of no longer afford to ignore or stem LGBTQ resources on the South Side. The preventative safety to America’s future first, he says, is Brothers Health Collecgeneration; for the youth will rise as tive, a clinic that serves a predominantly tomorrow’s spring flower garden,” African-American (male population). The Cabbler says.

“We all have to provide second is Affinity, “an African-American tools to plant seeds and nourish future women’s organization, basically lesbian,” O’Connor says.

“They serve Chicago has a history of being segrethe entire African-Amergated in every aspect, whether it’s rich or ican LGBTQ community.” poor, whether it’s race, whether it’s gay or Ariq Cabbler, straight.” the executive director

– Chris Pierce

Facilitator at The of Brothers Center on Halsted

“

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

great minds.”

Sara Sumadi, the director of the volunteer program and communications at the Center on Halsted, also credits the volunteer services provided by Affinity, which she says has been an ally of the Center for 15 years. She also mentions PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays) as another good resource for LGBTQ youth on the South Side of Chicago.

According to Sumadi, one reason people do not know many resources on the South Side is because there are so many on the North Side, especially since

Boystown (officially) and Andersonville (unofficially) are known gay areas.

“Many LGBTQ resources are located around those areas,” Sumadi says. “There are resources on the South Side, they are just not well known.

“That said, over 75 percent of youth in our program come from the South and West Side of Chicago, and they travel one to two hours on [a] train to get here,” Sumadi adds Chris Pierce, facilitator of the Bisexual Movie Night at the Center on Halsted, says his mission is to uplift bisexuals, and to help other bisexuals understand their feelings. He agrees that the abundance of resources on the North Side ...Over 75 percent of youth in our program has to do with come from the South and West Side, and they the proximity to the traditravel one to two hours on [a] train to get here.” tional gay area, Boystown. he notes, –Ariq Cabbler And, “Chicago has a Executive director of Brothers Health Collective history of being

“

segregated in every aspect, whether it’s rich or poor, whether it’s race, whether it’s gay or straight.”

Another of the benefits resource centers for LGBTQ offer is a comfortable, supportive place to study. Several of the people who continue to go to the Center say they began going there during their high school years, seeking a place to do their homework. It is definitely a good place for that because the Center has a computer lab that clients can use. These safe havens also encourage the importance of safe sex and provide health services.

So, these all-important resources for teens are available on the South Side, though they may be fewer and not as widely known and smaller in scale than their North Side counterparts. But, with a little digging, LGBTQ teens who live on the South Side can find places that understand and uplift—not just in Boystown, but close to home, too.

Photos courtesy of the Center on Halsted

31

BACK AT YOU

THE VOICE OF THE

JOURNALIST Columbia Links keynote speakers Natalie Moore

Adrienne Samuels-Gibbs

Reporter and bureau chief, WBEZ Radio

Senior editor, Ebony Magazine

Renee Ferguson

Dorothy Tucker

Reporter and campaign strategist

Nancy Day

Chair, Journalism Department Columbia College Chicago

Marcus Riley

Reporter and editor, NBCChicago.com

Don Terry

Reporter, Chicago News Cooperative

Reporter, consumer affairs, CBS 2

Darryl Satcher

Professor, English Department Columbia College Chicago

Stefan Holt

Reporter and weekend anchor, NBC 5

Maudlyne Ihejirika Reporter and editor, Chicago Sun-Times

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

LIFE SAVERS The crusaders of ‘The Interrupters’ emerge as heroes who lived through the violence

By Wesley Bogard

Harlan Community Academy

W

hen I was younger, I had a cousin who was paralyzed from the waist down in a gang-related shooting. Sometimes, I wonder if the issue could have been resolved before it became violent. If there was some type of violence interrupter, my cousin would have never been paralyzed. This is why I think so highly of the violence interrupters of CeaseFire, an organization devoted to stopping the violence that plagues Chicago streets.

CeaseFire was recently featured in “The Interrupters,” a film produced by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz that charts the lives of the people who dedicate their lives to promoting peace between Chicago residents.

“The Interrupters” affected me so deeply because I’ve known numerous teens who have been victims of Chicago’s street violence and it’s also something I try to avoid in my daily life. Something I found particularly compelling about the film was that simply talking to someone could be the difference between a violent event and peace.

For example, in the movie, one of the violence interrupters was talking to a

‘The Interrupters’ Featuring Eddie Bocanegra, Ameena Matthews, Ricardo "Cobe" Williams, Tio Hardiman and Gary Slutkin.

Kartemquin Films presents a film directed

by Steve James. Produced by Alex Kotlowitz.

Co-produced and sound recording by Zak Piper. Running time: 125 minutes. No MPAA rating.

character named Flamo. Before the interrupters talked to him, he was about to get revenge on one of his enemies but because of their conversation, Flamo chose to go on a peaceful path instead of a violent one.

The film is also a hard-hitting documentary that allows you to view Chicago street violence from the people who lived it instead of going off any misconceptions you may have heard.

Since many of the violence interrupters are former criminals and gang members,

“The Interrupters” destroys the misconception that all criminals are heartless and cannot be changed. It shows the human side of the criminals instead of the monsters some may portray them to be. The film provides a new take on street violence and offers the truth instead of just recording something that would look nice on film.

Unlike other street violence documentaries, “The Interrupters” utilizes real people who know and care about the communities that they work in. One of the interrupters is Ameena Matthews.

I found Ameena especially interesting because of her genuine love for her work and her willingness to help people. Since the film features average citizens who deal with the problems of violence on a daily basis, this amplifies the film’s credibility and realism.

The final selling point on this film is the fact that it shows people are not born with violent tendencies; violence is a learned behavior.

This lesson can give any audience hope for the future because if someone can learn to be violent, he or she can also learn how to be peaceful.

33

BACK AT YOU

Weapons of

CHOICE

Teens find their way out, refusing to be on the wrong side of statistics

By LaRon Rogers

Rich East High School

F

or teens, life is hard on the streets of Chicago and back alleys of the suburbs.

Many have to deal with gunfire, like the shooting death of Blair Holt in 2007, or violent fights like the one at Fenger High School that led to the murder of Derrion Albert.

They deal with blanket criticisms, like a recent report in The New York Times that said the Chicago Public School students “at highest risk of violence, by statistics, are most likely to be black, male, without a stable living environment, in special education, skipping an average of 42 percent of school days at neighborhood and alternative schools, and having a record of in-school behavioral flare-ups that is about eight times higher than the average student.”

But while they reflect on the violence, news outlets neglect the bigger fight going on with our generation, one that isn’t fought with guns, knives and two-by-fours, but with books on sociology, the law and nursing in hopes for a better future.

Here are four teens whose weapon of choice is knowledge and how they plan on shaping our generation for the better.

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Teressa Jones: Moving on up and out

T

She was moving into her uncle’s house in Park Forest.

Now living in a new environment full of respect and love, Teressa excels. She’s at the top of her class at school and has big plans for the future. Once she graduates high school, Teressa plans on joining the Navy or the Air Force.

“What made me strong and able to withstand all this is because I knew there was light on the other side,” she said.

eressa Jones, 18, grew up in the Englewood neighborhood, a community below the poverty line and known for some of the most violent crime in Chicago.

She attended Richards High, an overcrowded school that she said sometimes distracted her from work. “The kids were no help,” Teressa said.

Teressa found herself surrounded by the street life she wanted out of so badly. Growing up, drugs led to the breakdown of her family. She moved in with her father.

Life there was not easy for the next five years, she said. The drama came to an end when Teressa’s uncle visited the home and spoke with her father. She doesn’t remember what was said between the two men, but she remembers what came next. Her father Teressa Jones now has a stable home and is doing well in told her to pack her bags. school. Photo by LaRon Rogers

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG Jordan Loya: Just listen to the music

J

ordan Loya, who was born on the tough streets of Chicago Heights, found himself under constant gunfire. In one instance, a stray bullet almost hit his younger sister.

“The bullet had my mom’s boyfriend’s name on it,” Jordan, 17, said.

When simple tasks like going to the grocery store or walking down the street became a challenge, Jordan joined a gang for protection. Soon, fighting and drug dealing became part of his life.

“My mother tried to do the best she possibly could and I understood that,” he said. “But without a father, I felt I had to fend for myself.”

Hoping to give Jordan that much-needed authority figure in his life, Jordan’s mother sent him and his younger sister to live with their father in Ohio. The move almost backfired, Jordan said. He felt trapped there, cut off from his family in Illinois.

Ishmael Jones: A flight to success

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or Ishmael Jones, Beacon Hill is a house that has held him captive, one he hopes he’ll be free of one day.

Growing up in the south suburb of Chicago Heights, Ishmael, 18, has seen plenty of violence. He said he always felt like he was caught in the middle of a two-way street between right and wrong. Ishmael recalls one incident a few years ago while playing basketball in East Gate, a town less than a mile away.

A couple of local teens who noticed he was “an outsider” approached him, Ishmael said.

After some glances and a few choice words, things spiraled out of control and Ishmael ended up fighting off five people at once.

Walking home after the fight, Ishmael Jamaya Austin: Advocacy is her calling

F

or Jamaya Austin, 17, elementary and high school were both safe environments. However, her neighborhood of Auburn Gresham was anything but.

“I live in a very urban community, a.k.a.

‘The hood,’” Jamaya said. “There is a mass amount of gang activity and drugs throughout my community.”

Focusing on the main goals in her life, Jamaya turned away from her negative surroundings and never looked back. In 2008, Jamaya joined Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization (MAGIC), a youth leadership program.

“What motivated me to become a leader is when I became aware of all the injustices

Jordan Loya sees a brighter future.

Photo by LaRon Rogers

But his mother’s instinct proved to be right.

While living with his father, Jordan started writing his thoughts into a diary. Thinking he could turn them into music, Jordan went to his father, also a deejay on weekends, for help. His father supplied the beats.

found his anger building. That’s when he made the wrong turn down that two-way street, he said.

“The result was gunfire and bloodshed,” Ishmael said, refusing to go into details. “It was a week I will never forget.”

The incident opened Ishmael’s eyes, making him realize how life could make or break you with one just step in the wrong direction. He decided to refocus on his school work.

“I went hard every day,” he said. “I knew that school was my only ticket out of here and I’m approaching the airport.”

Doing so, Ishmael will graduate early this year from Rich East. With plans to join the Navy, attend college and go into nursing,

and neglect that the youth have to face on a day-to-day basis in this society,” Jamaya said.

“Once my eyes opened to this issue, I refused to turn away from it,” Jamaya said.

Jamaya became involved with MAGIC after meeting the organization’s founder, Dr. Joseph Strickland, during an event. Strickland was so impressed with Jamaya’s passion that he hired her on the spot.

“I’ve been faithful to MAGIC and the Woodlawn community ever since,” she said.

One of Jamaya’s biggest challenges has been to gain support for ongoing youth employment. Twice this year, Jamaya has traveled with MAGIC to Washington, D.C., where she met with legislators and gained support for the group’s cause.

Soon, Jordan moved back to Chicago Heights.

Without his father’s influence, Jordan fell back into dealing. But then Jordan met Juwan Griffin and Kenny Woods, students at Rich East High School who produced music on the side. They took Jordan under their wing.

“Juwan was one of the best impacts on my life,” Jordan said.

Hanging out with Juwan and Kenny, Jordan stopped hustling and stayed out of trouble. His hard work soon was rewarded when Jordan, alongside Juwan, started Skyrunnerz Entertainment, a local record label. As CEO and founder, Jordan plans on promoting rap music through his record label and making a splash on the hip-hop scene. He also plans to attend Full Sail University in Tallahassee, Fla., majoring in music production.

“With my will and ambition, I will succeed,” he said.

Ishmael Jones, standing in front of what he calls “home.” Photo by LaRon Rogers

Ishmael said that nothing can stop him from becoming a success.

“I will not only exceed but overachieve,” Ishmael said. “This is a flight I refuse to miss.”

“I knew I had to do something about it and take a stand,” Jamaya said. “It went well, but we still have a long way to go.”

Jamaya’s next goals include completing high school and attending the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, where she would like to major in business and marketing or radio broadcasting.

She’d also like to take classes that will enhance her acting ambitions.

Jamaya credits her success to her family, who provide the support and encouragement she needs to keep fighting.

“My family is very supportive of what I do,” she said, “and they are proud that I’ve chosen to stand up for the things that my generation and all others after us need and deserve.”

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35

BACK AT YOU

College is the goal: One adviser’s game plan for getting teens there Interview by LaRon Rogers

J

ason Thomas, coordinator, Pipeline to College Program at Prairie State College, Homewood, Ill., shares his strategies for teens who want to go to college and stay in college.

Q: How does having an administrator like yourself visiting high schools help teens progress toward college?

A: The biggest thing is relationship and exposure. When you have a relationship, you understand more about teens, from how they operate and what drives them and also their mentality. And then once you know how they are, you can expose them to [your] knowledge and then, even though they don't realize it, it turns into a network. You can’t just tell someone to go to college.

I found that if you just tell somebody to go and they have no reason to go, they are just going because you said it. But when times get rough, they say, ‘I'm not with this no more. This is stupid.” They have to know why they’re there. They have to know the big picture that will help with them getting there and staying there. Getting there is cool—we applaud that -- but it’s the staying there that is what we stand up for.

Q: Have you ever met a student who

couldn't be taken down the right path?

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Over time, my approach has changed with students. I used to just try and pull them all along the way. Now I expose them to things everybody gets. I talk to groups large and small, everybody, but the people who show the extra [initiative], like those who come after and come up here, are the ones who get the extra [attention]. The people who I have met in the big groups, it’s just goes into one ear and out the other. That's fine because this might not be the right time to do that. There might be other things, because everyone has a unique situation.

Some people show such promise, but never come back. So I have experienced that, where some people didn't take advantage of anything.”

to support myself, but there [must be] a circle of people who are supportive. It could be one person or it could be many. It could be somebody who is e-mailing you. You need support.

Q: How important is it to work hard in

young people better affect the economy?

high school so you can make that transition into college?

High school determines how much money you get for college. If you go into high school and just throw it off -- just not going or ditching, but you want to go to college -schools look at that. People get scholarships based on GPAs and ACT scores. So when you take high school seriously, you will get rewarded financially.

Q: Do you think today’s teens are capable

of stepping up and dealing with the extra workload of college?

Real change needs support. You need support in some way. Some people say I'm going

Q: How do you feel about CPS schools that

want to adopt “Half Cap” graduations, a pseudo celebration for students who complete their sophomore year?

“Half Cap” kind of lowers the bar. It’s saying this is the only graduation you will get. I understand they are trying to encourage [students] but I don't think you encourage them like that.

Q: After graduating from college, how can

The generic answer is to work. The next one is to work where science and math [majors] such as engineers and doctors are always in need. But what schools have found out is there are a lot of people who steer away from science and math. They go to school for other things, then come out with this degree and it’s like, “I'm educated. But what am I going to do with this?” No further thought was put into their decision. It affects the economy when people know why they are going to school, so they can develop the skill set to compete for what they want to do. When that conversation is never had, you [end up with] people with degrees who don't really know how to do anything. They just have a piece of paper.

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PRIVATE

VS.

PUBLIC

and as an Illinois congressman.

“The polite term used by CNN for Rahm Emanuel’s latest outburst is ‘feisty,’ ” Kirsten Boyd Johnson wrote in a post on Wonkette on July 22.

Are Chicago schools so bad Still, privacy in school choice appears to that the mayor has to send be the new mantra for politicians across both aisles. Republican New Jersey Gov. his kids to the Lab School?

Chris Christie recently told a radio caller that it was none of her business where his

By Alexandra Dodson children attend school, according a June 16 King College Prep article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

Not everyone is as open as Monik about heri Monik, an English teacher ty taxes by the maximum amount, generat- Emanuel’s decision. Robert Hackett-Bradley, 17, a senior at King College Prep, disagrees. at King College Prep on Chicago’s ing $150 million; reallocating $240 million "He seems like a hypocrite,” says South Side, said it all boils down from the system’s reserve funds and cutting to choice when asked about Mayor Rahm spending by about $320 million. Additional- Hackett-Bradley, who has attended public Emanuel’s decision to enroll his children at ly, statistics show that high school students school all his life. “He claims to want to try and change public schools, but why not do an elite private school that was attended by who graduate from high school within this and then send his kids to those schools President Barack Obama’s daughters. five years is about 55.8 percent, the Chicago to show people the progress he is mak“I agree with [Chicago Teachers Union] Tribune reported on June 23, 2011. ing towards better educational systems in President Karen Lewis that everyone has Emanuel engaged in an angry, fingerpublic schools? If he wants the best to make the choice that is best for for his children, why can't that best his or her family,” she said durbe in public schools that he intends to ing an interview with Columbia change for the better? No, it wouldn’t Links. “But we, the city of Chicago, be to make a point; it would be just as should be working for resources and good as private schools, unless he does professional development offered at not intend to do what he said he would private institutions such as the U. of do--that would make private schools C. Lab Schools so that all schools can utilize the best possibilities to eduthe better option."Emanuel’s decicate all Chicago students--private sion, however, is playing out positively and public.” among many others who support In the fall, Emanuel will send his school choice, especially a sophomore three children to the University of currently attending the Lab, 15-yearChicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde old Leah Barber.

Mayor Emanuel and his wife, Amy, are sending son Zach (left) Park, not far from the president’s “As mayor, Rahm Emanuel's deciand daughters Ilana and Leah to the private U. of C. Lab Chicago home. The decision gener- School. Cost: about $60,000 a year. Photo by Brent Lewis; top sion to send his kids to private school photo by Alexandra Dodson. ated a media firestorm over the blatantly reaffirms the dismal state summer because Emanuel, a Democrat who wagging scolding of NBC 5 reporter Mary of Chicago's public schools,” Barber said. supports school reform, is the head of a city Ann Ahern when she asked him about the “Emanuel's children are elementary school where public schools are dogged by a low decision to send his children to private age and would be sent to neighborhood high school graduation rate and were ham- school, according to a July 22 Chicago schools, so we aren't talking about magnet mered by a recent budget shortfall, among Tribune article by John Kass. The outburst or selective enrollment schools here. It's a other things. received widespread attention because comment on how bad Chicago's neighborChicago Public Schools were facing a Emanuel is known for his temper and hood schools have gotten that not even the budget shortfall of about $710 million, but no-holds-barred style of politics. He earned mayor will send his kids to one. However, the Chicago Tribune reported in August the nickname “Rahmbo” during his long these are private decisions, and as a parent, that it closed the gap through a combinapolitical career, including serving as White he shouldn't sacrifice his children's education of measures, including raising properHouse chief of staff under President Obama tion for the sake of his image."

C

37

BACK AT YOU

Together but Separate

Our divided communities could benefit from a diverse education

By Orlando Leo Santiago Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center

G

rowing up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood with hardly any cultural diversity but your own can be limiting. My challenge was deciding after 8th grade to apply to better schools outside of my community because the test scores at my neighborhood schools are so low.

When I got into one of the preferred schools, it turns out to be one of the most diverse schools in the city. I open the doors and see every shade of color and people of many ethnic backgrounds, and as time passes, I became educated about different cultures.Then I began to question why some schools are more privileged than others when it comes to diversity and why Chicago is segregated.

Diversity in education prepares you for the real world.

Students in ethnically diverse schools learn from each other’s religions and cultures.

They end up making connections and learning that we are not all that different.

Some schools are more diverse than others because magnet and gifted schools tend to have lotteries that maintain the population of many ethnicities.Testing is also a requirement for gifted schools.This gives everyone an equal chance to get in because students from all over the city can apply to them, even though there is limited space.A neighborhood school only allows entry to students that live in the area of the school.

Since Chicago is so segregated, communities are often predominantly one race.

Chatham is a majority African-American neighborhood where Kier Moore lives.

Kier, a junior at Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in the Albany Park, chose a school outside her community because her mother wanted her to go to a school with

38

good test scores and cultural diversity.

Many communities are populated with a dominant ethnic group but students from those areas are filtered into diverse schools.According to Adam Green, an associate professor in American history at the University of Chicago, Chicago’s segregation is made up of three components: our historical roots, industry practice and law.

He adds that since the 1950s and 1960s, African-American and Latino communities on the West Side, specifically in areas such as Lawndale and Austin, had a desire to

remain close to each other. Integration was highly discouraged. “There were restrictive law covenants where whites could not sell to members of other races,’’ he says. We can assume that this racial encouragement to stay separate has continued with us as a habit or we have just become accustom to it.

Those components are showing up less in communities like Rogers Park,Albany Park and Hyde Park, three of the most diverse communities in Chicago, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Living in a community that is diverse can teach people that differences are alright and ultimately allow

them to break away from beliefs in stereotypes.

Argie Claro, a sophomore at Westinghouse College Preparatory High School, says: “Going to a school that is semi-diverse allows me to interact with more nationalities and get to know different cultures; with more interaction, there are fewer chances of conflict and stereotyping.” He also says going to his neighborhood school wouldn’t expose him to new people, their religions, and even their lifestyles.

Some schools celebrate cultures through clubs and organizations by hosting events, such as international nights where students can buy tickets to watch their peers perform and represent their school clubs.

Most of the clubs are ethnic clubs. Not only is it fun to attend but it’s also educational because you are learning about different cultures through music and dance. On certain holidays, some teachers will even explain what holiday it is and the importance.

Some people do not want to travel across the city to go to school when they have a neighborhood school that is near them. Jaxiry Lope, a student at Kelvyn Park High School in Logan Square, attends the school one block from her home.The majority of the people in her school are Hispanic, she says, and she chose to go there because it was convenient. She does, however, wish it was a bit more diverse, because she might be able to learn something new about the world that the school does not teach.

Overall, our city has deep roots in segregation.There is no need to continue what was given to us from past generations and stay restrained to one social group. Diversity is a positive thing we can all benefit from, especially in our schools. People from all over the city look for schools that are more integrated and these schools even tend to be magnet or gifted. Let’s educate each other!

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The darker the berry

Light, dark or in-between, skin color still defines us women reveal how they felt about their dark skin tone and how they Westinghouse College Prep see it as a problem. One woman n April 2011, the media addressed a mentioned harsh things that were skin–lightening technique practiced said to her as a child: “Here comes in Kingston, Jamaica. People there blackie, here comes tar baby” and are jeopardizing their health by using “You stayed in the oven too long.” bleaching creams to lighten their skin.

Self-esteem issues arise from Using this cream can cause skin cancer, cultural insecurity, whether it is scars, skin burns and stretch marks height, dialect or level of intelacross face and body. ligence. In the African-American Skin tone is not only an issue in Jacommunity, it seems that skin maica, South Asia,Africa and parts of the tone is an issue that has yet to be Mideast. It is also a problem in the U.S., dealt with emotionally. Claudette according to the still-in-the-works docu- Roper, adjunct professor at Colummentary, “Dark Girls: The Story of Color, bia College Chicago and media artGender and Race” by Bill Duke and D. ist on writer, says the “isms” gives Channsin Berry.The film explores biases a person insight on what a person and attitudes about skin color that are is like by race, ethnicity, family experienced by dark-skinned Africansituation, religion, gender, sexual American women. orientation, class and, in this case, When the documentary trailer skin tone. circulated on the Internet recently, the Roper says: “I am glad that hits rose quickly as viewers watched Bill Duke has the documentary

By Ashley Wright

I

‘Dark Girls.’ I think it is real, and it is important and I am happy for women.” Roper feels that dark women have a place in the world, just like other women. “You want to feel that you belong as well.”

As this issue gains media attention, it seems some AfricanAmerican men are more attracted to light-skinned women, because of their lighter complexion, long hair and light eye color. Kendall Cross, 22, says: “I love me some lightskinned women, because I would not date or marry someone who is darker than me.” Media can play a part in his attraction to women because, he says, “I like lighter women because of Beyonce. I had a huge crush on her growing up.”

On the other hand, as men mature, it seems that their ability to be influenced by media beauty standards begins to change. John T. Scott, 30, says, “I only dated light-skinned girls when I was younger; at the time, I was young and dumb.”

As he became older and a bit wiser, he learned it is not what’s on the outside that matters, and he wants to instill in his son not to look at a person by the color of their skin. “Get to know a person for who they really are and that both dark and light woman can be beautiful; beauty does not have a color,” he says. Scott feels this ideology of one tone being better than the other needs to change.

“Dark Girls” will open many eyes to a truth that has gone unrevealed for decades. It is time to heal old wounds, and this documentary is a good place to start.

Thoughts after seeing ‘Dark Girls’ trailer After watching this documentary, there were many emotions going on in my head that made me feel so bad for dark–skinned women, but it was not shocking because discrimination like this is around every day and it will not stop.

People in this world are cruel and can say what they want to hurt others. Not being a dark girl, I have never had a problem or issue like the ones these women face.

I feel this documentary is a way to show that people will never change if everyone is being harsh and cruel to one another.

This documentary not only makes me feel bad, but it is also sad to see my peers and younger kids seeing their black skin tone as hideous and ugly.

--Ashley Wright

39

BACK AT YOU

It’s not abuse,

A survivor’s story of pain, friendship and happiness

By Ashley Chandler Harlan High School

S

hanel Ivy, 18, is a graduating high school senior at Lindblom Math and Science Academy in West Englewood.

She scored a 28 on her ACT and has a cumulative GPA of 3.1. She has been accepted at multiple universities, but chose Milliken University in Decatur, Ill., where she will join the freshman class this fall to begin a double major in mathematics and childhood education.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way for Shanel.

Shanel used to be a troubled teenager who, like most, saw school as a social matter, rather than a learning opportunity. It wasn’t until she faced deep personal problems that she began to jump into reality.

She was a sophomore in high school when family disagreements provoked physical attempts to discipline her, she said.

Along with the fights came emotional instability. Her mother had abandoned her at an early age, she said. “[I felt] that nobody loved me. That I was an outsider and nobody could understand me. Like they never wanted to see how I felt, or my side of the story.”

Did her mother’s absence harm her emotionally? “Very much so. She’s the reason why I don’t like women,” Shanel said. “I feel like I can’t trust them. I have a lot of resentment toward them and that’s why me and my stepmother get into it.”

Shanel said she began to feel like the misunderstood teenager whose own family couldn’t see the pain they had caused.To her friends, she was strong-minded, caring, honest and outspoken. But to her own eyes, she saw herself as worthless, unloved and unhappy. Her poor self-esteem may be a result of what she went through—her struggle and her survival—and the insecurities that lie within many teenage girls.

To those who didn't know her, Shanel appeared fine on the outside. However, she carried her unhappy homelife with her. Not only did she need to be strong at this time but she also needed a friend.

40

“The first person I told was my friend...

Then, I told my advisory teacher and she took me to the office to talk to the counselors,” Shanel said.

From that point on it was friendship and perseverance that helped get her through the tough times.Afterward, Shanel said she “put on a front” to get through everyday life.

* * *

Even though Shanel has difficulty getting along with females, we became friends fairly easy. Shanel and I first met at our freshman orientation in 2007. My first thought was that she looked cool and content and that I should go over and speak to her. She was someone I wanted to know. However, I never got the opportunity to speak to her until the school began to hold icebreakers and we ended up in the same group. One conversation led to another and we quickly changed from stranger to acquaintance. As the weeks went by, we became best friends and then sisters.

Shanel recalled the start of the friendship. “We just clicked, we were talking and it was like an instant attraction--not to be gay or anything. It was just like you understood where I came from and you didn’t judge me, and that’s all I wanted.

Not to be judged,” she said.

Even after I left Lindblom at the end of our sophomore year in 2009, we remained close. Shanel once told me that our friendship was “different because we were/are a whole lot alike.” I believe our friendship works well because we like the same things, neither of us favor being friends with too many females and we get along with one another fine. Our friendship happened because we needed each other whether we knew it or not and that God works in mysterious ways. She needed me to help her and I needed someone to help.

Once Shanel opened up to her friends, it made her life a lot easier. There were many talks and tears. “It was friends, Xavier (my boyfriend at the time) and self-motivation,” she said. “With all of this, I felt like I could get through anything.”

We helped her feel more comfortable around other people, and let her know that we would always be there for her no matter how close or how far. Nonetheless, it remains a concern of mine how well Shanel will cope with other females. I do know that when necessary (rarely) she can get along with females.

Shanel, once a troubled teen, is moving on with her life. Photo by Ashley Chandler

* * *

Today, Shanel’s life has taken on a more positive note, now that she is on her way to college, and she is finally happy with herself.

“Some children are resilient and can tolerate higher levels of stress and adversity,” according to an Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition report.And there are other signs of hope.

“Risk factors are not predictive factors because of protective factors,” noted-Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Carl Bell wrote in the study “Moving Beyond Survival Mode.” “In other words, just because someone goes through bad things doesn’t mean their life will take a turn for the worst.”

“I’m so excited, I feel like it’s a fresh start for me,” Shanel said. “I can get away and just rebuild myself without worrying about these people bringing me down, like they have all this time. Can’t wait.”

Shanel’s advice for teens: “Persevere!

Never give up or let anyone tell you that you can’t make it through. It’s all about you, you can make it. If you want it, you can have it.

And in the end everything’s gonna be all right.”

Ashley Chandler is now a freshman at Northern Illinois University in De Kalb.

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IS IT?

Some teens are unaware that violence, insults constitute abuse

By Linzell Stackhouse Al Raby High School

I

f you think there is no consequence to hitting a woman or verbally abusing her, you’re wrong.

Many teenage girls suffer from abuse.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 50 to 80 percent of teens reported they knew someone involved in a violent relationship Some women may not be aware of the signs of an abusive relationship, said Christina C. Wilson, director of the victimservices task force at the Family Violence Coalition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Women may fall victim to an abusive relationship because they’re confused about what abuse really is.

“Women need more education on the topic” she said. “If women are more aware of an aggressive relationship, they can be more likely to avoid it.”

Pop music can also have a negative influence on abuse, said Sarah Ozello, a special projects coordinator at Nationwide.

Ozello said some people may find verbal abuse OK because the song lyrics they hear may demean women.

“The negativity has been going on for

Rahel Rasul, an acid burn survivor who was attacked by two unidentified men. Photo by Linzell Stackhouse

a while and isn't helping the situation,” Ozello said.

That kind of abuse can have a negative impact on children, said Leah McClellan, a freelance writer and editor who runs the website Peaceful Planet (www.peacefulplanetcommunication.com). As a child, McClellan saw her parents argue and she remembers the feelings of fear and anger that bubbled inside her when they fought.

“I felt afraid, worried and nervous but also angry at the both of them,” she said.

“Any kind of abuse is wrong, verbally, physically and emotionally.”

“Any one of these feelings could lead to children having low self-esteem and later repeating the same violent behavior as their parents,” said Rahel Rasul, 29, a freelance writer originally from California who told her story in a recent issue of Columbia College’s Echo magazine. “[I] definitely think kids pick up these bad habits from adults around them and soon find themselves in abusive relationships,” Rasul said.

Rasul should know. As a teen, Rasul was involved in an on-again-off-again abusive relationship for years. She thought she was safe after leaving him for good. But that changed when two men grabbed her in broad daylight in the middle of a parking lot.

One of the men spilled a liquid onto her face, burning it. When a witness saw the attack, the two men ran, leaving Rasul with acid burns that still cover most of neck and cheeks.

Though she cannot prove it, Rasul believes her ex was involved in planning the attack.

“It took me a while to bounce back,” said Rasul, who now lives in Chicago.

Abusive relationships can have a serious effect on people, female and male. Jim Schwartz, principal at Al Raby High School on the West Side, said it wasn’t OK to abuse anyone, regardless of age or gender, even if a woman struck first.

If that happened to him, “I would probably protect myself,” he said, “or try to walk away.”

Schwartz has seen abusive relationships before, though mainly in the workplace. In those instances, he said he wasn’t sure if it was his place to intervene.

But if it got too out of hand, “I would try to intervene,” Schwartz said.

In the end, people need to be more aware of the people they get involved with and be on the lookout for aggressive relationships.

How to recognize abuse What is physical abuse?

Has someone: Pushed or shoved you?

Thrown objects at you?

Hit or punched you?

Slapped or bitten you?

Kicked or choked you?

Prevented you from leaving?

Locked you out of the house?

Emotional effects of abuse: Withdrawal Low self-esteem Timidness Anger Poor relationships Drugs/alcohol use Poor grades No interests or goals

Where to call for help National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 799-SAFE (7233) or TTY (800) 787-3224 Illinois Child Abuse Hotline (800) 25-ABUSE (21873) Connections for Abused Woman and Children (773)-278-4566 Childhelp USA at (800) 4-A-CHILD or (800) 422-4453.

41

BACK AT YOU

What’s R the Real deal?

By Paisley Thompson King College Prep

Identifying with reality TV has teens and adults concerned

42

eality TV gives teens and young adults a bad reputation! Recent reality shows like “Teen Mom,” “My Super Sweet Sixteen,” “16 and Pregnant” and “Jersey Shore” all portray young people as lazy, unmotivated, idiotic, arrogant and nonchalant. Despite this, many teens support and watch these shows, believing they are entertaining and cool.

Rev. Darryl Scarbrough, minister of Youth Spiritual Life at New Faith Baptist Church International, says, “The media reinforces the negative behaviors that we see in our teens currently. I do not believe that all teenagers or even the majority are lazy. However teens are one of the most misunderstood groups of people.”

According to the University of Kentucky’s Odyssey research magazine, adults are giving teens less support and overall less respect.

Therefore, if the media reinforces the negative behaviors, it is no wonder why adult’s perspective on young people is so negative, but a more important fact still remains— reality TV (as well as most presentations from the media) is not real.

According to MonaLisa Brown, former reality TV star, “It’s really called reallie-ty.There is nothing ‘real’ about it.”

Brown, a motivational speaker and songwriter, played the role of “Shy” on Season 3 of MTV’s “Flavor of Love” when it was released in 2008. Despite being shown as the loud-mouthed, badbreathed woman, she has admitted that this was all just an act.

Says Brown: “Basically, I was a hired

actress and I took that character in and became Shy. There were some parts of me in her, but I became that character.” When asked what she thought would be the most important message to young people about reality television, she answers, “Young people really need to know that everything is the opposite of what it seems.”

Are young people really as bad as the reality shows portray, like glorifying name brands, having babies young, fighting, being disrespectful and loud, or is reality television just painting an image that most seem to accept?

An Internet group titled “Are Teenagers Stereotyped by Adults?” on Youth Noise (a division of Link Media that empowers young leaders to act for causes they care about locally, nationally and globally) brings up this issue, but the thought behind the group is obvious—teens feeling angered by the constant stereotyping given mostly by adults and how those stereotypes usually derive from the media.

This group believes that most teens are driven, intelligent and leading positive lives – the opposite of those presented on TV. Scarbrough explains when you consider that most shows are targeting the groups ages 13-19 and 25-30, you can see how media exposure then makes a continuous impression on the younger groups. When a reality show depicts young people simply partying, drinking and engaging in promiscuous behavior, he says, it suggests to their peers that this is the accepted and expected behavior and they mimic it.

Alencia Norris, a student at Chicago High School for the Arts and a fan of reality television, is an example of a teen that does not follow the media’s portrayal, while she enjoys these reality shows, she also knows about the negative effects they have on adults’ perspective and teen behavior.

Although some teens are mimicking this behavior, because it is on TV and deemed accepted by some, teens like Norris say: “I try to be like me; not the people I see.”

According to Scarbrough, contrary to what is seen, teens and young adults have tremendous creativity and flexibility when dealing with life, but it has to be directed and cultivated by adults who see the potential in it and not just the side effects.

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Stereotyping in the media impacts how minorities are perceived

By Isaac Howard Rauner College Prep

I

n late July 2011, Chicago’s CBS-owned WBBM-Ch. 2 aired an interview with a 4-year-old African-American child after a shooting on the South Side of Chicago.

The child told the reporter that he was not afraid of guns and that he would have one when he got older.

The station then cut the tape, omitting that the child later said he wanted to join the police force. A week later, WBBM-Ch. 2 apologized, calling the edited broadcast “a mistake.”

This is just one of several instances in which television, movies, radio and even news outlets have portrayed blacks in a negative light.

Negative stereotypes of African-Amer-

icans have existed in these mediums for decades, from the always-angry black woman to loud, dim-witted men who are labeled as “coons,” said Claudette Roper, a Chicago-based media artist and writer.

She called former Public Enemy frontman and reality-television celeb Flavor Flav “a modern-day version of a coon.”

Most of the time, these portrayals are used for the entertainment of everyone, including black people. But just because black people watch these images doesn't mean that they relate to them.

In fact, in a 2008 study sponsored by The Futures Company (formerly Yankelovich Partners LLC) and released by Radio One, 50 percent of the 3,400 African-Americans surveyed said they did not relate to the way blacks were being portrayed on television and film. Forty percent of them believed that black radio and television reinforces negative stereotypes.

Discovering cultural identity Those stereotypes can have an impact on black youth, according to Dr. Ardis Martin, a psychiatrist based in Canon City, Colo. In a 2008 column she wrote for the bimonthly journal Academic Psychiatry, Martin asserts that "The people that watch the media have to be because television and news outlets responsible enough to not watch it,” says media artist and writer Claudette Roper. Photo by Isaac Howard often act as a way for people to observe

the world around them, negative portrayals can influence people’s attitudes toward one another. Because of this, negative stereotypes of blacks can create a negative outlook toward them as a whole.

Couple those images with the struggles they already face discovering their racial identity and black youth find it even more difficult to define what it means to black, according to Martin.

So who's responsible for stopping the negative stereotyping? And how can it be reduced? When it comes to the news, the responsibility falls on the reporters, said Dahleen Glanton, a national correspondent with the Chicago Tribune.

“The reporters must do a better job not being biased while reporting,” she said. “They must not assume that because something they are reporting or someone they are reporting on is in the South or on the West Side of Chicago that it will be a story that is going to be bad in terms of the event.”

Roper, the media artist and writer, took it one step further, saying that the responsibility falls on everyone.

“The people that watch the media have to be responsible enough to not watch it and agree with what they see,” she said.

“And the people putting it out there must be responsible to know what they are putting out there and if it is professional, or necessary.”

‘Low–life ghetto girl’ Deja Brown, 16, a student at Von Steuben Metro Science High School, says that negative stereotyping exists. And while she believes it’s limited to mostly television shows and movies, Brown says she’s been unfairly judged by people because of it.

One day while trying to take a seat at a bus stop on Foster Avenue, Brown said a woman told her that she did not want to move her bags for “a low–life ghetto girl.”

In another instance, Brown said a girl assumed that she was good at basketball because she was black.

“The woman said that because of something she had seen on television,” Brown said.

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BACK AT YOU

FALL IN, FALL OUT Military veterans offer advice about signing up

By Wesley Bogard

Harlan Community Academy

A

lthough many teenagers learn about joining the military from the media and recruitment officers, hearing the stories of the veterans themselves is rarer.

According to Mike Scheck, the public affairs specialist for the Chicago Recruiting Battalion, 74,500 people were recruited for the Army in 2010, and 65,000 in 2009.

The average age of people recruited in 2009 was 22, and 83.3 percent of those recruited were men.

Harlan Community Academy junior Brandon Watkins said he would not mind

44

joining the military because it would provide him a chance to mature. “[I] heard the service is really good for opportunities,” Watkins said.

Like Watkins, 53-year-old Navy veteran John Jakoby wanted to join the military for its potential opportunities. He joined in 1975 because he could not afford college.

He planned to stay for four years and then go back to school. However, four years led to a retirement in 1999. During his service, Jakoby traveled to many countries, including Italy, the Persian Gulf, Japan and Korea. Some of his jobs included operations specialist and drill instructor.

Jakoby said the military is special in that it was the first to integrate the races

and the sexes.

“The military is the guinea pig for U.S. society,” he said.

Unlike Watkins, 16-year-old Raven Robertson would not want to join the military.

She said she does not like the violence and guns that accompany the military.

Army Reserves veteran Jenny McDonald can attest to the violence that soldiers often experience. The 27-year-old joined the military when she was 17 because it was one of her childhood dreams. She can remember watching Memorial Day programs with her father, who also liked the military.

“It was always a respected thing in my household,” McDonald said.

McDonald was a prison guard during the Iraq War. Although she was never in direct firefights, she said there was always fighting around her. Her responsibilities included guarding prisoners who were previously members of Saddam Hussein’s army.

McDonald was forced to leave Iraq when she suddenly fell sick.

“I kinda felt like a traitor for leaving,” she said.

Although her time in the military came with challenges, McDonald said she doesn’t regret it.

“I’ve met people and seen things most people never had,” she said. “The whole experience made me more aware and more grateful for everything.”

Despite their own experiences, Jakoby, McDonald and Chicago Recruiting Battalion’s Sgt. Delrio each have their own advice for teenagers who are contemplating joining the military.

Delrio said the military does provide opportunities and one of the biggest misconceptions about the military is that everyone goes to war.

However, Jakoby, despite being proud of his involvement in the military, said he would advise every young person to stay in school no matter what.

McDonald has both negative and positive outlooks on her military experience.

Although she said her experience has made her a stronger person, she advises teenagers to research and know exactly what they’re getting into before they sign up.

“I can’t relate to people the way I did before going,” she said. “Changing back’s hard. And you never really do; you still cling to it.”

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

The Lessons of

GARDENING

By Kevin Alcaide

Al Raby school teaches students the merits of growing food

Program gives Chicago youth the opportunity to grow their own herbs and nurture gardens. Through this program, they can s we become more aware about also learn about the abilities of native climate change and food security, plants. growing our own food and gardening are “Gardening and planting helps nourincreasing in popularity. ish everything, keeping our environment According to a 2009 National Gardening clean,” said Precious Cross, a youth particiAssociation report, an estimated 5 million pant. households would like to participate in a Recent Al Raby graduate Antwon Rogers community garden. In addition, 35 percent learned how to stop invasive species and of U.S. households said gardening activikill useless plants. ties should be implemented in schools “It’s relaxing. In a way I am helping my whenever possible. community,” Rogers said.

One Chicago school that has decided to The National Gardening Association implement a gardening program is the Al also stated 20 percent of U.S. households Raby School for Community and Environbelieved that gardening extracurricular ment. The Al Raby Community Garden activities should be implemented in every school; 48 percent surveyed also Fresh food can and should be grown believed teaching kids about gardening are good for the enviall around our homes and neighborhoods and be accessible, familiar and ronment.

Martha Boyd, program direccherished part of daily life... Instead it’s tor for the urban initiative of become sort of exotic or unusual.”

Angelic Organics Learning

Center, said there are also many

– Martha Boyd health benefits to having your A Program director at Angelic own fruit and vegetable garden.

Organics Learning Center Latino Youth High School

A

“

“Growing your own food means you get the exercise, the freshest food, and hopefully, you practice good organic methods so your soil is nourished and grows nutritious food without poisoning the local environment,” Boyd said.

Despite the importance of fresh food, Boyd said it isn’t as accessible as it should be.

“Fresh food can and should be grown all around our homes and neighborhoods and be accessible, familiar and cherished part of daily life,” she said. “Instead it’s become sort of exotic or unusual.”

Although the students of Al Raby are enthusiastic about their garden, they do admit that it could be better.

“We’re limited to how much planting we can do, we have little space, we can’t grow large variety,” said 19-year-old youth participant Michael Henderson.

According to Boyd, the youth can benefit from growing their own gardens.

“All ages benefit from knowing how to use their hands and bodies,” she said. She added the youth will not be young for long and they must become responsible leaders and actors in their communities.

45

URBAN RHYTHM

DROPPING

THE

BOMB

Words speak loudly as teens use their voices of self-expression

By Taerynn Khai Owens Perspectives Math & Science Academy

D

efined as a form of artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry or stories are spoken rather than sung, “spoken word” can be seen as an epitome of self-expression.

These days, it can be seen more in Chicago’s teenage community than ever before. Teens are using spoken word as a form of not only self-expression but also as 46

community. Because spoken word gives teens a lyrical release from their real-life emotional release. problems, many have used this art form to This feeling of release is what spoken stay off the streets. word artist Erin Wright, 20, says she gets Stephanie Sutton, president of spoken when writing and performing. Wright word organization Verbatim at Columis a former participant in “Louder Than bia College, last summer took part in the a Bomb,” a production of Young Chicago “Check the Method” poetry workshop, Authors that calls itself the nation’s largest affiliated with Young Chicago Authors. The youth poetry slam. This friendly competiworkshop gave her the chance to see firsttion emphasizes self-expression and comhand how spoken word positively impacts munity, and tries to bring teens together Chicago-area poets between the ages of 15 across racial and socioeconomic lines. and 21.

“To me, spoken word is a means of tak“Many of them could be considered ‘ating something from your past, something risk’ youth who had to deal with crime and that bothers or annoys you and getting it gangs in their everyday lives,” says Sutton, out of you so it doesn't tear you up from “and spoken word poetry became not only the inside,” Wright says. “Some people an outlet for these frustrations, but a posihave so many demons, so many things tive way to invest their time rather than that have hurt them or bothered them, or falling [prey to] bad influences.” otherwise shaped who and how they are, According to Sutton, teen participation and it's therapeutic to write it out, to say it in spoken word continues to grow. She out loud, to admit it to yourself and other says that this art form has been around people, and have those people understand since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. “I've seen what you've seen or what you've gone through.”

Teens use spoken If we had more people writing, and just word and poetry to get things off their chests sitting down and thinking before reactthat they couldn’t say ing rashly... we’d have a lot less dead any other time. While teens.” this benefits teens themselves, some say – Erin Wright Spoken word artist it also benefits to the

“

WWW.COLUMBIALINKS.ORG

“

relevant to others, to form a direct and tangible connection with one's audience], but now I'd say most people are introduced to spothen I’ll be fine.” ken word, especially the poetry slam, through –Faati Rufai high schoolers.”

Student at UIC College Prep Faati Rufai, 16, a student at UIC College so much effort from the people of that Prep, also is a spoken word artist. “There’s a generation to pass on the passion to young lot of negativity in Chicago,” she says, “and people and keep it alive,” says Sutton.

Chicago teens don’t have the opportunity “‘Brave New Voices’ has come to replace to show the positive side of our generation.

‘Def Poetry Jam’ as HBO's house poetry Spoken word is a great way for teens to show, and 'Louder Than a Bomb' has grown come together and do something positive to be a huge phenomenon in Chicago for expressing themselves.” high school kids.

Some teens say they have turned to writing about their feelings, thoughts “I think spoken word used to be seen as and experiences rather than resorting to a very bourgeois art form at its conception [when really, it's quite the opposite--it’s an violence. “There’s been plenty of times attempt to make poetry very accessible and when I’ve wanted to act out of my anger against someone,” says Rufai, “but I’ll write a poem about it and then I’ll be fine.”

Says Wright: “I think teens have flocked to the spoken word scene because we are a generation of angst. We've grown up in tumultuous times, and, lucky for us, in this day and age it's acceptable to yell it from the mountaintops how [ticked] off we are. I think that, instead of shooting up a school like we've seen in times past, Columbine (in Littleton, Colo.) being the prime example, a lot of teenagers have found that letting your rage out on a stage, in front of friends, family, strangers, makes you feel better. You can get that anger out without physically harming someone and you can have other people nod their head and feel your emotions. In places where you think you're alone, in the spoken word scene, you're really not.”

Spoken word gives teens a sense of empowerment.

“You can give me a gun and I could go out and shoot someone,” Erin Wright performs her piece happily during Louder Rufai says. “Or you could give me Than a Bomb. a pen and paper and I could write

There’s been plenty of times when I’ve wanted to act out of my anger against someone, but I’ll write a poem about it and

Faati Rufai, 16, works on a poetry piece at the YOUmedia center at the Harold Washington Library. Photo by Taerynn K. Owens

my feelings out or whatever I’m holding in, and let me educate someone.”

Says Wright about teen violence: “I think poetry is the best therapy. If we had more people writing, and just sitting down and thinking before reacting rashly... we'd have a lot less dead teens.”

Not only can the mind and words offer teens a sense of emotional release, but they can also educate.

“When you hear some of the stories come out of these young kids’ mouths, some of the things that they've been through, or things that they still have to deal with... you can't help but have your empathy levels expanded,” says Wright.

“When someone goes on that stage and pours their heart out, you can't help but respect them, and you can't help but be affected. I think poetry is the best therapy.”

To view one of Erin Wright’s performances from "Louder Than a Bomb," go to YouTube.com and search “Happiness” by Erin Wright.

47

URBAN RHYTHM

“I Hear Chi-Town Singing”

By Ashley Walker Lincoln Park High School I hear Chi-Town singing Heed the laughter Crackle of iniquity ridiculing reminiscent Residents of the Robert Taylors Cabrini colonist and Inhabitants of the Ickes--continuing acts of violence “Yo, yo” inducted into everyday activity And intrinsic proclivity Wailing of sirens fighting the community Listen to the feet running from the screams The everlasting nightmares turn to reality A formality Has become the normality For Chicago isn’t Chicago without the acidic rain That falls upon our windowpanes No other city is quite the same From the pits of the hellish hood kids strive for fame The flames, Chicagoans try to tame As the man laughs at our wanting for change And I stand on the mountain high Listening to the screams, The crying, The sighs, The beat of liberated souls are ringing Chicago, I hear you singing.

“These Streets”

By Corinna Qualls Dunbar Vocational Career Academy For every street there's a murder taped to the frame of the sidewalk because it seems that more blood is being shed for murders than women on their periods.

Point blank period more shots ring than school bells, more painful screams than those that happen at those happy scenes.

Happiness is silenced and we as people stay silent because we’re afraid that we’re next.

This one that one.

Him her he she me. Who will it be?

Walking through these streets it's like playing Russian roulette with a clip. Cuz the whole world is in danger.

Population dying off quicker than a cell phone. Ring ring. Hello. No one answers cuz they’re gone.

It's like trying to reach somebody under a tunnel. It seems to be more people six feet under than over.

Like playing red rover red rover send death right on over. That seems to be the game we play.

We play this game not knowing the rules. These rules of life we fail to know.

For ignorance is the way we roll.

As people we seem to overlook the bad things instead of changing the bad scenes that we see with our own two eyes.

Our two eyes that cry those silent tears for those people we lost on these streets.

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“Untitled No. 9”

By Taerynn Khai Owens

Perspectives Math & Science Academy

Peace and blessings manifest from the lessons we have learned But I don't stand next to fire and expect not to feel a burn Silence is the loudest cry that could ever be heard And to hear you must listen closely, like to the song of a hummingbird We're all seeds planted on the Earth we see Watered by life's elements, nurtured by what we know If happiness is what you sew, then happiness you reap But if havoc is what you sew, havoc you will keep We all talk about sunshine like it's the only thing we knew When in all reality the rainfall is the reason that we grew And the world just keeps on turning… The bush just keeps on burning…

While I'm constantly condemned by the infamous "them" "They" can't stand my philosophy, free spirit, my intelligence The fact that I'm far from common sense deficient That my mind is far from obsolete They would rather throw dirt on me, Individuality Rather walk on me like pavement on the street But who said a rose couldn't grow from concrete?

It's eye for an eye while the blind lead the blind So hard to find real in this plastic life And I'm nobody's Barbie, I've got my own mind I've got my own destiny to find They always try to tell me "You're too young" "They won't get you" "You're too deep" I could care less, that's fine I don't expect to be understood Let them say what they feel because I know I'm more than what they bargained for And nothing less but real.

“Lemme Speak”

By Darius Fields Olive-Harvey Middle College Silence! Lemme speak, I have a voice.

Let my lips do the dance they do so well.

Open your ears so that my message can be heard.

Are you hard of hearing?

Then I will speak louder.

I will enunciate so that you may understand every letter that I speak.

From the diaphragm I preach this message that is louder than a bomb!

Sirens are jealous of my voice, because they wish their voice was as intoxicating as moi.

In the whisper of the wind, these words will surround and embrace you.

These words would make any listener melt in their feet, and I ain’t even a singer.

My words come from the cerebrum, so yes, you know they’re real.

I put public speakers in awe and make a whole crowd speechless.

What’s the matter?

Cat got your tongue?

You see I not only wanted to be seen, but also heard.

So don’t try to ignore me because I will soon be in your mind like I’m your inner voice.

Excuse me for bragging, but I deserve the right to brag.

Silence was never golden to me.

Does anyone pay attention to a baby not crying?

Would music be music without a tune?

I think not, so hear the thunderclap.

Hear my lion’s roar, because the worst thing I can do is say nothing.

So I will speak with confidence for that will make me powerful.

I will preach what I know so that others may learn.

I will scream to the top to make sure you hear me.

And I will never glue my mouth shut again!

I have spoken!

49

URBAN RHYTHM

“You Don’t Know Spit!”

By Darius Fields Olive-Harvey Middle College Shh! What do you know?

What do you know about anything?!

You’ve never been in my shoes and never tried to be.

You never understood how it feels to be bullied just because you were different.

Forever exiled, I’ve become antisocial.

Forever degraded, I’ve become vengeful.

Then people wonder why outcasts become gunmen.

It’s like I’m at war everyday with teachers, preachers, parents and peers.

I cry, suffer, repress and tolerate a lot of things, and I am like a ticking time bomb.

(Takes a deep breath) You know, you just don’t know.

You don’t know how it feels to be bullied and humiliated ever since you were five years old.

The suicide rate is off the charts and everyday I wonder why I am not part of that statistic.

Perhaps it’s because the murder rate is so high, and I’m not trying to be a victim.

I’ve had enough!

Enough of people saying there is either gay or straight, and being gay is not acceptable for African-American men.

Enough of people telling me I should listen to Wacka instead of Nirvana.

Enough of carrying a shield and sword every time I leave the house.

Just stop it! I just don’t want to be bothered.

So when you’ve been called a fag, come see me.

When you’ve been called a nerd, come see me.

When people constantly harass you and call you a weirdo because you’re out of their norm, come see me.

Until then, shut up! Because you don’t know spit!

50

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