The Violence Project

I always appreciate using the arts to spread a message or just as a canvass to release, so here goes the details on a cool event coming up this weekend:

Yollocalli and Radio Arte present an Open Mic Night dedicated to the 23 young victims we have lost so far during this school year. Speak your mind and share your talent with the community as we all reflect on the recent violence with Chicago Public School youth. Poets, Spoken Word Artists, Musicians, Artists and kind hearted people are encouraged to attend.

FRIDAY APRIL 18th, 2008
4:00 - 8:30 PM
1401 West 18th Street

For more information please call (312) 455-9455 x 203, or tania@radioarte.org.

Marcus Greer was described by his family as being a good kid. After transferring to an alternative high school, he began to turn his life around, working hard to be a B plus student.

Sadly, he will be remembered for being the 24th Chicago Public School student killed this school year. Greer was shot and killed Tuesday night on Chicago’s West Side. What makes Greer’s death even sadder is that it came on the eve of the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings.

A 17-year-old boy was recently taken into custody in connection with Greer’s death. This brings to light one of the startling issues being overlooked in the coverage of student deaths: the fact that many of the victims are being killed by their own peers.

James Edwards/Medill

Chicagoans participated in one of the many nationwide ceremonies in memory of the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings. Organizers of the event in the Loop nixed the usual rally fare, preferring a symbolic act they hoped would draw passersby to their message, lying down silently on the ground in memory of each victim.

It was naive to think that another week would go by without reading about one more youth getting killed, but I try to be an optimist. Although a 15-year-old boy was shot last week, he did not die, making last week one of the rare weeks a Chicago teen has not gotten killed since I started reporting on education. Not reading about another death made last week feel like an eternity since the last murder. Schools and communities continued to make strides in addressing this problem. People were talking and listening to one another. The sense of urgency was present. But with all of that there, we still find ourselves coming back to reporting the bad news we’ve become used to. The latest young life taken remains unidentified until family notice. All that is known is that he was found dead in an alley in the Gage Park neighborhood on the South Side. With the cyclical nature of news, I wanted to share an essay written by journalist Meredith Maran. Maran is the author of the book “Class Dismissed.” It chronicles a year in the life of three teens at Berkley High School, considered to be the most diverse high school in America. One of the teens Maran covered, Keith Stephens, was later shot to death six years after the book’s publication. Maran’s essay touches not only on Stephens’ life and death but hope that Keith Stephens doesn’t just become another statistic or blurb we glance over as we read our newspaper. Keith Stephens, like every Chicago youth killed this school year, had a life behind their headline. They were lives filled with dreams, good and bad days and — most importantly– people who loved them. That is why I want to propose the following challenge: if you happen to come across a murder on the news ( doesn’t have to be a teen), dig a little deeper and find out something interesting about that person. It can be their favorite movie or something random their family has shared. Any takers?

James Edwards/Medill

Richards Career Academy hosted a hip-hop workshop Wednesday with the goal of teaching students the importance of education through the music they love.

Washington High School Community Meeting

A Washington High School parent voices her displeasure with the recent developments at the school.

James Edwards/Medill

Parents, students and administrators gathered Tuesday at Washington High School to try and reestablish a dialogue after last week’s meeting that resulted in a fight breaking out. Both meetings were the result of growing violence and gang tensions at Washington and its surrounding Southeast side neighborhood.

In a three-hour meeting originally scheduled for less than two, rumors and innuendo were brought to forefront along with solutions. Among the main ideas discussed is expanding parent patrols in the neighborhood and around the schools. Parents, on the other hand, would like to see a better line of communication between families and the school. They expressed disappointment in not receiving notices and being out of the loop on various matters. Through the bickering, grandparent Dorothy Mendez held back tears in her plea for something to be done.

“The security at this school need to do their job. … Please parents take care of your children. These children are lighting up their cigarettes and marijuana.”

The Chicago Sun-Times published an article today, following up with the mother of Blair Holt, who was shot and killed last year protecting a classmate from gunfire on a CTA bus. The interview comes on the heels of the murder of Albert Vaughn, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat Saturday night. Both Vaughn and Blair Holt attended Julian High School. Worth a read.

The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence recently sent out a release lobbying for the passing of two gun control measures.

In the coming days, the Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the ICPGV priority legislative initiatives. We need your help to pass Common Sense Gun Laws in Illinois!

House Bill 758 would close the private sale loophole for handgun sales so that all handgun buyers would be treated equally and subject to the same background check requirements whether they purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer, at a gun show or from a private seller.

Senate Bill 1007 would prohibit the manufacture, sale and purchase of any large capacity ammunition magazine. These magazines hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition – some can hold up to 100 rounds.—and are often used with assault weapons.

The Bad News:

Three teenagers, from the South and West sides, were shot in separate incidents last night.

The Good News:

All three survived.

A + Illinois

CeaseFire

PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education)

University of Chicago Consortium on School Research

Friends of the Parks

Catalyst Chicago

Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Chicago Public Schools Office of Research, Evaluation and Accountability