Media Justice Blog

CPS anti-violence program takes off, slowly

June 03, 2010 - no comments

As CJ lay in a hospital last winter nursing a gunshot wound to his arm, the prospect of graduating from high school seemed a distant dream for the skinny Roseland teen. Mostly left to his own devices, he had drifted to the streets at an early age and often skipped school, since attending class required crossing a web of gang lines that conflicted with his own affiliations.
Five months later, CJ rarely misses a day, participates in class and is on track to graduate. He credits his turnaround to an ambitious program launched by Chicago Public Schools this school year to stem youth violence.

Tags: chicago tribune, church involvement, CPS, Farragut Career Academy, gang violence, government involvement, gun violence, Hyde Park high, invisible boundaries, june 2010, male, manley high school, murder, noble network charter school, non CPS, Roseland, school violence, south side, street violence, tilden high school, youth voices

Global agency reaches out to youth on South Side

March 01, 2010 - no comments

World Vision, which provides impoverished children in developing nations around the world with access to clean water, nutritious food, education and health care, launched its South Side operation Monday at Pulliam Christian Reformed Church in the Roseland neighborhood.

Tags: Chicago, Chicago Breaking News, church involvement, gang violence, march 2010, non CPS, poverty, Roseland, south side, street violence, west side

Juvenile Probation-A Day on the Front Lines

February 26, 2010 - no comments

Rodney Purdy is a Cook County Juvenile Probation officer. His job kicks in after a young person is found delinquent, or guilty, by a judge. Probation officers, or P.O.s, are, in a way, the eyes and ears of the court, making sure the kid follows through on the judge’s orders. Maybe to go through drug rehab or do community service or attend anger management class. The P.O is supposed to make sure the young person’s getting what’s needed, to stay out of prison and get a new footing in life.

Tags: 15-19, 848, African American, Chicago, CPS, criminal charges, drugs, Englewood, female, gang violence, government involvement, gun violence, january 2010, male, NPR, police involvement, poverty, prison industrial complex, roseland, school violence, south side, youth voices

Chicago’s real crime story – City Journal

January 30, 2010 - no comments

This past September, a cell-phone video of Chicago students beating a fellow teen to death coursed over
the airwaves and across the Internet. None of the news outlets that had admiringly reported on Obama’s
community-organizing efforts mentioned that the beating involved students from the very South Side
neighborhoods where the president had once worked. Obama’s connection to the area was suddenly lost
in the mists of time.

Tags: 10-15, 15-19, African American, carver high, chicago reader, church involvement, city journal, CPS, criminal charges, drugs, family violence, fatherlessness, fenger high school, gang violence, government involvement, gun violence, invisible boundaries, january 2010, male, murder, police involvement, poverty, robeson high school, roseland, school violence, sexual violence, south side, street violence, the ville, west side

Deconstructing Chicago Youth Violence

January 06, 2010 - no comments

Headlines blare whenever a young person is killed in Chicago – especially if it’s at the hands of another youth. Community activists, educators and politicians alike are wrestling with how to stop these murders and some are calling it a crisis. But that kind of hyperbole may be misplaced. The youth violence the city is experiencing today is not as extreme as past decades.

Tags: 15-19, academia involvement, African American, Chicago, chicago public radio, community involvement, CPS, drugs, fenger high school, gang violence, government involvement, gun violence, january 2010, julian high school, male, murder, NPR, police involvement, poverty, roseland, simeon high school, south side, street violence, wbez, youth voices

Videotaped Beating of Chicago Youngster Stuns Community

September 30, 2009 - no comments

The death of Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old honor student bludgeoned to death last week in Chicago, continues to stun a community where youth violence has already spiraled out of control. Albert is the third Chicago student to be murdered this school year; 34 students were killed during the previous year. Chicago community activist Bob Jackson and journalist Alex Kotlowitz, who has written a book about youth violence, discuss the incident and the community's reaction. The two are joined by NPR Ombudsman Lisa Shepard and media critic Eric Deggans, who discuss how the videotaped beating has since generated millions of views online.

Tags: 15-19, African American, altgeld, Chicago, community involvement, CPS, drugs, fenger high school, gang violence, gun violence, male, murder, NPR, roseland, september 2009, street violence