ThePublic i,a project of the Urbana-Cham- paign Independent Media Center, is an independent, collectively-run, community- oriented publication that provides a forum for topics underreported and voices under- represented in the dominant media. All contributors to the paper are volunteers. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to submit articles or story ideas to the editorial collective. We prefer, but do not necessarily May 2008 restrict ourselves to, articles on issues of local impact written by authors with local ties. V8, #5

The opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the IMC as a whole. EDITORS/FACILITATORS: Antonia Darder Brian Dolinar davep Shara Esbenshade Belden Fields Bob Illyes Paul Mueth Marcia Zumbahlen

THE PUBLIC I Urbana-Champaign IMC 202 South Broadway Urbana, IL, 61801 217-344-8820 www.ucimc.org

SUSTAINING CONTRIBUTORS Get Involved with the Public i The Public iwishes to express its deep appreciation to the following sustaining contrib- You don’t need a degree in journalism utors for their financial and material support: to be a citizen journalist. We are all SocialistForum: An Open Discussion andJerusalem Cafe experts in something, and we have the Action Group,Meets 3rd Saturdays of the 601 S. Wright St, Champaign; 398-9022 ability to share our information and month, 3-5 pm, at IMC, Broadway & Elm. (U) The AFL-CIO of Champaign County knowledge with others. ThePublic i is always looking for writers and story World Harvest International That’s Rentertainment and Gourmet Foods ideas. We invite you to submit ideas or 516 E. John, Champaign; 384-0977 519 E. University, Champaign proposals during our weekly meetings National Fish Therapeutic Massage (Thursdays at 5:30pm at the UCIMC), Union of Professional Employees (UPE)113 N. Race, Urbana, 239-3400 or to contact one of the editors. The Natural Gourmet AWARE, the Anti-War, Anti-Racism Effort Support UC-IMC when you 2225 S, Neil, Champaign; 355-6365 Meetings every Sunday at 5pm at the IMC shop at Jerry’s IGA Progressive Asset Management, Tribal Life, Inc. When you shop at an IGA,request a Financial West Group 217-766-6531, http://triballife.net/ charitable enrollment form from a cashier Socially Responsible Investing Milo’s Resaurant or manager, and designate the UC-IMC 1560 Lincoln Square, Urbana; 344-8946 (#055187) as your preferred charity. A Behind the Signs of the Times in The Labor of Black Teaching in percentage of your purchase will then go Economic Crisis Douglass Park Women Rantoul to the UC-IMC. Alvia Dyson Neil Parthun If you or your organization would like to become a sustaining contributorPublic to the i, Tom Mackaman Amira Davis or would like more information, please call 344-7265, or email [email protected]. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 6 May 2008 V8, #5

Behind the Economic Crisis Tom Mackaman

Tom Mackaman is a UIUC graduate bundled debt devices carried by scores of investment student in History whose interests houses and banks. The resulting crisis was not just one of include labor, immigration, and political ‘liquidity,’ but of solvency, a full scale crisis of confidence economy. He is a member of the Socialist in the financial system arising from the impoverishment of Equality Party, and the International the US working and middle classes. You can’t squeeze Students for Social Equality, and is an blood out of a turnip, as the old saying goes. occasional contributor to the World On an even more basic level, the financial meltdown is Socialist Web Site (wsws.org). He wel- the latest chapter in the long-term decline of US capitalism. comes comments at [email protected]. The crisis in the subprime mortgage sector has set fire to the larger economy, only under conditions in which a lot of explosive tinder was lying about. Bundled debt based on FOR OVER A DECADE, THE PROPAGANDISTS of capitalism celebrated subprime mortgages was but one example of a general fea- the triumph of the “American model” of business and financial ture of an economy based increasingly on the smoke and deregulation, the “end of the business cycle” and even “the mirrors of financial speculation. As Marx long ago noted, End of History.” The economic turmoil of 2008, which threat- periods of rampant financial swindling both arise from, and ens a general collapse, has laid these ‘theories’ to rest. attempt to gloss over, the more fundamental putrefaction of A soup line during the Great Depression For working people various aspects of the turndown the real economy. ‘Creative’ financing—aka “cooking the threaten ruin. In effect, through inflation—especially rising books”—has been one of the methods through which capi- fuel and food costs—the economy is delivering a big pay cut talists have attempted to resuscitate the rate of profit in It is significant that none of the three remaining candi- to those who work for wages and salaries. At the same time, times when the extraction of surplus value from workers in dates for the US presidency contemplate even a diminu- wages have shown no sign of keeping up, unemployment is the labor process itself has run into a wall. tion of military spending, while their differences over Iraq mounting, and credit is drying up. Food stamp use is at a The overall decline of US capitalism registers most are largely tactical—how best to secure domination of the record high, and charities and food banks are stretched thin. clearly in another feature of the current crisis, the decline ravaged nation and the Middle East/Central Asia as a The current troubles come after three decades of stag- of the dollar. For years, government and business have whole, rather than whether or not to do so. Likewise, the nating wages, during which the maintenance of working been financed by an extraordinary inflow of investment political leadership of both parties—themselves nearly all families has depended on what economist Robert Reich and loans from the rest of the world. But foreign creditors multi-millionaires and tied by a thousand strings to big has called “coping mechanisms.” One such mechanism are starting to think twice, as the US itself looks more and business—have made clear that there will be no serious has been working more hours at more jobs, buttressed by more like a ‘bad credit risk,’ and are diversifying into non- effort to alleviate the suffering of working people. the mass movement of wives and mothers into the labor US and non-dollar denominated assets. The dollar’s status The economic crisis of 2008 has starkly demonstrated force. A second has been borrowing through the use of as de facto international reserve currency—which has the predatory and anarchic essence of the profit system. credit cards and home equity lines of credit. allowed the US to incur deficits that would be considered The crisis urgently poses the need for socialism—workers’ The financial industry encouraged borrowing against unsustainable in other countries—is being eroded. democratic control and the rational organization of the the value of homes through dubious lending practices Investors are seeking refuge not just in other currencies like economy in order to meet the world’s needs, rather than such as Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) and other ‘sub- the Euro, but in commodities, a process which is ratcheting up the reckless and deadly profit drive of the financial elite. prime’ mortgages with enticing low-interest credit. The prices for goods and food the world over. The consequences Fed under Alan Greenspan cultivated this cheap credit are explosive. Bread riots have occurred in the Caribbean, environment in order to soften the blow of the bursting Africa, the Middle East, and in Central, South, and Southeast Dot-Com bubble of the 1990s. Asia, and there exists the danger for a generalized famine. Subprimes allowed families to afford homes that other- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and enormous mili- wise would have been beyond their reach. This helped tary spending more generally, have played an important inflate a new bubble in the housing market, as prices increas- role in forming and exacerbating the current crisis. Wash- ingly showed little relationship to consumers’ ability to pay. ington’s attempt to seize Iraqi oil reserves—the world’s sec- Meanwhile, creditors ‘risk-managed’ housing debt through ond largest—and to control access to Central Asian gas, murky techniques of bundling, selling, and repackaging and thereby to put a stranglehold on the world’s most pre- debt. Speculators reaped windfall profits in the process. cious commodities and key strategic regions, has resulted Finally in 2008, this system ran head-on into limits in a debacle of epic proportions. The failure to achieve sta- imposed by material conditions. Growing numbers of bility in either country, in spite of unfathomable bloodshed underpaid workers could no longer afford their mortgages, and spending has sent oil prices skyrocketing. Meanwhile resulting in higher numbers of delinquencies and foreclo- the enormous costs of war and militarism have contributed sures, which then threw into doubt the paper value of to inflation and the further gutting of US infrastructure. 2 • the Public i www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org May 2008

Signs of the Times: A Message from Douglass Park Resident to a Toxic Neighbor By Alvia Dyson

Alvia Dyson is a member SIGNS OF SOLIDARITY we were disrespected—it was very disre- That is why we came together to show of the 5th and Hill The people who live around here told the spectful. They did finally put up some new our awareness and concern about the conta- Neighborhood Rights Illinois EPA to put up new signs at the site signs, but these new signs still do not say mination at that sight, and the concerns we Campaign. earlier this year. We wanted signs that anything about the contamination and the have about people’s health in our neighbor- would tell people that the site is what it is— possible danger over there. We’ve seen kids hood. That is why we made our own signs. a contaminated site. And they never did over there in the past and they need to SIGNS OF ACTION that. They never put up know that the site is conta- THE PROBLEM WITH THE SITE at 5th and Hill is signs that said anything minated. If you look at the Why was making these signs so impor- clear: we need to get the site cleaned up. about contamination. So, fence right now, the proper tant? It was so important, and it worked out Until it is cleaned up, we have to let people my idea was this: since signs are not up. Right now, so well, because the community came know what that site is. We have young kids they’re taking their time they have “no trespassing” through to do something we wanted to do. that live around here, and we have people we putting up new signs and signs. I can have a no tres- We all pulled together to make these signs care about who live around here. Some of the since they’re not putting passing sign on my yard, and put up these signs. That in itself was contaminants at that site can cause cancer, up the right signs, let’s put and kids will still come into important. How do I feel when I see our and we don’t want our families to get cancer. up our own signs to show the yard. A “no trespassing signs up in the neighborhood? I feel glad That’s the most important thing to me and to them we mean business. sign” doesn’t really mean because these signs let Ameren and the Illi- the community. That’s why we want to get What did EPA’s refusal anything. It’s not a strong nois EPA know that we mean business. this stuff cleaned up. That’s why we want to put up better signs Alvia in front of her enough message. The signs You can’t just talk about it. You got to be people to know about the contamination. mean to us? It meant that house with a sign need to tell people about the about it contamination. Police Officers in Unit Four Schools Treva Ellison

Treva Ellison is an activist and a graduate who were concerned that questionable them, or 87.6% percent, were student in the Ph.D. program of the practices of racial profiling by Champaign involving black students and Department of Geography at the UIUC. police (especially in the North End) would 249 of those cases, or 39% of replicate themselves within Unit 4 schools. those cases involved black For those of us who have regular con- female students. On April 18 2006, in response to what versations with youth inside Unit 4 Young Black women are school officials called an increase in the sever- schools, it is no secret that the police offi- disproportionately having ity of physical confrontations between stu- cers in the schools target black students for contact with school police dents, the Champaign City Council passed a punishment. Since the Security Resource officers for vague discipli- resolution to approve an intergovernmental Officer (SRO) program was instituted, nary infractions such as agreement with Unit 4 School District that there has been very little public response ‘Defiance and Disorderly would put police officers in Unit 4 schools. from the Champaign City Council, Unit 4 Conduct,’ and ‘Bullying,’ Protest at the Champaign County Court The total operating cost for the city, over schools, and the Champaign Police Depart- that seem deeply rooted in a three-year period, to employ five officers ment, in addressing the concerns raised at stereotypes of Black women. to serve as “law enforcement officers, law the April 18, 2006 Champaign City Coun- Hence, young Black women are Like, once we get liberated we’ll deal with related counselors, and law related educa- cil meeting on racial profiling. described in terms (loud, sassy, etc…) that this issue. And we fail to see that it is precise- tional instructors” is over one million dol- I was recently returned my Freedom of make them violators of ‘proper gender ly through a logic of sexual violence that lars. This cost is to be paid by the City of Information Act (FOIA) request about the behavior’ and, thus, in need of management colonialism and white supremacy work.” Champaign and $643,586 dollars to be School Resource Officer Program and the and/or policing. I bring up black female stu- If anyone is interested in talking more paid by Unit 4 schools. Meanwhile, there numbers provided by the Champaign Police dents, because black females have sort of about this issue, or has personal experi- are students in Unit 4 schools who cannot Department only reaffirm the stories that we become secondary to discussions about the ences that you would like to share, contact take home textbooks to do their home- are hearing about how the classroom has prison industrial complex and the classroom [email protected] work, because schools claim they cannot become a carceral space for Black students. to prison pipeline. To quote Andrea Smith, The War on Workers afford to buy extra books. In the 2006–2007 school year, police offi- “There’s a tendency in our decolonization On Liberacion! WEFT 90.1 FM, Sunday, This ‘intergovernmental resolution,’ was cers documented 683 incidents of contact movements, our racial justice struggles to May 12 at 10:00 am called into question by a number of people with students. Of these 683 cases, 559 of see gendered justice as kind of an add on. Young People Can Learn a Trade and Earn a Wage this Summer By Belden Fields

This summer, from July 14 to August 8, who have completed apprenticeships, start teacher, students will also be paired with a • The student must have no major there will be a construction-training pro- at $32.40 per hour for brick masons, mentor who will be with them through school discipline action on record. gram giving priority to minority and female $30.61 for carpenters, $36.19 for actual hands-on job experience. • The student must fill in an appli- youth. This is part of a larger attempt to plumbers and pipefitters, and $33.80 for Again, this is a program that gives prior- cation and complete an interview. attract more youth to the building trades electricians. Apprentices start with less, ity to minority youth and girls. Require- Applications for this program are avail- unions and job sites. The summer program ranging from $15.44 to $20.90. But even ments to enter the program include: able at the high school guidance offices in is meant only to be the start to a program in those early years, that is still a very good • The person must be a high school Champaign, Urbana, or Rantoul, or they can that will continue through the school year. starting wage. The great thing here is that junior or senior enrolled in a be obtained by sending a request to lmcdon- Students will participate in specialized these jobs will always be here. They cannot Champaign, Rantoul, or Urbana [email protected] If you are an interested hands-on training, classroom instruction, be exported abroad! high school. and eligible young person looking for a pos- and tours at various sites. While young people in the summer • The student must be at least 16 itive summer experience in which you can The focus will be on the development of program will not get the kind of wages that years old at the beginning of the earn money and prepare for a well-paid skills, safety practices, and the kinds of apprentices and journeymen receive, but program. That is the legal age at career, or if you know someone who is, act attitudes and behaviors that will be con- they will be paid $7.50 an hour to learn! which people can work with quickly to secure a position in this exciting ducive to a successful career in the build- They will also get high school elective power tools. new learning and earning experience. ing trades. These are trades that pay very credit in Residential Carpentry. In addition • The student must have a good well. Journeymen, that is to say people to a professional vocational education school attendance record. May 2008 www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org the Public i • 3

The Labor of Black Women By Amira Davis

Amira Davis, former unionize domestic and laundry work were of high school with promises of education out of poverty, through benefits that director of the AACAP, is unsuccessful based on contracts that were that will prepare them for employment in include a living wage, health and life insur- a mother/poet/percus- individually and orally constructed. The the 21st century. Not only is the military- ance and tuition reimbursement for sionist and a doctoral 1881 Washerwoman’s strike in Atlanta was industrial-complex a willing employer but, employees and their children. Unfortu- student in Educational one example of Black women seeking to its twin, the prison-industrial-complex is nately, it is difficult to gain and retain Policy Studies at the leverage their power for better wages. It making use of Black women’s unfree labor employment at the University at nearly University of Illinois. was through unions and the agitation of in a range of vocations, including telemar- every level. As of fall 2005, only 3% of fac- groups like the NAACP that economic keting, travel agents and on furniture ulty were Black, while Black academic pro- gains were realized. It was through the assembly lines. fessionals comprised only 5 % of all Acad- IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, Black women efforts of Charles Hamilton Houston that Workplace cultures also impinge on the emic Professional posts. In support staff have labored harder within its borders than Black teachers were able to be paid equal opportunities of Black women, as employers positions, of 140 workers classified as any other group. Black women have con- to white teachers. Still, they were excluded enforce an assimilated racial and gender Administrative/Management, 64% were stituted the most disposal segment of the from social security coverage, the protec- identity in the job selection process. For female and only 10% were Black. In the American labor force, working in the least tion of wage and hour laws and worker’s example, employers seeking correct ‘fit’ Professional category, out of 525 workers desirable, least paid positions. Not only compensation. often find only certain ‘normative’ character- 68% were women and 10% are Black. In did they work along side men in fields, Today the failure of schools reflects the istics attractive, while they negatively sanc- clerical/secretary positions, 92% are female Black women labored in kitchens, cleaned failure of the economy to support the tioning what they deem as ‘inappropriate’ with 10% Black; of the 654 technical/ para- houses and washed clothes while the demand for living wage employment by all behavior—behaviors that may actually professionals, 12% are Black and 57% planter class leisured. As cotton became adults. Schools educate youth to compete reflect cultural differences. Hence, the women. In the skilled crafts, there are a king, Black women’s bodies were industri- effectively in the global market. The disap- desired ‘fit’ is actually one that approximates total of 567 employees, with 7.5% Black alized. Through her womb came workers pearance of work has a symbiotic relation- white norms or what whites are willing to and 5.6% women. And of 1,349 and her breasts fed future masters, while ship with education in urban communi- tolerate with respect to a Black identity, mak- service/maintenance employees, there are her own children went lacking. ties. No longer able to work the land, ing Black assimilation a highly valued com- 18% Black and 41% women. These num- Hence, even mothering, a devalued domestic and service work still avails itself modity for white employers. Moreover, bers have remained fairly consistent over status in the U.S., has been a contested to some unskilled Black women as Black women, who are too Black—con- the last 22 years. space between white and Black women. hotel/motel housekeepers and as nursing sciously, phenotypically, or culturally—are Black women have labored to build this White mothers birthed citizens for the assistants in senior citizens homes, albeit less likely to find employment. country, literally from the bottom up yet Republic. Black women were breeders of with increasing competition from immi- Today, Black women comprise six per- their productive and reproductive labor— its laborers and as Jim Crow and share- grant women. cent of the total U.S. population. Yet, from the fields to the ivory tower—has cropping systems collapsed, they were There has been a direct relationship to according to the U.S. Department of Labor been consumed and devalued in ways that breeders of surplus labor. While Black Black women’s labor and war. The Civil 2000, 35% of Black women are either detract from their rights of personhood. women have fought for control of their War allowed them to enter the free labor unemployed or not in active in the labor Despite their decreasing value in the reproductive labor, particularly their chil- market where they were, conceptually, able force. Only 25% of Black women work 35 neoliberal, global economy, Black women dren, white women have rallied for free- to negotiate for wages. During the First and or more hours a week, while the rest work are very much valued for the labor they dom from the “carceral” constraints of Second World Wars, Black women were less than full time or not at all. The median perform for their families and communities mothering. Further, Black women have able to gain temporary access to better, income for full-time Black women workers as mothers, lovers, sisters, daughters, had to struggle to balance mother work, higher paying jobs. However, when Rosie is $25,589 compared to white women who aunts, kin and friends. We must dare to kin work and spiritual work with efforts the Riveter returned to the domesticated earn $27,878 and only 32% of Black envision a world without racism and patri- to attain living wages. space of her husband’s home, Black women 14–54 years of age live at or above archy, where Black women will be allowed To date, Black women remain among women were once again forced to find cre- the poverty line. the rights, freedoms and protections of cit- the lowest paid workers in the U.S. Yet, ative means to provide for their families. Locally, the University of Illinois is the izenship—where their dignity and worth Black women’s labor history includes Today, the military is an anxious largest local employer and the best hope can unfold for the benefit of all. union activities, although their efforts to employer, soliciting Black women right out for Black workers to elevate their families Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Blocked

ON CAPITOL HILL, Senate Republicans have blocked a bill equal pay for work of equal value. This disparity not that would have overturned a Supreme Court ruling limit- only affects women’s spending power, it penalizes their Facts about Pay Equity ing pay discrimination lawsuits. The Senate fell four votes retirement security by creating gaps in social security short of considering the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, benefits and pensions. • In 2005, women’s median annual earnings were named for a female employee of the Goodyear Tire & Rub- $.77 for every $1.00 earned by men. For women ber Company who was paid 40 percent less than her male of color, the gap is worse—only $.71 for African colleagues doing the same job. Ledbetter lost her suit American women and $.58 for Latinas. against Goodyear after the court ruled she did not file a • The pay gap between full-time male and female complaint in time. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has managers widened between 1995 and 2000. promised to bring this Act up for a vote again within the • If women received the same wages as men who next year. All our voices, coming together, can help get work, then women’s annual income would rise those extra 3 votes needed to turn the tide. by $4,000; poverty rates would be cut in half; The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831) is consid- working families would gain $200 billion in ered an important legislative “fix” to a May 2007 U.S. annual income. Supreme Court decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rub- ber Co.) The court decision severely limited the ability of • Pay equity in female-dominated jobs would victims of pay discrimination to sue and recover damages increase wages for women by approximately 18%. under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Without this • 55% of all women work in female-dominated jobs, “fix,” the impact of the Court’s decision will likely be wide- whereas only 8.5% of all men work in these occu- spread, affecting pay discrimination cases under Title VII pations. Yet, the men working in female-dominated involving women and racial and ethnic minorities, as well jobs still receive about 20% more the women. as cases under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act • Women are paid less in every occupational clas- and under the Americans with Disabilities Act. sification, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. WOMEN DESERVE EQUAL PAY • In 1963, the year of the Equal Pay Act’s passage, For full-time, year-round workers, women are paid on full-time working women were paid 59 cents on average only about 77% of what men are paid; for average to the dollar received by men. During women of color, the gap is even wider. These wage gaps the last 42 years, the wage gap has only nar- stubbornly remain despite the passage of the Equal Pay rowed by less than half of a penny per year. Act more than 40 years ago, and a variety of legislation prohibiting employment discrimination. Women are Source: www.now.org/issues/economic/factsheet.html still not receiving equal pay for equal work, let alone 4 • the Public i www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org May 2008

Poverty in Champaign County Family Budgets By Belden Fields From the Economic Policy Institute

HEARTLAND ALLIANCE, AN ANTIPOVERTY GROUP based in The federal poverty line has traditionally been used to Chicago, has just released its report on poverty in Illinois measure whether families have incomes high enough to and in individual counties. The statewide reporting is enable them to meet basic needs. Yet most researchers based upon 2006 data. The picture is not very pretty. now agree that a “poverty line” income is not sufficient Overall, poverty increased in Illinois from 10.7% of the to support most working families. “Basic family bud- population in 1999 to 12.3% in 2006. gets,” individualized for communities nationwide and Poverty is not random across groups. Extreme poverty for type of family (e.g., one parent/one child, two par- is defined as living on an annual income or less that one- ents/two children) offer a realistic measure of the half of the federal poverty line, or below $10,000 dollars income required to have a safe and decent though basic for a family of four. Nearly half of the people in extreme standard of living. poverty in this state are either children, seniors, or people Family Budget Calculator lets you determine the with disabilities. The overall picture is: income needed for particular types of families to make • 680,000, or 5.8% of our population lives in ends meet. Because costs of goods and services vary extreme poverty. across the U.S., the calculator customizes the budgets • 853,063, or 6.8%, live between 50% and 100% of for every U.S. community—over 400 in all. Simply the poverty line select from one of six family types, pick a state, and then select a community to see how much that family is Another 2,004,651, are classified as being “at risk” of likely to need for housing, food, child care, etc. The cal- falling into poverty. These are people who live between culator also shows the percent and number of families age wage of $45,032. Given the presence of the university 100% and 150% of the poverty level (988,100, or 7.9% of in that state living below the family budget level. and the medical facilities here, this is a surprisingly low the population), and those who live between 150% and It is important to note that a basic family budget is average wage. In August 2007, the unemployment rate 200% of the poverty line (1,016,551 or 8.1% of the popu- indeed “basic.” It comprises only the amounts a family was 4.9%, slightly below the overall state rate of 5.2%. lation. These two latter categories combine made up 16% needs to spend to feed, shelter, and clothe itself, get to Current (2008) data on rental housing show that the of the state’s population. In addition, the data reveals a work and school, and subsist in 21st century America. estimated mean hourly wage of a renter in this county is severe racial and gender disparity in poverty in our state. Hence, it includes no savings, no restaurant meals, no $9.01, which is below the poverty line ($9.60) for a fami- funds for emergencies—not even renters’ insurance to ly of four. However, the wage needed to rent a two-bed- protect against fire, flood or theft. Poverty By Race room apartment is $12.73. A person working just at the Illinois minimum wage would have to work 68 hours a % Population % Poverty % Group *Note: These family budgets are for the year 2004. Population in Poverty week at the state’s minimum wage to be able to afford such White/ an apartment in the area. NonHispanic 65.2 41.0 7.7 What the data reveal is that poverty is a serious prob- ILLINOIS TOTALS Hispanic 14.8 21.3 17.6 lem in both the state and the county; that such poverty is Black 14.6 33.1 28.0 Percentage of all people in state living below family unevenly distributed across lines of race, gender, age, and Asian 4.2 3.1 8.9 budget line 22%. Number of all people in state living ability/disability; and that poverty has become increasing- below family budget line 488,000 ly serious in the first 8 years of the Twenty-First Century. Economic policies at the national level have “trickled BASIC BUDGETS FOR CHAMPAIGN-URBANA Poverty By Race and Gender down” to the states and local communities causing greater 1 parent/1 child Women Men and greater poverty. These policies have destroyed the last vestiges of a safe- Monthly housing $611 White/ Monthly food $265 NonHispanic 8.7 6.5 ty net and cut back on positive initiatives in health and Monthly child care $472 Hispanic 18.7 11.2 education that both help people climb out of poverty and Monthly transportation $275 Black 26.6 19.6 offer care to those so vulnerable that they cannot do so. Monthly health care $245 Asian 8.5 9.2 The recent cut in Medicaid, which is so threatening to our Monthly other necessities $237 county nursing home, is just one example of the mean- Monthly taxes $167 spirited public policies that have been imposed on this Monthly total $2,272 Annual total income $27,264 The report does not break down the data by race or country, this state, and this county since 2000. gender for Champaign County, but the aggregate data are Of course, while poverty of both the employed and the 1 parent/2 children nonetheless significant. In 2005, there were 29,800 people unemployed has increased, public policy has seen to it that Monthly housing $611 in this county were living in poverty. The poverty rate was the rich have become richer to a morally obscene extent. Monthly food $405 17.7%, well above the overall state rate of 12%. The While most of the data in the report are from 2006 or earli- Monthly child care-9 $763 er, the situation has become increasingly dire as prices of Monthly transportation $275 monthly earnings in the county for new hires had fallen Monthly health care $285 4.6% between 2004 and 2005. In 2006, the average wage food, fuel, utilities, and access to medical care and insur- Monthly other necessities $274 per job was $33,051, compared with the overall state aver- ance have continued to soar, leaving poor communities in Monthly taxes $103 Champaign County more vulnerable than ever. Monthly total $2,716 Annual total income $32,592 2 parents/1 child Monthly housing $611 Monthly food $448 Monthly child care $472 Monthly transportation $375 Monthly health care $313 Monthly other necessities $286 Monthly taxes $247 Monthly total $2,752 Annual total income $33,024 2 parents/2 children Monthly housing $611 Monthly food $587 Monthly child care $763 Monthly transportation $375 Monthly health care $350 Monthly other necessities $323 Monthly taxes $178 Monthly total $3,187 Annual total income $38,244

Of the 100 largest economies of the world, 51 percent are You can find out what the monthly basic budget for your transnational corporations. household should be by visiting: http://www.epi.org/con- tent.cfm/datazone_fambud_budget See: The Story of Stuff May 2008 www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org the Public i • 5

’democracy’: Not the Democrats—RIP in Urbana By Leon T.

Urbana to place a binding referen- access to the political process under state porters are independent and thoughtful, Leon T., a community journalist, reporting dum on the April 2009 election law, leading to the placement of a number thus are unlikely to be taken in by the ten- from the Cunningham Township 2008 ballot asking whether Urbana citi- of referendums on the ballot in both dentious reasons offered by party insiders Yearly Meeting. zens want to change from the cur- Champaign and Urbana in recent years. to prevent adding any referendums to the rent system of plurality voting to Democrats offered a variety of convolut- November ballot. There were three referendum questions Instant Runoff Voting ensuring the ed and tortured explanations to argue Essentially, the result clearly signaled that citizens intended to propose be placed winning candidate always receives against any changes to the agenda, which is that the public will not in the future be on the November ballot. Despite there a majority of the votes cast?” how such questions are placed on the bal- allowed to place any referendums on the being no legal requirement that such pro- lot for citizens to decide and which the ballot via this legal method at the yearly 3. ”The City of Urbana will commit posals be submitted in advance, a meeting agenda purposely didn’t include. Most township meeting, unless they have been to a study of the feasibility of the packed with Democratic Party stalwarts telling was that a few older citizens were first vetted a month before by the elected municipal ownership of the city defeated all three in the name of ‘democra- overheard talking among themselves about officials. No independent citizen input water company.” cy.’ But it seems that the result was whether or not any specific proposal was allowed. Period. ordained more by ‘Not Originated By Us’ The first was reportedly proposed by ‘on the agenda’ before they voted at various So who exactly is preventing the people than by any actual flaw in the proposals. local Libertarians and seems like good gov- points in the meeting. It seems they were from ‘speak[ing] for themselves’ as many All three proposals were something a ernmental practice. Denying voters the briefed to oppose anything proposed from claimed to be the case in their argument in thoughtful Democratic voter, as well as chance to vote on this question will the floor, no matter how good the idea favor of defeating the motions? Unless you many independent voters, might support – inflame conservative sentiment in Urbana, might be or whether or not they disagreed still believe in the tooth fairy, it wasn’t but none bore the stamp of official Democ- as well as foster support for the Green with it. those who wanted the voters to have the ratic Party prior review and approval. Party, which makes a point of supporting One African-American citizen expressed final say on these issues. Despite the many complaints from governmental transparency. the notion that the very idea that citizens What’s so amazing is that it was the Democratic loyalists that the township The second proposal was a voting could organize to place referendums on the FEAR that questions put on the ballot meeting was a problematic way to place method supported by many in Urbana, ballot was a nefarious process directed at would enjoy wide support and result in questions before the voters, all such ques- although it has also been supported by depriving them of their hard-fought right of wins for all three questions that seemed to tions placed on the ballot in the recent past both peace and Green Party activists. Iron- access to voting. Unfortunately, the false motivate the Democrats’ ire. If proposals have drawn majority support from Urbana ically, such a proposal could lead to solidi- pretenses that seem to have been deployed from the floor of the meeting were really so voters. Perhaps it was the case that the fication of a progressive political agenda in to persuade people to come to the meet- unrepresentative of the way that voters in township meeting is too democratic, and Urbana. However, a progressive agenda ing—just this once—may indicate less of a Urbana think, then all that needed be done not enough officially Democratic, that is without control by the Democratic majori- commitment to the black community by the was let them be voted on in November and the problem that the Democratic Party saw ty seems to be a threat to the interests of Democratic Party than seemed to motivate watch them get defeated. with the process. Democratic Party loyalists. many citizens doing its bidding that night. Thus the folks that the Democratic Here are what citizens proposed to be The third proposed referendum has A great deal of effort was expended pre- officials turned out, with instructions to placed on this November’s ballot, in order. drawn verbal support by Democratic venting the exercise of democracy as pro- prevent any additions to the agenda, The first two were actually proposed from Urbana officials, including the Mayor, vided for in state law. All of it seemed to be could just as easily be described as dis- the floor and defeated, while the third although the meeting’s results calls into orchestrated by the idea that only propos- playing “naivete, immaturity, and irra- never made it that far: question whether this is only nominal sup- als approved by the Democratic city coun- tionalism, that is entirely counterproduc- port, without any real commitment other cil majority—who happened to simultane- tive to their stated goals,” as one local 1. ”Shall Cunningham Township than empty pandering to voters angered by ously constitute the township board—are Democrat later remarked about the dis- and the City of Urbana post all rising utility costs and erratic service. acceptable. In Urbana, it seems that unless sent crushed at the meeting. contracts and itemized expenses The defeat of all three shared two com- one has already persuaded this ‘central Needless to say, the final judge of what on their websites so that taxpay- mon factors. First, there is the fact that it committee’ of the value of a proposal, it should be an acceptable resolution should ers can see how their money is was the Green Party 2004 candidate for will now be dead on arrival. Sadly, this be the voters. The result that night was being spent?” governor, Rich Whitney, who first pointed result will likely undermine the interests exactly the opposite. The voters will NOT 2. ”Shall the voters of Cunningham out that annual township meetings are of the Democratic majority more than it be consulted on these issues. Township call upon the City of viable ways for citizens to gain direct will aid it. Many Democratic Party sup-

Crisis at the Champaign County Nursing Home By Joe Futrelle

Why is the nursing home having such a hard time tives, who reported that full-time nurses at the Champaign Joe Futrelle is a co-founder of the School for Designing a finding and retaining full-time nurses? In part because, County Nursing home are having to divide time between Society. Joe is the Green Party candidate for Champaign like most other healthcare providers, it’s facing a national nursing and helping contract nurses learn about the home’s County Board in district 8. nursing shortage. According to the Department of Health policies and residents. Union representatives also reported and Human Services surveys, increased demand, an aging that morale was low and attrition was high because many THE CHAMPAIGN COUNTY NURSING HOME needs ten more population, and crowded nursing schools are contribut- nurses were unhappy with their supervisors. But with no nurses. According to nursing home administrator Andrew ing to a growing number of unfilled nursing positions formal exit interview process to shed light on why nurses Buffenbarger, that’s what it would it would take to meet the throughout the U.S., as well as an escalating wage war are leaving, and informal talks between workers and the home’s need for 30 nurses without resorting to high-priced, between healthcare providers competing for nurses. It’s a board largely stalled, time is running out to find out what high-turnover contract nurses. Along with a recent cut in wage war that public facilities can’t win. With lower changes need to be made, much less make them. state Medicaid funding, the home’s reliance on contract nurs- wages than comparable private facilities, the home has to In fact, the ticking clock has trumped most other con- ing to fill the staffing gap is the major factor contributing to attract and retain nurses with a different incentive: an cerns for the board, and at the recent study session the the home’s persistent operating deficit of about $1 million. intangible combination of benefits, good working condi- board came up with dozens of short-term measures, most of The deficit, down from $2 million after the County tions, and morale that board members like Jenny Putman which were aimed at reducing operating costs or raising Board hired an independent consulting company to find refer to as “TLC.” revenue in the very short term. From raising rates on single- ways to improve the home’s finances, has become a major But as the nursing shortage worsens, full-time nurses occupancy rooms to renting out unused space, no single crisis for the board, which is struggling to find cuts to avoid are facing deteriorating working conditions as they shoul- measure appears capable of bridging the $1 million short- having to dip into county coffers. The county’s finance der higher workloads alongside employees who have been fall. Given time and public support, filling the gap in the committee has given the nursing home about a month and hired to fulfill some of the roles that would otherwise fall home’s full-time nursing staff could go a long way towards a half before the home will need to absorb a cut of about to nurses. A 2002 study published in the Journal of the putting its finances on a sustainable course. But with just a $500,000 of its $15 million budget. According to Buffen- American Medical Association reported that 75% of work- few weeks remaining before the cut, the public and the barger, that means not being able to pay the home’s bills. ing nurses felt the nursing shortage was increasing stress board are going to have to either make a major, renewed The immediate healthcare needs of the 60% of residents and leading to attrition. commitment to the nursing home or face the prospect of the who depend on Medicaid now hinges on who blinks This same finding was echoed at the County Board’s elderly poor and ill going without necessary care. first—the nursing home administration, or the board. April 15th study session by AFSCME Local 31 representa- 6 • the Public i www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org May 2008

Teaching in Rantoul By Neil Parthun

Neil Parthun is a schoolteacher in the lunch and labeled ‘economically disadvantaged’. At J. W. to meet/exceed the percentage, the entire school fails to Rantoul School District. Eater, approximately one out of every four students will meet AYP. My school has failed to meet AYP due to the spe- transfer to another school district or be a new student. It is cial education subgroup. these students who daily face the issues of poverty. While having standards and holding schools account- able is an excellent idea in theory, No Child Left Behind CURRENT DIFFICULTIES standards and expectations fail to recognize the realties A major problem facing Rantoul is something over which in many classrooms. Special education students have the students have no control, the circumstances and edu- documented evidence showing that they have cognitive, ”I’ve heard that’s a dangerous area.” cational background of their parents. After the base clo- developmental or emotional disabilities that make them ”Have fun in Rantucky. That place is so ghetto.” sure, Rantoul’s job market became minimum-wage, low- unable to meet the same academic expectations as their THAT’SWHATI HEAR whenever I tell a person that I teach in skill service-sector jobs. Some parents came to Rantoul age appropriate peers. However, these students are Rantoul, Illinois. These statements are almost always braced due to the availability of such jobs, since they did not have expected to meet or exceed the same testing standards as with a “How do you do it?” or “I could never do that.” the skills or educational background to be employed in a their non-disabled peers. These students have significant professional job. These parents likely did not receive the difficulties meeting or exceeding the standards. These A THRIVING PAST educational training necessary for professional jobs difficulties are compounded by the economic problems In decades past, there were very different perceptions because of the socioeconomic struggles of their parents that they face at home. about Rantoul. Rantoul was seen as a town with dedicated and so on back into the past. and successful people. Within the last fifteen years, the These generational issues of impoverishment put stu- HOPE FOR THE FUTURE perceptions of Rantoul radically changed. Beliefs about dents at a disadvantage. I have encountered parents that Yet, hope is not lost for towns like Rantoul. Hope can be the community transformed Rantoul from a successful lack the knowledge to help their child with homework. I found in J. W. Eater being recognized by the government town to one that has had to deal with the destructive have students regularly ask me for school supplies, for significant gains in learning achievement. These impact of poverty on a daily basis. Rantoul’s economic because they are unable to purchase them. Many parents achievements are a testament to the work ethic and dedica- woes are a microcosm of what is happening to families have rightfully put survival as the priority. It is disingenu- tion of the families who work and live in Rantoul. The who live in impoverished working class communities ous, callous and morally wrong to hear politicians and teachers at Eater provide developmental learning skills for throughout the U.S. pundits demanding that these students ‘pull themselves these students—from math formulas to positive conflict Like many other cities, Rantoul has a very rich history. up by their bootstraps’ when many of the children, resolution skills. It takes a lot of patience, but it is worth It was once the site of Chanute Air Force Base (AFB). through no fault of their own, have no proverbial boots of every moment. Chanute AFB became the location where the United States which to speak. By no means are the solutions to the issues in Rantoul Army Air Service Technical Training Command was estab- The mobility rate for my junior high students clearly going to be found overnight. But when people talk about lished in 1941. During World War II, thousands of airmen shows the trend that parents move to where jobs are. With Rantoul, they should focus on the tireless efforts of the received technical training through this program. Chanute the rapid mobility of students to leave or enter the district, community members who work hard to provide for their AFB continued to be a vital part of the local community teachers face major problems. There is little continuity in families. They should focus on the children who work after World War II. Chanute provided the majority of the what and how something has been taught. The children hard at school. They should focus on the Rantoul citizens jobs in Rantoul. The population also surged due to the are not able to develop rapport with other students and who positively contribute to their community. They base. The taxes funding the schools were substantial. their teachers, nor are they able to get in the habits of what should focus on how the families at J. W. Eater came There was a strong home life for the students with is expected of them. Yet, teachers are being held account- together to donate more than 4,000 pounds of food to the involved parents. Rantoul was an example of a positive able in standardized testing for all of these factors over Rantoul Community Service Center. Despite all of their community. Then, certain events occurred and peoples’ which they have no control. challenges, these families support teachers and do what perceptions changed. All the students at J. W. Eater are expected to take the they can to ensure success. Chanute Air Force Base was officially closed in 1993. The Illinois State Achievement Test. The scores from these tests As I tell my classes, people will rise to the expectations aftermath devastated Rantoul. Thousands of jobs with living are then used to determine if the school has made Ade- you have. When people only report negative stories or wages disappeared with no replacement. The school system quate Yearly Progress (AYP/’meeting or exceeding stan- prejudicial stereotypes about Rantoul, it is a self-fulfilling not only lost a major source of tax income, but they also lost dards’), according to No Child Left Behind. The federal prophecy. When we believe that people can achieve any- one half of the entire student population. Ninety teachers government divides the scores into different subgroups— thing to which they focus their efforts, the positive results lost their jobs during the school district’s reduction in force. by race, special education, and economic disadvantage. A begin. Rantoul deserves our support and belief in the com- At the school where I teach, J. W. Eater, 70.5% of stu- percentage benchmark of “meeting or exceeding stan- munity’s abilities. For those who ask me “How can you do dents are now eligible to receive free or reduced price dards” is developed by the state. If any one subgroup fails it?” I usually respond with “How could I not?”

A Women’s Center In Memory of A Tribute to Bob Walfedt Kaytlin Reedy Marching so proud throughout his life Cathy Acevedo Many remember how he stood— This isn’t to say that the already exist- 1959–2008 He was a foe of tears and strife. Kaytlin Reedy is a graduate students in Always standing for what was good! ing services aren’t amazing. They are. But Psychology/Sociology in the College of they just aren’t adequately sized for a cam- He stood up tall, he stood up proud, Liberal Arts and Sciences at the UIUC. Marching with me Brothers along— pus of our magnitude. Perhaps a campus He knew the Truth, and spoke it loud, of 4,000 could operate efficiently with a As we all sang our Union song! AS ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS for the campaign two-office, Women and Gender Studies For most of the last century, to get a Women’s Center on the UIUC cam- Program. A campus of 40,000, however, He stood for what he knew was Right! pus, I’ve had a unique opportunity to see needs much more. At the current staffing He stood against War’s treachery, But he was not afraid to fight! the lives that such a center can touch. I’ve ration, we have 1 staff member per 8,000 also had an opportunity to visit Women’s students—and that doesn’t even take into The kind of war that Bob stood for account the needs of women faculty and Was never that crime in Iraq, Centers at other colleges and see the impact But for the Hungry, and the Poor, they make on campus life. Perhaps one of staff who could benefit from such a Center Be they white, or Asian, or Black… the most important reasons for a Women’s on our campus. Standing besides him on the street, Center is the many opportunities it pro- The fact that UIUC doesn’t have a Each of us with banner in hand vides women from different classes, races, Women’s Center speaks volumes about the We felt we could not know defeat sexualities and abilities. The Center would institution’s attitude towards women. The With Bob there supporting our stand! also serve as an open venue for women university is willing to invest 80 million dol- Associate Dean of Students Cathy He’ll always be there in Spirit scholars, writers, artists, and musicians lars on renovations of Assembly Hall, while, Acevedo died on April 7, leaving stu- When the time to march comes again! in the same breath, telling students that If we live like Bob lived it, who to come speak to our campus com- dents, faculty, and her administrative Then we can do nothing but win! there is no money for funding a Women’s munity.It can be a place where classrooms colleagues thunderstruck. Passionate His Life was a lesson he left, Centers. As a consequence, the Allies For A and meetings can be held safely, a place to and committed to equity, Cathy left a So we would all know how to live. centralize the many resources we have on Women’s Center have come together to legacy of programs that transformed And though our hearts are now bereft, campus, and a place to learn about the work for change.We hope that now and in We thank Bob for what he had to give? variety of struggles and obstacles that all the future our voices will be heard. for the better the nature of the stu- —Tom Thomas women face. dent experience on the UIUC campus. May 2008 www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org the Public i • 7

The Closing of Chicago Public Schools By Pauline Lipman

Pauline Lipman is a community activist failure to provide necessary resources and ed in for decades. Now, $450,000 condos not ask school officials questions, organize and professor of Education Policy Studies support, and failure to build on the are springing up around the corner. At the the order of their presentations, or use at UIC. She is active in Teachers for Social strengths of schools in African American time CPS announced plans to close Collins, power point. Anderson organized five bus Justice in Chicago and the struggle against and Latino communities. This year the developers were planning to build 245 loads of children, parents, and teachers to Renaissance 2010. rationale was under-enrollment.An exam- homes priced between $250,000 and testify for over three hours unanimously in ple is Andersen with a capacity of 1200 $600,000 about a mile from Collins. favor of keeping their school which had won students which CPS said was 47% utilized. Andersen, which is 73% Latino, 18% awards for achievement. CPS voted to close IN A SCHOOL AUDITORIUM FILLED with mostly But teachers and parents who knew how African American, and 94% low-income, it anyway. Only Abbott, who also had a well- Latino and African American and some space was actually used knew differently. is located in a prime gentrified neighbor- organized campaign, was able to prevail. white students, parents, and teachers, CPS didn’t account for Andersen’s hood with an active real estate market in This is way more than a school plan. Andersen elementary school parents asked, extensive special education program, $1 million-plus homes. The board voted Ren2010 was proposed by the Commercial “What does phasing out feel like? What which required very small classes. Another to phase out Andersen and replace it with research has been done on the effects on case was Abbott elementary school which a clone of LaSalle Language Academy, a children and the community? Eradication!” CPS claimed was under-utilized, but this highly prized selective magnet school. didn’t include a charter school and pre- Andersen students, many of whom speak THE POLITICS OF ERADICATION school in the building. In fact the building Spanish as a first language and have been On Feb. 27, the Chicago Board of Educa- was fully utilized. On the other hand, 24 of reassigned to other schools, would have tion voted to phase out, close, or consoli- CPS’s 108 Autonomous Management Per- to join the citywide competition for date 10 schools and turn over 7 others to a formance Schools (AMPs), considered admission to a school that emphasizes non-profit “turn-around specialist.” All, some of the ‘best’ schools, are underen- world languages. except one, are in working class and low- rolled—some significantly more than income African American and Latino com- schools that were closed. Yet, no AMPs THE STRUGGLE OVER SCHOOLS munities. This is the latest round of Chica- schools were closed. Schools are crucial community institu- Protest of school closures go’s Renaissance 2010 plan to close neigh- tions. Closing them destabilizes a commu- borhood schools and reopen them mostly SO WHAT IS GOING ON? nity, encouraging families to move. Abbott as privately run charter or selective enroll- Those fighting Ren2010 say the real agenda is the only school that serves Wentworth Club of Chicago—the most powerful cor- ment schools. is to privatize public education, weaken Gardens a public housing community porate, financial, and political elites in the Since 2004, Chicago Public Schools unions, eliminate local school councils, where residents fought for the right to city, whichset up a public-private partner- (CPS) has closed 56 schools. Ren2010 and gentrify and displace communities of return after it is renovated. Abbott’s ship, Renaissance School Fund, to oversee schools are not required to have elected color. A parent put it succinctly: “We’re African-American students were to be it. Ren2010 is linked to the agenda of Local School Councils and charter schools being pushed out of the city under the bused nearly two miles to a neighborhood Mayor Daley and the Commercial Club to are non-union. As in past years, the Board guise of school reform.” with a history of racist violence. Closing make Chicago a first-tier global city in ignored the pleas, protests, demonstra- A study by UIC’s Data and Democracy Abbott would undermine a community in which financial and corporate interests, tions, and data of students, community project (www.uic.edu/educ/ceje/ or an area next to gentrification. real estate development, and high paid members, teachers, unions, and school www.uic.edu/cuppa/voorheesctr/) shows These decisions are made without regard knowledge workers are primary, labor reform organizations fighting for their closed schools are clustered in areas experi- for the knowledge and wishes of communi- rights and the voices of people of color are schools and the resources and support they encing high rates of gentrification. In 2006, ties. Plans to close schools were announced a squashed and working class people of need to improve them. CPS closed Collins High School and month before the Board’s vote. Most public color are policed and displaced to the mar- The Board’s rationale is the schools are “rebirthed” it under Ren2010. Collins is on hearings were held downtown at Board gins of the city. The struggle over schools plagued by persistent ‘failure.’ But school beautiful Douglas Park in an African Amer- headquarters, away from the community. is fundamentally about the right to live in staff and parents point to CPS’s legacy of ican community which has been disinvest- People had two minutes to testify and could the city.

May Day—Made in America Eyes Wide Open In October 1884, a convention held by the Federation Plaines Street in what was later called Chicago’s West of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU) of the Loop. These fliers alleged police had murdered the strik- United States and Canada unanimously set May 1, ers on behalf of business interests and urged workers to 1886, as the date by which the eight-hour work day seek justice. One surviving flyer printed in both German would become standard. When May 1, 1886 and English contains the words “Workingmen Arm Your- approached, American labor unions prepared for a gen- selves and Appear in Full Force.” eral strike in support of the eight-hour day. Today, May 1st, is known as May Day or International On Saturday, May 1, rallies were held throughout the Worker’s Day. The day is an official government holiday United States. There were an estimated 10,000 demonstra- in most countries around the world, with mass demon- tors in New York and 11,000 in Detroit. In Milwaukee, Wis- strations, rallies and marches held to express labor soli- consin some 10,000 workers turned out. The movement’s darity and celebrate worker’s rights. Here in the U.S., center was in Chicago, where an estimated 40,000 workers May Day is not a government-sanctioned holiday, even went on strike. Albert Parsons was an anarchist and though its commemoration began in this country. founder of the International Working People’s Association (IWPA). Parsons, with his wife Lucy and their children, led a march of 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue. Another 10,000 men employed in the lumberyards held a separate march in Chicago. Estimates of the total number of striking American workers range from 300,000 to half a million. On May 3, striking workers in Chicago met near the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. plant. A fight broke out when replacement workers attempted to cross the picket lines. Chicago police intervened and attacked the strikers, killing four and wounding several others, spark- ing outrage in the city’s working community. Local anarchists quickly printed and distributed Above: Photos of the Eyes Wide Open: The fliers calling for a rally the following day at Haymarket Human Cost of the Iraq War exhibit on the Square, which at the time was a bustling commercial UIUC Quad, Wednesday April 23. center near the corner of Randolph Street and Des 8 • the Public i www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org May 2008

Dump the Campaign Rebolu! By Antonia Darder

AMID ALL THE REBOLU (as we often say in Puerto Rico) about they will not have the right to vote in the actual presi- the best indicators of poverty in a region. The unemploy- the upcoming democratic primary on the island, the issue dential election. ment rate is 12%, with approximately 3% of the popula- of poverty seems eclipsed. In the flurry of exchanges by It seems we all need a reality check. Puerto Rico, col- tion homeless or permanently unemployed. Puerto Rico’s those who often begin by stating their cultural credentials, onized for over 500 years under the guise of extin- per capital personal income is approximately one-third newspapers and blogs perpetuate sound bites that sing to guished indigenous claims to sovereignty, has been in that of the U.S. Such poverty prevails on the island, the interests of Democrat elites and their supporters, on the hands of the United States since 1898, when it was despite a recent U.S. Treasury Department report that indi- both sides of the Obama and Clinton camps. In the midst surrendered as war booty, after Spain’s loss to the U.S. cates the return on capital for corporations in Puerto Rico of this cacophony, few express any real concerns for Puer- Actually, what remains veiled in U.S. historical accounts to be five times larger that those on the mainland. to Rico’s increasing economic woes. is that for Caribbeans, the Spanish American War, as it is Meanwhile, necessary debates related to economic dispar- It is disheartening that even many who reside in Puerto known, was actually the struggle for the independence ities and the island’s growing economic woes are overshad- Rico echo the shallow refrains and fling the stale accusations of Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spanish colonial rule. At owed by popular mythical rhetoric of presidential candidate of political party machines who convince voters that winning the end of war, however, the U.S. gave Cuba its freedom, virtues. In the process, a new realm of exploitation seems to the election is far more important than addressing real issues. reneging on its promise of independence to the people have emerged—the seduction of the Puerto Rican vote. Thus, Instead of utilizing this significant moment in Puerto Rican of Puerto Rico. the past disregard of Boricua voters is now replaced by a fren- history to openly challenge persistent federal economic poli- Hence, the U.S. initiated its 110 years of environmental zy of solicitation, since neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack cies that have intensified poverty, many insert their voices degeneration of the island’s natural resources, control of the Obama has managed to secure the 2025 delegates required to into the mainstream political debate to express a celebratory political economic domain, and wholesale disrespect for seize the Democratic race. Such a lead would have automati- gushing of Puerto Rican cultural pride, seemingly oblivious the self-determination of Boricua citizens. Since inception, cally prized Puerto Rico’s delegates to the first place candi- to the historical impact of colonial conquest. U.S. relations with Puerto Rico have been founded on a date. You might say that Puerto Rico continues to live out it Rather than forthrightly demanding that presidential politics of deceit, dispossession, and outright usury of colo- function as booty, but this time in electoral wars. candidates, preparing for their foray into Puerto Rico’s nial subjects as fodder for foreign wars, labor exploitation Hence, all the rebolu. Puerto Rico’s 63 delegates are now political arena, speak clearly and candidly about future for economic profit, experimentation with population con- an enviable prize to be grasped for their temporary use by economic policies to dramatically impact Puerto Rico’s trol programs, and as a strategic site of military operations, the neoliberal elite, the same power elite who in a recent poor and working class, they are satisfied mimicking including the testing of radioactive weapons on Vieques. federal legislative poll expressed absolutely no interest, mainland nonsense. Namely, whether it is Hillary Clin- Today, the Puerto Rican economy is still below that of whatsoever, in welfare reform for the island. These are the ton or Barack Obama, who is less stained by shady polit- Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation. More than 45% same neoliberal guardians—whether female or Black—of a ical or personal acquaintances, current or past. Or, of Puerto Ricans live below the poverty line. Eight-seven political economy that has perpetuated the impoverishment whether Puerto Ricans will determine the outcome of percent of Boricua children are on the National School and environmental demise of not only the people of Puerto the race, given the newly acquired ‘poll power’—even if Breakfast and Lunch Programs—considered to be one of Rico, but the vast majority of the world’s population. The Cruel Prospect of Deep Recession By Mark Weisbrot We also have the first official GDP enues fall and some social Mark Weisbrot co-director of the Center for growth numbers for the last quarter, which spending rises. Economic and Policy Research, in Washing- show the economy at a near standstill with Based on the experience of ton, D.C. He is co-author, with Dean Baker, just 0.6 percent annualized growth. Con- the last three recessions, the of Social Security: The Phony Crisis. He is sumer spending, which accounts for about Center for Economic and Poli- also president of Just Foreign Policy. 70 percent of the economy, has been hold- cy Research has estimated that ing up; but this cannot last as the price of the next recession could AS THE ECONOMY SHIFTS INTO REVERSE gear homes that people have been borrowing increase unemployment by and the Congress and President work out against continues to fall. 3.2 to 5.8 million people, and the details of a proposed fiscal stimulus, The size of the proposed stimulus, poverty by 4.7 to 10.4 million, some are asking whether it will be enough which is about $150 billion, is just not with at least 4.2 million also to keep the economy out of a recession. large enough to compensate for the kind of losing health insurance. The The answer is very likely no. spending declines that we can expect. Near range depends on whether it is The timing, length, and depth of a the peak of the housing bubble in 2005, a mild-to-moderate recession recession depend on many variables and homeowners were cashing out about $780 like the last two (2001 and is therefore difficult to predict. But there billion in home equity at an annual rate. 1990–91) or more severe as in are certain things that we already know. Although not all of this was used for con- 1980–82. formed the United States into a more just First, we are witnessing the bursting of an sumption, a lot of it was; this ‘ATM Given the magnitude of the risks and society while setting the stage for the post- unprecedented bubble in house prices. machine’ has now run out of cash. economic pain that our economy is facing, World War II boom. Over the last 30 years, Nationally, a loss of wealth of about $8 It is worth looking at the total fiscal it is imperative to demand measures that the country has become vastly more unequal trillion would be necessary just to bring stimulus provided by the federal govern- will soften the blow—especially for the and economic performance has also deterio- these prices back to their normal long- ment, when the last huge asset bubble—in most vulnerable, including the elderly, rated with the ascendancy of the Right. term trend. Even conservative estimates the stock market—burst. The federal bud- unemployed, and poor. The package that We are not facing a depression, but the of the effect of such a drop imply a decline get went from a surplus of 2.4 percent of passes Congress, despite some positive hard times ahead will highlight the need in consumer spending of $400 billion, or GDP in 2000, to a deficit of 3.5 percent of additions by the Senate, will be especially for structural changes such as universal about 3 percent of GDP. Some economists GDP in 2003. This is about 6 times the size inadequate in this regard. health care and labor law reform. These think it would be much more than that, of the proposed stimulus package, Out of the Great Depression came the and other major reforms—including a big- because of the expansion in recent years although the federal government will auto- New Deal, which included Social Security, the ger and ‘green’ fiscal stimulus that would of consumers borrowing against the (pre- matically provide at least some more stim- legal right to organize unions, unemployment reduce carbon emissions—should be viously rising) values of their homes. ulus than the current package, as tax rev- compensation and other reforms that trans- pushed to the top of the political agenda.

Aime Césaire: 1913–2008 Born on June 26, 1913, Aimé Césaire was a poet, dramatist, statesman, my negritude is not a stone former deputy for Martinique in the French National Assembly, and nor a deafness flung against the clamor of the day mayor of its capital, Fort-de-France. my negritude is not a white speck of dead water on the dead eye of the earth Césaire was one of the earliest advocates of négritude—the awareness my negritude is neither tower nor cathedral of the cultural and historical consequences of being African or of African descent. In his seminal text, Cahier d’un Retour au Pays Natal it plunges into the red flesh of the soil (Return to My Native Land), included the following poem. it plunges into the blaxing flesh of the sky my negritude riddles with holes Césaire died on April 17, 2008, at the age of 94. Aime Césaire the dense affliction of its worthy patience. May 2008 www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org the Public i • 9

”Be Realistic… Demand the Impossible!” By Altazor and David X.

”It is not that our problems are that big… It’s just that we are themselves and their neighbors. Utility companies were looking at them on our knees.” occupied or boycotted to force them to turn the electricity, —Grafitti in the Buenos Aires subte, 2003 gas, and water back on. When businesses closed, the unemployed returned to the workplace, organized them- RISING PERSONAL DEBT AND BANKRUPTCIES, falling wages, selves democratically, restarted production of their goods housing foreclosures, growing unemployment, increasing and services under their own control which they then sold service industry ‘underemployment,’ a shrinking middle- directly to former customers. All without their former cor- class, overall full-time job losses, downsizing, more home- porate owners and managers! And, when the police came less, rising oil and gas prices, skyrocketing food prices, ever to evict them from these ‘new spaces’ that they created, more expensive health care [if you have even got it], the they resisted. Of course some confrontations were lost but international devaluation of the currency, the increasing many were won, mistakes were made but lessons were gap between the rich and the poor, a massive international learned… most importantly, hope survived. debt, the rich hide their assets safely offshore, $200 billion in corporate bailouts, another $100 billion dollars here and ’SOCIALITY’ AND SOLIDARITY… there for the fucking war, nothing for us… and the band THE 500 POUND GORILLA plays on… “Don’t worry, just have faith,” we are told, “the True, it would be completely unrealistic to think that such a market will magically correct itself.” Right? For who? rebellious situation could erupt overnight here in Cham- Let’s be honest, the news is bad all around, and the work- paign-Urbana, or anywhere else in the United States for that ing class is suffering the most. Simply, everyday life is diffi- matter. We are not yet to the point of desperation that the cult for most of us, and we’re not making it. If a family is Argentinian people were in 2001. Nevertheless, things are barely making it on $40,000 a year—how can those making bad now and getting worse. Our biggest obstacle at this $20,000 or less have a chance? Families and individuals are point is alienation. We are so alienated from ourselves, and living a precarious existence on a razor’s edge. Choices must each other, that the powers that be are able to control us, be made every month between paying the bills, or rent, and and this is no accident. This is how power enforces its will buying food. “Feed my children first, and then I’ll eat what over us. Essentially, the working class is trapped in a very is left over,” becomes the mantra. One illness or job loss, dysfunctional and abusive relationship with power. It is vio- and the whole ship can quickly go under completely. For lence, and coercion. We rarely, if ever, talk to our neighbors many of us, this is reality NOW and it is only getting worse, and co-workers about what is happening to us. We live in not better. denial and make excuses for what is happening to us—and ‘blame the victim.’ We keep silent because we feel alone… AUTONOMÍA 2001—EDUCATION, DEMOCRACY, helpless, hopeless, powerless, and submit to a reality that is SELF-MANAGEMENT, AUTONOMY fundamentally wrong—that we did not create. As a result, A very similar situation existed in Argentina prior to their we are more afraid of changing this reality and heading into economic crash of December 2001 when the bottom final- the unknown, than we are of trying to cope with an intoler- ly fell out, and the populace had no choice but to get “off able reality that we do know. It’s truly fucked up! their knees.” Neighbors met in parks and street corners to Like the Argentines, and others throughout the world, talk about what was happening to them, and the condi- we can find creative solutions to our problems. They are tions they had to endure. Many found for the first time not that big, and we are not that powerless—but we can’t that they were not alone, and for many, it was the first time do it alone. But, before we can do that, we need to talk they ever met and really got to know each other. Relation- about them without shame, and face what is happening to ships and friendships were built. They formed their own us. We need to see our everyday life clearly, without the democratic neighborhood organizations, called MTDs, to distortions of the marketplace, the media, and those in discuss their problems and find their own solutions. It was power. In short, we need to ‘break the spell’ that we are a simple fact, since the government and private enterprise under, so that we can see that we are not alone after all. would not, or could not, meet their everyday needs, then That we have many common experiences that we share they had to make their own decisions and do it them- with our friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and co-work- selves. There was no other choice, and they took action. ers—even strangers. We can get to know each other again, Vacant lots were dug up to grow food for the communi- face to face, and build new relationships based on love, ty. Empty buildings were occupied for housing, to hold trust, and mutual support. Then we can begin to organize meetings, and build neighborhood kitchens to feed their ourselves, build community, discuss solutions to our prob- children and the hungry. Later some of these squatted lems, and make decisions together. That is what solidarity buildings also became schools, health clinics, cultural cen- is. We can build hope. Like the Argentines we need to ‘get ters, barter markets (truques), and even workplaces. Some off our knees,’ stand up for ourselves, and say—”¡Ya built blockades on the roads, piquetes, as a form of protest, Basta!”—”Enough!” Until then, we are powerless and or to stop trucks and appropriate basic necessities of life for helpless only because we believe it to be so. The Hard Truth

The hard truth of the matter is that the regime of monopoly- fact, the credit industry is monopolized by 10 credit com- National foreclosures are expected to hit 1.2 million to 1.3 finance capital is designed to benefit a tiny group of oligopolists panies, who control almost 90 percent of the credit card million by the end of the year. $1 trillion in mortgage debt who dominate both production and finance. A relatively small market, based on credit card receivables outstanding will come due next year as the rates on millions of adjustable number of individuals and corporations control huge pools of (Source: FDIC). loans reset, sending individual monthly mortgage payments capital and find no other way to continue to make money on the • About 43% of American families spend more than hundreds of dollars higher. In one case, a family started with required scale than through a heavy reliance on finance and they earn each year. a “teaser rate,” paying just $1,700 a month. They thought it speculation. This is a deep-seated contradiction intrinsic to the • Average households carry some $8,000 in credit was fixed, but it wasn’t. With rising interest rates and deferred development of capitalism itself. If the goal is to advance the card debt. interest, the monthly payment has now ballooned to $3,700 needs of humanity as a whole, the world will sooner or later • Personal bankruptcies have doubled in the past a month. They can’t afford to pay it and, worse, they will have to embrace an alternative system. There is no other way. decade. probably lose their home and all they have invested. Unfortu- —John Bellamy Foster nately, this family is not alone. Monthly Review, April 2008 FORECLOSURES Up to 4 percent of America’s mortgaged homeowners Champaign County DEBT might lose their homes to foreclosure in coming months, as Statistics on Unemployment WE LIVE IN AN ECONOMY that has become deeply dependent those homeowners find themselves trapped by heavy debt on the American consumer for growth. U.S. consumer and the housing slump. That’s four times worse than the Statistics provided by the Champaign County Region- spending accounts for nearly 70 percent of the US gross historical average of 1 in 100 mortgaged homeowners who al Planning Commission show an overall 13.8 percent domestic product. Consumer credit and mortgage debt is fail to keep up payments. The national foreclosure rate has unemployment rate for African-Americans as com- a higher percentage of disposable income now than ever climbed 27% from a year ago with an estimated $110 bil- pared with 3.7 percent for whites. been before. The US population is $5.3 trillion in debt. In lion worth of homes expected to go into foreclosure. 10 • the Public i www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org May 2008

Urban Planning’s Dirty Laundry By Elizabeth Sweet

Elizabeth L. Sweet is an assistant professor in the Depart- The Planners Network, an international association of ment of Urban and Regional Planning at the UIUC. professionals, activists, academics, and students involved in physical, social, economic, and environmental planning in urban and rural areas, promotes fundamental change in our political and economic systems. We hope this will be THE UIUC CHAPTER OF THE PLANNERS NETWORK organized a one of many events to follow. Anyone can join our listserve clothesline event in Temple Buell Hall on Thursday April and participate in activities. If you have ideas for events 24th. The goal was to create a display of the good, the bad you can make suggestion through the list or during meet- and the ugly done by planners and policy-makers to affect ings, which are organized via the list. people’s lives and communities through history. Planning For more information see: www.urban.uiuc.edu/stu- happens at many levels; participants sought to bring to the dent_orgs/PNC/ or contact [email protected] or rser- fore the inequality that is wide spread in planning practice. [email protected] We hung laundry with phrases and descriptions of plan- ning and policy decisions, programs, and projects from the Photos from the clothesline event past and present for all to see. at Temple Buell Hall Students and faculty from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning participated in the event. The clotheslines were displayed in the atrium of the building for two hours, and participants had the opportunity to write and display their thoughts on T-shirts, pants and other clothes. Examples of the phrases used were “Sun- down towns,” “Using parks to promote racist drug- enforcement policy,” “Bad planning affects good people,” “Urban renewal,” “Red lining,” among others. We want to dispel the myth of the benevolent planner and demystify the results of harmful policy-making. Com- munity decline is not a natural process but is the result of often racist and gender blind planning and policy making, such as redlining, restrictive covenants, boarding schools for Native Americans, and anti-immigrant ordinances. Planning has a lot of dirty laundry and it is time we air it out and clean it up! Highlander Folk School, Education for Social Change By Jon Hale

Jon Hale is a PhD student in Education- leaders organized under the American Federation of Labor tered. Highlander is a school for radical progressive educa- al Policy Studies at UIUC. His research and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Union lead- tion, known to be ahead of its own time. Conservative focuses on the social history of the 1964 ers travelled to Highlander, learned effective strategies locals and politicians have historically frowned upon High- Mississippi Freedom Schools and the from other union members and returned to their homes to lander’s public commitment to racial, political and social civil rights/freedom struggle movement. implement and teach others the lessons they learned. equality. One provocative fact of Highlander retreats during During the mid-1950s, the Highlander staff began to the labor and civil rights movement was that the school turn its attention toward issues of race. It started a net- was racially integrated, where black and white students work of schools known as the Citizenship Schools that would live, eat and commune together in a region that was IN THE MIDST OF CALLS FOR SOCIAL REFORM, interested educa- created educational programs among southern blacks otherwise committed to strict Jim Crow racial segregation. tors and volunteers should take note of the quiet history of about the strategies needed to bypass laws which prevent- The school was subject to the harassment of the state gov- education for social change in the United States. The High- ed them from voting. Within ten years, Martin Luther ernment and the violence of the Ku Klux Klan. lander Research and Education Center, originally known as King, Jr. had taken over the schools and over 50,000 In the McCarthy era, Highlander was branded as a the Highlander Folk School, was started in Monteagle, Ten- African Americans had registered to vote. In 1955 Rosa “Communist Training School.” The Internal Revenue Ser- nessee in 1932 by Myles Horton and Don West. Highlander Parks had attended classes at Highlander just weeks vice revoked its educational tax exempt status in 1957. is an adult education school located in the mountains of before she defiantly refused to give up her seat, which The Tennessee legislature confiscated Highlander property eastern Tennessee. The school institutes programs and instigated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Various civil in 1962 and auctioned off its property. The school build- classes that focus on democratic social change. rights organizations such as the Student Nonviolent ings at Highlander were mysteriously burned thereafter. Since its founding, the Highlander staff has focused on Coordinating Committee had used Highlander as a safe As Myles Horton was quick to note, however, Highlander enacting social change by working with social activists, place to discuss their experiences, develop new strategies was first and foremost an idea. Highlander relocated to meeting the needs of the poor and oppressed, and aligning and teach others interested in participating in the Civil Knoxville until 1971 when it moved to its current location itself with social movements with the same goals. Myles Rights Movement. in New Market, Tennessee. Highlander has proven to be Horton would become synonymous with Highlander after Since its role in the Civil Rights Movement, Highlander resilient in the face of such resistance. Don West left in 1933 to pursue a different political agen- has renewed its interest in local Appalachian issues such as Highlander continues its historical mission of study- da. Horton said that educa- environmental protection, ing, revising and teaching solutions to endemic social, tion was always political, cleanup projects, land own- political and economic issues. It currently practices people had their own solu- ership, and labor education. methods of participatory action research, where local tions to their own problems, It has also worked on inter- activists come to Highlander for resources and guidance and it would just take the national issues targeting the in identifying, researching and solving the problems right conditions, discussion illiteracy among the poor directly facing their communities. The school currently and respect to arrive at the and unfair immigration prac- holds its own workshops and offer many resources that solutions. Since 1932, High- tices. The radical Brazilian focus on civil and human rights, humane immigration lander has been such a place educator, Paulo Freire, policy, criminal justice reform, economic justice and for thousands of social worked and taught at High- workers’ rights, international peace and solidarity, envi- activists to gather. lander during the 1980s. ronmental justice, youth leadership, and racial, gender Highlander gained noto- Perhaps its greatest honor and sexual discrimination. In keeping with its original riety when the staff worked was bestowed in 1982 when educational method of meeting the needs and interests closely with the labor rights Highlander was nominated of the students, educators and activists interested and movement during the for the Nobel Peace Prize. concerned with social change can use Highlander’s 1930s-1940s. Highlander’s The history of Highlander buildings and land, which are located in the peaceful is also defined by the resis- mountains of eastern Tennessee. For more information, first educational programs Rosa Parks at the Highlander School focused on training union tance the school encoun- visit: http://www.highlandercenter.org. May 2008 www.ucimc.org / www.publici.ucimc.org the Public i • 11

Pedagogy of the Oppressed Revisited By Antonia Darder

Antonia Darder is a professor at the Uni- research and organizing. He signaled the need for a critical Who consumes the program or research and toward what versity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. approach to community development, one that instills a ends? What leadership and organizational structures, as She is longtime Puerto Rican activist- sense of intimacy and openness about grappling with well as communication styles, are being utilized to create a scholar involved in issues related to edu- class, cultural, gendered and racialized differences, within more solid grassroots political mobilization? What privi- cation, language, immigrant, workers, the context of any community project for change. leges and economic interests enable the production and and women’s rights. This calls for a community politics that begins from consumption of education and research? How can these the lived experiences of community members, with faith function in the interests of the residents’ long-term, as well in their capacities to contend with their own issues in as short-term, needs? PAULO FREIRE, THE WORLD-RENOWNED Brazilian educator, creative and vital ways. Hence, ‘traveller’ educators, Questions like these are key to the manner in which would have turned 86 years old this May. And although researchers, and organizers must work with community education, research and organizing are conducted, the much has transpired since Freire wrote his seminal text, residents from inception, so that when university agents analysis of research is developed, and the products of edu- Pedagogy of the Oppressed, what seems to have remained leave, the community is left cation, research and political orga- constant, or deepened, are the structures and politics of stronger for the relationship, nizing are utilized. Moreover, there inequality that breed poverty and human suffering. rather than more weakened, used, must be a manner in which to not Impoverished communities today face the dreadful con- and maligned. marginalize these questions as sequences of an intensifying economic malaise. Former Central to Paulo Freire’s work is ‘abstract’ in favor of ‘practical’ opportunities for work and earning a decent livelihood an expectation that our engage- questions, by those more aligned have disappeared, as communities struggle to maintain ment with community members with mainstream notions of com- their dignity in the face of monetary collapse. Many will be anchored in honesty, faith, munity organizing. oppressed communities have also been forced to contend and love—which develops over with the debilitating impact of being turned into quasi-lab- time. Through forging such rela- CULTIVATING POLITICAL oratories for the benefit of university educators, researchers tionships, we are able to participate GRACE and organizers. And, though some of their efforts may have together in naming the history of At this point in our long history of been positive, more times than not, the gains are short formal and informal power rela- battling racism and economic lived, as ‘traveller’ educators, researchers, and organizers tionships that not only reproduce injustice, there must be a way that complete their projects and move on to slay new dragons. inequalities, foster manipulation, we can sit together with open In Freire’s work, he constantly sought to ask, as should and inscribe dependency, but also hearts and minds, in order to grap- we, how can those who enter oppressed communities labor the many solutions anchored with- ple with a more complex under- in ways that respect the wisdom, cultures, and histories of in the reality of each community. standing of what it is that we each the oppressed. This is particularly important, given a main- This is to say that a recipe approach bring to the table. This begins with stream culture of ‘expert’ intervention with its emphasis on to education, research, or commu- recognition that we carry different quick-fix solutions. Too often such efforts, inadvertently, nity organizing—whether legal, knowledge and perspective, splinter and uproot community self-determination (albeit scientific, or political in nature— Paulo Freire grounded upon our personal his- unintentionally), as community members become objects of functions against critical communi- tories of survival and struggles study to be used for purposes beyond their own interests. ty empowerment. against oppression. In contrast, community work, with an eye toward a lib- Above all, we must acknowledge that the work we do CHALLENGING UNEXAMINED ASSUMPTIONS erating intent, must take into account multiple histories of within communities, we also do for ourselves. Our work By the same token, when efforts are made to honestly chal- survival—including those shaped by racism, sexism, class as critical researchers, activists, and organizers must be lenge unexamined assumptions or practices, those from inequalities, homophobia, disablism—recognizing that all seen as a two-way street—a partnership that is carried out oppressed communities are accused of being too political, community relations and processes are historical and cul- through mutual respect, learning, struggle, and vision. abstract, or ideological, whenever they seek more ground- tural in nature. Firmly rooted in a complex yet transforma- Hence, there is no way that we can be involved in the ed dialogue. Again Freire is useful here, for he reminds us tive intent, such community efforts against oppression work to transform social inequalities, without also open- the importance of resisting discourses of fatalism and the acknowledge both the power of indigenous identities and ing ourselves to critique and a decolonizing process that conditioned responses of urgency, in the name of expedi- the power of collective existence. challenged the negative impact of our own entitlements, ency. The truth is, chronic problems in most poor commu- This is particularly the case where pragmatism and expe- entanglements and privileges. nities have existed for generations. Yet, suddenly when diency are privileged over a historical understanding of As Paulo Freire often reminded us, the struggle for ‘traveller’ agents deem the old problems ‘urgent,’ there is a complex social phenomena. A phenomenon often aided by empowerment must be both pedagogical and political.It scramble for immediate repair, even when proposed the gaze of ‘traveller’ educators, researchers, and organizers requires a solidarity that is founded upon shared power, actions might stifle community participation. who spend a few months in a community and then think where differences and disagreements are not demonized or It is not surprising, then, that the politics of expediency they ‘know’ what the community needs, thinks, or who they falsely contained, but rather welcomed as the fuel for cre- often functions as one of the cornerstones of liberal are. But now, even better than those who have been atively learning about our place in the world approaches to problematic community intervention. oppressed and have worked for decades to disrupt these Such political grace, requires that we recognize that, no Rather than to seek organic opportunities for voice, partic- structures of inequality. matter from where we enter the room, our labor as educa- ipation, and social action among community members tors, researchers, and organizers must ultimately also be themselves, a premature leap, for example, into a well- GUIDING QUESTIONS about ‘saving our own lives.’ For Freire, this meant a grace defined ‘Rights’ campaign can lead to premature solutions. In an effort to disrupt commonsense meanings, Freire spoke born from teaching and learning together, in ways that What must not be ignored here is that solutions anchored to the need for a more transformative approach to our work, affirm our humanity, while yet, steadfastly, challenging the in ‘Rights’ are often much more compelling to white educa- one which acknowledges both the power of subordinated social and material conditions of alienation, greed, and tors, researchers or organizers, since it allows them to feel identities and the power of collective action. Inherent to this dispossession. secure, competent, and comfortable leading. This, despite decolonizing perspective are important questions for reflec- There is no question that this requires enormous patience, their lack of lived knowledge about the manner in which tion that we must hold as central in our efforts. fortitude and wherewithal. However, it is also an approach generations of racism and poverty can disable community Who produces, analysis, and makes conclusions about that, in the long run, may leave communities more armed to empowerment, through conflict, dependency, and despair. the multiple and often divergent narratives or political contend with on-going and future issues and concerns of In many ways, Freire’s work strongly spoke to the need needs of the community? Whose interests does the timeta- oppression—long after ‘traveling’ university educators, for a decolonizing approach to community education, bles and research agendas of political interventions serve? researchers, and placeless political organizers are long gone. Activist to Be Tried Again May 12 URBANA—The criminal case against activist Patrick Thompson, the founder of VEYA, is scheduled for a third jury trial, Monday, May 12 in Courtroom A at 1:30 p.m. Thomp- son remains accused of home invasion and criminal sexual abuse since the creation of VEYA’s controversial video documentary thatexposed police behaving aggressively in the north district. Less than a day after police seized the video from Urbana Public Television station, Thompson was arrested despite the police conducting no investiga- tion into the allegations. The he said/she said case ended in a mistrial when Thomp- UCIMC Building, 202 S. Broadway, Urbana son represented himself in 2005. A jury in the second trial found Thompson guilty, but the verdict was overturned when Judge Harry Clem found defense attorney Harvey Friday Jun 6, Special Preview: 3 PM–9 PM, $2 admission. Saturday Jun 7, Open to the Welch ineffective and the heresay evidence presented at the second trial prejudicial. Public, 8 AM–4PM, Free. Sunday Jun 8, Bag Sale Day, 11 AM–2 PM, $2/bag