THURSDAY | MAY 23, 2013
From Chicago to Washington, Protests Erupt Over Schools
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define — for better or worse — Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term in office. City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and [...] 
In 2012, Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European & Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAAELII) Executive Director Dale Asis told me that Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman of Centro Sin Fronteras was doing a new project “4+1=20 Afterschool Program.” They were concentrating on health issues and high school students in nearby Benito Juarez High School in [...]
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Despite a 23-year moratorium on construction of private prisons in Illinois, companies are still trying to build corrections facilities in the state. Last year, Corrections Corporation of America pushed to build an immigration detention facility in Crete, a suburb south of Chicago with hometown charm. After months of debate, the proposed prison was rejected by [...]
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Public schools are community institutions supported by tax payer revenue to stabilize, strengthen, support, and sustain communities. However, there are market-driven interests in the U.S. determined to profit off the backs of our children; resulting in destabilized communities, and solidifying poverty in communities of color. Recently, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) worked with 18 [...]
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Sarah Rios was at work when the phone rang: Immigration officers calling from her house told her to come home and take care of her three small children – they were taking her husband. As an American citizen and a college-educated mom living in the Midwest, Rios says she never imagined she would have to [...]
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Romanetha Looper, a Chicago mom, has always known that if parents want a better education for their children, they have to be involved in their children’s schools. She’s also a strong believer in the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Looper was president of the PTA at her son’s school, and vice [...]
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CHICAGO (AP) — As Illinois becomes the fourth and most populous state to give undocumented immigrants permission to drive, nagging concerns remain about whether there are enough safeguards to avoid the identity fraud and other pitfalls other states faced. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed Illinois’ measure into law Sunday in Chicago. Backers, including Quinn, Chicago Mayor [...]
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President Barack Obama made history by taking the oath of office and being inaugurated for his second presidential term on Martin Luther King, Jr day. The question remains whether the president continues with King’s legacy of fighting for the civil rights of 11 million undocumented immigrants or will he continue to separate families through inaction [...]
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CHICAGO – I never knew homelessness directly impacted me until I interned this fall at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. In high school, I experienced homelessness. Due to issues at home and changing schools, I often had to drift between my brother’s, sister’s and friends’ houses. I didn’t have a car, so physically to [...]
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CHICAGO – When I was five, my mom, my sisters and I, due to the burdens of debt and divorce, were evicted from our home. I remember my mom saying that this is not a situation that happens in families like mine. Both my parents had graduated from a top college and received an MBA [...]
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