Essential Work
‘My ancestors were freedom fighters, and they’re teaching me how to fight’
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Let Us Breath organizer Kaleb Autman, 18, reflects on his awakening as a West Side activist and how he’s responding to the needs of his community.
Commentary
Amara Enyia: Beware ‘dialogue as spectacle’ in fight to transform Chicago police
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“A truth and reconciliation process may create sympathy,” writes former Chicago mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. “But justice isn’t about sympathy and sentiment – it’s about tangible action.”
Anti-racism
Listen: Chicago youth leaders Miracle Boyd and China Smith reflect on activism, trauma, and growth
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Two youth organizers with GoodKids MadCity share what activism has taught them, how it has affected them, and how they want to transform Chicago.
News
‘How was she a threat?’ Chicago police attack on Black youth leader Miracle Boyd outrages activists, officials
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Miracle Boyd, 18, is an organizer with GoodKids MadCity and a rising Chicago youth leader. An unidentified police officer struck her in the mouth Friday at a Black, Indigenous American rally, breaking several of her teeth.
Essential Work
Essential Work: Young Black activists ‘in the middle of history’ confront Covid-19 and racism
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GoodKids MadCity youth organizers China Smith and Miracle Boyd reflect on their experiences amid the pandemic and the growing movement against racial injustice. This is the first entry in a series about resilience and resistance by young Black Chicago activists.
Commentary
Abolition: ‘They said what they said’
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To educate ourselves, and our readers, Injustice Watch hosted a conversation with six Chicago-area abolitionists. Here’s a snapshot of what we heard.
News
Chicago has nearly tripled per capita police spending since 1964, data show
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For activists and city leaders calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to cut the police budget, it’s clear that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
Commentary
Open letter to Chicago’s top cop: COVID-19 police ‘surge’ terrorizing West Side black communities
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Organizer Richard Wallace says the police department is using force to make black residents follow stay-at-home orders, “regardless of the circumstance.”
Cook County Judicial Primary Election March 2018
Chicago lawyer running for judge accused of withholding evidence
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Chicago attorney and candidate for judge Jonathan Clark Green, who represents the city, has been involved in several police abuse lawsuits in which the city has been accused of hiding evidence.
News
DNA disproves evidence used to convict two in 1986 Chicago murder, lawyers say
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Recent DNA testing supports the contention of inmates Curtis Croft and Demetrius Henderson that they have spent years in prison for a rape and murder they did not commit, a newly-filed petition states.