Dear Friends :

We The People Media is asking people to fill out an on-line survey we developed with the Local Advisory Council resident leaders. Anyone that fills it out gets the chance to win a laptop computer or a gift card!

The survey is geared toward current CHA residents as well as former residents, but we’re looking for everybody’s opinion. Feel free to copy the link and send it out to others:

http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?9BBFD3CA9ADCCBCE90

Imagine being rich, on top of the world. Then you find yourself middle class, with enough to get by. But suddenly you are poor, at the bottom of the economic barrel. That was the situation I was recently in at a youth retreat.

The retreat, called Operation Snowball, which was sponsored by the Illinois Teen Institute, took high school students from Chicago and suburban high schools to a YMCA camp in Wisconsin to get to know other people who wouldn’t otherwise interact.

We participated in many activities during the retreat; I signed up for philosophy and media classes. Both were exciting, and I learned a lot, such as information about the philosopher Confucius.

But one of most interesting activities we did at the camp in my opinion was what you could call the rich-to-poor exercise.

What I learned from it is how quickly people can have their livelihoods cut out from under them. Here’s what happened.

On the second day of the retreat, we went to the mess hall, a big cafeteria inside of a wooden building, and were split into groups of three: rich, middle class and poor. During the activity, the rich had steak to eat, the middle class had beans, but the poor had nothing. I was in the middle class group.

But we didn’t stay in our groups. Our instructor told people in the rich group and the poor group to stand up. Then she said, “You are rich but your job is moving out of the country to a place where it’s cheaper to pay for work. You have lost your job – please move to the poor group.” Just like that, their economic situation had changed. They felt shocked at the news.

The instructor continued, saying, “You are poor but a new company is coming to your village. Your life is about to change. Please move to the rich class.” Now the formerly poor group felt excited. I didn’t get moved from the middle class, however.

I was shocked that people could lose their jobs in an instant, without knowing it was coming and how some people take the small things for granted. For example, during the activity, some of the kids in the rich and middle class group refused to eat the food they had.

That was sad because the poor groups would have loved to have their food.

Later that day, all of the students – I would estimate there were about 50 in attendance – played a different sort of game called “befier.” We went around to different tables outside, around the campus, and we had to complete challenges, such as using toothpicks to get glue sticks to balance on top of each other. We got a bead for completing the task, and the first team with 11 beads was declared the winner.

I felt like I made strong connections on the trip, including with my new friend Maggie, Michelle, Gavin and others.

“It was amazing how you are able to trust these people in less than two days,” Maggie told me.

I think everyone in high school should experience a youth retreat to get to know the bigger world around them and practice communicating with new people.

The student editor of Michigan State University's State News shows off recent editions of the publication during a visit this fall to the academic institution's campus. Photo by Tyreshia Black.

Every year, high school students across Chicago start preparing to attend a college or university. The effort is a big undertaking, and it is easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many different types of higher education institutions to choose from, and a lot of students don’t know what they’re looking for.

One important way that many students figure out what they want from a college is through a campus visit. During a visit, prospective students tour the campus, talk to professors, and learn about student life.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Tametrius Files, a 16-year-old Simeon High School student who has visited Eastern Illinois University, DePaul University and other schools.

Experts say it is important to make the most out of college visits.

Betty Weinberger, a college consultant at a Glencoe-based company called North Shore College Counseling Services, said in an e-mail interview that students must make realistic and appropriate plans in order to ensure their campus visits are worthwhile.

“You might begin by asking yourself the following questions,” she said. “Do you like a large school or small? Do you want to be in the city in an urban environment or do you prefer a suburban or even small town environment?”

Ms. Weinberger added that students should also think about college activities while on a campus tour as well as their fields of interest.

One university student, Kate Sheka, said her initial visit to Michigan State University in East Lansing included a full campus tour and meetings with her future adviser. She also met with other high school students visiting Michigan State.

“My advice for future students would be to do a lot of research before you choose a few colleges to apply to and then to visit,” Sheka said in an email.

Ms. Weinberger noted that there are many higher education institutions in the Chicago area high school students could visit, such as the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The first college I visited was Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. But as someone who wants to be a journalist, I was disappointed because I didn’t get to learn about the school’s journalism program. While it was helpful to hear the students say it was important to set a flexible schedule and get other advice from them, I wanted more focus on media opportunities.

My trip to Michigan State, on the other hand, allowed me to see the resources a student journalist there could take advantage of. For example, Jim Detjen, who is a journalism professor specializing in environmental issues, showed our group from Englewood the journalism department. We also were able to see a television station called WKAR. Station manager Gary Reid gave us a first-hand look at the station’s studios where political talk shows and a high school quiz program are taped.

Finally, Kate Jacobson, the editor in chief of the student newspaper the State News, spoke to us about her experience as a reporter at the school. We saw exactly where a Michigan State reporter covering everything from crime to campus news to sports would sit, do interviews, and write their articles in the State News building.

As someone who has gone on multiple college tours, I would advise that students do research about the campus before visiting. Try to figure out what you want before you visit and make sure you seek that out once you are on your tour.

Myra King, President of the Central Advisory Council

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest commentary written by Myra King, President of the Central Advisory Council, the elected leadership for all public housing families in the city. You can find out more about the CAC by checking their web site, tellingourstory.org, or calling their office at 773 913 7828.

Hello Everyone,
My name is Myra King. I am the Local Advisory Council (LAC) President of Trumbull Park and Lowden Homes. I am also the Chairperson of the Central Advisory Council (CAC), as well as a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Resident Commissioner.
I send you this message to ensue that you are aware of the following:
People who live in Scattered Sites, public housing, mixed income and those in the Section 8 Program or Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program all have our rents subsidized or with payments by the federal government. We are all tenants receiving help with our rent by the government.
Every second Wednesday of every month at different locations (this month, March, it will be held at the Northeast Scattered Sites, also known as NESS) there is a meeting held for us to voice issues, complaints and concerns we face. CHA and staff are always present at the Tenant Service Meetings.
I remind you that you should always speak to the leadership of your area first and if you feel or want to take your concern to another level, then bring your concern as well as copies of any documents you have to the CAC. If you don’t have leadership, come to the Tenant Service Meeting. I will provide you with the 2012 Tenant Services meeting schedule for your knowledge and review.
If you are interested in becoming a part of the leadership, the Local Advisory Council elections are to be held this summer. In my next post, I will briefly talk about what a Resident Council is, what the responsibilities of the Resident Councils are, and also what a Resident Council does.
I will see you at the meeting,

The calendar will be essential reading for current tenants as well as for the nearly 100,000 more families who are on waiting lists for CHA units and the Housing Choice Vouchers programs, and the tens of thousands of low-income families who need housing subsidies. The calendar contains answers to questions such as:

How is my Rent Calculated?

How do I save money on Electricity and Gas?

Can I have a Pet?

In a sign of the times, the calendar also has a special section for Housing Choice Voucher holders whose building is in foreclosure, and the names and addresses of every alderman in Chicago.

You can click above or on the following link to get the 2012 Tenant Calendar.

Every year in October, Imagine Englewood If (IEI) participates in “Make a Difference Day.” On “Make a Difference Day,” people from all over the country do something to change others’ lives in a positive way. On Oct. 29 of last year, IEI put together an event for people living in the Englewood community to inform them of the dangers of lead poisoning. “Englewood has the highest percentage of people in the nation who are affected by lead poisoning,” said Jean Carter Hill, Executive Director of IEI.

People stopped by the Lead Information table to find out more about the affects lead poisoning has on children who has been diagnosed with it. Latunya McMurtry’s son was diagnosed with Lead Poising in 1990. McMurty said, “I did not understand the effects of it then, until he went to second grade. In kindergarten, the school tried to label him as a child with ADHD and put him on medication. It didn’t mess with my son mentally, but I knew I had to change his diet.” She said that after changing her son’s diet, he wasn’t affected seriously, but the lead still remained in his system.

According to a healthy diet booklet entitled “Fight Lead Poisoning with a Healthy Diet,” lead poisoning can be prevented or minimized by changing the eating habits of children under 6 years old. The breakfast diet suggestions are oatmeal swirls, sliced bananas and orange juice or french toast, orange sections and low fat milk. It suggests the child have grilled cheese and tomatoes, coleslaw, pizza bagel, 100% fruit juice, fresh or canned peaches, and low fat milk. Dinner options can be sloppy joe, watermelon, low fat milk, chicken stew, rice and strawberries. Healthy eating and early testing can prepare parents for dealing with lead poisoning.

Bernadette Williams, the tenants Local Advisory Council president, complaining to CHA Board members, on October 18, 2011, about increased shootings at the far south side public housing site. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

Tenants of public housing have said throughout the Plan for Transformation that they see very little police activity in their areas, except during drug raids.

In decades past, police officers used to walk the beat, but they are little seen these days, and the public housing tenants living in CHA developments and in areas where they relocated wonder where “Officer Friendly” is, especially in light of the fact that the Chicago Housing Authority has been paying the Chicago Police Department millions of dollars annually to provide foot and car patrols.

CHA dismantled its own separate police department in 2000. Then, in March 2001, CHA officially contracted with the CPD and began paying them up to $12 million annually to provide “above baseline services,” which includes foot and car patrols of CHA public housing sites, along with patrols of other areas to where tenants relocated, such as in the Englewood and the Woodlawn communities. The amount of the contract between CHA and the police was as high as $13 million a year, but recently has been reduced to $6 million a year.

One of the police department’s efforts to secure CHA properties has been to install security cameras. Security cameras were purchased with $22.6 million in federal funding American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be placed throughout CHA’s portfolio, including at all their all senior-designated properties, according to data on CHA’s website.

But tenants living in places like the Far South Side Altgeld Gardens public housing community, where there has been a spike in shootings over the past few months, questioned the utility of the security cameras and wondered if they are manned 24 hours a day. Bernadette Williams, the president of the residents’ Local Advisory Council at Altgeld, complained to CHA officials recently about the spike in crime at that public housing complex even though security cameras are installed there.

“The kids are going to wind up getting shot,” Williams declared to CHA Board Commissioners during their public meeting on October 18, 2011.

This wall contains the names of people killed at the CHA Altgeld Gardens public housing site. RJ archived 2009 photo by Mary C. Piemonte

Williams described a number of crimes at Altgeld that took place shortly before the meeting, including a burglary of the LAC office and another in which a car was riddled with bullet holes by a gunman who got away.
“Thursday, there was a truck, 3 o’clock in the afternoon shot up, with at least 50 bullets in the car,” Williams said. “Now, if they caught that on camera, why didn’t they catch the shooter?
“If they monitor the cameras, he should have been caught.”

The following month, on Nov. 6, 2011, four people were shot to death at a store in the Altgeld community.

CHA Responds
CHA spokesperson Matthew Aguilar stated in a Feb. 1 e-mail that under CHA’s contract with the police, officers “would not normally patrol” the area where the four people were shot and killed in Altgeld.
“That particular shooting did not occur at Altgeld; it was nearby. Officers assigned to Altgeld as part of the CHA/CPD IGA would not normally patrol that area.”

Former CHA interim chief Carlos Ponce, former Board chairman James Reynolds, and Commissioner Adela Cepeda listening to Bernadette Williams complain about recent shootings at the Altgeld Gardens public housing site, during a meeting on Oct. 18, 2011. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

Aguilar added that CHA and the police department met regularly to discuss the safety of its properties, and said that that their security cameras are monitored around the clock.

“CHA works with Chicago Police Department to deploy additional resources to Altgeld as needed and continues to monitor cameras in hot spots, 24/7. CHA is committed to ensuring the public safety of residents within all of its residential communities. The camera initiative – along with the use of security guards and the partnership with CPD – has deterred criminal activity in developments over the past year,” Aguilar declared.

Per their contract agreement, the police are mandated to also provide the CHA with quarterly security reports on crime at CHA public housing sites as well as in areas where CHA tenants have relocated under the Plan for Transformation.

However, the CHA informed Residents’ Journal in the Feb. 1 email that they didn’t have any documented 2011 crime reports from the police.

“CHA does not yet have 2011 reports. We will contact you when available.”

You can read RJ’s ongoing investigation into public housing residents’ complaints about the security at CHA sites, and their questions about the police department’s duties at: http://wethepeoplemedia.org/uncategorized/residents-deny-security-improvements/.

You can read “Deadly Moves,” our award-winning investigation into crime in areas to where CHA tenants relocated, in our series of articles at: http://wethepeoplemedia.org/tag/August-September-2004-Issue/.

The John H. Johnson Forever Postage Stamp. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

Pioneering entrepreneur and publisher John Harold Johnson received one of the U.S. Postal Service’s highest honors on Jan. 31 when he was commemorated with this year’s Black Heritage Forever Stamp.

Johnson, the founder of the Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazine, now joins the 34 other honorees in the Postal Service’s Black Heritage Stamp series since 1978.

Johnson was born on Jan. 19, 1918, and died of heart failure on Aug. 8, 2005, at the age of 87.

Johnson made the decision to first publish the horrific details and photos of the open casket funeral of 14-year-old Emmett Louis Till, a Chicago youth who was murdered in Mississippi by two white racists for whistling at one of their wives in August 1955.

You can see a video of Residents’ Journal’s coverage of the Johnson Publishing Company’s involvement in the memorial service on the 54th anniversary of Till’s death at: http://youtu.be/7CBfolmW1bM.

The Johnson “Forever Stamp” was designed by art director Howard E. Paine and is equal in value to the current First Class stamp, 45 cents each or $9 a sheet.

Speakers for the Dedication
During the ceremony, those in attendance included students from Johnson College Prep, a school named for the publisher. The speakers for the dedication included Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of Johnson Publishing Company and John Johnson’s daughter; Desiree Rogers, the chief executive officer of Johnson Publisher Company; Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel; former Mayor Richard M. Daley; U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7); U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, (D-1); U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2); and Anthony Vaughan, senior plant manager at the Postal Service.

From left to right: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel; former Mayor Richard M. Daley; Desiree Rogers, the chief executive officer of Johnson Publisher Company; Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of Johnson Publishing Company and John Johnson’s daughter; Anthony Vaughan, senior plant manager at the Postal Service; U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7); U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, (D-1); and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2), during the unveiling ceremony of the John J. Johnson Forever Stamp, on Jan. 31, 2012. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

Vaughan said Johnson was known as a “trailblazing” publisher of several magazines that “showcased African American accomplishments at a time when such affirmation was rare in mainstream media.” Johnson received many awards in recognition of his achievements, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President William Jefferson Clinton in 1996.
He added that Johnson was named by Bailey University “as the greatest minority entrepreneur in American history.”

“With this new stamp, we are honoring John H. Johnson’s business and publishing accomplishments of his life, and most importantly, his efforts to foster a truly equal society,” he said.

Johnson Rice said she was “overwhelmed” by the “very auspicious occasion,” adding that “this is really a great honor, not only for me and my family, but for all of Johnson Publishing Company, and all of the things that we work so hard to do.”

Mayor Emanuel told Rice during the ceremony that the moment was shared with the whole city.
“I’m so proud that you’ve allowed the city to share this moment with your family and the company because this is a great honor and a great recognition for the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said. “He not only changed the county, but he also changed the city.”

Former Mayor Daley said when you look at Johnson’s life, coming from where he came from, “He never knew a barrier, or never knew someone who said ‘No, you can’t do it.’”

Daley added, “His legacy has to be looked at, has to be read, and has to be followed, because what he accomplished is the whole concept of a great country. He looked at the city, this country and the world in a completely different way. And that is real leadership.”

To the audience’s amusement, Congressman Jackson declared that Johnson “was a tower of a man” who had “power over life and death.

“If he put you in his magazine and he said that you were influential, you were influential. He gave you life….And he had power over death. You’re not dead in the Black community until John H. Johnson said you’re dead,” he said.

Rush said Johnson’s accomplishments represents “a beacon” of hope to African Americans struggling to achieve their own accomplishments. “You can look towards this man and he will show you the way from your problems and your pain. He’ll show you the way to succeed against the odds,” Rush said.

Davis, who said he was born about 30 miles from where Johnson lived in Arkansas during the early part of his life, told the staff of the Johnson publishing company that they had not only “a great legacy” but also a “great challenge and a great responsibility” to make sure “that this empire continues to exist.”

Other Public Officials’ Take
After the event, Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown told Residents’ Journal that she was happy that the Post Office decided to honor Johnson, and that the event made her proud of African Americans throughout the country. She added that Johnson Publications “must live on forever for the sake of our children and our children’s children. So they can know our history.”

The event was held in Ald. Robert Fioretti’s 2nd Ward, and he told RJ after the event that ceremony was “great” not only for what the Black Heritage stamp symbolizes but also for stamp collectors.
“And I’m a philatelist,” he said.

Fioretti added that what Johnson did, accomplished, and how he achieved it, “just inspires everybody in all walks of life…not just for our community here in the African American community but for all of Chicago and for all of the country.”

Past Honorees
Escaped slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman was the first honoree and the first African American woman honored and inducted into the Black Heritage Stamp collection on Feb. 1, 1978. Other past honorees have included civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; actor, singer and athlete Paul Robeson; Major League Baseball hall of famer Jackie Robinson; Marian Anderson, one of the greatest classical singers of the 20th Century; noted poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes; African American aviator Bessie Coleman; Thurgood Marshall, the first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Madam C.J. Walker, one of the nation’s first female millionaires; and Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the South, according to data from the Postal Service.

CHA youth practicing their moves on the ice, during Chicago Blackhawks “Event to Inspire” Hockey Clinic sponsored by 1 World Sports, at Johnny’s Ice House on January 19, 2012. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

For the second year, the Chicago Blackhawks met and greeted 61 Chicago public housing youth during their “Event to Inspire” Hockey Clinic sponsored by 1 World Sports, at Johnny’s Ice House, 1350 W. Madison Street on January 19, 2012.

During the three-hour sports clinic, the girls and boys, ages 6 to 12 all from CHA family developments, laced up their ice skates and were instructed in the fundamentals of hockey.
Later, they applied the new skills they learned from Kevin Delahny, the Blackhawks skills coach, to score puck-shots on Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery.

Johnny’s Ice House, 1350 W. Madison St., practice home for the Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Team. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

The event aimed “to foster leadership and teamwork in youth through sports and other recreational activities,” according to the CHA press release.

CHA Youth Opportunities Program instructor Dorian Figures told Residents’ Journal during the event the youth were recruited through the CHA Family Works Program, and the Chicago Park District. Figures added that the kids also had to do a workbook on their hockey and other sports activities.

This Chicago public housing youth, takes a break off the ice, during the Chicago Blackhawks’ “Event to Inspire” Hockey Clinic sponsored by 1 World Sports, at Johnny’s Ice House, on January 19, 2012. Photo by Mary C. Piemonte

“This is not just about skating. They are also here to learn about sportsmanship. They have to do a workbook centered around sports and different other activities. They have ten different goals that they’re responsible for,” Figures said.