WBEZ | UIC

After Hadiya and "Nirbhaya": From Chicago to Delhi What Does Justice Look Like?

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:00:00 -0500

Here in the United States, Chicago in particular, street crime has taken the lives of far too many of our youth. In India, the issue of sexual violence has captured headlines. The tragic deaths of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed just a few blocks away from her school, and "Nirbhaya," the 23-year-old woman who was gang-raped by six men in a moving bus in Delhi, raise the question: what does justice for victims and survivors look like?

Cheryl Graves, founder and Co-Director of Community Justice for Youth Institute
Mariame Kaba, founder and Director of Project NIA
Sangeetha Ravichandran, program coordinator at A Long Walk Home's Girl/Friends Leadership Institute
Alice Kim, director of The Public Square (co-moderator)
Ryan Lugalia-Hollon, Justice Fellow at the Adler School and member of the SJI team at UIC (co-moderator)

Recorded live Saturday, April 6, 2013 at the UIC Pavilion part of WBEZ's 6th Annual Global Activism Expo.

UIC hosts open forum on transgender health

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:00:00 -0500

This month marked a historic first for the trans* community. March boasted the inaugural National Month of Action for Transgender Healthcare, a campaign co-sponsored by groups as diverse as Pride at Work, the Transgender Law Center, Basic Rights Oregon and the National Center for Transgender Equality. Our first “Trans* Month of Action” has seen events in San Francisco, Oregon and now Chicago, as trans* community organizer Rebecca Kling has worked with Erica Mott, Paul Escriva, Dion Walton and Hale Thompson to bring conversations on LGBT community health to the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Held at the UIC Division of Community Health Sciences, the Open Forum on “Health, Healthcare and the Trans* Community” focuses on two central questions: “What issues do trans people face in navigating their health care? And how can the health of the trans community, as broadly defined, be improved?”

A 2011 survey from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force outlined the problems facing the trans* community in regards to obtaining health care services. Their statistics stated that 19 percent of gender non-conforming and trans* people are denied access to health care outright, whereas another 28 percent “postpone medical care because of fear of discrimination.” According to In Our Words,

“Key findings also reveal that respondents experienced double the rate of unemployment as the general population; near universal harassment on the job; significant losses of jobs and careers; and higher rates of poverty. Not surprisingly, the economic inequality experienced by so many transgender people often leads to a lack of quality health care options.”

I grabbed a cup of coffee over the weekend with trans* forum organizer Rebecca Kling. Kling, a writer and performer, says these health issues were a major concern during her recent gallbladder surgery. In 2010, Kling was rushed to the ER for emergency surgery, and she was worried that the doctor wouldn’t handle her case because of her gender identity. Kling stated, “Going to the ER at 2 in the morning is scary enough without having to worry that my identity won’t be respected. It’s tiring to live in a world where you think everyone is out to get you.”

However, Kling was lucky. When she was in the hospital, Rebcca Kling's mother stayed with her “all day and night” out of fear for her safety. Her mother remembered Rebecca telling her a story about a woman on the East Coast that medics refused to treat when they saw that she was trans*. She died on the side of the road. Her mother couldn't to let the same thing happen to her.

“These issues don’t just affect trans* people," Kling said. "They affect the people who care about us.”

Kling said “the distrust [toward the medical community] fosters a hesitancy toward these structures that are supposed to be there to help us. Even when doctors are caring for trans* people in a positive way, individual compassion only goes so far. We need the right systems in place.”

Kling detailed her own struggles with her gender reassignment surgery (or “Vagification,” as she very cleverly puts it) and getting her medical insurance to cover the costs.

“My insurance has a specific exclusion for gender reassignment surgery, and I’m trying to fight that because it’s discriminatory,” Kling said.

Kling explained trasition doesn’t come cheap. For trans* women, there are a litany of options, including hormones, hair removal, trach shaves and reassignment surgery, all of which cost money. Similarly for trans* men, there’s breast removal, hysterectomy and hormones. According to Kling, “even the most inclusive coverage often only covers hormones and assignment surgery. That leaves out a lot."

“This creates an economic barrier to transition,” Kling said. “My ability to transition is a result of having awesome parents, jobs that didn’t fire me and being able to scrape together the money to do these things. Access to medical care is an economic class issue. Being trans is no different.”

A major focal point of the Open Forum’s discussion will be the Affordable Care Act, which, in its essence, bans medical discrimination against LGBT people.

Commenting on an anecdote from Mara Kiesling of the National Center for Transgender Equality, whose friend was denied treatment for anemia because of her “transsexual blood,” The Nation writes,“The Affordable Care Act will end many of these absurd exclusions. In 2014, the Patient’s Bill of Rights will prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. What’s more, the ACA will bring Title VII federal nondiscrimination protections to the health care field."

However, Kling said that the bill’s implementation and purview is far from perfect. It doesn’t include gender reassignment surgery.

“The Affordable Care Act says that we shouldn’t exclude LGBT people from insurance coverage, but the Department of Health and Human Services says that coverage doesn’t include transitioning,” Kling stated. “That’s a contradiction.”

As part of the national conversation on health care, the queer community is too seldom included in the discourse, and Kling hopes that dialogues like the Trans* Month of Action and the Open Forum will help change that.

“We need to open this conversation up further, because no one person has the same health care needs as any other,” Kling said.

Monday’s forum will include panelists such as Jen Richards of We Happy Trans, Alexis Martinez of the Trans Oral History Project, Channyn Park of the Chicago House and Trans Life Project and Dr. Margo Bell of Stroger Hospital.

As a forum, Kling said they are trying to be mindful of the inherent power dynamics in the discussion and to create a space for discourse, rather than “imparting wisdom onto the audience.” Kling assured me, “We don’t want to tell you what the community needs.”

For Kling, the most exciting part is the variety of perspectives being offered. Although she feels one panel could never be reflective of the breadth of the community, the forum has solicited questions from attendees to further include a diversity of experiences. Many respondents have come up with topics she wouldn’t have thought of.

“Someone asked, ‘How can health care be supportive of non-traditional paths?’ Kling said. "That didn’t even occur to me. It’s not my experience, but it’s valid and important.”

Kling says she’s most excited to see the energy behind the forum.

“This is a conversation that it seems like people are eager for and that they needed to happen," Kling said. "I hope we live up to their expectations.”

The Open Forum on Transgender Health, Healthcare and the Trans* Community will take place at UIC’s Division of Community Health Sciences at 1603 W. Taylor Street on March 18 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The event will be held in the first floor auditorium and is free and open to the public. More information can be obtained on their Facebook page or by emailing Rebecca Kling at rebecca@rebeccakling.com.

It's About HOPE: Global Activism Expo

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:52:00 -0600

As the planet gets smaller - at least in terms of the non-stop flow of information about the seven billion or so inhabitants - our anxiety grows. As the world feels smaller, so do we. It is more difficult to see how individual contributions help those in need. It feels like the work of one person simply cannot make a substantive difference

It's easy to become disheartened. It's easy to focus on something else.

And then there is Jerome McDonnell and Worldview.

The Worldview team has been featuring ordinary people who refuse to be stymied and have stepped up in small but significant ways to help those who need it. The Global Activism Series is not about atrocity; it is about HOPE.

On April 6th, WBEZ, Vocalo, the UIC Social Justice Initiative and the Illinois Humanities Council are excited to showcase these ordinary people doing extraordinary things at the Sixth Annual Global Activism Expo.

This year, we expand things to give you more to do, more to see, more to learn including:

The University of Illinois Chicago Social Justice Initiative and The Public Square will host a series of lectures and panel discussions exploring issues of Restorative Justice featuring noted activists from around the world.

· The Vocalo Music Stage outdoors on the plaza will feature an array of local artists and bands with an international influence

· Working Bikes will bring an array of demonstration bikes (power a phonograph or your cell phone) as well as mini bikes for us to ride inside

· CircEsteem will entertain kids and adults, encouraging participants to learn juggling, balance feathers and have fun

· Peace On Earth Film Festival will show select titles from their 2013 festival and invite the audience to discuss and reflect on these short films

Thousands of people come every year to meet and learn about these amazing people; my mother (from Kansas) came two years ago and was so motivated that she now devotes much of her time working with her local Food Bank and has become an activist within the tiny confines of a 800 person town in the middle of the country. If you are in need of a shot of inspiration that you can make a difference, you simply can't afford to miss it this year.

Off-Air Events: 6th Annual Global Activism Expo

Saturday, April 6, 2013 @ 12:00pm – 6:00pm

UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road

RSVP here and get a special gift when you check-in at the Expo!

Yankee star gives back to University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago youth

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 06:00:00 -0600

It seems like we are always inundated with negative stories in sports and when there is a positive story it gets minimized. What New York Yankee Curtis Granderson is doing for his alma mater, the University of Illinois Chicago, should be front page news and lead sportscasts.

Last summer I wrote about the Chicago native and discovered what a thoughtful, giving young man he is. Now he is giving more. Last week when the Flames retired Curtis' jersey, he revealed a plan to renovate the school's baseball field and facilities.

Granderson will use millions of his own dollars to update many facets of the stadium and fields, including the press box, stands, pitching mound and more. It is not just the school he will be aiding. It will be the community as a whole that will benefit from this generous gift. This two year plan to upgrade the facilities will include allowing various youth teams in the city the opportunity to use the stadium. Chicago Public Schools, the Park District, the RBI Reviving Baseball in Inner cities program (RBI), Urban Youth Academy, the White Sox and Cubs youth baseball teams can play there free of charge.

Flames head baseball coach Mike Dee says they will have almost 3,000 boys and girls involved with games. Long term, there will be a lot to plan, especially accommodating hundreds a games, including CPS games that will start this spring. Each baseball and softball team will have an opportunity to schedule a game. Not only will these leagues be able to play games and practices, the college will also have coaching and officiating clinics for the various organizations. Additionally, Granderson believes the safety of the neighborhood will help insulate the children, especially since a police station is next to the field.

Helping the youth is the underlying reason for this generosity. It may help revitalize a sport that has suffered a decline in popularity. Baseball is not the most popular sport for young athletes, particularly inner city youth. The lack of African-Americans in baseball is alarming. In fact, there is a profound documentary in the works, Bases Empty, that is delving into the genesis of the problem and the future of the game.

Besides giving back and taking care of his school, Granderson will help a community and a sport that has a proud tradition that needs to be re-kindled.

This project also says plenty about the ties Granderson has with the University of Illinois-Chicago and Flames Head Baseball Coach Mike Dee. That relationship began when Dee recruited Granderson at 17 years old, through his three years playing for the Flames and when he was drafted in his junior year by the Detroit Tigers. Now playing for the Yankees, Dee will go unannounced to see his famous centerfielder when Curtis comes to Chicago to play at US Cellular Field. When Mike talks to his Curtis it is rarely about baseball.

“He (Curtis) has a real deep sense of social responsibility,” Dee said. “His mom and dad did a phenomenal job with him growing up, he is exceptionally humble and a strong sense of wanting giving back to the community.”

The college experience is something that both Dee and Granderson want to entice the young players who will play or practice at Curtis Granderson Stadium.

It occurred to Dee that both he and Curtis never “wondered if they were going to college, but where,” but that is not the case with most of the youth they are trying to reach. They hope as kids spend time in the college environment it will open their eyes to the possibilities of continuing their education. Many will not play the sport long term, however, it could be for some a way to get a scholarship.

There could be more Curtis Grandersons — the man, not necessarily the player — stepping on this new baseball field. At least that is a goal worth reaching for in my book.

Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CRayeStout and Facebook Cheryl Raye Stout #AtTheGame

UIC to study government reaction to recession

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:45:00 -0500

Researchers at University of Illinois at Chicago will get a $950,000 grant for a three-year study to help city governments respond to recessions.

The study will look at how city governments can adjust to the global economy and plan for sustainable growth.

Researchers hope to help cities handle issues like pensions, workforce development, cuts to social and human services, jobs, public safety and the tax base during a recession. Annual surveys show from 2009 to 2011, most cuts in city budgets were in infrastructure and personnel, including wages, pensions and benefits.

UIC will collaborate on the study with the National League of Cities Center for Research and Innovation and a working group from the Federal Reserve Bank. The grant is from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

UIC to study weight loss after breast cancer

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:57:00 -0500

Researchers in Chicago are launching a study to find out whether weight loss can help African-American breast cancer survivors.

The University of Illinois at Chicago study is funded by a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Melinda Stolley is leading the research. She says poor diet, lack of physical activity and obesity contribute to breast cancer progression.

The randomized study will recruit 240 breast cancer survivors who finished their treatment at least six months ago. Study participants need to be overweight, able to participate in moderate physical activity and not currently in a structured weight-loss program.

UIC will coordinate with the Chicago Park District to carry out the study in the Roseland-Pullman, Englewood, Austin, South Shore and Lawndale neighborhoods of Chicago.

Navistar layoffs add to doubts about incentives

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:22:00 -0600

Sears Holdings Corp. and Chicago’s financial exchanges have quit threatening to pull up stakes now that Illinois has enacted tax breaks for them. But it remains unclear whether state incentives to big companies are wise uses of economic-development resources. A personnel shift by Lisle-based Navistar International Corp. will add fresh doubt.

WBEZ has learned that some new jobs Navistar promised under an Illinois incentive agreement are coming to the state at the expense of unionized workers in Indiana.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the Navistar incentives last year after the company threatened to pack up its headquarters in west suburban Warrenville and leave the state. The deal committed Illinois to a $64.7 million bundle of tax credits and job-training subsidies for the company. It committed Navistar to moving the headquarters to Lisle, a couple miles east, and to adding 400 full-time Illinois employees.

Navistar’s first report to the state about the jobs isn’t due until next year, so it’s hard to tell how many positions the company has created thus far. Employees confirm that dozens of new engineers and designers are working at the Lisle facility.

Navistar is creating those jobs as it phases out its Truck Development and Technology Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, just three hours southeast of Chicago. The latest Fort Wayne cuts came December 2, when the company laid off 130 employees, mostly engineers and designers who are United Auto Workers members. Before the layoff, some of the Fort Wayne workers had to help train their Lisle replacements.

Navistar has “rewritten the job descriptions so the people that used to do the work here — the union folks — don’t qualify anymore on paper,” said Craig Randolph, a design engineer the company laid off after 15 years at the Fort Wayne center. “So they’re eliminating the high-seniority, older employees like myself and replacing them with nonunion college kids — guys fresh out of school. And the taxpayers in Illinois are subsidizing the whole thing.”

Asked for a response, Navistar spokeswoman Karen Denning called it unusual for engineers to have union representation in the first place, a claim disputed by auto industry experts. Denning also sent a statement that said the company’s decision to shift the Fort Wayne jobs to Lisle was “based solely on our desire to compete in the global economy.” The statement added that Navistar has allowed many Fort Wayne employees to relocate to the Chicago area and stay with the company.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity sent a statement that doesn’t directly address whether the Navistar incentives have anything to do with the Fort Wayne layoffs. The statement says the state’s assistance to companies like Navistar over the last decade has “created and retained tens of thousands of jobs,” including unionized positions.

There’s not much proof to back up such claims. Scholars who study the effects of corporate incentives point out that companies decide where to operate based on proximity to suppliers, markets, transportation and so on. Another factor is whether workers are bargaining collectively. Just this summer, Navistar announced it was closing a unionized plant in Chatham, Ontario. The company has moved that work to nonunion facilities in Texas and Mexico.

“I don’t think that the [Illinois] incentives are causing Navistar to shift around its workforce,” said Rachel Weber, an associate professor of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “But they do send a message that the public sector and taxpayers are validating these kinds of activities. And, if you asked a lot of taxpayers in the state of Illinois whether they’d want to support these kinds of activities, I don’t think they’d be so happy about it.”

Weber pointed out that the economies of Illinois and Indiana intertwine closely and said it would help both states to quit poaching jobs from each other. Eliminating state incentives for corporations, she added, would free up resources for everything from workforce readiness to small-business incubation.

The union, for its part, didn’t return calls about the Fort Wayne layoffs and isn’t creating a public fuss about them. That raises questions about the role of UAW Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Williams, who serves on Navistar’s board of directors under a decades-old agreement that reserved the seat for the union. Because Williams draws salaries from both the UAW and Navistar, and because he once directed a UAW region that includes Illinois but not Indiana, some of the union’s Fort Wayne members accuse him of hanging them out to dry.

What role should students play in Occupy Chicago?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:49:00 -0500

College students around Chicago are expected to walk out of their classes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in a show of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Participating schools include Columbia College, UIC, DePaul and Northwestern.

After meeting at the Occupy Chicago headquarters outside the Chicago Board of Trade, they'll march to City Hall, and then convene for a general assembly at Michigan and Congress.

The group of students say they've organized this walk out quickly, in solidarity with those at Occupy Oakland, who have called for a general strike today, in response to acts of police brutality. The Occupy movement at large is calling today an International Day of Action, specifically citing Oakland's Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran who suffered a head injury after a tear gas canister hit him last week.

Columbia College student Ryan Nanni said today's walk out started at Columbia and grew out of a discussion amongst activist students. The group organized a public forum last Thursday called "We Are the 99%: The Meaning & Future of Occupy Chicago", where they discussed how they could bring the Occupy movement to college students, most specifically at Columbia.

Nanni said he considered the movement amongst Chicago-area college students "somewhat decentralized," and would consider the movement successful "if anyone shows up" tonight. He expects 30 to 40 people to come, out of the approximately 40,000 students that attend all four schools, which, let's face it, isn't much.

"The power in a walk out and in a strike says that we have power in numbers, in solidarity with one another," said Nanni.

But what does it mean to walk out of a college class, when you don't have to go in the first place? Does a walk out mean anything unless you're protesting towards your own school?

Protest movements have a history of being rooted among young people. We certainly saw that during the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960's - and more recently during many of the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East.

When I went down to report on Occupy Chicago several weeks ago, Taylor Massa of Roosevelt University told me she was there because she could be; she wanted to fill the place of those who actually did have jobs and couldn't take time off to protest. But young people have a lot to protest to begin with, like crippling student loans, debt starting at a young age and terrifying job prospects.

But an organized walk out like the kind being attempted this afternoon begs the question: how many people walking out of colleges could be considered a success? In the news business, we typically consider hundreds, if not thousands, of people at a protest news worthy. But a protest such as the one happening this evening appears, for all intents and purposes, to be limited to the Chicago activist community. As such, it doesn't include all Chicago-area colleges; University of Chicago is notably absent from the list (This isn't entirely surprising; as an alum of the college, I will say we've garnered criticism for our lack of an activist community).

Though Nanni and his peers wonder how they can bring the Occupy movement to students, the bigger question is whether they can bring the Occupy movement to a group of students larger than the activist community of students. What would it take for the phoenix of Students for a Democratic Society to rise again?

Perhaps it doesn't matter. Those critical of the Occupy protests wonder if they'll ever get what they're asking for. Even more question what they're asking for in the first place. But those who protest today are sure to argue that any voice, large or small, should be heard.

Jury clears cops in schizophrenic man’s death

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:50:00 -0500

A federal jury Thursday afternoon cleared two Chicago police officers in the fatal shooting of a schizophrenic man in his Northwest Side bedroom.

Raúl Barriera, 21, died the day after Sgt. Don Jerome struck him in the chest with a Taser electrode and Patrol Officer Andrew Hurman hit him twice with gunfire.

Barriera lived with his mother, Lynette Wilson, at 1630 N. Tripp Ave. Wilson brought a lawsuit alleging that the officers used excessive force and that the death was wrongful.

The shooting took place February 28, 2007, after Wilson called 911 for help with Barriera, who was refusing to leave his bedroom. In that call, Wilson said her son was a schizophrenic on medication. Paramedics and police officers arrived but Barriera remained in his room.

The officers said they used their weapons after Barriera lunged at them with a knife. Wilson’s attorneys disputed that claim.

The trial lasted eight days and ended Wednesday. The jury, an eight-member panel, deliberated for about three hours before clearing the city and the officers of liability.

Arlene Martin, a city attorney in the case, praised the jurors. “The right thing happened,” she said.

Before the trial, U.S. Judge William J. Hibbler threw out a claim by Wilson that the officers lacked sufficient training. WBEZ revealed in 2007 that neither Jerome nor Hurman had attended a 40-hour police department course designed to help officers respond to mental-health crises without using force.

Since 2004, the department has put about 1,400 of its officers through the training. A 2008 study by Amy Watson, an associate professor of social work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, found that the training had results.

“The trained officers were less likely to . . . pile on top of the person to control them, use a Taser or use some other type of force,” Watson says. “We also found that [the trained] officers directed more people to mental health services.”

After the jury returned with its findings, one of Wilson’s attorneys told WBEZ there could be grounds for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to order a retrial. The attorney, Standish Willis, called it “very likely” that Wilson would bring that appeal.

Study: No headaches for Daley from current Chicago City Council

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:00:00 -0500

Chicago aldermen are giving Richard Daley a bit of an easier time as the longtime mayor makes his exit from politics. A new study finds that, in general, aldermen agreed with the mayor more often during the current term than the previous one.

The study from the University of Illinois at Chicago looked at 54 divided roll call votes in the past four years - the times the 50 aldermen don't all agree.

In those divided votes, 31 aldermen went Daley's way almost every time - in 90 percent or more of those votes. That is up from seven aldermen who agreed with Daley that often in the previous term.

Among the most loyal these last few years: Alderman John Pope, Frank Olivo, Ed Burke, Virginia Rugai, Ariel Reboyras, Dick Mell and Carrie Austin. They each voted with Daley 100 percent of the time. In the previous term, no alderman voted every time the mayor.

The aldermen who disagreed with Daley the most were Joe Moore, Bob Fioretti and Sandi Jackson. Even they, though, agreed with the mayor more than half the time.

How often did your alderman agree with Mayor Daley?

Note: In the seven instances where an alderman resigned amid-term, the study combined both aldermen's voting records.

Ward	Alderman	% voted with Daley on divided votes
1	Manny Flores / Joe Moreno	90
2	Bob Fioretti	52
3	Pat Dowell	76
4	Toni Preckwinkle / Shirley Newsome	60
5	Leslie Hairston	73
6	Freddrenna Lyle	98
7	Sandi Jackson	53
8	Michelle Harris	98
9	Anthony Beale	96
10	John Pope	100
11	James Balcer	88
12	George Cardenas	96
13	Frank Olivo	100
14	Ed Burke	100
15	Toni Foulkes	86
16	Joann Thompson	92
17	Latasha Thomas	98
18	Lona Lane	96
19	Virginia Rugai	100
20	Willie Cochran	90
21	Howard Brookins	86
22	Ricardo Munoz	65
23	Mike Zalewski	96
24	Sharon Denise Dixon	83
25	Danny Solis	98
26	Billy Ocasio / Roberto Maldonado	79
27	Walter Burnett	96
28	Ed Smith / Jason Ervin	94
29	Ike Carothers/ Deborah Graham	98
30	Ariel Reboyras	100
31	Ray Suarez	88
32	Scott Waguespack	67
33	Dick Mell	100
34	Carrie Austin	100
35	Rey Colon	80
36	William Banks / John Rice	98
37	Emma Mitts	98
38	Tom Allen / Tim Cullerton	96
39	Margaret Laurino	96
40	Patrick O'Connor	96
41	Brian Doherty	70
42	Brendan Reilly	68
43	Vi Daley	88
44	Tom Tunney	90
45	Pat Levar	96
46	Helen Shiller	96
47	Gene Schulter	90
48	Mary Ann Smith	96
49	Joe Moore	51
50	Berny Stone	86

Source: "The Last of the Daley Years," by Dick Simpson, James Nell, Missy Mouritsen Zmuda, Thomas J. Gradel, Cori Smith and Tom Kelly. University of Illinois at Chicago, March 2011.