StoryCorps Chicago: ‘There’s Always Pressure Right Before Your Breakthrough’

Two people embracing and smiling
Latanya Rutledge and her son, LaQuandris Gladney. Courtesy of Latanya Rutledge / StoryCorps
Two people embracing and smiling
Latanya Rutledge and her son, LaQuandris Gladney. Courtesy of Latanya Rutledge / StoryCorps

StoryCorps Chicago: ‘There’s Always Pressure Right Before Your Breakthrough’

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CCA Academy is an alternative high school on Chicago’s West Side. Twenty years ago, Latanya Rutledge was a student there. Now she works at CCA as an administrator. Earlier this year Rae Chardonnay interviewed Latanya about how the school gave her a second chance.

This interview was recorded through a partnership between StoryCorps Chicago and the I AM Project, an art installation at CCA Academy’s Perma Park created by Eric Hotchkiss and Bo Rodda with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Homan Square.

PermaPark is located at 1320-1332 S. Pulaski Road and is open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. The I AM speaker will be installed in September 2021 to coordinate with the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

This interview was facilitated for StoryCorps by Mary Bess Ser.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. A podcast he produced was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting. Follow him @chicagoan.