Mutual Aid Collaborative Launches Safe Cycling Project

By Zeki Salah, Mutual Aid Collaborative Facilitator

On April 14 at 6:15 am, Juliet Jones received a call from her son and was surprised to hear a police officer on the other end of the line. He asked if she knew a man named Julien Jones. When she replied that Julien was her son, the officer notified her that he had been hit by a car while riding a bike to work and was on his way to the emergency room.

Julien resided in North Chicago and did not have an affordable way to get to work, leading him to use a bicycle and become seriously injured in his accident. When Juliet first saw Julien after his accident, he was bruised, unconscious, and required a cranial operation. She nearly fainted after hearing the news. Julien was in the hospital for three weeks, from April 19 - May 2. Then from May 2 – May 23, 2022, Julien received inpatient therapy at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. He is out of the hospital now but sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Juliet, a 2021 Chicago Peace Fellow, reflected on the accident that affected her son and wondered what would have happened if Julien had worn a helmet. The thought of averting similar tragedies motivated her to launch a Safe Cycling project through the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative. Regarding her decision to begin the project, Juliet stated:

Violence is violence. A traffic accident or bike accident are not the same as gun violence, but those accidents are violent and traumatic and I want to do something about that.

Juliet and her organization, the Original Sixty Fourth Street Beach Drummers, Inc., are now working with the Mutual Aid Collaborative to distribute helmets throughout Chicago. The Mutual Aid Collaborative consists of 60 Black and Brown leaders and committed allies who live and work in the communities they serve on the South and West sides. They have raised over $100,000 to support several active projects, including the Safe Cycling project. The Mutual Aid Collaborative met and collaboratively voted in May to fund the Safe Cycling project and their effort to purchase helmets and distribute them to communities around Chicago.

The Safe Cycling project focuses its resources on the South and West Sides of Chicago and aims to partner with community leaders to help distribute helmets. Their first event was at the 27th Ward Community Day on August 27. Juliet found a table at the Community Day by messaging Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., who she had previously met through her time as a Chicago Peace Fellow.

At the Community Day, Juliet was able to hand out 55 helmets:

People were really excited and surprised they could get a helmet for free. Some people were on roller skates, some people were on motor scooters, and they all got helmets.

Juliet also brought other safe cycling activists to the community day by contacting the Chicago Department of Transportation’s SAFE Ambassadors program. Though the SAFE Ambassadors typically work with schools to provide bicycle safety programs, Juliet reached them and discovered they also do other community-based events. Together, both the Safe Cycling project and SAFE Ambassadors made sure everyone at the event interested in receiving a helmet got one. Juliet was ecstatic with their partnership and spoke about how the two tables complemented one another: “When the SAFE Ambassadors didn’t have helmets that fit, they sent people to my table because I bought helmets of all sizes.”

On September 17, the Safe Cycling project partnered with Margaret’s Village to offer helmets to residents of South Chicago. Margaret’s Village is a shelter that provides transitional housing for homeless women, children, and families. Juliet connected with the organization through her work doing HIV education and testing at a social services agency. She spoke with Angela Hicks, Executive Director of Margaret’s Village, and offered for the Safe Cycling program and SAFE Ambassadors to attend their annual Peace Fair. The Peace Fair, a block party that offers violence prevention programming, was an ideal venue to provide bike safety materials and education. When Angela accepted her offer, Juliet organized another table for the Safe Cycling project and gave away 28 helmets and other cycling accessories.

The future of the Safe Cycling project will bring even more collaborations between organizations to distribute helmets in their communities. So far, Juliet has used a range of connections to bring helmets and bike safety instructions to the South and West Sides. She hopes that in the future, she can find even more collaborators and bring more attention to the project. Juliet would like to continue expanding the Safe Cycling project to host an annual event. Through creating grassroots networks with the help of the Mutual Aid Collaborative, the Safe Cycling project has brought needed helmets, bikes, and other resources to people who lacked them. Their work together has played a part in creating safer and healthier communities in Chicago.


Mutual Aid Collaborative Builds Connections with UChicago Medicine Violence Recovery Program

By Zeki Salah, Facilitator, Mutual Aid Collaborative

On Tuesday, July 19th, Peace Fellows and members of the community met with University of Chicago Medicine’s Violence Recovery Program (VRP). The event was held as part of the Mutual Aid Collaborative’s Civic Leader series, which aims to build connections between individuals and organizations that work to build peace and prevent violence. At their meeting, Peace Fellows spoke with Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay, the Director of the VRP as well as Carlos Roble, a Clinical Lead/Social Worker in the VRP. Fellows learned about what the hospital does for victims of intentional violence as well as some of the root causes of violence that the Violence Recovery team hope to address.

Dr. Cosey-Gay walked Peace Fellows through the history of the Violence Recovery Program at the University of Chicago Medical Center and began by discussing the structural issues that the Program was designed to address. The VRP was started in 2018, with only two violence recovery specialists involved. The trauma center was created to provide more equitable access to high-quality health care and trauma treatment services on Chicago's South Side, specifically neighborhoods impacted by systemic violence. The VRP team views violence through a public health lens, which aims to address structural causes of violence, rather than blaming the individual. Because of this, the VRP seeks to make adjustments to the medical system that provide services to individuals affected by violence to promote equity and reduce the outbreak of further violence.

The Violence Recovery Team stressed that their framework of understanding violence through a public health framework goes beyond understanding treatment and rehabilitation on an individual level but also aims to prevent violence through examining relational, communal, and societal factors. Their presentation focused on why there are higher risk factors of violence on the Southside and particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Chicago has a history of racial tensions that developed over time through restrictive covenants, redlining, urban renewal projects, and policing. These structural forces have deeply impacted South Side communities and the VRP is hoping to rebuild trust in public health institutions by gaining credibility and working with community based organizations. Meeting with Peace Fellows and members of the community acted as a way for the VRP to continue building credibility with organizations that work in violence prevention so that they can collaborate to address violence as a public health concern.

The Violence Recovery Program also operates on an individual level, acting to protect victims of violence and their families from disruptions that can be physically or emotionally harmful.

"Violence Recovery is about public health. We don't focus on fault or blame, we focus on prevention." -- Dr. Cosey-Gay

Dr. Cosey-Gay emphasized since the role of the Violence Recovery team is to act as public health professionals, they “neither determine fault nor place blame, but focus on prevention.” Oftentimes, social workers in the VRP act to keep police away from victims of violence so that they have time and space to heal and are given time to recover before questioning. Carlos Robles, a social worker in the VRP noted:

“We don't want to treat victims of violence as criminals, but as experts in their own lives.”

Today the Violence Recovery Program at University of Chicago Medicine has 15 full-time employees and offers 24-hour care to victims of intentional violence. Their care extends outside of the hospital as they also help patients and families navigate external health care and social services. As Peace Fellows and community members got to know the services of the VRP, they were surprised at the amount the program has grown in the last four years. Many of the attendees shared their own experiences navigating hospitals alongside victims of intentional violence and welcomed the new approach to violence recovery offered by the program. One attendee told a story about how she was not offered an opportunity to see her son’s body after he was the victim of violence and emphasized how traumatic this experience was for her. If a violence recovery program had been in place, some of the trauma of this experience could have been avoided and more trust could have been built between the hospital and the community.

Getting to know the services and history of the Violence Prevention Program helped Peace Fellows and community members build a mutually beneficial relationship with the hospital. By gaining connections to community-based organizations the VRP builds credibility and gains new resources to direct victims of violence to with the aim of preventing further violence. Members of the community similarly benefited from learning about how approaches to treating intentional violence have improved over time and from gaining a better understanding of how the trauma center could treat members of their communities. Through this meeting, Peace Fellows gained new opportunities for collaborations that have the potential to bring lasting peace to their communities.


Second Annual Chicago Peace Fellows Music Festival

By Zeki Salah, Mutual Aid Collaborative Facilitator

The Chicago Peace Fellows held a Concert for Peace on June 4th, celebrating the artistic accomplishments of their communities and a shared commitment to improving their neighborhoods. The Second Annual Chicago Peace Fellows Music Festival was held at the Hatchery in Garfield Park with Peace Fellows gathering performers from across the city to play music, sing songs, read poetry, and dance. The Music Festival was organized by a committee within the Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative, a group of 60 Black and Brown leaders and committed allies who live and work in the communities they serve on the South and West sides.

The event was made streamed live on the Goldin Institute’s Facebook page where you can watch the recording.

The Music Festival Committee is made up of musicians and educators that have first hand experience with the transformative power of music and its positive impact on communities. The committee pooled their connections to create a lineup with a diversity of talents that represented neighborhoods across the city. The Peace Fellows Music Committee is made up of Peace Fellow Alumni from across the cohorts of 2019, 2020 and 2021: Gloria Smith of the Black Star Project, Angelina Zayas of the GAP Center, Juliet Jones of the Original 64th Street Beach Drummers, Margaret Murphy-Webb of the South Side Jazz Coalition, Marvinetta Penn of Global Girls, Inc., Rashada Dawan of B.Fli Productions, and Robin Cline of Neighborspace.

As musicians, artists, and educators, members of the committee had an eye for both talent and opportunity, bringing together talented members from their communities to perform. Many of the performers at the Peace Fellows Music Festival were young people for whom the festival provided an opportunity to gain experience performing, show off their talents, and be compensated for their time and effort. Additionally, by bringing together artists from across the city, the Peace Fellows Festival allowed for them to network with each other and collaborate in their artistic ventures.

The Peace Fellows Music Festival featured an eclectic range of performances, including jazz, hip hop, and classical music, as well as spoken word poetry and choreographed dances. Finding talent for the Festival was a collaborative effort, with multiple organizations spreading the word and connecting talent to the festival.

Performers included:

  • Guru Tonic
  • Heart Cry
  • Kenya Braitwaite
  • Mara Mitchell
  • Global Girl Youth Company
  • Phoenix
  • The Original 64th Street Drummers
  • Margaret Murphy-Webb
  • MC Skool
  • Ethan Clay

The Festival was held at the Hatchery, a non-profit food and beverage incubator which provided the space for free. While the Hatchery primarily serves to provide professional development to people in the food services industry, both the Hatchery and the Peace Fellows involved in the Festival have a common goal of connecting underserved communities with access to education, opportunity, and community resources.

The theme of peace was emphasized throughout the Festival as performers and organizers spoke to the importance of arts education, mutual aid, and community activism. Peace Fellows and their organizations were invited to set up tables and share information about their organizations for the first hour of the festival. This allowed for Fellows representing neighborhoods throughout Chicago to share resources with each other and network.

As the concert came to a close, 2020 Chicago Peace Fellow, Maragret Murphy-Webb, spoke to the importance of investing in arts education. She emphasized that the arts have the capacity to improve communities and combat violence: “If you put an instrument in a child’s hands, you can keep a gun out of their hands.” She encouraged audience members to engage with the City of Chicago and request more funding for arts and education in the South and West Sides so that underserved neighborhoods might have greater access to educational opportunities.

Through bringing together community members, providing them with opportunities, and affirming a collective commitment to peace through music and art, the Peace Fellows Music Festival sought to improve the communities represented by the Chicago Peace Fellows. Fellows’ commitment towards representing and improving their neighborhoods was pivotal to the Festival’s success.


Connecting Community Members with the Research of the University of Chicago Crime Lab

By Zeki Salah, Facilitator, Mutual Aid Collaborative

Chicago Peace Fellows hosted a conversation at the Firehouse Community Arts Center on June 3, 2022 to discuss community safety and crime data with the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The event was held as part of the Mutual Aid Collaborative’s Civic Leaders series, which is designed to connect alumni of the Chicago Peace Fellows with policy makers, academics, and community activists that are leading innovative work to promote community safety and prevent violence in their neighborhoods.

At this event, the Peace Fellows met with Kim Smith, the Crime Lab’s Director of Programs, to learn about data that the Crime Lab collects and how it has been used to shape policy decisions. Members of the Lawndale community also came to attend the presentation and learn about how they can engage with the Crime Lab’s research.

The Crime Lab’s presentation focused on the disproportionately high rate of gun violence in Chicago as well as the disproportionate impact of this violence on communities of color. In 2020, there was an increase in violence crimes, and homicides in particular, in Chicago. While other large cities such as Los Angeles and New York have lowered their homicide rates, Chicago’s rate of homicides has increased from 2010-2020. This violence also affects men of color more so than any other group: 80% of shooting victims in 2020 were Black and 86% were male. Black men also carry a dual burden of incarceration alongside gun violence victimization, with the percentage of Black men aged 20-24 being over five times greater than the percentage of white men of the same age group.

Peace Fellows, the Crime Lab, and other members of the community spent much of their time together talking about the causes of this disproportionate violence and potential solutions. The Crime Lab noted that the majority of homicides were not motivated by money, gang interests, or other instrumental purposes, but were spurred by personal altercations between individuals. Members of the community attributed some of the causes of the increase in violence to the way incarcerated people are rehabilitated and to increased absences in schools after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Community members and Kim Smith of the Crime Lab mutually agreed that street outreach workers who work at personal level with community members are often successful in addressing these kinds of personal altercations and that there is a need for funding in this area.

Meeting together helped Peace Fellows build connections between their own experiences and the data captured by the Crime Lab. In their presentation, the Crime Lab showed that 16,000 children became disengaged during the pandemic. Pamela Montgomery-Bosley began working as a violence prevention manager with youth after her son was shot and killed and spoke to her experience working with children in unstable homes. She spoke to her experience seeing children struggle with their home lives while finding some stability at school, but noted that schools are now having difficulty keeping children in classrooms. Kim supported this argument by citing Crime Lab data that over one in nine children in options schools, which are largely composed of students who were previously disengaged from school, have been involved in violent incidents. She also noted the increased rate of victimization and arrests amongst option schools students.

Meeting with the Crime Lab showcased to Peace Fellows how data can give deeper insight into the disproportionate levels of violence in communities of color. Data can support personal experiences around issues such as violence and disengagement in school, giving them greater weight. This can enhance communications, donation campaigns, and grant proposals for grassroots organizations in need of resources. Kim encouraged Peace Fellows to request data from the Crime Lab to supplement their own work, noting that even if the Crime Lab does not have data around specific issues, a request could help direct future research.

The meeting between Peace Fellows and the Crime Lab worked to bridge the gap between the research of the Crime Lab and the members of the communities they study. Kim Smith noted that the Crime Lab often has difficulty connecting with grassroots leaders and sharing its data and that they are looking for ways to engage more with local communities. By connecting with the Peace Fellows, the Crime Lab will be able to better share its research and direct its focus towards interests that are guided by community input. This in turn will help the Crime Lab provide community members with a deeper understanding of the problems they are facing and offer potential solutions to the spread of violence.


Peace Flowers Bloom in Chicago

By Zeki Salah, Facilitator, Mutual Aid Collaborative

On Sunday May 1st and Friday May 6th, a group of Chicago Peace Fellows supplied 300 Mother's Day bouquets to mothers who have lost their children to violence in Chicago. Now in its third year, the Peace Flowers campaign was first launched in 2020, when over $5,000 were raised to deliver flowers to grieving mothers.

The Peace Flowers Campaign was first created by the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative, a group of 60 Black and Brown leaders and committed allies who live and work in the communities they serve on the South and West sides. The project was developed by the Mutual Aid Collaborative with the twin goals of bringing comfort to mothers who had lost their children to gun violence and to raise funds for peace building projects in Chicago to prevent these tragedies in the future.

The flowers were obtained and distributed by the Greening Collective, a project formed under the Mutual Aid Collaborative. Peace Fellows from a range of communities across Chicago are involved in the Greening Collective. Their joint efforts supported the project, Peace Fellows involved include: Annamaria Leon of Homan Grown, L3C, Reshorna Fitzpatrick of the Historic Stone Temple, Pamela Montgomery-Bosley of Purpose Over Pain, and Bertha Purnell of Mothers on a Mission 28.

The Peace Flowers campaign was a collaborative effort that showcased the impact of having community-based organizations from across Chicago pool resources and ideas. Three organizations with ties to the Mutual Aid Collaborative partnered to deliver the flowers to mothers in their network: Purpose Over Pain, Mothers On a Mission 28, and Stone Temple Baptist Church. The collaborative nature of the project not only helped with finding funding and flowers, but also connected these resources to a community of mothers who had lost their children.

300 bouquets were distributed over the course of two days by the Peace Fellows. On May 1st, 150 bouquets were brought to Stone Temple Baptist Church and Mothers on a Mission 28 to be delivered to mothers across the South Side. Bouquets were also delivered to Purpose Over Pain on May 6th for their annual Mother’s Day Spa Day.

Pamela Bosley, Co-founder of Purpose Over Pain, connects mothers to build a community of support and has been involved in the Peace Flowers project for the last three years:

“Mother's Day is a very difficult day for mothers who lost their children to violence, but a simple beautiful bouquet of flowers brings gentle smiles to moms, helping them push through this painful day.”

Bittersweet emotions characterized the Peace Flowers campaign as mothers faced grief alongside a supportive community. Despite ongoing concerns surrounding violence, the work of community-based organizations on projects like the Peace Flowers campaign makes Chicago a more peaceful and beautiful place to live. Through supporting these grassroots organizations with connections and funding, the Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative has had a sustainable social impact.


Solidarity and Survival During COVID

By Yusuph Masanja, Co-Facilitator, Global Alumni Network

The Chicago Peace Fellows have tirelessly continued to find ways in helping families survive COVID. In the stories below, our Fellows, Jamila Trimuel, Dawn Hodges, and David Gonzalez are making a huge difference in South Side Chicago.

Chicago Peace Fellow, Jamila Trimuel, is a founder of Ladies of Virtue, an award-winning mentoring and leadership program that has empowered over 1,000 girls, ages 9 to 18, to become confident and purpose-driven leaders.

In 2020, Ladies of Virtue served the community with the support needed to survive the pandemic. They served 4,000 meals to 1,220 people in the community, they gave out school supplies, financial stipends, PPE and laptops for families.

We are so proud that we are not only serving the 200 girls we are serving this year but also over 1,000 community members. - Jamila Trimuel, Founder of Ladies of Virtue

This summer, Ladies of Virtue held their very first summer STEM program called “STEMuTiful". This program is a virtual summer experience promoting self-love, confidence, and beauty while increasing exposure to black women executives in the STEM and beauty industry. As a result, 84 percent of girls involved said the program increased their confidence and 100 percent of participants said that they learned more about STEM careers as a result of the program.

https://youtu.be/2pV2RgV1e_E

Jamila’s motivation to start Ladies of Virtue emanated from her own personal experience while in high school. She noticed some of the students, including her friends, were not planning for life after school. Having learned from constant encouragement from her parents to pursue her passion, Jamila knew that having positive role models in life to push you towards your dreams can really make a difference. So, while in college, she decided to become a mentor to help those students, to kind of push them along, and be a listening ear if needed. As she got older, Jamila realized that mentoring youth was her true passion, thus, she started Ladies of Virtue.

Go social with Ladies of Virtue this month to follow celebrations of the National Mentoring Month throughout January using #LOVChicago on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Dawn Hodges, Chicago Peace Fellow and the Executive Director at Imani Community Development Corporation is busy gathering and distributing as many resources as possible to neighbors in need. For over 40 years, the Imani community has been a pillar in the neighborhood, primarily focusing on mentoring, out-of-school programming, and food distribution.

Whatever is needed by the community we try to gather, that’s not our usual model but that’s what we do right now. We try to be of service to our community as much as we can. - Dawn Hodges

Dawn and her team provide monthly food distributions serving 200 families. COVID complicated their operations but they never stopped.  Dawn and her team didn't miss a month in 2020, even with the pandemic. "We just kept going,” Dawn says.

As Dawn continues to gather and distribute resources, she is requesting any help that could be given to further support communities in need. More importantly, Dawn requests more and more prayers from us. The following quote from Marianne Williamson inspires Dawn and she shares it often with her peers:

Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

Focus areas like, after school summer programs and mentorship for young men, are hugely affected. They recently conducted a virtual summer camp and continue to engage kids virtually, but it is challenging. Dawn says, “Now we do check-ins but it’s not the same, getting kids to focus on a call is a big problem.”

Chicago Peace Fellow, David Hommy Gonzalez, is the Executive director of Port Ministries, a non-profit in Chicago offering free clinic services, after school and food distribution programs. They also run art programs and the adult education program called the People's School.

David and his team had no idea how to get sandwiches donated anymore when the pandemic hit. They reached out to individuals and so many were willing to make sandwiches in their houses and leave it at their doors for a driver to pick up and donate. David found this to be an interesting way to allow people to volunteer from a place they are comfortable, their houses!

Our food provision had to adjust during the pandemic. We had to partner more. - David Gonzalez

David owes the Port Ministries vision to his mother. He remembers being very poor in his hometown. His mother went hungry many times, buying food only for David but failing to provide for herself.

Now that I am educated and have a good position. It’s my responsibility to use that privilege to give our Mamas all the tools possible. I created that free clinic because I remember my medical struggle, I created the bread truck because I remember going hungry—you never forget what going hungry feels like. You never forget how it feels like to be homeless. - David Gonzalez

David manages expectations by surprising people with food during distribution. He is trying to avoid disappointment—in times when food is not available, but people still expect it to come. David says, “The one thing about hunger is that it comes back tomorrow, it is never fully solved. All we can do is keep throwing food at that problem and know that tomorrow it comes back. So, we spread out and go to different locations, it’s not like someone is surviving on us, we are trying to feed as many people as possible, and the moment they do survive on us there is a different program for that. Because that needs more attention.”

With his nonprofit, David is now collaborating with other Goldin Fellows in various programs, fitting in the puzzle pieces to really catch all the community needs. Using their truck, they assist in delivering food to elderly people in need. “If someone needs our help to deliver food, we got you,” David says.


Every One of Us is Better Than Any One of Us

By Yusuph Masanja, Co-Facilitator, Global Alumni Network

We want to teach young people how to be productive, we don’t just give them jobs! We ensure they can keep the jobs and grow to creating their own jobs

Raymond Richard, Goldin Global Fellow

Raymond emerged from struggles of homelessness, criminal activities and substance abuse to become a mentor, activist, and public speaker. He works tirelessly to decrease neighborhood violence and contribute to a safe environment for children and families across the United States. Driven by the urge to help young men and women become productive members of society, Raymond founded Brothers Standing Together (BST) in 2009, a year later after being released from his sixth incarceration.

BST has empowered over 1,500 youth through different programs, including but not limited to, practical skills training such as carpentry, plumbing, welding, painting, bricklaying etc. Raymond provides lifelong traits that help youth find a purpose in life. BST programs also assist youth with obtaining Identity cards, birth certificates, license, housing, meals and employment.

“65% of young men in the city of Chicago don’t have IDs, every time they are stopped by police, they are labeled as John Does.” Raymond says.

BST is partnering with County jails to provide opportunity for community service work. At BST, Exemplary volunteers often get enlisted for available job opportunities. During the pandemic, it has become challenging for BST to reach youth, especially the homeless.

COVID has decimated our community outreach, I am often outside seeking job opportunities for our youth or speaking with youth because most of them are outside–you have to be grassroot to serve them better. It’s now difficult to reach out to those who are mostly likely to shoot or be shot, we try to keep communication open with caregivers and parents through emails.

With 15 staff, BST tries everything to reach more youth, but more help is needed. Ray shared, “With all the good help we provide, we don’t even have the help that we need, and that’s our struggle. That’s why I created the Brothers Standing Together LLC program in order to help the nonprofit.”

Raymond has been a strong advocate against the shootings of Tamir Rice, Mike Brown and Eric Garner. His advocacy work has been featured broadly on CNN and MSNBC media. Among other advocacy, he continues to lobby for a change of legislation affecting returning citizens, the term he advocates to be adapted for formerly incarcerated individuals, because the majority of them are now productive members of society like himself. To reiterate the puzzling question his mentor uses in advocacy, Raymond asks “Where do my wrong ends and my rights begin?"

Raymond calls on all Goldin Global Fellows to stay connected and united, because the struggle against violence is not only in America but worldwide. He would be happy to hear from any fellow interested in collaboration or needing any assistance that he can provide. He says “every one of us is better than any one of us” Brothers Stand Together needs us to keep them uplifted as they keep us uplifted.


Dear White Funders: I Can't Breathe Either

by Frank Latin, 2019 Chicago Peace Fellow

My name is Frank Latin and first and foremost I’m a black man. I am also the founding Executive Director of Westside Media Project, a small non-profit organization on Chicago’s West side that works to provide exposure to students (and now adults) in media/technology related fields.

I’ve been wanting to get this off my chest for a few years. Now, with the unfortunate murder of George Floyd and the ensuing worldwide protests, which have led to ongoing discussions around the topic of systemic racism, I feel this is the perfect time.

What I’ve learned in 14 years of running a non-profit is that philanthropy is one of the most racist sectors of society, competing neck and neck with the criminal justice, education and the health care systems in America. In fact, my view is that philanthropy works to bolster and prop up those other sectors by reinforcing the status quo. It is based on white society’s ‘Savior complex’ and supports white leaders at all costs, even those doing work in black and brown communities.

The perceptions I had of an uneven playing field used to upset me and have me somewhat disgruntled. However, I came to realize my perceptions were reality and have been substantiated in multiple studies, the latest published in December of 2019 by the Bridgespan Group, titled ‘Disparities in Funding for Leaders of Color Leave Impact on the Table.’

Philanthropy assumes that black and brown people living in distressed communities are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I come to realize that as a professional, educated black man, I simply do not fit within the current model of philanthropy, primarily because I look like, walk like and talk like the residents on the west side of Chicago. The notion of a black man doing positive work in a black community without a white brain-trust or network to validate the organization is not enticing to funders. I lack what I term “white insurance” to make funders feel comfortable that their support is safe.

I’ll admit, when I started the organization back in 2006 I had little to no knowledge of how philanthropy worked. What I did have was a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics with years of experience working at a government agency so I was more than capable of learning the ropes. I decided to begin a volunteer project that eventually became something much bigger; but which I still do voluntarily.

Chicago is home to a vibrant philanthropic community and they support issues and causes not only here in the city but around the globe. However, here in the city they seldom support organizations led by leaders of color working to address those very issues, and in those instances when they do, it will rarely, if ever be at the same level shown for white led organizations doing similar work.

This has directly led to a tiered, apartheid-like structure within non-profits in Chicago where there is a huge gulf between white led organizations and those headed by leaders of color. It also perpetuates ‘culture vultures’ who seek advancement, profit and notoriety off both the misery of black and brown people as well as the structural racism that exist within philanthropy. It also encourages phony alliances in which whites who yield privilege and influence utilize people of color as fronts or tokens to gain inroads into certain communities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the health disparities that have always existed in America. Police misconduct has been thrust back into the headlines again, and rightfully so.

Philanthropy on the other hand, is a sector that often goes unnoticed and its racist policies and practices never get splashed across the evening news or social media posts. However, the lack of funding provided to leaders of color added with the desire to prop up white leaders to do work in minority communities has devastating effects. At times, it works like a sniper, taking would-be leaders right out the field. Other times it provides a slow death, reminiscent of a choke hold or a knee to the neck not allowing organizations ran by leaders of color to service our communities.

To the philanthropic community of Chicago...I CAN’T BREATHE!!

Learn more about Chicago Peace Fellow Frank Latin's work at WestsideMediaProject.org.

Support the Mutual Aid Collaborative


Peace is Blooming in Chicago

On Sunday, May 3rd the Chicago Peace Fellows launched the Peace Flowers campaign by delivering over 75 flower bouquets to mothers that have lost children to violence.

The Peace Flowers campaign is a collective response from the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative comprised of 38 peace organizations throughout Chicago who are working togehter to address the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and violence in Chicago.

Violence is rising in Chicago in the same south and west side neighborhoods most impacted by COVID-19 where the Peace Fellows live and work.  With funding for frontline peace-building organizations often diverted to respond to the coronavirus, the Mutual Aid Collaborative is building sustainable social impact models to raise funds and create jobs.

"Peace Flowers is an innovative and easy way to fund these organizations while also investing in sustainable job creation on the south and west side of Chicago where these lovely blooms are grown."

Quilen Blackwell, Chicago Peace Fellow, Chicago Eco House

Pamela Bosley, Co-founder of Purpose Over Pain, works with mothers to connect them with each other to build a community of support.

“Many of the moms have a hard time with Mother’s Day. With the pandemic, it’s been even harder. Many mothers are reporting problems with depression and other issues related to being disconnected.”

Pamela Bosley, Chicago Peace Fellow, Purpose Over Pain

Quilen Blackwell, Owner of Southside Blooms, a social enterprise that helps youth in Englewood find opportunities in urban farming. They work to build a sense of entrepreneurship to help youth see opportunity and way out of drug trade. Quilen saw an opportunity to support Pamela’s group by providing them with beautiful bouquets in honor of Mother’s Day and to help lift their spirits. “The flower market is in huge disruption right now. 80% of flowers are imported from overseas and due to the trade issues related to the corona virus, most flowers need to come from domestic sources.” Quilen noted.

AnnaMaria Leon, Co-owner of Homan Grown, saw a collaboration in the making. She noted how this idea can be more than just a single action but, can be a part of a broader strategy to support mothers and fund projects for the Chicago Peace Fellows. She contacted her friend, Pascal Sabino, a local reporter for Block Club Chicago who wrote a powerful article about the project.  The story was also featured by ABC7 in this compelling feature.

Once the funding and logistics were done, the team came together to prepare and deliver the flowers. The flowers were delivered to families across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The deliveries added a personal touch because they were distributed by Southside Blooms, Annamaria, and myself as Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows.

"I personally got the witness the joy and gratitude of the moms who received bouquets. It was a very moving experience to hand out flowers and cards that reminded the moms “You are not forgotten.”

Burrell Poe, Director, Chicago Peace Fellows

The deliveries were bittersweet, acknowleging the loss of family members but also because the deliveries were contact-less. No handshakes, no hugs, and at least 6ft of physical distance. Masks, gloves and hand sanitizer made this gesture different that it would have been prior to COVID-19. However, it made it all the more important because, people are suffering on top of the suffering that has already befallen their lives.

"Wonderful. Wonderful, it really made my day," said Elizabeth Bolden, a mother who received the bouquet.

The project has thus far raised over $5000 on GoFundMe and is entering into the next phase of it's social impact model where the public can purchase a subscription for flower delivery that also funds violence prevention work through the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative.

Project oragnizers at Southside Blooms and Homan Grown will hire local youth to grow and arrange the flowers and donate a percent of their sales through the Peace Flowers campaign to support this network grassroots peace organizations on the West and South sides of Chicago plagued by the twin epidemics of violence and COVID-19.

"The goal is to create a long term sustainable funding stream for peace organizations in Chicago so that these groups have greater freedom at doing what they do best: making Chicago a more peaceful and beautiful place to live!"

Learn more about the Peace Flowers program at SouthSide Blooms


Peace Fellows Meet With Metropolitan Family Services

On Wednesday, April 8th, the Chicago Peace Fellows hosted a conversation with Metropolitan Family Services (MFS) to learn about their efforts to reduce the amount of gun violence in the city. MFS talked about three of their specific projects: Communities Partnering for Peace (CP4P), The Metropolitan Peace Academy, and Lights in the Night.

The Chicago Peace Fellows learned about the work of these interrelated projects to reduce violence, heard directly from program directors about their experiences, and explored how they can best be involved.

Communities Partnering for Peace, the Metropolitan Peace Academy, and Lights in the night are strategies meant to support community-based organizations provide on the ground services in communities across Chicago. Domonique Mccord, Director of Community Behavioral Initiatives, explained that the role of MFS in CP4P is to bring smaller community-based organizations together and provide professional services such as accounting, human resources and mental health services that would be difficult for street outreach organizations. MFS provides these services to organizations across the city.

The Chicago Peace Fellows also learned about the Metropolitan Peace Academy which seeks to professionalize street outreach and create a learning institution to share best practices across organizations. Vanessa Dereef, Director of the Metropolitan Peace Academy, shared that it is important for outreach workers to build relationships to support one another across the city. Several Chicago Peace Fellows were familiar with the Lights in the Night program which runs programs at night in public places over the summer. Several Fellows have participated in these activities and learned more about how they can be involved.

The Chicago Peace Fellows were really interested in how they can support the activities of MFS and be involved as community leaders in street outreach. Steve Perkins, Director of Outreach, explained that they can learn more about the street outreach organizations in their neighborhoods and share information when it’s appropriate. He encouraged fellows to participate in community activities and to get to know the people in their neighborhoods.