The Latino population in the Chicago area contributed more in tax revenue than the cost incurred by local governments to deliver public services, a newly released study found. Latinos contributed almost $1.2 billion more in tax revenues than the cost of public services such as education, health care and other services like public safety, according to “The State of Latino Chicago 2010: The New Equation” report released today.
“Beyondmedia’s Women and Prison programming supports formerly incarcerated women and their families to voice their stories through the arts, engaging their issues and experiences to create opportunities for dialogue, healing and community organizing. Since 1998 Beyondmedia has collaborated extensively with formerly incarcerated women and girls to create interdisciplinary, multimedia forums on women and prison. The invisibility of women’s perspectives and experiences in discussions of the growing prison industrial complex constitutes a serious gap, given that the numbers of women in this male oriented system are increasing at an alarming rate. The incarceration of women is linked to a multitude of interconnected issues facing poor women, drug-addicted women, women of color, lesbians, and women in prostitution, including interpersonal and state violence, poverty, racism, reproductive oppression, homophobia, harassment, lack of quality healthcare, homelessness, and more. By making the issues of women prisoners more visible, we expand the analysis and strategies being developed to seriously challenge the criminal justice system and work to end the cycle of crisis it creates for women and their families.”
“Beyondmedia Education’s mission is to collaborate with under-served and under-represented women, youth and communities to tell their stories, connect their stories to the world around us, and organize for social justice through the creation and distribution of media arts.
Our Vision
Beyondmedia Education envisions a compassionate and just society where universal access to media tools and information equip women and youth to document and communicate their stories, serve as educators and role models for others, influence public policy, and generate social transformation.”
Chicago Workers’ Collaborative is an Illinois non-profit organization that unites low-wage workers so we can receive the proper respect and treatment in exchange for our important labor. We educate about workplace rights, provide critical services to our members, and mobilize to gain full access to employment for all workers, especially immigrants and African Americans. The CWC presently is working on the following initiatives:
- Collaborating with the Illinois Department of Labor and the Illinois Attorney General’s office to improve enforcement of state labor laws.
- Growing the membership of our Chicago and Northwest Suburban Worker Service Centers by providing critical Assistance to our members.
- Aiding our worker members to locate the best legal assistance for employment-related issues.
- Working with law enforcement authorities in arresting the perpetrators and helping the victims of human traffiicking.
- Bringing together African-American and Latino workers to end the criminalization of our people, including Comprehensive Immigration Reform, so we may all work and participate in our community as equals.
“Did you know HIV/AIDS is:
- The leading cause of death among black men ages 35-44?
- The leading cause of death among black women ages 25-34?
- Is manifesting 66% of its cases in African American women?
- If black Americans made up their own country, it would rank above Ethiopia (420,000 to 1,300,000) and below Ivory Coast (750,000) in HIV population. (Source: CNN.com)”
SOUL - Southsiders Organizing for Unity and Liberation: HIV/AIDS
“SOUL is a not for profit, grassroots, independent, multi-issue, power organization that addresses community issues on Chicago’s Southside and South Suburbs.
We are not for profit. We need money to organize but nobody is in this to get rich.
We are grassroots. If you are a person you can participate, you don’t have to be a big shot or have a fancy title to join in. And we are democratic. There is no one person or cabal that calls the shots at SOUL. Everyone has a voice because that is what community organizing is all about.
We are independent. We do not belong to anyone’s political organization or machine. We have no benefactor or patron. We are not beholden to anyone. We stand together and for the people.
We are multi-issue. We don’t just work on one issue because there are many issues affecting our community. Our issues come out of the concerns and needs of our members and communities.
We are leadership centered and we are devoted to leadership training and development. We train community leaders to become stronger leaders and help improve the conditions of their communities.
We are a power organization. It is important to understand that divided, the people will fall and there will be no justice. United, we cannot be defeated. So, SOUL intentionally concentrates on building power so justice will prevail in the public arena.”
STOP is a community organization that builds the power of residents on the Southside of Chicago to impact the forces and decisions that affect our lives. We fight for human rights to racial and economic justice through organizing, popular education, and leadership development amongst people most directly affected by issues like gentrification, displacement, incarceration and criminalization of youth of color and health cuts.
For the past five years, STOP has fought back against the war on the poor through tenant, youth and healthcare organizing, action research and education, alliance building, and collaborating with tenant associations, youth and community organizations, and labor unions from around the city and nation. Our accomplishments include stopping the displacement of over 600 low income and working class black residents, bringing immediate redress to human rights violations occuring in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center and stopping the closure of four southside mental health clinics.
The Homeless Youth/Police Relations Task Force is a group of youth, service providers, congregational representatives and other local residents who seek to make the Lakeview community reflective of their values. The Task Force works to make Lakeview a welcoming place to the homeless, runaway and otherwise at risk youth who come here.
The Homeless Youth Task Force is currently working on a few fronts. Leaders have been working for years to improve the way that police treat homeless, LGBT and at risk youth. Currently, we have been working on the issue of how the police treat transgender individuals. As the police policy is inadequate, LAC member institutions and allies have been crafting a policy and will be bringing it to the police by the end of 2010. We have a commitment from several police officials to work on the CPD-wide policy, as well as on local police training and implementation.
The task force is also working on the issue of youth shelter beds. As there are only 189 designated youth shelter beds in Chicago, and the adult shelter system can be particularly hazardous for young adults, age 18-24, we are working to gain an emergency shelter for that age group
The Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC) is a non-profit, multi-issue community organization. The Coalition is comprised of 47 institutional members, including religious congregations, non-profit agencies, banks, business associations, a credit union and a senior citizens caucus. These diverse institutions are stakeholders in the Chicago communities of Lakeview, Lincoln Park and North Center.
LAC enables its members to act on their values in public life by participating in the decisions that shape our community’s future. We fulfill this mission by organizing people around issues affecting our members and by developing leaders through training, action and reflection. Since our founding in 1993, we have fought for justice, solidarity and diversity.
