Citizens in the Present: Youth Civic Engagement in the Americas

2. Chicago Youth Activists

Two Chicago Youth Activists Home Matters in Their Search for Democracy Maria de los Angeles Torres Chicago, the third largest metropolis in the United States, prides itself on being a city of immigrants who forged their communities in neighborhoods, workplaces, and churches. The people of Chicago found their political voices through local neighborhood groups, and by organizing to provide for their children’s education, safety, and recreation, they became part of the city’s civic life. The future of their children was an integral part of their political narratives, so many of their efforts were aimed at youths themselves. Youth organizers and youth-related projects helped form the political and social fabric of neighborhoods. According to the 2010 census, and the 2005–9 census estimates, respectively , Chicago’s population is composed of about 2,695,598 inhabitants, of which 440,214 (or 14.6 percent) are between the ages of fifteen and twentyfour . But young people in Chicago face enormous educational, public safety, and economic challenges. According to the Chicago Public Schools Office of Research, Evaluation and Accountability, 41.6 percent of public school students never graduate from high school. Many young people live in African American and Latino neighborhoods plagued by gang violence and high rates of unemployment. Chicago is also a city that is deeply divided along racial and class lines, and its communities are clustered around neighborhoods defined by ethnicity and race. Few grassroots organizations have a citywide reach, although there are exceptions. Organizing young people goes on across the city as new 30 • torres immigrants, mainly from Mexico, come to Chicago, and older communities, such as those composed of African Americans, continue to try to make their neighborhoods safer and increase opportunities for their youths. In the past twenty years, organizations have emerged that encourage young people to become active agents of change in their communities and schools. Who are the young people participating in empowerment projects? How do they engage, and what are their political ideas? This project began by identifying the organizations whose main purpose was to empower youth. The intent was to be broad and inclusive of the many communities throughout the city, as well as of the different forms of civic engagement. The main criterion used to identify the groups was that they be organizations with projects conceived and run by youths themselves (Hart 1992). We began the research by interviewing directors and youth workers in a variety of organizations. They included ฀ •฀ Southwest฀Youth฀Collaborative฀and฀some฀of฀its฀partnering฀organizations (Tepochcalli, Interfaith Leadership Project, Multicultural Youth Project, Brighton Park Youth Council) ฀ •฀ Video฀Machete ฀ •฀ Young฀Chicago฀Authors ฀ •฀ Sisters฀Empowering฀Sisters฀(Project฀of฀the฀Girl’s฀Best฀Friend฀Foundation) ฀ •฀ Mikva฀Challenge The Southwest Youth Collaborative was involved in a citywide school reform project led and designed by students; Video Machete had a group working on a video exploring the impact of the Patriot Act on immigrant communities (the sweeping legislation, enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks, granted extraordinary powers to the president, gave the government more investigative authority, and severely curtailed civil liberties); Chicago Young Authors was engaged in a program that encouraged the use of the written word to have young people’s ideas heard; Sisters Empowering Sisters had a female-run board that gave grants to projects conceived and run by girls; and the Mikva Challenge encouraged youth to work on election campaigns and gave grants to school-based social justice projects conceived and carried out by young people. We asked the organizers, young adults themselves, to help identify other involved youths who were active and interested in participating in this project. The intent was to talk with those who were most active. Several events that took place before and during the time the interviews were conducted could certainly have influenced an interest in politics (Gimpel , Lay, and Schuknecht 2003). One was the close 2000 U.S. general election, Chicago Youth Activists • 31 which brought to power a president who had not won the popular vote. This rare political outcome had a profound impact on many young people, who had been taught that the United States is ruled by the voice of the voting majority. There were also widespread concerns about voter disenfranchisement in minority communities. The contested 2000 election was followed by the September 11 attacks and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The 2004 presidential election was, again, highly charged, resulting in heightened political interest...