Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Immigrant Aid Institutions..

Continuation of my field research in the "Edgewater" neighborhood

Community Services for Immigrants:   

St. Ita Church
  I found some major "aid institutions" for immigrants exist in this area- which are almost like old day’s “settlement houses”in Chicago, such as the Hull House in Holsted.
Spanish mass..packed with Latinas
  - For example, “Edgewater Presbyterian Church” claims itself as “Community House"--- there are many African families seen on Sunday (from Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia...among its 200 + church members..) It seems to be almost multi-ethnic church. Its chapel is relatively small and you would feel at home, but it also has “81 rooms” upstairs in the building..available for various community programs: e.g. they give the "Head Start"(preschool) program, senior adult programs, alcoholic addicts' recovery class, adults’ literacy class for 17 languages, dance and music performing class for high school kids, and so on and so on.. 

- There is also, "the biggest Latino church" in neighborhood - St. Ita Church- on Broadway, which gives Spanish exclusive mass, where Latino families are gathering, among them many Latinas with baby strollers.

- Another "major" institution should be the “George Swift Elementary School” at Winthrop and Thorndale. About 1/2 of its 735 students are the children from immigrant family; many of them in language support classes which are held for 65 languages (from pre-school kids to 2nd graders, provided by its “inclusion model”..) 40% of the school's population also take “ESL” classes.
  You can see how diverse the school is in this video..!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yzPCZWbMgZQ
https://sites.google.com/site/swiftbulldogs/Home
 
- The ESL teacher says her children are "from refugee camps." ..
 In the video, Ms Till says the Burmese refugees are mass immigrated here in recent years..
..I'm sure..  they were..induced by cia..
When I saw the school..the white children appeared to be around 10%...
This school is high achieving school.




George Swift Elementary School - (Ms Till actually wrote me this school was "built in 1814!"..is that true??..)


- I also heard about the Burmese refugees in the NGO called “Pan-African Association” on Broadway (next to the Dominic’s grocery near Granville) It isa gov't- aided refugee service organization... Their activities are:
  “Settlement assistance for Refugees, asylumars, immigrants from Africa (e.g. Burundi, Somali, Ethiopia, DRC Congo, Eritrea, Liberia, Nigeria...), Middle-East (mainly, Iran, Iraq), Asia (mainly, Burma, Bhutan)and all people in Chicago. (Maybe they don't include Vietnamese refugees since there is much bigger community organization for Vietnam refugees in Uptown Argyle, next to this area..)
Pan African Association

 They also give adjustment and integration services, job development classes. They have about 200 ~ 300 volunteer workers.. including local college students from our university who is taking the 'refugee assistance' class.. I heard my fellow student caroline  visits a Bhutanese family for 5 hrs a week..
about 12 audience..?
Antwan's church is run by friends

  - I also visited a small African Church, called “Faith Victory Ministries International,” started by a guy named Antwan.. an African-born, French immigrant guy,.. who runs Internet café & African music shop near Thorndale sta.(His church looks like just started..but he seems very enthusiastic.)  I was looking for "black people's church" in this area, but it seems like the one which was rumored about?.

"The minister.." Charles Antwan...
..No, I found the black people around my house were just dispersed . going to the churches in many different areas (like one guy whom I asked..said  "I'm going to the church in Uptown"..and the other woman said she believes Witness of Jehovah..there was also another black woman who said she goes to the church at "more north")

  -  Also, there is a big  Shiite mosque named “The Ismaili Center” at the corner of Broadway. It is thriving with about 5,000 Muslim members- mainly from Pakistan..India and east Africa...I tried to get inside the other day for Friday prayer but the men at the front door warily declined the pagan to get in. Sunni Muslims also have North Side Mosque ..Masjid e-Noor, and so on. 


-   Other local Christianity churches in this area are also more or less helping immigrants and promoting community’s integration..in principle.. without ethnic boundaries.The Episcopal Atonement Church.. an Irish Catholic..is the biggest cathedral..so I saw the Overnight Mass on the Christmas eve..and where my apartments office people (Irish) are also going..It has nice atmosphere..As long as if you get in the church, people are offered to be tied..as if there is a community...

- In my observation all the ethnic groups looked like already developed their own gathering spots for easing their hearts.
The small community of aged Japanese immigrants are gathering at Devon Church at Devon Ave; or other Japanese church in the suburb.. they have “Midwest Buddhist Temple” at Sunnyside Ave in Uptown also..

While sociologists called today’s partial assimilation pattern (in case of Latino immigrants) as “segmented assimilation,” it is also happening to the other, every immigrant group found in Edgewate today? ..As a nature of multiethnic society, each group separately creates its secret community spaces for somehow maintaining their culture, language and religion..(unlike how “old immigrants” in early 20th century did and eventually assimilated into hyphenated-Americans.) 


 at the corner of Winthrop & Hollywood..


  - this street is where Hillary was born!!

 


The legendary "Edgewater Beach Hotel"..
*The hotel thrived until 1960s( "celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe were the patrons of the hotel"..until Lake Shore Drive severed the hotel's site mercilessly.. and killed the life of it..
..A friend of mine, Dominique said...she used to have a friend in Edgewater Beach Apartment (the bldg on the right of the above drawing, which still remains today) and sometimes visited and saw the indoor pool there..

  (Below.. panels exhibited in the museum)
   -  : A lot of these rich apartment hotels used to exist in this area...  in former era...
..  my apartment's bldg actually seemed like one of them..   ..while  I chose not to dig into the issue
 for my research...(its like worn-out subject.) ..the neighborhood is changing.



Sunday, March 10, 2013

Why do they "Cosplay"?

from some funny articles in local papers, which I spotted lately..

C2E2 Cosplay in the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade 
 http://www.chicagonow.com/geek-girl-chicago/2013/03/st-patricks-day-parade/

..It's funny  .St.Patricks' day is not just a day "for the Irish descents" to remember their ethnicity..  but now,..its a day for everyone for turning Irish by cosplaying?..

..I guess maybe I saw the greeny Chicago River's picture before..., but I thought it was just an water pollution!!

St. Patrick's Day GEEKend: They Might Be Giants, Fanfiction Live, and More
...St. Patrick's Day is huge in Chicago thanks to beer, parades, and the famous green dye in the Chicago River. Did you know that the dye is still a "secret formula?" SOMEONE has to know what's in there- I can't believe they'd let that much gunk get dumped, otherwise! I'll be marching for C2E2 in the parade on Saturday dressed as Rose Tyler from Doctor Who. It's gonna be freezing but fun!
 http://www.chicagonow.com/geek-girl-chicago/2013/03/st-patricks-day-they-might-be-giants/  

Chicago River Green: St. Patrick's Day 2013 Celebrations Continue Around The Windy City (PHOTOhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/chicago-river-green-st-pa_n_2891531.html
 Lely I
..and it fits to the neighborhood's character, after all?

At Uncommon Ground, Egyptian Musicians Play With a 'Message for the World' 
 ..Two Egyptian musicians, who protested in Tahrir Square during their country's 2011 revolution, traveled to the city's North Side to play at the Edgewater Uncommon Ground location in a show called "The Arab Spring Concert." 
Nour Ashour and Ahmed Derbala are a long way from their homes in Alexandria, Egypt. They had their first American meal — a "tasty" burger — Tuesday at St. Andrews Inn, said 22-year-old Derbala. On Thursday, they plan to satisfy their dream of going to a Chicago Bulls game. The two friends were invited to play in the show by its creator, Allie Deaver-Petchenik, the director of Classical Revolution Chicago. The musician's collective works to bring classical music to coffee shops, restaurants and small venues in Chicago's neighborhoods. Deaver-Petchenik said she met Ashour and Derbala while traveling last summer in Egypt and Tunisia. 
 "During my time [traveling]," she said. "I got to work with some pretty spectacular musicians." They jammed together there and stayed in touch. And then when the opportunity arose to bring them to Chicago, the Egyptians made it happen... http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130321/edgewater/at-uncommon-ground-egyptian-musicians-play-with-message-for-world#ixzz2OBbTbuNs