Lefty Autum..?

.. Lately, swarm of videos about Southern desegregation movement,

Civil Rights movements, radical '60s students movements..were shown
 in all my socl classes..

..Since my classes are about the race relations, urban study(city & suburbs,) and the 60's movements..

I saw the films about "Freedom Summer," "Freedom Ride"(radical students' desegregation movements in the '50s.. '60s Mississippi,)
..

"Berkley in the sixties.."  or.. and also,
about the dispossessed Mexican miners film etc, etc,...

- Now i belatedly saw what "Hard time Mississippi"was all about ..
which Stevie Wonder sung in his 'Living for the City'

 One of the teacher made a nice proposal.. to attend community meeting on the South Side Chicago..

on the 103st St!

It is in the black neighborhood.. Isn't it quite  dangerous ..  for group of..blond haired....

white student? I couldn't imagine.

.

Last year I didn't I see nobody in my previous class researched about South Side... or nobody even attended"Interrupters.' film's show and the Ceasefire Chicago's lecture on campus..

But the young students in the 60s movement class seem like excited about the old day's radical  movements.

because the old teacher...  Dr.Wright from '60s San Francisco is igniting them.. ..

So..What was the teachers' strike's outcome? ... It somehow ended, but not really ended..  (an impression.)

 

 

Emanuel's somewhat cunning after-strike tv ad is seen everyday now..

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-emanuel-strike-letter-0921-20120921,0,632300.story Strike ends, but Emanuel's campaign continues

 

 The article was explaining the cause of the strike...

 

http://www.salon.com/2012/09/10/standing_up_to_rahm/

Standing up to Rahm  

Bullied by their city's Democratic mayor, teachers in Chicago are making a bold stand against misguided "reform"

Teachers are still goint to Strike..

...Here are the teachers..
The teachers are still heading to the downtown on Saturday -
 taking a train from BrynMawr...!

..They are apparently from Swift Elementary school .

(People look like generally pro to the teachers.. )

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/19540817/teachers-strike-opposed-by-401-poll-suggests

Teachers’ strike opposed by 40.1%, poll suggests

"......Emanuel's goal of judging Chicago Public School teachers -- for the first time ever – is based in part on the academic progress of the students in their classroom.
Union leaders claim on the one hand that many factors outside the classroom, including poverty and neighborhood violence, hurt student learning in ways no teacher can overcome. They also reject the standardized testing Mayor Emanuel wants to use as a way of measuring what kids have learned.

....... Among the mayor's substantial concessions: his team has agreed to give poor-performing teachers up to 15 months to improve and to give qualified, laid-off teachers up to two years to find another CPS job.

In the first week of the walkout, Chicago voters sympathized with the strikers. In a survey by We Ask America about the union's decision to strike, 55.5% approve, 40.1% disapprove, 4.4% have no opinion.
Who's most to blame for the strike? 34.4% percent say Mayor Emanuel; the union, 28.8%; the mayor's school board, 18.8%; no opinion 18%......."

- The poster in my apartment says:
e.g. the kids in nearby Swift Elementary School and other two schools should go to Pierce Elementary... ..Each school will be open from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Children need to register there. breakfast and lunch will be provided, no bus service is provided..

"Children are expected to join camp-type activities, such as sports, arts, and nature activities."

..Parents can also attend the children for half day, or there is a full-day option..

- The schools are to be opened on Monday in their plan.

**The teachers in general in my univ.. don't look like going to the strike..and our classes are normal..

We only got Dr. Wright in the radical class -"the Mvmts in 1960s"-.. who made a complaint .. "why we don't join the strike!? ...Mayor Emanuel might be fortunate, since the news from Libya may be used for camouflaging of the strike issue from the news shows.." etc..


**
On Mon morning teachers are still on the strike, but children are told to go back to the schools.. while there are be some picketing lines expected in some high schools...
 Some schools may have substitute teachers..   Parents' patience growing short.. etc.

Fall classes to choose..

As usual, when I arrive in Chicago, the hottest summer is about to be over...
- although the airport's tarmac seems like melted in this summer..

In this fall, I may take three Sociology classes!.. Is it too much?

I reunited Dr. Gitelson.. he looks younger than before..

- I heard Ms Rollerson received Ph.D degree and graduated. .. How great ..

Rich Coleus paradise

- Coleus are rampant...   in much more vivid color and much more varieties..

Chicago is great isn't it?

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-120520-nato-sequence-police-punches-pictures/#9
Anatomy of a clash

May 20, 2012

This series of images shows a clash between protesters and Chicago Police officers.

シカゴの暴力と闘う、ザ・インターラプターズ-
　THE INTERRUPTERS! ...

*Ameena Matthews, CeaseFire Illinois' activist, was named as "Chicagoan of the Year 2011"by Chicago Tribune

Last fall, this film - about the group of "violence interrupters" on the South Side area - was being shown around on many different college campuses in Chicago - these activists are sometimes, ex-convicts by themselves but trying to prevent absurd violence on the streets..  

 They try to persuade the teenage gang members to refrain from being involved in the futile retaliatory bloodshed ..

The woman who appeared as one of the leading characters was Ameena Matthews (who works with other activists such as Cobe and Eddie) ...her way of guiding the street kids was impressive (breathtakingly!)

When Ameena first appeared, the narrator said..her father was one of the biggest gang leader in the history of Chicago... "other than Al Capone.." namely, late Jeff Fort.... - ..then several audience people around me groaned ..because we could imagine it... she already had a legendary bloodline..since before this kind of film was launched.. introducing her activity.  Also, Al Capone seems to be still, a kind of positive icon of Chicagoans now.. At least it gives them rich moment..
   But the film is about the tragedy of the youth's wrecked living environment. It also depicts the aftermath of "Fenger Highschool 's infamous, deadly beating" of Derrion Albert. It shows the boy's funeral at his home, where Ameena addressed to the participants, urging "I need everyone from the ages of thirteen to twenty-four to stand up".. and appealed them to realize their responsibility to abandon and beat the stupid violence ..as the boy's spiritless body was lying right in front of them..
...This scene comes soon after the other ..heartwrenching scene on the street of Amena's ..which is inserted in the middle of the lecture video linked on the webpage below)
 http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/63934653/Entertainment/Michael-Phillips-interviews-Ameena-Mathews-Steve-James-and-Alex-Kotlowitz

　ザ・インターラプターズ、 実録フィルムの上映が昨年秋にシカゴの各大学キャンパスをまわっていた…これは、アフリカ系地区の街角でギャング組織などの暴力の報復合戦にまきこまれる若者たちの間に割って入り、それ以上の無思慮な暴力を思い止まらせようとするviolence interrupterのグループ、"CeaseFire Ilinnois"の話…アクティビスト達自身も訪問した学校での上映会は残念ながら観れず、漸く観れたのはダウンタウンのGene Siskel Film Centerの年末の最終上映日。
　…CobeやEddieといった中心人物と共に描かれるAmeena Mathewsの父親は往年のAl Caponeと並ぶギャングリーダーだったという。元はギャングのenforcer だったという彼女も、今では暴力を食い止めるinterrupterの活動家…その若者たちに対する説得のシーンの言葉の正確さとか強さ、はんぱではない強い勇気には瞠目させられる。いくつか素晴らしいシーンがあって…観た人すべてがこれは観るべき映画だと推すのも道理に思える…
(ギャング予備軍？…の、ヤングキッズに対するAmeenaの説教シーンはこれ…）https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k4-Y2Ooe2c
The Interrupters: Ameena's Prayer Vigil 113丁目で高校生がツーバイフォー木材で殴られて死んだときのvigilの日のシーン


（Youtubeにいくつか動画がupされている）
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+interrupters+amena+mathews


http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/63934653/Entertainment/Michael-Phillips-interviews-Ameena-Mathews-Steve-James-and-Alex-Kotlowitz  Chicago Live! - "The Interrupters"

- "Ameena Matthews, a passionate, articulate, absolutely fearless and remarkable woman, she's the closest thing to a star "The Interrupters" has. The daughter of Jeff Fort, the founder of the Blackstone Rangers and a legend in Chicago gang circles, Matthews stands up for young people because no one stood for her." http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/26/entertainment/la-et-interrupters-20110826

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-20111222-chicagoans-of-the-year-pictures-004,0,6520290.photo

The Interrupters Trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1776524313/

＊It was the very last show at the Siskel film center　in Dec...swarm of adult audience were around　（kind of intellectually-looking..) I wondered if my school's students ever imagined it...

　　Since..to my surprise..when I couldn't see the film on my campus[having visited by CeaseFire activists along with the film] due to my conflict schedule...  I heard it from the teacher afterward but none of my classmates showed up there either despite the teacher's extra credit offer..
    It looked like my classmates, who were mostly suburban-white kids were not inclined to see it at all.. [although they scrambled to see Mr. Robert Kennedy Jr.'s visit on campus the other day!]
 Further.. I found: no one made a research about the city's African American neighborhoods either... when we needed to choose one of the 77 ethnic neighborhoods in the city for the field research ...except couple of students made it about Hyde Park (a privileged area..)

      ..Later when I went to rather peaceful South Side (I went to 73rd-76th St too..)  I realized..I could go there during the day time simply because I'm not a white, but the white students may have much more safety concerns for having interviews etc?.. in the neighborhood...just because of their appearance, even if they studied about the area intensively in our class...
 to my big condolence..)　

Research at Chicago's Ukrainian Village

 *  I made a small field research at Ukrainian Village, as an assignment in my sociology class..

    The area, which is located on Chicago’s Near West Side (just outside of the central Chicago,) is keeping Ukrainian ethnic character; but also, it is now drawing yuppies and other newcomers. In spite of its strong ethnic identity, this area is also transforming because of its nice location in the city.

     When I entered Ukrainian National museum, people were celebrating the museum's 50th anniversary in 2012. A lecture about the community's achievement was going on. An elderly man said, "We have been making a lot of contribution to this [country] ...well, not all of us.." （ｔhe audience laughed..)  According to the museum's leaflet, there were 4 distinct waves of Ukrainian immigration to the U.S. since the 1870s; Some came for economic reasons, others for political reason. The majority of Ukrainians living there now come from the 3rd and 4th waves..

   3rd Wave, about 80,000, was between 1945 and 1957; Mainly former DP(Displaced Persons..) of the WWII. Many of them were well-educated professionals, or cultural elites; 4th Wave was from the late 1980’s to the present, mostly economic immigration, since around the period of USSR’s collapse. Although relatively small in number, "the 3rd wave Ukrainians nevertheless played a vital role in reviving the Ukrainian community in Chicago.."

＊Lecture at the Museum..

  ..I talked to Mr. Orest (the  vice president of the museum..) sitting surrounded by his pretty little grand daughters. He told us about his ("unforgettable") memories of DP camp in his childhood. "Ukrainians created everything by ourselves--such as schools, religious institutions, police, fire office, sports facilitiees.. in the camp, and we just lived self-reliantly.."

    He said he had been a nuclear engineer in a company in Texas until lately, and also..worked with a lot of Japanese people in the Japanese nuclear plant businesses.. But the company's business had all gone, due to the  earthquake in Japan, and he had retired after then in spring 2011.. I appreciate Mr. Orest having a conversation..

　 ウクライナ・ヴィレッジはChicago中心部の外側Near West、Humboldt Parkのすぐ東、トレンディな街Wicker Parkの南側にある静かなエリア…　このエリアでは通りすがりの人はほとんど皆ウクライナ語かポーランド語を喋っているようだし、カフェでは彼らが集っている。このエリアには、ビザンチン様式の豪華なUkrainian　Catholicのカテドラルが3つ、４つ聳え立ち、コミュニティのアイデンティティを維持している。

　このカテドラルの立派さの印象からも…　住民は一見、豊かなMiddle Classのようにみえる。Ukrainian National Museumに入ると丁度、来年むかえるMuseumの50周年記念のイベントに人々が晴れ着で集まっている（黒地のジャケットに金糸や銀糸、赤白緑のカラフルな民族風の刺繍もみられる）そしてタイミングもよく、コミュニティへの移民と歴史についてのレクチャーが始まったのだ。

　　Ukuraine人は自助努力と勤勉さで自らの生活を切り開いてきて…今は成人の80％が大卒だ、とMuseumの人は自慢する。年配の男性はスピーチのなかで、" ..We have all contributed to this (country...）Well, not all of us.."　とか言いかけて、言い直し観客の笑いを誘っていた。

　　ウクライナ移民には大きな4つの波があったが、今このエリアに住む住人は、第２次大戦中に祖国を追われ、ドイツなどの西ヨーロッパ各地のDP（Displaced Person）キャンプに住んだのちに、1950年頃に条約改正で米国にきた第3波の移民と、その子供たちが多いという。　
  
　第3波の政治移民はナチスの迫害を逃れてきた祖国の専門職のインテリやエリート層で、コミュニティの発展に大きく寄与した。その後、ソ連の崩壊後には第4波の経済移民もあった…外側からだけでは見えないこのエリアの人々の苦難の過去を知って驚いた。

　このエリアの人口には祖国ウクライナにおける隣人のポーランド人も多い…ウクライナ人とポーランド人は彼ら同士で言葉も通じ、食文化も似ているので助けあってきたのだ。現在この地域で、ウクライナ人の割合は全人口の30％ほど…Hoyne 通りなどには、ヴィクトリア様式などの古くてpricyな家々が、家族用apartment に転じられて残っている。

　　Museumの副館長のオレストさんは、可愛らしいお孫さん二人を膝に乗せて、8歳の頃までいたドイツのDPキャンプの思い出話を話してくれた。ウクライナ人たちはその異国の地に自分たちで学校や教会、警察、消防、スポーツ施設など何から何まで作って暮らしたのだとか。…渡米の後、オレストさんは学位を取り原子力エンジニアとなった…　最近までテキサスの企業に勤め日本の原発事業にも関わり、多くの日本人と仕事をしてきたのだという。「でも、ことし3月の日本の震災で、我々のビジネスはみな、なくなってしまった。そして今年5月に退職したのだ」。こちらが日本人であると、直ぐに見分けたオレストさんはとても懐かしげに話してくれた…

（＊museumのパネル展示：　故郷を追われたウクライナ人の出身地と、ヨーロッパのDP Campに送られた人の数）