Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Illinois Ended Cash Bail. Now Reformers Want More Support for People on Pretrial Release.

    The Community Release With Support program provides wraparound services to people on pretrial release by connecting them with housing support, employment services, and education programs, as well as helping participants make their court dates. These services have become even more vital since Illinois passed the Pretrial Fairness Act to eliminate cash bail requirements. Roughly 3,000 people have participated in the support program, which has connected 1,000 people with employment services, more than 740 with education programs, and more than 250 with housing support.

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  • How Did These Students Get The City To Change The Name Of Douglass Park? They Built Collective Power And Didn't Back Down

    Chicago students organized and, for the first time, convinced the city to rename a park in honor of Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass. The former Douglas Park was named after a Civil War era Illinois senator who advocated to expand slavery, and whose wife owned slaves. Not daunted by the city’s bureaucracy, the students canvassed in their community and gathered over 10,000 signatures for a petition to change the park’s name. The campaign, which began in 2017, was much harder and longer than the students anticipated, but by forming a coalition and continuing to speak out they persevered.

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  • West Side Groups Step Up To Give Essential Workers' Kids A Safe Space To Take Virtual Classes

    In Chicago's West Side, "virtual learning havens" are helping students to access in-person resources for their education during the Covid pandemic. These programs – provided by groups such as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs – offer an adult-supervised setting for students to interact with their peers and access the technology needed to complete their schoolwork.

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  • How Violence Interrupters Brokered An End To Anti-Black Attacks In A Latino Neighborhood Audio icon

    When protests against police violence turned into looting and anti-Black violence in some Latinx neighborhoods, violence interrupters from groups such as UCAN, EnLace, and Chicago CRED brokered a peace agreement that almost immediately ended that violence. The outreach workers’ years-long relationships and training in dispute mediation gave them credibility to address historic racial tensions among gangs in Lawndale and Little Village. The violence could have escalated, but three days of negotiation – and a sense of common cause against racism in policing – united the neighborhoods.

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