According to the Board of Elections, with only one precinct yet to report, Thompson leads Coleman by about 57 to 43. A friend texted me to say Coleman has conceded; I just found the 9:35 p.m. post on the Trib's Clout Street blog.
It's a new day here in the 16th; I sure hope it's a good one.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
My Runoff Prediction
...Coleman gets my bet. I talked to someone with pretty good connections in Englewood today, who tells me that she's getting not just leftover Daley campaign cash, but some actual bodies to work the precincts and get out the vote.
There is too much robo- in SEIU's work, at least as I've seen it thus far, to beat out live bodies out there taking the old ladies over to the polls.
There is too much robo- in SEIU's work, at least as I've seen it thus far, to beat out live bodies out there taking the old ladies over to the polls.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Ronin Teacher
I went back to the birthday party later this evening. My former next door neighbors, the family who moved in after Mr. Married moved out, were still there. Eddie and Xochitl were happy to hang out some more. Eddie asked me if I knew how big infinity was, so we started talking about numbers.
A while ago, I was telling a teacher friend of mine about my life here in Back of the Yards and he said to me, "You're a ronin teacher." I realized that was exactly right. In the days of the samurai, ronin were soldiers beholden to no lord. Nowadays they are martial arts students in search of a school. I'm a teacher without a school or a principal, so in that sense I am ronin, too.
So I just go around doing my thing when the teachable moment appears, as it did tonight with Eddie and big, big numbers. We talked about infinity and the symbol for infinity, we talked about how infinity was bigger than a million, a billion, a trillion and a quadrillion. (I doubt the place order lesson stuck--we went from hundreds up, but it might have cleared up whether a thousand was bigger than a million for five minutes. That one is tough because thousand is mil in Spanish.)
I asked Eddie if his teacher had mentioned a googol and he said no. So I told him he should go to school tomorrow and ask his teacher, "How big is a googol?" I made Xochtil promise she would check up on whether he did it or not, and made them both repeat the question. I gave them high fives when they pronouced googol right.
I had some tequila with the girls: Adriana, Marisa and Eddie's mom. At least I think I was having tequila--it seemed fairly mild, Gallo Something, it had agave and it was from Jalisco, but on three shots I should be wicked wasted and I'm not, so I'm not sure what I was drinking. Xochitl and Eddie were collecting the pop tops off of beer cans for something at school. They had a large collection by the end of the night.
At the end Julian put on some music and said "We're going to dance," but Daya and Angelito and I were the only people out on the floor. Angel was fussy so I took him from Adriana and went dancing with him a little. He quieted down. I think he had the hiccups. Daya showed off her moves.
As I was leaving, Adriana said "Until 20-what?"
"Twenty-five," I answered. They are fired up to host my birthday next month.
I pulled out my favorite old joke and said I'm the old lady, turning 40. The one person left I didn't know said he is 40. Julian told me "it's like tequila, you just get better." Good attitude!
A while ago, I was telling a teacher friend of mine about my life here in Back of the Yards and he said to me, "You're a ronin teacher." I realized that was exactly right. In the days of the samurai, ronin were soldiers beholden to no lord. Nowadays they are martial arts students in search of a school. I'm a teacher without a school or a principal, so in that sense I am ronin, too.
So I just go around doing my thing when the teachable moment appears, as it did tonight with Eddie and big, big numbers. We talked about infinity and the symbol for infinity, we talked about how infinity was bigger than a million, a billion, a trillion and a quadrillion. (I doubt the place order lesson stuck--we went from hundreds up, but it might have cleared up whether a thousand was bigger than a million for five minutes. That one is tough because thousand is mil in Spanish.)
I asked Eddie if his teacher had mentioned a googol and he said no. So I told him he should go to school tomorrow and ask his teacher, "How big is a googol?" I made Xochtil promise she would check up on whether he did it or not, and made them both repeat the question. I gave them high fives when they pronouced googol right.
I had some tequila with the girls: Adriana, Marisa and Eddie's mom. At least I think I was having tequila--it seemed fairly mild, Gallo Something, it had agave and it was from Jalisco, but on three shots I should be wicked wasted and I'm not, so I'm not sure what I was drinking. Xochitl and Eddie were collecting the pop tops off of beer cans for something at school. They had a large collection by the end of the night.
At the end Julian put on some music and said "We're going to dance," but Daya and Angelito and I were the only people out on the floor. Angel was fussy so I took him from Adriana and went dancing with him a little. He quieted down. I think he had the hiccups. Daya showed off her moves.
As I was leaving, Adriana said "Until 20-what?"
"Twenty-five," I answered. They are fired up to host my birthday next month.
I pulled out my favorite old joke and said I'm the old lady, turning 40. The one person left I didn't know said he is 40. Julian told me "it's like tequila, you just get better." Good attitude!
A Tale of Two Birthday Parties
Yesterday I went up to the North Side for an old friend's 40th birthday. Eight of us gathered at a North African restaurant for crepes. They let us bring in our own wine, so we had a bottle of a nice California Pinot Noir. There was one baby in the group. We talked about politics, media and education. After dinner we went back to my friend's apartment for homemade chocolate cake, more wine (including my gift to her), and some Belgian beer. Her apartment is neat and painted in a faint shade of green she did herself. We had to move the small bowl of shells for fear the baby would break or eat them. I had a couple of conversations about academia and we made fun of people's former workplaces. We almost made it to the Green Mill to catch up with some other friends, but collectively pooped out around midnight.
Late this afternoon I went next door to Dawn's house for the joint birthday of her dad and Marisa's husband. Their place was covered in balloons, streamers and Happy Birthday signs. I would guess there were about 15-20 adults, maybe 10 kids between toddlers and tweens, and three babes in arms. Julian was wearing the shirt I brought back for him from Cuernavaca:
Cuida el agua
Toma cerveza
(Translation:
Save Water
Drink Beer)
Dawn's aunt was there with her new baby girl. She's a month old. There was a lot of Seven Up, Corona, and Budweiser with Clamato, Julian's favorite. He offered me some; I declined. We both grinned. I tried it before and it's OK but not my favorite--he likes to tease me about it. There was pork in mole, rice, beans and plenty of tortillas. There was also some kind of ceviche, but less of it, so I just had a little taste. There were two cakes--Julian's was chocolate, Marisa's husband's was carrot cake. I think this was Julian's 34th birthday, but his cake only had the four. Earlier we were kidding about the numbers for the other birthday boy--he's 26 but
This was one of the more fun Spanish-speaking parties I've been to because I knew enough of the people not to worry about my lack of language. Adriana gave me Angel to hold. He fell asleep and Dawn and I put him down in the bedroom. Then Dawn's aunt let me hold little Ashley while she ate. My old next-door neighbors--the family with six kids--came over and they wanted to see the little baby. Xochitl and Eddie and I chatted in English. Eddie is a big talker--he wanted to brag about his English compared to his big sister's. I suggested he stop talking and let her practice. She told me about watering the plants at the Chavez after school Garden Club.
I think Eddie was surprised to hear me speaking Spanish to Ashley. He came over at one point and said, "How do you learn two languages at once?
"That's what you're doing right now, right?"
"Yes. I'm learning Spanish and English."
"Well, how do you do that?" I asked him.
"I talk a lot," he said.
"That's what you do, Eddie, to learn any language. You talk a lot. Practice, practice practice." He smiled and went to play with a balloon.
I should take my own advice. I'm pretty shy at Spanish-language parties. Some friend of Dawn's from school was there with his dad. He clearly wasn't sure what language to speak to me--I came in and spoke Spanish but then missed some conversational cues, so he switched to his pretty weak English. I'd rather just hold the babies and talk to them than try to talk to people I don't know.
Dawn's aunt smiled when I told her daughter that Tia Maritza was going to teach her some English.
Late this afternoon I went next door to Dawn's house for the joint birthday of her dad and Marisa's husband. Their place was covered in balloons, streamers and Happy Birthday signs. I would guess there were about 15-20 adults, maybe 10 kids between toddlers and tweens, and three babes in arms. Julian was wearing the shirt I brought back for him from Cuernavaca:
Cuida el agua
Toma cerveza
(Translation:
Save Water
Drink Beer)
Dawn's aunt was there with her new baby girl. She's a month old. There was a lot of Seven Up, Corona, and Budweiser with Clamato, Julian's favorite. He offered me some; I declined. We both grinned. I tried it before and it's OK but not my favorite--he likes to tease me about it. There was pork in mole, rice, beans and plenty of tortillas. There was also some kind of ceviche, but less of it, so I just had a little taste. There were two cakes--Julian's was chocolate, Marisa's husband's was carrot cake. I think this was Julian's 34th birthday, but his cake only had the four. Earlier we were kidding about the numbers for the other birthday boy--he's 26 but
This was one of the more fun Spanish-speaking parties I've been to because I knew enough of the people not to worry about my lack of language. Adriana gave me Angel to hold. He fell asleep and Dawn and I put him down in the bedroom. Then Dawn's aunt let me hold little Ashley while she ate. My old next-door neighbors--the family with six kids--came over and they wanted to see the little baby. Xochitl and Eddie and I chatted in English. Eddie is a big talker--he wanted to brag about his English compared to his big sister's. I suggested he stop talking and let her practice. She told me about watering the plants at the Chavez after school Garden Club.
I think Eddie was surprised to hear me speaking Spanish to Ashley. He came over at one point and said, "How do you learn two languages at once?
"That's what you're doing right now, right?"
"Yes. I'm learning Spanish and English."
"Well, how do you do that?" I asked him.
"I talk a lot," he said.
"That's what you do, Eddie, to learn any language. You talk a lot. Practice, practice practice." He smiled and went to play with a balloon.
I should take my own advice. I'm pretty shy at Spanish-language parties. Some friend of Dawn's from school was there with his dad. He clearly wasn't sure what language to speak to me--I came in and spoke Spanish but then missed some conversational cues, so he switched to his pretty weak English. I'd rather just hold the babies and talk to them than try to talk to people I don't know.
Dawn's aunt smiled when I told her daughter that Tia Maritza was going to teach her some English.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Chicago Tonight: Coleman vs. Thompson
I missed it on TV, and in case you did, too, here's a transcript of the discussion, with thanks to AlderTrak. Click the link and scroll down if you want to see this with live links. (Note 4/17: For some reason, this link is not working. The site is: http://aldertrack.typepad.com)
I'll let it speak for itself.
Chicago Tonight: Alderman Shirley Coleman, Joann Thompson
Christian Farr: The race is between a sixteen year incumbent and a challenger facing each other for the third time in four years. Personal attacks and issues of personal integrity have come up in this race. We'll get to those in just a moment. But first, while the ward has some new development it still is dotted with abandoned buildings, empty lots, and empty storefronts. The 16th Ward covers the South Side neighborhoods of New City, parts of Englewood, Gage Park, and Back of the Yards. And now joining us in the order they'll appear on the ballot are Joann Thompson, a correctional officer in the Cook County Sheriff's Department, and Alderman Shirley Coleman, who's been a member of the City Council since 1991. And I want to welcome both of you to Chicago Tonight. Joann, let's start with you. First of all, what was your reaction when you came in first in this election?
Joann Thompson: Well, I was pleased. I was very pleased in letting me know that the residents of the 16th Ward is ready for a change.
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, your reaction in coming in second in this. Sixteen years in this ward.
Shirley Coleman: Well, actually, I didn't come in second. I'm still in the race and I would like to congratulate Channel Eleven. We've been trying to have a debate with my opponent for six debates, so this is the first one she's showed up at. So let me just congratulate the power that Channel Eleven had that the unions have finally let her talk and let the people hear what we're really up against.
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, do you have a reaction to that?
Joann Thompson: Yes, I do. The unions haven't kept me from talking to...
Shirley Coleman: Three hundred and ninety thousand dollars worth of talking and coming out to public hearings to debate the issues.
Christian Farr: Let's let Ms. Thompson answer that. Go ahead.
Joann Thompson: I wasn't ever invited to a debate, so...
Shirley Coleman: That's...
Joann Thompson: ...I don't know what she's talking about.
Christian Farr: OK, well, let's talk about this union issue because the Big Box ordinance is a big issue and the unions have backed you because you believe in that Big Box ordinance.
Joann Thompson: Right, I do. I believe in the Bix Box ordinance because the residents of the 16th Ward, they should not have to decide whether to have a job or to have a living wage. Alderman Coleman here, she voted three times for a raise for herself totalling fifty-seven thousand dollars.
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, would you like to respond to that. You voted against...
Shirley Coleman: You know, that is...the only platform that they have is the fact if you will check the records, I did vote for a living wage ordinance. I believe that the 16th Ward, every family should have and make as much as you can. Let me say that you told me, 16th Ward residents, you were tired of going out shopping elsewhere. We have an opportunity to bring a Wal-Mart in. Even if you're not in the union, or if you're in the union, aren't you tired of going to 95th? And then one thing, why is such a big deal now , they were not talking about a livable wage when it was built on 95th and Western. But now all of a sudden that it wants to come into the 16th Ward, into the Englewood community where...
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, Ms. Coleman...
Shirley Coleman: ...we need jobs, then it's a problem?
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, you did side with the mayor on this. Why?
Shirely Coleman: I did, because I had an opportunity...because we had a community meeting two hundred people were there. Four percent of them told me that they do not want a Wal-Mart in our community. The other ninety-six percent of the people--two hundred people--when we took the poll, physical poll, said they want the Wal-Mart in our community, that they want to be able to shop in their own community. And, again, it's not a problem at 95th and Western. Our people are tired of going elsewhere to shop when we have an opportunity to shop right in our community.
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond to that. I mean, again, you want to bring a Wal-Mart in...
Joann Thompson: Right
Shirley Coleman: No, she's on record for not bringing a Wal-Mart. Will not support a Wal-Mart
Christian Farr: I understand that but you...
Shirley Coleman: She's on record. On public record...
Christian Farr: But respond to that, in terms of...
Shirley Coleman: So now she's going to change her mind...
Joann Thompson: That's not, that's not true...
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to speak...
Shirley Coleman: which...what is she going to...
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, one second. Ms. Thompson?
Joann Thompson: First of all, on the 27th of February, eighty-three percent of the voters voted for the living wage ordinance. Now, that's eighty-three percent of the voters...
Shirely Coleman: That was not even in the ward...
Joann Thompson: Now, she's talking about two hundred...
Shirely Coleman: That was not even in the 16th Ward...
Joann Thompson: voters. That's what she's talking about.
Christian Farr: So, can you be an independent alderman? I mean...
Joann Thompson: Exactly.
Shirely Coleman: Of course not. How can you be...
Joann Thompson: Sure I can be. Sure I can be an independent alderman. I...
Shirely Coleman: I know, I didn't pray for you either
Joann Thompson: I'm for the people of Englewood, for the 16th Ward, not Shirley Coleman.
Christian Farr: Well, let's talk about you, Alderman Coleman. You've gotten money from supporters of the Mayor.
Shirley Coleman: Yes.
Christian Farr: Some money there.
Shirely Coleman: Yes
Christian Farr: You've also gotten some money from what I understand a 'First CD Victory PAC' which is connected to ComEd. You're on the ComEd board. Resond to that.
Shirley Coleman: I'm not on the ComEd board.
Christian Farr: Or the committee. Excuse me. You're the vice chairman...
Shirely Coleman: I'm the Vice Chairman of the Energy Committee
Christian Farr: I stand corrected. Respond to that. I mean, you're getting money from, of course, the Mayor's supporters
Shirley Coleman: I'm not nearly getting three hundred and ninety thousand dollars that the unions have paid to sit me down, first and foremost. I do not have a conflict when it comes to my community. My community is my family. And I listen to my family. She happens to be a member of the family that we have helped. We're going to help all of our family members in the 16th Ward. And so when she says eighty-three percent, that vote was not taken in the 16th Ward. The 16th Ward wants to shop, want to have a job, want to be able to work in their own community. We have the highest unemployment in the City of Chicago. And, you know, it's been said that I don't believe that a job is better than no job. That's not the case. But when unemployment is high, crime is up. We find that when employment is high, crime is down. We have attacked all of the issues of crime. I think it's an insult when you go on radio talking about the murder rate is up. We have three great police commanders that have all...we have double digit decrease in crime.
Christian Farr: Well, now, let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond
Shirley Coleman: But you know, the lies that have been told...
Christian Farr: Let's give her an opportunity to respond. What do you think of the 16th Ward in terms of jobs, in terms of crime, in terms of employment.
Joann Thompson: I think that crime is up. We have a high concentration of ex-offenders. When they come home from prison their pleas for help fall on deaf ears. We have no support services for them. We have no referral programs. If we had some of those things maybe they wouldn't go back into a life of crime.
Christian Farr: What would you do about it as alderman? What would you do?
Joann Thompson: I would bring those services to the ward for ex-offenders. For sixteen years, sixteen years Coleman has not done anything for our ward. We are tired. We are tired of her. We're tired of everything that she says that's not true. We're tired.
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, respond please.
Shirely Coleman: If my opponent had any idea of what was going on in the ward she would know we just got a hundred thousand dollars for an ex-offenders program. But, of course, we see her every four years and so she does not know what's going on in the ward. She does not know that there are programs available for ex-offenders...
Joann Thompson: I do. I do.
Shirley Coleman: You don't know because you have not come out. We saw you four years ago and we haven't seen you since. So, they are right at 63rd and Halsted. But I'll give you that information after this, after Tuesday. I'll let you know. I'll let you know.
Joann Thompson: There is no programs. There's not.
Shirley Coleman: Teamwork Englewood was just awarded a hundred thousand dollars for ex-offenders. Ex-offenders, that's why we want to put you back to work.
Joann Thompson: The programs are not in service
Shirley Coleman: We want to put you back to work. Don't be fooled.
Christian Farr: Let's talk about something else that has come up in this election and it's the alcoholism that you went through back in 2002.
Joann Thompson: 2003
Christian Farr: Or 2003. Talk about that. And talk about why you brought it up and why you thought it was important.
Joann Thompson: Well...
Shirley Coleman: That's because it was the only thing she had to bring up.
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond
Joann Thompson: I thought it was important that the residents of the 16th Ward, the ones that didn't know Joann Thompson, know what Joann Thompson is about. I wanted them to know and I'm proud of the fact that I have recovered, I had nothing to be ashamed of. Proud of it.
Christian Farr: Now, Alderman Coleman, you say you helped her through this.
Shirely Coleman: You know, I'm very proud of Joann Thompson. As a matter of fact, we're the ones that helped her with it. The last community meeting she was at, everyone--and I have witnesses--where she stood up, and we congratulated her for being able for me to direct her to where she could get her job where she's presently at. So, Joann, we are very proud of you. We're going to continue to pray for you. Since you made that an issue, whether I prayed for you or not, sweetheart, I'm going to continue to pray for you. Tonight, as a matter of fact.
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, did she help you?
Joann Thompson: No, absolutely not.
Shirely Coleman: [laughing]
Joann Thompson: And I think it's sad that a reverend, that a reverend...
Shirely Coleman: It's sad that she tells...
Christian Farr: Let's let Ms. Thompson respond.
Joann Thompson: ...would be on TV saying this. It's sad. It's really sad that she, as a reverend, that she would get on TV and say that she prayed for me when she didn't. I didn't even know her at the time. Did not know her. It's sad. It's sad.
Christian Farr: What was the nature of your relationship?
Shirely Coleman: You know what, I am very proud to be a pastor. I don't have to sit here and lie. Like she said, I never prayed for her. She's been to my church, so God bless you, I'm going to keep praying for you.
Christian Farr: OK, let's try to move on. You have an endorsement from the Sun-Times. Why do you think you got that endorsement?
Joann Thompson: I got that endorsement because I represent fresh leadership and my committment to my ward. I'm very proud of that endorsement.
Christian Farr: In terms of your endorsement, you got an endorsement from the Tribune.
Shirley Coleman: I've never got an endorsement from the Sun-Times in the sixteen years that I've run, so it's no surprise to me. I've won without the endorsement and I'm going to win again without the endorsement. I'm proud of the Tribune's endorsement because they can see the work we've done in the 16 years. Stevie Wonder can see what's on 63rd and Halsted between Halsted and Ashland. Everyone can see but my opponent because she's not been around to see anything. She's not been around to know any of the programs. She's not been around to know any of the programs that have come into the 16th Ward. The millions of dollars. Over three hundred million dollars of renovative work we have going on right now. We're going to break ground for a brand new 7th District Police Station that I fought for to keep in the 16th Ward. We have a $254 million dollar Kennedy-King getting ready to open next month. When I became alderman it was all in the 16th Ward. And so now, through the redistricting, some of it got into the 20th Ward, but that's something, a project we have labored over for the last eight years to make sure there was minority representation, we have Black people on the job, Black people working...
Christian Farr: Well, let's let Ms. Thompson respond to that.
Joann Thompson: Thank you.
Christian Farr: As Alderman Coleman said there's a lot going on
Joann Thompson: Yes
Shirely Coleman: A lot
Joann Thompson: The Kennedy-King sits in the 20th Ward
Shirely Coleman: That's not true
Joann Thompson: She has...
Shirley Coleman: She doesn't even know the ward boundaries
Christian Farr: Let's let her respond
Joann Thompson: She has a school at 55th and Morgan, Holmes school, where the six hundred children there use the gym room for the lunchroom, for the auditorium. She voted three times for the LaSalle Street development project which took one billion dollars out of the Chicago Public Schools, and she sits on the Eduction Committee.
Christian Farr: OK
Joann Thompson: Now, not only that, what about her pending cases
Shirely Coleman: Well, you asked about as far as responding. Now, here's a candidate that lives right down the street from the school. If she was so concerned about the school, it wouldn't have taken since 1971 to do something about that school...
Joann Thompson: She's the alderman...
Shirley Coleman: Now, you go figure...
Joann Thompson: She's the alderman...
Shirley Coleman: You go figure
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, Alderman Coleman...
Shirley Coleman: You're a resident. You can do something to help that school
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, let's talk about this lawsuit that's been going on in terms of this real estate consultant who received a half of a million dollars from some investors. Are you involved in this lawsuit?
Shirley Coleman: No, I am not. I have been accused wrongly. Just like, I mean, she's been accused of being a prostitute. We all have accusations against us. I have not done anything wrong. I am going to continue to lead the 16th Ward where it needs to go. That's...I've been accused of doing something wrong. Who of us in this world has not been accused of doing something wrong? If I had been proven anything I wouldn't be sitting here.
Joann Thompson: Well, the case is pending.
Christian Farr: Well, let's...we've only got one minute to go. Alderman Coleman, really quickly, last pitch.
Shirley Coleman: 16th Ward, please, don't be fooled. Don't be fooled by all of the garbage and the lies and the distortions that have been printed. Let me lead the 16th Ward into these next four years. Don't...You know what? Where your heart is where your money is...
Christian Farr: Ok, Ms. Thompson...
Shirley Coleman: Unions. Three hundred and ninety thousand dollars...
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson's going to get the last word
Shirley Coleman: She will report to the unions...
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, your last pitch here
Joann Thompson: Thank you very much. The 16th Ward...
Shirley Coleman: And I'll keep praying for you
Joann Thompson: ...The 16th Ward know they need a chane. They voted for a change. I got forty-two percent of the vote to her thirty-six percent of the vote.
Shirley Coleman: Thirty-eight percent, thank you.
Joann Thompson: Do not vote for Shirley Coleman. She represents the same. Nothing.
Christian Farr: All right, that's it. Our time is up. My thanks to Joann Thompson and Alderman Shirley Coleman
I'll let it speak for itself.
Chicago Tonight: Alderman Shirley Coleman, Joann Thompson
Christian Farr: The race is between a sixteen year incumbent and a challenger facing each other for the third time in four years. Personal attacks and issues of personal integrity have come up in this race. We'll get to those in just a moment. But first, while the ward has some new development it still is dotted with abandoned buildings, empty lots, and empty storefronts. The 16th Ward covers the South Side neighborhoods of New City, parts of Englewood, Gage Park, and Back of the Yards. And now joining us in the order they'll appear on the ballot are Joann Thompson, a correctional officer in the Cook County Sheriff's Department, and Alderman Shirley Coleman, who's been a member of the City Council since 1991. And I want to welcome both of you to Chicago Tonight. Joann, let's start with you. First of all, what was your reaction when you came in first in this election?
Joann Thompson: Well, I was pleased. I was very pleased in letting me know that the residents of the 16th Ward is ready for a change.
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, your reaction in coming in second in this. Sixteen years in this ward.
Shirley Coleman: Well, actually, I didn't come in second. I'm still in the race and I would like to congratulate Channel Eleven. We've been trying to have a debate with my opponent for six debates, so this is the first one she's showed up at. So let me just congratulate the power that Channel Eleven had that the unions have finally let her talk and let the people hear what we're really up against.
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, do you have a reaction to that?
Joann Thompson: Yes, I do. The unions haven't kept me from talking to...
Shirley Coleman: Three hundred and ninety thousand dollars worth of talking and coming out to public hearings to debate the issues.
Christian Farr: Let's let Ms. Thompson answer that. Go ahead.
Joann Thompson: I wasn't ever invited to a debate, so...
Shirley Coleman: That's...
Joann Thompson: ...I don't know what she's talking about.
Christian Farr: OK, well, let's talk about this union issue because the Big Box ordinance is a big issue and the unions have backed you because you believe in that Big Box ordinance.
Joann Thompson: Right, I do. I believe in the Bix Box ordinance because the residents of the 16th Ward, they should not have to decide whether to have a job or to have a living wage. Alderman Coleman here, she voted three times for a raise for herself totalling fifty-seven thousand dollars.
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, would you like to respond to that. You voted against...
Shirley Coleman: You know, that is...the only platform that they have is the fact if you will check the records, I did vote for a living wage ordinance. I believe that the 16th Ward, every family should have and make as much as you can. Let me say that you told me, 16th Ward residents, you were tired of going out shopping elsewhere. We have an opportunity to bring a Wal-Mart in. Even if you're not in the union, or if you're in the union, aren't you tired of going to 95th? And then one thing, why is such a big deal now , they were not talking about a livable wage when it was built on 95th and Western. But now all of a sudden that it wants to come into the 16th Ward, into the Englewood community where...
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, Ms. Coleman...
Shirley Coleman: ...we need jobs, then it's a problem?
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, you did side with the mayor on this. Why?
Shirely Coleman: I did, because I had an opportunity...because we had a community meeting two hundred people were there. Four percent of them told me that they do not want a Wal-Mart in our community. The other ninety-six percent of the people--two hundred people--when we took the poll, physical poll, said they want the Wal-Mart in our community, that they want to be able to shop in their own community. And, again, it's not a problem at 95th and Western. Our people are tired of going elsewhere to shop when we have an opportunity to shop right in our community.
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond to that. I mean, again, you want to bring a Wal-Mart in...
Joann Thompson: Right
Shirley Coleman: No, she's on record for not bringing a Wal-Mart. Will not support a Wal-Mart
Christian Farr: I understand that but you...
Shirley Coleman: She's on record. On public record...
Christian Farr: But respond to that, in terms of...
Shirley Coleman: So now she's going to change her mind...
Joann Thompson: That's not, that's not true...
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to speak...
Shirley Coleman: which...what is she going to...
Christian Farr: Ms. Coleman, one second. Ms. Thompson?
Joann Thompson: First of all, on the 27th of February, eighty-three percent of the voters voted for the living wage ordinance. Now, that's eighty-three percent of the voters...
Shirely Coleman: That was not even in the ward...
Joann Thompson: Now, she's talking about two hundred...
Shirely Coleman: That was not even in the 16th Ward...
Joann Thompson: voters. That's what she's talking about.
Christian Farr: So, can you be an independent alderman? I mean...
Joann Thompson: Exactly.
Shirely Coleman: Of course not. How can you be...
Joann Thompson: Sure I can be. Sure I can be an independent alderman. I...
Shirely Coleman: I know, I didn't pray for you either
Joann Thompson: I'm for the people of Englewood, for the 16th Ward, not Shirley Coleman.
Christian Farr: Well, let's talk about you, Alderman Coleman. You've gotten money from supporters of the Mayor.
Shirley Coleman: Yes.
Christian Farr: Some money there.
Shirely Coleman: Yes
Christian Farr: You've also gotten some money from what I understand a 'First CD Victory PAC' which is connected to ComEd. You're on the ComEd board. Resond to that.
Shirley Coleman: I'm not on the ComEd board.
Christian Farr: Or the committee. Excuse me. You're the vice chairman...
Shirely Coleman: I'm the Vice Chairman of the Energy Committee
Christian Farr: I stand corrected. Respond to that. I mean, you're getting money from, of course, the Mayor's supporters
Shirley Coleman: I'm not nearly getting three hundred and ninety thousand dollars that the unions have paid to sit me down, first and foremost. I do not have a conflict when it comes to my community. My community is my family. And I listen to my family. She happens to be a member of the family that we have helped. We're going to help all of our family members in the 16th Ward. And so when she says eighty-three percent, that vote was not taken in the 16th Ward. The 16th Ward wants to shop, want to have a job, want to be able to work in their own community. We have the highest unemployment in the City of Chicago. And, you know, it's been said that I don't believe that a job is better than no job. That's not the case. But when unemployment is high, crime is up. We find that when employment is high, crime is down. We have attacked all of the issues of crime. I think it's an insult when you go on radio talking about the murder rate is up. We have three great police commanders that have all...we have double digit decrease in crime.
Christian Farr: Well, now, let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond
Shirley Coleman: But you know, the lies that have been told...
Christian Farr: Let's give her an opportunity to respond. What do you think of the 16th Ward in terms of jobs, in terms of crime, in terms of employment.
Joann Thompson: I think that crime is up. We have a high concentration of ex-offenders. When they come home from prison their pleas for help fall on deaf ears. We have no support services for them. We have no referral programs. If we had some of those things maybe they wouldn't go back into a life of crime.
Christian Farr: What would you do about it as alderman? What would you do?
Joann Thompson: I would bring those services to the ward for ex-offenders. For sixteen years, sixteen years Coleman has not done anything for our ward. We are tired. We are tired of her. We're tired of everything that she says that's not true. We're tired.
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, respond please.
Shirely Coleman: If my opponent had any idea of what was going on in the ward she would know we just got a hundred thousand dollars for an ex-offenders program. But, of course, we see her every four years and so she does not know what's going on in the ward. She does not know that there are programs available for ex-offenders...
Joann Thompson: I do. I do.
Shirley Coleman: You don't know because you have not come out. We saw you four years ago and we haven't seen you since. So, they are right at 63rd and Halsted. But I'll give you that information after this, after Tuesday. I'll let you know. I'll let you know.
Joann Thompson: There is no programs. There's not.
Shirley Coleman: Teamwork Englewood was just awarded a hundred thousand dollars for ex-offenders. Ex-offenders, that's why we want to put you back to work.
Joann Thompson: The programs are not in service
Shirley Coleman: We want to put you back to work. Don't be fooled.
Christian Farr: Let's talk about something else that has come up in this election and it's the alcoholism that you went through back in 2002.
Joann Thompson: 2003
Christian Farr: Or 2003. Talk about that. And talk about why you brought it up and why you thought it was important.
Joann Thompson: Well...
Shirley Coleman: That's because it was the only thing she had to bring up.
Christian Farr: Let's give Ms. Thompson an opportunity to respond
Joann Thompson: I thought it was important that the residents of the 16th Ward, the ones that didn't know Joann Thompson, know what Joann Thompson is about. I wanted them to know and I'm proud of the fact that I have recovered, I had nothing to be ashamed of. Proud of it.
Christian Farr: Now, Alderman Coleman, you say you helped her through this.
Shirely Coleman: You know, I'm very proud of Joann Thompson. As a matter of fact, we're the ones that helped her with it. The last community meeting she was at, everyone--and I have witnesses--where she stood up, and we congratulated her for being able for me to direct her to where she could get her job where she's presently at. So, Joann, we are very proud of you. We're going to continue to pray for you. Since you made that an issue, whether I prayed for you or not, sweetheart, I'm going to continue to pray for you. Tonight, as a matter of fact.
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, did she help you?
Joann Thompson: No, absolutely not.
Shirely Coleman: [laughing]
Joann Thompson: And I think it's sad that a reverend, that a reverend...
Shirely Coleman: It's sad that she tells...
Christian Farr: Let's let Ms. Thompson respond.
Joann Thompson: ...would be on TV saying this. It's sad. It's really sad that she, as a reverend, that she would get on TV and say that she prayed for me when she didn't. I didn't even know her at the time. Did not know her. It's sad. It's sad.
Christian Farr: What was the nature of your relationship?
Shirely Coleman: You know what, I am very proud to be a pastor. I don't have to sit here and lie. Like she said, I never prayed for her. She's been to my church, so God bless you, I'm going to keep praying for you.
Christian Farr: OK, let's try to move on. You have an endorsement from the Sun-Times. Why do you think you got that endorsement?
Joann Thompson: I got that endorsement because I represent fresh leadership and my committment to my ward. I'm very proud of that endorsement.
Christian Farr: In terms of your endorsement, you got an endorsement from the Tribune.
Shirley Coleman: I've never got an endorsement from the Sun-Times in the sixteen years that I've run, so it's no surprise to me. I've won without the endorsement and I'm going to win again without the endorsement. I'm proud of the Tribune's endorsement because they can see the work we've done in the 16 years. Stevie Wonder can see what's on 63rd and Halsted between Halsted and Ashland. Everyone can see but my opponent because she's not been around to see anything. She's not been around to know any of the programs. She's not been around to know any of the programs that have come into the 16th Ward. The millions of dollars. Over three hundred million dollars of renovative work we have going on right now. We're going to break ground for a brand new 7th District Police Station that I fought for to keep in the 16th Ward. We have a $254 million dollar Kennedy-King getting ready to open next month. When I became alderman it was all in the 16th Ward. And so now, through the redistricting, some of it got into the 20th Ward, but that's something, a project we have labored over for the last eight years to make sure there was minority representation, we have Black people on the job, Black people working...
Christian Farr: Well, let's let Ms. Thompson respond to that.
Joann Thompson: Thank you.
Christian Farr: As Alderman Coleman said there's a lot going on
Joann Thompson: Yes
Shirely Coleman: A lot
Joann Thompson: The Kennedy-King sits in the 20th Ward
Shirely Coleman: That's not true
Joann Thompson: She has...
Shirley Coleman: She doesn't even know the ward boundaries
Christian Farr: Let's let her respond
Joann Thompson: She has a school at 55th and Morgan, Holmes school, where the six hundred children there use the gym room for the lunchroom, for the auditorium. She voted three times for the LaSalle Street development project which took one billion dollars out of the Chicago Public Schools, and she sits on the Eduction Committee.
Christian Farr: OK
Joann Thompson: Now, not only that, what about her pending cases
Shirely Coleman: Well, you asked about as far as responding. Now, here's a candidate that lives right down the street from the school. If she was so concerned about the school, it wouldn't have taken since 1971 to do something about that school...
Joann Thompson: She's the alderman...
Shirley Coleman: Now, you go figure...
Joann Thompson: She's the alderman...
Shirley Coleman: You go figure
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, Alderman Coleman...
Shirley Coleman: You're a resident. You can do something to help that school
Christian Farr: Alderman Coleman, let's talk about this lawsuit that's been going on in terms of this real estate consultant who received a half of a million dollars from some investors. Are you involved in this lawsuit?
Shirley Coleman: No, I am not. I have been accused wrongly. Just like, I mean, she's been accused of being a prostitute. We all have accusations against us. I have not done anything wrong. I am going to continue to lead the 16th Ward where it needs to go. That's...I've been accused of doing something wrong. Who of us in this world has not been accused of doing something wrong? If I had been proven anything I wouldn't be sitting here.
Joann Thompson: Well, the case is pending.
Christian Farr: Well, let's...we've only got one minute to go. Alderman Coleman, really quickly, last pitch.
Shirley Coleman: 16th Ward, please, don't be fooled. Don't be fooled by all of the garbage and the lies and the distortions that have been printed. Let me lead the 16th Ward into these next four years. Don't...You know what? Where your heart is where your money is...
Christian Farr: Ok, Ms. Thompson...
Shirley Coleman: Unions. Three hundred and ninety thousand dollars...
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson's going to get the last word
Shirley Coleman: She will report to the unions...
Christian Farr: Ms. Thompson, your last pitch here
Joann Thompson: Thank you very much. The 16th Ward...
Shirley Coleman: And I'll keep praying for you
Joann Thompson: ...The 16th Ward know they need a chane. They voted for a change. I got forty-two percent of the vote to her thirty-six percent of the vote.
Shirley Coleman: Thirty-eight percent, thank you.
Joann Thompson: Do not vote for Shirley Coleman. She represents the same. Nothing.
Christian Farr: All right, that's it. Our time is up. My thanks to Joann Thompson and Alderman Shirley Coleman
Friday, April 13, 2007
Phone Wars
Someone named Blanche from Ald. Coleman's office left two messages yesterday, inviting me to her monthly meeting tomorrow morning. No, she didn't offer any cash, in case you wondered. But she was very hopeful that I would attend and she reminded me to vote Tuesday. She was a real person and I'm guessing she got mixed up in her lists; thus I got called twice.
Meanwhile, Joann Thompson's recorded voice left me a message and reminded me to vote Tuesday. Just an observation: no live human being from her campaign has ever called me.
Oh, and someone took a poll last night or the night before. This time just one question: "If the election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for, Joann Thompson or Shirley Coleman?" I told them, but I'm not telling you. I asked the questioner who had commissioned the poll, which threw her for a loop, but then she just said she represents whatever company was conducting the poll and that was that.
On the email front, Big Picture is having a meeting tomorrow to talk about how to stay open.
Alas, I have a hot date with my taxes tomorrow and won't be at anybody's meetings for any reason. I'm hoping to be done in time to go to Julian Jr's birthday party at 4.
Sadly, our ward race did not make the Reader's last Aldermania column. I notice a growing number of Coleman signs in windows on my block--from one to three. None are up for Thompson.
Meanwhile, Joann Thompson's recorded voice left me a message and reminded me to vote Tuesday. Just an observation: no live human being from her campaign has ever called me.
Oh, and someone took a poll last night or the night before. This time just one question: "If the election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for, Joann Thompson or Shirley Coleman?" I told them, but I'm not telling you. I asked the questioner who had commissioned the poll, which threw her for a loop, but then she just said she represents whatever company was conducting the poll and that was that.
On the email front, Big Picture is having a meeting tomorrow to talk about how to stay open.
Alas, I have a hot date with my taxes tomorrow and won't be at anybody's meetings for any reason. I'm hoping to be done in time to go to Julian Jr's birthday party at 4.
Sadly, our ward race did not make the Reader's last Aldermania column. I notice a growing number of Coleman signs in windows on my block--from one to three. None are up for Thompson.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Runoff Update: ACORN Gets in the Game
Last night there was a pink flyer stuck in my gate when I got home. One side has a big photo of Joann Thompson with SEIU Local 880 President Helen Miller and other officers. Two are wearing "Fighting for a Living Wage" t-shirts.
The other side bears the headline: ACORN Political Action Committee News
What's going on in the 16th Ward?
The flyer asks a version of my earlier question about Hal Baskin and Shirley Coleman: "Why is Shirley Coleman, who runs against Hal Baskin every election, hanging out with Hal Baskin?" The flyer says she has been seen driving around the neighborhood with him and he managed security for a meeting she held at her church last summer. I have no idea if either of these statements are true.
Then the flyer speculates why this is going on: "Were Shirley and Hal Baskin trying to set it up so that when there is a runoff, it was between Shirley Coleman and Hal Baskin? Then we all run to Shirley and vote for her, because we don't want to hand the ward over to Hal and his friends. Has this all been a big game all this time?" Interesting questions.
The flyer also alleges Coleman paid people to attend her meetings. It implies people didn't know about them. If they mean her monthly ward meetings, she does put the word out about them-her flyers are stuck in my fence pretty regularly-so that's not a fair charge. I've been to a few and I never got paid. Maybe I'm just a chump and missed out on my chance to eat at the trough. Who knows?
The other side bears the headline: ACORN Political Action Committee News
What's going on in the 16th Ward?
The flyer asks a version of my earlier question about Hal Baskin and Shirley Coleman: "Why is Shirley Coleman, who runs against Hal Baskin every election, hanging out with Hal Baskin?" The flyer says she has been seen driving around the neighborhood with him and he managed security for a meeting she held at her church last summer. I have no idea if either of these statements are true.
Then the flyer speculates why this is going on: "Were Shirley and Hal Baskin trying to set it up so that when there is a runoff, it was between Shirley Coleman and Hal Baskin? Then we all run to Shirley and vote for her, because we don't want to hand the ward over to Hal and his friends. Has this all been a big game all this time?" Interesting questions.
The flyer also alleges Coleman paid people to attend her meetings. It implies people didn't know about them. If they mean her monthly ward meetings, she does put the word out about them-her flyers are stuck in my fence pretty regularly-so that's not a fair charge. I've been to a few and I never got paid. Maybe I'm just a chump and missed out on my chance to eat at the trough. Who knows?
Monday, April 09, 2007
Runup to Runoff
Here are some things I'm noticing from the Coleman/Thompson showdown around the neighborhood as April 17 approaches. Incumbent alderman Shirley Coleman has lots more signs up--Thompson favors weekend lit drops. Someone from Thompson's campaign left me literature last Saturday but when I tried to get her to talk to me she went across the street.
Word is Coleman held a breakfast not last Saturday but the one before for election judges. Hmmm....
Within a week after the election there was a crew out patching potholes on this block. I laughed out loud when I looked out the window and saw them putting down new asphalt.
The campaign is getting down and dirty on both sides. Thompson had a robo-call out in the last two weeks accusing Coleman of being friends with Hal Baskin, a former gang leader turned community activist. While there have been questions floating around for years about how former Baskin's gang ties really are, it's pretty clear to me he and Coleman aren't friends. His signs from running against her years ago are still up and fading along both Ashland and 51st.
Today I got a piece of literature from the Committee to Re-Elect Shirley Coleman accusing Thompson of being a union stooge, responsible to "Boss Tom Balanoff" and others (sorry I forget all the union guys they named). It was pretty amateurish in content, though nicely designed and the essence was not wrong--yes, Thompson is financed almost entirely by SEIU and other unions to a lesser extent.
Although I've heard from two or three ordinary citizens in various part of the ward that they are tired of Coleman and are ready for a change, I see Coleman at important events here (like the March Peace and Education Coalition meeting) and I don't see Thompson anywhere.
The only thing I can figure about this runoff is it will likely be close. Thompson had more of the popular vote than Coleman did in the first round (very bad for an incumbent)--I think it was 42 to 36 or something like that. But who knows who will show up for the runoff, and it's clear Coleman is trying somewhat harder now than she was in March.
Word is Coleman held a breakfast not last Saturday but the one before for election judges. Hmmm....
Within a week after the election there was a crew out patching potholes on this block. I laughed out loud when I looked out the window and saw them putting down new asphalt.
The campaign is getting down and dirty on both sides. Thompson had a robo-call out in the last two weeks accusing Coleman of being friends with Hal Baskin, a former gang leader turned community activist. While there have been questions floating around for years about how former Baskin's gang ties really are, it's pretty clear to me he and Coleman aren't friends. His signs from running against her years ago are still up and fading along both Ashland and 51st.
Today I got a piece of literature from the Committee to Re-Elect Shirley Coleman accusing Thompson of being a union stooge, responsible to "Boss Tom Balanoff" and others (sorry I forget all the union guys they named). It was pretty amateurish in content, though nicely designed and the essence was not wrong--yes, Thompson is financed almost entirely by SEIU and other unions to a lesser extent.
Although I've heard from two or three ordinary citizens in various part of the ward that they are tired of Coleman and are ready for a change, I see Coleman at important events here (like the March Peace and Education Coalition meeting) and I don't see Thompson anywhere.
The only thing I can figure about this runoff is it will likely be close. Thompson had more of the popular vote than Coleman did in the first round (very bad for an incumbent)--I think it was 42 to 36 or something like that. But who knows who will show up for the runoff, and it's clear Coleman is trying somewhat harder now than she was in March.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Quiet Easter
Junior's mom is sick, so we did not go out for Easter today. Dawn came over and helped me clean the house. It's better than it was. I showed Dawn this puzzle I bought at the National Museum of Mexican Art. It's a lot of different colored shapes you can put together to fill in a square. The first time I tried it, I couldn't figure out how to get all the pieces to fit in. Dawn spent some time with it and came up with a nice design. Once I saw hers, I tried it later and made them fit, with a different color pattern.
While we cleaning up, I found an essay template from a North Side high school for when a student misbehaves. It helps them think about what happened, how different people might look at the same situation, and what other decisions they could make in the same situation in the future.
I asked Dawn if she was willing to try writing one about what happened on Friday. She said yes. With a hint of a smile she said, "Alfredo made me do one of these one time." She took the paper home with her. We'll see what she comes up with.
Joey came over later. He wanted to see the Homies web site. So we were looking at it. I thought he would like the puzzle but he gave up after a short try.
While we cleaning up, I found an essay template from a North Side high school for when a student misbehaves. It helps them think about what happened, how different people might look at the same situation, and what other decisions they could make in the same situation in the future.
I asked Dawn if she was willing to try writing one about what happened on Friday. She said yes. With a hint of a smile she said, "Alfredo made me do one of these one time." She took the paper home with her. We'll see what she comes up with.
Joey came over later. He wanted to see the Homies web site. So we were looking at it. I thought he would like the puzzle but he gave up after a short try.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Friday's Good and Bad
Yesterday Dawn joined me for the Good Friday Walk for Justice downtown. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers led a station about justice for immigrant workers in English and Spanish. I was hoping Dawn would show it to her dad. Even though CIW is about farmworkers and her dad is a welder, I'm pretty sure he would want to hear about what they are doing to organize. Julian, Sr.'s factory was bought out by new owners who want to get lean and mean compared to the old guys. The old guys were no prize, either, if you recall from last year's immigration march hoo-hah at the factory. Rather than make you hunt down the post, I'll quote a bit from March 2006:
The good news about the march was that somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 people showed up. Now here's the bad news. Dawn's dad may be getting fired over it. He and all the other folks working at the factory went Friday, despite being told Thursday night that anyone who went would get the axe.
No one has received official termination letters yet. It sounds like the official company staff, including Dawn's dad, may be able to stay on, but the company wants to dump the day labor folks who were working there and chose to march. The company employees are saying they won't stay unless everyone gets their jobs back. ... It was pretty rough sitting with Dawn and her parents on folding chairs and large buckets in their new house, with dust all over the floor and white paint drying on the walls, wondering whether they're going to be able to make the mortgage payments.
That time, thanks to lots of media and help from Interfaith Worker Justice, they all got their jobs back and won back pay for their week off.
The new management, from California, is used to squeezing its labor force with lower wages than what is standard in Chicago. So far Julian has not been forced to take a pay cut, but they are making him work more hours and they are swinging his shift around, which is hell on a person's sleep cycle and health. Their contact from Interfaith Worker Justice is on vacation.
So the good in Good Friday was going to the walk and seeing lots of people. Dawn got to meet my friend Kathy Kelly and lots of other peace activists. Dawn seemed pretty interested and engaged, especially given I didn't know what she would make of a group of mostly old white people wandering around downtown beating drums and stopping traffic at corners.
So after all this, we take the bus home and Dawn says she's going to a friend's house. Well, she didn't stay there long, and then no one knew where she was for hours. Her folks finally tracked her down and she was home by about 1 a.m. Given what we just went through around here over Chris Pineda, it really wasn't the week to be pulling teenage stunts like that. But if teenagers always acted with that sort of knowledge in mind, I guess they wouldn't be teenagers.
I spent last night in the kitchen at Dawn's house. Adriana and Julian were cooking up fried fish with a ton of chopped garlic. Joey wanted to know where the fish's brain was. His dad did a little surgery on his fish's head when we sat down to eat and produced a slimy pea-sized globe.
Joey's been pursuing his drawing, and papa Julian is backing him up on it. That was fun to see. Somebody found Joey a Homies poster and he's trying to draw the figures from it, especially the dogs.
It was Julian, Jr's 17th birthday. He spent most of the evening outside in a Jeep with his buddy listening to music, loudly but not too loudly. I could hear it from 10 feet away from the car with its windows shut, but only at a dull roar, not a full-on blast.
By 11 we'd had it with pretending we weren't worried about Dawn and put the full-on press to find her. Adriana called her friends and their parents, Julian and Joey went out looking, I kept Adriana company and watched the baby while she called up a storm. We were under the impression you can't report someone missing until they've been gone 24 hours. I called the 9th District to check that out and they said, no you can report her, but it has to be a parent. That's when she called in. Adriana gave me the phone--she was too angry to talk to her, I think.
I wasn't much help. "Where are you?" I yelled.
"Somewhere," Dawn said.
"How many kids got killed this week?"
"I'm fine," she said in a small voice.
"When are you coming home?"
"Now."
"Well, hurry up!" I said, exasperated. "I'll be here when you get home."
Apparently that scared her into not wanting to come home, which I could have guessed but at that point I wasn't real rational either. She called later to say she was at her friend's house, named the friend and asked to stay over. Her mom talked to her, said no, she needed to come home, and then gave it to me.
This time I had a better grip. "Honey, just come home. We're worried about you."
Then she didn't want to get in the car with her dad. (He had driven over there suspecting that's where she was, and was waiting outside for her.) "I'll walk home by myself," she said. It was now shortly after midnight.
"At this hour?" I said. "No way. Nobody walks home by themselves at this time of night." (To be fair, I do sometimes, but I'm almost 40 years old, know self-defense and walk the one block from the bus stop to the house with my hand in a fist and my keys in between my fingers.)
Anyway, she's supposed to be coming over to wash baby clothes at some point.
The good news about the march was that somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 people showed up. Now here's the bad news. Dawn's dad may be getting fired over it. He and all the other folks working at the factory went Friday, despite being told Thursday night that anyone who went would get the axe.
No one has received official termination letters yet. It sounds like the official company staff, including Dawn's dad, may be able to stay on, but the company wants to dump the day labor folks who were working there and chose to march. The company employees are saying they won't stay unless everyone gets their jobs back. ... It was pretty rough sitting with Dawn and her parents on folding chairs and large buckets in their new house, with dust all over the floor and white paint drying on the walls, wondering whether they're going to be able to make the mortgage payments.
That time, thanks to lots of media and help from Interfaith Worker Justice, they all got their jobs back and won back pay for their week off.
The new management, from California, is used to squeezing its labor force with lower wages than what is standard in Chicago. So far Julian has not been forced to take a pay cut, but they are making him work more hours and they are swinging his shift around, which is hell on a person's sleep cycle and health. Their contact from Interfaith Worker Justice is on vacation.
So the good in Good Friday was going to the walk and seeing lots of people. Dawn got to meet my friend Kathy Kelly and lots of other peace activists. Dawn seemed pretty interested and engaged, especially given I didn't know what she would make of a group of mostly old white people wandering around downtown beating drums and stopping traffic at corners.
So after all this, we take the bus home and Dawn says she's going to a friend's house. Well, she didn't stay there long, and then no one knew where she was for hours. Her folks finally tracked her down and she was home by about 1 a.m. Given what we just went through around here over Chris Pineda, it really wasn't the week to be pulling teenage stunts like that. But if teenagers always acted with that sort of knowledge in mind, I guess they wouldn't be teenagers.
I spent last night in the kitchen at Dawn's house. Adriana and Julian were cooking up fried fish with a ton of chopped garlic. Joey wanted to know where the fish's brain was. His dad did a little surgery on his fish's head when we sat down to eat and produced a slimy pea-sized globe.
Joey's been pursuing his drawing, and papa Julian is backing him up on it. That was fun to see. Somebody found Joey a Homies poster and he's trying to draw the figures from it, especially the dogs.
It was Julian, Jr's 17th birthday. He spent most of the evening outside in a Jeep with his buddy listening to music, loudly but not too loudly. I could hear it from 10 feet away from the car with its windows shut, but only at a dull roar, not a full-on blast.
By 11 we'd had it with pretending we weren't worried about Dawn and put the full-on press to find her. Adriana called her friends and their parents, Julian and Joey went out looking, I kept Adriana company and watched the baby while she called up a storm. We were under the impression you can't report someone missing until they've been gone 24 hours. I called the 9th District to check that out and they said, no you can report her, but it has to be a parent. That's when she called in. Adriana gave me the phone--she was too angry to talk to her, I think.
I wasn't much help. "Where are you?" I yelled.
"Somewhere," Dawn said.
"How many kids got killed this week?"
"I'm fine," she said in a small voice.
"When are you coming home?"
"Now."
"Well, hurry up!" I said, exasperated. "I'll be here when you get home."
Apparently that scared her into not wanting to come home, which I could have guessed but at that point I wasn't real rational either. She called later to say she was at her friend's house, named the friend and asked to stay over. Her mom talked to her, said no, she needed to come home, and then gave it to me.
This time I had a better grip. "Honey, just come home. We're worried about you."
Then she didn't want to get in the car with her dad. (He had driven over there suspecting that's where she was, and was waiting outside for her.) "I'll walk home by myself," she said. It was now shortly after midnight.
"At this hour?" I said. "No way. Nobody walks home by themselves at this time of night." (To be fair, I do sometimes, but I'm almost 40 years old, know self-defense and walk the one block from the bus stop to the house with my hand in a fist and my keys in between my fingers.)
Anyway, she's supposed to be coming over to wash baby clothes at some point.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
"See how they loved him"
Chris Pineda's funeral was this morning. I heard the bell tolling for the casket as I walked to church. There were easily 2000 people there, and a line of TV cameras stood tall behind the last pew.
Fr. Ed performed his usual miracles with liturgy. The family chose the first reading from Isaiah, where it talks about the feast of rich foods and pure, choice wines, because Chris liked to eat. The second reading was the 23rd Psalm, also at the family's request.
The gospel was part of the recent gospel of the raising of Lazarus. We stopped at the part where Jesus wept and the crowd remarked, "See how he loved him."
Ed's voice broke in the homily talking about Chris's mother going to pray with the Virgin Mary. Two mothers who lost sons, praying together.
Stephanie Valentin of Poetics Magazine and the St. Joseph's youth group read the prayers of the faithful.
After Communion, Whitney Young's principal, Joyce Kenner, was invited to the podium. Five young men, friends of Chris, went with her. She invited everyone from Whitney Young to stand up. I could see at least a hundred--there were probably more. Dr. Kenner announced that Chris's diploma will be awarded to his family at the June graduation ceremony. That's when I started crying. Lots of other people did, too.
A college scholarship will be awarded annually to a Whitney Young senior who has similar qualities to Chris. "NOT a gangbanger," Kenner proclaimed, drawing sustained applause. The scholarship winner will have a C average or higher, a friendly spirit and a sense of humor, among other qualities.
To see video from the funeral (as long as the Trib keeps it up--I think it's got five days left), click here
Fr. Ed performed his usual miracles with liturgy. The family chose the first reading from Isaiah, where it talks about the feast of rich foods and pure, choice wines, because Chris liked to eat. The second reading was the 23rd Psalm, also at the family's request.
The gospel was part of the recent gospel of the raising of Lazarus. We stopped at the part where Jesus wept and the crowd remarked, "See how he loved him."
Ed's voice broke in the homily talking about Chris's mother going to pray with the Virgin Mary. Two mothers who lost sons, praying together.
Stephanie Valentin of Poetics Magazine and the St. Joseph's youth group read the prayers of the faithful.
After Communion, Whitney Young's principal, Joyce Kenner, was invited to the podium. Five young men, friends of Chris, went with her. She invited everyone from Whitney Young to stand up. I could see at least a hundred--there were probably more. Dr. Kenner announced that Chris's diploma will be awarded to his family at the June graduation ceremony. That's when I started crying. Lots of other people did, too.
A college scholarship will be awarded annually to a Whitney Young senior who has similar qualities to Chris. "NOT a gangbanger," Kenner proclaimed, drawing sustained applause. The scholarship winner will have a C average or higher, a friendly spirit and a sense of humor, among other qualities.
To see video from the funeral (as long as the Trib keeps it up--I think it's got five days left), click here
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Chris Pineda Murdered
This morning in church, Fr. Ed Shea told us during his homily that Whitney Young student Chris Pineda had been murdered. His body was found Friday in the Cal-Sag Channel. Today is Palm Sunday, when we read the Passion of Christ and remember an innocent man condemned to die. As Fr. Ed put it, we remember an innocent boy today, too.
The Sun-Times story is here.
At the 12:30 Mass, a group of Chris's friends from Whitney Young were selling t-shirts to raise money to increase the reward for information about his death. I heard that St. Procopius in Pilsen also held a fundraiser today. The funeral will be held at St. Joseph's at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Sun-Times story is here.
At the 12:30 Mass, a group of Chris's friends from Whitney Young were selling t-shirts to raise money to increase the reward for information about his death. I heard that St. Procopius in Pilsen also held a fundraiser today. The funeral will be held at St. Joseph's at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Missing Whitney Young student
Today's Sun-Times has a very sad story about a young man from the neighborhood who vanished without a trace last week. Fr. Ed Shea led a prayer vigil for him. It sounds like he's been gone for about a week. He was a quiet kid who just got accepted to UIC. Let's hope he comes home and becomes the only one of the family's six children to graduate from high school. He is the youngest in the family and everyone's hopes were on him to make it.
New Tenant
I don't think I've written much about my new tenant. We'll call him Alex, which will be the first tropical storm of the 2010 season. This seems appropriate as he's not very tempestuous now, but I wonder what he could grow into.
Alex is an engineer from Guanajuato, Mexico, turned third grade teacher. He likes to play soccer in his spare time and celebrated rather heavily when his team won the league championship, arriving home at 5:30 a.m. Good thing I was getting up early. He is very neat and quiet otherwise. So far, so good, and a welcome change from Hurricane Alberto, especially in the neat department. Now I'm the house slob, a position I much prefer. Any house is in trouble if I'm the neatest person in it.
Alex is an engineer from Guanajuato, Mexico, turned third grade teacher. He likes to play soccer in his spare time and celebrated rather heavily when his team won the league championship, arriving home at 5:30 a.m. Good thing I was getting up early. He is very neat and quiet otherwise. So far, so good, and a welcome change from Hurricane Alberto, especially in the neat department. Now I'm the house slob, a position I much prefer. Any house is in trouble if I'm the neatest person in it.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Dawn Makes Hollandaise Sauce
Tonight Dawn called around 8:30 asking if I had any white wine in the house. She was making Hollandaise sauce to put on broccoli. She tried at her internship--a cooking class at Washburne Culinary Institute--and wanted to try making it at home.
I was out of wine. So I walked up to the corner liquor store on 47th and braved the scary clientele to find a bottle of California Chardonnay and bring it back. Yup-yup tried to sell me a wheelie backpack but I have one already. When I got to their house, Dawn's little cousins were playing in the front yard with Diana. Marisa, Adriana and Dawn were in the kitchen. They were teasing Dawn about how long her project was taking.
"She's been cooking three hours already," Marisa told me.
"She can't work in a restaurant yet," I teased.
She gets a copy of the new edition of the Culinary Institute of America's textbook, The Professional Chef. It's gorgeous! Marisa was copying recipes when I got there and asked me to help translate them. After a couple of hilarious minutes of me miming dicing and slicing, I went home and got my dictionary to advance the effort.
Then we got into a big discussion of what is basil, what are peppercorns, and what are shallots. I actually had some of all these things back at my house, and Dawn needed the whole pepper and shallots for the sauce, so I went home for them, too. Some days it's good to be a yuppie--how many people on this block have shallots in their house, I wondered.
While we were watching Dawn boil water and stir sauce endlessly, Marisa asked me if I believe in extraterrestrials. I said, "Sure. The universe is really big. We can't be the only people in it, right?"
Then she asked if I'd ever seen any and I said no. Adriana said she saw some unusual lights once--somewhere between Zacatecas and Ciudad Juarez, I think she said. Then Julian Sr. came in with his hands all silvery-grey from working. "See, here's an alien," I teased. Marisa cracked up.
Julian washed off, picked up his youngest son and got in a little weightlifting with him. I'm worried about the guy. Things at his factory sound difficult--a new boss is cutting wages and raising hours. It may be time for the workers to rise up again out there.
Dawn's Hollandaise came out a bit thicker than the CIA's would have been, I think, but it was still mighty tasty. There were a few substitutions--hot sauce for cayenne pepper (easy), lime for lemon. Mexican Hollandaise. We had it with broccoli. Dawn gave her brother Joey a little on her finger to try. He tasted it, made a face and ran. "He's teasing me!" she complained.
Her big brother, Junior wouldn't even go there. "I'm OK," he said. I laughed at him.
All of us females over age 10 in the house chowed down on it, though.
I was out of wine. So I walked up to the corner liquor store on 47th and braved the scary clientele to find a bottle of California Chardonnay and bring it back. Yup-yup tried to sell me a wheelie backpack but I have one already. When I got to their house, Dawn's little cousins were playing in the front yard with Diana. Marisa, Adriana and Dawn were in the kitchen. They were teasing Dawn about how long her project was taking.
"She's been cooking three hours already," Marisa told me.
"She can't work in a restaurant yet," I teased.
She gets a copy of the new edition of the Culinary Institute of America's textbook, The Professional Chef. It's gorgeous! Marisa was copying recipes when I got there and asked me to help translate them. After a couple of hilarious minutes of me miming dicing and slicing, I went home and got my dictionary to advance the effort.
Then we got into a big discussion of what is basil, what are peppercorns, and what are shallots. I actually had some of all these things back at my house, and Dawn needed the whole pepper and shallots for the sauce, so I went home for them, too. Some days it's good to be a yuppie--how many people on this block have shallots in their house, I wondered.
While we were watching Dawn boil water and stir sauce endlessly, Marisa asked me if I believe in extraterrestrials. I said, "Sure. The universe is really big. We can't be the only people in it, right?"
Then she asked if I'd ever seen any and I said no. Adriana said she saw some unusual lights once--somewhere between Zacatecas and Ciudad Juarez, I think she said. Then Julian Sr. came in with his hands all silvery-grey from working. "See, here's an alien," I teased. Marisa cracked up.
Julian washed off, picked up his youngest son and got in a little weightlifting with him. I'm worried about the guy. Things at his factory sound difficult--a new boss is cutting wages and raising hours. It may be time for the workers to rise up again out there.
Dawn's Hollandaise came out a bit thicker than the CIA's would have been, I think, but it was still mighty tasty. There were a few substitutions--hot sauce for cayenne pepper (easy), lime for lemon. Mexican Hollandaise. We had it with broccoli. Dawn gave her brother Joey a little on her finger to try. He tasted it, made a face and ran. "He's teasing me!" she complained.
Her big brother, Junior wouldn't even go there. "I'm OK," he said. I laughed at him.
All of us females over age 10 in the house chowed down on it, though.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Curie Youth Radio on McKinley Park
Though Marshfield Tattler's world is a little south of McKinley Park--it's the nice big park people here go to to get out of the hood, if they're not going to the lake--this morning Curie Youth Radio has a piece on WBEZ's 848. It tells a story about an experience all too commonly faced by young men in my neighborhood. They're minding their own business when a bunch of gangbangers show up. Check it out.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Dawn Helps Win a Grant
Congratulations to Dawn and her friends at Big Picture, who wrote a grant to Mikva Challenge asking for money to expand Big Picture's after-school program. Currently, Teatro Vista has been doing after-school theater workshops for Big Picture students. With the Mikva grant, they will be able to add art and sports, and invite more students from other schools. They titled the program "Crossing Boundaries" because part of the point is for young people from different neighborhoods and different turf to have safe common space.
Go Dawn!
Go Dawn!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Girls Night In
I took a break from writing this evening and went next door. Julian and his friend and his friend's girlfriend were hanging on the front doorstep. "Are you looking for my family?" Julian inquired.
"I was coming to talk to your mom."
"They're all at Marisa's with the new baby." I thought he meant his new cousin. I hung out with them for a while. Yup-yup was just being really loud, running around hollering. "We have a rooster on the block," I said. Julian's buddy Santiago cracked up.
"Be safe," Julian warned as I was about to walk down the block.
"Don't worry," I said, "I'll yell 'Yup-yup' real loud if I get in trouble."
Over at Marisa's it was girls' night in with the wee ones. Marisa has a buddy, Yadith, who has a little teeny girl, probably younger than Julian's baby brother, who was there with Dawn and her mom.
Marisa's daughter Diana is three and always has a lot to say to me. "Hi, Maritza!"
"Hi, Diana."
This can go on for about a dozen times. Diana spent her first year of life with her English-speaking auntie, so she speaks much more English than the average three-year-old. But she switches back and forth in ways I don't always expect, so sometimes we just talk past each other. She's a total ham--she was dancing for us and doing quite a few theatrical moves, looking especially tragic when I said I was leaving, etc.
Dawn's mom, Adriana, is game to go get a San Miguel application on Friday morning. She said the school hasn't called her about Julian. Some scary stuff happened on Monday, but I'll save it for another post.
Probably the funniest moment was when Adriana asked Marisa and Yadith how old they are. Yadith is 19 and Marisa is 22. Then we were talking about birthdays and when is everybody's. I suppose I'll have to throw my could-be-annual Memorial/Birth Day BBQ. I know Adriana is in her late 30s, so I couldn't resist pointing out:
"Voy a tener quarenta anos. Soy la vieja en este grupo"/"I'm going to be forty. I'm the old lady in this group," I said, which got a big laugh out of all of them.
Adriana, holding her youngest son on her lap, pointed to Marisa and Yadith with their girls. "Senora, senora," she said, then pointed to herself. "Senora."
More laughing as she and I pointed to Dawn and myself and said in the same breath, "Muchachas, muchachas." I heard somebody say, "Muchachitas" (little girls).
It's a trip being a spinster down here. But I forget if I said this before--a while back Dawn was over here and told me she and her mom were talking about me. "We were talking about the fact that you have your own house and you are out on your own. That is amazing!" she said. Dawn has said she'd like to have her own house and travel, like me. That's also amazing.
"I was coming to talk to your mom."
"They're all at Marisa's with the new baby." I thought he meant his new cousin. I hung out with them for a while. Yup-yup was just being really loud, running around hollering. "We have a rooster on the block," I said. Julian's buddy Santiago cracked up.
"Be safe," Julian warned as I was about to walk down the block.
"Don't worry," I said, "I'll yell 'Yup-yup' real loud if I get in trouble."
Over at Marisa's it was girls' night in with the wee ones. Marisa has a buddy, Yadith, who has a little teeny girl, probably younger than Julian's baby brother, who was there with Dawn and her mom.
Marisa's daughter Diana is three and always has a lot to say to me. "Hi, Maritza!"
"Hi, Diana."
This can go on for about a dozen times. Diana spent her first year of life with her English-speaking auntie, so she speaks much more English than the average three-year-old. But she switches back and forth in ways I don't always expect, so sometimes we just talk past each other. She's a total ham--she was dancing for us and doing quite a few theatrical moves, looking especially tragic when I said I was leaving, etc.
Dawn's mom, Adriana, is game to go get a San Miguel application on Friday morning. She said the school hasn't called her about Julian. Some scary stuff happened on Monday, but I'll save it for another post.
Probably the funniest moment was when Adriana asked Marisa and Yadith how old they are. Yadith is 19 and Marisa is 22. Then we were talking about birthdays and when is everybody's. I suppose I'll have to throw my could-be-annual Memorial/Birth Day BBQ. I know Adriana is in her late 30s, so I couldn't resist pointing out:
"Voy a tener quarenta anos. Soy la vieja en este grupo"/"I'm going to be forty. I'm the old lady in this group," I said, which got a big laugh out of all of them.
Adriana, holding her youngest son on her lap, pointed to Marisa and Yadith with their girls. "Senora, senora," she said, then pointed to herself. "Senora."
More laughing as she and I pointed to Dawn and myself and said in the same breath, "Muchachas, muchachas." I heard somebody say, "Muchachitas" (little girls).
It's a trip being a spinster down here. But I forget if I said this before--a while back Dawn was over here and told me she and her mom were talking about me. "We were talking about the fact that you have your own house and you are out on your own. That is amazing!" she said. Dawn has said she'd like to have her own house and travel, like me. That's also amazing.
Monday, March 19, 2007
New Blog: City on the Make
For all the new fans I've picked up since I started blogging about Big Picture, here's a new blog for you to hear about city and school skulduggery: City on the Make
The second most recent post is an interesting and plausible theory about the LSC president at Curie High School, which has been in the news lately over the LSC's decision not to renew the principal's contract.
The second most recent post is an interesting and plausible theory about the LSC president at Curie High School, which has been in the news lately over the LSC's decision not to renew the principal's contract.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Birdwatching at Sherman Park
Dawn and I went to Sherman Park after school let out today. I was taking a break from housecleaning and freelance work, and stopped to talk to her mom. She told me Dawn cut school this morning to take a walk. She was home and wanted to go ouside Her mother asked if I would mind if she came with me. Of course I didn't mind, so out she came, still a little red-faced from crying.
We stopped by Su Casa and then went all the way over to Sherman Elementary at 51st and Morgan because I wanted to know what it looked like. They have a nice new playground--some kids were hanging around after school playing on it. Some of the kids sounded very rough--there was a lot of really foul cursing among kids who looked to be between eight and 10 years old. "Those teachers have their work cut out for them," I said to Dawn.
After we walked for a while and talked about nothing important, I asked what happened today. It was really what happened over the weekend--more struggles about free time and independence with her parents. I think she just felt trapped and decided to take a walk when she could take one more easily than she had over the weekend. It was also clear she felt like she was on top of her schoolwork--I didn't even try to take that one on right now. But she felt bad and was worrying that this would all hook back into problems last summer. We talked, walked around, got to the park, talked. Shortly after we got into the park itself, I stopped and looked at her and said, "I think maybe the most important thing here is that you forgive yourself for what happened last summer and let go of it. If you really believe that you have a clean slate, that might change things."
I saw in her face that she got what I was saying. I hope that sticks.
We saw quite a few interesting birds. Three red-winged blackbirds, who stood out strongly against the cattails and tall grass. And we saw parakeets! Apparently some have moved west of Jackson Park--we spotted three large nests, one with seven or eight squawking about. There was only one pair of mallards. Dawn was interested to know the male is the pretty one and mallard ducks mate for life. We also saw a male and female cardinal--another pair where the male gets the pretty colors. But Dawn asked me how to tell the difference between a male and a female Canada goose and I was stumped! If you know, please comment.
We stopped by Su Casa and then went all the way over to Sherman Elementary at 51st and Morgan because I wanted to know what it looked like. They have a nice new playground--some kids were hanging around after school playing on it. Some of the kids sounded very rough--there was a lot of really foul cursing among kids who looked to be between eight and 10 years old. "Those teachers have their work cut out for them," I said to Dawn.
After we walked for a while and talked about nothing important, I asked what happened today. It was really what happened over the weekend--more struggles about free time and independence with her parents. I think she just felt trapped and decided to take a walk when she could take one more easily than she had over the weekend. It was also clear she felt like she was on top of her schoolwork--I didn't even try to take that one on right now. But she felt bad and was worrying that this would all hook back into problems last summer. We talked, walked around, got to the park, talked. Shortly after we got into the park itself, I stopped and looked at her and said, "I think maybe the most important thing here is that you forgive yourself for what happened last summer and let go of it. If you really believe that you have a clean slate, that might change things."
I saw in her face that she got what I was saying. I hope that sticks.
We saw quite a few interesting birds. Three red-winged blackbirds, who stood out strongly against the cattails and tall grass. And we saw parakeets! Apparently some have moved west of Jackson Park--we spotted three large nests, one with seven or eight squawking about. There was only one pair of mallards. Dawn was interested to know the male is the pretty one and mallard ducks mate for life. We also saw a male and female cardinal--another pair where the male gets the pretty colors. But Dawn asked me how to tell the difference between a male and a female Canada goose and I was stumped! If you know, please comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)