Reflections on MAVReC 2015

               We at MAVReC have completed multiple things over the past summer. One of the things we did was a series of group discussions on various topics such as police abolition, Michael Pfleger’s comments on Chief Keef, what it means to be a person of color in Chicago, Kendrick Lamar`s song “Alright”, and whether reverse racism exists. We have also interviewed youth of color, including We Charge Genocide activist Fernando Romulo, and students in Austin, on police brutality and “stop and frisk”. While in Austin, we also attended a training on stop and frisk by We Charge Genocide member Page May, and learned about the consequences of stop and frisk, as well as how we could deal with the problem.

Aside from interviews, discussions, and trainings, we also put up flyers on business windows spreading awareness about a coming organisation, “RCAPS”.  RCAPS was created to create strong communities and to provide an alternative to the CAPS meetings, which only represent the interests of rich white gentrifiers and police officers. RCAPS hopes to give a voice to the voiceless and to create a strong community that would make neighborhoods better and safer. Furthermore, we took pictures of the Uptown community and conducted interviews amongst ourselves on issues that affect us strongly.

In addition, on social media, we managed to update all of our social media accounts, creating blog posts, Facebook statuses, Tweets, and creating an Instagram account.

We also took film, pictures, and updated our YouTube with footage of our discussions.  We also collaborated with an organization called Voice of the People to do an oral history project on gentrification in Uptown.  We interviewed residents of Uptowns to try and get their story and their experiences with gentrification.  Once an interview was completed we edited it down to a five minute clip with the major themes still present.  We edited the interviews down to five minutes to appeal to all audiences and not lose them with long boring videos.  We plan to continue the project into the future and create a people’s archive of stories in Uptown.  We will begin to present our work and continue building on it, and to build community in the process.

Voices of Uptown (Update 7.21 – 7.23)

Hello, everyone! This is simply an update on what has been going on last week (the week (July 21 through July 23). So much has been going on lately for the members of MAVReC, and we have been able to get a fair amount of things done.

Last week, on Wednesday, July 28, 2015, several members of MAVReC went to the VOP’s Tech Center to secure interviews with people who were and are personally affected by the gentrification of Uptown. This is a part of our oral history project (one of two) this summer dealing with the topic of gentrification and affordable housing in the Uptown neighborhood. The purpose of this project is to give a voice to the most oppressed and marginalized of the Uptown community, and to preserve that voice. We are currently collaborating with an organization called Voice of the People, whose fliers we have attached below, and if anybody from the Uptown area is interested in sharing their story about Uptown and the how gentrification and rising rent prices have personally affected them, please contact us through the information below.

Anyways, at the VOP Tech Center, we went around the buildings to ask people if they were willing to share their stories,one of them was a man by the name of Prince Noble El. Prince Noble El is a community organizer in Uptown who has lived there since 1993, and is a member of the Moorish Science Temple. A clip from the interview is available at the top of this post, and the full interview will be released later. In this short clip Mr. Prince talks about the basketball rims within his community being taken down without the consent of the people.

The interview was a very interesting experience, with Prince not only discussing his life experiences as a community organizer in Uptown and the struggles of the Uptown community, but also other topics including nationality and the ethnic makeup of Uptown and other neighborhoods in Chicago. Overall, it was a privilege to interview Prince Noble El and to listen to what he had to say about the Uptown community.

MAVReC Group Discussion 7/14: Michael Pfleger

Men Against Violence Research Collaborative discusses Michael Pfleger’s recent comments calling out Chief Keef after the death of his friend Capo and 13-month-old, Dillon Harris.

Introduction to MAVReC 2015

Hello! We are the Men Against Violence Research Collaborative.  Our mission is to promote a counter space for youth who are marginalized, oppressed, and looked down upon by society, through Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR).  YPAR encourages these oppressed youth to work together to understand and spread knowledge of the issues that affect our communities.  YPAR also encourages youth to prevent violence in their communities and to fight against the negative stereotypes of young people and people of color.

Currently our projects are covering two major issues: police brutality and gentrification.   Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. Gentrification is the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into poor neighborhoods that often displaces poorer residents.

Men Against Violence Research Collaborative’s hopes to accomplish our goal of spreading information about these issues through informative oral history and getting as many people as possible involved in our fight against these problems in our communities.

MAVREC: Recruiting Youth Action Researchers

The movement to transform Chicago is alive and building. Men Against Violence Research Collaborative (MAVReC) is looking for young men of color who’s lives have been impacted by the city’s injustice system, whether that be through racist police harassment, police violence and, more broadly, racism within Chicago’s schools, courts and prisons. As a collective of young men of color from various neighborhoods of Chicago, we are looking for similarly passionate individuals that are committed to finding solutions for communities in order to overcome violence and combat the injustices we see and hear on a daily basis. We strive to provide a space to empower those directly affected by these issues and to strategize ways of further resisting a system that continually perpetuates violence toward our already marginalized communities.

As youth action researchers:

We collaborate with various organizers, youth activists and community organizations in order to conduct research relevant to the lives of marginalized people and promote social change.
We participate in ongoing demonstrations and events surrounding police violence and, more broadly, remain active in the Black Lives Matter movement based here in Chicago.
We are currently working on a video based oral history project on police brutality and youth resistance.
As a part of a larger effort, we will be creating an informative manual regarding interactions with police. Our goals for the project is to reduce police violence by providing preventative techniques and information for youth of color.
As a member, researchers must be willing to:

Work on research
Participate in actions related to police brutality, and contribute to group discussions
MAVReC researchers will meet 3 days a week at Alternatives Inc. at 4730 N. Sheridan Rd.
**Youth action researchers receive a bi-weekly stipend over a period of 6 weeks for their work, effort and commitment to the program. The total stipend for the program is $435

If you are interested in building with us and joining the greater resistance, fill out and submit an application through www.afterschoolmatters.org and choose MAVReC on the application.

Class Warfare: The Fight for 15

On April 15th, the Men Against Violence Research Collaborative participated in the Fight for 15 action in Chicago. MAVReC, in conjunction with Coalition for the Homeless, marched alongside activists, students and community members from various organizations such as BYP 100, We Charge Genocide, Chicago Teachers Union and the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago to name a few. The initial rally started at Chicago’s UIC quad and proceeded with a march down Jackson Boulevard to a McDonalds outside of the Chicago Board of Trade building. Throughout the day, over 8,000 protesters came out to show their support. (Chicago Board of Trade intentional)

The action was an attempt to bring further awareness to the issue of income inequality, specifically raising the minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 for fast food establishments such as McDonalds. Supporters of the movement joined together to call for a living wage, as many minimum wage workers currently struggle everyday to meet the basic costs of living and feel exploited by the large corporations within the fast-food industry. Despite its focus on the fast-food industry, the action shed light on the exploitation of various sectors of employment, including higher-education, security companies and the construction industry.

As an organization dedicated to resisting violence, the fight for 15 movement represents a push back against economic violence. The perpetual downward pressure on wages in various sectors represents an ongoing war against the poor. This is a struggle that affects predominantly black and brown communities, communities that are already marginalized politically, economically and socially. MAVReC feels that it is important to emphasize the intersection of violence, from physical violence in the form of police brutality to economic violence through wage labor that does not permit for families to meet the basic needs of living which is an issue that particularly affects black and brown families. In addition to highlighting the impact of structural economic violence, MAVReC’s presence in the fight for 15 movement speaks to our belief in the importance of showing solidarity with other organizations that stand up for the rights of oppressed groups. Forming these alliances by showing up to actions is a vital part to community and movement building that will prove useful in creating further change.

Get paid to share your story with MAVReC

The movement to transform Chicago is alive and building. Men Against Violence Research Collaborative (MAVReC) is looking for people who’s lives have been impacted by the city’s injustice system, whether that be through racist police harassment, police violence and, more broadly, racism within Chicago’s schools, courts and prisons. Take this opportunity to speak out against police brutality and join us in our collective fight against oppression.

We are currently working on a video based oral history project on police brutality and youth resistance. This process requires conducting interviews which is why we are reaching out to you. We are going to post these interviews on our website as a resource for youth of color and communities where these tools can be shared. As a part of a larger effort, we will be creating an informative manual regarding interactions with police. With our project we are hoping to reduce police violence by providing preventative techniques and information for youth of color. If you have any experiences with racial profiling, police harassment or forms of police violence we would like to include you in our interviews. Or, if you know anybody who has also had these experiences we would greatly appreciate you putting us in contact with them.

**Interviewees will receive $15 in compensation for their participation and an additional $10 for bringing in an additional participant.

If you would like to be involved or have any further questions please email us at mavrecypar@gmail.com.

Welcome Jason as MAVReC Rallies for Reparations

Jason Ware is the newest member of MAVReC, taking over as our adult advisor. He began working in social justice 2 years ago as a member of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) doing advocacy for education justice against racism. The mass school closings and budget cuts of the Chicago Public School system was the last straw for Jason and he began doing community organizing work. In 2014 he joined We charge Genocide and began doing Cop Watch/Know your Rights training sessions. With the experience he has doing activism and the passion he has for  social justice campaigns, we at MAVReC are more than glad to have him on board. He is already making connections between MAVReC and outside experience by taking us to the Rally For Reparations on February 14th, a rally organized by The Chicago Torture – Justice Memorials, Project NIA, Amnesty International USA, and We Charge Genocide. The rally was called to demand that Rahm Emanuel and other Chicago Politicians support the proposal for reparations for the survivors of John Burge’s torture. John Burge was the Chicago Police Chief in the 1970’s through 80’s and was discovered to have tortured over 100 African American males during his time in the office. Now, over 40 years later, the people of Chicago are close to giving those victims of the torture the resources to rebuild their lives and to give better lives to their families. The reparations ordinance will not only guarantee that monetary compensation be given to the survivors, it also includes the building of a trauma center in the south side of Chicago. This center will help those who went through the torture as well as serve those still being targeted by Chicago’s racist and brutal police force.

 

The Next event lined up is the “Too Angry To talk About It” conference at our own Alternatives Inc. the conference is a time for activists to meet one another and to inform those not up to speed about the Black Lives Matter Movement. Its being held here at 4730 N Sheridan Rd at 6:00 pm on tuesday February 24th. Come to both learn about the movement and to connect with others who share the same passion for the movement.

MAVReC Watches the Watchers

(Photo credit to Sarah-Ji member of We Charge Genocide)

On January 24th, instead of a normal work day, all members of MAVReC attended the Watching the Watchers Conference at Roosevelt University. The conference was organized by We Charge Genocide and Project NIA, and was also co-sponsored by many other Social justice and civil rights groups. The conference consisted of 3 sets of workshops to educate people on the Black Lives Matter movement and other pressing matters like police brutality, the school to prison pipeline, cop watching, the LGBT, bail and bonds for criminals, and many others.

(Photo credit to Sarah-Ji member of We Charge Genocide)

Our 10 members split up and attended as many workshops as we could in order to get the most out of the conference. One of the many workshops we visited was the Arts and Resistance workshop led by Ann-Meredith. As a whole, the conference revitalized our energy and inspired us to continue our own work. Being surrounded by those who’ve done this sort of work for years and even those just starting gave us a great amount of new information and new connections to call on. In the end it left us with more questions than answers. However, that makes our work even more important as we look for way to provide answers to these questions.

MAVReC Marches with Masses

  

On January 19th members of MAVReC took part in the MLK 4 mile march from the Chicago historical Water Tower to the Chicago Trade Center. The national event was lead by the Coalition Against Police Violence and Total Blackout For Reform, with a member of Total Blackout For Reform, Otis Buckley, being the head organizer of the march. At the march the two groups involved announced their 10 demands of the government in order to “fix the broken legal system and end police brutality” or else they would call for an economic shut down of America until the demands were met.  Along the march there were 4 minute pauses to show support for Mike Brown and all others murdered by police officers. We felt honored to be apart of such a widespread protest on such an important day to both the Black lives matter movement and all civil rights activists.