A House of Art Offering Inner-City Youth a Creative Out

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Originally appeared in The Chicago Bureau 
Miguel Rodriguez, director of the Graffiti Zone, sitting outside the program’s home/Photo by Samantha Caiola
In a two-story brick residence in Humboldt Park, three teen artists sit around a table discussing their plans for an original neighborhood mixtape. There’s a tripod and a can of spray paint on the table, as well as a pile of paperwork, including grant proposals. The walls are covered in painted portraits. When these three turn 18, they’ll have the opportunity to live in this house as part of Graffiti Zone’s Artist-in-Residence program, which pays young artists a weekly stipend to hone their passions and, they hope, beautify a neighborhood too often making headlines for its violence. The teens – currently ages 16 to 17 – were commissioned to the house by Miguel Rodriguez, who at 20 is the director of Graffiti Zone, a Chicago nonprofit that helps at-risk teens express their talents.

In a No-win Position: Teens Caught up in the System Share their Stories

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“They knew I had some problems, but they never asked me what was wrong or why I kept running [away] before they took my baby away … they put me in a situation where I couldn’t win,” Teneshia shared, a distant look in her eyes, as if she were looking back at her past. In the VOX meeting room filled with teens and social workers, the teen mom, gave birth to her first child at age 14, detailed caring for her children and drug-addicted mother, all while trying to avoid her sexually abusive male family members. “At home, I was the mom and paid every bill," she explained. She labeled herself as a “serious runaway,” because she ran away from home so often. As Tenesia told her story her voice cracked, and unable to continue, she burst into tears and left the room, trailed closely by her caseworker.

In Georgia, the Right and the Left Coming Together Over Juvenile Justice Reform

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ATLANTA -- A major shift in public policy takes time, and the time for juvenile justice reform is now. As the 2008 Great Recession took hold, child advocates braced for reductions in services and programs in juvenile justice systems across the country. These systems were already felt to be under-resourced due to a lack of priority around juvenile justice funding. They also have been heavily criticized for a lack of progressive programming and concern for overall outcomes for young people. Advocates feared that the further constriction of resources would eliminate the effective or promising practices that remained, leaving no alternatives to detention.

Author of Report Recaps Connecticut’s Long Road to Juvenile Justice Reform

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UPDATED: Large-scale abuses in Connecticut’s juvenile justice system drove a push for reform that rallied advocates and spurred politicians into action; according to the author of an exhaustive report on the history of the juvenile justice system detailing the strides the state has made over the last decade. “Connecticut had a terrible system 20 years ago,” said author Richard Mendel. “They’ve made a ton of changes around a ton of different areas … producing impressive improvements on a wide range of indicators.”

In 1993, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit about the neglect, excessive punishment and unconstitutional practices in the system. The case was named after Emily J., a 13-year-old girl with a homeless mother and absent father. Skipping school landed her in a detention center, where she spent months.

Suspects Held Without bail in Wake of Hadiya Pendleton Funeral, Michelle Obama Visit

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By Safiya Merchant and Eric Ferkenhoff

Three days after Michelle Obama flew to Chicago for the funeral of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, the slain honor student who performed at last month’s presidential inauguration, a judge ordered two men to be held without bail on first-degree murder charges amid the swirl of politics set off by her death. In laying out the charges, prosecutors detailed how Hadiya, a majorette with her King College Prep high school band, got caught up as the unintended target of a gang retaliatory shooting – allegedly by suspects Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20. The men also face charges of attempted murder and various weapons offenses. During a Monday evening news conference to announce the arrests, police brass and some politicians seized on the weapons charges as evidence that Chicago, the state of Illinois and the nation need to toughen the very gun laws for which at least one of the suspects had previously served time. (Had sentences for weapons offenses here and elsewhere been more strict, this reasoning goes, Hadiya might not have been slain as the shooter would still be locked up.)

Whatever the case, there is little denying that Hadiya’s death is the subject of wide debate even as it hit so personally for those who knew her.

Collaboration in Action: Robert Listenbee and George Mosee

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The field of juvenile justice is abuzz with the recent news of President Barack Obama appointing Robert Listenbee to be the next administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. While most reports are quoting “advocates” closely aligned with the defense bar, there is another group of professionals who are cheering this nomination as well -- juvenile court prosecutors. As many in the field know, one of Listenbee’s biggest supporters is George Mosee, the deputy district attorney in Philadelphia who oversees juvenile court and has worked closely with Listenbee for more than 10 years. While it may seem unusual for a prosecutor to hail the praises of a defense attorney, Mosee and Listenbee are both committed to bringing about positive outcomes for the young people in Philadelphia. Over the past years these two men have developed a professional working relationship based upon mutual respect and trust — one that can serve as a model of collaboration for other practitioners on both sides of the aisle.

Abandoned Atlanta: Teens Portray the Forgotten, the Unheard of, and the Remnants of a Complicated City

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The sight of decrepit, abandoned buildings can evoke many different reactions. They can inspire or disgust, educate or anger, thrill or frighten. Abandoned buildings serve as a reminder of our history---as well as our disappointments---and the art created of them can paint a vivid picture of urban decay. Being the oddball out of capital cities, Atlanta was not built on a major body of water. Instead, it grew as a central railroad hub of ill repute.  It was a city of prostitution, gambling, and violence for a long time.