158 Critical Planning Summer 2006 Critical Planning Summer 2007 ...

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Table 1: North Park, Near North, and Little Village ComparisonNeighborhoodPopulation in2000Source: Chicago (2003); Bureau of the Census (2000)# of Families below povertylinein 2000Median Family Income in 2000North Park 18,514 329 $58,984Near North 72,811 1883 $93,934Little Village 91,071 3905 $32,317Table 2: Walter Payton, Northside College Prep and Farragut Career Academy ComparisonSchoolsWalter Payton(Near North)NorthsideCollege Prep(North Park)AttendanceRate94.1%(# of students800)96.6%(# of students990)GraduationRate% meeting orexceeding standardsin Reading, Mathand Science89.1% Reading 95.1% Math93.0%Science 93.0%98.0% Reading 99%Math 98.5% Science98.5%Studentsscoring 3or better onAP examsRacialdemographic82.0% White 40.4%Black 27.5%Hispanic 22.8%Asian 8.8%83.0% White 40.0%Black 7.2%Hispanic 22.5%Asian 28.9%FarragutCareerAcademy(Little Village)90.3%(# of students2549)57.6% Reading 23.0% Math16.0% Science 11.0%3.0% White 0.2%Black 17.9%Hispanic 81.9%Asian 0.0%Source: Schools (2005); Education (2005)Critical Planning Summer 2007 147
would still just get pregnant. Immediately followingthis meeting, block club leaders trained in communityorganizing began a series of events that resulted in themost visible of the political protests: a hunger striketo fight for the high school that had been promisedto Little Village. 5On Mother’s Day in 2001, a group of Mexican-American protesters, predominantly mothers andgrandmothers, gathered near the corner of 31 st Streetand Kostner Avenue across the street from land thathad been cleared in preparation for the constructionof a new school (see image 1). Alderman RicardoMunoz had spent years lobbying for a new highschool in response to residents’ frustration over thelack of educational options in the neighborhood.Angered by neglect and Mr. Martin’s arrogant anddemeaning attitude, the protestors staged a hungerstrike on the site, which they named Camp Chavez inhonor of the famous Chicano organizer of migrantfarm workers.The series of events leading up to and followingthe strike represent a larger struggle about whoshould have access to city resources and how communitydecision-making should inform the processof resource distribution. Throughout the 19-dayhunger strike and their struggle to stay engaged inthe design process and define the school’s classification,LVLHS advocates worked collectively to obtainthe city resources that had been promised to them.They demanded money when they were told therewas no more money. They not only insisted on beinga significant part of the planning process, but alsocame to guide it.The hunger strike’s highly publicized eventsshifted power away from the CEO of Chicago PublicSchools and towards the community. Accordingto a description provided by Jaime de Leon (one ofthe hunger strike organizers) when the strike began,CEO Paul Vallas refused to come to the site or acknowledgethe strikers and said that he did not wantto come to Little Village to meet with a few womenwho are refusing to eat. On the sixth day of the strike,after several media outlets had covered the story andmore than 500 people were camping out on CampChavez, Vallas changed his mind and decided to visit.He arrived in his business suit with a cohort of staffmembers. He stood outside the tents and asked thestrikers to come speak to him. The strikers (who weredressed in casual clothes) stayed where they were andtold Vallas that if he wanted to speak with them, hewould have to enter the tent and sit on a milk crate.Vallas paused, but eventually sat down on the milkcrate to talk to the strikers. Thus, the hunger strikerswere able to control space by dictating the location inwhich they would negotiate. Community memberswere proud that such a powerful figure was forcedto negotiate on their turf, on their terms (DeLeon2006).During the 19-day strike, advocates developeda unique democratic decision-making process. AsGarcia explains, “The hunger strikers and a handfulof volunteers who dedicated time, resources anddedication to the campaign were allowed to participatein the discussions when decisions were tobe made. The strikers had voting rights and [sought]consensus [from] those participating in the discussions”(Garcia 2002: 26). This process is importantbecause the strikers were fighting for just resourcesin a just fashion.148Critical Planning Summer 2006 2007
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Page 4 and 5: Figure 1: School Quality Distributi
Page 9 and 10: community and gather design ideas.
Page 11 and 12: The local school community held a p
Page 13 and 14: There are several moments within th
Page 15: Chicago, City of. 2003. Economic De

158 Critical Planning Summer 2006 Critical Planning Summer 2007 ...

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