BLAZING TRAILS

April 20, 2016
10 WINDY CITY TIMES
Task force releases
scathing CPD report
By Matt Simonette
Urban Initiatives
holds fundraiser
at Sidetrack
By Liz Baudler
Urban Initiatives, a nonprofit that works on
connecting underserved children to sports and
healthy lifestyles, held a fundraiser at Sidetrack,
3349 N. Halsted St., on April 14. Between
networking, donations and appetizers
from Limelight Catering, friends and members
of the organization had plenty to say about its
impact in the Chicago area.
In a video put together by the organization,
Executive Director Jim Dower said that Urban
Initiatives looks to support the whole child.
“When people ask me who our biggest competitors
are, it’s not the 10,000 other nonprofits.
It’s the 75,000 gang members in Cook County,
” said Dower.
Leslie Henry, an Urban Initiatives donor,
explained how the organization operates—
participation in sports is tied to school performance—and
extolled the benefits of giving
kids a supportive community. “Sports helped
me be the leader I am today,” said Henry. “It
helped me talk to people and not be shy. It
helped me realize I might not always win but
that I would have to keep going.”
Linda Kuczka, Agent
954 W Webster
Chicago, IL 60614
Bus: 773-975-9111
linda@lindakuczka.com
1211007
Chicago Police Board Chair Lori Lightfoot.
Photo by Andrew Davis
A task force commissioned in December by
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, in the wake of the protracted
investigation and prosecution of the
Laquan McDonald shooting, released a frank
and critical assessment of the Chicago Police
Department (CPD) on April 13.
The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force
was headed by Chicago Police Board Chair Lori
Lightfoot, who is openly lesbian.
The report acknowledged widespread distrust
of CPD from city residents, and presented numerous
disturbing statistics, among them that
over 74 percent of people killed or injured by
CPD over the last eight years were African-
American males, and that 72 percent of people
stopped by CPD were African-American. Seventeen
percent were Hispanic. The Task Force
issued more than 100 recommendations to address
the myriad problems.
In an April 14 conference call, Lightfoot
said the report was the culmination of a “very
long journey for us, starting in a way with the
video showing the very tragic death of Laquan
McDonald. … That moment revealed pain and
anger that have gone back decades.”
The Task Force was divided into five working
groups, each focusing on a dedicated topic:
community relations, legal oversight and accountability,
early intervention and personnel
concerns, de-escalation and video-release
policies. The report can be read at http://bit.
ly/1r3JWPR.
“We cannot and have not shied away from
identifying systemic problems or challenges
Kurt Jones, principal of Lincoln School in
Englewood and a longtime participant in Urban
Initiatives programs, talked about the organization’s
commitment to the community. “Part
of my job is to deal with nonprofits and filter
out who’s just there for a picture. Urban Initiatives
is in it for the right reasons,” he said.
Jones said he and his partner met their foster
son through Urban Initiatives, and mentioned
that the gay sports world could be an important
connection for mentoring kids. “If you
have the heart to mentor a kid, putting your
time and value into it, it matters,” he said.
“Urban Initiatives is about coming together
as a city, ” said Patrick Croke, from Sidley Austin
LLP. “I dare any one of you to go out and
not fall in love with these kids.”
Jordan Lantz, Urban Initiatives’ development
coordinator for individual giving, expressed the
organization’s desire to reach out to the LGBT
community. “Something we very much care
about is cross community connection,” Lantz
said. “We believe in diversity, and putting
people from different backgrounds in front of
our kids. Having openly gay role models might
make some of them feel safe.”
Lantz, who is new to his role, said he deeply
enjoys his role at Urban Initiatives. “I would
never be able to ask some for money if I didn’t
believe in what the cause was,” he said.
Family. Friends.
Community.
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that undermine the efforts of those officers
who are sincerely committed to doing their
jobs the right way,” the report stated. “To be
sure, individual officers must own responsibility
for not merely their actions each day, but
also the reverberating and sometimes corrosive
and lingering effect of those actions on citizens.
And ultimately, the responsibility for setting
the correct course lies with CPD leadership
itself.”
“The members of the Task Force must be commended
for the candid assessment of the longstanding
problems with policing in Chicago,”
said ACLU of Illinois Police Practices Director
Karen Sheley, in a statement. “The willingness
to acknowledge the racism that has been endemic
in Chicago policing over many decades,
to face the frequency of unconstitutional actions
by Chicago police, and to recognize that
CPD policies and the collective bargaining
agreement with the Union has turned the code
of silence into official policy—each [sic] are
important steps to coming to grips with generations
of problems in the way that Chicago
is policed.
“But such candor is not an end, in and of itself.
The strong diagnoses must be followed by
action—by the mayor, the City Council and the
police department. Corrective measures—those
Rauner meets with
trans-bill advocates
By Matt Simonette
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Photo by Gretchen Rachel Hammond
outlined by the Task Force and others—must
be fashioned in a way that they cannot be reversed.
And, the City must invest the necessary
resources for training and personnel—to
confront implicit bias, to train with best practices
for deescalating encounters rather than
turning to force and to create—for the first
time—a vigorous and transparent police oversight
system.”
On April 13, the Chicago City Council approved
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment
of Eddie Johnson to be the new CPD superintendent.
Alds. Leslie Hairston and Jason Ervin
both introduced measures that call for a citizen
police monitor in that meeting.
“We all want Eddie Johnson to be successful,”
Lightfoot said in the conference call. “I
think he understands that there are a number
of challenges that the department must take
on head-on, and I look forward to working with
him in the coming weeks to help bring him up
to speed and educate him on those issues that
we’ve outlined in the Task Force report. What’s
most important is that we get this right, and
that we don’t let this moment pass without
recognizing the need for change.
Lightfoot added, “We need to take advantage
of the moment. There needs to be change, but
we need to do it in a thoughtful way.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner, on April 13, met with advocates
from Equality Illinois and AIDS Foundation
of Chicago to advance a pro-LGBT equality
agenda, especially with regards to two current
pieces of transgender-related legislation.
Advocates encouraged Rauner to sign HB
6073, legislation state Rep. Greg Harris sponsored
that eases the process by which transgender
Illinoisans can change the gender markers
on their birth certificates, according to an
April 15 statement. They further encouraged
the governor to oppose a second transgenderrelated
bill, HB 4474, which state Rep. Thomas
Morrison sponsored, that dictates the use of
restrooms and changing facilities by transgender
students.
On April 5, HB 6073 was passed to the Illinois
House floor with a vote from the House
Human Services Committee. HB 4474 was, on
the same day, referred without discussion to
the Human Services Facilities Subcommittee,
which, in turn, re-referred the bill back to the
House Rules Committee April 8.
Organizational advocates were joined on
April 13 by numerous citizen advocates taking
part in meetings for Equality Illinois’
2016 LGBT Advocacy Day. Community partners
for the day included UP Center of Champaign
County, Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, Rainbow
Cafe, Coalition of Rainbow Coalitions (CORAL)
and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Finn DeLima, a transgender student at Southern
Illinois University, explained the importance
of easing the rules on changing birth certificate
gender-markers to Rauner. The mother
of a transgender student likewise discussed the
harm of HB 4474. Participants also met with
state Senate President John Cullerton.
“At a time when legislators and governors
across the country are attacking LGBT people
through mean-spirited and hateful policies, it
is imperative that transgender individuals be
heard and represented at the state Capitol,”
said Michael Ziri, director of public policy at
Equality Illinois. “The conversation with the
governor regarding HB 6073 and HB 4474 was
encouraging.”
“Equality Illinois and our partners are working
hard to share information with our legislators
about the harm caused by anti-LGBT bills
such as HB 4474. We are also asking them to
pass the birth certificate bill because having
updated identification documents is important
to transgender Illinoisans who may face embarrassment,
discrimination, and harassment if
their core documents do not reflect their authentic
gender identity,” added Patty Medairy,
director of field operations at Equality Illinois.
Ethiopian Israeli
activists to
speak April 25
Leaders from KALA—the Hebrew abbreviation
of Kehila Lahatavit Ethiopit, which
translates as “LGBT Ethiopian community”—will
speak at a gathering hosted by
Jeff Grinspoon and Jon Foley at 6 p.m. on
Monday, April 25. The gathering is sponsored
by the organization A Wider Bridge.
Israeli LGBT leaders Sarah, Yaniv and
Lielshare will discuss their personal stories
as well as the need for KALA.
“KALA’s advocacy and fellowship for Israeli
LGBTQ Ethiopians helps community
members manage the duality, and sometimes
conflicting challenge, of being both
LGBTQ and Ethiopian in Israel,” said a
statement from A Wider Bridge. “Because
of the significant cultural sensitivity that
exists in the Israeli Ethiopian community,
a part of KALA’s community is still defined
as confidential in order to safeguard those
who have yet to reveal their sexual orientation
or gender identity.”
Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
RSVP to awiderbridge.eventbrite.com. The
event location (in Lincoln Park) will be
provided with RSVP.