Final Observing Democracy Entry - 4/7/2012

           Throughout the course of the semester, I have witnessed a Chicago Public School (CPS) board meeting, a Tamms Year Ten (TY10) organization meeting, campaigning for Lisa Hernandez for State Representative, and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) hearing regarding Governor Quinn’s proposal to close Tamms Supermax prison. These have given me a taste of collectives’ structures at multiple levels, ranging from grassroots, district, city, and state organizations.  What I take away from this experience is in no way what I expected.

            The CPS board meeting was heated. Seventeen school turn-arounds, fade-outs, or closings were proposed to take place. As you can imagine, the affected communities were not going down without a fight. Parents, teachers, concerned community members, and students all presented their cases to unresponsive board. It appeared as if the board was simply going through the forced motions of “democracy” in order to appease the city. The unsympathetic, cold faces of the board watched as one by one the registered speakers’ two-minute time allotments ran out. Diane Ravitch points out in The Life and Death of the Great American School System how policy makers have to “think like the state” and not on a personal level in order to survive making hard, complicated decisions. This mind set was evident in every board member’s face as they blocked out the tears and cries from the affected community. I will be the first to admit that I don’t have the solution to the problems that plague these neighborhoods, but there seemed to be a impenetrable wall built up between the board members and the people. After the meeting, all 17 school proposals were passed, leaving these already struggling communities with a steeper incline to climb on their path of reconstruction.

            The meeting between TY10 and Adler students was filled with excitement. At the time I attended, Governor Quinn had just proposed the closing of Tamms Supermax prison in his budget plan. Although TY10’s platform for closing the facility had been mainly based on the human rights violations that were taking place behind its doors, closing it for any reason would be seen as a success. Now in its fourth year, TY10 has been fighting a seemly loosing battle. Although the organization never lost conviction in their position, the slow progress and extensive energy required was daunting. Once the shocking word came of Quinn’s proposal, and the possibility of closure became a reality, immediate action was required. TY10 had to keep the pressure on legislators by showing and growing support for their votes to close the prison. TY10 was committed to putting in long hours to lobby publicity and support for this cause. This meeting I attended was filled with planning of action, defining the steps required, and brainstorming ways of most effectively getting participants to join the fight for human rights.

            Door knocking for State Representative Lisa Hernandez was a blast. Starting in the morning, we (Hsieh, Darrel, and I) met at Lisa’s office in Cicero. After meeting and talking to Lisa herself, we were given a packet and sent on our way. In this packet was a map of the area we were to campaign and a list of addresses of democrats with their names and ages. Because of the large Spanish speaking community in Cicero, our pamphlets were written in both English and Spanish in order to include non-English speaking voters. I was surprised at the number of warm welcomes we received from people and the interesting conversations we had. Not only were we publicizing the approaching election, but we were also petitioning for signatures for Hernandez’s proposal stating if the value of your property decreases, the state would not be able to raise your property tax. People were very interested in telling us their stories about the struggles they were facing with this issue and how it has greatly impacted their lives. As a result, they were eager to sign the petition and welcomed a sign in their yard supporting Hernandez’s campaign.

            My final observation was of the COGFA hearing in Ullin, IL. Ullin is about six and a half hours away from Chicago and the meeting itself ran about three hours. A group of forty TY10 members went down together to show support for the closure against the strong turn out of AFSCME members opposed to the closings. The hearing itself was an interesting display of human ignorance to the complexities that surround crime, and of the inability to see the men at Tamms as human beings. The structure of the hearing was very similar to the CPS board meeting. This time I felt the board was slightly more interested in the speakers ( I did feel more interest was paid to the “professionals” who spoke over the community and family members. I see this being a result from whose opinion the board prioritizes and views as more legitimate). Ultimately, the process of the TY10 members coming together to organize and make this commute together is the closest display of true democracy I have seen all semester.     

            If we look at the etymology of the word “democracy” we find it stems from the late Latin word dēmokratia. The prefix being dēmos, meaning ‘the people’, and kratia meaning ‘power or rule.’ This definition, power of the people, was lost in regards to the CPS board meeting. This might also have something to do with the fact that the people do not elect the CPS board, which is top-down appointed. In the other three cases I observed and partook in, I was pleasantly surprised at the structure of interaction and the process of action. After the CPS board meeting, my hope in democracy dwindled, only to be reborn through my participation in TY10. Our country’s romanticized democracy claims may be a stretch when you dissect how it actually functions, but I am optimistic in our continued struggle towards this ideal. 

Wonderful Critique of the Un-Democratic Process by Gayle

Ladies & Gentlemen:

I found yesterday's hearing on the proposed closure of Tamms Correctional Center to be a completely unprofessional and unruly experience.  It was stunning and most disappointing that Illinois' Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability permitted the continued disrespectful, rude and unprofessional behavior from the opponents of Tamms’ closure, i.e., Tamms correctional officers, their family members and their supporters.  

Despite the early reprimands and empty threats to remove these people from the hearing if they did not conduct themselves in a proper and civil manner, Sen. Schoenberg and Rep. Bellock sat in silence while union members and their supporters continued to shout, cheer, clap, give standing ovations, jeer and deliberately intimidate the supporters of Tamms' closure.  After the initial gavel banging, which was completely ignored, Commission members saw fit to allow the unruly and raucous behavior to overtake the hearing.  And in the ultimate display of complete disregard and disrespect to everyone who took the entire day off to attend the hearing, painstakingly prepared testimony, and traveled hundreds of miles to testify to them, the Commission had the audacity to walk out of the meeting still in progress at 3PM, handing the hearing over to two state representatives with an obvious bias towards the union members.  

Under these circumstances, the Commission’s attendance was nothing more than lip service to a process that is supposed to provide a fair and unbiased opportunity for interested and affected parties to present their concerns to state government officials.  Their behavior made a complete farce of this process and provided obvious evidence of how lightly they view the responsibilities of their appointment to this Commission.  

Gayle Ayala

Chester, IL 

Tamms Hearing in Ullin- April 2, 2012

I just returned home from a very long, but worthwhile day. What started out as a quest to observe democracy in its’ natural habitat, turned into a day I will never forget. Joined by another 40 individuals at 4:30 a.m. this morning, we boarded a bus and headed across the state.

            The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) hearing was held today to discuss Govern Quinn’s proposal to close Tamms Supermax Prison. This hearing is the first step in closing a facility in a larger social institution, like the prison system. The purpose of these hearings is to provide an opportunity for both sides to present their case and defend it with numerous advocates. These advocates range from international human right’s representatives, union representatives, correctional professionals from in and out of state, etc. These hearings are supposedly held in the area most affected by the proposed closing, and although Tamms Year Ten made a case that the large percent of inmates from Tamms were from Cook County and that they hearings should be held here, they were held in lovely Sothern Illinois.

            Our busload of people was a conglomeration of mothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, godmothers and supportive concerned citizens. I guess I would have fallen into the last category. Working with Tamms Year Ten last semester compelled me to continue helping this cause as much as possible, even if it just meant being a supportive body. Sometimes that is all democracy needs, active bodies.

            In regards to this assignment, the ultimate goal was to observe the process of democracy: I believe this started way before we got to the hearings, and even before we met that morning. The process of participating in an event like this involves careful planning and strategy. There were signs and buttons to be made, funds to be raised, food to be bought, speeches to be written, convincing people to attend, lobbying advocates to speak, etc. Although Laurie Jo is a huge player in the organization Tamms Year Ten, she could not have done it alone. Everyone had a part to play and each was an important cog in the machine.

            The hearing itself was similarly set up like the Chicago Public School board meeting we attended earlier. There was a board (COGFA) and big wigs (elected officials and the Illinois Department of Corrections representatives), the organizational and union advocates (ACLU National Prison Project, Uptown Peoples Law, AFSCME, Labor Council, etc) and the people (former prisoners, family members, correctional officers, employees, etc.). All were allotted two minutes to speak and were required to register ahead of time and submit statements in order to speak.

            The IDOC’s agenda is cutting the budget, Tamms Year Ten’s is human rights violations, AFSCME’s is jobs, and the local community’s concern is their personal economy. All of these players repeatedly voiced their opinions through out the hearings. The audience was asked to hold all applause and comments, but this was inevitable. The AFSCME came out in full force with tensions high. They filled nearly all but two rows of the auditorium. Those two rows were is where Tamm’s Year Ten sat, clearly out numbered. AFSCME’s numbers were impressive but their lack of respects and control was appalling. The made cat calls while family members and former prisoners were speaking, they laughed at testimonies, and they hooped and hollers after every one of their speakers were finished, sometimes even occasionally during the speeches.

            I was impressed how Tamm’s Year Ten participants conducted themselves in response to this opposition. We reminded ourselves that we were not at the hearing to change AFSCME’s opinion but to show support to the Legislators proposing the closure and to testify to COGFA about the Human Rights violations that occur at Tamm’s Correctional Center. With this in mind, we were able to keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by the chaos that surrounded us.

            After the meeting we jumped back on the bus and started the journey home. But I don’t believe the process of democracy ended at the hearing. On the way home we reflected on the hearing and mentioned things of interest. The family members of the men at Tamm’s shed many tears, the catcalls obviously affected them more than they had lead to believe at the hearing. The shear strength it took for them to stand in front of the board and a room of opposition and give testimony to the indecencies their loved once face is astounding. On the ride home we analyzed how our intent was not to rid this community of jobs or funding that the prison brings but our hope is that this community might be able to build a sustainable economy around something more decent, that their lively hood would not rely on the killing of the human soul, which is exactly what Tamm’s Correctional Center was designed to do, literally. 

            The next stop on this lengthy process of a prison closure is after COFGA provide the Appropriations Committee with their recommendations. This will be in about a month or so. After that, the Appropriations committee will draw up a bill to be passed through the House and Senate. Until then Tamm’s Year Tens’ work is not done. There is a peaceful march from the Illinois Department of Corrections Wednesday April 4^th in remembrance of the march AFSCME members performed with Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis in 1968. It is performance to remind AFSCME members of their roots, fighting for human rights for those who have been silenced. 

1968 Memphis Union Workers

Campaigning for State Representative Lisa Hernandez - 3/10/2012

           I just returned home from a day of campaigning for Lisa Hernandez. Hernandez is running for re-election in the 24^th District for State Representative. Being that this class is called Doing Democracy and this assignment is about observing the democratic process, I figured what is more democratic than campaigning.

I showed up to her office on W. Cermak in Cicero at 9:30am. Immediately when I entered, I was greeted with smiles and warm faces. I was offered coffee and donuts before I was even able to introduce myself. Needless to say I felt very welcomed. I looked around and noticed that most of the people there were workmen. I later found out that these men were plumbers that came out to support Hernandez because of her support for the workers union.

            I arrived with two other people representing the Tamms Year Ten (TY10) organization. Hernandez has been a great political ally for TY10 for years. As a way to show thanks/support to Hernandez and to encourage her continued support for TY10, we volunteered to help her campaign. After meeting Hernandez, I got a great since of the type of woman she was. She seemed very down to earth, and after learning about her stance on raising property tax and on politicians’ salaries, it sounds like she is very “for the people”. Last week, my friend Laura made numerous phone calls along side of Hernandez to the residents of her district. They informed people about where she stands on current issues, answer the questions people had, and spread the word about the upcoming election on March 20^th. This week we hit the streets and went door knocking.

We were handed flyers and clipboards, then supplied with a list of addresses and names. We were given a map of our area to cover, briefed on the door knocking process, and sent on our way. This all seemed very foreign to me, as I have not done this type of work before. I was nervous about ringing doorbells to strangers’ houses in an area I was not familiar with. I was concerned I would not having all the answers to peoples questions, or not be well received by the community. Thankfully I had two other people with me because they made the experience memorable.

Laura, Darryl and I packed in the car and headed to our designated area. We jumped out and immediately started knocking. At first a lot of people didn’t answer their doors, in which case we were instructed to leave a flyer and place a “NH” (Not Home) next to their name on our sheet. House after house we went to, our sheet began filling up with “NH”s. I kept thinking, “this isn’t hard, I barely have to talk to anyone”. Then someone answered.

When people did come to the door we first introduced ourselves, who we were representing, and handed them a flyer. We proceeded by asking if they had heard of her before and offered to answer questions. Next we described the petition we were encouraging people to sign for a policy Hernandez was trying to pass. It stated that if your property value decreased the county would not be able to raise your property tax. People were very receptive to this, as it seemed raising property taxes directly effected many of them. After they signed the petition, we reminded them of the up coming election and asked if we could count on their vote. If they said yes, placed a “+” next to their name on our list and asked if they would be interested in having a sign placed in their yard to show their support. I met many different characters today. I had a great time interacting and listening to the stories of the people. Each one was different and offered different insight into the policy issues impacting their lives. 

After checking off the names on the list we headed back to Hernandez’s office to drop off the results and describe our experience. The campaign manager was interested to hear how well people responded to us. He was excited to see the signatures we collected on petition and the number of people who volunteered their yards for sign placement. He thanked us tremendously and encouraged us to come back next week.

The democratic process is based on the people voice and frequently this is expressed through the voting process. The right to vote is something someone should not take for granted: it is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal.  The election process has many layers to it, but it is important that the people running for office (and their campaign) meet the people and hear their voices directly. 

Tamms Year Ten Meeting- 3/2/2012

           Tamms is a city in southern Illinois that is home to the state’s supermax prison. In a supermax men are housed in solitary confinement for no less than 23 hours a day. What started as one-year program facility, several men have been there since it’s opening in 1995: that is 17 years! The United Nations’ Human Rights Declaration has deemed long-term isolation torture.  While the supermax facility was a popular trend for “corrections” in the 80’s and 90’s, many states have closed these facilities due to their high financial cost. 

On the tenth anniversary of Tamms, SAIC alum Laurie Jo Reynolds (LJR) and others founded an organization called Tamms Year Ten (TY10). This group has been fighting for the closure of Tamms for seven years. On February 22, 2012 Mayor Quinn announced the purposed closing of Tamms Correctional Center. While this was a huge victory for TY10, the fight is far from over. The state of IL has a super strong workers union (AFSCME) and the correctional officers have come out swinging. Many politicians from southern Illinois (Senator Forbes, Representative Phelps, Ex Gov. Edgar, and Lt Gov Shelia) have also created a backlash of arguments against the closing.  These forces main concerns are the number of jobs lost (about 300) and the safety of the public (which is ridiculous considering none of these men would be released into the public, most would be transferred to Pontiac Correctional Center which was home to Illinois’ Death Row).

I just got home from one of TY10’s meetings and you could sense the excitement in the air. First thing on today’s agenda was organizing and TY10 just adopted an excellent tool for it called Base Camp. This program is an organizer’s dream because it allows you and your group’s members to post and keep track of events, meetings, assignments, campaigns, etc. LJR was a prominent voice of the meeting, partially because she was the most knowledgeable about the recent events taking place and also because she has lots of experience dealing with policy work and organizing.

Action is critical right now with closure proposal being announced. The closure is in no way guaranteed and everything could change in the blink of an eye. In order for TY10 to secure this closure, everyone is called to action. This task is more daunting than it may seem, the network of TY10 participants is huge and the spreadsheet of contacts is a mess. Once TY10 has found the active participants, there is a list of crucial events and projects almost a mile long: these include campaigning for politicians with excellent stances on criminal justice reform for this coming election, lobbying for the COGFA hearing to be held in the Chicago area instead of down state and organize a mass attendance of TY10 supporters, keeping pressure on our political allies to do the right thing in the House and Senate Appropriation Committee budget plan, and thanking endorsers and encouraging their continued participation during this crucial time. This is on top of the routine concerns of TY10 of corresponding with men in Tamms and their family members about their treatment, the Photo Project for Men in Solitary Confinement, and continued press on the horrendous human rights violations taking place at Tamms.

The great thing about LJR is her ability to create and open democratic space in which there is room for everyone’s voice to be heard. Her goal is not to dictate but to collaborate. She asks for volunteers for tasks and allows people to be in control of their participation. She has a great knack for playing off people strengths and creating an infectious movement towards action. Watching her orchestrate this meeting into roles for everyone, including herself, reminded me that although there can be a driving force in a group, that person alone can’t accomplish as much as the collective. 

Chicago Public School Board Meeting- 2/22/2012

             Last night I found out about CPS’s decision to go ahead with the 17 purposed school closings, fade-outs, and “turn arounds”. This shocked me because of the events and speeches I had witnessed earlier that morning at the CPS board meeting. I was convinced the board had to have heard the voices of these people.

            When we arrived we knew we were in the right place when we saw the crowd of picketers and protesters. This was going to be a heated board meeting because CPS had purposed actions on “low performing” schools.  While these actions follow the current trend of the mandated No Child Left Behind Act, the opposition was strong because of the majority of black and brown neighborhoods targeted, and the “apartheid“ like rhetoric these actions suggest. It isn’t enough simply look at test scores to access “low performance”; one must look at the causes of low performance. I’m convinced it is a lot more complex than the CPS board wants to believe.

            After waiting in line after line to get registered and go through security, we finally grabbed our seats in the overflow room on the 15^th floor. The room’s seats were filled, with standing room only left for those who didn’t arrive early enough. People who wanted to speak had arrived and signed up at 5 or 6 in morning for the meeting scheduled at 10, it didn’t start till 11.

            Once the meeting started, the president of the board spoke about current events, such as the amazing amount of money several military academies raised for homeless CPS students. Then the meeting proceeded with two guest speakers, one being none other than Rev. Jesse Jackson himself.  They spoke about their disgusts with the purposed school closings and demanded the board reconsider, a common theme held throughout most of the speeches to follow. 83 speakers we scheduled and each was to abide by the 2 minute time limit, only those registered were suppose to speak, although an reluctant exception was made for a student of one of the targeted schools.

            These speeches all came from the heart and were founded in facts, such as the research presented from the University of Illinois Chicago. Concerned people from all walks of life spoke: teachers, parents, community members, and students. Interesting facts were presented that completely dumbfounded me, such as CPS’s board is one of the only top down appointed school boards, not elected by the people. I was also appalled to learn about the hidden agendas of some of the board members that created a conflict of interest, or the fact that the funders for these “turn arounds” was not being disclosed to the public.

It seems as though the board meeting, and the board itself, is a faux democracy. When the board members profess to be working toward what is in the best interest for the students, but seemingly fail to really listen to the concerns of the people and work with them on solutions, this makes me lose faith in the process itself. It appeared that the minds of the board were made up long before the meeting, and there was nothing anyone could’ve done or said that would have changed their minds. The meeting seemed like nothing more than an event to pacify the people, and make them think they have a voice in the decisions that effect their children. But based on the meeting that I attended, this couldn’t be further from the truth.