Rant: Community Organizations and the 6th Ward

Worlee Glover shared this rant on Concerned Citizens of Chatham yesterday. Is there truly a disconnect in the 6th Ward between say the western part of the 6th Ward and the eastern part? Basically between say Englewood & Chatham?

CBS Chicago: Englewood hopes for more holiday shoppers

[VIDEO] Sorry to have missed this story when it first aired. It's great to see Englewood represented positively during this holiday season. As I have no problem saying the activists of Englewood especially from R.A.G.E. should be a model for a number of neighborhood organizations. Whether middle-class or low-income.

And this idea of a neighborhood branded store selling neighborhood branded apparel could be something that should be replicated. What do you think?

Voyage Chicago: Meet Asiaha Butler of R.A.G.E.

The article was actually shared to our FB page by JP Paulus last week. Time to share this on the blog with this quote:

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.

My journey started when I decided to relocate from Chicago back in 2008, after my block here in Englewood was in turmoil. A bullet went through my door, someone had climb through my daughter’s window attempting to rob us and there was shootings happening on a nightly basis. I was afraid from my life and the life of my family. After reviewing the housing market in Atlanta where most of my family lives, I was ready to say goodbye to Chicago. Then something hit me when I looked out of my window at four young children playing in a vacant lot filled with bottles, glass and dirt. That moment I decided, that instead of leaving Englewood, I need to stay and add value in order to make a change in my neighborhood.

I didn’t know where to start so I just volunteered everywhere in Englewood. After volunteering, I became frustrated that there was not many event or activities for youth on the Saturdays, which was my day off from my day job and since my husband is a DJ, I felt our first move should be creating a youthful space for young people on Saturdays. My goal, was to connect our young people with our elders, whom were the ones hosting many young programs. So we started showing a series of documentaries, inviting young and older people for “Docs & Dialogue” at libraries, parks, and other locations. We chose films to spark in-depth conversation about provocative issues such as misogyny in hip hop, violence in video games, and the ways societal ills from slavery to drugs have affected black women over time. Then in 2010, I founded alongside two other Englewood residents, a youth journalism program called Media-N-Motion, where we led young people in making videos, writing articles, and publishing a newsletter examining how Englewood was portrayed in the media.

During this time, I met countless residents who wanted more for Englewood who wanted to be a part of the change, like I did. In November of 2010, I brushed off my association experience from my day job and co-founded R.A.G.E. or Resident Association of Greater Englewood. Our mission is to mobilize people and resources to force a change in the community and our primary focus areas are Education, Youth Development, Economic Development and Civic Empowerment. We started with 13 members and looked for ways to empower leadership within the community to help take on the complex problems that impact and stigmatize Englewood. Now our association has more than 260 members with many achievements under our belt, ranging from being the civic pioneers of the Large $1 Lot program, working to repurposing vacant schools and continuing to connect empowerment tools to residents.

A year ago, after 16 years I decided to quit my day job at a real estate association to work on the efforts in Englewood full-time. I opened the R.A.G.E. headquarters in the building I owned across the street from my home, adjacent to a once-vacant lot that was my turning point that I bought from the city for $1. I use my lot for community events, place-making activities, meetings and recently a job fair that brought over 400 attendees.

My journey continues as I served as the architect and lead curator of Englewood Rising, a recently launched neighborhood rebranding campaign actively working to change the community’s narrative. In addition to boosting neighborhood pride among residents, the campaign also aims to show those outside Englewood that the violence and crime and poverty they hear about on the news is only one part of the story. I recently founded my own real estate development group to develop and rebuild the neighborhood with a mission to increase home ownership and work to counter the fears of gentrification. It is my personal mission to continue to love on and show the beauty of Englewood from the people, the movements, the assets, and opportunities. I coined the name “Mrs. Englewood”, because I am truly married to my community, I have made personal vows to see our community revitalized and rebuilt with residents leading every step of the way.

If you're looking to make a different in your communities, hopefully this inspires you. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

CBS Chicago: Englewood school plan still a tough sell

[VIDEO] So there was a meeting with regards to the school plan for Englewood. As we know four high schools will close in Englewood and in 2019 a new school will be built and open for freshmen students. CBS 2 Chicago was there and had this story Wednesday night.

I was getting some hints of what happened at this meeting through Twitter. Will share a couple below.

Asiaha Butler (sorry for previous tweet misspelling) and four other members of the steering committee make it clear they never voted for the closing of ANY school. How many members of steering committee? Is cps community support falling apart?

— Sarah Karp (@SSKedreporter) January 18, 2018

Steering committee & @Join_RAGE reps demand restructuring of committee or they resign immediately. Support neighborhood schools, no closing & a new school pic.twitter.com/EW6Sj41tEw

— Jackson Potter (@jacksonpCTU) January 18, 2018

#HarperHs has developed a performing arts program that rivals those across the nation. It has raised over $100k for children in the theater. #CPSSchoolClosings #chicouncil #ChicagoOurWay

— Nicole J. (@NicoleJCHI) January 18, 2018

Hope teacher says he is part of the fabric of englewood community. Says he was excited about new School for englewood because wants the best for his students, but wants his current students to be able to attend.

— WBEZeducation (@WBEZeducation) January 18, 2018

I did say I wanted to share a couple of tweets, but how about a video from RAGE President Aysha Butler about the school plan. This is an fb vid.

The one-year mark for Whole Foods Market Englewood #teamwfm

On the heels of Whole Foods Market Englewood one year mark the Tribune had published an article written during the course of the past week. In fact, if you bought a paper from this past Sunday you might have read this article. The question to ask is how the store is doing since it opened a year ago?

Well I won't provide the answer to that question, however, as far as year two or future years this is the expectation as far as that store's success:

“Englewood is the biggest challenge we’ve ever undertaken as a company trying to serve a community. It’s been the most challenging, and not necessarily in a bad way. But it’s only one year in,” said Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods who is now chairman of Whole Cities Foundation, an affiliated nonprofit that’s also active in Englewood.

Bashaw said he didn’t expect Amazon’s ownership of the company to have any bearing on the Englewood store.

More businesses moving in nearby could help bring more foot traffic to Englewood Square, which also includes a Starbucks and a Chipotle Mexican Grill. Negotiations are ongoing for the development of the seven city-owned acres adjacent to Englewood Square, said Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp, who declined to provide further details.

“We have a lot of work to do (in Englewood) and we’re not done yet,” Zopp said. “One of the things we push back on all the time is people want these neighborhoods flipped overnight. They didn’t get this way overnight. But we are committed.”

Also let's add the comments of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood's Asiaha Butler. As documented over the years of this blog has advocated for a Whole Foods store in Englewood. The dream came true!

Both Whole Foods executives and Englewood community leaders emphasize that the store is just one component of a larger movement to improve quality of life in Englewood. Asiaha Butler, president of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, said Whole Foods has raised awareness of healthy living in a community that sorely needs it.

“I think it can work, but it’s a slow process,” Butler said. “I do think they’re here to stay.”

Read the whole thing!

Whole Foods Englewood turns one on Thursday #teamwfm

Site of the Whole Foods Englewood farmer's market

A flyer was shared on our ig account about a week ago regard a one-year anniversary farmer's market starting at 10 AM on Thursday at the Whole Foods Market Englewood - 832 W. 63rd. Street. The farmer's market is free and supplies are limited.

Tonight they were setting up in the side parking lot outside of the store for tomorrow's farmer's market. Should be interesting. That's the photo you see above. Another version of the flyer posted on the ig profile for the Resident Association of Greater Englewood - R.A.G.E. - is shown below.

President of R.A.G.E. featured on a documentary about Whole Foods Market Englewood #teamwfm

Below I will share both screencaps shown from the R.A.G.E. instagram page. Unless someone from R.A.G.E. corrects me there didn't appear to be any advanced notice that this documentary was going to are on WCIU Too! Hopefully as indicated in the gram that was reposted to The Sixth Ward's ig we may learn about future replays.

The Whole Foods store in Englewood has been open since September 2016 to great fanfare.

Disclosure: One of the bloggers here is a Whole Foods Market team member.

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Apr 23, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

Spotlight on Englewood now on WCIU Too! It's a documentary about the opening of Whole Foods...#EnglewoodRising

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Apr 23, 2017 at 6:53am PDT