American Litritcha: 09/2011

(1) Neighborhood leaders were extremely concerned with overcrowded schools. They claimed that juvenile, immature, delinquents would be invading their neighborhood. All of the parents and neighborhood officials were protesting when an 18 year old high school graduate pointed out one key reason for the city's plan. There were already overcrowded schools like Mason(which taught over 3,000 people) north of Cermak road.

(2)Community stands divided. Pastor wants everyone to share love, and refuses to join the Black Panthers, or any non-compassionate black power movement. Reverend Mitchell was associated with both pro- integration people in positions of power, and higher- ups in the Black power revolution.

(3) Crossed by a French and Indian trail. Population doubles several times as Polish/ German Jewish people flood into the area.Things rose steadily until the 1960s when the "white flight" occurred. The "white flight" was a period during which the ratio of African americans to caucascians exploded, and the african americans made up more than 91% of the population by 1960.

(4) North Lawndale was originally organized as part of the Cicero township. The North Lawndale community was actually a popular neighborhood until Martin Luther king's visit; when the riots erupted, destroying many establishments. 75% of the revenue was lost in North Lawndale by 1970. The Lawndale mall used to be there, along with several houses all burned down. these weren't rebuilt until the 1990s.

(5) Born September 4, 1949 Michael Scott Sr. attended Hales Franciscan high school. He could have gone pro in baseball, but got injured; and instead attended Fordham university and earned a B.A(bachelors in arts) degree. Scott began working and was heavily involved in the North Lawndale community, and in 1978, he became director of community development of the Lawndale People's Planning & Action Council.

(6) "Race riots, coupled with the racial turnover in North Lawndale between 1950 and 1970 and business closings such as that of International Harvester in 1969, led to the loss of business establishments and jobs in the area." Records, North Lawndale. "North Lawndale Community Records, 1872-1956." Chicago Public Library (2011): n. pag. Web. 8 Oct 2011. <http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/nlcc.php>.
Many of the North Lawndale Houses and Businesses were destroyed during the riots. North Lawndale is still riddled with vacant lots and empty homes today.

(7)The North Lawndale employing network has been one of the causes of the severe drop in unemployment in North Lawndale.

(8) Lawndale was formed and bought by Millard & Decker, a real estate firm in 1869. Several plants, such as McCormick Reaper works, Western Electric plant, and Sears Roebuck&Co brought the population to 46,225 by 1910.

(9)The North Lawndale community was hit by a series of social and economic catastrophes during the 1960s and 1970s. By the year 2000, the median income in North Lawndale was down to only 18,342$ a year, and more than 40% of the population lived below the poverty line.

(10) "Between 1999 and 2005, over 10,000 youth were arrested and referred in to juvenile court from the north Lawndale Community." Over the years, the crime rates have been moving up and down through North Lawndale's history. The NLJJC( North Lawndale Juvenile Justice Collaborative) was established in 2002, and is bent on helping the youth in North Lawndale through starting programs and attracting attention

(11) When Michael Scott was appointed President of the Chicago Board of Education in 2001, people were somewhat skeptical. His methods were "unique", because he wanted to get parents involved in things happening in their child's everyday life. When Rufus Williams was elected over Michael Scott in 2006, people thought it was a change for the better. No one realized that Michael Scott was a very capable board leader until 2009 when they asked him back because of Rufus' poor leadership skills.

(12) The Chicago board of education, founded in 1840 takes responsibility for CPS (Chicago Public Schools) which is one of the largest school districts in the United States. "In 1987, Secretary of Education William Bennett declared Chicago Public Schools as “the worst in the nation." A school reform act was then passed in 1988 by the General Assembly, which allowed Mayor Richard M. Daley to take control of the disaster that was the CPS.

(13) The North Lawndale area is, in fact riddled with cultural history. It went from being the third largest Polish-Jewish community to one of the most densely populated African American communities in the United States. " Golda Meir, Martin Luther King, Jr., Benny Goodman, and Diana Washington all called the community home at one point in their lives". Though the neighborhood has an appalling history, some of the most destructive rioting i the nation occurred after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.! Many of the big businesses and corporations that fueled the economy in North Lawndale faltered shortly thereafter.

(14) "The Homan Square community development effort began in 1988 when Sears, Roebuck and Co. chairman Ed Brennan approached developer Charlie Shaw about prospects for redeveloping the site of the original Sears, Roebuck and Co. headquarters on Chicago’s West Side." Homan Square used to be a bustling marketplace; with several five-story buildings, such as The First Sears Tower, The Sears Catalog Plant, The Homan Square administration building, etc.

(15) From the 1950s to the 1970s, the North Lawndale community's population has gotten a huge increase, and the percentage of African American home and property owners is now above 90%. The Health care in Lawndale is actually improving, considering the 6.8% decrease in stillbirths and pregnancies before 18. The ratio of men to women is back on the rise, at 67 men to every 100 women. the ratio is more imbalanced with the parents' generation.

(16) The leading causes of death in North Lawndale are Lung Cancer, HIV infection, Motor Vehicle accidents, and Diabetes. health risks that have been declining are Breast cancer, Homocide, Stroke, Unintentional injury, and Lung Cancer. The life expectancy in North Lawndale has actually gone down since 1980. In 1980, the life expectancy was 66.6 years, and now its down to 63.6 years

(17) Talks about how color has always been apparent in North Lawndale. Good points on how you cant help but wonder what went wrong.Many of the landmarks that once stood tall in the area (the Regal Theater, the Savoy Ballroom, the Hotel Grand) are either boarded up, or have been completely torn down. The corner of "Little Harlem" is now a housing project around which prostitutes cruise and homeless crowd for warmth around flaming trash bins.

(18) The CTA became a plausible idea in the 1940's because privately owned public transit in Chicago was going bankrupt and wasn't profitable. Chicago Surface Lines originally took care of the transit in Chicago. The idea of municipal ownership had been discussed earlier by Charles T. Yerkes and Samuel Insull, but the Political leaders had decided now was the time to put that plan into action. Municipal means something pertaining to a city or state(small government in general's) government.

(19) ""New Breed" was the name of the student organization that drew up the manifesto and led many of the school walkouts and boycotts. Many of New Breed's demands dealt with the absence of Black History in the curriculum. New Breed members also made it clear that they wanted student and community participation in school decision making. The students requested the appointment of African American administrators and counselors, and the creation of a faculty advisory committee approved by New Breed and "Concerned People of Lawndale," a local community organization, to review disciplinary procedures at Harrison High School ranging from minor disciplinary actions to expulsion." relate it to african americans gaining power.

(20) Sex education may very well be a privilege. "The idea that we can just change (school) priorities — that's not going to happen," said Kathleen Burke, chief executive officer for the center. Robert Crown educators have even had to buy sex education props on the road because of a school's negligence toward funding for the department.

(21) [3] From the 1960s onward, the North Lawndale community went into a downward spiral. After Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, the community erupted into rioting and the storefronts on Roosevelt road were destroyed. 75% of the community's income was lost because of Roosevelt road's damages.

(22) [10] An immense amount of incarcerations considering the youth has been occuring in the North Lawndale community, and the NLJJ has constantly been drawing attention from the public. The North Lawndale Juvenile Justice group has taken a stand against willfull ignorance in the case of North Lawndale youth, and they have even created an Advisory Council to have therapy for trroubled youth.

(23) [16] "Much of the epidemiological literature cited in this report indicates that health is
substantially affected by factors that may be located in the social structure of a
community – factors like poverty, race, and income inequality." The North lawndale community's health may be effected by the fact that many more fast food resturaunts have been opening up. They may be affordable, and help the public with starvation, but they aren't healthy in the slightest.

(24)[21] In the Norht Lanwdale communtiy, there is what many people call a "food desert". The term references places with little or no access to unproccessed vegetables or anything that can be grown naturally, and holds a concentrated amount of fast food resutraunts. This may be a large reason why health is becomin a hard hitting issue in North Lanwdale.

(25)[9] North Lawndale is located on the West Side of Chicago and is one of the city's 77 community areas. The boundaries are Western Avenue (east), Cermak Road (south), Cicero Avenue (west), and the Eisenhower Expressway (north). North Lawndale was actually prospering until it was basically ransacked by the riots.

(26)[13] "A part of the community that remained largely intact is an area commonly referred to as K-Town because all the north south streets in this section of North Lawndale began with the letter "K" (Kildare, Kostner, Kolin, Keeler)." Much of North Lawndale used to be prime real estate. now North Lawndale and K-town along with it is becoming associated with violence and poverty.

(27)

American Litritcha

9.27.2011

Final Thesis modified

9.16.2011

Bibliography

9.13.2011

Final Thesis Topic

9.07.2011

Notes

Questions and Thesis

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