Chicago's Pilsen Community

Once known as the second most dangerous place to live only second to East L.A, the Pilsen community is turning a new leaf in the 21st century.



This Mexican-American dominated area had been taken over by drug dealers and gangsters. Residents of the Pilsen community feared to walk the streets. “They [drug dealers] use to hang out in the hallways. It always smelled like marijuana,” resident Juanita Nunez said.



Nunez was born and raised in Pilsen. She recalls one officer in particular who had absolutely no tolerance for drug dealers, the late Officer Alex Mendoza. Mendoza had no problem calling out any foul play or suspicious activities.



Since her death about four years ago the police patrol in the community has increased drastically. Nunez said she feels very safe in her environment. “People should have been scared in the 80's, but not now,” Nunez said.





Local business owner Marlon Mernandez said Pilsen is a very historic community and has a lot of different things it brings to the community to make it what it is. He wanted to be apart of such historic greatness and felt this was the perfect place to open a hip-hop record store. Despite the occasional drunk outside his storefront he’s had no serious problems in his year at Revolver Records. Hernandez aggress that things have gotten better in Pilsen over the years, because police are constantly arresting the trouble makers.



He does admit that the craziness outside occurs more so as the weather heats up. When school starts up it normally calms back down.



Jane Alejandre, secretary of the 12th district Resurrection Project, says that outside her window she watches the school kids past as they go to and from school. “The gang bangers are at the park s waiting for them,” Alejandre said in belief that this was unsafe for students.



Although the park is one of the most secure places according to Officer P.Edwards. There are surveillance cameras running at all times and cops patrol those areas frequently.



Pilsen is a very youthful community and these scary drug dealers from the 70's and 80's are becoming the innocent children of tomorrow. Gangs are growing younger each year. “The complaints are mostly about teens ages 12-18,” said Edwards.



Assistant Principal Richard Gelb of Benito Juarez high-school says that there have been times when students have brought drugs into the school. “It is in any high-school. It is in every community in the United States. Is it a major issue? No, not here more than anywhere else,” Gelb said about the possession of drugs in the school. Benito Juarez H.S. along with other Chicago Public High Schools has uniformed officers on the premises. The Students Connection Survey, giving to all high-school students last year, said that 81% of CPS students felt safe and protective in their school climate. Gelb made it clear that you wouldn’t find anything there that you wouldn’t find in any other public high-school.



Today schools have stretch measures to certify student safety. They now use metal detectors. Gelb says that in all his years in the school system today is nothing compared to 1972, when he taught in Albany Park. He states that it was far worst than today.



Despite Pilsen’s bad reputation, police enforcement along with other neighborhood officials are taking back the neighborhood. “The 12th District is one of the safest in the whole city,” Officer A. Errum said.

"Take Back the Light"

"I survived an attempt," were the words survivor/ volunteer Tiffany Jasper wrote on a T-shirt that she hung on a clothesline. Jasper along with 20 other women aired the dirt and thoughts that stained their minds, bodies, and souls after being sexually assaulted.



This was just one of the many events to take place during the YWCA's "Take Back the Light" event.



The YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago is an organization that provides services to sexual assault victims. They offer medical advocacy, free consoling, prevention education and many more services. The people of YWCA even meet victims at the hospital upon arrival. Kathryn Cook, program coordinator, wanted these survivors to mostly know that they [YWCA] cared and so she organized a "Take Back the Light" event. This event is similar to the nationally known "Take Back the Night," except she felt the need to change the name to dispel the myth that it [sexual assault] only happens at night.



After a woman walking with her son was approached by two men, one held her son while the other assaulted her. This case went with little news coverage. It was never published whether the perpetrator was arrested. Jasper felt the need to spread the word in her Englewood community.



Together Cook and Jasper set up this event. Its agenda followed the original "Take Back the Night" pattern. The women made T-shirts that reflected the emotions they felt inside. For some women this was their first time speaking out. T-shirts read, "I want to speak for myself the way I do for others." Some T-shirts were filled completely with all that one had to get off their chest. Jasper wrote on her very own T-shirt a message to let these women know that they are not alone.



The event itself was rather successful according to Cook. There was a candle light vigil, a mini march around the neighborhood, and even an opportunity for survivors to share their experiences.



Any person, regardless of age, class, race, religion or lifestyle, could potentially be a victim of rape. According to the FBI, one out of every three women will be raped at some point in her lifetime. For every reported rape there is an estimated 5- 10 unreported sexual assaults.



Cook states that people do not rape out of need for a sexual partner. Stats show that 75 percent of men who rape are either married or have a regular sexual partner. Only 2 percent of men who rape are sent to prison.



YMCA worker Monica Moore concluded the event with a poem she wrote just for the event. "You blame the victim even say they deserve to be raped until it's your mother, you sister you daughter," Moore read.



No matter what a woman is wearing or how they carry themselves no means no. No one deserves to be raped.

Scott McCloud.. the cartoonist, the motivater

On Wednesday student's gathered at Columbia College to listen to author and cartoonist Scott McCloud. The auditorium at Film Row Center was packed. Students even began to fill the aisles as McCloud did what he does best, which is making others' laugh through visual art.

His entire speech was done using a well-detailed power-point presentation. All the points he wanted to convey he did through pictures and animations. Through his works he demonstrated how to put together a story using creative thinking. The five bullet points discussed were: choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of words, and choice of flow.

"Comics are more than just pretty picture. It's about telling stories," he said.

Stories are about getting from point A to point B not necessarily from life to death, he explained.

The crowd hung onto his every word. McCloud took the audience on a venture through his life. Making reference to his father's disability- McCloud stated it was "blind faith" that he became a cartoonist and his other siblings all had professions that followed in the footsteps of their father.

McCloud gives encouragement to students. He says it's really easy to break off into comics. When he was little he really didn't care for them, but his neighbor was obsessed. One day he dropped off a stack and before you knew it he and the neighborhood children had their own comic-book press. One person wrote the titles and they would past them around and draw stories that corresponded with the title.

"There were no rules as long as they made us laugh," McCloud said displaying a comic with three people sitting in chairs looking puzzled, with the words "who farted" above their heads.

Then McCloud began to talk about a subject that journalism began to question him about- what is the future for comics?

As technology progresses each industry is trying to find a way to advance too. Most people read the comics in the newspaper, but today newspapers have even ventured to the Internet. McCloud calls it a "durable mutation," which is taking comics from one platform and putting it on another like CD-ROM and the Internet.

"It is certainly inspiring how he was talking about the future of comics and just technology was uplifting and just makes you think," fan Alberto Nolazco said.

Digital comics have opened new passageways for the world of comics. Instead of following traditional paths, reading from right to left, it gives you the option to go wherever on the x and y axis, right to left or vice versa. Some digital comics even offer the option to choose your own ending.

Student Amy Behrendt appreciated all of the advice. She says his books are like a bible to her. "Being in a big artist slump and hearing this really gets my motor running," Behrendt said.