July-August 2005

Time to get paid!
Chicago teens hold citywide rally for jobs

By Kenny Taylor and Renee Pitter
 
CHICAGO – The southside-based Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) and MAGIC (Metropolitan Area Group Igniting Civilization) came together to host a city wide youth employment rally at Kennicott Park that drew hundreds of youth and a broad array of community-based organizations.

With more than 400 people filling a gymnasium, leaders at Youth Employment Campaign Rally demand changes that will increase job opportunities for teens.

More than 400 high school age young people attended the rally representing Chicago’s numerous cultures and communities, including CASL (the Chinese American Service League), the Southwest Youth Collaborative and the Nation of Islam. The rally was held to draw attention to the issue of growing unemployment and its negative impact on youth in the city of Chicago. The evening event also drew support from elected officials, including Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and State Representatives Marlow Colvin and Barbara Flynn-Currie. 

Youth offered testimonies about how they struggle with unemployment. The presentations were highly articulate and included statistics and factual data to expose the depth of the problem of youth unemployment. The youth unemployment campaign started six months earlier when Chicago area youth leaders noticed a dramatic decline in employment opportunities as teens were beginning to seek summer jobs. With solid research, the leaders found the dramatic decline in employment was due to drastic declines in funding designated for youth employment. Their research showed that nearly 40,000 jobs available to youth in the mid-1980s had dwindled to about 15,000 jobs last summer. Nearly 38,000 youth applied for jobs last summer.

Leaders with the Chinese American Service League talk about the lack of jobs for youth in their community.

Youth also observed a correlation between unemployment and youth delinquency. Through keen analysis of what was occurring in and around their schools, youth organizers argued unemployment contributed to high arrest rates, teenage pregnancy and drug activity. The young people said the issue should motivate families, communities and elected officials to make substantial changes.

Armed with factual evidence about the problem of youth unemployment, the leaders prepared for a city-wide youth rally.  Phone calls were made to political officials such as State Senator Kwame Roaul, State Rep. Barbara Flynn-Currie, and Alderman Arenda Troutman, just to name a few.  Youth also reached out to experienced community leaders like Michelle Obama, vice-president of external affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals; Fran Bell, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago vice-president; Rev. Bishop Brazier of the Apostolic Church of God and Minister Ishmael Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, for advice and assistance.The rally was held July 27.

Youth organizers also knew that to get and keep the attention of their peers, they had to provide good food and good entertainment. The leaders did outreach to local businesses such as Moo and Oink, Village Foods, Coops Records, Jewel, One Stop and compiled an outstanding line-up of nationally recognized local artists,  including spoken word artists Kristiana Colon (DEF Poetry Jam) and Courtney Smith; celebrated rapper DA Smart and dance performances by B.E.T.’s Spring Bling winners Stick N’ Move and 2nd To None. The youth plan to use the rally as the foundation for a citywide youth coalition and improved public policy for youth employment.