YCA Chicago beat interviews on what it means to be educated in Chicago. Here's a soundbite from Sophie from Northside College Prep speaking on her experiences being educated in Chicago.

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YCA Chicago beat interviews on what it means to be educated in Chicago. Here's a soundbite from Sophie from Northside College Prep speaking on her experiences being educated in Chicago.
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This is an interview with Charles. Charles grew up in the Cabrini Green Projects.
The Cabrini-Green public housing development was built over the course of 20 years as part of the Chicago Housing Authority's approach to the "urban renewal" philosophy sweeping the nation. Begun in 1942 as the Francis Cabrini Rowhouses, the Cabrini Extensions North and South were added in 1958, followed by the William Green Homes in 1962. The complex totaled 70 acres on Chicago's near North Side.(1)
The final residents were ushered out of Cabrini-Green in Dec. 2010. Most of the high-rises had already been torn down to make way for newer housing. Like other demolished housing projects, residents have been given vouchers for new housing elsewhere in Chicago. After the buildings are torn down, only the original row houses built in 1942 will remain. (2)
(1).http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2034317,00.html#ixzz2avCIybwk (2) http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2034317,00.html#ixzz2avD2bf5z
Life Poems by Dache Porter
I see people laughing and joking all around.
But on my face there is a frown.
I never stop to ask myself why.
If only I knew hows its going to be.
If only when I try to fix things they become better and, if only people believe what I say maybe they can see things through my eyes.
Why do things always happen
This way
Why does my heart choose to stay closed.
Why cant you hear my pain
This is all I ask.
Hear me again
Hear my cries at night
Help me face my fear
Help me be myself
Please be here, everyday I wonder and think how much am I missing with every blink
Is the world spinning so fast or is it the the time to forget the past.
Micheal ,of the Austin community, will be a 14 year old freshman at Urban Prep West. He feels that the church program B.A.M. has helped him change his life. This young man has dreams and hope. He doesn't feel that the Austin community has as much crime as the media portrays.
Meet Division Street 2013 Storyteller: Maia Hunwick
Meet Division Street 2013 Storyteller: Karen Barragan
If I Had Any Dreams
If I had any dreams I would be a dancer Gliding around like a tireless butterfly Twirling my skirt ever so elegantly But I don't have now
If I had any dreams I would be a basketball player Alley ooping on the court Dunking on six footers and smiling But I don't have any now
If I had any dreams I would be a mother Upholding my responsibilities while juggling different issues Stretching money to make due Carrying babies on curvy hips while working 9 to 5 But I don't have any now
If I had any dreams I would be a father Teaching my baby girl street smarts Watching her and her sisters grow up Being inside their hearts But I don't have any now
If I had any dreams I don't have any now Society has left me broken and scarred Showing my body to men Giving them satisfaction Leaving me to feel shitty and degraded Wanting to stop but needing the money My skirt is too short to twirl now
If I had any dreams I don't have any now I pricked veins with shared needles Intoxicating myself with crack Sniffing away my existence I can't smile with no teeth And my heart is too weak for a jump shot
If I had any dreams I don't have any now After burying all my children One by one Each time the casket getting smaller With a broken heart I cry My curvy hips now mush into my body My body is like many bags put together
If I had any dreams I don't have any now Money and greed have left me lonely I hide from the truth I am broke My family is broken No longer inside my little girls heart Chasing money that will soon no longer belong to me"
by Nita Tennyson