Logan Square Neighbors, Artists Unite For Día De los Muertos Installation And Celebration At Comfort Station
The Logan Square installation will mourn lost loved ones and neighborhood institutions that have vanished as the area has gentrified, like the Megamall flea market that was torn down for a massive luxury apartment complex.
With “everything that’s happened in Logan Square with displacement and COVID, we’ve been through a lot, and I feel like it’s really important to talk about what that means for us,” said Norma Rios-Sierra, event organizer and board member at the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. “It’s not just about mourning people, but also about spaces, and how that changes our environment and ability to enjoy our community.”
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Creativity and Community Action
Marcelo Ferrer feels that these artistic collaborations not only deepened community relations with LSNA, but also strengthened LSNA’s own commitments to community. As Ferrer put it, “We’re here to stay as an organization as well.” One aspect of this commitment is an expansion in the way that LSNA includes and promotes awareness of Black, Afro-Latino, and Indigenous cultures in its work, especially in the Here to Stay land trust, which promotes not only permanently affordable homes but also a kind of cultural autonomy for the neighborhood:
“Look at the pro-Black, pro-Indigenous lens that has permeated all of LSNA. We talk about it as palenque—the new communities created when slaves escape, called maroon settlements in English and quilombos in Brazil— creating autonomous zones, spaces of liberation. That’s starting to happen for the whole of LSNA, and it’s a real shift—a mature LSNA that is taking things to the next level.”
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CPS parents frustrated by lack of details on COVID testing plan with school reopening days away
In Chicago, CPS leaders have said they won’t offer a remote learning option despite parents’ requests — and said they didn’t even have the option because of a state directive to return to full-time, in-person learning this school year.
A spokeswoman with the Illinois State Board of Education indicated districts are free to offer remote learning but that it would require a more individualized process than last year when it was offered to all students.
Speaking at a news conference Friday organized by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Adriana Rios said she’s scared for her 9-year-old son who has asthma and is returning to McAuliffe Elementary next week.
“We are not here to call for CPS to shut down schools,” Rios said. “We are here to call on CPS to keep their promise and be honest about testing for all students and staff next week.”
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Love on every block: the power of moms
Since 1995, LSNA has engaged Latina and Black mothers to challenge persistent equity gaps through the Parent Mentor Program. In 2011, LSNA partnered with the Southwest Organizing Project in Chicago to form the Parent Engagement Institute. The institute helps organizations around the state and country start Parent Mentor Programs.
What started as a neighborhood program is now rooted in a network of more than 200 schools across Illinois, increasing individual attention for more than 40,000 students daily in their classrooms. Organizations in Boston, Arkansas, North Carolina, Colorado and other states are also growing the Parent Mentor model with coaching from the institute.
“Parent mentors are superheroes without capes,” says Leticia Barrera, director of the Parent Mentor Program. “They are the ones who know everyone in the neighborhood, who know the struggles.”
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As Judge Blocks New DACA Applications, Chicago Advocates Push to Pass Overdue Immigration Reform
BY ALMA CAMPOS | JULY 20, 2021
A pathway to citizenship would prevent the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—a policy that provides temporary relief from deportation as well as work authorization to approximately 800,000 undocumented young people across the country—from constantly being attacked and suspended, advocates say. Just last Friday, July 16, a federal judge in Texas blocked new DACA applications. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, along with a group of states suing to end the program, argue that it was illegally created by former President Barack Obama in 2012.
“Yesterday’s DACA ruling was a wake up call,” said Marcelo Ferrer, Director of Immigration Services for Logan Square Neighborhood Association. “We are tired of the turmoil that our DACA brothers and sisters have endured for the past couple of years. That is why we are calling on Congress to pass either a standalone Dream Act or include immigration reform in the budget and pass it through budget reconciliation. We are in the fight of our lives.”
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LSNA's Youngest President In Its History: ‘She Represents The Future’
"When we speak about shaping our future for young folks, we should really let young folks have an input in that," 19-year-old Prisilla Tito said.
Tito was recently named board president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, making her the youngest person to hold the title in the organization’s nearly 60-year history, Executive Director Juliet De Jesus Alejandre said.
Organization leaders chose Tito because she has become an indispensable force within the organization, De Jesus Alejandre said.
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‘Chicago Tonight’ in Your Neighborhood: Logan Square
Earlier Thursday, just blocks from the mayor’s house in Unity Park, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and other groups held an action calling for an elected school board. Another is mutual aid during the pandemic. The association says it has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to residents in need.
“When the government failed to provide safety nets, especially for undocumented immigrants, our mothers and our school mentors and our young people, we started raising funds and started getting families emergency cash assistance,” said Juliet De Jesus Alejandre, the organization’s Executive Director.
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EVENT: HERstory In The Making
Join moderator Deborah Harris as she delves into the highs and lows of building power within the movement with Juliet De Jesus Alejandre, Claudette Baker, and Lesley Martinez. They will discuss stories with a panel of women leaders of growth, advancement, challenges they face, how they see the movement progressing, and what it will take to build stronger, equitable, and sustainable spaces for Black and WOC leadership to develop.
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Chicago immigrants say they’re ready to mobilize to push Biden’s proposed immigration bill: ‘We will not stop until we get it’
By LAURA RODRÍGUEZ PRESA | CHICAGO TRIBUNE | JAN 20, 2021 AT 7:16 PM
Photo Credit: Jose M. Osorio | Chicago Tribune
Gabriela Barajas, 36, a mother of four, got emotional a few times while watching the inauguration as she also opened the door to new hopes. “I don’t think anyone understands what this means; my dreams, and mother’s dream, could finally come true,” she said.
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Chicago-area restaurant owners hope for a better year, but brace for slow winter
By NICK KINDELSPERGER; CHICAGO TRIBUNE | JAN 12, 2021 AT 12:21 PM
Photo Credit: Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune
“[Chef Diana Dávila] notes that this project will allow her to keep a kitchen staff employed, while also helping those in need. A few of the chefs she’s teaming up with include Eric Williams (Virtue), Darnell Reed (Luella’s Southern Kitchen), Won Kim (Kimski), Jonathon Zaragoza (El Oso) and Daniel Espinoza (Santa Masa Tamaleria). You can donate to the project here.”
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Longtime Latino Stronghold Logan Square Is Now Majority White, New Data Shows
From WBEZ: A WBEZ analysis of newly released census data shows that Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood is now majority white.
“This information isn’t surprising to anyone who lives in Logan Square,” said Christian Diaz, Housing Director for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). “Really, for us, we want to ask why: Why is our neighborhood trending in a way where we’re heading towards becoming a segregated community?”
Image Credit: Bill Healy/WBEZ
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Access Living honors LSNA as the Community Partner of the Year
Access Living, a powerful disability justice organization honored LSNA as the Community Partner of the Year for our work with students with disabilities at Schurz HS through our Sustainable Community Schools grant.
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LSNA WINS Caregivers Grant from CFW with Support from Voters
Logan Square Neighborhood Association won a $15,000 grant from Chicago Foundation for Women’s (CFW) #GivingTuesday campaign to support our work to give much-needed self-care packages and mental health resources to LSNA Parent Mentors who are not only caregivers for their families, but also their communities. And we are so thankful to the CFW for the opportunity to participate in this challenge.
Here's how you can help:
Go to: CFW's Website
Watch three short videos from the amazing finalists
Donate at least $5 to the CFW through the VOTE now link
Vote for LSNA! <3
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Many immigrants in the Chicago area look forward to Biden presidency, but ‘we will hold (him) accountable’
Photo by: Youngrae Kim, Chicago Tribune. María Leticia Toribio at her home in Chicago on Nov. 6, 2020.
By LAURA RODRÍGUEZ PRESA, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, NOV 07, 2020
Teresa Labastida, 43, a mother of three, feels the same way. She also volunteered with the Logan Square group to push Latinos to vote. “Even though I can’t vote, seeing the number, I feel like so many people have voted for me,” Labastida said. Her oldest son voted for the first time, and he kept her updated on the results following Election Day.
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WBEZ Chicago: Who Benefits From Chicago Dual Language Expansion?
Photo by Adriana Cardona-Maguigad/WBEZ
CPS Is Dramatically Expanding Gold Standard Bilingual Program. But Is It Putting The Funding — And Schools — In The Right Place?
As a parent and an organizer for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Leticia Barrera fought for more dual language programs in area schools. But the sudden expansion has surprised her.
“I am worried about why the district is bringing now dual language and not bringing resources to the [transitional bilingual] program that is already there for years,” she said.
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Nuestro Futuro Grant Helps Foster Community in Hermosa
Photography by Eddie Quiñones.
Drive along the “Armitage Avenue Welcoming Corridor” between Pulaski Street and Kostner Avenue in Hermosa, a vibrant Latinx community on the city’s Northwest side, and you may catch a glimpse of some of the mosaic monarch butterflies displayed on a number of storefronts.
The butterflies—and the corridor itself—are part of a project sponsored by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) to foster connectivity, a sense of security for Hermosa residents. Two
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Housing and Immigration Fair, October 3
La Asociación de Vecinos de Logan Square repartiran recursos de vivienda y de inmigración al Vecindario de Hermosa! Dé un paseo por el corredor de Armitage para recibir máscaras, kits de arte y aprenda de recursos disponibles para usted.
Macarillas y Kits de Arte Gratis, Información de sus derechos, y recursos de vivienda y inmigración
Read more for bilingual description.
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LSNA Housing's VIRTUAL Comedy Night | Tuesday, 9/22 @ 6:30 pm
On Tuesday, September 22 at 6:30 pm, LSNA is hosting A VIRTUAL night of Comedy with the AMAZING help of comedians, Carly Kane, Audrey Jonas, and Adam Burke. Hosted by Janice V. Rodriguez.
Watch with us on our Facebook Page!
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Carnaval de Cariño, August 20 through October 15
The Logan Square Neighborhood Association with help from a generous Shared Smiles grant award from LISC presents Carnaval de Cariño: Comida, Cultura y Solidaridad. A celebration of our Latinx, Afro-Latinx and Caribbean cultura! We are proud to partner with local restaurants to help feed 100 of our families. Selected families will receive a certificate for a family meal at one of our participating restaurants.
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Logan Square Dad Detained By ICE Comes Home Thanks To Neighbors Who Spoke Out
BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO, MINA BLOOM: Friday morning, Logan Square leaders and immigration activists rallied around the father and his family at a press conference and “know your rights” demonstration in front of Chase Elementary School, 2021 N. Point St. The man is a parent of Chase students and was arrested near the school.
Photo by: Mina Bloom
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