Michael Chavez

Sex Offender Residence Restrictions Further Complicate Access to Affordable Housing and Social Services

While the home addresses of registered sex offenders are loosely “checked,” the lack of Chicago’s social service programs and affordable housing further inhibit the previously incarcerated from obtaining help or supervision.

Michael Chavez, 33 and, Kevin Smith, 55, are registered sex offenders living in the same building located on 426 South Clark Street.  According to the Illinois state law, a registered sex offender may not live and/or loiter within “1000 feet of a public park.”  Pritzker Park, which is also located across from Harold Washington Library – a host to numerous afterschool programs for children under 18, is located 897 feet from Chavez and Smith’s residence.

“Nine times out of ten… you report this to the local police station, and they’re not going to do anything about it,” said Sgt. Mike Schassburger from the Cook County Sheriff Department.  “These men are clearly in violation of the state law but more than likely the system will take a while before addressing this issue.”

Chavez was 21 when he was arrested on October 13, 2000 for predatory criminal sexual assault with a victim who was 11.  Smith was 40 when he was arrested on October 11, 2002 for aggravated criminal sexual assault with a victim who was 33.  Because both offenses are a felonies in Illinois and both have plead guilty to charges against them, they are required to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. 

In 1990, when Harold Washington Library was undergoing its construction, the city of Chicago created Pritzker Park as an “outdoor enhancement to the new library.”  In 2008, the Chicago Park District took ownership and transformed the space with grass plantings and wall’s inscribed with quotations from famous authors.  The area is also home to temporary art installations such as Tony Tasset’s 30 foot tall plexiglass “Eye” in 2010.  Now used as a popular hangout for businessmen during their lunch-hour break, or homeless men finding company in feeding the pigeons, children often frequent the area on their way to the library.

Robert Reid, the security manager for Harold Washington Library, declined to directly comment on the sex offender’s living near Pritzker Park, but said it is a matter of a “police issue that needs to be resolved accordingly.”

Chicago police spokesman Sgt. Cesar Guzman said individuals who register as sex offenders, regardless if it’s for the first time or for their annual renewal, are required to input an address in which they will be residing.  Once their address is inputted in the system, there is a “check” to see if there are surrounding schools or parks within the area, which if appears not far enough, will be asked to relocate to another address. 

“There is a system that the offender’s address goes through to see if they are too close to a school and/or a park,” said Guzman.  “And if they are too close, then they have to relocate immediately.  If the individual violates that law of being near at least 500 feet from school grounds or 1,000 feet from a public park, then they are subject to an arrest.”

However Schassburger believes not many steps are proficiently taken in order to prevent sex offenders from living near public recreational areas.

“If a sex offender registers with an address that clearly shows up on the map near a lot of public schools or parks… then something is done to prevent them from living there,” said Schassburger.  “But if there aren’t as many schools around the area, most likely a second glance isn’t done to see if they’re violating the law.”

Coincidentally, both Chavez and Smith are currently residing in the Ewing Annex Hotel located on South Clark Street.  The hotel has no affiliation with the state judicial system, though it was challenged in court 10 years ago to be turned over to state ownership.  Due to the lack of affordable housing, especially for the recently incarcerated, mentally disabled, or homeless, the Ewing Annex Hotel has served as a sort of an unofficial social services facility.  

A small sign that reads, “Hotel Men Only” sticks out perpendicularly from the building as the entire block of wedged windows and metal fire escapes help camouflage the address.  “Cash Loans,” “Liquor,” and “We Buy Or Sell” take up the rest of the signage on the street, with a couple random seafood take-out restaurants awkwardly placed in between.  Unless looking for the hotel, a passerby probably wouldn’t know the hotel hosts up to 210 men each night. 

“There is a general shortage of affordable housing,” said Dr. Roberta Garner, a professor and director of the sociology graduate program at DePaul University who specializes in urban and political sociology.  “Even for moderate income working people, let alone for individuals who are mentally ill, unemployed, very poor or formerly incarcerated.”

Garner believes the restrictions against sex offenders living at a certain distance from particular areas, “further complicates a situation that is already difficult” and could lead to further displacement of formerly incarcerated individuals trying to seek employment.  With the rapid decline of health care and social services programs in Chicago, Garner doesn’t see a choice for individuals to live in areas other than what is affordable and basic to their needs.

“The issue is not where they live, but whether they are getting the supervision and treatment that can prevent further incidents,” she said.  “That is a matter of highly trained social workers and mental health professionals who would cost the taxpayer more money.   (However) that question is not solvable in today’s housing market except with government spending.” 

Garner believes the services and resources are not available “neither in the market nor in the current situation of government services” unless a dire need is demanded from the community.

The vicious cycle of a failed social service system affected Chavez in 1994 when his mother took him to see a psychiatrist at 15.  Chavez claimed he heard “voices” and constantly talked to himself to “stop them.”  In his arrest report, Chavez said he didn’t return to the psychiatrist after that initial visit until 1999.  Raised by his mother, Inez Seda, and stepfather, Peter Seda, Chavez was sexually abused by his uncle from age 11 to 15.  Never met his father, Chavez felt alone and considered suicide in high school.  Though he tried to get his life together in 1999, Chavez’s mental state caused him to quit after working six months as a paper route boy for the Chicago Sun Times.  That was his first and only job.  His mental state then began to rapidly deteriorate, as he could never “get over” the trauma from his abusive past.  In 2000, he remembers hearing the term “schizophrenic” as his diagnosis, but didn’t receive any prescription or follow up’s regarding that meeting.

Chavez was examined on January 31, 2001, before his trial date for predatory sexual assault, by staff psychiatrist Albert H. Stipes.  He was declared “fit for trial” and showed no evidence of “intellectual deficit.”

Although Schassburger believes the sex offender registry has tried its best to obtain accurate information, particular instances, such as Chavez and Smith’s residence violation, are not fully monitored unless someone points out the flaw directly.  And regardless of their violation, the monitoring of their whereabouts and upkeep of their mental and financial stability is, in his opinion, last on the state’s priority.

“If no one is keeping watch,” said Schassburger.  “Then certain instances such as this one will go unnoticed.”     

Green City Market in Lincoln Park

Organic vs. GMO labels:  A Consumer's Right to Know

It’s Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and swarms of Chicagoans flock to the streets near the Old Town Triangle of Lincoln Park.  Summer is officially here, besides being the hottest day of the year with a record breaking 90 degrees out, local farmer’s markets are in full bloom with fresh produce picked from the day before. 

Visitors happily park blocks away and walk the rest with their strollers and reusable eco-friendly bags to the Lincoln Park High School parking lot, where a variety of Midwest vendors are selling brightly colored fruits and vegetables specially grown for this year’s warmest season. 

About a mile east, at the intersection of north Clark and west Menomonee street, the Green City Market, a non-profit created to support natural and organic farming, hosts its 12th annual farmer’s market, held every year at the beginning of May to the end of October.  

The Green City outweighs the Lincoln Park market vendor volume four to one, but both attract the same clientele.  Customers carefully ask the farmer’s how “fresh” their produce is, whether or not pesticides were used on their crops, and the overall steps it took for them to get it into their hands today.

“People are beginning to really question what’s in our food,” said Joelle Rabion, a certified holistic health practitioner who works as a health coach for the Good Food Better Life program in Chicago.  “We’re beginning to see a shift in people’s minds, that we’re all responsible for our own health and nutrition and understanding that the heavily processed foods may not be so good for us.”

However it’s easier said than done as Rabion points out the many opportunities for our cultures confusion in food. 

“Commercials and advertisements rule our society’s culture and our relationship to food,” she said.  “You can’t make money off of commercials telling people to eat healthy.  The doctors with their pharmaceutical pills certainly won’t sell themselves.”

The supermarket for example, is optical illusion of what U.S. food has become, Rabion said.  What looks like an abundant variety of produce, is actually a highly skilled scientific project concocted in a science lab more so than in a pasture of a farm.  Although nutritional labels, controversially mandated by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990, help acknowledge the ingredients of products, the ever-growing list of non-pronounceable food additives is starting to worry consumers.  A concern that has many nutritionists questioning its food is the monstrous conglomerate of GMO (genetically modified organism) products, also known as genetic engineering.  However the problem with genetically modified foods, there is no label required.

“A person could probably go crazy if they think about all of the products that are genetically modified,” said Erin Riley-Strong, the communications and marketing coordinator for Green City Market.  “But the truth is, it’s in the majority of products in the supermarket.  Americans eat it almost everyday without even knowing it.”

Unless labeled “USDA certified organic” or “Non-GMO,” produce purchased from a local supermarket was specifically derived from a science lab before being planted in the ground.  According to the Non-GMO project, a non-profit organization established in 2005 by the “People Want to Know Campaign” in Berkeley, California, more than 80 percent of conventional processed foods come from GMO crops.    

First initiated by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992, the United States’ role in pursuing biotechnology was a top priority in scientific research.  Quayle declared, in a press conference on May 26, 1992, that the United States’ will remain the world leader in biotechnology as “long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulation.”  The problem with the lack of “regulation,” however, results in disingenuous corporate interests over obligations of responsible agriculture.  

International best-selling author Jeffrey M. Smith, reports in his book, “Genetic Roulette – The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods,” that as crops were becoming larger in size and primarily owned by multinational corporations, farmers were becoming less involved in the growing process on their own land.  

Weeds then began to grow over mass crop acreage, causing a high demand in herbicide.  But as most herbicides are highly toxic, scientists had to create a “modified” version of the farmer’s crops.  While injecting its DNA with genetic proteins, one that’s specifically resistant to the herbicide toxin, the result was a thousand acre farm completely resilient to the herbicide sprayed amongst the crops.  A tremendous accomplishment in agriculture and biotechnology, but many farmers and consumers, says Smith, are disturbed by scientist’s “life” creation in a Petri dish without responsibly considering its affects on the environment or human consumption.  

Genetic engineering.  GMOs.  Biotechnology.  Fueled by anti-GMO campaigns, food documentaries and state leaders, the scientific terminology is starting to become a part of casual dinner conversations amongst Americans today.  And with majority of produce in U.S. supermarkets being created by genetic engineering, as reported by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser in the documentary, “Food Inc.,” Americans may have no choice but to stare at their BLT sandwich (maybe literally) in the face. 

Unlike 50 countries around the world, citizens of the United States have been unaware of their GMO food consumption for over 20 years because a GMO label isn’t required.

As reported by the New York Times, California will be the state to watch in November’s election concerning the GMO labeling debate.  Surpassing nearly double the amount of required signatures needed (971,126 to be exact) to qualify for the November ballot, “California cleared a crucial hurdle this month, setting the stage for a probable November vote that could influence not just food packaging but the future of American agriculture,” reported journalists’ Amy Harmon and Andrew Pollack for the New York Times.  

Illinois Representative’s Deborah Mell, Naomi D. Jakobsson and Kelly M. Cassidy are also hoping to stir a dialogue of GMO labeling with the Genetic Engineered Food Label Act Bill HB 1249.  If passed, it would require all “foods containing genetically engineered material or produced with genetically engineered material (to) be clearly marked with a label placed in a conspicuous place that indicates that the food contains genetically engineered material.”  Representative Cassidy, who is also a member of Illinois Environmental Health Committee and the Consumer Protection Committee, says this bill is an “overdue legal framework” that will only help consumer’s create healthier choices for themselves and their families.

“Consumers should be aware of foods containing or produced with genetically engineered material,” she said.  “I recognize the importance of allowing consumers to make knowledgeable and health food choices, and this bill is a great step in the right direction.”

According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, as Illinois is the leading producer of soybeans and corn, and ranked second nationally in the export of agricultural commodities, the passing of bill HB 1249 will also send a tremendous message for GMO labeling and an uprising in proactive consumer awareness and protection.     

“We have the right to know what’s in our food,” said farmer Dean Froehlich, a vendor of the Lincoln Park farmer’s market. 

A fourth generation farmer of Froehlich’s Finest Fruits and Vegetables from Berrien Center, Mich., Froehlich believes in “nature’s course” of creating food rather than “white coats” who are afraid to get their hands dirty.  “I’ve got friends who are in biotechnology and you know, I just don’t understand it,” he said.  “Why would you want to eat something that you have to drastically alter?  I wouldn’t eat it because I don’t know what’s in it.  It’s just not natural.”

Beth Eccles, co-owner of Green Acres Farm in North Judson, Ind., and vendor of the Green City Market, proudly continues her grandfather’s farming tradition by producing “naturally grown” heirloom vegetables, fruits and specialty greens. 

“I only heard of GMOs until recently,” she said.  “A lot of our customers were starting to ask, but no our food is 100 percent derived from a natural seed.  Those companies, it’s just getting to the point where you don’t know what they’re doing to the crops.  It’s scary.”

In August 2003, Monsanto, one of the top Goliath biotechnology companies in the world, paid off $700 million in damages for poisoning over 20,000 Anniston, Alabama residents.  For over 40 years, Monsanto had been secretly dumping mercury and PCB-laden waste into their local creeks without consulting a single resident or government authority.  Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group in Washington D.C., demanded and uploaded documents on the EWG website that showed Monsanto’s knowledge of poisoning the residents of Anniston, yet purposely sent internal memos to keep it a secret. 

A letter titled “Pollution” sent out to Monsanto sales executives on February 16, 1970, reads, “We will continue to make these products; however, customers will have to use their own judgment on continued use.  We can’t afford to lose one dollar of business.” 

When Monsanto was taken to court by the residents of Anniston, the Monsanto manager of environmental control, William B. Papageorge stated in the court document on March 31, 1998 that he saw no reason to “inform” the residents as it was “no different than a service station man telling his neighbors he has got motor oil on the curb by his service station.”

Since the settlement in 2003, Monsanto has claimed its products to be PCB and mercury free.  However many are skeptical of the companies intentions and current chemicals used to produce herbicide resistant crops today.  The new PCB, as reported last year by NaturalNews.com, is an herbicide called glyphosate, which is, according to a study by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides in Eugene, Oregon, linked to cause birth defects, DNA damage and cancer. 

“It’s being found in our rivers and rainwater across the Midwest, which is truly disturbing,” said Riley-Strong.  “Now it’s not so much about creating food, but about being economically and environmentally responsible.  These GMO companies have none of that.”

Environmental law firm, Earthjustice, has dealt with numerous environmental cases regarding herbicides used for genetic engineering crops.  Managing attorney for Earthjustice, Paul Achitoff is currently helping residents of Hawai‘i pass a GMO labeling bill. 

“Hawai‘i was once used as the biggest GMO testing ground in the world,” said Achitoff.  Covering over 2,000 acres of land since the early 1990’s, Achitoff didn’t know himself about the companies testing grounds until 2001.  “These companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, and Dupont have spent millions of dollars to keep people in the dark about their products.  Reason?  They don’t want people to know because they have a lot to lose.  Once people discover what they do to the crops, people may not want to buy their product anymore.”

Dr. Melissa Yee, an acupuncturist at the Kapi‘olani Health Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and advocate for the anti-GMO corporation Seeds of Truth has conducted tests and research on GMO products. 

“We’ve had lab rats come back with results of infertility, kidney and liver failure, and intestinal issues,” she said.  “Tourists come and eat our papaya, because it’s one of our known popular fruits but they end up with severe digestive issues.  We see a lot of those cases in our hospital.”

On Monsanto’s official website, they claim that GM crops are “as safe as conventional (non-GM-derived) food” and studies from the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, a non-profit created by biotechnology scientists of the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation (headed by Monsanto executives) show the “wholesomeness and nutritional value of GM crops.”  Achitoff sighs in disgust and strongly opposes their research.

“The testing that is done by Monsanto, it’s by scientists that they hire and pay. And there are a lot of ways that you can conduct a study with which you can make the results in your favor.”  Achitoff claims the lack of “regulation” by the government allows such tests to pass as “sufficient” when majority of the results are rigged. 

“People assume when they eat GMO foods, they think the government said it’s okay so therefore it must be okay,” said Achitoff.  “But the truth is the government has very little to do with it.  All of the GMO companies have yet to conduct a complete public study of their products.  Now doesn’t that tell you something?”

Just like cigarette packs and alcoholic beverages, Achitoff says GMO labeling will soon become “inevitable.”

“Its one of those things where for a period of time an industry gets away with something but sooner or later people demand it.  So sooner or later it will happen,” he said.

Meanwhile farmers such as Froehlich continue to produce their crops with as much care and devotion as if they were to sell it to their own families.

“You look around here,” said Froehlich, pointing to the families shopping around the Lincoln Park market.  “It’s about being honest and trustworthy to your craft.  I wouldn’t want to eat anything that I’m not sure of, so why would I sell it to someone else?”

G8 Summit:  Chicago Greektown Feeling Impact of Homeland's Economy


Greektown business owners say they are feeling the shaky economies in both the U.S. and Greece as hardships from their loved ones overseas remind them of their own fate here in Chicago.

Many are skeptical whether next months G8 summit will address solutions to both countries economic crisis.

Sprawled over a mile near the West side, Greektown has become an epicenter of local shops, businesses, and restaurants, many owned by Chicagoans with strong ties to Greece.

“I consider myself very lucky for being here,” said Christos Liakouras, a first generation Greek and owner of The Parthenon, “the oldest Greek restaurant in Chicago.”

Unlike Liakouras, his one brother and two sisters were not able to migrate to the U.S. in the late 1960s due to financial constraints. Liakouras shared that him and his siblings were forced to choose between staying in Greece to take care of their parents or flee to the U.S. They had no idea Greece’s economy would decline and cause more financial turmoil.

“I have brothers and sisters in Greece who are affected,” said Liakouras who explained his family’s hardships over the past years.  “They are older than me.  Retired.  They cut their salary and their social security in half because of the problems.”

Liakouras took out a loan last year in order for The Parthenon restaurant to “get by without trouble,” which he calls a luxury for “living in America” unlike many of his friends and family in Greece.

“(The European Union) already bailed Greece out but they charged them so much interest that they owe more than what was they previously owed… it just doesn’t make sense.” Liakouras said, shaking his head.

Greece received its first loan from the European Union in 2010. According to BBC News, the loan was to recover much of the countries overspending since it joined the euro. Now in 2012, Greece has found itself in need of another bailout, exchanging $173 billion of its $485 billion debt for loans at a low rate of interest in order to keep it from defaulting.

 

“The European Union has leant them so much money,” said Dr. Patricia Werhane, director of DePaul University’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics.  Werhane believes Greece’s economy has become “too dependent” on the European Union and the United States, a mistake that could enable the countries resiliency in the future.

“I know it sounds mean, but it doesn’t help to loan these countries in need with huge amounts of money.”  Werhane said.  “Amounts that they would not be able to pay back in time.  It’s just not that simple.  Greece will never be able to pay them back.”

Joe Collado, co-owner of Greektown restaurant Rodity's, said he hears a lot of their regular customer’s talk about their relatives in Greece.

“They can definitely feel their relatives pain,” said Collado shaking his head.  “We all do in a sense that we hear and connect stories of what’s going on over there… it’s scary.”

Chicago Greektown Roditys restaurant

Yiannis Morikis, owner of Greekown Music, had to rebuild his family’s 20-year business after a fire caused damage to his entire shop in February 2010.  He said he’s lucky to have been able to “start over” unlike some of his relatives in Athens.

“My cousin was a computer programmer but he lost his job,” said Morikis.  “He was able to buy his own taxi to run in Athens but, he’s been forced to strike with them if they strike, so it’s been tough.  They’ve been getting by but it’s been rough for them.”

While unsure of his store’s financial future, Morikis and his wife, whom is his “one and only other employee,” are doing “okay” in light of the United State’s dire economy. 

“Financially, it hasn’t affected us as much,” said Morikis who has been able to relocate to a friend’s cell phone shop just two blocks down from the store’s original location.  “We still import from Greece.  The euro is down now and the record labels have been giving us a better discount so that has been good for us.”

Nia Tsamis is an employee of Flea – Mediterranean Food Market, which is owned by her father.  She said Flea’s orders of Greek produce is good for the country’s interests as well.

“All of our products are from Greece.” said Tsamis.  “The exchange rate isn’t the greatest, but if anything we’re helping them by getting products from there.”

Aware of his customer’s strong ties to Greece, Collado acknowledges Rodity’s circumstantial advances due to Greece’s hardships.

“Most of our products are imported,” Collado said.  “All of our wine, many of our cheeses, some of our meat products and fish have come directly from Greece.  And with the euro down, we’ve been, I guess you can say… benefiting from their crisis.”

Many Greektown businesses are caught between Greece and the U.S.’s economic dilemma.  Werhane said it’s an unfortunate predicament they face while their home country slips into further debt.

“It helps Greektown a lot because the dollar is in their favor,” she said.  “But on the other hand they’re Greek.  So they can understand how they feel.  It’s definitely morally debilitating.”  

The world’s economic status will be available for a greater dialogue, as leaders for the G8 summit will gather May 18-19 at Camp David to discuss the debt crisis particularly in the European Union.  Werhane said one of the top concern’s discussed in the summit will be the economic crisis in Greece and whether or not the country can sustain on it’s own without intervention from the United States or the European Union.

“Greece doesn’t have much industry,” she said.  “And the G8 hasn’t gone into Greece to do any industrial development.  Either they have to bail them out completely or Greece will go off the euro.”

If Greece were to “go off the euro,” though the initial change will be “extremely difficult,” Werhane said.  But she added that the long-term scenario might end in Greece’s overall favor.

“At least they’d feel independent,” she said.  “Right now they feel enormously dependent on the European Union.  And to be dependent on the European Union is to be dependent on Germany who has the least amount of debt and the most amount of money.  And the G8 is going to worry about that.”

Developed in 1975, the summit originally consisted of six governments:  Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States thus called the Group of Six or G6.  Canada joined a year later and Russia completed the organization and became the G8 in 1997.  Often criticized for not having a clear “agenda,” with no official spokesperson or offices for its members, the annual G8 summits, according to Werhane, have no official “power” as a group.

“Unless they decide as a group to do something… The G8 is really an economic liaison,” she said.      

Despite the G8 summit and U.S. Presidential candidates promising an increase in job stability, Greektown business owners interviewed say they won’t hold their breath for drastic changes in both countries’ economies.

“I’m not the best at politics, but you never find an end to politics,” Liakouras said, shrugging his shoulders.  “You look at it this way you look at it that way there is always a plus and minus.  Nobody wins that way.”

Story posted on redline project.org/g8greektown.php

    

Finding Their Voice Through Free Spirit Media

Since 2001, Free Spirit Media has helped high school students learn various media outlets, 
specializing in youth activism and short documentaries.  "I was frustrated by the lack of 
diversity in the business and the stories that were not being told," said founder and 
executive director Jeff McCarter in a recent interview with WGN News. "Kids have 
so much passion and they need opportunities to exercise their voices."

Wedged in Chicago’s south side, between boarded up houses and congested freeways, a handful of high school students huddle in the control room of Free Spirit Media’s headquarters, ready to direct the night’s performances.  Two floors below, eager parents and children fill the seats of the Gary Comer Youth Center gymnasium waiting for the annual “Black Youthstory” talent show to start. 

Free Spirit Media News staff and students: (back row, left to right) Teresa White, Rashad
Woods, Micole Vinson, Shantelle Jefferson, Joshua Patterson, Chad Rispalje. (front row,
 left to right) Mia McDonald, Anthony Boatwright, Daisha Hill, and Charla Agnew.        

“Don’t be nervous, you guys got this.” said Free Spirit Media News’ Program Coordinator Teresa White reassuring the teenage-filled room.  The students nod and giggle quietly as their eyes become fixated on the flat screen TV across the room.       

“Stand-by camera one…” said 15-year-old Troyonna Anderson, a freshman at Kenwood Academy High School.  “Camera two go.”    The screen comes alive showing multiple camera angles of the stage venue.  The students watch in a trance, taking turns in groups of two to direct the camera crew in the gym.  Poised and calm, it’s hard to believe just three weeks ago the students were learning their first lessons on video production.

17-year-old Julian Williams (left) and Free Spirit Media
News Program Coordinator, Teresa White (right)
review one of the student’s video interviews on the
TV screen during a class session on February 9^th, 2012.        

Founded by cameraman and Emmy-award winning producer, Jeff McCarter, who aspired to serve its community’s underprivileged youth, Free Spirit Media was formed in 2000 with the success of the high school sports broadcasting program HoopsHIGH.  In 2001, FSM evolved into media activism as the students began creating documentaries, public service announcements, and news productions on their own.    

Free Spirit Media’s Technology Coordinator, Chad
Rispalje plays back the recorded interviews while White
and the student’s critique their reporting skills.    

“It’s so important for these young people to have a voice,” said McCarter after the video premiere of Free Spirit Media’s annual showcase, “Graduating to the Big Screen” at the ICE Theaters in North Lawndale on President’s Day.  “They need an outlet to be heard, and we need to see and hear it.”

Now having served up to 3,000 students, Free Spirit Media has helped motivate its youth to pursue their passions, regardless of obstacles that may come their way.

“To be in this program, you have to be a special student,” said White.  “One that is willing to attend school all day and then come to an after-school program that demands similar energy.  I’m actually not surprised most of the FSM students already have their life goals in place."

After reviewing the video interviews, the students
break out in groups to finish last minute
touches on their news segments.  Dunbar High
School student’s Micole Vinson (left) and
Charla Agnew (right) practice their voice-
over script needed to complete their projects.    

Prior to joining Free Spirit Media’s team, Technology Coordinator Chad Rispalje didn’t have a background in teaching.  But after observing and collaborating with the students on their video projects, he’s learned to step back and allow the kids to take over.  “I’m learning to ask questions in a way that lets them learn how to take ownership of their work.  It’s really rewarding watching them show others as they advance through the program.”

As the show comes to a close, White and Rispalje are merely against the wall as the students direct the cameras on their own.

“Camera two inch up a little above their waists.” said 17-year-old Charla Agnew as she adjusts her headphones.

“Every year the kids set up new rules for themselves to abide by,”
said White pointing to the “Crew Agreement” poster
hanging against the wall in sight for the students
when they walk in the classroom.     

Founder Jeff McCarter congratulating Free Spirit Media
students during the “Graduating to the Big Screen” premiere
at ICE Theaters in North Lawndale on February 20^th,
2012. “To you young people, you are the reason, the truth,
 the inspiration to Free Spirit and have taught us so much about
ourselves in the process of teaching you… thank you for that.”    

“Camera three isn’t getting any love,” laughs one of the students in the back of the room.  

“Stand-by camera three… Okay camera three go.” says Agnew.

Suddenly camera three jolts up and down uncontrollably on screen.  The students gasp in panic.    

Program Coordinator Teresa White (far right) assisting Free Spirit Media student’s (left to right) Jamie
Stubbs and Troyonna Anderson as they direct the “Black Youthstory” talent show.    

Free Spirit Media students, (left to right) Joshua Patterson, Charla Agnew, Micole Vinson, and N’Dea Davis, 

observe the TV screen as their teammates direct the “Black Youthstory” talent show on February 24^th, 2012.

The students take turns directing and coordinating the talent show, using the
flat screen (normally used for their FSM News productions) as their on-air guide.    

“Camera one go!” exclaims Agnew as the room fills with uproarious laughter.


After the last performance, the audience spills out to the lobby.  The FSM students close up their video equipments and call for their rides home.  Some pair up in threes to walk to the bus stop, arming their ears with shared iPod earbuds.  They cover themselves with thick coats and dumbbell heavy backpacks while politely saying good-bye to Ms. White and Mr. Rispalje.  Their work is done for tonight but continues in jabbering conversation as the students walk slowly through the halls, echoing a camaraderie of exhaustion and laughter.

Finding Warmth in Holistic Healing

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Just two blocks from the steel sharp elbows of the Chicago redline and honk-happy drivers heading off to overspend on Michigan avenue – The Holistic Health Practice on Superior street grabs its patients away from the bustling noise of the unforgiving city, providing a “safe haven for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual transformation”.  Acupuncture, massage therapy, spiritual guidance, nutritional consultations, and even holistic financial planning are some of the many services offered, helping people discover their best selves by addressing multiple aspects of their health in mind, body, and spirit.  Enter through the practice doors and a calming scent of fragrant incense hits your senses along with a warm hug from colorful abstract paintings and candied caramel lamps lighting the rooms.

It’s a different world in this office.  A time lapse to quiet and stillness.
“A lot of the patients that come to me…its because they’ve tried all other types of medicine or therapy and I’m sort of their last resort,” says Matthew Berean, a certified Rolfer at the Holistic Health Practice who treats physical ailments of the body by incorporating a combination of bodywork and movement integration.  “After using pharmaceutical drugs, a lot of my patients come to me for an alternate method of healing mostly because they don’t like the side affects of particular pharmaceutical drugs previously prescribed.  Using a holistic approach, I treat my patients by asking how they got to where they are now.  What is it that they’ve been doing that has lead them to this point, and what we can do together to let the body heal itself.”

Founder of Holistic Health Practice-
Kurt Hill (https://www.facebook.com/
pages/Holistic-Health-Practice/75344525818)

“Holistic healing is a combination of mind, body and spirit,” says founder Kurt Hill in the Holistic Health Practice online video interview by Peter Dolan from Media Beyond.  “We treat them all.  We also engage with allopathic medicine, which is MD medicine, so we’re not isolating ourselves - we’re involving ourselves in the totality of the healing community.”

Though Berean’s rolfing practice has helped produce dramatic results in many of his patients, he’s quick to point out that he’s not a “healer”, but a source of guidance for people to heal themselves.

“Holistic healing is hard for many to grasp as a source of ‘medicine’ because it’s not something scientists or doctors can measure,” says Berean with a smile.  “You cannot measure meditation or spiritual counseling and how many times it takes for one to do so and they’re cured.  It differs for everyone.  And people, especially doctor’s, are very sensitive when you combine ‘spiritual healing’ to one’s health.  It crosses the territory of ‘religion’ and creates a very gray area as opposed to black and white.”


Holistic healer, Tara Sullivan, a Thai massage therapist and energy healer at HHP, often finds a disconnect between her patients awareness of the mind and body, treating them both as separate entities, and not as a whole.

Matt Berean demonstrating his rolfing practice on a patient.

“90% of my patients that come in, there is something underneath, mostly spiritual, that comes with their physical or emotional pain.  We forget many of times that our entire being...the emotional, spiritual, and physical…its all connected.  You cannot fix one and not the other.  It’s all one piece.  And we all have to treat ourselves as one piece, not bits and pieces of the problem.  That’s only hitting the surface.”                      

Holistic Health Practice massage room
 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holistic-Health-Practice/75344525818)

If one word could define the atmosphere of the Holistic Health Practice it would be – love.  Corny as it sounds, love is the only general yet simplistic description of the energy flowing through each room, each practitioner, and each patient that walks through the door.  Love in a sense of compassion, empathy, and guidance.  Love that extends beyond each practitioner’s textbook advice, and into genuine concern and care for their patients and co-workers well-being.  By keeping negative energy at a far distance, the Holistic Health Practice hopes their guidance will continue through each patient and extend to those around them who may need help as well.


Leaving the Holistic Health Practice office, the bitter cold of the Chicago winter is particularly noticed.  The weather channel reported yesterday “sunny and warm for the notorious Chicago winter season tomorrow” but the pushed wind chill from the subway tunnels suggests otherwise.  Head down and glove-covered hands in wool coat pockets is the theme on the streets as locals and tourists alike walk steadfastly to their next destination of warmth and solace.

Made In Manila – A Chicagoan’s Love for Dharma’s Music

It’s opening night for the Chicago Filipino Film Festival at the Portage Theater and first-time filmmaker Tony Rago stands quietly on the side while photographer’s go flash happy with the “show opener” star, Bessie Badilla.  Former suburban Connecticut housewife turned Brazilian carnival queen, the celebrity of the night Badilla graciously poses in front of her carnival costumes used in her documentary, “Dance of My Life”.

“We are so excited to show the documentary tonight,” said Badilla to each person who asks about her experience as a “first time Filipina” carnival queen.  “We just showed it in New York two months ago and had to extend our trip because people still wanted to see it!”

Cheers of “congratulations!” soon follow as more visitor’s pile into the theater, huddling their turn around the beautiful and welcoming lady of the night.

Across the room are tables filled with endless sheets of white frosted cakes and fresh banana lumpias, luring in each guest after their photo-op with the beauty queen.  Echoes of laughter and clinking glass dominate the theater lounge as Rago sips his white russian, anxiously searching for someone in the crowd.  This is all very new to him.  It’s almost surreal since the past month has been an accidental blessing.  For it seems just yesterday Rago was introduced to the Filipino based music band, Up Dharma Down, and a year and a half later he’s featuring a documentary about his trip to visit the band in the Philippines.  No interviews for now, at least not until tomorrow as his debut film, “A Week in Metro Manila:  Up Dharma Down” will be featured for the first time on the big screen and a part of the 2011 Chicago Filipino Film Festival.  Finally relaxed after testing his film in the theater earlier in the day, Rago happily sticks around to network and eagerly help the scrambling volunteers needed to make this night possible.


Larry Versola, one of the film festival coordinator’s, quickly shuffles to and from guests and sponsors, unnoticing he left his professional digital camera lying on one of the vendor booths.


“Hey Larry I grabbed your camera if you’re looking for it,” said Rago relieved to have finally found its owner while holding up a boxy and very expensive looking Canon.


“Oh thanks man, you can take pic’s with it if you like,” said Versola walking up to his next meet and greet as if he already knew it was in good hands.


Rago nods and smiles as he joins the rest of the black t-shirt and pants wearing photographer’s flexibly bending and kneeling their bodies for the perfect shot of Badilla and fans.

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Four days past since his documentary debut and Rago couldn’t be happier with the turnout.  Standing a head taller than most people with a shaggy beard and hair-do, the 30-year-old Italian-American Chicago native beams a child-like smile with every opportunity to talk about his “awesome” time in the Philippines one year ago.


Computer software technician by day in downtown Chicago and music lover of “all kinds” in his spare time, Rago first heard of Up Dharma Down from a co-worker’s friend.  One of many “friend’s of a friend” who’s helped him through his journey into film-making.


“I’ve always liked any type of music no matter if it’s in another language or not,” said Rago attributing a Japanese rock band called Asobi Seksu, whom first got him into international music.  “After hearing Up Dharma Down, that was it.  I became an instant fan.”

Up Dharma Down - Indak - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb2uJtlZzbk

Up Dharma Down, a popular indie rock band from Makati, Philippines, sensually attracts locals and non-Pinoys like Rago through their jazzy, rock-inspired, hypnotic tunes and commitment to fans.  A self proclaimed “official unofficial promoter”, Rago created a friendship with the band via email and one day decided to fly down to meet them.


“I went down in hopes of doing a radio broadcast for Chicago Is the World,” said Rago recounting another friend of a friend who worked for the local radio station at the University of Chicago.  “I brought my camera to film the band playing and the interviews to broadcast later for the online website.”


But once Rago arrived in Makati, Philippines – a business area in the bustling city of Manila – he became part of UDD as they took him along to local gigs and behind the scene glimpses of their humble town.  The footage soon grew in to more than just five minutes of online material to share.

UDD bassist, Paul Yap with Tony Rago - https://www.facebook.com/tragecapone

“We’re really a camera shy band,” said Paul Yap, Up Dharma Down’s bassist, in an email who often receives messages from fans abroad saying they’ll be coming down to watch them play, but had no idea the amount of support they’d be receiving from fans over the film collaboration.  “We are touched that our fans put so much effort in this film.  The Manila crew who helped out are the same people who supported us since day one.  All thanks to Tony for starting and putting this together.”

Quick to acknowledge the many contributions in his “collaborative” film, from local Filipino fans turned “production assistants” to YouTube video snippets of time-lapse images and other documentary segments filmed in Manila, Rago only takes credit for “boldly asking” questions without the fear hearing “no”; a main ingredient to the overall success of finishing his film.  Something Rago would have never done in high school, just ask his mother Delores:

“In high school, Tony helped decorate the school marquees for events and school plays.” said Mrs. Rago recalling his interest in the arts when he was younger but points out the contradiction. “He was never adventurous…Not one to venture out.”  So when Rago broke the news to his parents that he was traveling halfway across the world to visit a band he communicated mostly through email, they thought “he was kidding”.

“Yea they were worried but I just told them to chill out, and to just trust me.” laughs Rago remembering the moment he told his parents.

“We were concerned for his safety,” said Mrs. Rago, a former travel agent who reluctantly helped Rago find the best flights to Manila.  But now looking back on his experience with the band, the Rago’s believe his trip turned out to be the “best decision he ever made” for both him and the band’s possible exposure to a wider range of audience.

“In terms of overall criteria, films need to have people of Filipino descent in primary roles as filmmakers or performers, or they need to focus on topics that would be relevant to a Filipino American audience.” says Jonathan Laxamana, Versola’s partnered coordinator for the annual Chicago Filipino Film Festival.  Laxamana stated that though Rago is not of Filipino descent, his film features a story about Pinoy culture, particularly music, which attributed to the line-up of another film in the festival.  “Since the deadline of film submission had already passed, Tony contacted us just for advice about supporting his film within the community.  But I thought his film’s subject matter, about a Filipino indie band, paired nicely with another film that we were considering for this year, ‘Rakenrol’, a narrative film about a fictional Filipino indie band.”  Laxamana’s interest quickly perked for Rago’s unfinished project and asked him to complete it by November…of this year.

“I wasn’t even finished yet and this was in October of this year,” says Rago chuckling, recalling his month’s worth of heavy tweaking and editing.  “Jon (Laxamana), didn’t even see the whole movie until the opening night of the festival, he just trusted me to get it done.”

Laxamana, a digital product developer for a textbook publishing company, Nieman, Inc., credits the 2001 film, “The Debut” – a first Filipino American film released theatrically in the United States from March 2001 to November 2002 - as the inspiration to create and help coordinate the Chicago Filipino Film Festival.

The Debut - Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6htYeILov58

“It brought a lot of energy in the Filipino community,” said Laxamana recalling other Filipino films, “Lolo’s Child” and “Small Voices” that sparked momentum from the Filipino American Network of Chicago, which Laxamana helped partake in.  “I had a background in writing about film, freelancing at the company AMG (All Movie Guide – now called Rovi) so I was recuited to help out, primarily focusing on film selections.  Larry (Versola) focused on the day-of-event logistics at the 2004 festival, and then we were asked to head up the festival the following year.”

A dedicated fan of Asian-American cinema, Laxamana was discouraged to find very few films about Filipino culture.  Though he chooses a good handful of feature films through networking and personal invitations, mostly because filmmakers in the Philippines don’t actively submit to film festivals in the U.S., Laxamana finds many films to showcase in the festival through open call submissions.

Courtesy of Tony Rago

“Tony Rago’s film falls under the category of telling a relevant Filipino story,” says Laxamana commending Rago’s niche in indie Filipino music particularly in the Philippines.  “A number of Filipino American people who have never listened to contemporary Filipino music have told me they’re now going to listen to Up Dharma Down.”


“Life’s too short,” said Rago attributing his favorite quote, and now official name of his film production company, as the motivation to take on this film project.  “Just putting yourself out there, in this case, can sometimes lead to awesome results.”


Though the film festival is over, the Portage Theater in Chicago’s northwest side is still dazzling tonight.  Only half of the light-bulb drenched marquee warmly sparkles the dimly lit North Milwaukee avenue, but the bold lettering “Filipino American Film Fest” still pronounces nicely to passers-by.  A marking in the marquee that Tony can claim he made, only this time he’s one of the stars of the show.

A Week In Metro Manila:  Up Dharma Down Trailer - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSBOy4fVgEY