My name is Lenka, and I usually blog over at farkleberries. I’ve been a fan of Feministe for quite some time, and although I don’t tend to blog much on feminist issues at my place, it is an issue near and dear to my heart. I hope someday I can articulate my views on the subject as eloquently as the folks at Feministe do! 🙂 It’s a happy coincidence that today is open blogging on Feministe, because I had an unusual experience last night that I’m itching to write about: my Criminal Justice Juvenile Delinquency class had four active Chicago members of the Gangster Disciples, Vicelords and the Black Souls – all currently on parole – visit as guest speakers. Even though our instructor is a retired Chicago cop with over 30 years of street experience under his belt, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous when the guests arrived. Let me put that in context.
We’ve had a streak of violent crimes in my neighborhood this winter, such as the killing of a janitor and a young woman only weeks apart in the apartment building directly across the street from my apartment building. While none of these crimes appears to be gang-releated, I still clearly picture walking home from class that January night, as remote newsvans, camera crews and reporters stood in front of the makeshift memorial at 6151 N. Winthrop where 21-year old Melissa Dorner was raped and murdered, allegedly by a man who lived in her building. The Chicago Tribune had quoted one of Melissa’s relatives, saying she had moved to our part of town, Edgewater, because several stranger rapes had occured recently in her old neighborhood. I try not to dwell on these crimes too much, but when I walk home from the train at around 10:00pm some nights, it’s hard not to see every shadow and approaching stranger on the sidewalk as a bit more malign and threatening. Will I make it home alive tonight, or will my name be on the nightly news? When murder hits this close to home, these normally paranoid thoughts seem almost reasonable.
Back to “gang night at Loyola.” Perhaps these events made me a bit hypersensitive, but it took several minutes to get used to the idea that four people with serious criminal histories (including rape, armed robbery, and murder) were sitting about ten feet away from me. I listened intently, not brave enough to ask the panel any questions of my own, a bit too conscious of my body language and facial expressions. As a thirty-something European-American woman enrolled in a private university, I knew I’d be perceived in my status as a privileged, naive outsider. Nothing that could be done about that, really. Three of the gangmembers were men in their late thirties and forties, and the one woman was by her own admission, “twenty-one going on forty.” All looked much older than their years because of hard living and prolonged substance abuse, and at some point during the evening each one said they felt “blessed” to be alive at this point. None had expected to live past their twenties, and all felt their years in “the life” were wasted time.
21-year old”Sheryl,” coincidentally the same age as Melissa Dorner was when she died, had been involved in prostitution, pimping and heavy drug use since the age of 11. She recalled the time she was discovered in rival gang territory a few blocks away from her home., when some women from a rival gang spotted her distinctive arm tattoo depicting a six-pointed star with Gangster Disciples markings. “Sheryl” tried to save herself by claiming the marking meant that she was Jewish. She was lucky that day. Instead of killing her, the rival gang only sliced the tattooed skin off her arm with razor blades.
The biggest surprise? All had talked about and thanked a woman named Adelle, the gang counselor/liaison who arranged their visit and returned them home that night before their 9:00pm curfew. Adelle is an older African-American woman who normally sits in the back of the classroom, frequently expressing her thoughts in what I sometimes perceived to be a hostile, confrontational and anti-establishment manner. After last night, I really saw her differently. Not only is she a fellow non-traditional student, but a strong woman with incredible street cred, a survivor of a lifetime in some of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, who understands, connects with, and helps turn around some of the world’s most difficult and misspent lives. She’s a hero in my book.
(P.S.) Thanks, Lauren, for giving us the chance to guest-blog!