Public i Contact

Governor Pritzker has the Power to Halt All Utility Shutoffs by Signing an Executive Order

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Allan Axelrod

Robin Brown’s utilities in Champaign were shut off by Ameren Illinois on September 18, 2020, in the midst of our historical COVID-19 pandemic. When asked about how utility shutoffs affected her, Brown said “I’ve had to give away and separate my children.” Brown had to find an in-person job to bring her family back together. Although she finally had her service restored on October 1 after paying her bill with her first paycheck, she is still struggling to reunite with her children, worried about the COVID risk factors.

In August, the Carbondale municipal government shut off water service for Georgia de la Garza, a board member of the progressive activist organization Our Illinois Revolution, while she was at the height of a COVID fever. Quarantined, de la Garza was also extremely weak, and could not use her shower to help bring her temperature down. After a couple of hours of trying to pay her water bill on Carbondale’s failed online website, and repeatedly calling the city, whose representative refused to take her credit card information over the phone, she reached out for help from a friend who works on the Jackson County Board. In thirty minutes she heard water running from her faucet. “I called my friend to thank her, crying, [and] told her how horrifying it must be for folks who couldn’t pay.” de la Garza said. “It really set me back.” Continue reading →

Posted in Corporations, COVID pandemic, Economy, IL, Justice, Labor/Economics, State Government | Comments Off

The Proposed Constitutional Amendment on the Ballot for a “Fair Tax”

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Michael Brun

Right now, the Illinois State Constitution forbids progressive taxation on income. In other words, it forbids doing what the IRS does on your federal income tax—taxing you at a rate that depends on your income.

On your federal income tax, of course, you are supposed to pay more if you earn more, but on top of that, if you earn more you pay at a higher rate. That is what “tax brackets” are about. The portion of reported income you pay in taxes goes up as you earn more. Illinois, however, is not allowed to do that. The Constitution now says there must be one and the same rate for all, regardless of income—in other words, the Constitution requires a “flat tax.” At the moment everyone in Illinois is supposed to pay 4.95 percent of their reported income, after a small deduction. Whether you report $5,000 in income after deductions, or $5,000,000, you pay 4.95 percent. Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Economy, Elections, IL, Illinois taxes | Comments Off

What Educational Values and Beliefs Underpin a Decision to have Armed School Resource Officers?

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Ameena Payne

This article was previously published in Smile Politely,

On December 17, 2019, the Urbana Board of Education (BOE) signed an intergovernmental agreement to approve funding of two full-time armed police officers (called School Resource Officers, or SROs)—one at the middle school and one at the high school. The yearly cost to the school district is $321,300.

To date, the BOE has not collected any evidence that this presence returns any value for students. According to Section 8B of the contract, the SRO Program is to be formally evaluated two years after being implemented, and then every year thereafter. Furthermore, the BOE does not have any planned method to formally evaluate the SRO program’s effectiveness. There are no measures for assessing the effectiveness of the program, nor have there been any indicated plans to disseminate findings to the public. Continue reading →

Posted in African American, Education, Education, Police, Policing, Urbana, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Black Lives Matter in the Middle East

Posted on 10/26/2020 by Janice Jayes

Afro-Iraqis from the Movement for Freedom Party, pictured in 2018

George Floyd’s murder horrified people of the Middle East just as it did many in the US and, just as in America, the outrage that followed exposed cultural fault lines, forced uncomfortable introspection, and was sometimes exploited for political purposes.

Erasure and Exploitation

Throughout the Persian Gulf there are populations of Afro-Arabs who arrived centuries ago, yet are often mistaken for migrants or otherwise discounted. After Floyd’s killing the Persian Gulf local social media was filled with criticism of US racism (Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al Zaidi tweeted support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) “as a fellow victim of US imperialism”), but some wondered how their compatriots could be so oblivious to local racism. In Iraq, more than 400,000 identify as Afro-Iraqis, yet Iraqi education pays little attention to Iraq’s history of African enslavement, or to the Zanj Rebellion of the ninth century, one of the most successful slave revolts in human history. The 2008 election of Barack Obama inspired Afro-Iraqi Jalal Diab to organize the Iraqi Movement for Freedom Party to address discrimination. Diab was assassinated in 2013, but the Floyd killing revived calls for Afro-Iraqis to renew their commitment to ending discrimination. Continue reading →

Posted in African American, BLM, International, Middle East | Tagged Police Violence | Comments Off

The Decline of African Languages at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Posted on 10/26/2020 by Fatou Jobe

The University of Illinois used to be one of the best universities for learning African languages. Emeritus professor of Linguistics Eyamba Bokamba would always say, “here in Illinois we offer African languages from A to Z, Arabic to Zulu.” Unfortunately, African languages offerings have been declining steadily in the past decade. As an instructor for Wolof and student of Swahili at the U of I, I was concerned and undertook an ethnographic study among students and instructors of Wolof and Swahili at Illinois to understand what led to the decline of African languages such as Lingala, Isizulu, Bambana, etc. I interviewed current Wolof and Swahili students to understand their motivations for taking African language classes. I also interviewed a former African-language instructor and two administrative personnel to understand the structural difficulties faced in keeping African languages. Finally, I observed Swahili classes to gauge student engagement.

Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, African Americans, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

UCIMC 20th Anniversary Events

Posted on 09/15/2020 by Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

Celebrating 20 Years!

On September 26, 2020, it will be 20 years since Urbana-Champaign IMC was launched from a living room in Urbana, where a small group began collectivizing equipment and passing the hat for an “endowment.” 20 years later we own and manage a 30,000-square-foot community arts center (which we converted from an old post office building), continue to publish a monthly newspaper (the Public i), house a low power radio station (WRFU Radio Free Urbana), and have long-term relationships with Books to Prisoners and a local Makerspace.

Our building is a venue for emerging artists and a community organizing space. And this year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we started “Sounds like Community” a weekly showcase of artists and organizers.

Due to the pandemic, we had to transform our major anniversary gathering into virtual events!

UCIMC’s 20th Anniversary Kick-Off Event:

Wednesday, September 30th, 7 pm–8:30 pm via zoom

“Independent Media: Where we’ve come from and why we need it more than ever!”
with panelists Sarah Lazare, Tanya Parker, and Sascha Meinrath, and moderator Danielle Chynoweth

Wednesday, September 30th, 7pm-8:30pm via zoom (see www.ucimc.org/20th after 5pm for the link) or tune your radio to WRFU 104.5 FM (if you live nearby)

Event 2: Wednesday, October 28th, 2020; 7 pm–8:30 pm (Urbana Illinois time zone)
20th Anniversary Panel: “Abolition and Grassroots Organizing” Carol Ammons, James Kilgore, and Malkia Cyril.
Via zoom and on WRFU 104.5FM

Event 3: Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020; 7 pm–8:30 pm (Urbana Illinois time zone)
“Stories from the IMC: A Video Project”: Excerpts from interviews with the people who have been a part of the UC-IMC’s cultural, political and social life.
Via zoom and on WRFU 104.5FM

Contact: anniversary@ucimc.org

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Disruptive Shift Changes for UIUC Custodial Staff

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Jenni Walkup

Jenni Walkup is a public anthropology MA student at American University who lives in Champaign. She works in education and writes about movements and social change. She’s very good at Bananagrams.

In August, 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Illinois instituted major shift changes for its approximately 300 custodial staff, disrupting the lives of many of its most vital workers. Building service workers were given less than a week’s notice to transition to sometimes drastically new schedules.

For example, Kevin Williams is a single father of a teenage son and a seven-year employee of the Building Services Department. Williams had built his life around working the 4 am early shift. Before leaving campus at 12:30 pm, he had cleaned three floors, scrubbed eight restrooms, and removed 200 gallons of waste. He finished in time to arrive at his second job, peer mentoring, or his third job, providing lawn care, by 1:00 pm. Just this year, Williams earned his dream job: coaching high school basketball in the evenings. Now, with the university eliminating his shift, he has had to quit two jobs and rearrange his life around a new schedule. “It’s like, kick me in the face and then [ask me to] trust fall for [you],” says Williams. Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, labor, Labor/Economics, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

SEIU Statement Regarding the Changes in the Building Services Department at UIUC

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Justus Fortado

Building service workers were already concerned with changing conditions in May, 2019

The University decided in mid-spring that it would reopen for the 2020 fall semester, a decision that would require drastic, “emergency” changes in our department and to the working conditions of SEIU members. Management didn’t notify union leadership until July 15, when it announced the changes during a labor-management phone conference that had been scheduled for other issues. Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, labor, Labor/Economics, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

Chicago Firm Hired to Review Urbana PD has Worrying Police Ties, Offers Disappointing Community Engagement

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Bijal Patel, Christopher Hansen, Sarah Nixon, Alen Romero

Aleyah Lewis. Photo by Sarah Nixon

The authors of this article are concerned residents and citizen journalists working towards accountability in government and law enforcement at the local level.

Background: Growing Outcry Around the Arrest of Aleyah Lewis

On June 22, amid a flood of protests from Urbana residents, Mayor Diane Marlin announced that the city would be hiring Hillard Heintze, a “strategic security and corporate investigations consulting firm,” to perform a third-party review of the Urbana Police Department’s violent April 10 arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. Taxpayers will foot the bill of $16,575 (with expenses and additional services at $195/hour) charged by the firm to review the incident where Lewis, a victim of domestic violence, and possible witness to an accidental discharge of a firearm, was tackled and beaten by Urbana Police officers. Following the arrest, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Reitz filed charges against Lewis that include aggravated battery to a peace officer and resisting a peace officer. If convicted, Lewis will face a maximum sentence of over a decade in prison. Numerous witness and body camera videos of the arrest are circulating online, and concerned residents have been packing public input at Urbana City Council meetings and mounting ongoing protests, with many calling for all charges stemming from Lewis’ arrest to be dropped, and some calling for the resignation of the police chief and the mayor. A clear and widening rift has been established. On one side are residents and community groups advocating for police reform, who find the charges wrongful and actions taken by officers to be escalatory, racist, and unjustified. On the other side is local leadership, including Mayor Diane Marlin and Police Chief Bryant Seraphin, who have deemed the officers’ actions justified, and State’s Attorney Julia Reitz, who is prosecuting Lewis. Continue reading →

Posted in police accountability, Police brutality, Urbana | Comments Off

Police Unions: Solidarity and Accountability

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Belden Fields

Police attack protesters at 1999 FTAA protests in Miami

The Police and Solidarity

There are two major differences between police officers and other workers in both the private and public sector. The first is a truncated sense of solidarity, the second a lack of accountability. Unionized workers in both the public and private sectors feel a strong sense of identity with each other. Perhaps the greatest infraction a union member can commit is to cross the picket line of another union.

The solidarity of police officers is an internal solidarity, which does not extend to other unions. At times, this runs against the interests of civilians they encounter and against the legitimacy of the state. An example is the “blue code of silence,” meaning that officers will not report the abuses of other officers. And, in too many cases, officers lie about the conduct of fellow officers and their own conduct. Innocent people have been framed by this lack of honesty. Other unionists do not have this kind of power over people, nor codes of silence that are similar to the Mafia brotherhood. Continue reading →

Posted in police accountability, Police Brutality, Policing, union solidarity | Comments Off

Chalk It Up to Protecting Property Over People

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Lance Pittman

In July Michael Long, owner of the Rogue Barber Co. in downtown Champaign, implemented a discriminatory “membership only” policy. The issue came to public attention on July 23, when a female Champaign resident shared screenshots on social media of a series of emails in which Long responded to her request for an appointment for a men’s-style cut for herself. Long’s reply explicitly stated, “we don’t cut women’s hair,” and the woman also noted that Long’s membership agreement included a pledge that one supports the police. Around the same time a comment (now deleted) appeared on Rogue’s official Facebook page, stating, “The shop is a private club or membership now because that’s the only way you can avoid being forced to give haircuts to people you don’t want to or don’t feel comfortable with.” It went on to state that “the new membership application asks if you are a member of any violent extremist groups” and listed “antifa” and “BLM” as examples. Continue reading →

Posted in Alt-Right, bigotry, Community, police accountability, Policing | Comments Off

Lucy Gray: Fighting Jim Crow

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Vanessa Rouillon

Lucy Blake’s Paris High School yearbook picture

“A brand new J.C. Penney department store began its commercial life here [Champaign-Urbana] last Thursday [April 20, 1961] with a six-person picket line which has also marched every business day since,” reported a short article in The Chicago Defender. Whether Mrs. Lucy Gray was one of those first African American picketers at J.C. Penney, I could not say; though she certainly joined in the public protests at the store’s refusal to hire African Americans for sales or clerical work. Outspoken, dignified, deeply religious, and an idealist, Lucy Jess Blake Gray (January 2, 1914 – September 13, 2013) was born in Paris, Edgar County, Illinois, to a working-class family—to Frank Blake, in her words a mulatto/Negro man, a plumber and bricklayer; and to Bertha Manuel Blake, a white woman, Both were Illinois natives. Continue reading →

Posted in African American Women in Champaign-Urbana, racial segregation in Champaign/Urbana | Comments Off

The Coronavirus in Europe: A Force that Unites or Divides?

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Richard Esbenshade and Zsuzsa Gille

Czech citizens bid a symbolic “farewell to COVID” on the Charles Bridge in Prague, June 30, 2020. Like Hungary, the Czech Republic had much lower rates of infection than did Western Europe

Upon arrival in mid-July, Budapest seemed another world from the oppressive virus anxiety of most of the US: offices and businesses fully open; cafes and restaurants thriving, with no restrictions; few masks or other measures in sight (masks are required on public transportation, in stores and in malls, though with lax enforcement and inconsistent compliance); and movie theaters, outdoor performances and even sports events operational. (Soccer matches, with fans! Although in the long-suffering Hungarian football context, this means crowds of around 5,000—comparable to pre-pandemic ones—rather than the multiples of that that would be filling Europe’s big stadiums, were fans allowed there.) Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, European Union, health, Healthcare | Comments Off

Facebook, Public Health, and the Weaponization of US Fear

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Aimee Rickman

Form absolving the Trump campaign of any responsibility should attendees at his June 20, 2020 MAGA rally fall ill with the COVID virus

In June, the Trump administration announced plans ending health care protections for Americans during a raging pandemic. US leaders snubbed masks and distancing at rallies that required waivers from attendees accepting personal responsibility should they contract COVID-19, encouraging dismissal of public health experts’ advice. As virus rates spiked, Missouri Governor Mike Parson joined states lifting coronavirus regulations, directing residents to return to normalcy. “We all know how to do this now,” Parson stated. “It is up to us to take responsibility for our own actions.”

This echoes what I observe in what I call “panopticonning” Facebook posts. Panopticonning posts normalize unaccountably unjust systems, protecting the powerful by locating risk and responsibility in individuals. Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Foucault, Pandemic, Public Health | Comments Off

Cover Collage for Summer 2020 issue

Posted on 07/18/2020 by Public i

Local demonstrations for Black Lives Matter

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

How Are Violent Police Held Accountable in Champaign County?

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Belden Fields

State’s Attorney Julia Rietz

On April 10, Urbana Police officers threw an African American woman, Aleyah Lewis, to the ground and punched her while she was down. She had protested the arrest of a friend. Caught on video, this led many people in the community to demand that the officers be held accountable. The following article that I wrote in this paper in July, 2016 shows how little the police are held accountable in Champaign County.

States’s Attorney Rietz Goes Easy on Violent Police and Jail Officers

Rape

On March 30, 2015, there was a ceremony in the Champaign City Building during which Officer Jerad Gale was given the award for being “Officer of the Year.” About a year later, in May, 2016, this same officer pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Piatt County Court. He was sentenced to six months in the Piatt County jail, then 48 months of probation. He also had to register as a sexual predator.

But Gale was a serial offender. He sexually assaulted women in Champaign County as well as Piatt County. Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz agreed to a guilty plea in Champaign County that imposed the same sentence as in Piatt County, and agreed that the sentences would be served concurrently. That means that there was no additional penalty for two sexual assaults in Champaign County! How is that for a deal? Continue reading →

Posted in police accountability, Police Brutality, States's Attorney | Comments Off

Urbana Civilian Police Review Board Under the Spotlight After Violent Arrest

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Christopher Hansen

A meeting of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board

For the past eleven Urbana City Council meetings, residents have lined up to deliver what has amounted to more than a dozen hours of criticism and a seemingly endless stream of misconduct allegations against the Urbana Police Department. Initially sparked by the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis, which was captured on video by vigilant civilians this April, local calls for action have now been fortified and fueled by the nationwide movement for police accountability in the wake of the George Floyd murder.

Focusing on the Lewis arrest, a common theme recited by many locals is: where does our Civilian Police Review Board stand in this picture? Unfortunately, unless someone who was physically present manages to file a complaint, Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin inevitably claims that the civilian board has no power to review the incident. Continue reading →

Posted in Police, police accountability | Comments Off

Disease and Denial in Prison

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Anthony Ehlers

This letter was received from Stateville Prison in early April, reporting on conditions there during the COVID-19 crisis.q

I am a student in Northwestern University’s Bachelors program. Like many other students, I also work, though in my case, both my college program and my work take place inside a prison—Stateville. When I am not in my cell or studying, I am on the paint crew. In fact, I painted the Northwestern logo in the school building. Stateville is basically held together by coats of paint, so it’s a never-ending job. The “slap a coat of paint on it and keep going” approach applies here. Take COVID-19.

It’s odd how the news first reported that Stateville and Cook County Jail were national hotspots with COVID contraction rates 20 times the national average. Now you hear absolutely nothing about what’s going on here! Why? They have clamped down tight. They don’t want people to know what’s happening here. I believe the reason is because they don’t want anyone to know how many guys are actually sick here. If they do test, then they will have to report the results. However, if they don’t test, there is nothing to report. Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, health care, incarceration | Comments Off

A Socialist Response to COVID-19

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Paul Mueth and Al Kagan

A mural in Turin, Italy celebrates Cuban medical help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recent “Democracy Now!” interview, Noam Chomsky called Cuba a “superpower.” What did he mean? Well, let’s look at health care. According to the World Health Organization, Cuba has the highest ratio of doctors in the world, 8.4 for every 1000 people. In contrast, the US has 2.6 per 1000.

According to a recent Counterpunch article by Helen Yaffe of Glasgow University, there are 449 polyclinics in Cuba, geographically evenly dispersed, each attending to the needs of 20,000 to 40,000 people and serving as a hub for 15 to 40 family doctors. As opposed to the US, where health care is a business, in Cuba health care is a public good, and everyone gets free care within a single free system which stresses prevention over cure. Cuba’s pharmacology industry produces 70 percent of needed medications, and exports to 50 countries. The country has a highly developed disaster mobilization system, as seen in its exemplary evacuation response to hurricanes. And since it has long experience with infectious diseases, it knows how to close its borders and implement effective quarantines. Finally, Cuba has prioritized medical internationalism, sending 400,000 health care professionals to 164 countries since the 1959 revolution to provide free care, mostly in the past few decades. Before the current pandemic, there were an astonishing 28,000 Cuban health professionals in 59 countries, and more than 2,300 additional doctors and nurses have gone to 24 countries since the outbreak, including even Italy. In an effort to counter this solidarity, the US State Department claims that Cuba’s medical humanitarianism is just a cover for human trafficking, and that these health care professionals are no more than “slaves.” Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Cuba, health care | Comments Off

Mateo’s Story: Connecting with the Twice-Marginalized

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Janice Jayes

Mateo, an interpreter for Unit 4 schools, keeps families informed of food distributions, such as this lunch distribution at Shadow Wood.

If you are a Q’anjob’al speaker in CU, you are probably familiar with the young face of Mateo Sebastian. In videos shared through social media he has helped the local community keep up with information on the virus, school closures, food and rental assistance, and stay-at-home rules. Below he describes his role during the Covid-19 crisis.

From Guatemala to California to CU

I left Guatemala when I was 16. When I got to the Mexican border, I was expecting to meet a relative, but they weren’t able to meet me and I spent three months in a detention center. They asked me about my life, and when I told them that my father had died of TB when I was twelve, they really put me through a lot of medical checks. Luckily, I was OK, and since I was an unaccompanied minor, I was placed with a foster family in California for the next four years. Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Immigrants | Comments Off