May 2024 — Moving the Needle | Woods Fund Chicago
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The end of the school year is fast approaching, but at a time when the school year would traditionally be winding down, the relationships between students, education, and places of learning are top of mind. What we are witnessing in the present day across college campuses is a new chapter in the long tradition of students organizing to have a voice at their academic institutions — and in the decision-making that determines how their tuition dollars are spent and how students are treated on campus.
In fact, movements in Chicago have historically been supported by and coordinated alongside student actions, both in universities and in public schools. Throughout the Civil Rights era, student boycotts sparked the Chicago Freedom Movement to protest segregation and systemic racism in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The boycott of over 200,000 students on October 21, 1963 would go on to be known as “Freedom Day,” and five years later, a series of walkouts in 1968 led by a coalition of Black and Latinx students led to more equitable policy implementations throughout CPS.
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Meanwhile, college students throughout Chicago led actions that addressed issues both local and global. University of Chicago students have organized over decades to exercise their voice against segregation, selective service and the Vietnam War, South African apartheid, economic inequality, and campus issues including housing shortages and University budget allocations for private police. Student movements at DePaul University have focused on the University’s responsibility as a place of education — such as a 1968 Black Student Union protest for course offerings on Black history and culture — and its role interacting with the community around campus, as student groups would echo calls from Lincoln Park’s Puerto Rican community for the campus to cease expansion and displacement of its neighbors. In fact, most leaders in Chicago got their start organizing on college campuses across the country.
Through the present day, students — and their communities of teachers, families, and education advocates — continue to lead movements to improve life inside and outside of the classroom. WFC grantee partners such as GoodKids MadCity Englewood, Black Youth Project (BYP) 100, and Chicago Freedom School (whose name is inspired by the Chicago Freedom Movement) have led movements for gun violence prevention and mental health support, protested the closure of south and west side schools, and spoken out against police violence that disproportionately targets Black youth. As for their communities, grantee partners like Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, Community Organizing and Family Issues, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center have formed coalitions alongside students to fight for a greater democratic voice in education — including improved Local School Councils, equitable school boundary maps, and the first Chicago Elected School Board (to be voted on in November). Together, these movements advocate for the well-being, equal access to education, and involvement in decision-making for all students.
Educational institutions are critical spaces for younger generations to deepen intellectual curiosity, discover new ways of understanding the world, and develop their voice and power. These very values are embodied throughout many student movements — and carry on as students graduate into the next generation of organizers and leaders.
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How Funders Can Help Immigrant Workers Win the Protections They Deserve
Why We're Reading It: Earlier this month, May Day marked the annual celebration of labor movements throughout history. May Day is a grounding opportunity to reflect on current labor movements and where support is needed. Inside Philanthropy uses this piece to shed a spotlight on the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) program, “the best pro-worker policy that nobody has ever heard of,” which grants immigrant protections for whistleblowing day laborers. The piece urges funders to make committed investments toward organizations that support DALE applications, such as WFC grantee partner Arise Chicago.
Inside Philanthropy // Read now
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