Reparations Won: Art Submissions from Students
CPS teachers and students recently sent us some amazing artwork that was inspired by the Reparations Won curriculum. Reparations Won teaches 8th and 10th grade CPS students the history of racism, corruption and torture within the Chicago Police Department, and the survivor-led movement for reparations that followed. We're incredibly grateful to these educators for approaching the curriculum with care, intention, and honesty, and for giving students the room to process this history.
A poem written by Kamryn Miller, a student at Kenwood Academy High School.
See You? See Me...
S.U.R.V.I.V.O.R.S / survivors . / you don’t bleed the way they do / struggle ? wasn’t even the main intention for them / it was worse , more than a fickle mistake / they had to plead cases , break tension.. head racing .. / not a clue in the world where they would go or show / no sight of light or freedom at dusk / no source of love or no voice to speak choice / behind bars , in court , regaining years of what was lost / Darrell Cannon , Mark Clements, David Bates, Anthony Holmes , Aaron Patterson, Madison / Hobley, Stanley Howard,Leonard Kidd, Derrick King, Ronald Kitchen, Reginald Mahaffey, Jerry / Mahaffey, Andrew Maxwell, Stanley Wrice, Alnoraindus Burton, L.C. Riley.. more to go on for / who were tormented for years after years / too much pride in their tormentors and not enough sympathy for them to live / they seen color as sin .. a mistake from within / their beautiful black faces once again became an unstable oasis- / Jon Burge Maltreated innocent skin & turned it into perished black innocence / what does color have to do with crime and not diligence ? / what does black mean to the white community? / what path does it bring you down to hear something beautiful? / not black i see , black always been discrete and described as useless / piece by piece they matched the puzzle & marked it as trouble / point guns to their head , tased and abused their bodies / suffocated , burned ,falsely accused ... what does one's misery do for another one’s pleasure ? / mothers out worrying about if they’ll see their kids again.. / tortured by a hypocrite, also a disgraceful dimwit / what you don’t see , is what you seek to hear / Racism at its finest and they still don’t even want to help you here / how you bleed blue and protect but can’t help what’s out for the next .. / first we’re insane to the membrane , then we get more shame for not being obtained in jail , in / misery , in agony, in pain .. suffering .. / blue don’t bleed for red and it surely doesn't bleed for black & brown / their skin was detailed with present beauty for sure while they say ours is meant for being / spread on the floor / our precious non-ignorant color debates / with the color that marks ours / carves their hate into our society , our people , our culture .. / and yet still plead they protect us / those names that were called ..? did you hear them? / when they screamed and preached their purity / did you stop to believe maybe brown is pure ? / and white is the black in us ? / our soul music will continue to play / by the dusk it brings astray / they say we are strange but this all just a time game / my black, my blood , my history , my hood ..
An Honorary to those who were tortured , you deserve better. No Story Left Untouched. My poem speaks truth and how i feel about the situation. Poetry speaks in many different ways even if you don’t understand it . It speaks emotion and clarity even when you’re unsure. This is a cry for Justice.. They still deserve it .
A poem written by a student at Von Steuben Metropolitan High School.
They Were Denied
Torture is Illegal, That we know / Yet it happened / More than a hundred or so / Chicago police officers, Under command, / Tortured people / A systematic pattern in the land / Torture causes pain, Thats for sure, / It violates human rights that we abhor / Ordinary citizens, / Shocked, Burned, Beaten, and Tied, / They were denied / Their Basic Civil Rights / Burge and his officers committed crimes, / Yet no government was brought to sight / Failed protection / American Dream that was out of reach / Violation of Rights / Were the fight Black Neighborhoods sought out / To Make Right
Pencil sketches of survivors and family members with quotes found in the Reparations Won curriculum. Original artwork by a student at Von Steuben Metropolitan High School.
Quotes from left to right:
“It’s my duty to speak up, it’s my duty to be an advocate for justice” / “By the time they finished using that electric cattle prod on me I honestly was ready to say that my mother committed a crime.”
“It was my word against 3 detectives.” / “I was diagnosed with post-traumatic syndrome.” / “This is my mindset, this is how I think” / “I’m grateful but not content” / "Everyone believed what the police said, so I had to deal with what people were saying and so did my family.” / “Being incarcerated prevented me from having a relationship with my children” / “I got not help” / "I still fear that I am going to go back to jail for this again” / “I still get nervous when I see police” / “I am glad I got my chance to have my say and I thank the court for that.” / “My son was beat up in the park” / “I learned then that the police don’t only get you when you’re bad, the police can get you when you’re good” / “I started disliking all them white folks that I like so much.” / “They separate us so we wouldn’t know what was happening to one another.” / “I was driven by my love for my son.” / “I couldn’t help my son, but I could help somebody else’s” / Empathy / “When we work together we can do beautiful things”
A pencil sketch of a a tattered teddy bear encircled by a quote from torture survivor Darrell Cannon. Original artwork by a student at Von Steuben Metropolitan High School.
“I wasn’t a human being to them, I was just simply another subject of theirs. They had did this to many others. But to them, it was fun and games.” Testimony of Darrell Cannon.
A blackout poem made using torture survivor Anthony Holmes’ testimony. Original artwork by a student at Von Steuben Metropolitan High School.
Anthony Holmes
I didn’t do it / they / hurt my family because / what the police said I / did / Being incarcerated / threatened / convicted / lost / sentenced / me and my family / to death / I just slipped through the cracks / no help / He tried to kill me/ I still fear / I see / myself falling in a deep hole and no one helping me to get out / hopeless / fear / I am glad I got my chance to have my say and I thank the Court for that
