Champaign-Urbana Jazz Newsletter

Simple Words, Simple Deeds

Education, Racism

Based on interviews in Champaign-Urbana's African-American Community.

From First Paragraph:

Maybe the easiest way to get from the campus of the
University of Illinois to Urbana High School is just to walk
south on Lincoln Avenue to Washington Street and then east
past handsome homes to Race Street, where the large
educational plant stands, its entrance facing Carle Park and
the arch on its western boundary, its athletic fields in the
rear, and its carefully trimmed lawns and evergreens on all
sides. The high school has an older substantial section and a
new wing marked 1955 on a white foundation stone. Inside
the corridors are wide and long, exceptionally long, lined
with hundreds and hundreds of numbered lockers, 1407,
1408, 1409, 1410.

Thomas J. Cottle

Urban Education

1970

ACCESS Initiative List of Faith-Based Agencies in Champaign-Urbana

Religion, Churches

ACCESS Initiative

2011

Erma Bridgewater Oral History

Beyond the Nation’s Capital: Minority Students’
Stumbling on the Tracks After Hobson

Education, Champaign School District, Consent Decree

Includes discussion of the Unit 4 Champaign Consent Decree Process on page 7 in the context of National histories of educational discrimination.

Abstract: The U.S. District of Columbia’s Federal Circuit Court decision in Hobson v.
Hanson (1967) case eliminated racial discriminatory tracking practices in the
nation’s capitol’s public schools. The court ruled that D.C. Public Schools’
tracking violated African American and low income students’ rights to equal
opportunities to education under the equal protection and due process
clauses of the 14th Amendment. While D.C. Public Schools eradicated
school tracking, it continued in other urban schools. This article examines
the Federal Court’s role in the perpetuation of school tracking practices
and challenges minority students’ access to equal educational opportunities
in schools with tracked classrooms. It also addresses the need for equitable
schools to provide all students with the opportunity to learn.

Ezella McPherson

Education and Urban Society

2010

Douglass Community Center: Through the Years

Douglass Community Center, Early American Museum

Presentation at 2009 Champaign-Urbana Days.

Credits
•
Erma Bridgewater (Interviewee; former director of Douglass Center)
•
Peter Mcfarland (Interviewee; Douglass Center baseball/softball coordinator and long time volunteer with the sports department)
•
Doris K. Wylie Hoskins Archive and the Early American Museum, Mahomet, Il (exhibit/slideshow material and recording equipment)
•
Rebecca Vaughn (slide show coordinator)
•
Champaign Park District (Douglass photographs and center history)
•
Special thanks to:
•
Barbara McGhee for use of the Douglass annex
•
Champaign County African American History Committee (photographs and historical information on Douglass Center)
•
The Evening Courier Newspaper (photographs)
•
The News Gazette (photographs)

Rebecca Vaughn and Early American Museum

unpublished powerpoint presentation

2009

Noeighborhood Improvement Program for the Douglass Park Neighborhood

Douglass Park, Urban Planning

Executive Summary:

The Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP) planning process was designed to
encourage the active involvement of neighborhood residents in the development of a
strategic neighborhood action plan in the Douglass Park area. The NIP has two primary
goals: (1) to encourage citizens to take an active role in organizing their neighborhoods,
and (2) to prioritize neighborhood needs through a series of community meetings, dati}
collection, and strategy development to ensure the best use of City resources.
The NIP involves a collaborative, neighborhood oriented planning process with input
from residents in the identification of neighborhood strengths, weaknesses, and
opportunities. The City Council approved a contract with the University of Illinois
Department of Urban and Regional Planning to provide technical assistance to the
neighborhood during the planning process and assist with plan research. The NIP is a
true partnership between the neighborhood, the City, and the University of Illinois.
In December 1995, the City Council approved the implementation of a pilot
Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP). The planning areas chosen were Area 2
(Douglass Park Neighborhood), and Area 8 (Garden Hills). Area 2 was selected to
support the initiative taken by the Concerned Citizens for Better Neighborhoods who
had previously contacted the University about conducting a neighborhood planning
process in their area. This report reflects the findings for the Douglass Park
neighborhood. The borders for this neighborhood are: University A venue on the south,
Bradley Avenue on the north, Wright Street on the east, and First Street on the west.
Existing conditions within Planning Area 2 were gathered using a multi-step research
process. The steps utilized by residents, staff, and students during the research process
were: a windshield survey of the entire planning area, US Census Data, archival
information, a land use survey, a resident perception survey, resident fieldwork, and a
series of community meetings. All planning activities, including data collection, data
analysis, and strategic planning were carried out in consultation with the residents
during community meetings or with the Steering Committee representation of the
entire neighborhood. The involvement of residents in the research process reduced the
chance of faulty analysis or inappropriate conclusions.
Using an exercise involving photographing sections of the neighborhood, residents
identified the strengths and weaknesses in Planning Area 2. They were then given the
opportunity to join small groups to brainstorm strategies for addressing weaknesses.
The strategies were later prioritized according to their importance to neighborhood
residents and the neighborhood's ability to effectively respond to each problem. A
complete listing of the strengths and weaknesses can be found in Appendix 10.

Through community meeting discussions and analysis of the area's strengths,
weaknesses, and opportunities, the overall developmental goal and four planning
objectives to address these issues were derived. The neighborhood objectives are:
• Overall Development Goal - Enhance the quality of life in the Douglass Park
neighborhood by assisting and empowering the grass roots efforts of community
organizations. Through a comprehensive stabilization'strategy of the Neighborhood
Action Plan, create and implement programs which address residents' concerns for
strengthening neighborhood· organizations, improving area housing, increasing
awareness for public safety, and providing residents with opportunities for
employment.
~ Community Organization - Strengthen the neighborhood association through
training, recruitment, staff support, and other activities to sustain planning and
program strategies supported in the Douglass Park Action Plan.
~ Housing - Beautify the neighborhood with programs to reduce the deterioration
of the housing stock and provide self-help activities for improvements.
~ Public Safety - Improve public safety and deter criminal behavior by altering
traffic flow with infrastructure improvements and by creating alternative
activities for youth at risk.
~ Economic Development - Address unemployment and underemployment in
the Douglass Park Neighborhood by providing residents with access to training
on the elements of the job search (i.e., application and resume writing,
interviewing skills, and improved information resources).
Strategies for each objective were developed by all participants in the planning process.
During NIP community meetings, residents reviewed each strategy to determine
whether each was a low or high priority for implementation in Douglass park. The
grids below illustrate the objectives, objective strategies, agencies responsible for
'strategy implementation, and approximate time required for initiation. High priority
strategies (Table A) are described in detail in Section VIII of the Neighborhood Action
Plan. Low priority strategies (Table B) are described in Appendices 5 - 8.


Acknowledgments
Douglass Park Steering Committee
Rosie & Bennie Drake, Sr. Antonio Cadena
Katie Henry Rev. William Keaton
Rev. Mary E. Mullen Juanita Mason
Muhammad Abdullah George Pope
Arnetta Rogers Willie Thomas
Clyde Walker Vera Wesley
Concerned Citizens for Better Neighborhoods Board Members
Beverly Bell-Thurman Nathaniel Banks
Catherine Hogue Jackie Vonner
Muhammad Abdullah Clyde Walker
Vera Wesley
Mayor
Dannel McCollum
Deputy Mayor
JuneMank
Council Members
. Thomas Bruno Wend Gibson
Michael La Due Maggie Mattingly
J.W. Pirtle Ed Ryan*
Jerry Schweighart Marty ~mith
(*Council Member Present when Project was Initiated)
The ~oncemed Citizens for Better Neighborhoods, the City of Champaign, and the
Department of Urban and Regional Planning would especially like to thank all the
residents of Douglass Park who attended Neighborhood Improvement Project
meetings, participated in planning activities, took the time to assist in the surveys and
data collection, and allowed us the opportunity to experience and explore their
neighborhood. Their input into the forces and concerns of residents in Douglass Park
was crucial in this process.

The Concerned Citizens for Better Neighborhoods, City of Champaign, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

unpublished report

1997

Stacy Harwood

Acts of Resistance: Student (In)visibility

Consent Decree, Community Psychology

Article on racism at Champaign Unit 4 School District.

From abstract:

This paper argues that public school structures are
oppressive for all students. Because of racial, class and gender
biases, school environments are often especially problematic for
African American and working-class/working-poor students.
Boys and girls also experience school differently because of
gender roles. These intersecting problems include facing
dominant narratives based on stereotypes and discrimination. The
current study took place in a school building that serves
predominately African American and low-income students. The
questions examined include: how does school silence children,
and how do children resist being silenced? Observational and
interview data indicate that children are disciplined into
invisibility by treating them stereotypically and consequently
demanding uniformity in their behavior as a way to control their
mostly colored bodies. Children resist such treatment through
creative and collaborative acts that promote their voice and
visibility and which critique the dominant narrative. In general,
students attempt to construct an alternative view that allows
another, student-generated narrative to emerge.

Regina Day Langhout

Culture & Psychology

2005

Champaign County Affordable Housing Analysis:
A Look at Affordable Housing Needs of Champaign
County Past, Present, and Future

Champaign County Housing Authority, Public Housing, Urban Planning

From Introduction:

Purpose
This study examined the past, present, and future need of affordable housing so that the
Champaign County Housing Coalition could use this information to assist them in their
efforts of providing affordable housing.
Background
Respondents:
The first step in our study was to break down the different types of providers for
affordable housing. We ended up with the following 4 categories:
1) Champaign County Housing Authority (CCHA).
2) Community Development Corporations (CDC's).
3) Private Landlords
4) Tax Credits
*List of Respondents were acquired through: Champaign & Urbana Planning
Departments, Champaign County Housing Coalition, Central Illinois Apartment
Association, and Illinois Housing Development Authority.
Survey:
The second step was to organize the structure of the survey and determine the questions
that would be included in it This was done by Len Heumann. The survey questions
were broken down into 4 sets. The first two sets used the same format and were broken
into the affordable housing provided in the Past (1990) and Current (2003). The template
is attached in the Appendix. The third set asked the respondent their estimate on the
amount of affordable housing need in 2008, and what their organization/company could
provide in 2008. The final question set focused on the planning and delivery of
affordable housing in Champaign County. Each Providing group received slightly
different questions that were tailored to their role as providers of affordable housing.
Outline of Questionnaire:
I. Past 1990-Affordable Housing Provided by Respondent
II. Current 2003-Affordable Housing Provided by Respondent.
m. Future 2008-Affordable Housing Expect. Need in Community & by Respondent.
IV. Questions asked regarding planning and delivery of Affordable Housing.

Urban Planning Students

unpublished report

2008

Leonard Heumann

Race, Roots, and Resistance: Revisiting the Legacies of Black Power Conference Program

Black Power, Black Experience on Campus

Includes panels on Black Power at University of Illinois.

From conference introduction:

“Race, Roots, and Resistance: Revisiting the Legacies of Black Power”
is the first of several conferences designed to reevaluate the Black Power Movement.
In the mainstream and even in the literature of the White left, “Black
Power” has been presented as a nihilistic moment in which African Americans
unleashed centuries of pent-up anger. A few scholars seem to acknowledge the
outpouring of cultural creativity, only to later reduce it to ideologically driven
Black nationalist discourse. “Race, Roots, and Resistance: Revisiting the Legacies
of Black Power” brings together major activist intellectuals of the era with
the generation of new scholars whose work is producing a reevaluation of the
legacy of the movement. It has been dubbed the “New Black Power Studies.”
And it promises a reinterpretation and re-imagination of Black Power. The
new scholarship, like the Black Power Movement itself includes several interpretative
trends, numerous themes and various political tendencies. “Race,
Roots, and Resistance: Revisiting the Legacies of Black Power” proposes to
present the diversity of the new scholarship and to place it in dialogue with the
Black Power generation. That pioneering generation of scholar-activists who
first held their fists to sky, sang “I’m Black and I’m Proud,” shouted “Power to the People,” forged the first “rainbow
coalitions,” and struggled more successfully than previous generations or other social movements to empower
women.
I welcome you to the conference “Race, Roots, and Resistance: Revisiting the Legacies of Black Power.” I welcome
you to the dialogue.
Sundiata K. Cha-Jua

Department of African-American Studies

Unpublished conference program

March-April 2006