Teens and Organizers: New Ideas and Next Steps for Teen Halloween

Teens and adults joined together on Wednesday November 7th for a community discussion about Halloween in Hyde Park, at University Church, 5655 S University Ave.

The volunteers and citizens of Hyde Park filled the University Church, together with cameramen and reporters from Channels 2, 5, 7, and 9. The meeting featured a wide variety of speakers and their opinions and statements, including:

- Staff and teenage students from Kenwood Academy are very eager to help plan the teen portion of the 2019 Halloween Hyde Park event on 53rd Street.

- Alderman Sophia King spoke. Alderman Leslie Hairston, one of the organizers of the 2018 53rd Street Halloween activities, was not present.

- Volunteer-Coordinator Dr Rachel Cane spoke about the need to incorporate teens into the planning of what events are best for the outdoor portion of Halloween 2019.

The overriding theme: No one wants a repeat of what happened on Wednesday October 31 2018, especially the residents of Ridgewood Court who suffered the most that night. Everyone wants a better-planned event that (unlike 2018's) does not omit a plan for teens and others to have a way to leave the event easily, appropriately coordinated with all groups, including the police.

One speaker pointed out that the only way to have "no event" was to build a Trumpian wall around Hyde Park ... generating laughter from the audience.

Similar meetings are henceforth scheduled monthly, beginning on Wednesday December 19th at 7:00pm, at a location(s) not yet announced. Thereafter the monthly meetings will continue at 7:00pm on the third Wednesday of each month.

Below is the full text of Rachel Cane's "Next Steps", which was not presented at Wednesday's meeting because of the number of people speaking, and a lack of time:

"Next Steps / Rachel Cane

Our vision of Teen Halloween is a teen-led, adult-supported street festival. To get there, we need broad based collaboration and investment.

Imagine strolling up and down 53rd Street next Halloween. Instead of flashing blue police lights, at Kimbark Plaza you see students from Dyett High putting on a dance performance. King College Prep has a fashion show in Nichols Park across from Target. Hyde Park Academy students have a stage with an open mic in Harper Court. The Teen Arts Council from UChicago Arts + Public Life is curating a pop-up teen gallery show across from Harper Theater. The Youth Art Board of Hyde Park Art Center is leading a hands on experiential workshop. Students from Kenwood High are throwing an outdoor DJ dance party in their football field. Teen Ambassadors from all over the south side are helping out at participating retailers, who are offering discounts and samples to kids with high school IDs. Adults in Orange mingle with the crowds, hand out candy, chat and laugh with young people they never met before.

Now imagine that all year long, teens and adults in our community are engaged in activities, workshops, open mics, conflict resolution training, and collective creative imagining to get us there.

Imagine that instead of seeing high school students fight outside McDonalds, community residents see kids they know from some of these activities, and everybody says hello.

Last Friday, as many of you know, word went out that kids were planning to come to Hyde Park and see what they could get away with again. Thanks to many community members, including LaKeisha Hamilton and the Good Neighbors email list, when kids arrived at McDonalds there they found not only police, but their high school principal or coach, Aldermen, peers from Good Kids Mad City, and other Hyde Park residents. Nobody was hurt, and very little damage was done.

Another suggestion that has been floated is a restorative justice approach to the destruction that happened on Ridgewood Court. Residents of the street have said that they want the young people who did it to understand the pain and suffering they have caused. Police have said they are working hard to identify the kids involved. Will we as a community reach to punishment, or will we look for other healing ways to find justice?

We don’t have all the answers, but we have the beginning of a solution. It will take work, it will take community participation—from both adults AND teens—and it will take investment of support and resources from civic leaders.

We want EVERYONE to be involved. Our strength is through our differences. Teens on 53rd will be holding regular meetings the third Wednesday of every month, starting Dec 19 at 7:00. If you are interested in being part of the solution, please fill out a Community Input form and indicate one or two areas you are particularly interested in helping with.

There are 358 days until next Halloween. The healing starts now."