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Englewood anti-violence group ordered to move

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Illinois

* Natalie Moore at WBEZ…

Last year, a woman was shot and killed on 75th and Stewart in Englewood. Most people have that moment when enough is enough. This was Tamar Manasseh’s.

Manasseh lives in Bronzeville, but she grew up in Englewood. Right after the murder, she decided to organize Mothers Against Senseless Killings, or M.A.S.K.

It’s a mom patrol that camps out on the block of 75th and Stewart every summer afternoon into evening as a form of violence resistance. The moms wear hot pink shirts and black hats. R&B and hip hop music blast from speakers. […]

This is Manasseh’s second summer on the block. She said coming out here daily restores her faith in a city that seems besieged by violence.

“This is the most uplifting thing going on in the city right now because you see all this negative stuff over and over again every day,” Manasseh said. “And I see it and I say I left 75th and Stewart and none of that was happening. I was in Englewood and none of that was happening. It really restores your hope in humanity.”

According to police statistics, this summer the block hasn’t seen one shooting, although crime still happens in the area. Manasseh said she has no plans to stop coming out.

But this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Her group has been ordered to move. Go read the rest.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 9:50 am

Comments

I don’t see a problem but there again I might just be “whitesplaining”. So I’ll shut up. It looks like they worked things out.

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 9:59 am
It seems to me like the compromise of moving directly across the street seems fair. The building owner was having issues with them setting up on his property, he has a right to ask them to move.

Comment by Arthur Sellers Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:00 am
If I owned property on that block, I would be out supporting the Moms. Safe neighborhoods mean higher property values.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:06 am
Last Bull Moose is spot on. This is ridiculous.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:07 am
==but next year they would have to move their summer festivities across the street, to a lot which they could purchase.== I don’t think we are to the point where we can say “problem solved”.

Comment by SAP Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:07 am
A lot of power to put in the hands of a cable guy and cab driver. Private property blah, blah, blah but seems pretty dumb on the part of the owner from where I sit. Which is far away. What say your tenants sir?

Comment by LizPhairTax Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:10 am
Rauner should start a little foundation, buy the building and help support the mother’s group to stay on-site and support others do do similar things. It might help his approval numbers more than some of the ad-buys. /Not snark, serious suggestion

Comment by Earnest Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:19 am
Here is the Google Maps street view- http://tinyurl.com/glpzgbw.

The Moms were setting up under the trees on the upper left corner. The vacant lot I think they were referring to is across the street to the right. If the kids were playing in the courtyard (and it’s a gated courtyard), then I would think some of the people live in that building managed by Perry Management. And the Management company doesn’t seem to be having any problems renting the units out- http://perrymanagement.vpweb.com/About-Us.html.

MASK is doing good work, very good work! If the residents are happy with this project, then the Management company needs to reconsider being a good neighbor, too.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:20 am
==seems pretty dumb on the part of the owner==

Depends on who was pressuring the owner. Probably not just the cab and cable.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:26 am
I wonder how the tenants feel about the music blasting from speakers outside their windows all day? Everything else seems great, but that would be a problem for me.

Comment by Chicago J Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:27 am
I am with Bull Moose on this one. The property owner ought to be sponsoring their dinners since they are, in reality, performing a service for them that is financially benefiting.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:28 am
I guess I’m surprised that the CPD called Manasseh into the District and initially told her she had to go. I would have thought City Hall and CPD would be overjoyed that community activists were able to reclaim a previously dangerous block for its residents.

Comment by Phil Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:28 am
The moms group enhanced the real estate value of the property. Anyone kicking them out and across the street is a fool.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:36 am
Take a look at googlemaps and streetview. That isn’t a huge sidewalk and it is a fenced building with a gate. If I lived there (note “brand new apartment” sign) I would be annoyed at having to push through a crowd (party?) to get to a gate every day. The lot across the street looks fine and is much more spacious. It has some trees and could be a really nice location. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.757912,-87.6344577,3a,60y,89.3h,68.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0EwRWwfqr7DgeRO1Vx5jNQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Comment by NoGifts Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:36 am
Residents w/o central air are probably tired of the noise.

But the police and city have also been against this idea from the beginning.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:42 am
NoGifts- I did look at Google maps streetview (even sent a comment in on that but it may be lost), but if the kids are playing in that gated courtyard, then I think they probably live there, too. And the StreetView was of June 2016. Looked pretty quiet to me. I’m sure no one is impeding anyone from getting in and out of the apartment building, and I’ll bet the MASK group would treat them to a hot dog or ice cream- maybe even help carry their grocery bags to the store.

Community used to mean something in this country. MASK is just trying to bring that back.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:44 am
These Moms have a success. I bet they did it with little money and a lot of heart. Someone who is savvy about how these things work should try to get donations to buy that lot the City suggests. I would donate to them.

Then our politicians can look at what these Moms have done, and help replicate it throughout the City.

Comment by FormerParatrooper Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:50 am
I’ve seen these ladies via the News several times and it is remarkable that their presence has changed things for that block.

From the outside, it seems to be a win-win.
If the women are playing some music, I doubt if that is making a huge difference to the area since there is probably a lot of street noise in this neighborhood. My image of Englewood is that there is usually a fair amount of chaos and noise and that these women are putting some positive focus on this block.

Who knows what is happening with the management company? Maybe the gangbangers are pressuring them to get their block back or something?

Comment by Belle Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 10:54 am
The City may actually be the owner of the lot. When I did a street intersection search at https://gisapps.cityofchicago.org/zoning/viewframe.htm using 75th St. and Stewart, the following came up:

Zoned RT-4, city owned land PINs 2028306016 and 2028306017. Alderman is Roderick T Sawyer- ph 773-635-0006.

If it is a city-owned property, it would make a heck of a park!!! And that, my friends, would help even more:)

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 11:03 am
depends on who is pressuring the owner…jeez.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 11:05 am
If it’s the lot directly across the street I think it would be too dangerous. It’s a corner lot, wide open to two streets. That leaves the families vulnerable to shootings and drive-bys from both directions.
Of course, with some help they could make the lot more sheltered and safe.

Comment by northsider (the original) Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 11:07 am
== I would have thought City Hall and CPD would be overjoyed that community activists were able to reclaim a previously dangerous block for its residents. ==

Good one.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 11:32 am
were my building, not only would I want them there, I would go out of my to keep them there.

If I were a tenant, I would appreciate the Mom’s presence.

Comment by Groucho Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 11:56 am
Anon221 according to the story the mothers hang out there from afternoon into evening — that photo looks to be midday and is understandably quiet. Afternoon into evening is when people are coming home from work. Nothing said that the people who were hanging around the entrance lived in the building. That would be a different situation. And I don’t know why people assume gang members are pressuring the landlord. I think it is more likely renters are complaining otherwise why would the landlord expend the energy to do anything? Complaining renters are a bad thing for a landlord who seems to have invested pretty much in the building (fence, gates, nice new windows). I’d say he is improving the neighborhood too.

Comment by NoGifts Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 12:31 pm
== I don’t know why people assume gang members are pressuring the landlord ==

To be clear, when I posted about other pressures, gangs were not what I was referring to.

Only only one person mentioned this idea - the poster who also has an “image” of Englewood as a place where “there is usually a fair amount of chaos and noise.” You know. The kind of comment that comes prepackaged with a dogwhistle and a grain of salt.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 12:51 pm
Here’s some more background, especially the first article on the meeting about the lot across the street.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160811/englewood/army-of-moms-agree-leave-corner-now-looking-for-new-home

http://abc7chicago.com/news/mom-patrol-group-told-to-move-from-auburn-gresham-corner/1466767/

http://www.getbehindthemask.org/

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/natalie-y-moore-setting-goals-to-improve-south-west-sides/

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 1:05 pm
NoGifts- The apartment owner may be improving the neighborhood, but parking his car on the sidewalk in the spot where the Moms would set up, is not helping to solve any issues. Hopefully next year, he can stop his complaints:

“The people of 75th and Stewart are going to get a brand new play lot by next summer, so that’s what we’re really looking at,” she said. “It would be a bigger place for the kids to play. It would be more space for us to do what we have to do.”

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160811/englewood/army-of-moms-agree-leave-corner-now-looking-for-new-home

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 1:27 pm
I’ve been out with Tamar and the MASK folks a few times-Even had the privilege of cooking for the group. They gather around 4 PM, provide a safe haven and community. People pass freely down the sidewalk all the time-most stop to say hello and what’s up? She’s inspired folks to do positive loitering in other places in Chicago and the country. The lot across the street would be a great solution-hopefully the City and Alderman keep their word that MASK could buy it and create a permanent safe space. I just wouldn’t count on it

Comment by Mark Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 2:04 pm
I admit that I am the one that jumped to the gangs exerting the pressure on the landlord. I don’t know that this is going on but it is possible. I cannot imagine that someone prefers the gang-nonsense to the Moms?

The gangs prefer the chaos since it’s harder to differentiate what is happening. They don’t want the Moms who are bringing peace and food. What is better than peace and food? Not much.

Comment by Belle Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 2:14 pm
I support her effort, but she was not ordered gone,but to move across the street. Seems reasonable. Not necessarily a bad ending Rich.

Comment by downstate hack Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 3:26 pm
I am entirely supportive of this effort and am reminded of the mothers in Argentina who marched in Buenos Aires after their children disappeared during the military dictatorship. Perhaps this anti-violence effort could and should be expanded to other areas of Chicago including downtown and also areas like Austin, where it seems like somebody gets shot every day.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Aug 23, 16 @ 3:55 pm