Change Agents The Podcast

Alex spent 18 months incarcerated in a county jail in Wisconsin as a detainee of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE ambushed Beto after a routine check in and incarcerated him for 9 months before he was deported to Mexico. Both men fought deportation with the help of the Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), a Chicago organization supporting undocumented people. This episode explores the harrowing, often untold conditions of immigration detention and the damage done to detainees psyches.

In September 2020, the Chicago Public Schools went into its second term of remote learning. At issue were the approximately 115,000 students, predominantly African American and LatinX who were without the technology required to “do” school. In Belmont-Cragin, a predominantly LatinX community on Chicago’s northwest side that held the city’s second highest number of COVID19 cases in November, parents struggle to get on line, get computers and keep their children from falling behind. This episode explores the efforts by Northwest Side Center for Housing to provide financial assistance, computers and technology needs.

Chicago’s southeast side community has strong views on environmental health due to a history of being the City of Chicago’s dumping ground. The newest injustice: Reserve Management Group is slated to bring the highly controversial 100-year-old General Iron shredding facility from Lincoln Park to the south east side community in 2021. Deep in the fight to stop this are community activists and organizations like the Alliance of the South East, struggling to be heard and have a seat at the decision-making table. This episode examines the actions and proposed solutions at the heart of grassroots activism.

Known for its high number of shootings and open illegal drug market, the Austin community on Chicago’s far west side struggles between its bad rap, high levels of poverty and lack of jobs and resources. Providing a life line to its residents are organizations like the Institute For Non-Violence Chicago, Westside Health Authority, and Amplify, doing their part to rebuild the community and it’s name. This episode follows Artimmeo, a re-entry specialist at the Institute for Non-Violence Chicago, and others as they’ve established a code to support and assist residents in need.

​Trust Learning Care,​ covers the Brighton Park Neighborhood Councils as it brings parents and teachers together to demand a say in how Chicago Public Schools will allocate the $1.8 billion dollars it has coming from the American Rescue Plan.