Call for Support & Donations: Self-Care Days for Incarcerated Girls

On Saturday December 15th, Girl Talk will be hosting a “Pamper Yourself” Self-Care Day for the young women who are incarcerated at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. We are organizing this event with no money and so we will be heavily relying on our supporters to make this day a success.

On Saturday January 12th, 2013, we will coordinate a similar event for the young women who are incarcerated at IYC-Warrenville.

To make both days a success, here is what we need:

Volunteers

If you are a bodywork therapist (massage, reflexology, etc…), please volunteer your time and skills.

If you can offer manicures and/or pedicures to the young women, please volunteer.

Do you teach yoga, relaxation and anti-stress techniques? Then please join us.

We are asking for volunteers who identify as women. If you are interested contact Mariame at projectnia@hotmail.com or 773-392-5165 to sign up for a shift at the jail or at Warrenville. We are asking volunteers to let us know about their availability by November 21st. We are going to give a list of all volunteers who will be participating to both the jail and the prison so that we can clear everyone in advance.

JTDC volunteers:

Please be available from 12p – 5:30p.
For volunteers at the JTDC, we will meet at UIC before going into the jail to have a snack and discuss expectations and more.

Warrenville volunteers:

We will confirm the time with you, but please plan to volunteer from 1p-5:30p plus driving time.

All volunteers:
We will set up carpools so if you have a car and can drive some folks, let us know.

Supplies

We need several supplies for the day and also for the gift baskets that we would like to give to the young women at the end of the day.

Lotions (any size)
Hair Care Products (appropriate for young women of color)
Bath Salts
Bath Soaps
Bath Gels
Bath Milks
Sugar Scrubs
Aromatherapy Oils (Peppermint, Lavender, Orange, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, Lemon, Rosemary, etc…)
Nail Polish (we need different colors)
Nail Polish Remover
Cotton Balls
Nail Tools
Foot Cremes
Eye Pillows
Soft and Fuzzy Socks
Baskets

All donations and items must be received by December 9th. You can mail items to: Project NIA c/o RPCC, 1530 West Morse Ave, Chicago, IL 60626. If you want to drop off your items, you can do so at the same address however please call Mariame at 773-392-5165 to make sure that someone will be there to receive the items from you. Finally, if you prefer to contribute money (which we would gladly accept), you can make your check payable to Project NIA (write Girl Talk on the memo line) and mail to the address listed above. We will be shopping after December 9th for all of the items that we did not get donated.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS!

Important Note: We very much believe that ALL incarcerated youth deserve many “self-care” days. Our capacity only allows us to work with the young women at JTDC and IYC-Warrenville. If a group of men would like to organize similar events for young men at the JTDC, please contact Mariame so that she can connect you to the appropriate staff at the jail.

September 14 – Violence in the Lives of Girls – A Conference for Adult Allies

Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women
Conference on Violence in the Lives of Girls

The Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women is hosting a conference about Violence in the Lives of Girls on September 14 and 15, 2012.

The purpose of the conference is to re-inject the voices of girls and young women into the conversations about violence in Chicago. Discussions about violence in the lives of Chicago youth are mostly focused on boys and largely address lethal and public violence. Within this context, girls and young women are generally silenced, and their experiences of violence are minimized and overlooked.

This gathering is divided into two days. On September 14th, adult allies who work with and support young women will share innovative intervention ideas and re-frame the discussion about violence in girls’ lives. On September 15th, several groups of young women representing Global Girls, the Illinois Caucus on Adolescent Health, and A Long Walk Home are planning and organizing their own conference.

Agenda for Friday September 14

9-9:30 a.m. Registration

9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Workshops: 1) Reconceptualizing Relationship Violence by Centering Young Women of Color
2) Healing Justice

12-1 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:15-3:45 p.m. Workshops: 1) Baby College for All
2) Strategy Session for Collective Responses to Teen Dating Violence

Conference Location: Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave, Room 300

Information: Space is very limited and Pre-Registration is REQUIRED. You can register HERE – Registration will close once we reach our capacity.

Note:
The conference is being offered at no cost to participants but it doesn’t mean that there are no costs associated with organizing it. We are grateful to the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation for providing the space for the conference, special thanks to all of the facilitators who are donating their time, and finally a huge amount of appreciation to all of the conference planners.

Please also keep in mind that we anticipate that many people will want to attend this gathering. Space is however limited so that we can have engaged conversation and discussion. With this in mind, we ask that you DO NOT register if you are not certain that you will attend. We want to insure that those who are able to attend are not turned away. So we ask that you not register unless you are certain that you will attend the event. We really mean this. Thanks in advance for your consideration.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

9:30 to 12:00 p.m.

Title: Healing Justice
Facilitators: Stacy Erenberg (Young Women’s Empowerment Project), Tanuja Jagernauth (YWEP, Sage), Sangeetha Ravichandran (A Long Walk Home)

Wondering how you can incorporate Self Care and Healing Justice into your work with youth? Then look no further! Join Sangeetha Ravichandran (A Long Walk Home), Stacy Erenberg (Young Women’s Empowerment Project, Sage Community Health Collective), and Tanuja Jagernauth (YWEP, Sage) for an interactive and popular education-style Arts-and-Body-Based Exploration of Self Care and Healing Justice. Participants will collectively define Self Care and Healing Justice and adapt an example curriculum to weave in Self Care and Healing Justice activities. Expect to have fun and walk away with tools you can use to create your own Self Care and Healing Justice curriculum for young people.

Title: Reconceptualizing Relationship Violence by Centering Young Women of Color
Facilitator: Mariame Kaba (Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Project NIA)

Over the past 20 years, several teen dating violence and date rape curricula have been developed to educate youth about the warning signs and dynamics of abuse. This seems to be a good time for adult allies, youth workers, and educators to assess whether these curricula are relevant to the current lived realities particularly of young women of color. How should relationship violence prevention programs and curricula be re-conceptualized to meet the specific needs of young women of color in Chicago? Participants in this workshop will discuss the strengths and limitations of current teen dating violence and date rape curricula and programs. They will leave with specific ideas for how to more effectively intervene particularly with young women of color who are experiencing violence in their lives and relationships.

1:15 to 3:45 p.m.

Title: Baby College for All
Facilitators: Katy Groves (Youth Service Project) and Chez Rumpf (Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University and Project NIA)

This workshop seeks to shift the framework around teen pregnancy and parenting. Pregnant and parenting teen girls often are pathologized as deviant young people who have become pregnant as a result of their personal deficiencies and problems. As such, services targeting these young women often attempt to “fix” or “reform” them through individual-level interventions. This workshop will engage participants in imagining ways to de-stigmatize teen pregnancy and parenting. Rather than frame teen pregnancy as a life-ending event that shoulders young women with insurmountable barriers, we will consider how to create structural supports for young mothers and how to cultivate a culture that places a high value on children.

Using a popular education approach, facilitators will lead participants through an activity to identify the current stigma and pathologizing discourse about teen pregnancy and to investigate the causes and consequences of this stigma. Through another activity, facilitators and participants will explore the historical evolution of this stigma. The workshop will close with a visioning exercise to develop concrete strategies to foster a sense of communal responsibility for children.

At the end of the workshop, participants will leave with:
• an understanding of the historical development of current discourses about teen pregnancy
• a critical assessment of these discourses
• ideas about how to create supportive environments for teen parents and their children

Title: Strategy Session for Collective Responses to Teen Dating Violence — Healing, Intervention, Accountability and Prevention/Transformation
Facilitator: Ann Russo, Building Communities, Ending Violence.
This workshop will offer the experience of a collective strategy session to show how community members might work together to effectively respond to teen relationship. The workshop will provide a structure for people to imagine collective responses that do not rely on the police or external authorities, and, if time, a chance to practice some of the skills it might take to implement them.

Stay tuned for information about the Youth-Led Girls’ and Young Women’s Conference that will take place on September 15th! We will be sharing information here on the blog about how young women can register to attend.

Dr. Beth Richie Speaks About Her New Book: “Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and American’s Prison Nation.”

Join Girl Talk, Depaul University Ministry, Depaul Community Service Association, and the Women’s Center/Depaul University on Thursday, June 21st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. as we welcome Dr. Beth Richie who will speak about her new book, Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America's Prison Nation.

Dr. Richie is Professor of African American Studies and Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her scholarly and activist work focuses on the experiences of African American battered women and sexual assault survivors, and emphasizes how race/ethnicity and social position affect women’s experience of violence and incarceration. Dr. Richie is a qualitative researcher and the author of numerous articles concerning Black feminism and gender violence, race and criminal justice policy, and the social dynamics around issues of sexuality, families, and grassroots organizations in African American communities. Her book, Compelled to Crime: the Gender Entrapment of Black Battered Women, is taught in many college courses and is cited in the popular press for its original arguments concerning race, gender and crime. Her current book, Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence and America’s Prison Nation, chronicles the evolution of the contemporary anti-violence movement during a period of mass incarceration in the United States.

Dr. Richie is also working on an ethnographic project documenting the conditions of confinement in women’s prisons. Her work has been supported by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Institute for Justice, and the National Institute of Corrections. Among others, she has been awarded the Audre Lorde Legacy Award from the Union Institute, the Advocacy Award from the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Visionary Award from the Violence Intervention Project. Dr. Richie is a board member of the Woods Fund of Chicago, the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African Community, and the Center for Fathers’ Families and Public Policy, and she is a founding member of INCITE!: Women of Color Against Violence. She is currently the Director of the The Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Girl Talk is thrilled that Dr. Richie will be sharing her insights and experience with us. You will also learn about Girl Talk and how you can support our work.

When: Thursday, June 21st
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Where: Depaul University Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave, Room 324
RSVP by June 18: chicagogirltalk@gmail.com
Info: This event is at no cost to participants but you MUST RSVP by June 18th to attend.

Raise Dough For Girl Talk This Friday by Eating Food…

This Friday, please help support Girl Talk by eating at Pompei. Mention Girl Talk when you pay and we will receive 20% of everything sold. It’s simple! Eat and we make some money. Please spread the word… You can download the flier here.

Small Miracles in a Juvenile Detention Center

This is reposted from Prison Culture.

This was written by Girl Talk Leadership Team member, Mariame, about her experience during the self-care day event at JTDC.

People still laugh in jail… This seems a trite thing to say. However it never ceases to amaze me. I have been inside enough prisons and jails to last me a lifetime. I have always had the option to leave.

The saddest places on earth to visit are juvenile detention facilities and youth prisons. No matter how many painted murals are on the walls, no matter how many colorful works of art hang in the classrooms, they are awful places to be. When you think of the fact that young people under the age of 18 reside there, how can they be anything else?

Yet today I was reminded that people still smile in these places. I am thinking about this tonight after having spent a couple of hours at a self-care event at my local juvenile jail earlier in the day. I was speaking with a couple of the incarcerated girls and we were laughing together. I glanced over and another young woman sat stone-faced. No smile on her face.

I thought to myself: “That’s how I would be if I were locked in this place for God knows how long.” I wouldn’t be laughing. I would be sitting in a corner looking devastated. Yet for the majority of the girls today, there were smiles and there was banter. They are after all still children even if the world treats them like adults.

For a few hours this afternoon, volunteers (each an amazing woman in her own right) did yoga and aromatherapy with the girls. They offered intuitive readings and painted fingernails. They massaged the girls’ hands and spoke with them. And yes, we even laughed. Thank God for small miracles.

A Special Thanks for Making Our Self-Care Days Wonderful!

We just wanted to take a moment to thank our volunteers and donors who helped to make our self-care events at the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Center and IYC-Warrenville so wonderful and inspiring.

Thanks to the following volunteers who contributed to the JTDC self-care event!

Laura Cortez
Jessica Estrada
Molly Harris
Mariame Kaba
Deana Lewis
Caryn Moore
Emily Robinson
Christian Totty

Thanks to the following volunteers for making the Warrenville self-care event so successful!

Jill Bratt
Stacy Erenberg
Keisha Farmer-Smith
Emily Foster
LaNisa Frederick
Ashley Howard
Tanuja Jagernauth
Mariame Kaba
Deana Lewis
Shonettia Monique
Philippa Norman
Gloria Ortiz
Beatrice Scescke
Kara Schmidt
Radhika Sharma-Gordon
Christian Totty

Thanks to the following people for contributing items and gifts for the young women:

Jill Bratt
Gabriella Brown
Alison Burkhardt
Rachel Caidor
Keisha Farmer-Smith
LaNisa Frederick
Tali Halperin
Ashley Howard
Katie
Mariame Kaba
Taylor Ovca
Students at Francis Parker High School
Coya Paz
Radhika Sharma-Gordon
Jenny Vanderploeg
Michelle VanNatta
Arewa Winters and the women of S.H.A.R.E.

Update about Self-Care Days for Incarcerated Girls

First, we would like to thank everyone who has reached out to us to offer their time and to make contributions to our self-care days for incarcerated girls. Eighteen (18) of us will be volunteering our time to provide yoga, manicures, pedicures, aromatherapy, ear acupuncture, guided self-imagery, intuitive readings and more to the young women at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) on December 17th. It promises to be a wonderful afternoon.

Sixteen (16) volunteers are signed up to offer chair massages, reiki, ear accupuncture, manicures, makeup demonstrations, aromatherapy and much more to the young women at IYC-Warrenville on December 18th.

We are grateful to everyone who has stepped up to volunteer for both days.

We also want to thank some young women from Francis Parker High School who have stepped up to organize a collection drive for the young women at JTDC and Warrenville. We are grateful for their interest and so appreciative that they are taking an interest in incarcerated girls.

We remind everyone that we will be accepting donations until December 10th.

Call for Support and Donations: “Self-Care” Days for Incarcerated Girls

On Saturday December 17th, Girl Talk will be hosting a “Pamper Yourself” Self-Care Day for the young women who are incarcerated at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. We are organizing this event with no money and so we will be heavily relying on our supporters to make this day a success.

On Sunday December 18th, we will coordinate a similar event for the young women who are incarcerated at IYC-Warrenville.

To make both days a success, here is what we need:

Volunteers
If you are a bodywork therapist (massage, reflexology, etc…), please volunteer your time and skills from 1:30 to 5 p.m.

If you can offer manicures and/or pedicures to the young women, please volunteer.

Do you teach yoga, relaxation and anti-stress techniques? Then please join us.

We are asking for volunteers who identify as women. If you are interested contact Mariame at projectnia@hotmail.com or 773-392-5165 to sign up for a shift at the jail. We are asking volunteers to let us know about their availability by November 15th. We are going to give a list of all volunteers who will be participating to both the jail and the prison so that we can clear everyone in advance.

Volunteers Needed for December 17:
1. Manicures and pedicures (amateurs are of course welcome)
2. Aromatherapy
3. Relaxation Technique instructors

Volunteers Needed for December 18:
1. Manicures and pedicures
2. Massage therapists (for chair massages); Reiki specialists, etc…
3. Aromatherapy
4. Relaxation Technique instructors

Supplies

We need several supplies for the day and also for the gift baskets that we would like to give to the young women at the end of the day.

Lotions (any size)
Hair Care Products (appropriate for young women of color)
Bath Salts
Bath Soaps
Bath Gels
Bath Milks
Sugar Scrubs
Aromatherapy Oils (Peppermint, Lavender, Orange, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, Lemon, Rosemary, etc…)
Nail Polish (we need different colors)
Nail Polish Remover
Cotton Balls
Nail Tools
Foot Cremes
Eye Pillows
Soft and Fuzzy Socks
Baskets

We also need items to make our own items:
Almond Oil
Olive Oil
Jojoba Oil
Herbs
Beeswax
Epsom Salt
Milk Chocolate
Granulated Sugar
Cinnamon Powder
Ginger Powder
Nutmeg Powder
Honey
Mayonnaise
Glycerine
Lemon Juice

All donations and items must be received by December 9th. You can mail items to: Project NIA c/o RPCC, 1530 West Morse Ave, Chicago, IL 60626. If you want to drop off your items, you can do so at the same address however please call Mariame at 773-392-5165 to make sure that someone will be there to receive the items from you. Finally, if you prefer to contribute money (which we would gladly accept), you can make your check payable to Project NIA (write Girl Talk on the memo line) and mail to the address listed above. We will be shopping after December 1st for all of the items that we did not get donated.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS!

Important Note: We very much believe that ALL incarcerated youth deserve many “self-care” days. Our capacity only allows us to work with the young women at JTDC and IYC-Warrenville. If a group of men would like to organize similar events for young men at the JTDC, please contact Mariame so that she can connect you to the appropriate staff at the jail.

Information Session: October 29th…

For anyone who is interested in potentially volunteering with Girl Talk and learning more about our work, please join members of the Leadership Team on October 29th from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. The session will take place at the UIC Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted St (dining area adjacent to Dunkin Donuts).

Please take the time to first complete this application before attending the information session.

If you cannot attend this information session, you can still complete the Facilitator application and a leadership team member will contact you to discuss Girl Talk.

Our next volunteer orientation is November 12th and interested volunteers must first attend an information session or talk with a leadership team member before being considered for it.

Scenes from Our April 20th Dinner and Dialogue Event…

Photo by Bunmi A

We are excited to share some photos and comments from our first ever Dinner and Dialogue event that took place on the evening of April 20th. We were thrilled to be able to gather together our program facilitators, leadership team members and other supporters to discuss the value of gender-responsive programming.

Photo by Bumni A

We were proud to unveil our new GIRL TALK Manifesto at the event. Participants were greeted with delicious appetizers and a sit-down dinner. Each table was adorned with a table tent that included key facts about girls in the system such as:

There are approximately 350 young women on probation in Cook County.

Approximately 87% of all young women on probation in the Cook County juvenile legal system were young women of color.

Between 1999 and 2008, arrests nationwide of young women for aggravated assault increased 12%.

One of the objectives of the Cook County Female Offender Services program is to create a safe, trusting environment to promote the development of the female minor’s confidence, self-esteem and life skills.

Between 20 to 50 young women are detained nightly at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

Nationwide, approximately 30 percent of all arrests are of girls.

Girls comprise the majority of all status offenders. Status offenses are minor offenses that aren’t crimes for adults, for example, truancy and runaway.

Almost all young women in contact with juvenile legal systems report having experienced childhood emotional, sexual, and physical abuse and assault.

“Gender-specific services” are programs and approaches that address the unique challenges and strengths of young women in the juvenile legal system.

There continues to be a lack of reliable, accurate, and comprehensive information about good prevention and intervention programming for girls.

Approximately 20 percent of young women in Cook County probation are pregnant or parenting.

It costs approximately $85,000 per year to incarcerate a juvenile in Illinois.

We shared information about Girl Talk’s work at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. We also engaged the participants in discussing these questions in small groups:

1. What does “gender specific policy” mean to you?
2. What do you think key components of a gender specific intervention with young women in the juvenile legal system should include?
3. What are some of the ways that violence, girls, and the juvenile legal system are intertwined?
4. How can there be justice in an unjust juvenile legal system?
5. What are three things we can do to prevent young women from coming into contact with juvenile authorities?

Photo by Bumni

The discussion elicited several interesting and insightful responses. We were particularly blessed to have several young people in the room for this event. One group of young people shared the following responses to the questions:

1. Gender specific: specific to gender, branding someone, stereotyping
2. -Build sisterhood
-Stop fighting with each other
- Listen to each other- maybe someone will say what you need to hear to keep your head up
3. –By institutional violence
-Police harassment
- No laws in place to protect all identities
-The laws and system are set up to experience violence- individually and institutionally
(Ex: bond out of jail –no longer the right to public defender, have to get a lawyer)
4. CAN’T
– System set up to fail us!
–if there was justice no need for the system
5. –Harm Reduction
–self care
–B.E.L.
-Accountability
6. Most of the people being incarcerated are colored females under the age of 18

We think that their response to question #4 “How can there be justice in an unjust juvenile legal system?” was particularly revealing. After the discussion, our participants were able to engage in a gallery walk to see what everyone else had to say about the questions.

Photos by Bunmi A

Special thanks to the Institute for the UIC Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy for sponsoring this terrific event!