COMMUNITY WRITING: CONNECTING LITERACY AND THE LITERARY

Who they are

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The Neighbourhood
Writing Alliance

The Neighbourhood Writing Alliance is a charitable organization based on Chicago’s South Side and affiliated with the College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago. Supported by a number of funders including the MacArthur Foundation, they publish The Journal of Ordinary Thought, giving exposure to reflections community writers make on their personal histories and everyday experiences. It is founded on the notions that every person is a philosopher, that expressing one’s thoughts fosters creativity and change, and that taking control of life requires people to think about the world and communicate their thoughts to others.

Presenters:
  • Deborah Epstein, co-founder, Neighbourhood Writing Alliance
  • Nannette Banks, member of the Writing Alliance

What they read

STATE STREET DRIVE/ANYWHERE USA
Nannette Banks

It ain't no fun
ridin’ thru the hood anymore!
Preacher use to Preach about it sayin'
"only the walking dead live there"
Mother used to mother about it sayin'
"Brothas on the corner want nothin' more than a brown
paper bag full of false hopes and dreams"
Teacher use to Teach about it sayin'
"there's a message in that bottle and by the time you've
taken that last swig... you've just swallowed failure... now
that can be
addictive"

It ain't no fun
ridin' thru the hood anymore!
Where vacant lots represent leveled dreams,
broken glass represents shattered lives,
& broken windows represent
the holes
in the souls
of those
who once understood that GOD is
in control......

It ain't no fun
ridin' in the hood anymore!!
Where the memories of what used to be...
before I was... seem to haunt me like a
nightmare but carry me on an abstract dream of
FREEDOM!!!
When are we going to stop
HURTING each other?
When are we going to stop
KILLING each other?
When are we jus' going to become
WE?
Because it jus' ain't no fun
ridin' in the hood
ANYMORE

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