More than 110 African American men and women were reportedly tortured by Chicago police officers and forced into giving confessions under former Commander Jon Burge, according to supporters of a measure to provide reparations to the victims.
On Tuesday, March 4, 2014, from 10 a.m.-Noon, the Finance Committee will be having a hearing on a reparations ordinance.
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials ( CTJM ), a group of attorneys, artists, educators, human rights workers, and longtime queer activists, aims to honor and to seek justice for the survivors, their family members, and the African American communities most affected by the torture.
In 2010 CTJM issued a call for speculative memorials to recall and honor the two-decades long struggle waged by torture survivors, their families, attorneys, community organizers, and people from every walk of life in Chicago. Since 2011, CTJM has held workshops, teach-ins, film screenings, readings, and roundtables to share knowledge about this history, and to consider the forms memorialization might take. This effort culminated in several exhibitions, including Opening the Black Box: The Charge is Torture at the Sullivan Galleries at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fall 2012, presenting 75 proposals by artists, architects, educators, and activists from Chicago and around the world to memorialize this tragic history and imagine pathways toward justice.
Since fall of 2013, CTJM has turned its attention to a campaign for reparations for those affected by Chicago Police torture, and to working in solidarity with other groups and individuals for racial justice and to end police violence and mass incarceration. At Opening the Black Box: The Charge is Torture, one of the speculative memorials was a draft of an ordinance that outlined what reparations could look like for those who suffered at the command of Jon Burge. We are happy to report that the idea of the ordinance has moved well beyond the "speculative." Last fall, much ground was made in the fight to gain recognition and reparations for the Chicago Police torture survivors, including acknowledgment by Mayor Rahm Emanuel of the city's role in the torture. The most exciting news is that in October 2013, Aldermen Howard Brookins and Proco Joe Moreno introduced an Ordinance seeking Reparations for the Chicago Police Torture Survivors drafted by CTJM and the People's Law Office. The ordinance has since been sent to the finance committee of Chicago City Council.
The proposed Chicago Ordinance calls for a formal apology to the survivors; creates a Commission to administer financial compensation to the survivors; creates a medical, psychological and vocational center on the south side for the survivors and their family members; provides free enrollment in City Colleges for the survivors and family members; requires Chicago Public schools to teach a history lesson about the cases; requires the City to fund public memorials about the cases; and sets aside $20 million to finance this redress, the same amount of money the City has spent to defend Burge, other detectives and former Mayor Richard M. Daley in the Chicago Police torture cases.
The torture survivors continue to suffer from the psychological effects of the torture they endured, many without any compensation or assistance or legal recourse for any redress. The City of Chicago is responsible for these human rights violations and it must make amends to the torture survivors, family members and communities of color affected by these racist police practices. The Ordinance is an important and lasting way for it to do so. You can read the entire ordinance at www.chicagotorture.org or www.peopleslawoffice.com .
Organizers state: "For this ordinance to pass, we need wide community support. We invite you to join us at the hearing on March 4 at 10am in the City Council chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. A large turnout of supporters at the hearing will have a profound impact on how the Alderpeople hear our appeal."
Online petition: www.change.org/petitions/pass-the-ordinance-seeking-reparations-for-the-chicago-police-torture-survivors .
Submitted by by Mary Patten, for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Project.
