MAGIC provides youth empowerment programs such as leadership development, youth organizing training and a mural arts program as an initial lead-in to youth organizing.
These programs allow for youth to openly discuss issues and formulate consensus issues. The youth are then guided through training and activities on how to convey their concerns to community leaders and government.
In addition, MAGIC actively participates in coalitions and collaborations that directly deal with the issues that face youth.
As of October, 2009, MAGIC has established Teen Reach, an after-school program serving youth from ages 6-17 with a portfolio of programs including media arts and documentary filmmaking.
In November, 2009, we instituted a new outreach and service program aimed at survivors of violently acquired spinal cord injuries.
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MAGIC Teen REACH
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MAGIC Teen REACH is an after-school youth empowerment and leadership development program which serves young people ages 10-18 in the Woodlawn community and surrounding area. This media arts program provides youth a forum
to videotape and broadcast their experiences, challenges and observations.
Programming is largely youth-led and includes:
Digital Media Arts in which youth receive training in developing and creating film projects; Mural Arts where youth learn how to plan and create murals;
Fashion Design which allows youth the opportunity to create their own clothing designs and make them into t-shirts; Youth Organizing in which the young people learn about community organizing and engage in work to better the conditions for youth in their communities and city; and the MAGIC Lacrosse Club which provides top-notch instruction for middle school youth in the sport of lacrosse as a means of promoting healthy lifestyles, teamwork, and social development.
The MAGIC LaCrosse Club was a 2009 recipient of the Illinois Chapter of US LaCrosse Equipment Grant.
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United Sisters of Civilization (USoC)
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An innovative leadership development program for young women ages 12 to 18. USoC consists of a 13-week module that teaches young girls to become women through its “Building-blocks to Womanhood.” During a 13-week session, young women are mentored by other students and professional women who teach and train the girls how to make positive life, educational and professional choices.
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The Dovetail Project
Sheldon Smith, center, congratulates Tyrell Hamberlin last week for completing The Dovetail Project, founded by Smith to teach young fathers how to bond with their children and be responsible dads. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune / June 7, 2010).
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Dovetail is a fatherhood initiative established to teach young African-American fathers (ages 15 to 24) the parenting and life skills they need to help them become better fathers, and to educate them in felony street law to help them avoid becoming another statistic - by keeping them out of the legal system so they can be present in their children’s lives.
This 10-week curriculum is presented by established professionals consisting of weekly sessions which include interactive lecture, discussion, field trips, and exposure to free community resources that can assist young fathers in giving their children a better start in life.
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MAGIC Teen Talk Chicago
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Teens will use this platform to critically analyze images that influence negative behavior amongst urban teens, as well as offer positive alternatives and action-oriented solutions to social issues that adversely affect their quality of life.
Read this article to learn more .....
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Teen Health, Wellness and Awareness
(top) Dr. Terry Mason, commissioner of the Chicago Dept.
of Public Health, addresses National Teen Test Day
audience at a press conference held at Trinity United
Church of Christ Jan. 5. (lower) Hundreds of teens are
given a swab sample for HIV/AIDS test during Teen Test
Day. Photo: James G. Muhammad, Final Call. |
A public health event call to action for teens to create a movement in the urban youth population towards awareness and responsibility for theri personal and sexual health by building an acceptance towards testing and practicing healthy lifestyle choices. Including comprehensive approaches such as abstinence and safer sex practices.
Read more articles about Teen Test Day and Teen Health.....
Final Call
Woodlawn NCP
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
Chicago Foundation for Women Grant
CBS 2 Chicago
A device used in National Teen Test Day organized by the Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization. Photo courtesy of WBBM CBS 2 Chicago. |
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Music is MAGIC
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The Woodlawn String Instrument Program (WSIP) is a comprehensive classical music educaiton and training program that consist of the violin, viola and cello.
This classical string instrument training program provides music instruction to children ages 4 to 10 because of the absence of quality music programming in public schools.
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Hip Hop Outreach, Programming and Education (HOPE)
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Project HOPE is an outreach and educational program that targets young men and young women who are wheelchair bound and those who are at-risk and suffer from spinal cord injuries due to gun violence.
This is an advocacy project for gunshot victims who have spinal cord injuries and due to their race and circumstances of their injuries have huge disparities in the services they receive as compared to other disabled populations. There is an unseen population of what we call “Ghetto Vets” (taken from an Ice Cube song). A Ghetto Vet is a young Black male who as a result of gang or street conflicts becomes paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Although not all young Black men who are in wheelchairs are there as a result of being a gunshot victim, however, regardless of how they are injured Black males in wheelchairs are stereotyped to be gangbangers. As a result of this stereotyping, service providers and counselors do not provide them with the level of service other disabled individuals receive. In fact, most Black males who are in wheelchairs are unaware of the vast array of services they can receive. The other side of the coin is that those who were involved in street lifestyles feel like do not have the capacity to change their lives and look for ways to return to the streets. Hip HOPE is dealing with both sides of the coin, we are working with Illinois Department of Rehabilitative Services to connect Violently Acquired Spinal Cord Injury (VASCI) Black males to services and opportunities and we are working to get those individuals who are reluctant to move to the mainstream “back into the race.”
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Urban Brothers United (UBU)
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Urban Brothers United is a boy’s leadership development program that assists boys to become men by teaching them personal responsibility and by nurturing their mental, physical and spiritual well-being.
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Young, Gifted and Organized (YGO)
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The umbrella for our local and national organizing on issues such as Black Men and Boys, teen employment, juvenile justice and police brutality. Young, Gifted and Organized (YGO) is a collective of MAGIC program participants and youth who are just concerned about a specific issue. In 2006, YGO worked with Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) youth and organized over 500 teens across Chicago to rally for summer jobs for teens. Their work has led to an incremental increase in jobs and this summer as a result of the continued efforts, the Governor created a program that provided 20,000 teens jobs this summer (2008). Another project YGO worked on was police brutality. Woodlawn is policed by the Chicago Police Department and University of Chicago Police (a force comprised of former or part-time Chicago Police officers). Almost weekly there were episodes of police brutality against youth as young as ten years old. YGO organized victimized youth, their parents and community residents to take over the community meetings run by police officers. As a result, the University of Chicago created a community review board for reported community incidents of police misconduct. Although we were unable to get a similar commitment from Chicago Police, the numbers of episodes of brutality have dramatically decreased. YGO has also participated in the effort to bring more resources to help move Black Men and Boys into the mainstream. YGO youth have organized events such as symposiums, panel discussions and rallies which have helped to bring a cadre of diverse individuals across the city to be part of the on-going campaign.
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Pan-African Initiative
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This program works closely with African, Caribbean and Afro Latino populations to create a space to build bridges and to share personal stories all with a desire to uncover and establish strong personal bonds to empower each community individually and collectively.
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