Life is Living = Collaboration / Communication / Community BuildingThank you again for making the Life Is Living festival an unforgettable moment in the movement! Your participation, attendance, volunteering, feedback, and overall support made Life is Living, a breathtaking success for Chicago!
Click here to view LIL pictures taken by Eve, one of our great photographers for the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/layla-eve/sets/72157621786120560/
**Chicago’s communities are working together!
• Over 50 volunteers were actively involved with each other and communicated regularly in order to plan for this collaborative effort. LIL modeled partnerships between diverse and underserved communities, elected officials, green action agencies, local community groups, urban environmental activists, the Hip Hop community, contemporary arts world, and intergenerational community members, laying the foundation for community building.
• Through a partnership with Brave New Voices, an international poetry slam held in Chicago, youth from as far as London to Hawaii attended the LIL fest. Accompanied by the Uplift Social Justice HS marching band and carrying signs that recognized the thirty-three lives lost to violence this year, these youth marched to “Stop the Violence” with their peers who represented Chicago’s southwest side, Rogers Park, Pilsen, Humboldt Park, Englewood, Back of the Yards, Austin, and Little Village.
LIL= Community Outreach
Chicago’s is increasing public awareness & community interaction i.e. valuing life!
• Over 2,000 people attended the event throughout the day
• Approximately 250 youth & their families marched to “Stop the Violence”
• Approximately 100 youth & elders ate the Freedom Breakfast
• Approximately 90 youth participated in either a dance, graffiti, or skate battle
• Approximately 150 youth played in soccer & b-ball tournaments
• Approximately 180 youth performed on 1 of the 3 performance stages
• Approximately 50 youth engaged in Eco Literacy & STD Prevention games
• Approximately 75 youth made recycled art or environmentally friendly cleaning products
LIL = Sustainable “Green” Education / Resource Sharing / Solutions
Chicago youth are defining the green movement for themselves!
• Through KL Arts Residency programs, approximately 150 youth from various Chicago communities were exposed to curriculum developed by KL Teaching Artists. Youth participants explored the many inequitable environmental burdens relative to their neighborhoods & cultural upbringings. Participants were then challenged to create ”edutainment” around the meaning of environmental justice via creative writing, spoken word, dance, theatre, and graffiti art.
• Comprised of youth educators/activists and dedicated to “working with, not against our Mother Earth and nature”, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), led an informative workshop series that engaged over 75 citywide youth in a critical analysis of our economic, environmental and social realities, inspiring participants with a sense of self-determination, empowered decision making, and community commitment.
Life is Living is project #1 of the SO FRESH & SO GREEN Initiative, which seeks to inspire young people and their families to establish a needed voice defining what it means to be included in Chicago's "green movement." This initiative supports the Hip Hop arts and education community in leading a national campaign emphasizing social equity, urban green literacy and capturing the spirit and appreciation for life and earth. Strategies include integrated arts and education programs that raise consciousness within our world while working to improve and develop sustainable spaces.
Life IS Living…an hour by hour account
In the 8am hour twenty five volunteers arrive at Clarendon Park to set up three stages, graff battle stations, dance floors, recycle bins, and welcoming banners. Volunteers hustle to situate tables, hang eco friendly art, install live and interactive exhibits, organize recycled art making areas, and welcome participants.
In the 9 am hour- A native drum circle invokes the spirit of the day, honoring those who have passed over and celebrating today’s LIFE. Over 100 youth and community members feast on a Free Breakfast full of fresh fruit inspiring healthy eating as a greener choice.
In the 10oclock hour-Over 400 youth and community members march to stop the violence; taking over Wilson Ave. located in Chicago’s Uptown Community. The streets were amplified with affirming unified chants “Life Is Living So Fresh and So Green”; inspiring peace in the streets and inviting community to participate in the day long Life Is Living fest.
In the 11am hour- Over 40 artist participated in eco-friendly themed Graffiti Mural Art painting. Producing over 20 pieces of canvass works that will be installed across Chicago in various schools and community centers; inspiring the power of valuing our talents that tell our stories as a greener choice.
In the 12 noon hour- over 2000 participants witnessed or participated in arts & recreation competitions, engaged in eco-learning activities, or contributed to art installations happening around the park. Activities included: eco-friendly soap making, mosaic garden art, clay molding, inter-active children’s eco games, soccer and basketball tournaments, guerrilla theater & dance performance space, poetry open mic, dance battles (foot working, freestyle, and break dancing), social justice curriculum fair, health fair, Native American, Afro-Caribbean, and African drumming circles, Offrendas/alters speaking out against violence, and a skateboarding competition. Combined these activities inspired bodies to move, to remember, to compete, to listen, to observe, to learn, to speak, to commune, and to create; choosing greener actions.
In the 1pm hour local artists including Chicago FootworKINGz, Solar 5, Ugochi, Spkher, Illuminati Congo, FM Supreme, and Nemesis blessed the stage.
In the 2pm hour a lawn concert with a stage graced by Saul Williams, Rebel Diaz, and Pharoahe Monch; inspired souls with musical rhythms, positive rhymes, lyrics, and poetry influencing greener entertainment choices.
In the 4pm hour Life Is Living participants made a promise to leave the park in better condition than we found it, with that, a tree is planted, garbage properly recycled, and the park left spotless!
God willing the footprints that we leave behind will show that we have moved in kindness towards the earth and every living thing!
**The majority of images on this post were provided by Abby Sewell, Northwestern Journalism student and member of the Life is Living media/photography crew. Thanks Abby!
Click here to view LIL pictures taken by Eve, one of our great photographers for the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Also Hard Copy (channel 19) will air segments of Life Is Living on the following dates:
August 24th 5:30
August 25th 12:30
August 24th 5:30
August 25th 12:30
**Chicago’s communities are working together!
• Over 50 volunteers were actively involved with each other and communicated regularly in order to plan for this collaborative effort. LIL modeled partnerships between diverse and underserved communities, elected officials, green action agencies, local community groups, urban environmental activists, the Hip Hop community, contemporary arts world, and intergenerational community members, laying the foundation for community building.
• Through a partnership with Brave New Voices, an international poetry slam held in Chicago, youth from as far as London to Hawaii attended the LIL fest. Accompanied by the Uplift Social Justice HS marching band and carrying signs that recognized the thirty-three lives lost to violence this year, these youth marched to “Stop the Violence” with their peers who represented Chicago’s southwest side, Rogers Park, Pilsen, Humboldt Park, Englewood, Back of the Yards, Austin, and Little Village.
LIL= Community Outreach
Chicago’s is increasing public awareness & community interaction i.e. valuing life!
• Over 2,000 people attended the event throughout the day
• Approximately 250 youth & their families marched to “Stop the Violence”
• Approximately 100 youth & elders ate the Freedom Breakfast
• Approximately 90 youth participated in either a dance, graffiti, or skate battle
• Approximately 150 youth played in soccer & b-ball tournaments
• Approximately 180 youth performed on 1 of the 3 performance stages
• Approximately 50 youth engaged in Eco Literacy & STD Prevention games
• Approximately 75 youth made recycled art or environmentally friendly cleaning products
LIL = Sustainable “Green” Education / Resource Sharing / Solutions
Chicago youth are defining the green movement for themselves!
• Through KL Arts Residency programs, approximately 150 youth from various Chicago communities were exposed to curriculum developed by KL Teaching Artists. Youth participants explored the many inequitable environmental burdens relative to their neighborhoods & cultural upbringings. Participants were then challenged to create ”edutainment” around the meaning of environmental justice via creative writing, spoken word, dance, theatre, and graffiti art.
• Comprised of youth educators/activists and dedicated to “working with, not against our Mother Earth and nature”, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), led an informative workshop series that engaged over 75 citywide youth in a critical analysis of our economic, environmental and social realities, inspiring participants with a sense of self-determination, empowered decision making, and community commitment.
Life is Living is project #1 of the SO FRESH & SO GREEN Initiative, which seeks to inspire young people and their families to establish a needed voice defining what it means to be included in Chicago's "green movement." This initiative supports the Hip Hop arts and education community in leading a national campaign emphasizing social equity, urban green literacy and capturing the spirit and appreciation for life and earth. Strategies include integrated arts and education programs that raise consciousness within our world while working to improve and develop sustainable spaces.
Life IS Living…an hour by hour account
In the 8am hour twenty five volunteers arrive at Clarendon Park to set up three stages, graff battle stations, dance floors, recycle bins, and welcoming banners. Volunteers hustle to situate tables, hang eco friendly art, install live and interactive exhibits, organize recycled art making areas, and welcome participants.
In the 9 am hour- A native drum circle invokes the spirit of the day, honoring those who have passed over and celebrating today’s LIFE. Over 100 youth and community members feast on a Free Breakfast full of fresh fruit inspiring healthy eating as a greener choice.
In the 10oclock hour-Over 400 youth and community members march to stop the violence; taking over Wilson Ave. located in Chicago’s Uptown Community. The streets were amplified with affirming unified chants “Life Is Living So Fresh and So Green”; inspiring peace in the streets and inviting community to participate in the day long Life Is Living fest.
In the 11am hour- Over 40 artist participated in eco-friendly themed Graffiti Mural Art painting. Producing over 20 pieces of canvass works that will be installed across Chicago in various schools and community centers; inspiring the power of valuing our talents that tell our stories as a greener choice.
In the 12 noon hour- over 2000 participants witnessed or participated in arts & recreation competitions, engaged in eco-learning activities, or contributed to art installations happening around the park. Activities included: eco-friendly soap making, mosaic garden art, clay molding, inter-active children’s eco games, soccer and basketball tournaments, guerrilla theater & dance performance space, poetry open mic, dance battles (foot working, freestyle, and break dancing), social justice curriculum fair, health fair, Native American, Afro-Caribbean, and African drumming circles, Offrendas/alters speaking out against violence, and a skateboarding competition. Combined these activities inspired bodies to move, to remember, to compete, to listen, to observe, to learn, to speak, to commune, and to create; choosing greener actions.
In the 1pm hour local artists including Chicago FootworKINGz, Solar 5, Ugochi, Spkher, Illuminati Congo, FM Supreme, and Nemesis blessed the stage.
In the 2pm hour a lawn concert with a stage graced by Saul Williams, Rebel Diaz, and Pharoahe Monch; inspired souls with musical rhythms, positive rhymes, lyrics, and poetry influencing greener entertainment choices.
In the 4pm hour Life Is Living participants made a promise to leave the park in better condition than we found it, with that, a tree is planted, garbage properly recycled, and the park left spotless!
God willing the footprints that we leave behind will show that we have moved in kindness towards the earth and every living thing!
**The majority of images on this post were provided by Abby Sewell, Northwestern Journalism student and member of the Life is Living media/photography crew. Thanks Abby!
