The Chicago Reporter articles from March 2005

The Chicago Reporter archives from March 2005

Editor's note.(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... If you've kept up with our coverage of those coming out of our state's prisons, you've learned that most struggle to get jobs, and the ones they have are typically part-time or temporary. We've also reported that the number of incarcerated...

Righting a wrong: after spending 20 years in prison on a wrongful conviction, Algie Crivens III wants to do more than clear his name.(Interview)
March 1, 2005... Algie Crivens III was 18 and fresh out of high school in 1991 when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a murder he id not commit. He spent the next eight-and-a-half years consumed with educating himself while his appeals crawled through...

Waiting for support: day laborers now have a place to gather, but questions remain on whether a new workers' center will quell Albany Park's concerns.(Keeping Current)
March 1, 2005... The new walls still smelled of fresh paint as a crowd gathered inside a Northwest Side storefront in December to celebrate the opening of the city's first cooperative for day laborers. Miguel Ambriz and three fellow workers led the cheers....

Family ties: when searching for work after prison, Latinos and blacks sometimes take different paths--and find different results.
March 1, 2005... he hadn't been the best son or brother, but Manuel E. Vasquez knew his family would help him. He had left them as a gang member and convicted murderer, and returned 20 years later as a man stamped with the scarlet letter of being an...

The warriors: hardened by gang life, many young Latinos leaving prison are now using their toughness to help others.(Gang life)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... When Manuel Feliciano was a young boy growing up in Humboldt Park, Puerto Ricans who saw each other on the street would thrust out a fist or point both index fingers in a gesture of solidarity. That's when the Latin Kings "were for the...

Uncertain prospects: displaced Chicago Housing Authority tenants wonder if they will qualify to return to rebuilt public housing.
March 1, 2005... 'They want to get us out of here," said Lisa Mayo. The 40-year-old mother of five was looking north from 47th Street toward one of the last high-rises at the Chicago Housing Authority's Robert Taylor Homes--the building she has lived in her...

January 29, 2005.(Parting Shot)
March 1, 2005... In Rosemont, Zahra Hassoun, left, instructs Rita Sarkus Yousif to use a check mark to mark her candidate in the Iraqi National Assembly Election.