Activists End Hunger Strike for Dyett High School

Norman Parish | As of Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Protesters marched in the Kenwood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side earlier this month as part of an attempt to have Walter H. Dyett High School open as a school specializing in science.
Protesters marched in the Kenwood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side earlier this month as part of an attempt to have Walter H. Dyett High School open as a school specializing in science. Photo by Norman Parish.

Activists ended a hunger strike Saturday designed to convince Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials to support having a high school in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood specialize in science.

“Folks were getting sick and we realized that (Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel) could sick back and watch folks die,” said Jitu Brown, one of 10 hunger strikers who hadn’t eaten food for more than a month.

Since Aug. 17, activists had gone without food, hunger striking because they want to have Walter H. Dyett High School, 555 E. 51st St., reopen as an open enrollment school geared towards green technology.

Three weeks ago, city officials announced they would reopen Dyett as an open enrollment school. The school, however, named for a musical director who taught students, like Nat King Cole, would focus on the arts, CPS officials said.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forest Claypool said the new school plan “best meets our children’s needs, and this plan creates the opportunity for a unique, world-class high school on the South Side.”

The decision angered the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett.

The protesters want a school that would incorporate a science curriculum meant to capitalize on its location in Washington Park. The school would be a LEED-certified green building.

Brown said the group would continue to have negotiators working to convince city officials that the school should specialize in science.

Brown added that the group had successfully convinced the city to have Dyett operate with open enrollment – something he believes would not have happened if his group hadn’t spent weeks protesting.

During one protest, the group forced Emanuel to end a town hall meeting on the city budget after more than 20 of its members stormed the mayor’s platform about 40 minutes into the meeting.

The group also marched to President Barack Obama’s Kenwood home from Dyett to attract attention to their cause.

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