SSCUG aims to uplift black girls on the south side

The seven panelists addressing the crowd: (From left to right) Ali N. Muhammad, administrator at John Harlan Community Academy; Carol R. Washington, enrollment coordinator at Edison Learning; Candace Moore, staff attorney, Educational Equity Project, Carlil Pittman, youth organizer for Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and an alum of the organization; Cheresa Purnell, education manager, Demoiselle 2 Femme, NFP; Kisha Roberts-Tabb, juvenile probation officer, Cook County Juvenile Courts and Bethany Lyke, Ed. D., executive director at the Illinois Center for School Improvement. (Photo by Chelsea Johnson)
The seven panelists addressing the crowd: (From left to right) Ali N. Muhammad, administrator at John Harlan Community Academy; Carol R. Washington, enrollment coordinator at Edison Learning; Candace Moore, staff attorney, Educational Equity Project, Carlil Pittman, youth organizer for Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and an alum of the organization; Cheresa Purnell, education manager, Demoiselle 2 Femme, NFP; Kisha Roberts-Tabb, juvenile probation officer, Cook County Juvenile Courts and Bethany Lyke, Ed. D., executive director at the Illinois Center for School Improvement. (Photo by Chelsea Johnson)

SSCUG aims to uplift black girls on the south side

By: Chelsea Johnson

According to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, black girls are suspended at higher rates (12%) than girls from any other race or ethnicity; and at a higher rate than white boys and white girls. While it now appears that the government is finally taking action to deal with this alarming statistic, Demoiselle 2 Femme, through way of the South Side Coalition on Urban Girls (SSCUG) has been fighting since 2010 to empower Black girls on Chicago’s South Side.

Recently, SSCUG held its first quarterly meeting of the new year and announced a new quarterly meeting of the new year and announced a new quarterly meeting format. The 2016 quarterly formats will build upon five pillars identified in the “Advancing Equity in Women and Girls of Color,” released from the White House Office on Women and Girls. The first quarterly meeting examined Pillar One, “Fostering Success and Reducing Unnecessary Exclusionary School Discipline.

With most of the meetings’ focus dedicated to understanding the issues that plague Black girls as they try to maneuver through their neighborhoods and schools, seven panelists collectively lent their voices, ideas and strategies to combat the “zero tolerance policies,” and the direct correlation they have on the school-to-prison pipeline.

The Illinois Senate Bill 100, an effort spearheaded by student activists VOYCE was signed by Governor Rauner and resulted in an overhaul in the Student Code of Conduct previously practiced within Illinois schools. The bill pushes for a more restorative justice solution to respond to misconduct, leading to a more peaceful way of intervention.

Panelist Carlil Pittman, an alum for VOYCE, and current youth organizer with the group, advocated for the bill after being kicked out of high school during his sophomore year. “I had never been suspended or in trouble, yet the walk down to the disciplinary office was longer than the amount of time it took for them to throw me out,” Pittman said.

The meeting brought various community leaders together to learn, make the right connections and to positively impact the lives of black girls in Chicago.

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