Ask 12-year-old Maria Kirkwood who’s her favorite writer, and she will tell you without a moment’s hesitation: Maya Angelou, best-selling author and inaugural poet.
“I finished `I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.’ I’m writing a story about it for the newspaper,” said the 7th grader, who dreams of one day becoming a prominent writer like Angelou.
She could well be on her way.
Kirkwood is a paid writer for the Community News, a paper that serves about 10,000 residents of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Lathrop Palms development on the North Side. The all-girl staff includes nine other elementary- and high-school students who produce the newspaper under the direction of adult adviser Lois Ulrey. A 14-year resident of Lathrop Palms, Ulrey says the paper is important for the children because they learn early on the value of “having a voice.”
“I think that writing is one of the most important skills anyone can have because as you learn to write, you learn to put your thoughts in order,” Ulrey said. “Writing is a way to make sense of the world and to figure things out. It’s also very therapeutic. I think if you can express what is inside you, you begin to feel the weight of your own voice and believe it. An awful lot of the children who are living in public housing don’t have a voice.”
In a 1991 issue of Community News, the girls expressed some of their innermost thoughts in essays on teen pregnancy: “I know most of you want a boyfriend or girlfriend,” wrote Tyshika Rainy. “I’m not telling you that you can’t have one. I’m just saying that parenthood is a lot of work. If you have a baby, you can’t go to school. You think, `I can drop out,’ but don’t do that. Just think to yourself, `When you’re ready, you’re ready.’ “
Lena Henderson wrote: “Some teenagers probably have sex because they are pressured to do so by their friends. But I don’t let my friends decide what I want to do. I do what I want to do. It is my prerogative.”
And this past June, Kirkwood’s story, “When a Mother Uses Drugs,” landed on the paper’s front page. Full of poignant dialogue, her fictional story broaches serious issues, including adult substance abuse, child neglect and feelings of alienation. The mother and daughter characters in her story exhibit determination and love and conquer their situation, turning what could have been a tragedy into a story with a happy ending.
Ulrey has helped girls express themselves through Community News for nearly nine years.
In 1986, the Lathrop Homes Inter-Agency Council, made up of residents and representatives of various social agencies serving the community, sought a way to get news to the residents. Meanwhile, a group of girls had asked Ulrey to be a cheerleading adviser. She found that laughable, noting that she has “never even been friends with cheerleaders.” Ulrey, who had studied photography at Columbia College, struck a compromise with the girls, agreeing to photograph them doing their cheers.
“A lot of the girls presented themselves as tough and defiant,” she recalled. “When they saw those pictures of themselves, they didn’t like that image of themselves and started to talk about what was going on in their lives and what they thought they had to do to take care of themselves.”
Ulrey, who had studied journalism at Kent State University, in Ohio, used her skills to teach the girls to put their thoughts on paper. Thus was born Community News, which has evolved into a 12- to 20-page publication that is a combination of neighborhood news and creative writing, all written by girls. Not only do the girls improve their writing skills, but the newspaper office is also a place where they can talk to each other about what’s going on in their neighborhood and around the world.
“We talk about choices,” Ulrey said. “The stories that the girls write are often about social problems. About whether or not to join a gang. Whether or not to use drugs or alcohol. We’ve done some AIDS-prevention stories.”
Lena Henderson, a sophomore honor student at Lane Tech High School, has written for the paper since she was in 5th grade and is this year’s editor. Henderson plans to become an attorney but knows the skills she is developing at Community News will help her no matter what profession she chooses. She has learned time- and money-management skills and is gaining supervisory experience.
“I write four pieces or more each month, help lay out the paper and do corrections on everybody else’s pieces,” Henderson said, taking a breath and a moment to think. “I type for the younger ones, and I’m in charge of staff meetings. I make sure the staff people are getting their work done, and I help pass out the paper when it comes.”
After working on the paper almost seven years, Henderson is enjoying the fruits of her labor. Having attained the editor position allows her, for the most part, to “be my own boss,” she said. “I come in on my own time. Lois just tells me when to have my work in.”
Henderson, who said she was expecting a salary increase on her next paycheck from the paper, explained her personal finances. “You get paid every month, so you learn how to stretch your pay until the next month comes.”
The newspaper is supported by grants from social agencies and from private sources, including donations from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Foundation for Women. Although Community News is free to the residents, Ulrey said she fought with Lathrop Homes’ governing social agencies for the right to pay the girls.
“The girls are paid for their work, which I think is extremely important. I think that one of the things that happens to women in our society is we’re expected to give without expecting a return. Work is a value, and I think it is extremely important for young women to learn that, that their wisdom, their work is worth a return.”
Ulrey said writers can earn anywhere from $5 an article to $150 a month for their contributions, money they can spend on current needs or can stash away for college. Community News alumnae include Neketa Wilson, at Northern Illinois University; Rebecca Wilson, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Ulrey’s daughter Jessica, also at the U. of I.
The newspaper provides a variety of opportunities and is a tremendous asset for the girls who take advantage of it, Ulrey said. The Chicago Foundation for Women concurs, having given the Community News its Rohlen Award for excellence.
