Friday, January 23, 2009

Seeking Artists X 2016 Olympic Bid

Fellow artists, activists, hackivists, community organizers and lovers of green things and economic justice --

HELP US STOP THE 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES FROM COMING TO CHICAGO!

Chicago is $420 million in debt and rife with corruption and incompetence. Basic services suck and our public schools are failing to serve our children:

  • Only 6 of 100 Black and Latino high school freshmen males will graduate from a four year college.
  • Between 2003 and 2007, white students' reading scores went up while African American, Hispanic and low-incomes student's scores went down.
  • Money spent in Illinois on: Housing an adult prisoner: $21,000 Educating a child in Chicago: $10,000
  • Only 9% of African American 4th graders ranked proficient or above in reading, ranking Illinois 38 out of 41 states.
  • Illinois has the largest unaddressed district-to-district funding gap in the nation.
  • 2005-2006 School Year Graduation Rates in Chicago
    - Black males - 37%

    - White males - 62%
    (source for these stats: http://www.saveourschoolsnow.com/facts.html)
SPENDING $100 MILLION TO CAMPAIGN FOR THE 2016 GAMES IS A HUGE WASTE OF PRECIOUS FUNDS. ACTUALLY GETTING THE GAMES WOULD BE THE BIGGEST BOONDOGGLE IN CHICAGO'S LONG HISTORY OF CORRUPT AND BLOATED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. NOT TO MENTION BUILDING OLYMPIC VENUES IN PUBLIC PARKS WOULD DESTROY DOZENS OF ACRES OF PRICELESS PARK LAND AND ACCELERATE GENTRIFICATION ON THE NEAR SOUTH AND WEST SIDE.

Join the Artists Anti-Olympic Brigade! Create graphics, street art and online work to help us explain and dramatize what a MISERABLE plan this is for Chicago's future. For example,
we're thinking about a campaign "How Would Spend $2 billion?" - the conservative estimate of how much money Chicago could loose building and running the 2016 games.


Come to a public forum on Saturday, January 31st, at 6pm at UIC Student Center, 750 S. Halsted, #605

For more information: www.nogameschicago.com
Contact: 312-235-2873
Email: nogameschicago@gmail.com

---please pass this message on to your networks, fellow travelers, allies, colleagues, lovers and MySpace lurkers ---

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