Still Here was an exhibition that showcased six design proposals submitted by commissioned artists which will become the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial. The public memorial brings awareness to the torture of more than 120 Black men and women from 1972 to 1991 by the Chicago Police Department under the direction of former Police Commander Jon Burge. The memorial is intended to honor the decades-long struggle for justice, as well as the survivors, families, and communities targeted by Burge and his midnight crew. 

Curated by: Hannah Jasper and Anthony Holmes

Contributors: Arts + Public Life Curatorial Team and the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial

Image credit: Daris Jasper

ABOUT CHICAGO TORTURE JUSTICE MEMORIALS The memorial project was developed by artists, lawyers, survivors, educators and activists with the group Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM). CTJM started meeting in 2010 with the goal of imagining what a public memorial could be in the city that acknowledges and condemns the violence in the Burge torture cases while also embracing the struggle of those who endured the torture and fought against it from prison cells to Chicago’s streets. CTJM studied memorials to survivors of state violence from other nations and held workshops across the city, asking artists and residents. After receiving and exhibiting over 70 speculative memorials to the Burge torture cases, CTJM co-founder Joey Mogul (Partner, People’s Law Office) drafted and filed the reparations ordinance in Chicago’s City Council in the fall of 2013. CTJM then joined with Project NIA, We Charge Genocide, and Amnesty International, USA, to build a human rights campaign that organized tirelessly through the aldermanic and Mayoral election in 2014-2105 to succeed in getting the reparations legislation, including the creation of public memorial, passed in May of 2015.Since the passage of the legislation, CTJM has worked with several individuals and organizations to implement the legislation, and the last remaining plank of the legislation to be realized is the public memorial. 

EXHIBITION RELATED PROGRAM

Hear It Directly
On Wednesdays between March 15 and April 26

2019

Survivors were in the gallery to share their thoughts on the exhibition with visitors.

EXHIBITION RELATED PROGRAM

Fund the Burge Torture Justice Memorial with Persuasive Posters

March 31 2019

Our community came together to create an original work of poster art insisting on the city’s investment in Chicago’s forthcoming permanent public memorial honoring survivors of racially motivated police torture and the decades-long struggle for justice by survivors, families, and communities targeted by former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his midnight crew of detectives. Together we made a persuasive print that was reproduced and displayed to raise awareness about the nation’s first police torture memorial–made possible by the historic Reparations Ordinance ratified on May 6, 2015 by Chicago’s City Council. Using letterpress and screen-printing techniques, participants collaboratively created a “Fund the Burge Torture Justice Memorial” poster series ready for immediate circulation. 

Workshop facilitated by William Estrada

EXHIBITION RELATED PROGRAM

What Does Justice Look Like? Radical Empathy, Visual Voice, and Collaborative Quiltmaking

April 20,  2019

Quilts are powerful expressions of history and a long-standing artistic practice within the African American tradition of storytelling. The visual voice offered through quilting is unique and necessary in our modern world. As technology streams graphic images of police violence, quilting is an art form that invites the viewer to construct, craft and chronicle black narratives creatively and with care. In this quilt design workshop, participants heard from torture survivors who fought for and won unprecedented reparations legislation providing redress from the city for racially motivated police violence. The workshop explored what justice looks like through design activities that will contribute to the making of a quilt honoring the lives of Chicago police torture survivors.  Workshop facilitated by Dorothy Burge. 

Closing Reception

Tutu: Honoring Truth and Healing through the Saints

April 26, 2019 

In response to the exhibition, “Still Here,” visitors are invited to gather for a four-part performance that considers how we might honor, truth and resilience, and support the healing journey of survivors who experienced torture by the Chicago Police Department. Tutu is a Yoruba term that means ‘to cool’ or ‘to freshen’. Often used in ritual contexts, it reminds us that to restore balance we must first offer ‘cool water’ to all areas of our life. Join us for this culminating performance for as we imagine restoration through the saints from the Black Atlantic world.