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Girl Talk Projects
Over the years, the Girl Talk partners, volunteer, and
girl participant have developed and implemented a variety of projects.
Some have been wildly successful, others a bust - never to be
repeated; but we have learned from them all. We are constantly
challengened by the multitude of issues raised to programming
in a detention center enviroment, including: restrictions on materials
and certain forms of expression, weekly turn-over of girls, the
attitudes of some detenton center staff (that these are "bad"
girls who need dscipline and punishment not programs), and the
changing moods of the girls who are not only dealing with issues
of adolescence, but issues of incarceration as well.
Below are descriptions of some of the Girl Talk programs:
Girl Talk Mural Project:  The girls decided to create a viual expression to reflect their feelings about being incarcerated and their hopes and aspirations for life beyond the JTDC. The girls worked together to develop a theme they could all agree upon - freedom, power and potential. They collectively developed the design, chose the colors, and painted the mural over a period of six weeks. The mural includes the face of a woman on a $1,000 bill, a brown hand and a white hand holding a banner that says "FREEDOM", and faecs of a diverse group of women who are climbing up the ladder to success. One of the irls said that the best thing about the mural project was that the girls worked together to create something that everyone agreed was beautiful and meaningful. Another girl commented that it was the first time that she had ever worked with guys who didn't try to "hit on her", and were really interested in her creative ability and ideas.
--Teach-In on Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's): The girls were involved in a peer education project on STD's. Information on the range of sexually transmitted diseaeses was provided and they each selected an STD that they wanted to learn about and then teach the rest of the group. After a short training on teaching methods, the girls gathered into small groups and prepared presentations on the myths, transmission,prevention, and treatment of STD's. The next week the girls presented their information in the form of role-plays,rap songs, creative posters and interactive discussion.
Health Summit Video/Mask Project:
   The girs at the JTDC were invited to make a video message for youth participation in the citywide Youth Summit being held at
Truman College. To protect confidentiality, each girl designed and made a beautiful mask and wore it as they delivered their message before the camera. Many of the girls read poems they had written. Others sang or talked about who they really are and challenged young people on the outside to stay out of trouble as they spoke about the realities of incarceration.
--Quilting Project:  The girlss worked with the director of an anti violence program called Parents Against Gangs to develop a Girl Talk Remembrance Quilt. The quilt memorialized their close friends, siblings, children and parents who had been killed by guns or violent means. When the facilitaator introduced the project, she asked the girls to raise their hands if they had ost a loved one to violence. Everyone raised their hand. In fact, one girl had lost twelve friends and one brother to violence. The girls were encouraged to discuss their grief and memorialize those who had died. Girl Talk volunteers helped each girl create her own 4 foot panel. The Memorial Quilt Project-- including the quilts made by the girls-was shown throughout the city and state.
Poetry Series: Poetry is very popular with the girls as it provides an opportunity for them to express themselves about a wide variety of issues they may otherwise not feel comfortable discussing. Often we began this series in conjunction with Women's History month by discussing a diverse group of famous women having the girls select certain women to talk about. The girls work with Chicago area poets to read and write their own poetry, which is then compiled in a booklet for them to keep. Usually, these sessions are concluded with a poetry slam. Poetry written by the girls during the 2000 poetry sessions will be published in an upcoming edition of Real Conditions, a community journal compiled by the university of Illinois. The poetry booklets are often distributed at conferencesand meetings and have been given to local and regional legislators and juvenile advocates. It is very encouraging to watch girls move from the point of saying, "I don't even know how to rhyme." "I don't know anything to write about...." to demanding that they be able to read their work out loud to the group because "It's important that people know how i feel" and "I write in order to represent myself!"
--Youth Summit:  The City-wide Youth Summit (with the theme "Express Yourself Through Youth Justice") was sponsored in October 1998 by a city-wide multi -organizational coalition of youth organizers and adult community activists. Youth Summit planners came to the JTDC to talk with the girls about the Summit and encourage their participation through some creative means. The Summit provided an opportunity for the girls in Girl Talk to share with youth in the community their views about laws affecting youth, the media, police brutality, community development and the economics of criminalization. The girls excited about participating in the Summit and discussed and debated their ideas on these topics. Then each girl wrote her views, which were complied into a colorful collage intitled"Girl Talk on the Down Low" containing over 75 expressions about the juvenial justice system, lack of jobs and opportunities, fail;ing schools, community services needed to support girls and build their skills, assesment of government policies. The Girl Talk collage was displayed at the Summit and youth reading the girls's statements responded by writing their views and comments on postcards. Fololowing the summit , the postcards were returned to the girls at a Girl Talk session and they read and commented on them. Then a simulatef public hearing was with some of the girls taking on roles of officials from DCFS, the police, school board, courts of city council. The girls asked questions and made their concerns known about many of the critcial issues that impact thier lives. The girls came up with a list of ideas for ways to keep youth out of trouble in the community, including: 24 hour youth centers, inviting parents and youth to have dinner and do0 homework at schools that remained. The next week the girls presented their infortmation in the role-plays, rap songs, creative projects, and interactive discussion.They also decided that they wanted lobbying in prreperation for a letter-writting campaign to legislators about these ideas.
Gardening:
 In cooperation with the University of Illinios/Chicago{UIC} Master Gardener's Extension Program, Girl Talk planted an herb and flower garden in the detention center courtyard. The garden had both teaching and partical usefulness; it required that the detention center make time for the girls to go out for their plants. This provided the girls with much needed time for fresh air and teaching.The garden also provides a beutiful living laboratory of tools and materials for teaching. Girl Talk combined days of planting and learning gardening techniques with workshops on common medicinal uses of herbs, the collective building of a community garden, and on cooking fresh food from the garden-wonderful pesto and salsa.
The Girl Talk partners routinuely seek input from the girls so that we provide information and activities that are stimulating, relevant and appropriate. We ask the girls what kind of information they want or need, what things they would like to discuss and for ideas about creative activities that interest them. Girls are able to submit personal questions anonymously. They are frequently asked to critique the sessions and evaluate their experience. Clearly, asking the girls for feedback and then acting on thier suggestions demonstrates respect for them and thier opinions, and also helps to build trust even as it makes Girl Talk a more effective program.
--Talk out: One of the challenges of the program is the quickly rotating population. About 15-20 girls are long-term detaines, while the rest may stay at the detention center for periods ranging from a few days up to a year. Many of the girls have discussed their need for support upon leaving the detention center. They related their fears of returning to the old neighborhood, school and peers where the girls know they will experience the same pressures which contributed to their destructive lifestyle and illegal activities prior to detention. The recidivism rate for these girls is dismaying - over 60% of girls re-offend within 6 months of release.
There is a profound lack of educational and support resources available to these girls at the community level. The Girl Talk partners address this lack by informing the girls about the resources that do exist and facilitating their access to theses resources. We work to create linkages to community youth organizations, women's health groups, grassroots organizations, mental health counseling centers, arts programs and career training programs. The Girl Talk partners are developing a community component, where girls once detained at the JTDC will meet in the community to discuss issues, share information and resources, and help the girls to develop their own supportive community of girls learning and sharing together.
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© After School Matters 2002
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