About the Project
Guide to Narrate the Struggle for Justice of Jon Burge Torture Survivors
CTJM will create a pedagogical project that uses sites across the City of Chicago to talk about policing, safety and the struggle for justice for survivors of Jon Burge’s “midnight crew.”
Torture survivors will lead the work by interviewing others and narrating sites, specifically on the South and West sides of the city. We will work with graphic designers to produce a guide and instructional prompts to learn about the history of this struggle for justice that asks participants to learn from those who led the struggle and be part of this city’s current struggles for racial justice.
The guide and instructional prompt will be used to engage with communities interested in working against police violence, artists, and educators working to memorialize the struggle for justice.
Back to the 2021 Envisioning Justice Commissioned Artists & Humanists Listing
About the Artist
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM)
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM) aims to honor and to seek justice for the survivors of Chicago police torture, their family members, and the African American communities affected by the torture.
CTJM is a cultural collective founded in 2011 that has fused art, activism, and radical popular education with a tenacious commitment to antiracist politics.
CTJM was instrumental in spearheading a grassroots campaign that successfully led the City of Chicago to pass unprecedented reparations legislation. Today, their mission is to fulfill the final piece of the reparations legislation and build the memorial for the Burge torture survivors.
Chicago’s memorial will honor the police torture survivors and their resilience and show the nation and the world how public art can bear witness to the ugly truth of our past, and how people can come together collectively to seek positive change and repair systematic harm.
Learn More and Follow CTJM
Back to the 2021 Envisioning Justice Commissioned Artists & Humanists Listing
About Illinois Humanities' Envisioning Justice program
Envisioning Justice brings Illinois together to examine and reimagine the criminal legal system through the arts and humanities.
Envisioning Justice leverages the arts and humanities to envision alternatives to the enduring injustice of mass incarceration. This Illinois Humanities initiative works with communities and people impacted by mass incarceration to spark conversation and illuminate community-based strategies that address our racist and unjust criminal legal system.
From 2017 to 2019, Envisioning Justice was concentrated in Chicago. Moving forward, Illinois Humanities is expanding this initiative and its attendant activities throughout the state. As a part of this next phase of Envisioning Justice, we will host and document community conversations, provide grant opportunities, and commission projects by artists and humanists working to shift the narrative around incarceration and system impacted communities.
Learn more about the Envisioning Justice program, including upcoming events and grant offerings.
Back to the 2021 Envisioning Justice Commissioned Artists & Humanists Listing