Posted by chicagomedia.org on April 06, 2009 at 12:20:31:
Finding hope after trauma
RADIO | Former Sun-Times writer tells success stories on the air
April 6, 2009
BY MISHA DAVENPORT | Chicago Sun-Times
"Against the Odds" is the title of former Sun-Times columnist and best-selling author Ellis Cose's series of four documentaries that will begin airing tonight on public radio stations including Chicago's WBEZ-FM (91.5).
Cose, 58, describes the series as personal stories of marginalized individuals and groups who have overcome obstacles and adversity to find success in life.
If it weren't such an obvious cliche, "Against the Odds" might be a great description of Cose's own life story. He grew up in the Henry Horner Homes, the Chicago Housing Authority's public housing development that sat on the city's Near West Side until the last building was demolished in 2005.
"With perhaps the exception of the post-World War II generation, when soldiers were living in public housing, there was always a stigma attached to living in public housing," Cose says. "Things were definitely worst at the Robert Taylor Homes, but being from Horner Homes was never a place one was proud to be from."
At 18, Cose began writing for a school edition of the Sun-Times while simultaneously working as an editorial assistant at the paper and taking classes at University of Illinois at Chicago.
After working at the paper for six months, he was pulled into the office of James Hoge, the Sun-Times editor-in-chief at the time.
"He told me starting that next Monday I would have an op-ed column in the paper," Cose recalls.
Then 19, he was the youngest African-American columnist in the history of Chicago daily newspapers.
"At a time when first meant something, I was first," he says. "I guess I was aware it was very unusual. One of the the things that happen when you are young is that, though you may be aware of something being unusual, it doesn't seem so strange to you because it's your life."
Through the column Cose became a spokesman for the African-American community.
He left the Sun-Times in 1977 and since that time has worked for other newspapers, published several best-selling books about gender and race (among other things) and, since 1993, served as a contributing editor for Newsweek.
Cose says his latest works, the four documentaries, are poignant, and realistic without being totally gloomy.
"I didn't want to work on things that were depressing and downers," he says. "These are stories that deal with the issues of equality and opportunity."
That was no easy challenge given the subject matter of the first documentary, airing tonight. "Hope on a Pile of Bones" marks the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and looks at the way everyday Rwandans are rebuilding their country after a period of genocide that claimed the lives of one-tenth of the population.
"There is no positive spin to genocide. It's one of the most horrible things we as humans continue to do to other humans," Cose notes. "What I can do is showcase the positive efforts people are taking to rebuild their country and reconcile with each other."
Tuesday's "Breaking the Bonds of Tradition" looks at one Indian leader's attempt to provide education to members of the lower caste as well as a group of Muslim women widowed by the Gujarat anti-Muslim riots of 2002 who have started a clothing manufacturing collective.
"They formed this collective called 'Himmat,' which means courage, and they have managed to create a safe haven for women facing abuse or violence in their homes," Cose says.
Wednesday's "Nerds in the Hood" perhaps hits the closest to home. It focuses on former drug dealers and gang members who have come clean and are now role models for the community.
"I was never a drug dealer, a gang member or anyone else seduced by the streets, but I spent time on those same streets," he says. "I've spent a lot of time thinking how people can grow up in the same place and take different paths.
"It comes down to a question of hope and belief," he adds. "In most cases, no one ever told any of these guys there was a path out of those poor neighborhoods. For there to be hope, you have to be able to believe that it can ultimately happen to you, too."
"Trauma, Turmoil and Recovery: Surviving Foster Care," on Thursday, looks at two sets of siblings who went through foster care, including two sisters.
"They were abandoned by their alcoholic mother when they were 11 and 9 and both graduated from college," Cose says. "This is not my attempt to be pollyanna-ish. Given my own history, I would never have intended to do that. This is about looking at the cup as half-full instead of half-empty."