For Young Black Men in Chicago, a Charter School Helps Them Defy the Odds

“We are more than killers, guys who stand on the corner with their pants sagging—we are more.”
For Young Black Men in Chicago, a Charter School Helps Them Defy the Odds
Samir Ali graduates from Urban Prep. Class of 2016 Photo courtesy of Tim King
Updated:

Mention the South Side of Chicago and images of a crime-infested ghetto leap to mind for many people.

For black teenagers, life becomes a vicious cycle that most can’t shake.

Close to 60 percent of young black men in Chicago do not graduate from high school. Only 6 percent of black males in the ninth grade will earn a bachelor’s degree by the time they are 25. And nearly half of black males between the ages of 20 and 24 are both unemployed and out of school, according to a 2016 report by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Murders are up about 72 percent year-over-year for the first quarter of 2016, according to Chicago Police Department data. Shootings have risen more than 88 percent.

Kevin A. McKee, 18, said he has lived on the south, the east, and the west sides of Chicago, and “the violence is similar. People get beat, shot, and jumped.”

McKee said he avoided trouble because, “I was taught to go from point A to point B.”

He lived with his father and brother for a long time.

Kevin McKee graduates from Urban Prep class of 2016. (Courtesy of Tim King)
Kevin McKee graduates from Urban Prep class of 2016. Courtesy of Tim King