Image description: Abel (left) is a young man, is wearing a white button down long sleeve shirt, black tie, black-thin framed glasses. In the background is a blurred tree forming a frame around his head. Sam (middle) is a young woman, her left arm i…

Cicero Independiente 2020 Summer Fellows: Abel Rodriguez (left), Samantha Diaz (middle) and Luis Velazquez (right). (images provided by fellows)

By Samantha Diaz, Abel Rodriguez, and Luis Velazquez

Cicero Independiente is very excited to welcome three incredible young people who will be joining our team this summer through our paid Reporting Fellowship program. We are committed to ensuring that more Cicero residents and people of color feel equipped to pursue community oriented journalism that provides community members with tools to increase civic participation. Fellows will receive training, mentorship and work on a collaborative reporting project for twelve weeks.

Samantha Diaz, Abel Rodriguez, and Luis Velazquez are all lifelong Cicero residents who will be reporting on a variety of stories over the next few months. Read more about them below.

For Samantha Diaz, Cicero is home

By Luis Velazquez

Samantha Diaz, who also goes by Sam, is a rising junior at Columbia College Chicago. Diaz is currently studying journalism, with a concentration in news and features, and minoring in public relations. She is also a Morton East High School Alumni who graduated in 2018.

Diaz considers Cicero, IL her home. She believes she has a close connection to her community due to her time in Cicero along with fond memories. Fun fact, she has lived in the same house since the beginning of her childhood.

Diaz said she appreciates her neighborhood, from the local grocery stores to the five minute walk to her closest school. It’s the littlest of things that create and develop her connection to Cicero.

Her passion in journalism grew after taking a journalism class her senior year of high school. Diaz's initial plan was to major in creative writing. However, the journalism class had a bigger impact and influence on what she is currently studying.

“In high school, I didn't really touch on journalism until my senior year. Like my freshman, sophomore and junior year, I was pretty shy,” Diaz said. “I feel like only until my senior year I took myself more seriously in terms of the work I can do and make a difference.”

As a result, Diaz began to involve herself in social issues during her senior year of high school, which at the time involved the Parkland mass shooting. Due to current events, such as COVID-19, she has focused more attention on issues in Cicero.

Besides her strong interest in journalism, Diaz is also passionate about music and enjoys bands such as the All-American Rejects and My Chemical Romance. She also enjoys horror and comedy movies and her favorite movie of all time is “Napoleon Dynamite.”

Diaz hopes her work as a journalist will leave an impact on society. She would like her career to have a long lasting impact even after she is not walking on planet earth.

“It is important to learn more about where you came from, like where you were born,” Diaz said. “It is important to learn about the town that is highly effective to your life and close circle of friends and family.”

Diaz believes putting effort to learn about your own community can make a difference.

Luis Velazquez is a Reporting Fellow for Cicero Independiente. He is currently a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For Abel Rodriguez, Journalism is an Outlet to Speak Against Injustice

By Samantha Diaz

Born, raised and still living in Cicero, IL, Abel Rodriguez, 23, discovered his newfound passion for journalism, photography, and social justice just after he entered college at Dominican University and was exposed to social issues.

Rodriguez’s academic career consisted of going to various elementary schools throughout District 99: McKinley, Burnham and Columbus East. He would then continue on to Unity Jr. High School, Morton Freshman Center and Morton East High School. At Dominican University, Rodriguez was a history major and a journalism minor.

Although he holds some regret for majoring in history rather than journalism in college, Rodriguez still credits his history major and journalism minor as a stepping stone to caring about and being more vocal about social issues, something that he wasn’t really aware of prior to attending college.

"Growing up I was a little oblivious to social issues that were happening around,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn't until college that I started learning more about voter suppression, environmental racism, police misconduct. After I learned about them, I kind of slowly started seeing those things happening in Cicero.”

Being a Reporting Fellow for Cicero Independiente is a product of Rodriguez discovering his passion for social issues and journalism in college. He now translates this passion in the real world through activism and advocacy.

“Growing up I was a really shy kid,” Rodriguez said. “After entering college and learning so much about social injustices, I do speak up more in some aspects but I also kind of view my journalism as a way of me speaking up.”

Rodriguez is proud to be a Reporting Fellow for Cicero Independiente, but he also has other hobbies including photography, working out, running, hanging out with friends and much more.

Samantha Diaz is a Reporting Fellow for Cicero Independiente. She is currently a student at Columbia College Chicago.

For Luis Velasquez, There’s Pride in Growing Up in Cicero

By Abel Rodriguez

Growing up Luis Velazquez, 21, remembers fondly the times he and his neighbors would all gather together and play in their front lawns.

“I feel like everyone knew each other, we would always go outside,” Velazquez said.

As he grew up and moved around Cicero, personal connections with his neighbors began to fade, but it left ingrained in him the importance of community.

Velazquez attended Burham, Liberty and Columbus East elementary schools. His passion for reading began with the popular Hunger Games novels, and eventually he developed a passion for writing as well.

He had always planned to stay in the area for college, but ultimately decided to make the journey to central Illinois and enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Once the financial aid packet hit for the University of Illinois, I took advantage of it,” Velazquez said. “It was kind of scary just because...it was a predominately white institution. I was scared to have experiences, but like I said, it was to help me grow and see what I wanted to do with my life.”

He had planned to major in english and pursue a teaching career, but eventually made the switch to journalism.

Velazquez was quick to join the school newspaper, The Daily Illini, and a fraternity. There he was able to find some semblance of community after having a rough start to the semester.

“I was really homesick... but having a support system is important and actually found it my sophomore year when I joined my fraternity,” Velazquez said.

Coming back to Cicero during his breaks, Velazquez says that the town has changed since his elementary and high school days. For one, he says that students are more vocal about social justice issues in the community.

As a Reporting Fellow at Cicero Independiente, Velazquez hopes to be able to aggregate information and direct Latinx households to vital resources.

“I feel that Town Hall needs more transparency with the residents and more resources that offer bilingual programs,” Velazquez said. "I feel that a lot of flyers and information are just given out in English so that’s kind of hard to understand for my parents.”

“I'm really proud of growing up in Cicero,” he added.

Abel Rodriguez is a Reporting Fellow for Cicero Independiente. He recently graduated from Dominican University.