How Long Will I Cry? (42 page)

• In Diane Latiker’s story, she mentions that
when she was growing
up, gangs were protectors of neighborhoods; they took care of
innocent people. Do positive “gangs” exist today? If so, what do
they look like?

• In Pastor Brooks’ story, he sees the need
for a community center in place of a hotel serving as a hub for
criminal activity. Are there specific things that can be done in
your community to reduce violence or criminal behavior?

• What are your fears surrounding
violence in your neighborhood or community? Brainstorm a list of
three solutions that could minimize your fears and help you feel
safer.

• Where did you see examples of hope within
these stories?

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Miles Harvey
(editor) wrote the stage
version of
How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence
,
which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2013. He is also the
author of
The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic
Crime
(Random House, 2000) and
Painter in a Savage Land: The
Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America
(Random House, 2008). He teaches creative writing at DePaul
University.

Alex Kotlowitz
(foreword) is the
award-winning author of three books, including the national
best-seller
There Are No Children Here
. A producer of the
documentary
The Interrupters
, he has published work in
The New York Times Magazine
,
The New Yorker
,
Granta
and on public radio’s
This American Life
. He’s
a writer-in-residence at Northwestern University.

Chris Green
(associate editor) is the
author of two books of poetry:
Epiphany School
and
The
Sky Over Walgreens
. His poetry has appeared in such journals as
Poetry
,
New Letters
,
Verse
,
Nimrod
,
RATTLE
and
Black Clock
. He recently edited the
anthology
Brute Neighbors: Urban Nature Poetry, Prose &
Photography
. He teaches in the English Department at DePaul
University.

Jonathan Messinger
(associate editor)
is co-publisher of featherproof books. For more information about
him and his work, visit shootthemessinger.com.

Jason Harvey
(book designer) has been
living and designing in the Chicago area for the past 20 years. His
work focuses on book and website design and has been recognized by
many design competitions including 50 Books/50 Covers, sponsored by
the American Institute of Graphic Arts. To see more of Jason’s
work, visit www.jhbookdesign.com.

Carlos Javier Ortiz
(cover
photographer) won the Robert F. Kennedy Center
for Justice and Human Rights Photography (2009) award
for 
Too Young to Die
, his multiyear examination of
youth violence in the United States and Central America. In 2011,
he received the Open Society Institute Audience Engagement Grant
for his continuing work on that project. Recently he was awarded a
grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for his work on
Too Young to Die
and youth violence in Guatemala. His
work has been published in 
The Washington
Post
, 
Ebony Magazine
, 
Le
Monde Magazine
, 
GEO
, and in numerous
international print, broadcast and online venues.