The 2016 Olympic "Green Bid" has a lot to offer to the city of Chicago, but some lingering concerns leave residents wary of massive development proposals. I decided to ask some locals for their opinions on Chicago's Olympic bid. This is what the people on the street have to say:

What are your thoughts?

Mayor Daley and his crew have been fanning out their public relations peacock feathers to attract the attention of the International Olympic Committee. If they play their cards right, Chicago could win the bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games—a lucrative opportunity that will shine an international spotlight on the city, bringing in spectators (a.k.a. tourist dollars) from around the globe.

The city has already hosted a number of 2016 events to pump up Chicagoans for the coming tide of Olympic investment and excitement. They've even developed a nonprofit organization known as Chicago 2016 to promote the games. The overall strategy seems to focus on the "Green Bid." If chosen as the 2016 host, Chicago promises to implement sustainable city-wide developments in preparation for the games.

All of the major bidders are leaning heavily on the environmental angle; it's a race to compose the cleanest-and-greenest Olympic proposal. The Associated Press says that "Madrid promises to promote bicycle use and Rio De Janeiro says 3 million trees would be planted in nearby rain forests to offset carbon emissions. Tokyo plans a zero-waste Olympics."

Perhaps they're compensating for the nasty publicity regarding China's air quality (or lack thereof) during the Beijing Olympics last summer. While I applaud efforts to green up urban centers, the environment is not the only factor to consider when talking about 2016.

In Chicago, concerns about gentrification fuel a different kind of conversation. Some people are asking what sort of effect the 2016 Olympics will have on low-income residents and communities of color in Chicago. Many of Daley's new Olympic building proposals involve plowing over old buildings in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Cathy Weatherspoon, an 88-year-old resident in Bronzeville, expressed her concerns to New America Media:

I am afraid that if the city wins their Olympic bid, it would displace many of us poor, Black folks. My building is three blocks from the Olympic Village site, and I can’t see the city spending all that money to build the darn thing knowing that welfare folks live a few blocks away.

The Organization of Black Students at the University of Chicago also discussed housing affordability in the context of the 2016 games. They note that Olympic development doesn't have to be organized in such a manner that harms marginalized groups. The city could take the 2016 bid as an opportunity to restructure the Olympic cities' bad habits of displacing poor people and ignoring human rights.

As Chicago pushes forward with its Olympic bid, planners and politicians alike should take human rights into account. Proclaiming lofty goals of "green infrastructure and sustainable development" says little about who's benefitting from said development. In many cases, the flowery language puts a cute spin on what I would term "environmentalism to serve the rich and white." Yes, it'd be great to reduce Chicago's environmental impact and bring additional revenue into the city, but not at the expense of communities that are already struggling.

However, the 2016 bid could be the City of Chicago's opportunity to show the people that they care about equitable, sustainable, and citizen-friendly development.

World middleweight boxing champion Laila Ali has more going for her than stellar athletic ability. As the youngest daughter of world-renowned boxing champ Muhammad Ali, she has some pretty big shoes to fill. But she proved her boxing worth right from the get-go when she knocked out her very first opponent without a hitch.

That was back in 99. Since then, Laila has kept rocking the ring and using her time in the spotlight to advocate for positive social change. Ali currently serves on the board of trustees for the Women’s Sports Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to “advance the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.” She works for better health and fitness through her partnerships with the American Diabetes Alliance and the Nation’s Food Bank Network, which helps to alleviate hunger for low-income children in the United States. She has participated in fundraisers for ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. She is an outspoken advocate of women and girls in sports, and also addresses the specific challenges faced by women of color and low-income women in sports. Rock on, Laila.

Watch this short video segment where Laila talks about how media representations affect young people, women, and people of color.

Soccer is the most widely played and watched team sport on the globe. It’s fun, social, competitive, sweaty, and an all-around awesome sport. There are a lot of programs available that make playing soccer easy for underserved youth who don’t always have the money or access to play organized team sports. Here are a handful of very cool youth soccer programs here in the US:

CityKicks is an after-school soccer program that serves low-income and minority middle school girls in Boston. On their website, CityKicks notes that suburban kids get to play more organized sports than inner-city kids, and that on average boys play more sports than girls. This program addresses issues of race, class, and gender, empowering underserved girls through soccer, as well as creating community and a sense of belonging within the team.

Milwaukee Wave offers soccer programs for low-income youth in the Milwaukee area, offering scholarships and tickets on a sliding scale based upon family income. They make every effort to ensure that all children can play soccer, irrespective of financial means.

Soccer in the Streets builds the lives of at-risk youth through soccer in 27 different locations across the United States. In addition to organizing youth soccer camps and programs, Soccer in the Streets constructs “Street-boxes,” which are self-contained soccer fields (about the size of two tennis courts) placed in select locations for community use.

Project Goal offers after-school tutoring and soccer programs to disadvantaged youth in Rhode Island. Soccer Community Partnerships of America offers a similar program in Williamsburg, Virginia, and United Soccer Club offers an after-school soccer program for underserved kids in Washington D.C.



Many of these programs are looking for volunteers to coach, referee, tutor, help out at games, etc. If you have some time to contribute and live near a program site, please get in touch with the coordinators through the website links above.