“Hidden Treasure” of an Organization Hosts Presentation Teaching Kids Importance of ‘Knowing their Rights.’

Last Wednesday (Oct. 25) was “just another day” for BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development), Inc. employee, Taesean Brownlee, as he prepared to deliver a powerful ‘Know Your Rights’ presentation to local area youth in the community -- something he’s done countless times since acquiring his new role as a Community Wellness Navigator at BUILD Chicago.

Just like always, he planned to arrive early that day at BUILD headquarters (located at 5100 W. Harrison St.) to look for youth members who may be interested in joining him for his presentation. On the way over, he strategized about how to effectively convey his message to a potentially brand-new audience. Paying close attention to the freshly manicured lawn, he carefully made his way up the main pedestrian walkway to the double doors, where he was ultimately greeted by security.

In route to his destination (an empty conference room on the third floor of BUILD’s Chicago campus), he passed by a “No Guns Sign” decorating the outside of the building, which reminded him of a plethora of issues currently plaguing the community. Immediately, he thought about how he had just gotten stopped by police the day before, which reminded him of the urgency of his message.

“We're not trying to teach people how to avoid police and stuff like that,” said Brownlee, reflecting on the overall goal of his presentation. Rather, “[We’re trying] to teach them what to do when interacting with these people. Because, statistically, we already know it’s going to happen.”

According to Brownlee, traffic stops have increased in Chicago from ~86,000/year in 2015, all the way up to ~378,000/year in 2023. In Humboldt Park, they even have plate readers now, so they can stop people faster than ever before.

“We [African Americans] have a trend of certain fashion, so they target us more,” said Brownlee, explaining why some minorities typically struggle with law enforcement officers. For that reason, it’s of “all-time high importance to teach these kids certain rules [when interacting with police] to get them home safe.”

Scrolling through a lengthy PowerPoint presentation on his personal laptop, Brownlee stopped about halfway through and pointed to the screen: “The most important thing is to be cooperative, calm and collected,” said Brownlee, offering his number one piece of advice.

“And come to our presentation so you can learn your rights.”

Brownlee’s colleague, Emmanuel Flores (who’s the lead organizer of BUILD’s ‘Know Your Rights’ presentation), echoed similar sentiments, hinting at possible signs of corruption.

“I'm not going to say that they [the kids] don't make infractions of the law, because they do,” said Flores, describing some of the youth they work with. “Many of them have had negative encounters with police officers, and that really taints their perspective.”

According to Flores, “repeat negative encounters” with police have significantly strained the community’s relationship with law enforcement officers, causing some kids to fear/avoid them all together.

“They are learning about their rights and all that, but due to their interactions [with police], they learn that [what we teach them] is not how it typically goes down. A challenge we have is figuring out how to deal with the loss of patience, because sometimes it takes fighting a long battle to win the whole war.”

Felix Jusino, Lead Coordinator of Community Engagement at BUILD Chicago, has been “fighting” for 39 years now. In an effort to turn his life around, he started working with kids in 1984 when he first got out of prison.

“When I got out [of prison], I had a whole different mentality. I wanted to use my experience and see if I can make a negative into a positive. Ever since then, it's been working.”

Judging by the sheer number of kids downstairs in their newly renovated 57,000 square foot building, saying “it’s working” would be an understatement.

According to Jusino, BUILD currently serves over 2,000 at-risk youth members in the community. While their ‘Know Your Rights’ presentation is designed to “help you understand your rights and responsibilities when interacting with law enforcement,” BUILD also hosts a variety of free legal navigation services such as court advocacy, accompaniment, document preparation, eviction preparation, comprehensive reentry services, legal assistance, tenants’ rights, community presentations and more.

“It's all about trying to spread the word and give some of the kids I work with wisdom as far as how to react when they come in contact with the police,” said Jusino, explaining how he managed to gain their respect. “A lot of times these kids have weed on them, and they think they have to run. I tell them don't do that because they're going to think you got a strap (gun) [and they might shoot you]. I have to do that a lot of times, because these kids don't know the law.”

“We just feel like we’re kind of like some superheroes out here,” exclaimed Brownlee, trying to explain how it feels to have such a significant impact on a child’s life. “We could just give them that one quick thought on how to carry out a police interaction that stops them from getting arrested or [killed].”

For Brownlee, Flores and Jusino, that’s what it’s all about.