In recent years, large gatherings of teenagers known as “trends” or “takeovers” have grown increasingly popular among Black youth in Chicago. The trends, organized on social media, attract dozens and sometimes hundreds of young people to beaches, parks, and downtown tourist attractions. They have at times been associated with gun violence; in 2022, a teenager was shot and killed in Millennium Park, and there have been two non-fatal shootings associated with trends so far this year.
In response, city officials have proposed curfews as a way to control the events. In 2022, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot moved the weekend curfew up one hour citywide and made it 6:00 p.m. in Millennium Park. Now, the City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow CPD to call “snap” curfews on large groups of teens at any time of day — even in the morning — to force them to disperse. The ordinance has variously been touted as a public-safety measure and criticized as potentially discriminatory or unconstitutional.
We partnered with The TRiiBE to dig into curfews, talk to teenagers and parents, and examine the demise of third spaces and lack of amenities for them. This is what we found.
