This bridge-builder is joining our team to create caring spaces where folks feel welcomed and comfortable.
By Ireashia Bennett
Portrait of Marilyn Carteno taken by Caroline Olsen
We are very pleased to welcome a new team member, Marilyn Carteno, to City Bureau as our Events and Outreach Coordinator.
Marilyn brings a wide-range of experiences as an educator and theater artist committed to creating spaces where folks can feel heard and welcomed. As a Teaching Artist for Free Street Theater, directs shows that center on social justice issues that impact young people in Chicago. As our Events and Outreach Coordinator, she will work with City Bureau staff, program participants and community partners to plan and facilitate public events, including our Public Newsroom series. She will also develop relationships with civic and community organizations in Chicago’s BIPOC neighborhoods.
Here’s a little bit about Marilyn.
Can you share just a little bit about yourself and your career background?
I grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago and have lived here my whole life. Growing up in Chicago I was aware that something was wrong in the systems I was passing through, but no one was talking about it. This awareness caused me to become really intrigued in just asking questions about issues in community.
Theater introduced me to education, community outreach and being rooted in my community. When I was younger, I was musically inclined due to having access to free programs in my neighborhood. Through an afterschool program, I was able to see a theater show I really enjoyed. I was like, “I want to be a part of this.” I later became involved with a social justice theater ensemble that was working on creating shows centered about immigration, housing and other issues impacting folks in Chicago. From then on, I was able to use this lens to approach other work and get more involved in social justice campaigns.
How did you learn about City Bureau?
I learned about City Bureau through social media but also by seeing City Bureau in circles of people I trusted in Chicago that I deemed as organizers, community leaders and people doing work in their neighborhood or community that I admired. I kept hearing about the organization from different friends and eventually became interested in the work that City Bureau was publishing.
What is your relationship to Chicago’s BIPOC communities, or your specific community within Chicago?
I am very proud to be a daughter of Mexican immigrants living in Chicago. I like immersing myself in this bicultural, multicultural lens of being really rooted and proud of coming from here. I enjoy learning how to navigate systems in order to help other families navigate systems that they might not be familiar with. It can be helping a neighbor pick a highschool for their teen to help or even just helping neighbor with a quick task. That’s what I grew up with. That’s what I grew up around.
What do you feel like your responsibility is to your community?
I still live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in, very intentionally. I told myself, I want to continue here, and I want to live here. And I want to continue to be someone for my neighbors. I think every person in our neighborhood is a community asset and that every person has something that they have to offer.
As a child of immigrant parents, I think my responsibility is to be able to do things that my parents did not have the opportunity to do, like really immersing myself in joy and putting myself first. I also think part of my community responsibility is to be a resource and continue to help folks navigate things. I continue to think of ways to be a bridge builder. I don’t think it’s like, “I’m gonna save the community,” but more as a way to share resources. But, as a bridge builder, I’m not the only one with a community responsibility. Everyone in my community does.
What are you most excited about doing or experiencing or trying out in this role as Events and Outreach Coordinator at City Bureau?
I’m excited to create a caring space where folks feel like they have a space where they can make mistakes, try new things and always feel welcomed. I’m very eager to connect with folks, build a bridge and figure out what folks need . I’m always thinking about these questions: What can I do to make you feel comfortable in this space? What resources do you need to learn about these things that then allow you to advocate for yourself or your community? I’m really excited to create a space of care, excitement, learning and joy for others.
Is there a past event or project that you feel really proud of that aligns with your role in creating that welcoming space?
I’m a Teaching Artist for Free Street Theater where we build a show throughout the whole year. These shows center social justice issues that young people are being impacted by or interested in or have some sort of intersection. We just finished a show called 57 Blocks, which was an immersive show that took audience members through three different spaces to experience and get a sense of what the education systems are like for young people in Chicago. Audience members also learned about the education system through lenses of immigration, incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline.
As a teaching artist, I was excited to give young people the space and liberty to say the things they’ve been wanting to say to their school administration or other folks in power, and to validate their feelings or experiences. There is a lot that young people see but they don’t have the space to processto be like, “Yeah, this is actually fucked up.” They may think it’s just in their heads, that’s what I thought when I was growing up and going through CPS. It was important for these young people involved in 57 Blocks to have that experience to say, “This is what’s messed up, this is who we are, and we know a way to make this better—we know what we want for our future.”
What do you want folks to know about you?
I'm a hardcore [tele]novela lover. And like, I'm in my mid-20s, but for some reason, I feel like I'm a 50-year-old just waiting for the novela at the end of the night.
Also, I can always find ways to incorporate joy and humor into really tough situations. There’s a lot going on in the world half the time, and it feels surreal and impossible but I always think there’s something special about taking time to imagine what things can be. So, I feel like I’m someone that can help folks dream up what worlds can look like.
To connect with Marilyn, reach out at marilyn@citybureau.org.
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