Chicago Speaks May 10th 2026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
V one O three presents Chicago Speaks with your host
Darryl Dinard. This program is designed to address issues that
affect you. Your opinions matter, toll free at eight three
three five nine one V one O three. The views
and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the station,
it's management, sponsors, or iHeartMedia Ink.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello and welcome to Chicago Speaks, your communications conduit for
speaking to the issues impacting our community. I'm your host,
Darryl Dinard. It is Sunday, May tenth, twenty twenty six.
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and the
women who assume the role of mother in our lives.
We can look for a cool day to celebrate Mom.
Mostly sunny and cool with a high in the mid sixties,

(00:44):
but cooler by the lake, and currently it's forty three degrees.
We begin this morning learning about an expansion of healthcare
services for residents on Chicago's West Side. Next, we'll discuss
the economic impact following the ice and border patrol rate,
and then we'll learn about Northwestern University's prison education program.

(01:04):
That will be followed by your calls on the top
news stories of the week and our Reporters Roundtable, including
the details of the Chicago Reporters Justice Photojournalism Showcase, and
we'll close out our discussions telling you about the sole
children of Chicago's Think Big Conference. So, as is the
case every Sunday morning, there is a lot to speak

(01:25):
to and we begin with collaborating for better healthcare on
Chicago's West Side. The vibrancy of a community is often
determined by the physical and mental health of the residents
within that community. Today, we're going to tell you about
an organization that is dedicated to providing holistic healthcare to

(01:45):
residents on the West Side of Chicago. It's called PCC
Community Wellness Center. And joining us this morning is its
president and CEO, and that is Alyssa Schamyo. Alyssa, pleasure
to have you join us. How are you doing today.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
I'm dream so well, Daryl.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
Thank you so much for having me and having for
this opportunity to talk about PCC and our new site
coming to the West Side of Chicago.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
What exactly is PCC Community Wellness Center.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
PCC is a comprehensive healthcare organization serving every single resident,
regardless of ability to pay, regardless of background, regardless of
income across the West Side of Chicago and the suburbs.
We have primary health care, so doctors and physicians and
providers that are there to serve for medical needs. But

(02:36):
we're really more holistic than that. We also have integrated
mental health and behavioral health care, substance treatment, dental treatment,
labor and delivery for those people who are pregnant and
needing that. And so it's a comprehensive organization committed to
improving the health of the West Side for every single

(02:56):
person who needs it.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Talk about the disparities that exists. Let's say if somebody
were to travel just from the Gold Coast along the
Eisenhower Expressway to pass Loretto Hospital.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
You know, I'm so glad you asked about that. Is
it is one of the biggest tragedies in Chicago that
the zip code that you live in.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Determines how long you live. You know, coming from downtown out.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
To the west Side, you have gaps of more than
ten years of life expectancy, meaning if you live in
the West Side, that's a decade less of life. And
there are so many factors that contribute to that. Right,
that's a built environment, that's.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Access to good job so that's pollution.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
But a big part of that that we're committed to
is ensuring that everyone gets high quality healthcare right meeting
your needs and making sure that that real baseline of
health is taken care of because we know that every
person should have that same opportunity to live a healthy
and productive life.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Just how difficult is that in today's economic reality, with
the federal government slashing and dramatic ways resources like Medicaid.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
Yeah, it has been a difficult time in healthcare certainly.
You know, the majority of our patients qualify and have
Medicaid coverage for their health care needs. You know, these
are working parents, these are people with part time jobs,
These are older adults who need that extra support for that.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Health insurance coverage.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Medicaid broadly has shown to improve health comes out in communities.
And so as we look at this instability and really
uncertainty that's happening in the healthcare world, we're seeing it impact.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
The stress of families not sure if they're going.

Speaker 4 (04:44):
To continue to be able to see a doctor or
if something happens and they're in an emergency.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
And that's certainly a stress for me.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Right as the CEO of a large healthcare institution is
thinking about how do we keep our staff, how do
we make sure we can keep opening new sites?

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Do we make sure that we.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
Can continue to meet the needs of our population. Like
I said at the beginning, we're committed to being here
regardless of what you can afford. But that means we
need that support and stability to keep our doors open
and to keep operating and serving everyone within our community.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
N a difficult year.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
We can only hope that it will get better, but
it may get worse before it gets better. The reality
in terms of sustainability is that of collaboration, in terms
of partnering with other agencies, and you have a big
event coming up on May nineteenth in terms of your
unique collaboration with Collaborative Bridges, describe that for me.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
Absolutely, Collaborative Bridges is such an innovative new organization. It
is a coalition of healthcare partners who are absolutely committed
to transforming the outcomes of mental health.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Services across the West Side. Collaborative Bridges brings together.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
Hospitals, brings together healthcare providers, other agencies, mental health centers
to really think about what can we do to improve
the system of healthcare right and you all know you've
gone to the doctor, sometimes you've gotten a referral to somewhere.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
This place doesn't talk to this place. This team isn't
talking to this one. And so what.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
Collaborative Bridges is a is a new approach to healthcare
and mental health care that has us all talking together,
really wrapping around someone to make sure that we're all
working together for the benefit of an individual.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
And so as we think.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
About, especially on the West Side, people who have significant
mental health needs, what we are doing is we've opened
a brand new facility. Collaborative Bridges Wellness Center is a
fantastic new facility in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. We've
already had mental health services there, really specialized support, drop
in centers, job placement, but now PC and SEE Community

(07:01):
Wellness Center is coming in and opening a new medical
clinic within the building.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
And so you know, you can come.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
Into one stop to have your whole whole needs met.
You know, maybe someone you know in your family, you
know recently at a hospitalization because they were struggling with
that mental health coming right out of our local hospitals.
From Loretto, from Heart Grove, you can come to the
collaborative bridges center and get set up with a whole
set of needs. And so we're so excited to see

(07:31):
primary healthcare like PCC coming alongside of hospitals and mental
health providers in one stop. That makes it so much
more accessible and reduces barriers for residents of the West Side.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
And the wonderful thing is that it's located in such
a strategic area in terms of the section of the
West Side, because it's so easily accessible by either train
or by bus. In terms of its location at forty
two twenty one, What's Lake Street.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
You know, the choice of location is exactly that it's intentional.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
We know that when you.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
Are going through a medical crisis or a mental health crisis,
we need to make things as accessible as possible. Right,
You don't need one more difficult thing. And so as
we think about locations, we want to be in neighborhoods
that have been historically disinvested, right and when you look
at West Garfield Park, certainly there is not enough access
to healthcare and mental health care. And to find locations

(08:33):
that everyone can reach, whether you're driving, whether you're coming
on the train, you're exactly right finding accessible locations within
the neighborhood so that everyone has equal opportunity to get
the quality care they need.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
And we want people to come out and see this
fantastic grand opening that will happen on May nineteenth. I
think the process begins at eleven a m. And they
can find and did not only on a Collaborative Bridges website,
but also your website. Give us that information in terms
of your website.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, our website is PCC Wellness dot org.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
So that's PCC Wellness dot org. You can find out
all about our services across our.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Fourteen sites across the west side of the city and
all the way out to Melrose, Berwin, et cetera.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
But specifically about our.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Collaborative Bridges grand opening. Like you said, May nineteenth at
ten thirty. We encourage we encourage all residents of the
West Side who are looking for a space to call
a healthcare home to get their mental health needs met,
to really find somewhere that's going to respond.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
To you and provide care that understands who you are
and where you're coming from. That's what we're trying to do.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
So Pccwellness dot org and join us at the Collaborative
Bridges open house.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, we are the better because of that, and we
thank you so much, Melyssa for everything that you do.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Coming up next, we'll tell you about Northwestern University's prison
education program, offering new opportunities for those who are incarcerated.
Please stay with us.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Chicago Speaks with Daryl Donard. You can voice your opinion
right now, toll free at eight three three five nine
one v one oh three Live from the Northwestern Medicine
V one o three Studios.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
A better way to start to day.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now back to Chicago Speaks with Darryl Denard, Share what's
on your mind, toll free at eight three three five
nine one V one oh three.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Welcome back. It's Sunday, May tenth, and a chili start
to Mother's Day. You're listening to Chicago Speaks. So many
prisons are supposed to be where those who have committed
a crime are supposed to serve their debt to society
for that crime. Yet far too many times a debt
is paid with little reformation, thus creating recidivism. There is
a program to change the equation through education. Here's our

(11:00):
intern with Northwestern University, Evan Blake with more.

Speaker 6 (11:03):
Evan, this is Evan Blake reporting for Chicago Speaks in
Chicago Insight. The Northwestern Prison Education Program is bringing one
of the nation's best educations to incarcerated students across Illinois,
and now film is becoming a powerful vessel for their voices.
In just a couple of weeks, students explore different types
of storytelling, handling sound, camera, and directing themselves, sharing their

(11:26):
unique experiences. This is Evan Blake reporting.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
And thanks Evan and joining Evan a professor Jennifer Lackey
who is also the founding director of Northwestern Prison Education
Program is Clayton Brown. He is a film instructor at
Northwestern who is currently working on that project that is
including inmates to create short films. I guess I want
to begin first with you, Jennifer, and in terms of

(11:53):
what was the impetus for you to create the prison
Education program.

Speaker 7 (11:59):
I think that when the program launched in twenty eighteen,
one of the motivating factors was that post secondary educational
opportunities in the United States had really been gutted by
the Federal Crime Bill of nineteen ninety four, which eliminated pelgrants.

Speaker 5 (12:15):
For people who were incarcerated.

Speaker 7 (12:17):
There had been over three hundred prison education programs before.

Speaker 5 (12:23):
The Federal crime the impact of the Federal.

Speaker 7 (12:24):
Crime Bill, so after about a decade, that number dropped
to about ten.

Speaker 5 (12:30):
And so my.

Speaker 7 (12:32):
View was that institutions with significant resources like Northwestern had
an obligation to fill that gap that was left. And
there's also very powerful empirical data about the impact of
education incarceral spaces.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
Let's speak about that empirical data because I mentioned in
my introductory comments about recidivism. We have just a major
problem with recidivism, not only nationwide but here in Illinois.
As I said, people will serve their time, but yet
they end up coming right back to the institution that
incarcerated them.

Speaker 7 (13:09):
Yeah, so within five years of release from incarceration, I mean,
the national recidivism rates, you know, have about over seventy five.

Speaker 5 (13:17):
Percent of people returning to prison, seventy five percent within
five years of release.

Speaker 7 (13:22):
Now you know, of course many of the people who
return to prison, you know, it's it's simple parole violations,
but nonetheless it's we have we have a recidivism problem.
The data about prison education, the one thing that is
very consistent is the higher the degree, the lower the
recidivism rate, and so there are a lot of prison

(13:43):
education programs nationwide, but few of them offer degrees, and
even fewer offer bachelor's degrees.

Speaker 5 (13:49):
And so n PEP really.

Speaker 7 (13:51):
Stands out as being the only top ten university in
the United States that confers bachelor's degrees to incarcerated students.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
And also as one of a few of only ten.
So Northwestern is.

Speaker 7 (14:03):
The only top ten university, So it is only the
it's the only university, you know, within kind of a
select group of universities of course, that offers bachelor's degrees.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
And then even many of.

Speaker 7 (14:15):
The programs that have even many of the universities that
have prison education programs, they don't offer degrees, some of
don't even offer credits.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Now, was this primarily based on the evisceration of HELL funding.

Speaker 7 (14:27):
Well, I mean I think that there's there there was
a significant need and still is a significant need for
prison education programs post you know, kind of the elimination
of PAL funding, which has since been restored, but you know,
it's going to take a while to see the impact
of the restoration of the PEAL funding. But I think
also just recognizing that, you know, institutions like Northwestern that

(14:48):
we that have so many resources are uniquely positioned, I think,
to step in and do this work. There's also was
tremendous support across the institution. We have faculty teaching from
just about every school on campus.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Well kudos to Northwestern on that. But everything nowadays is
data driven. So what has been the result or the
impact on the positive side with regard to people who
go through IMPEC.

Speaker 7 (15:15):
So we've only had two cohorts of graduates and our
second one just graduated last week. So we are in
year three of a five year study and we are
measuring all sorts of impacts. So we believe, I think
that our study is going to be releive is going
to be rather unique in looking at features of present

(15:35):
education that other studies have not looked at. So we're
looking at things like how does prison education impact political
empowerment and not just voting post release, but political empowerment
even while incarcerated.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
How does it impact wellness?

Speaker 7 (15:47):
How does it impact relationships with community members back home children.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
So we're so, you know, we hope in five years that.

Speaker 7 (15:55):
We will have you know, pretty helpful data to court
present education with respect to recidivism rates. You know, we
have Obviously our rates are extremely low, but we also
have very small sample size because we have so few
graduates at this point still and few people who have
come home.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
First of all, heats off to you there and bringing
on Clayton Brown there. You're a film instructor at North
of Western. Tell me about this unique program that you
have with regard to film instruction, especially how do you
do it with people who are incarcerated.

Speaker 8 (16:27):
Yeah's it's a good question. It was an interesting challenge.
I'll just say that what I did was not necessarily
a program. It was just one of the classes offered
in this amazing inpet program. And so I knew that
I wanted to create a class. But as you mentioned,
there's some significant challenges because normally on the Evanston campus,

(16:50):
I teach with cameras and computers, and you know, students
are working with hands on with lighting and you know,
advanced software and that sort of thing, none of which
were available and incarceril setting and so and yet I
still wanted the students to be able to have that

(17:11):
incredible experience of writing something and at the end of
ten or twelve weeks having the chance to see what
they've written on screen.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
And so in a way they like scriptwriters well exactly,
but even.

Speaker 8 (17:29):
More than that, we you know, the students there. One
of the things I learned right away is they're incredibly creative.
Their writers, their poets, their artists. They write screenplays, they
write plays, they write essays, they do everything. And so
I quickly learned there was no need for me to

(17:49):
worry too much about the creativity. They had lots of
stories to tell, and they're experienced a lot of them
with how to tell stories. But there's a very specific
way that you have to tell a story to get
it on screen. There's a really intense skill set and
a very specific way of creating. And so what I

(18:12):
set out to do with this course was start at
the very beginning. You know, let's talk about what story is,
how do we tell stories, what are stories? How do
we create stories? And then let's start thinking about story structure.
So we went all the way back to Aristotle.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Breaking it down to its its common elements, and then
building upon that.

Speaker 8 (18:35):
Right, what is a story? But then there's a in filmmaking,
there's a three act structure, there's lots of structural components.
But then there are other people who kind of push
back against the three act structure, and so we we
wrestled with all of that. I gave them lots of
readings and they wrote lots of essays thinking about what
story is. And then we started working on the very

(18:58):
specific way that you write screen There's a specific screenplay format,
and I wanted them to know this is how the
industry does it. This is how you write screenplays.

Speaker 9 (19:06):
You know.

Speaker 8 (19:07):
There again we run into challenges right away. Not all
of them have access to a laptop, for example, so
sometimes you have to just write it out freehand. And
then once that happens, we looked at lots of examples
of all, right, you have a scene, how do you
translate that into a visual story? You have to think

(19:27):
about where do you put the camera, what's the framing size?

Speaker 9 (19:30):
Do you do? Close in?

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Narration?

Speaker 8 (19:32):
Is their narration? All kinds of different things. And this
was while they're writing and refining their stories. They had
lots of fascinating stories to tell, and we have a
very specific restriction. If we're going to film these, we
have to be in one room and we have to
use the actors that are around you in this class.

(19:53):
So think about your story that can use these actors
in this room. But this room can be whatever you want.
Maybe it's a waiting room at an airport. Maybe it's
a classroom, maybe it's a spaceport on mar you know,
it could be anything. And I also helped them think small,
because these have to be very short and very small stories,

(20:14):
with the idea that we have two weeks, and I
was able to, with Jennifer's help, allow the institution to
bring in two weeks. We have cameras and microphones, and
I also brought in a portable green screen.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
So that was the only problem. That just not to
think of Shakespeare's time where every all the males played
both genders. Yeah, there has to be a little bit
of that going on in terms of coming up with
this story ideas.

Speaker 8 (20:45):
And so by the end of the course, they had
two amazing days where I just kind of stood back.
I told them, he's you know, here's the process. You
say this, you say this, you do the camera and
they went, they did it. They shot films and then
a couple of them used the green screen. If you're
not familiar with that, it's you can remove the background

(21:06):
and replace it with whatever you want. So in one
of the cases, for example, there was a scene in
a courtroom and so one of them sat at a desk.
We put the green screen behind them and poof, Now
that is a judge, you know. And then with the
reverse shot is the character and behind him is an
empty courtroom. And so we were able to kind of

(21:26):
liberate their imagination in that way, and the stories the
films were just amazing. It was pretty incredible, Evan, I.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Know you have a question.

Speaker 6 (21:37):
Yeah, I mean I actually got to watch one of
those films in our editing class in the winter, and
it was really inspiring just about just what they thought
about and how they use their creativity to tell a
story of their experience while in incarceration. So this one's
for Jennifer. But I was wondering, mass and disproportionately affects

(22:02):
black and brown communities in Illinois. So how does n
PEP address that reality in a way that designs and
delivers its programs.

Speaker 10 (22:10):
Well, we believe that education is, honestly, I think, the
most powerful intervention in the criminal legal system, and so
I think that by virtue of the work that we do,
we are taking steps every day towards.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
Addressing mass incarceration head on. I mean Our.

Speaker 7 (22:32):
Students are shaping their communities, their families even while behind bars.
This is not just something where they're preparing to come home.

Speaker 5 (22:41):
They're doing this actively.

Speaker 7 (22:44):
You know, the data shows and we see it every
day that in education breaks into generational cycles of incarceration.
So we have parents who are now in college who
are inspiring their children to go to college, who are
inspiring their grandchildren to go to college. They do homework
together on the phone.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
We have so much mentoring going on inside.

Speaker 7 (23:09):
So when younger people come to prison, oftentimes it is
a very difficult transition, and our students are mentoring those
students and helping.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Them choose paths that will get them in the classroom.

Speaker 7 (23:20):
Our students who have come home have gone on to
be accepted to Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law. So one
of our graduates, who was originally sentenced to pretty much
die in prison as a sixteen year old, is now
completing his second year at Pritzker.

Speaker 5 (23:33):
Another one of our students was.

Speaker 7 (23:34):
Just accepted to three law schools and he's deciding which
one to go to in the fall.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
Another one of our students is a therapist.

Speaker 7 (23:41):
I mean, this is a student I can't even describe
the pride I feel for him. I mean, there were
so many times when he came home that were very,
very dark. And he's now mentor you know, he's now
providing therapy. Specifically, he works at an organization that provides
therapy for young black men.

Speaker 5 (24:00):
We see it every day. I mean, this is how
you you know, this is how.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
You change from the ground up.

Speaker 7 (24:08):
Yeah, one more of our students so I can kind
of just you know, you know, celebrate. One of our
students is the first formerly incarcerated person to win multiple
millions of dollars from the Illinois Housing Authority to provide
a re entry housing for people coming home.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
So I mean these are just I mean, this is
a community.

Speaker 7 (24:25):
That every day, this work is hard. Working in cursoral
spaces is hard. But every day I am so inspired
by the work that our students and graduates are doing.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
And rightfully so, because there is this adage that goes,
what a child sees is what they will be. And
for a child to see their loved one incarcerated and
then literally change like a butterfly, if you will to
understanding that hete because I made a mistake. You don't
have to make those same mistakes and that I am

(24:59):
going to prove that I'm realistic about this. I'm going
to prove that I'm truthful about this, and now it
changes the whole perspective of that child and also direction
of that family. So hats off to you there. I
want to go back to you, Clayton. In terms of
me being in a filmmaker myself. One thing that happened

(25:21):
so many times, especially for script writers, is that they
handed over to a director, and you know, with the
understanding that what they initially conceived on paper is totally
changed in the hands of a director or editor. How
do you deal with that?

Speaker 8 (25:38):
What ended up happening was not everybody who wrote their
script also directed it, so there was you know, film,
as you know, is a very collaborative art, and so
that was one of the things that we talked about
a lot. You write something and then someone else might

(26:00):
have a better perspective on how to translate that visually
to the screen. Sometimes the writers would would act in
the films, or sometimes they didn't want to act in
the film. So we had a really interesting and robust
kind of collaborative system where they got to work with
each other and decide would you like to edit mind?

(26:20):
Would you or not edit? Would you like to direct mine?
Can you act in mine? And can you run the
sound for mine? Can you do the camera? And so
they had these collaborations where you could just you could
feel the energy in the room where they were all
working towards the same things as you know as a filmmaker.

(26:42):
That shared vision and that level of collaboration is really powerful.
And we got to watch the films on the very
last day of class and it was it was really
amazing for them and for me to see the result
of this, you know, from this original idea all the

(27:02):
way through the collaborative process into the final product.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
So how many films were created?

Speaker 8 (27:10):
Seven in all?

Speaker 2 (27:11):
Six seven in all.

Speaker 8 (27:13):
Six were in the class. And then we had two students.
This sometimes happens, which is great. If a student is
released maybe part way through the quarter or maybe before
the quarter, they can still participate in the class through Zoom.
So we had two students on the outside in two
different states, and they collaborated to make a film through zoom.

(27:36):
They made kind of a zoom film, which is really fascinating.
But seven total.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Now, so many people's interests are peaked right now. So
is there an opportunity for them to see the work
of these new screenwriters and directors and editors.

Speaker 8 (27:50):
There is. I wish I could tell you the link.
We're still kind of working on since this has recently happened.
We're still working on getting them up so that the
publicans see them. But we are going to have a
public screening very soon at Northwestern, so we'll get that
information to you for sure.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Indeed, and Jennifer, what do you find most rewarding about
the work that you do with the Northwestern Prison Education
Program or project?

Speaker 5 (28:21):
This is an easy one. It's the community that's being built.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
College education.

Speaker 7 (28:26):
I mean, college classes are hard, and college classes while
you're incarcerated are even harder. And one of the things
that inspires me the most is going inside to some
of the darkest corners of America and seeing some of
the most beautiful light shining. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude every
day to work alongside our community. I mean, it's just

(28:50):
such a privilege.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah, it's like seeing new birth every day in a sense,
especially when you see things happen for the positive.

Speaker 8 (28:58):
One of the amazing things to piggyback on that is
These are some of the best students I've ever had,
because they're so deeply motivated and they engage with the
subject and with each other, and the energy in the
room is like nothing I really have experienced before. So

(29:21):
I agree that there are some really bright lights shining
in there.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
And finally, what is the best way for people to
find out more about the prison education program.

Speaker 9 (29:33):
We have a.

Speaker 7 (29:33):
Pretty extensive website, so if you just kind of go
to Northwestern University and.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Look for the Northwestern Prison Education Room, you can see.

Speaker 7 (29:40):
Profiles of our students, news, We'll have links to events.
We have community hours every other month that are open
to family members of our students, are released students, and
any other members of the community who want to come
and learn more about our work. We alternate between hosting
them at the law school at our Chicago campus and
here in Evanstone, and so there's all sorts of ways

(30:02):
of learning more and actually getting involved in our work.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
Well, we want to extend congratulations to you in the
program and all of its participants and the extraordinary work
and of including filmmaking, because there's nothing like giving voice
to those who can be considered the voiceless. I'm wanna
thank Clayton Brown, Jennifer Lackey as well as Evan Blake
for joining us this morning.

Speaker 8 (30:25):
Thank you, it's been pleasure.

Speaker 5 (30:26):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Coming up next, we'll take your calls on the top
news stories of the week, from the redistricting battles to
Chicago's plans for the summer. Call us right now with
your questions and comments at eight three three five nine
one v one oh three. Please stay with us.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Chicago Speaks with Darryl Dinard. You can voice your opinion
right now, all free at eight three three five nine
to one V one O three V one o three
presents Chicago Speaks with your host, Darryl Dinard. This program
is designed to address issues that are affect you.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Your opinions matter, toll.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
Free at eight three three five nine to one V
one oh three. The views and opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of the station, it's management, sponsors, or iHeartMedia.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
And welcome back time. Check for you. Right now, it
is six forty five and you are listening to Chicago Speaks.
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and the
women who serve as mothers, even though they may not
have had children. It is time for us to talk
about the top news stories of the week. And joining
us in our reporters round table this morning are Jamie

(31:34):
Nesbig Golden. She is the Bronzeville reporter for Block Club Chicago,
as well as award winning journalists and the president of
the Chicago chapter of the National Black Journalists Association Brandon Pope.
First of all, we're going to do ladies first today,
especially with this being Mother's Day, Jamie, and Happy Mother's Day.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
Two.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Thank You're very very welcome. Yeah, I'm going to tell
you none of us wouldn't would be year that were
for But as always, I want you to give your
perspective in terms of what are the top three stories
of the week that we really need to pay attention

(32:15):
to and that really are impacting our community.

Speaker 11 (32:19):
Well locally, that would the recent story that my colleague
Maxwell Evans and I worked on about the speed State
pushing to regulate motorized scooters. There have been three greats
related to East scooters in the last few months. Most
recently Southside Senior was billed riding a scooter in Bronze

(32:44):
Hill last month. So now the Ilinois believes is advancing
a bill to require licensing, registration, and insurance for motor
driven electric or gas power you know, motor cycles to
find this though, that can travel faster than twenty eight
miles per hour. And the bill also includes provisions to

(33:06):
ban lower speed e bikes and scooters from roads that
limit with steed limits succeeding thirty five miles per hour
and set an a swimm and four uh fifteen year
older for e bikes that can travel up to twenty
miles per hour and sixteen for e bykes that travel
up twenty eight miles per hour. So, according to bike advocates,

(33:29):
this is a clear or legal framework that could promote
the use of micro mobility and have real benefits for people.

Speaker 12 (33:36):
While keeping them safe.

Speaker 11 (33:39):
Nationally, I would say, of course, uh, the restere district
in various states faster the Supreme Court decision that essentially
kind of been voting rights. As we're seeing states like Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia,
we're seeing these legislatures, you know.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Virginia literally go against the will of the voters, which
is extraordinary.

Speaker 11 (34:04):
Yes, it's it's it's a very scary fight for me.
I'd have to say that said, I think we'll see
you know again. Like the Democratic you know, members are
fighting back as best they can, but I can't really

(34:25):
put into words how bad. But that's the thing we
should definitely be keeping an eye on.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
M You got one more?

Speaker 12 (34:37):
Oh shoot, well, I mean.

Speaker 11 (34:38):
I feel like that should count. Is I feel like
given you know.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
That that voters are experiencing in light of the redistricting
effort and the Supreme Court decision striking down a major
portion a major pillar of the Voting Rights Act. Okay,
And I really do like that piece in terms of
safety because these people are riding around on these cycles

(35:07):
and normally in years past you had to have a
license to go that fast, and I see no license
plates there, and nobody's insured.

Speaker 12 (35:19):
And we're getting hurt.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
Yeah, And they're getting hurt and they're causing accidents and
also being the victims of accidents, and who pays when
that happens, especially when people aren't insured. Brandon also, same
three stories for you in terms of things that we
need to pay attention to that has happened over the
last week.

Speaker 12 (35:44):
Yeah, I'd say the top stories locally would be Mayor
Johnson's tail, Mary efforts to try to keep the Bears
in Chicago. He had his third Springfield trip of his
time as mayor, and this time he came in with
a plan to try to block the Bear stadium deal
in Springfield. But so far, of course, you have.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Most sounds like Johnny Mathis singing.

Speaker 13 (36:08):
Too little, too little, too too much, too little, too
late exactly.

Speaker 12 (36:13):
Kevin Warren has already said that the team is not
considering any plans to stay in Chicago. Uh. They want
to go to Arlington Heights if they stayed in Illinois
at all. So far, lawmakers want a plan to take
up a Bear stadium bill this week. But that's one
big thing that happened there.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Uh.

Speaker 12 (36:31):
And Johnson also while on that visit, was lobbying with
other mayors to try to get Illinois lawmakers to increase
the share of income taxes that goes to local government.
So he had some other priorities there. He met with
Speaker Chris Welch and some others, so it seems to
be some linement going on with him in Springfield. Another

(36:52):
local story, Obama Center tickets went on sale and sold
out within hours for the first month it's going to
be opening on Juneteenth weekend, a huge thing on the
South side of Chicago. Uh, gonna be probably some some
pain points and the traffic and stuff like that for
a lot of people, but a big deal for the city,

(37:13):
both locally and around the country. And then a national
story I've been covered or following, is this sense of
virus what with this cruise ship So to this morning,
passengers on this cruise ship I begun to disembark in Spain. Currently,
the CDC says that the threat of this being a
global spread is low, but still, you know, uh, you

(37:37):
can't help but think about coronavirus and how that started, right,
and it's it's something that's got me on high alert
and a lot of people as well.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, and unfortunately, I think it's important that we followed
this science here. The transmission of the virus isn't easily
transmittable as COVID was from human and human And in fact,
when it comes to the hauntavirus, there's only really one
strain and it happened to be I believe, along the

(38:09):
pathway of the tourists or of the cruise ship that
actually had human to human spread other virus. And you know,
everybody's kind of like paranoid because we just experience a
major pandemic. But I just think that we have to
pay attention to the science here and listen to the experts.

(38:30):
This is a different kind of virus, and it's hopefully
being sequestered and really limited to those individuals that were
on this ship, and they're being quarantined as some I
believe fourteen Americans that are on their way to the
United States here and they're going to be quarantined until

(38:52):
I guess the period of infection is over. The other
thing I would agree with Jamie Nesbiggol then, in terms
of the Virginia Supreme Court striking down the state's redistricting map,
that is an incredible situation because now we're playing tit
for tat in terms of depriving people of representation. We

(39:18):
went to war two hundred and fifty years ago because
of taxation without representation. And when you look particularly at
these southern states, it is mind boggling in terms of
some of them have populations that actually is one third
in terms of black folks being the population, and yet

(39:40):
when it comes down to congressional representation, they barely hit
six or one seventh of the population. And people need
to be an uproar about this, and it's something like
it seems as though we're asleep at the wheel, and
then the other thing that I've been noticing go ahead, just.

Speaker 9 (40:04):
Back a little.

Speaker 11 (40:05):
I do think that people are waking up to this.
I think, of course, you know, like it's taken some time,
but I do believe that that, you know, they're a
pretty of folks that are pushing back. We're also seeing
a pushback when it comes to the built to the
construction of data centers across the country. People are surely,

(40:27):
you know, sort of finally realizing that these centers are
an environmental issue for them. So I think people are
resisting in different ways overall, is what I just wanted
to say.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Yeah, And usually when we talk about those data centers,
they tend to be in disenfranchised areas where you know,
you're not going to see them in places that have
high income levels. It's always in some neglected, many times
rural area where unfortunately many of the services that people

(41:03):
would like to have they don't have them there. And
this is considered to be a panacea in terms of, oh,
we're bringing in jobs, but it's relatively few jobs. All
it does is suck up a lot of energy and
also it's still you know, hasn't totally been vetted in
terms of some of the you know, negative impact of

(41:24):
having those humming. You know, Energy Center is just buzzing
around twenty four to seven and the final story and
Brandon and Jamie, you guys have your pulse on what's happening.
But I hate to say it, and you know, at
first I was going to think it was anecdotal, but

(41:44):
it's not anecdotal, but there is, Unfortunately, just by following
the news every day, there is a major rise guys
in terms of violent crime. And you know, that's an
unfortuate reality. I don't know, you know, in terms of
when you look at the numbers right now, they're up.

(42:08):
We've had historic lows. But unfortunately, what's happening now is
that the number of shootings and homicides recorded through the
first third of twenty twenty six are tracking above last
year's historic pace. Now so far, there were thirty two
homicides in April. That's a thirty nine percent increase over

(42:34):
the twenty three homicides that were recorded during the same
time last year. Data also shows that crime is up
from the one hundred and twenty that were recorded during
the same period in twenty twenty five. Shootings have also
increased this year, with one hundred and fifteen recorded last month.

(42:54):
That's up one hundred from one hundred and six in
terms of April twenty twenty five. And according to CPD,
one hundred and thirty nine people were shot in the
city last month, bringing the twenty twenty sixth total to
over five hundred. That's a nine percent increase. And I
say that because originally I was just feeling it anecdotally,

(43:16):
because I'm going to tell you something. I was quietly,
in a sense, just cheering on the fact that there
were certain weeks over the last year where we didn't
really report on people being killed. And now it know,
we had that familiar ring in terms of shootings and

(43:40):
unfortunately killings that are happening as a result of violence,
primarily gun violence. So I want to get the people's
take on this. We're going to go to the phone
lines right now here from Alfred Alfred, You're on Chicago Speaks.
You're comment to question this morning.

Speaker 9 (43:55):
Yeah, read this.

Speaker 14 (43:58):
Well linked to it is seventy two. The Democrats already
had control of a house in the in peace here,
don't they got I don't count no history in the
man seventy years. The Democratic Party controlled the House of
Representatives for forty eight years out of it, and the

(44:22):
Republican concode it for twenty two. Business business. Donald Trump
knows they.

Speaker 12 (44:28):
Gonna impeach him.

Speaker 14 (44:30):
He knows this, He know he dug in and the
Democrats is out to getting That's why this well.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
The impeachment. That the difficulty, as you know, the difficulty
with impeachment is that he's been impeached twice. But unfortunately,
in terms of the Senate, you need a two thirds majority,
and the senators have been unwilling. And the thing about it,
you talk about Nixon in terms of democratic control, there

(45:00):
were a lot of Republican colleagues that were already going
to vote in the Senate. If you really want to
tell history the right way, Nixon.

Speaker 13 (45:09):
Was able to read that, he was able to read
the tea leaves. He was able to read the tea
leaves and knew that he was getting ready to be
teached in the Senate, and that's why he died.

Speaker 11 (45:21):
Or construction of data centers across the country. People are surely,
you know, sort of finally realizing that these centers are
an environmental issue for them. So I think people are
resisting in different ways overall, is what I just wanted
to say.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Yeah, And usually when we talk about those data centers,
they tend to be in disenfranchised areas where you know,
you're not going to see them in places that have
high income levels. It's always in some neglected, many times
rural area where unfortunately many of the services that people

(46:03):
would like to have they don't have them there. And
this is considered to be a panacea in terms of, oh,
we're bringing in jobs, but it's relatively few jobs. All
it does is suck up a lot of energy. And
also it's still you know, hasn't totally been vetted in
terms of some of the you know, negative impact of

(46:25):
having those humming you know, energy center is just buzzing
around twenty four to seven and the final story and
Brandon and Jamie, you guys have your pulse on what's happening.
But I hate to say it, and you know, at
first I was going to think it was anecdotal, but

(46:45):
it's not anecdotal. But there is Unfortunately, just by following
the news every day, there is a major rise, guys
in terms of violent crime, and you know that unfortunate reality.
I don't know, you know, in terms of when you
look at the numbers right now, they're up. We've had

(47:09):
historic lows. But unfortunately, what's happening now is that the
number of shootings and homicides recorded through the first third
of twenty twenty six are tracking above last year's historic pace.
Now so far, there were thirty two homicides in April.

(47:31):
That's a thirty nine percent increase over the twenty three
homicides that were recorded during the same time last year.
Data also shows that crime is up from the one
hundred and twenty that were recorded during the same period
in twenty twenty five. Shootings have also increased this year,

(47:52):
with one hundred and fifteen recorded last month. That's up
one hundred from one hundred and six in terms of
April twenty twenty five, and according to CPD, one hundred
and thirty nine people were shot in the city last month,
bringing the twenty twenty sixth total to over five hundred.
That's a nine percent increase. And I say that because

(48:14):
originally I was just feeling it anecdotally. Because I'm going
to tell you something. I was quietly, in a sense,
just cheering on the fact that there were certain weeks
over the last year where we didn't really report on
people being killed. And now it know we had that

(48:37):
familiar ring in terms of shootings and unfortunately killings that
are happening as a result of violence, primarily gun violence.
So I want to get the people's take on this.
We're going to go to the phone lines right now
here from Alfred Alfred you're on Chicago Speaks. You'll comment
to question this morning.

Speaker 12 (48:56):
Yeah, read this.

Speaker 9 (49:00):
Too.

Speaker 14 (49:00):
It is seventy two. The Democrats already had control of
a house when they in peace here, don't they got that?

Speaker 11 (49:10):
Don't count no.

Speaker 14 (49:11):
History in the master seventy years. The Democratic Party controlled
the House of Representatives for forty eight years out of
it and the Republican Concode it for twenty two. Business business,
Donald Trump, No, they gonna impeach him. He knows this,

(49:31):
he know he dug in and the Democrats is out
to getting That's why this well.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
The impeachment that the difficulty, as you know, the difficulty
with impeachment is that he's been impeached twice. But unfortunately,
in terms of the Senate you need a two thirds majority,
and the senators have been unwilling. And the thing about it,
you talk about Nixon in terms of democratic control, there

(50:00):
were a lot of Republican colleagues that were already going
to vote in the Senate. If you really want to
tell history the right way, Nixon was able to read.
He was able to read the tea leaves. He was
able to read the tea leaves and knew that he
was getting ready to be impeached in the Senate. And
that's why he died.

Speaker 9 (50:22):
Or you.

Speaker 14 (50:24):
Didn't give me a change. I was coming that way.

Speaker 12 (50:27):
You didn't give me a change.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
Okay, Well it seems as though you were deferring to
you know, making these juxtapositions.

Speaker 14 (50:36):
Well, the Senate can flip, and the Democrats can control
in twenty six the House and the Senate.

Speaker 12 (50:44):
They can live.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
And I think they can, Alfred, I think they can.
But what what you know? And you know, Jamie and
Brandon will agree with me here. It's one thing to
flip a Senate, all right, and make that in democratic control.
But there's no way right now and correct me if
I'm wrong here, Brandon or Jamie, there's you know, I

(51:09):
can't say there's no way, because there's always a way.
But based on the current trends, let's say that Democrats
do flip control of the Senate. The Senate is in
play to be shifted from Republican to Democratic control, Alfred,
but it's not going to be by some ten to
twelve votes that would equal achieve majority.

Speaker 14 (51:34):
But hold on, Darrel. But if you put enough pressure undercome,
I believe J. D. Rams is coming in. I believe
I believe forty eight president, just like General Ford was
the vote forty eight President.

Speaker 9 (51:51):
I J. D.

Speaker 12 (51:53):
Rants is coming in well.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
And I like to give Brandon. I like to give
Brandon's thoughts on that only because the reality is this
is that there is a protective cover Brandon that exists
with regard to being in the presidency that has been
codified by the Supreme Court. And I don't see anybody

(52:17):
wanting to give up that political as well as prose
prosecutorial cover by resigning Brandon.

Speaker 12 (52:26):
Yeah, I don't see that happening either. I also don't
think there's two thirds of the notes in the Senate
to get an impeachment. But also another point, I don't
think President Trump fears impeachment because why would he. He's
been to teach twice afready and nothing's happened. So you know,
I don't think impeachment.

Speaker 14 (52:43):
Yeah, well he told it. But if you look at
that thirty seventh president that came out by the Chicago
when that Democratic Convention and fifty big years it did
the same thing. Not going to be in Pete and
day demand is coming in heat talking it's pain. Pain

(53:06):
that happened in fifty eight happened fifty six years later.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
London guy, all right, all right, Alfred, Alfred, okay, all right,
all right. There's some false equivalencies there, and I appreciate you,
and and it's wonderful to have this kind of discourse
because the numbers don't lie, even though the rhetoric may.
And what I mean by that is that we have

(53:31):
to be very, very circumspect in terms of how the
Senate operates. It's one thing to be impeached, but the
impeachment is just the charges. Then it goes through a
quasi jury in terms of the peers. The peers here
happen to be the Senate, and the Senate has to

(53:54):
vote with two thirds majority to go forth within teachment.
And it's just important that you know that we realized that.
And the thing that when I go back and I
talk about history, the thing is is that you had
a lot of senators Jamie that back when Nixon did

(54:15):
the egregious things that he did, that were on the
Republican side that said, no, we're not going to take this.
Nixon never would have resigned if he knew that he
had the numbers to stay in office. But he knew
he didn't have the numbers.

Speaker 11 (54:36):
And also, you had a Republican party, like we're better
or worse back then that had a better sense of
ethics and morality. And I mean, so we realize that
that we can't negotiate with folks who aren't aving in
good faith, and that sort of describes the GOP leadership

(55:01):
from top down. So that said, we have to figure
out a way to push back and yeah, you know people,
we can tell people to vote harder, we can do
all that, but again, the cutting of the VRA kind
of makes that impossible. So what do we do now?
How do we sort of you know, push back against
the tyranny? And I think folks are again are figuring

(55:22):
out ways of doing that as we speak.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Well, It's interesting because that the major blow here is
that according to the Virginia Supreme Court Brandon, they said,
oh well, this was done on a technicality that they
really didn't want to go against the will of the
people in terms of Virginia voters literally saying this is
what we want to do. And it just shows you that,

(55:49):
you know, when you have this trifle form of government
between the executive, the legislative, and also the judicial, that
you know they have to also sometimes operate in harmony.
And it's extraordinary when we look at history that we
had that happening. People don't realize that in terms of

(56:12):
the Supreme Court makeup, whether the Warrant or the Burger Court,
many of these were Republican appointees. They were considered conservative,
but when they got into office. And this is the
thing that I find mind boggling. You're in there for life,
So why is it that you worry about the political

(56:33):
machinations or adherence to some political person that brought you
into office, and just go with the truth and go
with what most people would believe to be the right
thing to do. That's the thing that you know, I
find because you look at some of the chief justices

(56:55):
they were they were appointed by Republicans, whether Nixon or Eisenhower,
and they did extraordinary things in terms of Brown versus
Board of Education. And the thing that I find disheartening here, Brandon,
is that so many times black folks bear the burden

(57:17):
of carrying the mantle. But yet all communities, minority communities
in particular, are able to benefit from these struggles. And
now that there's a new struggle, I don't hear people
speaking about it unfortunately from other communities.

Speaker 12 (57:36):
Brandon, Yeah, I think ultimately, you know, this is an
issue that comes down to how radically our political reality
has shifted. You kind of you mentioned how you know
it was a technicality where there used to be a
time where Republicans were across the aisle or a Republican

(57:58):
appointed justice didn't necessarily mean that the thing was going
to go one way or another. Now the court and
judicial system has been weaponized in a way where really
from both sides, where now it's it is tips to attack.
There is a bill that can be passed today from
Democrat John Austin of Georgia that would get rid of

(58:21):
jerry mandering and get rid of this all together for
both parties, right, and interesting hearing Republicans complain about it
when Democrats do it, Yet they will vote for this
bill that Democrats are putting forward, saying, hey, we don't
like doing it either, but it's got to get done.
So there used to be a time where bipartisan agreement
could happen, right, and something like this get passed by

(58:44):
people to cross the aisle. But now you literally.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
That's how the voting right was passed.

Speaker 12 (58:50):
Yeah, but now you have people that are they're not
voting for their people or the people in their district.
They're voting to appease one man in the oval office.
And you see the impact of that today. Even look
at the yearn war. The whole reason that's happening right
now is a lack of courage for those that have
been elected to office in Republican states.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
It's an abdication of responsibility because this war is already
over sixty days and Congress is supposed to extend it
or okay it and there has been no movement whatsoever
in that direction. Process a billion dollars a day. But

(59:31):
here is and this is the responsibility. We're going to
talk about this on the other side. Plus tell you
about the Chicago reporters justice photojournalism contests. We're going to
talk about that on the other side of the break.
But in terms of doing nothing about it, where is
the responsibility of individuals like you and Jamie and myself

(59:53):
to really make sure that we herald things that people
need to know about. I know it's not you know,
something that's always tasteful to do, and people you can
feel it. In terms of people just not wanting to
say anything, how do we get them to say something.
We're going to discuss that on the other side of
the break. Call us right now in terms of if

(01:00:15):
you feel that we're heading in the right direction at
eight three three five nine one V one O three,
please stay with us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Chicago Speaks with Darryl Dinard. You can voice your opinion
right now toll free at eight three three five nine
one V one O three. Now back to Chicago Speaks
with Daryl Denard. Share what's on your mind toll free
at eight three three five nine one V one oh three.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
And you have that number. It is eight three three
five nine one V one O three. Welcome back, everybody.
Happy Mother's Day, and the temperature is rising a little
bit at forty five degrees. Since nineteen seventy two, the
Chicago Reporter has documented the intersection between race and poverty.
This includes photojournalism. Now, the Chicago Reporter is launching its

(01:01:04):
inaugural Justice Photo Journalism Contest, which encourages photographers and journalists
across Chicago to share work that reflects the lived experiences
of our communities. Joining Jamie Nesbig Golden and Brandon Pope
and our reporters roundtable this morning to discuss the contest
as well as the mission of the Chicago Reporter is
Kenya Hatch. She is the development manager for the Chicago Reporter.

(01:01:28):
Can you welcome to the program?

Speaker 15 (01:01:32):
Hello, and good morning, and happy Mother's Day to all
of the mothers out there.

Speaker 16 (01:01:36):
Excited to be here.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
Indeed, and if you're a mother, happy Mother's Day to you.
The Chicago Reporter has been around for nearly what fifty
four years, and yes, tell us about its mission and
also this Justice Photojournalism Contest.

Speaker 16 (01:01:56):
Absolutely so.

Speaker 15 (01:01:57):
As you mentioned, the Chicago.

Speaker 16 (01:01:59):
Reporter, which in nineteen seventy.

Speaker 15 (01:02:01):
Two, so we have spent more than fifty years really
investigated issues in Chicago related to race and poverty, housing, education, policing,
and inequity, and so we were really created to examine
racial and economic injustices through investigative journalism and storytelling, and

(01:02:25):
so we've worked really hard to amplify these stories and
communities and this is something that should be talked about
more and celebrated, which is.

Speaker 16 (01:02:36):
You know why we are doing our inaugural.

Speaker 15 (01:02:39):
Justice Photojournalism showcase that includes a contest to that we
have had and launched, and our event will be on
May fourteenth. I will say in addition to that, Chicago itself,
as you guys know, has a deeply layered history when
it comes to you know, segregation and red lining and

(01:03:01):
school inequities and so much more. And so a lot
of these systems, a lot of the systems impacting the
community today are not happening accidentally.

Speaker 16 (01:03:12):
So it's important for us to.

Speaker 15 (01:03:14):
Consistently connect those dots. And that's what the Chicago Reporter
has been doing and that's what will continue to do.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
So what will people view in terms of this exhibition
that was the result of this contest?

Speaker 15 (01:03:31):
Yeah, absolutely, The event on May fourteenth is really more
than just a photography exhibition. It's really a celebration of
storytelling and justice and culture and community and so we
will feature power photojournalism from fifteen local photographers while also

(01:03:52):
honoring leaders throughout Chicago who have been creating meaningful impacts
in journalism, faith, in advocacy, education and community development. So
in terms of our honorees or in addition to the
fifteen photo journalists that we will feature work from, we

(01:04:13):
will be honoring Stephen Thurston the Second, who is from
Rainbow Push Coalition. He's a chief Impact officer and a
respected faith and civic leader. We will be honoring Marshall
Hatch Junior, who.

Speaker 16 (01:04:26):
Is the executive director of.

Speaker 15 (01:04:27):
The Maafa Redemption Project in Westcarfoeld Park and a longtime
advocate for economic justice. We're also honoring Aisha Jaiko, who
is founder and executive director of Westside United. And we're
honoring Attorney Kindrispearman, who is a respected legal professional and
committed to justice and advocacy in Chicago. We are honoring

(01:04:50):
Candice Chambers from the Chicago Sun Times, who's an accomplished
photo journalist and visual storyteller. Same as Alex Garcia, who's
an award winning visual journalist known for documenting powerful stories
about identity, immigration, labor, and culture. And then also Dante
Williams from NBC.

Speaker 16 (01:05:11):
Five who's a photo journalism with the station and has.

Speaker 15 (01:05:16):
Been using creative community voice for in terms of storytelling
to inspire and engage audiences throughout Chicago. So we are excited.
Our keynote is going to be Tonika Johnson, who is
a nationally recognized artist and photographer and activist. And our
haste is our hosts sorry, NMC is Nate Rogers from

(01:05:39):
Fox thirty two, who is a respected journalism journalist and
media personality as well.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
Now we want to tell people that this has taken
place May fourteenth, from six to eight pm at the
Beautiful Parkway Social Club right at forty five or forty
four fifty five South King Drive. Jamie, that's right in
your area of coverage there. Do you have a question
for Kenya, Well.

Speaker 11 (01:06:09):
I'm curious about how if you can sort of talk
about like the some of the conduction is that this
program has made with folks who typically you know, me
doing this kind of work.

Speaker 16 (01:06:29):
Some of the connections with I'm sorry, I can hear
your own question.

Speaker 11 (01:06:35):
Some of the conductions. How do you guys, connection with
the community when you're when you're doing this kind of
work or the important to build a community when you're
doing this work.

Speaker 15 (01:06:43):
Oh, absolutely, thank you for that question. So one of
the things that we've been able to do really successfully
within fifty years is actually make sure that we are
consistently including community into the stories that we cover, into
the storytelling that we do. And I will say, you

(01:07:06):
know why this work really matters, and it's about supporting.

Speaker 16 (01:07:12):
Journalism, and it really matters right now.

Speaker 15 (01:07:14):
I think one of the biggest reasons this event is
so important is, you know, it's about sustaining justice centered
storytelling at a time when journalism itself is under tremendous
pressure right financially, politically, and culturally. And we've been able
to help to use the voices of the people through

(01:07:37):
this work and this showcase and the work that we've
done through photo journalism is hoping to raise critical support
for not just us continuing to do this justice storytelling work,
but also across the city and across the country.

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
Right.

Speaker 16 (01:07:54):
And so this kind of journalism, as we know.

Speaker 15 (01:07:56):
Takes time, research, trust building, and community and agement, as
I talked about, And so as we're facing local journalism
is facing crises.

Speaker 16 (01:08:07):
You know, you know, we're watching the newspapers closed.

Speaker 15 (01:08:10):
We're watching communities become now experts on now what's called
news deserts, right, and so it's important that we continue
to increase and inform and incorporate.

Speaker 16 (01:08:26):
Communities so that we are.

Speaker 15 (01:08:28):
Not losing the trusted storytellers of what is actually happening
in our community.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
Brendan, I need you to speak about this because you
are the chapter president of one of the most august
tellers of truth in terms of journalism with regard to
the National Association of Black Journalists. But there are alarming
signs that are going on right now in terms of

(01:08:56):
just all our assault particularly against journalists as well as
established established institutions. You have the Atlantic magazine right now
where cash pttel is suing them for defamation off of

(01:09:17):
them exercising their First Amendment rights in terms of free
speech and storytelling. You also have the assaults on Jimmy Kimmel,
and recently, I guess it was ABC decided to kind
of sound the alarm and push back and say, hey,
you know, a free press is in jeopardy right here.

(01:09:38):
What would you encourage listeners to do with regard to
this assault on the Fourth Estate and freedom of the press.

Speaker 12 (01:09:49):
Yeah, i e. The key thing is to stay engaged,
to stay in the arena and not become apathetic to this.
It's not something that just impact the journalist overall. First
Amendment attacks impacts everybody. It impacts journalist's ability to inform
communities about what's going on in our in our cities,
in our neighborhoods, and in our country. And so that

(01:10:12):
access to information, the right to know, and the right
to have accountability and checks and balances from your government
and people in power is crucial to even how this
country operates and how we even exist within civic life.
And to lose that, we're actively losing that. We're in
a terrible shape. You look get the international press freedom

(01:10:33):
indexes and we keep scaling down. We used to be
a global leader when it comes to press freedom. That's
gone down significantly. And of course, one other angle to
this is the constriction of the industry overall, and when
it comes to layoffs of journalists, especially black journalists, people

(01:10:54):
of color who are journalists are facing the front of
these layoffs and cuts within these companies and it's impacting
community in the process.

Speaker 2 (01:11:02):
Well, it's that adage that goes last hired first fired
in terms of you know, black journalists, and I would
dare say that during the seventies through the nineties, proportionately speaking,
we probably had more black representation in media than we

(01:11:23):
currently do now.

Speaker 9 (01:11:27):
Yeah, I agree, you know, on a per scale.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
Yeah, you know, and I just want people go ahead.

Speaker 12 (01:11:36):
Brandon, Yeah, there's no doubt we have maybe more black
people in the game, but we also have more getting
cut and so you know, I don't have the latest numbers,
but uh that that tends the level off at some
point if we're making big games like we did during
Black Lives Matter in George Floyd and then we just
you know, erase them by it's extraordin deadicated to ratial

(01:12:01):
reporting and in teal black communities.

Speaker 11 (01:12:06):
The kind of specifics we're because again we're seeing like
this is all in the wake of the rolling back
of DEI initiatives. So you know, not that they really
have to comply, but some companies are all too willing
to do stuff. We're seeing the consequences of that.

Speaker 2 (01:12:24):
Yeah, I want you know, our listeners right now, if
you feel that trying to uphold freedom of the press
is important, I really want you to call me right
now at eight, three, three, five nine one V one
O three And can you just how important is freedom
of the press for the Chicago Reporter, because that really

(01:12:47):
was the whole purpose, I guess of your launching over
fifty years ago.

Speaker 15 (01:12:53):
Absolutely, you know, as what was just talked about, you
know what makes you know, publications and you know even
uh similar publications to us, to the Chicago Reporter. What
makes it so important, as we talked about, is that you.

Speaker 16 (01:13:12):
Know, one, we've never been afraid to tell the truth.

Speaker 15 (01:13:15):
About systems impacting black and brown communities. And what was
you know, what we've just talked about is when uh,
you know, funding is decreased in terms of this work,
or positions are decreased in terms of making sure that
black journalists are present and are telling these stories, you

(01:13:36):
are now decreasing again.

Speaker 16 (01:13:39):
The ability to tell the full truth of what's happening in.

Speaker 15 (01:13:42):
Terms of housing inequity, segregation, education disparities, you know, economic injustices,
all of these things that are happening, community disinvestment, all
of these important things and issues that are happening across
our countries.

Speaker 16 (01:13:59):
Especially in under served communities like Chicago.

Speaker 15 (01:14:02):
And so it's about elevating these stories and it's about
making sure they're not underreported and ignored. So this work matters,
and this is why we are prioritized this in our
work and in our stories, but then also in this
event that we're having on Thursday, May fourteenth.

Speaker 16 (01:14:19):
It matters. Storytelling matters, and so we want to make
sure that our voices are not silenced.

Speaker 2 (01:14:27):
And photography photojournalism has a yeserual impact for the viewer.
And I really mean that because when you look at
the Civil Rights movement, there are photographs that are emblematic
that tell the breadth and the depth of that movement.

(01:14:47):
You know, I think of when people when Martin and
all of the civil rights leaders were elbow to elbow
and they were crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge. That's, you know,
that's an image that just sticks in my mind. The
other one is in the later period of the Civil
rights movement, when a man was about to be impelled

(01:15:11):
in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. He was about to be impelled
by an American flag, and you can see him cowering
and trying to avoid being you know, literally impelled by
an American flag from people in Boston. And it's these
images that are so indicative and that are etched in
our mind. That shows the power of a picture is

(01:15:35):
you know, how do we continue that going on, especially
in the age of video.

Speaker 16 (01:15:42):
Yeah, I mean, like I just said, so much of what.

Speaker 15 (01:15:45):
We remember visually tamed through photographers. Like you mentioned the
civil rights movement, you know, pros test movements, community organizing police.

Speaker 2 (01:15:55):
The picture of you know that slave that had all
of the keyloids on his back from you know, being
whipped mm hmm, yeah, from the eighteen forties and fifties.

Speaker 7 (01:16:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:16:10):
Yeah, Absolutely, photography captures emotion, humanity and lived experiences in
a way that statistics can't do alone, right, And so yeah,
it's very important, very important.

Speaker 9 (01:16:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
Now, in terms of the exhibit, it's going to be
showcased on the fourteenth there. What is the best way
for people to go about purchasing tickets?

Speaker 16 (01:16:36):
Absolutely so everyone can visit our.

Speaker 15 (01:16:39):
Site which is www dot Chicago Reporter dot com and
there's information about the event and also how to purchase tickets.
And I will say, feel free to email me. We'd
love to have folks out from the NABJ.

Speaker 16 (01:16:56):
And other organizations of the Light.

Speaker 15 (01:17:00):
Feel free to each email me at kJ Hatch at
Chicago Reporter dot com, and I would love to have
as many supporters and folks in the room because this
needs to be talked about more, and we need to
support each other. We need to unify around this and
make sure that we are coming together to again make

(01:17:22):
sure that this work continues.

Speaker 2 (01:17:25):
You have two extraordinary young journalists in terms of Brandon
Pope and Jamie Nesbig Golden that are committed to telling
the truth regardless of the consequences. And you know it's yeah,
it requires the support of the public as we get

(01:17:46):
ready to close out here, Brandon and in terms of
I had somebody say this in terms of my circle
of conversations, and it was like, you know, what are
we doing?

Speaker 9 (01:17:58):
What are we doing?

Speaker 2 (01:17:59):
You know, we're where is the leadership in terms of
this assault on our democracy? And what is the answer
to that? You know, do we need somebody riding on
a horse? Do we need a singular voice to compel
people regardless of race, creed of color to join and say, hey,

(01:18:22):
you know, we believe in America, we hold these truths
to be self evident, that all men and women are
created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

Speaker 9 (01:18:36):
What do we do.

Speaker 2 (01:18:37):
Where do we go from here?

Speaker 12 (01:18:38):
Brandon, There's a constant debate about, you know, should philanthropy
be the vehicle that saves journalism or something on a
local level, you know, or should it be people who
are the corporate interest? Should we be dependent on backers
like a bezo something like that. Ultimately, I think it's

(01:19:00):
recognize that there are people right now doing the work,
whether it's NABJ chapter leaders around the country. I've been
meeting with leaders in d C, Baltimore, New York, LA,
all across the country on a coordinated response from our chapters,
especially the ones most impacted by Trump's attacks on the press,

(01:19:22):
training our journalists via via web and via live stream
on their first amendments in times of process. Absolutely, but
also in addition recognizing the work of orgs like Press
Forwards who are infusing our local news rooks with new
dollars in grants. We need people now individually to support financially,

(01:19:46):
support with their leadership and listenership and support and their
advocacy for journalism. It's really going to take all of
us to get behind this. So this is the biggest
sight of our lives when it comes to the first
Amendment journalism and our ability to have our information cover.

Speaker 2 (01:20:02):
And supporting organizations like Black Club Chicago. You know, there
are a lot of people I could I could choose
to have on but in terms of when you want
to get good journalistic reporting, in terms of the who, what, when,
where and why, and then also throw in there the

(01:20:23):
how this does so. Block Club Chicago does so at
a hyper local arena, and it's extraordinary what you learn,
and you know it needs your support. Well, it's the truth.
If you want to know what's happening on the north side,
if you want to know what's happening on the south side,

(01:20:44):
if you want to know what's happening on the southeast side,
that never It's like Chicago is one of the only
cities that I know that only has you know, three
three sections north, South, and West, when you never hear
anything about the east.

Speaker 11 (01:21:05):
But I mean even the East side gets covered over
a block cup. I will say, so we endeavored, yeah, yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (01:21:16):
Yeah, no.

Speaker 11 (01:21:16):
This is what we're here for. We're here to hold
power to account. We're also here to amplify the stories
of matter.

Speaker 2 (01:21:25):
And also other hyper local we lost I believe, correct
me if I'm wrong here Gang. In terms of what
was it the Austin Weekly when it's founder and publisher
died in the fire, I believe that that publication produced
its last publication. That's a major loss for the West

(01:21:48):
Side of Chicago. That's a major loss for the West
Side of Chicago. And fortunately there are other things I'm
glad to see. You know, I'm in High Park. The
Hyde Park Herald was able to receive a grant to
you know, keep it alive. Also, you have South Side Weekly.
You know, these are extraordinary publications that as well as

(01:22:12):
the Citizen and the Defender, we need to you know,
the citizen and the crusader, we need to you know,
support these organizations and the tribe exactly. So I want
to thank Jamie Nisby Golden as well as Brandon Pope
and Kenya Hats for joining us this morning. To the
mothers that are out there, Happy Mother's Day to everybody.

(01:22:35):
We are going to end on a high note, and
I'm not just talking about hitting the high seas in
terms of music, but we're going to talk to the
founder of the Sole Children of Chicago about their Think
Big conference. What Whitman joins us on the other side
of the break. Thank you Jamie, thank you Brandon, and

(01:22:56):
thank you Kenya so much for joining us. Please stay
with us.

Speaker 1 (01:23:02):
Chicago Speaks with Daryl Dinard. You can voice your opinion
right now, toll free at eight three three five nine
to one v one oh three. Now back to Chicago
Speaks with Daryl Denard, Share what's on your mind, toll
free at eight three three five nine one v one
oh three.

Speaker 2 (01:23:22):
It's hard to believe, but the Sole Children of Chicago
is celebrating its forty fifth year in existence now. During
that time, it has garnered international fame for its music
and mentorship. Joining us this morning to celebrate all things
related to the organization and some big things for the
future is Sole Children of Chicago founder and its CEO,

(01:23:47):
doctor Walt Whitman. Always a pleasure to have you join us.

Speaker 9 (01:23:51):
How it's a pleasure to be here with you, Doctor Dennard.

Speaker 2 (01:23:54):
You are correct there a right, I know, I know
I'm on the right pay right there. I just want
to take us back a little because you know, I've
known you for several years since the founding. Did you
really think in your wildest dreams that something you did
as a very young person would blossom into the force

(01:24:14):
that it is today.

Speaker 9 (01:24:16):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 17 (01:24:17):
I mean I had no idea because that was you know,
I was in a Catholic school system.

Speaker 9 (01:24:22):
They asked me to be.

Speaker 17 (01:24:23):
I was a music teacher, and so they asked me
to start a choir for the services. So my whole
thing was just you know, get the choir ready for
the you know, Catholic services that Saint John de la said,
I had no clue that I would be forty five
years later still with the kids somebody else's kids, and
so I wasn't into children's choirs. I was doing it
because I was a part of the school, not necessarily

(01:24:44):
because I said I want to start.

Speaker 9 (01:24:45):
At a children's choir.

Speaker 17 (01:24:46):
I said, God has a sense of humor, because you know,
I didn't like children's choirs, and so he has a
sense of humor.

Speaker 9 (01:24:52):
Because forty five years later.

Speaker 2 (01:24:54):
And you're doing an extraordinary job. What have you found
most challenging and rewarding during during this almost half century.

Speaker 17 (01:25:03):
Well, I mean to see kids to go from being
shy with drawn lacking of confidence to now building up
to becoming what I call that we were training up
the next generation of global leaders.

Speaker 9 (01:25:14):
But just to watch how the kids.

Speaker 17 (01:25:16):
Have developed and developed leaders. So now we've got kids
all the way from Chicago's leadership to the White House.
We've had well not in the present White House, but
in the in the White House, we've had kids that
was literally doing you know, Michelle Obama's hair. We have
kids that were that start their own businesses and they're
doing great things.

Speaker 9 (01:25:36):
Even now in.

Speaker 17 (01:25:37):
The city of Chicago, we've got people like Chris Harris,
you know those that know that he's he's doing a
lot in the city of Chicago, changing the Bronxville in
Bronsville area. That's he's from the Soul Children. He started
with the kids from the Sultilman as a child. We
got Juan Tigue who got one and only events and
they handled all of the outside events for the Democratic Convention.

Speaker 9 (01:25:58):
She's from the Sole Children. And then we got when you're.

Speaker 17 (01:26:00):
Talking about the artists that have come when you got
to David Hollisters, you got the Chemick Farlan's, You've got
you know a lot of different artists were in the
City of Chicago that are doing great, marvelous things and
around the country that have come from the Soul Children.
So in reference to generating or developing global leaders.

Speaker 9 (01:26:20):
That's where we we can. We got we got the receipts.

Speaker 2 (01:26:23):
I had mentioned about big things happening. Talk to me
about this extraordinary event that you're going to host called
the Think Big Conference.

Speaker 17 (01:26:33):
Well, I Think Big actually started from there was a
there was a project. There's a thing here that was
called Chicago Ideas Week, and that's kind of where I
got the idea from. I know Brad key Wells and
started that. And one of the things I loved what
it was was what it was, what it was all about.
We were performing on it. But I saw these speakers

(01:26:54):
coming in and out throughout the day all over the city.
And one of the things I saw, I said, we
are not weren't as present, and the kids, you know,
they were getting something. But I said, if we had
something of this nature that gives the information that inspires
and cause you to want to grow, I said, and
something that's geared for kids, that's kind of where I

(01:27:15):
got the idea from.

Speaker 9 (01:27:16):
And so Think Big.

Speaker 17 (01:27:18):
It's from a song that we have called Think Big.
I might as well think Big. I'll be small. We
sang it.

Speaker 9 (01:27:23):
That was the first one of the first songs.

Speaker 17 (01:27:25):
We recorded with this soul children, and so I named
it Think Big because I said, that's what we're talking about,
changing the internal thought process to say, Hey, you don't
have to live the way you're living. You don't have
to do exactly what you see everybody doing. You can
think bigger. You can be the next president. You can
be you know, the next CEO of your own company

(01:27:45):
can be. You could be a Darryl Dinard who got
his own shelf. You know, you could do all of
that because you've got.

Speaker 9 (01:27:50):
To see something in order to be something.

Speaker 17 (01:27:52):
You've got to be able to find people that can
give you the visual to be able to see what
you can accomplish.

Speaker 9 (01:27:59):
And that's kind of where we're with that whole thing.

Speaker 17 (01:28:01):
So that's why we're bringing entrepreneurs, people with finance in
the areas of finance, people in the areas of technology,
you know, and things that they can do now, things
that they don't have to feel like I got wait
for five years. Kids want them now because of social
media and with team takeovers going on, they're being influenced.
We just got to get them to think bigger than that.

Speaker 2 (01:28:21):
Now you have some extraordinary influencers that are going to
be appearing during the conference. Is it going to be
in person? I know it's taking place on May fifteenth
from nine to three. Is it going to be virtual
or is it going to be in person?

Speaker 9 (01:28:36):
It's in person.

Speaker 17 (01:28:37):
We're geared toward CPS schools and other schools in the
surrounding areas. We want to make it a educational day,
not a fun day. So a lot of times when
the kids are getting out of school, they're getting out.

Speaker 9 (01:28:49):
Of school to go have fun. I mean it is
going to be fun.

Speaker 2 (01:28:52):
Most likely community service day, if you will, in terms
of coming out learning about something that hopefully will inspire
you to be a leader in entertainment as well as
business or technology.

Speaker 17 (01:29:05):
Absolutely, and that's why we're bringing people like Avondale Singleton
who's dealing with Champs mentoring.

Speaker 9 (01:29:10):
We've got the corporate those that know Corporate.

Speaker 17 (01:29:13):
Corporate is a great influencer here in the city of Chicago,
along with Big twe they do a lot of things
on on TikTok and Instagram and all all of that,
and so they're they're the influencers, but they also have
a message because they're doing something and they're changing lives.
Then we got Larry Roberts who's got his own barber
college and building his own.

Speaker 9 (01:29:32):
His own building.

Speaker 17 (01:29:33):
He's one of the first black barber colleges being built
from the ground up. And he's been a great friend.
He's been with us through all three of them. I'm Ida,
which has got her own ice cream business. Those of
them have had artes in ice cream. She is going
to and then we're gonna have some ice cream, so
you not only go hear about her business, you're gonna
taste that business. So that's and then we got Zion

(01:29:55):
our lead young young entrepreneur or young young content creator,
so truly will be performing.

Speaker 2 (01:30:01):
You have Enoch Muhammad with Hip Hop Detox too.

Speaker 17 (01:30:04):
Yes, he's coming and he's going to detox the thought
process so you can be able to soar into your
destiny because you can't put old stuff new stuff on
our old mindset. So we're going to reconfigure the thought
process so that you can begin to start fresh. And
you know, we're going to hopefully have jobs available, have
opportunities available, so it's not necessarily you just come and

(01:30:24):
have people sitting up there talking to you all day.
It's very interactive, very gauging. Kids can ask questions. They
can take pictures and find out and network with other kids,
you know, schools and things like that.

Speaker 2 (01:30:37):
And lunch is going to be provided. It's only fifteen dollars.
Where is this going to take place.

Speaker 17 (01:30:42):
It's going to be held at the Freedom Center which
is on the West side, which is connected to the
Salvation Army. It's a state of the art facility, eight
twenty five North, Christiana. You can go to our website,
the Social and Chicago Think Big SEC or you just
call us seven seven three, eight eight one eighty one twenty.

(01:31:04):
You can do that, go to Instagram or Facebook. It'll
be posted on all of those different platforms.

Speaker 2 (01:31:10):
Sounds so very good. I just want to commend you
and also just say continue to do what you do
because we are blessed by it.

Speaker 9 (01:31:19):
Thank you.

Speaker 17 (01:31:20):
You know, I see what's happening now in our city,
really around the country. But in reference to the team takeover,
it is really really a challenge, you know, when you're
talking about how kids feeling. You know, we've been asking
the question of how do you deal with that? Because
city is really dealing with that. The nation is now
talking about its being global, you know, instead of them

(01:31:41):
looking at them as a positive just looking at them
as a negative. Yes, there's more to Chicago young African
American kids than you know going downtown destroying.

Speaker 9 (01:31:51):
There's kids who are doing great marvelous things.

Speaker 17 (01:31:53):
There's kids who have the opportunity to do some great
marvelous things. And if your kids, if your children are born,
they need to find come to a think big conference
so they can begin to be challenged in their thinking.

Speaker 9 (01:32:05):
So before we go into the summer, you're not just
going in.

Speaker 17 (01:32:08):
There with a blank mind and just whatever whatever, But
we're going to challenge your think and challenge your subconscious
to help you begin to find that space that.

Speaker 9 (01:32:16):
You can be able to.

Speaker 17 (01:32:17):
First of all, be successful, make your money, become something else.
You don't need to be hanging out on the street,
like build your business instead of jumping on somebody for
some gym shoes, own your own Jimshue company.

Speaker 9 (01:32:27):
How about that.

Speaker 2 (01:32:28):
Instead of being a consumer, become a creator.

Speaker 17 (01:32:30):
Absolutely, And that's one of the reasons why we're doing
the content creators because they're making so much You can
make so much money by just creating content. So some
of that destructive behavior become productive behavior.

Speaker 2 (01:32:43):
Doctor Walt Woodman, nothing but the best for you.

Speaker 17 (01:32:46):
Ran blessings and I thank you so much for having
me on.

Speaker 9 (01:32:49):
And I pray now that everybody that has.

Speaker 17 (01:32:52):
Seen this Old Children, we're celebrating forty five years I've
been doing this, drug free, gang free, academically inclined. We've
got new music out, We've got a new podcast out.
There's a thing called Sunday School that's out on the
podcast and it's got it generated like three million views
in the first month.

Speaker 9 (01:33:10):
And this is that third vision.

Speaker 17 (01:33:12):
We're working with Serve the Baptists and Megan Fipists, who
is the first African American puppeteer on Sesame Street. So
when you think of sold Children, you see soul Children
in various arenas where we just go from. You know,
we can go in a corporate arena, we can go
church arena, we can go educational arena, we can do
we can go in whatever direction because of the versatility

(01:33:35):
of the choir.

Speaker 2 (01:33:36):
And for more information, all you have to do is
visit Sold Children Chicago dot org.

Speaker 9 (01:33:41):
Thanks to my best friend doctor Derek Dena.

Speaker 2 (01:33:44):
Well, that wraps up this edition of Chicago Speaks. As always,
I want to thank my guests. Well, most importantly you
the listeners and callers into this program now. If you
desire news on a twenty four to seven basis, it's
always available with our sister station at the Black Information
Network at AM six forty right now, and get ready
to get your praise on What's Onya Blakey. I'm Daryl Denart.
We'll see you back here next Sunday, beginning at six

(01:34:06):
am for another edition of Chicago Speaks. Please be sure
to take care of yourself and Happy Mother's Day.