Transcripts For DW DocFilm 20240713

Were praying for these a parents Worst Nightmare that they may live all over the coals of them to stick so clear in chicago it happens every day not. At all i believe sometime. Soon to float like the river a month of the deadliest cities in the us most victims are children who. Came close here dont want to help the city to the other. This man builds crosses for each use lost to the epidemic of Gang Violence here its almost can do to just stay alive we have 5 courses and we have to do things not to make it so 7 people close to 5 to a city of chicago. Clifton boonie mike founder is a loving grandfather back in the day he used to be a leading gang member he spent 27 years in jail for crimes ranging from assault to 1st degree murder after half a life behind bars others had filled his place and taken over the block once part of the problem moonie now spends his days as a gang intervention coordinator his porch is practically his Office Without him it would be too dangerous for us to film here. Is north already here his word carries weight it takes a courageous person. The stuff they speak to the kids they see a group of kids in the study now going through all misspeak it to deal walk around. And that make the difference to me and the average person because i go to class but try to make an honest living here it often takes holding down several underpaid jobs of wildes this man has been cleaning cars for 30 years 10 dollars each. But if youre looking for fast cash you sell drugs for the street gangs. As a hard job to convince them to stop selling drugs and they go get a legitimate job the only thing that can tell them that theres a lot of charm i get try to get them to see the long car its not as difficult. As to be the. Short life in the fast lane for most here thats all theyve ever know. Most of their fathers were absent in jail jarring their childhood their moms barely able to make ends meet. Growing up here often means falling for the wrong hero. It takes says several days on the streets before we meet gang members willing to talk to us. If you want to be a part is like you seen what were going to be hostile and we want to know is that is your choice going to be a part of so you see the reason that weve taken to you every reason that we take is to wait. A day to get a job if you mess around out here. You think you have the right im choosing to take the risk because of like face much like a car drives up they negotiate a price and hand over the drugs thats how it is here hustling instead of homework. What might look like just a couple of friends hanging out can quickly take a turn for the worse almost everyone here is armed. Jonathan started selling drugs at the age of 13 is to to tell the stories of friends he lost mike allen g. Who was killed in front of his school when he was just 16 like real good times this cargo was they paid. Something just doesnt mean if i. If i end up getting hurt i know my brother im a big brother no go get that for me. Its been a lot its been a lot of years going no one no the best the best rubber sock ever put to it. Me that the whole world will bless. But 57 mooney again watches over his streets but this time its different hes no angel but life has made him wiser he still does manage to get through to everyone i couldnt even imagine life without a gang bang bang a cool is the life that we chose at the end of day because we had no choice we were close enough feeling the love no matter who it is a what a phone a body had a choice and a life we got pushed to the point where we had no choice so we didnt even get out to do. And for many that means hanging around all day. Young people here have lost their faith in life having anything better to offer them the streets. In the gangs they trying to be the family they never had for a child but. This that would be like in his hometown this is lovely to just see elegant house for this to music only not going to be its not but so what we gained by with it we really have family over her like we all care for each other over the by we dont do we not we all do from under their belief is that theres some stuff they gave a we we did is we there nothing to do i never know what you see home. Hes the one who builds the crossroads for chicagos lost children greg zane asher is a retired carpenter each life taken he sets up another cross together they form a growing memorial on the west side. Greg himself suffered the tragic loss of 2 family members he knows what its like to have a loved one stone and from here. With this return to your. Brother making the crosses is also a way for greg to be able to work through his own trauma. My nicknames i believe you. Heard its hard in my shop i cry a lot my show. Is as. Ive i feel like im bad all these people because ive had that loss. And. It all seems like nobody was talk about it to them i do. Nobody wants to have a loss one noticed that my mother or that loved their game or like just say connor. She loved him to a certain point something where. There were. Once hes finished making a cross greg leaves it behind for the family of the deceased to take with them like tyrone blake sr. Even as a Police Officer he was unable to stop his own son from being drawn into the maelstrom of gang life and getting killed. They have no more as they have no you know. Its just hard to talk about is this. You know we garfield in life you. Know structure. They have no leadership so. The power not very strong. Tyrone blake. Junior did not live to see his 26th birthday. Paula points office fully rigged with on 10 i am radio scanners and monitors this is where he tracks Police Dispatches night by night listening in on police radio is not only legal in the us for the point its a crucial part of his work hes a freelance photojournalist who specialized in Police Operations the material he gathers he sells to local television stations for their crime related news. He has a range of contacts across the city he can send them to collect footage and he also hits the road himself every night. Just like it can be anywhere where people are shooting at each other you know i were. Asked for added protection. Some nights seems a little more dangerous than others some. But it certainly helps make me feel a little bit safer when were out there and the violence has ticked up in chicago so. Classy Downtown Chicago with its imposing skyline is world removed from the chicago lapointe work center he covers stories from the tougher side of town one that is really cool on camera hes been on the job for 20 years now and seldom sleeps more than 5 hours a day if that. Suits promise of. A cup of coffee sounds good. Local t. V. Stations pay between 150. 00 and 300. 00 for the footage he delivers although there are plenty of cases to cover poorly as hes known by police and gang members alike has to work hard for his money hes the citys Number One Police reporter and after all these years hes still passionate about his job. Here. Is that. If you have fear you cant you cant properly cover the city of chicago i dont know if you have fear its like if you were a war correspondent and you were assigned to afghanistan or iran this is the similar assignment at the end of the day every day someone is being shot at my life. So it is not much different than being a combat journalist that many times tonight is a quiet night and we already have several people shot. A quiet night in most cities around the world theres nobody shot but in chicago that is a couple of people shot. In his car the point has 7 scanners tuned in to all the different Emergency Services Radio Systems covering Emergency Services. 47 hes divorced with 2 grown up children of his own his son also works for him and like him is on the road night after night. Hallies 1st stop of the evening a woman on the man was shot and injured his movements are routine he wastes no time setting up his camera. The police have already roped off the area but even though theyve known fully for ages they make sure to keep him out a distance. Make sure i look good one officer calls out to him. Once the police have wrapped up wholly packs away his camera and continues on his journey the next crime scene is already waiting. For 53. As it gets warmer. Bullets d fly more violence as more the aggravation level is increased as you increase the temperatures people just get crazier and crazier. When the hottest summer days is when you get the most shootings because people are just. That the numbers in chicago have been really bad at the time that weve had weekends where we had 50 people shot a dozen killed and that happens more frequently than people might think and its unfortunate for pauli but night is far from over. A new day joins in chicagos west and south sides and reveals just how rundown these neighborhoods really are. People who grow up here a crammed into underfunded schools and have few offer to. It is for Career Development any welfare and Education Programs are quickly discontinued if they fail to deliver the expected results fast. Crumbling buildings toxic landscape its the exact opposite of the american dream. Unemployment is rife the middle class moved down years ago poverty here is selfperpetuating. Street work in bunia is one of the few people local youngsters respect hes disappointed with the meager funding being provided to tackle the overwhelming problems facing the community. Its worse than syria. And afghanistan every day its shootings and killings in this. And theres not a house that force that and because this weapon tree is so assessable now m. R. Community you can go get a god quicker than you can buy a bottle of juice. Chicago proud to be home to barack obama the countrys 1st africanamerican president and. Tourists flock to its magnificent glittering downtown area most children from the west side have never even had a glimpse of this picture perfect part of the city the gulf between black and white rich and poor is deeper here than in most other places in america one more reason why chicago is plagued by so much violence. Back on the west side boonie doesnt take his eyes off his granddaughter he couldnt see his own kids grow up he was in jail. On. The Street Corner where bernie buys treats for a little rain is known as the most dangerous in the area. And when temperatures rise so does the violence and with it the death toll on just 2 days in july and 2800 over 100 people were shot 15 fatally many victims were innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the gangs im up by but my mother got her i got blah blah blah blah blah blah blah bony meets bubba an old acquaintance from the neighborhood here every. One where do you care of misrule like that a go bob r r he seems intimidating at 1st but soon its clear he has Mental Health problems and needs help i was in the room now is he good she knows some good c. Good i have a very only home he. Is going to shoot. Luckily its just a colorful water pistol but. Knowing. Him as. Otherwise the guns people carry here a real loaded and lethal. But this is this is an issue and i could know the man he lives he says it made me feel good that he did drugs dont last as my so he met in the email and he out in the street just that all that normally a person he approached like that when he got physical the them up a holiday daily violence is the sad norm 3 blocks down theres been a real shooting only the shell casings remain strewn across the street as silent witnesses the victims 3 teenagers the shots were fired from a moving car in the afternoon just as school ended and the students were going up the stairs to my house and i heard kind side and i knew my kids would drop to the floor it was a very scary says hes always there with a board and a saturday night. Live a sad day kids got to stay in the house they can come outside and play as their benches away so. Its in a neighborhood that have no money now i would like to go somewhere where i have no money now. Some residents are paralyzed by fear for their childrens lives others have become numb to it whoever lives here has learned to survive. You stay aware but you dont feel scared oh you would never come out the house. Just around. This that this weekend this watch is so wow moves i mean my models always there are positive people stay for make it if people dont have nothing going on in my life i have nothing to live for. Just keep it moving i really dont try to associate with a lot of people our spouses streets where. We targeted or the state or so thats. Just going over well i wish there were a few it has this well its. Small memorials for the dead a constant reminder of the ever present danger in chicago theres a shooting every 4 hours every 19 hours a fatal while there are more guns and fewer Police Officers here than in most other u. S. Cities and the police have a long standing reputation for racism its an explosive mix of factors here a rapidly added god. I demand that a child. Thats a quick prayer before setting to work the police have asked boone and other social workers for their help the police still have boonie registered as a gang member and often treat him unfairly he says but here they work hand in hand the violence is too severe for anyone sign to solve on its own. Have. It on her right here in his exam. I think you want to give make an up about the great work you go all right leave it to the People Living in a trust the social workers more than they do the least. That we could go to my younger brothers got shot one supplied with 30 year old in a 68 you. Happen to know that we are here. To. Visit other younger people to put the. When young kids and teenagers die in the neighborhood people are more open to the message to me and his colleagues friends. They work for a Youth Development Organization Called bill which has been working to help at risk youngsters in chicago since 969. Me is part of a small team of experience thanks gang members street veterans he and his colleague carlos were both gang leaders in the past. In those days they could never have imagined working together with each other on the other side. Not how did he not im in town with your friends at least there are no big deal for next year and i was a different matter and all. When we knew we wouldnt we when it came together in our lives not actually we would have been a part of the problem you know with us it was your kids is the sound of station you know there has about that you wouldnt really know there were saw the individual family or the men and i look up to us to try to change their lives and give them jobs frankly yeah. Ive got a. Family i am from well i mean you know what get all the right but at the end of the day if the team meeting at the offices of bill mooney and his colleagues. Change ideas on how to get through to those they worry about most every day right. And carlos know all too well just how hard it can be to find a job after leaving jail. This is a given that ill go so i build as workers from all walks of life from College Graduates turn social workers to people Whose University was the street. Mooney has his very own method he approaches everyone in the community including its youngest residents and talks to them. So well with micah. That he was out so he didnt see it right. Its important that the kids trust him so that they can talk to him everyone here knows bernie and he knows this is the only way to reach some of them especially those who arent ready yet for the other activities and programs build office. The Organization Also offers discussion groups for juveniles with criminal records there not his strictly voluntarily attendance as one of their parole conditions carlos leads the group today theyre talking about their mothers this. Is no easy was 1st thing this. Is how so appreciate your mother every man knows who are some feign disinterest others shift on comfortably in their chance talking about their emotions is something theyve never really learnt to do we can we can help you guide you but you guys got to get worse you know what is it that you saw in the car last the former gang leader who spent 25 years in jail talked openly about his emotions and his mother she never failed to visit me she never filled the 2nd commissary of mine she never failed 70 pictures you know of family events she never killed children you know collect phone calls she was always. My home. 6 months into my big yeah they looked out after. It was gone my girlfriends. Go off. And thats the reality and thats why we do you know to give a respect to our moms you know to show that we care for you can have disagreements and she can be true but you guys know my. People lisa his openness gets the boys thinking shell find a way to make nice you know you know why she always put it. First so. This is my protect. You say because my mom was both my mother for. She told me even though she had a tough time raising me for both of us is to see always. An issue before you go for a while i mean now she just got out of prison last month. I have seen or felt like 234 years no she never taught delusions and taught this was all drugged up you know she was in the right my. Story is that they are reluctant to recall that many are reluctant to hear carlos does listen offers the boys options but hes well aware that ultimately they will have to fend for themselves back on the street. Sure. The only protection greg zaniest needs is a helmet he soles and hammers away so that others wont forget chicagos loss kids. Its a labor of love that requires him to work every single day. And weve got the worst kind of cancer or any country could ever have called gun violence and just get. It escalating nobody said. There is no cure for cancer what if there is no cure here i am going to be doing this like that you know and i cant keep. What is it. Its about a nation is walked away from god its about and im showing an act of congress you know im going there not those with a cross in the heart i got to get a hug thats my paycheck. 22 years ago greg found his father in law shot dead in front of him. Since that day hes not only been a carpenter but also a chronicler of those chicago has lost he researches their stories keeps lists and tries to push his own pain away just 2 months ago one of his daughters died suddenly of an overdose. Its difficult for him to talk about it. I guess a rude think its a to think that my daughter not me a list of all at work to do how are you both so i think this country will quickly go into hell. In the 10 years the last 10 years of it especially the last 2 years. Greg is inconsolable yet he tries to console others with his crosses. The boy with a gentle smile was tyree wise he lived to be 16. Even Young Children can fall victim to chicagos violence there to protect them a crossing guards from the safe passage program. These women in bright yellow vests patrol the streets to try to keep kids safe not from cars but from bullets. Theyre armed with nothing but walkie talkie to call the police. Violence on the way to school has dropped by one 3rd since they started. Still whoever grows up here could always be at the wrong place at the wrong time and get killed. Police departments like this one in district 7 in englewood are places that most residents associate with problems problems with the police. Randall lacey wants to change that everyone here knows her as miss rain will be a different 3. Talk to her daughter was stabbed to death she was left to raise her grandkids on her own 2 years ago one of them was also killing. Miss ray wanted to do her part to combat violence on the streets so she founded the chess club i. See i think your 1st mission in the monsoon rains kids meet at the Police Station to play chess against members of the community and Police Officers for years has. Introduced. The white sell out every time you stopped thinking about me this year is all the draggy bad rigney brother with great name on the rest of. The softer side you know the kind this side of the police. And the same thing goes for the Police Officers who also want the answers to sit down without you or do. You. Hear that youre too out with your life. Plus whoever is playing chess is not out on the street says miss wright she also thinks the playing chance teaches the kids to solve their problems with reason im not by pulling a gun and resorting to violence. Well my dad told me it says the right way to do it like so like if there was like blackie would tell us to go there do it as well wade. If theres something that in any way tells you to go that way or that i know i think that. The officers arent allowed to talk to journalists Chicagos Police have avoided any kind of coverage since the escalation and violence. In the rough and tough west side playing chess here is like an oasis of calm the kids say they feel safe even the youngest ones outside its a different story in time i prefer to think like they were there not to have this was true here it was the night we should be here now life he was like it now needs to be like the dissatisfied that we like have managed. In order to have. A lot of mothers in the neighborhood of lost children miss ray tells us they can all sympathize with one another they know how it feels. 8 theyre still shes determined not to let life get her down the phone for the sake of the children this is. My daughter in law who was killed this is not all of my to my grandson was murdered this is always do you know you have to say to you. We have to look at this so i can this they focus all right a lot last night like right here. Its night time and boom is it hung his eyes arent really following the t. V. Than theyre glued to his farm. Hes always on call in case one of the kids wants to reach him sometimes in the middle of the night. 27 years of jail couldnt break his spirit you married his wife patricia after he was released above the counts is a picture of his idols iraq and Michelle Obama Martin Luther King Bob Marley muhammad ali but africanamericans are far from being at the reins theyre still being systematically disadvantaged his work on the streets is also the fight for equal opportunities. This afraid of. The polies this good that you. That paris is scared of you and you get in no battle. And this is the most courageous generation of young black and brown people in this world is right here. So my thinking back in direct currents to a real fight a fight thats going to help us as a people. Just think of what could be accomplished bernie trying to keep his own son orlando out of the gang life but he was in jail when he finally got out orlando was already in the age of 17 sentenced to 55 years for. If theres one thing bernie regrets and its losing his son to the streets. In grew up and the camillas he did i was part of the destruction and of my reputation so although he grew up all his life was desolate boni thats the bony so yeah it means to put it with tech and. Thinking he was living up to my image so when he had a conflict and started resolve it. By that he resolved it in the way. It was obvious and that was to buy this and it cost him 55 years of his life. The street is open for business 247 cars drive on a dollar a drugs are exchanged and the conference off again maybe boonies trying to help these kids because his own son is so out of reach. Orlando now a grown man whos calling from prison. Hasnt seen him you know for 25 years as a former convict he isnt allowed to visit his son in prison but he has plans for orlando once he gets sacked. Well scott i want to get to you bad and you got the budget you got your projects you got the part of the storm just like me. But for now all he can do is watch from his front porch as the kids on the street make the same mistakes he did. Mistakes that rarely come with the 2nd child. Patrol cars Emergency Line show the way for pull of point hes reached his 2nd crime scene of the night. A few hours ago 2 young men in their early twentys was shot. Out of a moving car on a street full of traffic. That could easily have been more victims says paul an. Innocent people who just happened to be passing by. Which. There is no time of day in chicago when it doesnt happen like i said you know it really theres a shooting every 4 hours in chicago so you know its rare i dont know that weve got a day without a shooting for 2 years now i think its been 2 years of not a day without a shooting or 24 hour period without a shooting so you know again crime is down the homicides in shootings have have brought down about 25 percent but we still have 75 percent that is still happening so its going to take a little more work so i think if these priests are safer. Tonight is fairly quiet he says. 3 am fully has time to swing by his office here its safe to take off his bullet proof vest. In his very own headquarters pauli continues listening to the police radio and directing his staff hell remain alert and ready to return to the streets until morning. Hawley has lived with this inverted sched jewel for the past 20 years. And he still gets upset by the events he covers. The 14 year olds 13 year olds 12 year olds the reason why theyre brought into a gang life is because they cant get in trouble as an adult so theyre recruiting young kids into these gangs so they can commit the shootings and then they get out of the you know like a youth camp when theyre 18 years old so theyre not there at the spend the rest of their life in jail for killing someone so you find yourself we had one time we had a child who is 12 years old 12 and the gang was looking for him to kill him because he shot someone else it was one of the biggest stories we had in the beginning of my career was horrible to think that 1st of all that they recruited him years this child in the way they did and then they killed him which is why foley says he wont quit not tonight not any time soon. The same goes for bernie hes attending yet another funeral but here too he finds time to speak to troubled youngsters timeless in his efforts to get them back on track. He finds them and they find him a boonie his job and private life inseparable. The funeral parlor and grounds at least a gun free here the community can gather and mold in peace. But todays funeral is not for someone ripped far too soon from their beloved. The neighborhood has congregated today to say its final farewells to a man who lived to the ripe old age of 86 7. Not many has survived that long this is a community that has become tragically accustomed to burying their loved ones at an early age. Its awful when it really is it takes a lot. To see the agony and the pain. In young people at the end the other thing is a lot of the young people that are dying are leaving children behind which makes the situation even worse so its challenging it really is. A challenging situation that with circumstances like these seems insurmountable in theory the people born into these conditions have the same and equal rights as anyone else in the country but they certainly do not have the same opportunities and with next to no outside assistance or viable role models providing inspirational guidance the chances of breaking the vicious cycle of violence and poverty are sadly low. To some boonie is the turning point in their lives. Davey and his 18 and wants to be a nice to earn some extra money he works night shifts until 6 in the morning and then heads off to school. Money used to come easier when he was a drug runner on the corner. His mother couldnt support him and his siblings. He was just a teenager but he felt responsible to be the provider. Was the one who got him out of the gang. I was there. I looked in his as a not so me at that age and at that age when i met him i was already in the streets in prison i had been in jail for joy that my life was spent in jail and i didnt want to have to go to what i went through actually like a father to me that i know it because i never had the person but i always say oak was a relative that to me with dont do this i dont do it but they would never show me at the. Wait how to do it they would hear me what not to do how could i not do if you dont give me a different route to years of boony believing in him ok davey and the courage to turn his life around. Doesnt give up on anyone easily he wants to be their emergency exit to get them off the wrong track and convince them there is a better life waiting for them. Thats hard to believe when all you know are the few blocks around you and affluent Downtown Chicago remains a shimmering skyline on the horizon. I know now. That for now the writing today bernie is hosting a Family Reunion on his front porch a short reprieve in the rough neighborhood. Boonie is the patriarch of west gladys avenue lowkey persistent did not he out to get right davey and made it to the other side bernie and patricia have practically taken him in with the ever be equal opportunities for the children surviving in the shadows of chicago downs his granddaughter will ever get to see that day and yet he keeps on fighting every day for the kids here to come around hes always ready whenever they are. And you know thats a little bit with that you know when they when they get maybe 1 oclock in the morning you know come up with a bad boy can you take me in the morning the family or job could you take me in a more you put me in the program would you take me to more of families and school so they come there no prescribe time but that is so you just got to be to 0 when they come there might thank you as long as god keep up with me and keep me healthy enough to get up from point a to point b. I will be up for. As long as mooning waits for them on his porch the doors. Through a different life remains cracked open to. All of chicagos children who have lost their. Was. Selling sexism. Pink is for girls and blue is far industry makes lots of money with gender stereotypes. More and more women and men say that. Some business is now looking. Conformity. Made in germany find him in the double. D. Of france near antone you dear cissie him this is a tough business im sitting on the terrace in twilight its peaceful my 3 grandchildren sleep untroubled and started out i smile when i was 8 frances age germany was split in 2 and remain divided for decades and it was my given when your mother was born in 1969 the world was already 8 years old and you know my grandchildren were born after the wall fell born in a renewed 5 june of wonderful time a time of great joy. 3 generations of one family on a journey through recent german history. That handling it. The way our family and us starts november 6th on d w. Response