cut $200 million from the public school budget. this resulted in 1,400 staff layoffs. where were most of the layoffs? bridgeport? lincoln park? nope, the south side and west side where the black people live. that s like a really odd coincidence. why do black and brown parents, educators, students, why do we always have to fight so hard for what should be given to us? and we want to talk about violence in our communities, we have to talk about the support systems we have. teachers are our support systems. and that s what we re fighting for, and black lives matter chicago stands firmly on that. thank you. [ applause ] the thing i was interested in today, we re here to talk about the violence in chicago. parents connected the lack of schools and lack of school resources directly to the violence. that s right. i think that s something people don t really think about. they think violence is one thing, schools is another thing. that s the problem. people want to individualize it
die. they pave the way for us to do what we are doing in chicago. these men are real chicago legends and pioneers of the craft. thank y all for being here, man. we ain t that old. that conversation was great. and just when we were wrapping up, something happened that i never saw coming. before we leave, why don t we all pray, please. can we do that? if it s okay with you? our father which art in heaven. as we bow our heads in prayer, i can t help but reflect on everything i have seen and heard this week. despite the war zone reputation, chicago s violence is hardly a new phenomenon. whether you want to call it investments or reconciliation or reparations, it s clear that
his crew, the pirate gang here at dell gardens, one of the hottest pockets of violence on the south side of chicago. if you know me, you know i hate hot pockets. a week ago, two killers out here, two shootings. people die. it may look like it look now, but it ain t sweet. this is one of the most infamous projects. i feel like you just invoked the thunder. that force. [ laughter ] that was verification. no validation needed. blue checkmark, you got verified. nationally, when people talk about chicago now, it s like the most notorious city in the country. south side and west side gangs. do you think it s worse than people think or is it worse? worse. it ain t exaggerated. a lot of it don t make the news. we re in block 6. different blocks separate different branches of gangs. you might have the stones and vice lords in block 2, 3 and 1. the gds, some of the bds in
niece, my niece got caught up in that, this particular year. yes, ma am. going to school just to register the babies. she was shot in the head while she was walking and pushing her newborn in a stroller on friday. she died a short time later at the hospital. instead of saying, ma am, you know, get out of the way, get off the block, this and that, this is fixing to go down. you just shoot? you wonder, what were you thinking? these two offenders are the prime example of the challenge we face here in chicago with repeat gun offenders that don t care who they shoot, don t care whose life they take, and clearly, clearly don t feel the consequences of their actions. you know, your son is dwyane wade, and your niece s passing was used as a political tool by some people to talk about chicago. but not in a positive, healing way but to sort of use chicago as an example of a lawless place.
factions. for more on this, google the gulf war, iraq, al qaeda, and isis. i ll wait. people grandstanding, this is what we re going to do to fix chicago. get more police. really? y all been getting more police the last 40 years, dog. stop playing. that ain t the solution. it s not the number of police that solves the problem. there isn t a magic number, once we hit that number, all of a sudden suddenly the houses get nicer. the winter is only 50 degrees. forcefully, no. yeah. to get a better understanding of what life is like in these neighborhoods, malik has set up a meeting between me and current affiliated gang members. i m totally not scared. okay, i m a little scared. i just let some pee out. this is general, of course. nice to meet you, brother. the general is the leader of