IT STILL MAY BE AVAILABLE TO CEN GOVERNMENT ACTIONS.

>> WHAT CAN BE SOME OF THE BENE.

THE BENEFITS.

>> EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, YOU ARE ARE ENCOURAGED TO CHECK A BACKG.

A BACKGROUND.

IT CAN CAUSE A PROBLEM WITH HOUSING AS WELL TO TO AXIS BENEFITS.

RESOURCES TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND THINGS OF OF THAT NATURE.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT AREA TO OVERCOME IS SOMETIMES THE EMOTIONAL BARRIER.

EMOTIONAL BARRIER.

THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED AND FEEL LIKE THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING.

THEY OFTEN DON'T EVEN TRY TO DO DO SOME THINGS.

>> THIS WEEK WE REPORTED THE CLEMENCY PROCESS CAN BE LONG AND SOMETIMES KIND OF DARK.

YOU DARK.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR CHANCES ARE UNTIL THE DECISION IS MADE.

YOU JUST MENTIONED OUT OUT OF THE 3100 CASES RECURRED, RECURRED, 10% WERE GRANTED.

HOW GRANTED.

HOW REALISTIC IS OBTAINING CLEMENCY FOR PEOPLE STILL INCARCERATED?

>> IT IS CHALLENGING.

IF YOU CONSIDER THE NUMBERS OF WHO IS IN PRISON, APPROXIMATELY 71,000 71,000 IN ILLINOIS, ABOUT 41,000 IN STATE PRISONS.

OF THAT POPULATION, ABOUT 10,000 ARE SERVING SENTENCES THAT ARE IN EXCESS OF 20 YEARS.

AND 64% OF THAT POPULATION ARE FOLKS WHO ARE BLACK.

SO IT REALLY IS ONE OF THE ONLY REMEDIES ONCE YOU EXHAUSTED YOUR PILLS AND HAE BEEN DENIED CLEMENCY RELEASE.

THAT IS ONE OF THE REMAINING MECHANISMS FOR REVIEW.

BUT IT IS A LONG PROCESS.

>> BASED ON WHAT WE JUST HEARD, , IS THERE MORE OF THE KATE SHOULD, OR COULD, BE DOING TO PROVIDE OPTIONS FOR RELIEF?

>> YOU TALK ABOUT PEOPLE STILL IN PRISON?

>> PEOPLE WHO HAVE FINISHED THEIR SENTENCES.

BUT I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN PUSH BACK AGAINST THE THREE YEAR WAITING PERIOD.

WHEN I FIRST STARTED THIS WORK IN 2009 -- IT IS HARD HARD TO SAY IF THERE IS ROOM TO TO MAKE THAT TYPE OF CHANGE.

WHAT I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE SEE IS MORE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN PRISON.

WE USED TO HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES.

AND THEN WE WE STARTED CUTTING BACK SUNDAY.

SUNDAY.

A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SITTING IN PRISON WHO WE KNOW ARE GOING TO COME OUT AT SOME TIME.

THEY ARE SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING.

AND MANY OF THEM THEM WOULD LIKE TO LEARN A SKILL OR TRADE OR GET A DEGREE.

DEGREE.

THEY WOULD BE MUCH MORE MORE SUCCESSFUL WHEN THEY GOT OT IF THEY HAVE THOSE THINGS.

>> WHAT IS THE ADVICE TO FOLKS WHO COME HOME WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS, WHERE SHOULD THEY GET STARTED?

>> IF THEY DON'T HAVE A SKILL THAT IS MARKETABLE, THEY NEED TO FIND ONE.

THERE AREN'T ENOUGH JANITORIAL POSITIONS TO HIRE EVERYONE WHO THINKS THAT IS THE ONLY JOB THEY CAN FIND.

>> A LOT OF WORK FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE.

WE THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>> THANK YOU.

>> THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, OF OCTOBER, A SERIES OF EVENTS CALLED JOURNEY CHICAGO ARE TAKING PLACE A CULTURAL HERITAGE CENTERS ACROSS THE CITY AND SUBURBS.

THE HAITIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM OF CHICAGO IS ONE OF THE IS ONE OF THE COLLABORATORS.

AN AN UPCOMING TRAVELING EXHIBIT IS KICKING OFF IN NORTH LAWNDAL.

NORTH LAWNDALE.

IT WILL BE A CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE THROUGH MUSIC, ART, ART, AND FOOD.

>> THE TRAVELING EXHIBITION THAT WE BRING TO DIFFERENT COMMS DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, THE ONE WE ARE DOING HERE ON OCTOBER 16 IS IN NORTH LAWNDALE .

IT IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NORTH LE NORTH LAWNDALE CROSSING BORDERS BORDERS MUSIC AS WELL AS A PART PART OF THE CHICAGO CULTURAL ALE CULTURAL ALLIANCE JOURNEY CHICAGO INITIATIVE.

ALL THE EXHIBITS ARE LEANED UP AGAINST TREES.

THE REASON IS BECAUSE TREES ARE SUPER IMPORTANT IN HAITIAN CULTURE, SPECIFICALLY IN VOODOO, THEIR RELIGION, AS A A MEETING SPLIT BASE AND A PLACE TO COME TOGETHER.

SO WE WANTED TO REPLICATE THAT IN OUR.

OUR EXHIBITION.

WE HAVE SOME HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS, AS WELL AS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS, THAT MAKE DIFFT EXHIBITS THAT GO AGAINST THE TR, TALK ABOUT WHO THEY ARE, TALK ABOUT DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY, TALK ABOUT RESS THEY OFFER, AND REALLY BRING TOR THAT SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY.

WE'REG TO HAVE LOTS OF FOOD.

THERE WILL BE MUSIC.

LOTS OF REALLY COOL, G INFLATABLE FOR THE KIDS.

CHICAGO WAS FOUNDED BY A HAITIAN MAN.

PART OF DIFFERENT COALITIONS THAT HAVE HELPED PUSH DIFFERENT WAYS TO UPLIFT BLACK AND BROWN HISTORY AND COM.

AND COMMUNITIES.

AND HOW THE WORLD AND NATION IS RIGHT NOW, SO MANY EXPERIENCES NEED TO BE SHARED.

SO MANY VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD.

IT IS AMAZING.

I'M SO SO GLAD WE ARE IMPACTING LOTS OF COMMUNITIES THAT NEED ART AND CULTURE IN THEIR SPACE.

>> WE WALK STEPS OFF ON THE BOUD GREEN AT DOUGLAS BOULEVARD AND CENTRAL PARK AVENUE NEXT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16.

YOU WILL FID MORE ON THAT ON OUR WEBSITE.

> >> MORE THAN A CENTURY LATER, ES LEADING TO THE KILLING OF 17-YEAR-OLD EUGENE WILLIAMS AT A SEGREGATED LAKE MICHIGAN BEACH IN THE SUMMER OF 1919 AND AND THE DAYS OF TRAGEDY AND VIOE THAT FOLLOWED STILL ECHO IN CHICAGO.

IN A NEW PRODUCTION ABOUT THOSE TERRIBLE DAYS, THE STEPPENWOLF FOR YOUNG ADULTS PRM EXPLORES THE LEGACY.

JOINING US US NOW TO TALK ABOUT THAT IS THE PLAYWRIGHT, JANE NICOLE BRO.

NICOLE BROOKS.

WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING HAVING ME.

>> THE PLAY WAS BASED ON A BOOK BOOK OF POEMS ABOUT THE EVENTS OF 1919.

REMIND US WHAT HAPPENED.

>> IN 1919, THERE WAS AN UNLAWFUL KILLING OF A YOUNG MAN MAN NAMED EUGENE WILLIAMS, WHO WAS WITH HIS FRIENDS AND CROSSED AN OFFICIAL RACIAL BARRIER.

IN OTHER WORDS, HE AND AND HIS FRIENDS WERE SWIMMING AND DRIFTED INTO WHAT WAS CONSID THE WHITE WATERS.

EUGENE WILLIAS EUGENE WILLIAMS WAS, UNFORTUNATELY, MURDERED.

THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE.

HE WAS STONED AND EVENTUALLY DROWNED P. DROWNED PROCK.

THAT KICKED OFF WEEKS AND WEEKS OF A PRETTY TERRIBLE RACE RIGHT.

>> HOW DO YOU TURN A BOOK OF POETRY INTO A STAGE PRODUCTION?

>> VERY CAREFULLY.

[ LAUGHTER ] I AM A LONG-TIME FAN OF EVE VIEWING.

I FIND HER WORK TO BE .

BE VISCERAL.

WE HAVE A LOT IN C, EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T CONSIDER MF TO BE A POET.

POETRY CAN BE VERY RADICAL.

IT GIVES YOU THE FREEDOM TO READ THE WORDS THAT EVE EWING HAS WRITTEN, DIGEST, D PUSH AWAY FROM IT AND SEE WHAT IS LEFT.

IT IS FROM THAT THAT I WAS ABLE TO CREATE THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE STAGEPLAY OF OF 1990.

>> CHICAGO IS A CITY FULL OF POETS AND HISTORY WITH POETRY.

WAS THAT INTIMIDATING AT ALL?

>> I WAS NOT WORRIED AT ALL ABOT ANY OF IT.

OF COURSE, IT WAS TERRIFYING.

[ LAUGHTER ] LET ME ME PLEASE THE ANCESTORS AND ALL ALL THE GREAT POETS HERE.

I THINK I HAD TO TAKE A DEEP BREAH DEEP BREATH, AND BECAUSE I AM BORN AND RAISED HERE, MY VOICE BELONGS TOO.

ONCE YOU SEE THE POINT OF VIEW IS REALLY QUITE CLEAR FROM JUST ABOUT ANYONE WHO DECIDES TO TACKLE IT, THEN YOU LET GO OF THE INTIMIDATION.

INTIMIDATION.

ALSO, WHEN YOU'RE YOU'RE MAKING A PLAY, YOU ARE NOT DOING IT BY YOURSELF.

THERE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE.

YOU NEVER DO IT ALONE.

YOU DO IT WITH A TEAM OF PEOPLE.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE DID.

>> WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT TO SEE.

IS THIS A RETELLING OF EVES OF EVENTS?

WHEN TAKING POETRY ON THE STAGE, I'M KIND OF CURIOUS HOW THAT WILL WORK.

>> THERE IS A STRUCTURE, EVEN THOUGH THE PLAY IS BASED ON A BOOK OF POETRY.

THERE ARE CHARAS ARE CHARACTERS.

THE CENTRAL CHARACTER IS A WRITER WHO IS RESEARCHING SOMETHING ELSE AND COMES ACROSS THIS INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 1919 AT THE LAKEFRONT.

AND SO FROM THER, FROM THERE, THE CHARACTERS DELVE INTO ALL OF THIS.

SO IT IS A MEMORY PLAY.

IT IS ALSO A PLAY THAT EXPLORES WHAT IF.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF EUGENE WILLIAMS HAD NOT ENTEREDE SO CALLED WHITE WATERS.

WHAT IF IF EMMETT TILL DID NOT GO DOWN SOUTH ON HIS TRIP.

IT EXPLORES SO MANY THINGS AND COMES FROM A A DIVERSITY OF VOICES FROM BACK BACK THEN, AS WELL AS TODAY.

>> YOU DESCRIBED THIS AS A VERY A VERY PHYSICAL PLAY.

WHAT DOES DOES THAT MEAN?

>> MOST OF THE PLAYS I HAVE WRITTEN INCLUDE PHYSICALITY.

I'M DEEPLY INFLUENCED BY DANCE.I AM A FORMER DANCER.

AS AN ACTOR, CLOWNING HAS ALSO BEEN VERY IMPT IN MY STUDIES.

ALL OF IT GOES IO GOES INTO THE STORY.

I THINK IT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE, NOT ONLY CREATE IMAGES WITH WORDS, BUT WE ALSO DO SOMETHING THAT IS VISUAL.

SO THAT IT HOW IT FIS IN THERE.

THERE IS LOTS OF MOVEMENT.

>> SOUNDS LIKE IN SOME WAYS THE THE PLAY IS A REFLECTION OF YOU.

>> YES.

IT IS.

I THINK THAT COMES OUT OF GROWING UP HERE IN.

IN CHICAGO.

AS MIDWESTERNERS, WE LIKE TO THINK THAT WE CAN RUN AND JUMP AND GET THROUGH AN.

IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE SNOW WE DEAL WITH.

[ LAUGHTER ] IT CERTAINLY GOES INTO THIS PR.

I AM REALLY EXCITED FOR THE WORLD TO SEE HOW THIS CAST AND ENSEMBLE DOES JUST THAT.

>> WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT 1919.

IN 2019, A LOT OF CHICAGOANS LEARNED ABOUT THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

DO YOU THINK THERE HAS BEEN A RETHINKING OF HOW THE EVENTS HAPPENED HERE?

>> I WOULD LIKE TO THINK SO.

I THINK PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO TAKE A LOOK INTO IT.

I THINK PEOPLE HEAR THE TERM RACE RIOT D RIOT AND, FRANKLY, EVERYONE IS EXHAUSTED.

NO ONE WANTS TO TACKLE IT.

I MADE A PROMISE TO F TO MYSELF THAT EVERY YEAR I WOULD MAKE A PIECE OF ART DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY AND POWER BEHIND EUGENE WILLIAMS, AS WELL AS THE 1919 RACE RIOT.

I HAVE MADE A SHORT FILM.

I HAVE WRITTEN THIS PLAY, AND I PLAN TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS UNTIL IT GETS TO THE POINT WHERE WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE LAKEFRONT AND NEVER TAKEN FOR GRANTED SO THATG LIKE THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

>> YOU HAVE BEEN ON STAGE IN FRONT OF A YOUNGER AUDIENCE FOR FOR A FEW DAYS.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE?

>> FANTASTIC.

WHEN I AM WRITING, AM WRITING, I DON'T THINK, I AM AM WRITING THIS FOR A YOUNG AUDE YOUNG AUDIENCE.

WHEN I WRITE, I. I WRITE.

AND I WANT THE SAME REACTION.

THAT IS FOR THE AUDIEE TO LEAVE WITH A SENSE OF INVESTIGATION SO THEY CAN DO THEIR OWN CRAWL THROUGH HISTORY.

HOPEFULLY, LAUGHTER IS IS ALSO PART OF THAT JOURNEY.

SO YOU WILL JUST COME IN AND GET A BUNCH OF FACTS THAT MIGHT MIGHT MAKE YOU SAD.

THEY WILL, BUT YOU HAVE TO EMBRACE THAT.

SADNESS IS A PART OF THE POWER T TAKES TO MOVE FORWARD.

THAT IS WHAT THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PLAY WILL HOPEFULLY LEAVE THE AUDIENCE.

AND YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS ON HIS.

>> I AM SURE THEY ARE.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOLKS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS?

>> I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCTION THAT WE SHOULD BE DOING, WE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO YOUNG PEOPLE.

THEY ALWAYS LEAD US.

THERE IS NOTHING NEW THERE.

I WANT PEOPLE TO PAY MORE ATTENTIN TO YOUNG PEOPLE I WANT THEM TO SUPPORT LIVE THEATER.

I WANT THEM TO EMBRACE THE FACT THAT CHICAGO HAS A LONG HISTORY, GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY, AND IT IS UP TO US TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.

>> 1919 WILL PLAY THROUGH OCTOBER 29 IN STEPPENWOLF ENSEMBLE THEATER.

THANK YOU FOR YOU FOR JOINING US.

WE WILL BE K RIGHT AFTER THIS.

> >> LOOKING FOR.

>> I GET TO TAKE THESE HOME WITH ME?

>> THEY ARE YOURS.

>> ERICA HAS NOT TAKEN THOSE LITTLE PIECES OF ART OFFER FINGERTIPS YET.

IF YOU WOULD LIE TO ADD SOMETHING TO YOUR OWN NA, OWN NAILS, SUTTON OFFERS PRESS ON NAILS AND STICKERS EVER GREAT HITS.

YOU WILL FIND MORE THAT ON OUR WEBSITE.> >> THAT IS OUR SHOW FOR THIS WEEKEND.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR THE VERY LATEST .

WHILE YOU WERE THERE, MAKE SURE TO READ OUR STORY ABOUT EARLY VOTING IN CHICAGO.

YOU CAN FIND OUT WHERE TO VOTE BEFORE THE NOVEMBER A SELECTION.

AND OF COURSE, YOU CAN STILL FIND OUR FESTIVAL GUIDE ONLINE JUST IN TIME FOR ALL THE FALL FS THIS SEASON.

IF YOU'RE WATCHING WATCHING US ON SATURDAY NIGHT, YOU CAN ALSO CATCH BLACK VOICESD LATINA VOICES ON SUNDAYS BEGINNING AT 10:00 VIA.

AND JOIN US NEXT WEEK AT 7:00 CHICAGO TONIGHT.

FOR ALL OF US E IN CHICAGO TONIGHT BLACK VOICES, THANKS FOR SHARING PART PART OF YOUR WEEKEND WITH US.

STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE.

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.

> >>