Just saw this at the Siskel Center. I sometimes forget how powerful story telling can be. Having students from those neighborhoods graduate and get out of gangs- it’s such a privilege to be part of that process. At the end of the screening tonight Steve James and Ameena Matthews came out to answer questions. Ameena has such a forcefully good presence. What else can be said? It was like being shown a terrible disease that you theoretically knew about, and saying ‘It’s here. The problem is with you, with your city.’ But then also saying ‘It’s ok, we’ve got doctors and they’re working real hard. And you can work on the problem too. And sometimes we can cure this thing.’
#the interrupters #chicago #gang violence #ameena matthews
