Return to Transcripts main page

CHICAGOLAND

Chicagoland: The Blues, the Blackhawks and a Peace March

Aired March 13, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: Previously on "Chicagoland":

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chicago is closing 50 schools.

RAHM EMANUEL (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO: I am comfortable with what I'm doing.

KAREN LEWIS, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: He is the murder mayor.

ASEAN JOHNSON, STUDENT: We are not going down without a fight.

EMANUEL: And just like pounding and pounding and pounding.

ELIZABETH DOZIER, PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: This is the last stop for 98 percent of the kids here. If we don't get them off into something else, like, there are no other options.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those numbers are just through the roof. Make sure that these guys feel the heat right now.

DOZIER: Somebody was shooting at the kids on the way to school this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's going to be a lot of death on his hands if these schools close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A yes-vote to close 50 schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahm Emanuel, hasta la vista. See you later.

NARRATOR: It's playoff time again in this sports-loving city. And when Chicago teams are in the hunt for a title, they do it big. The '85 Bears won the Super Bowl for their super fans. And in the '90s, Michael Jordan led the Bulls to two three-peats.

The 2005 White Sox broke the city's World Series drought. And in 2010, the Hawks won the Stanley Cup. Now they want to do it again. Hawks fans are going nuts at the United Center. They call the place the madhouse on Madison. In 2007, Rocky Wirtz replaced his late father as owner and drastically changed the team's fortunes.

ROCKY WIRTZ, OWNER, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Chicago, it's really a blue-collar town. When the sports teams win, the city just uplifts itself. It doesn't matter what color or nationality you are. You want to be part of a winner.

NARRATOR: Come playoff time, the mayor and the rest of the city hop on the Hawks' bandwagon. Rahm's a sports nut and he loves to win.

EMANUEL: This should be opening by 2016.

NARRATOR: He wants to build a new sports arena to put Chicago in a better spot to compete with other cities.

EMANUEL: From day one, when I was elected mayor, I have made it a priority to ensure that Chicago's convention and tourism industry was no longer second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can find no expert that says a new arena will do any better than breaking even. In fact, some say it's a financial disaster.

EMANUEL: We have the opportunity to make an investment that creates 10,000 jobs, 3,700 permanent, and keep Chicago in the leadership in the convention and hospitality industry and the tourism industry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not everyone is excited about a deal that could be in the works for a $200 million arena at McCormick Place for DePaul University.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Money for schools, not for stadiums.

NARRATOR: The mayor's critics question his decision to sink millions of dollars into an arena after just closing 50 schools with another looming budget crisis ahead.

JOSEPH MCDERMOTT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: We're closing our schools when they build stadiums. Mayor Emanuel loves to create a crisis and he loves to exploit a crisis. And that's what he's doing. He's taking a bad situation and making it worse.

LEWIS: Public education is about the common good. That's a moral judgment to how you're going to spend your money. That's what a budget is. It really is a moral document.

NARRATOR: In the weeks leading up to the Board of Education's budget vote, protesters won't let up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CPS cannot solve our budget challenges alone.

BARBARA BYRD-BENNETT, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: You kind of want to jump on top a desk or something and say, wait a minute. Please, let's listen. Let's look at the facts. How do we really take our very scarce resources, as we face a $1 billion deficit, and how do we consolidate that so that children are the ultimate beneficiaries?

NARRATOR: Chicago's public schools could start the year a billion dollars in the red, the result of declining tax revenue, pay hikes, and a steep increase in pension payments. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pension is a big hunk of it, but it's not all of it.

JOHNSON: You are taking our education and our protection away. You put all our tax dollars into DePaul for what? Couldn't you put that back into the schools?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: At the monthly school board meetings, public concern crescendos with the testimony of Chicago's youngest activist, 9-year- old Asean Johnson.

JOHNSON: I'm a student myself. And I am pleading and begging that you help these parents and their low incomes. Help them with these schools. You need to go to that mayor and tell him to just quit his job. He's -- he's tearing down our education.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNSON: Please tell him he's tearing down our education.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Asean, excuse me. Can you please conclude?

JOHNSON: Something is wrong -- something is wrong with this board. Something is wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

Our next speaker?

NARRATOR: Despite Asean's plea, the board approves a budget that cuts classroom spending by $68 million, slashes $128 million from the central office and lays off 3,000 teachers and staff.

These cuts will affect the whole city. Down south in Roseland, Fenger High School principal Liz Dozier finds herself at the center of a perfect storm. The budget cuts, plus the end of their four-year federal grant could have a devastating effect on students.

DOZIER: So we have got to make a dollar out of 15 cents. That's what we're about to do. I want to close two security positions. I want to redefine one. How much should it cost?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixty-five thousand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventy-six. So, the total is $263,000.

(CROSSTALK)

DOZIER: There's nowhere else to cut. We're at the bare-bones.

I think what's at stake is the entire school. I think everything that we have built for the last four years are at stake. Schools like this are very fragile. If you look at the history of Fenger, like how it's gone up and down and up and down, it goes up once it gets some support, some funding. And then they pull out the supports and funding, and then it just goes right back down again.

NARRATOR: Four years ago, Fenger was a violent place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today at Fenger, classmates filed into the school, which had a strong police presence.

PETE GREEN, STUDENT: Back then, there was definitely a fight every day, if not every day, every other day. But now I don't even remember seeing fights. Everybody is just coming and trying to graduate now.

LEE MCCULLUM JR., STUDENT: Me doing something, that is over with. That was in the past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one point in time, there wasn't day I ain't get in trouble. But now I know I have got a whole lot that is ahead of me.

NARRATOR: During his four years at Fenger High, Lee McCullum made a remarkable transition. He went from being with a street kid running with a violent crowd to a student leader with his sights set on college.

LEE MCCULLUM JR.: That's what Fenger do. Fenger helped me get into college. I ain't have no hopes and dreams of going.

NARRATOR: At the school luncheon, principal Dozier makes a point of highlighting his incredible progress.

DOZIER: And I never thought I would give this person an award, because we had some tough times back in that first and second year.

Lee McCullum.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DOZIER: Let me give you a hug. Congratulations.

NARRATOR: Lee still has problems. Too many girls want to be his prom date.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got everybody wanting to go to prom with you.

LEE MCCULLUM JR.: I ain't going to no prom with nobody from our school.

I love you, Raquel (ph).

That's my boy. I will never tweak in your life again.

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: In Roseland, skirmishes can easily escalate.

LEE MCCULLUM JR.: My two worries in life are not making it and being unsuccessful and ending up on streets being a bum. And the second worry is, I'm scared not to be able -- I want to be a father that can be able to provide for their family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to at least be the ones that make it out.

NARRATOR: Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the country, divided by race, ethnicity and class.

When immigrants settled in a neighborhood, they defended their turf. The Irish claimed Beverly. The Germans took Lincoln square. The Polish settled in Portage Park, and Italians were on Taylor Street, a city of neighborhoods and turf wars.

In violent parts of town, warring gang factions have taken that tradition to a whole new level. Welcome to Englewood, one of Chicago's notoriously violent neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say they doing something. Man, in reality, the police ain't doing nothing, man.

NARRATOR: Not according to Superintendent McCarthy.

GARRY MCCARTHY, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: It's supposed to be about 90 degrees. Let's make sure that they are out in force.

NARRATOR: With summer just around the corner, Chicago's top cop visits the Seventh District, where they're gearing up for increased gang conflicts.

LEO SCHMITZ, CHICAGO DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: The numbers, I can get a copy of what the numbers are.

NARRATOR: That's Deputy Chief Leo Schmitz, one of McCarthy's most trusted commanders.

MCCARTHY: Glenn (ph) has pulled ahead of you as far as total numbers of shootings reduced. He's down 40, and you're down 38. Slacking.

SCHMITZ: I don't want to be -- I want to be in second place to win at the end.

MCCARTHY: Really?

SCHMITZ: I want to behind and let the...

(CROSSTALK)

MCCARTHY: Are you going to draft him? You going to draft...

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Under Leo's leadership, cops in the Englewood district have produced a significant drop in shootings and murders. SCHMITZ: Sixth-eighth and Damon, we're controlling that. Remember, that's the Sixth Ward G.D.s fighting with the New Breeds. The Black Disciples on the East End, 59th to 63rd, the takedown was last week. So, that should help us a lot on our East End, where we have all the shootings, and the fight we got going with the B.D.s and G.D.s.

So, see who is on your beat. Know the good kids from the bad ones. You guys are doing great and I will see you out there. Thank you.

What do we got? We got a shooting in two, and the van is in seven now.

We have got to go in there as fast as we can, hit as hard as we can, and get involved, so we know who is fighting who, which gangs are fighting. That is how we get ahead of the next shooting.

You always got to know that it could go in life and death. You got to be ready.

We got some people shot on 57th and Lowell. We're going to kill some lights coming here now in case we start seeing somebody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: The Hawks looked unbeatable going into the playoffs. Now they're choking, down two games to one against their archrival, the Detroit Red Wings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save by Howard.

BILLY DEC, BUSINESS OWNER: How are you?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DEC: If I haven't gotten to meet you yet, my name is Billy Dec. I'm one of the co-owners here at Rockit.

NARRATOR: Meet Billy Dec. He's a nightclub owner, restaurateur, and a Black Hawks super fan, without the beer belly or a sausage lodged in his heart.

Back in 2010, the Hawks brought the Stanley Cup to Rockit. He got to drink from the Cup that year, and he's hoping to do it again.

DEC: Three minutes.

I'm actually really anxious right now, and I can't relax at all, because there's a lot riding on this game.

NARRATOR: In the final minutes, the Black Hawks lose. DEC: Damn it!

NARRATOR: One more loss, and they're out. In 2010, the Hawks' Stanley Cup championship pumped millions of dollars into hotels, bars and restaurants.

DEC: God, that's good.

My goal is to take people from around the country and bring them here. And people know that Chicago is rising to the top. We don't get enough credit.

NARRATOR: Billy and Rahm are two of Chicago's biggest boosters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't let Rahm Emanuel know, but here's the real mayor of Chicago, Billy Dec. What's up, brother?

DEC: He hates when people say that.

(LAUGHTER)

DEC: And you know what? He will throw down and hurt me. Do not say that that loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, that's just between you and me.

NARRATOR: The president knows who the real mayor is.

When Obama comes home, the first guy to greet him is Mayor Emanuel. Rahm's rise to power started at a fund raiser under Chicago's previous mayor, Richard Daley. He stepped on to the national stage when he raised millions for Bill Clinton. In 2006, he directed the strategy that helped the Dems win back the House.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It hasn't been easy for Rahm, though.

NARRATOR: Then Emanuel became President Obama's chief of staff.

OBAMA: As a young man, he had a serious accident. He lost part of his middle finger. This rendered him practically mute.

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Four years later, he helped raise millions for the president's reelection campaign.

EMANUEL: You got to not worry about failing. Fund-raising, like business, and like everything else, people invest in success. Nobody says, you know what? You're really doing bad. Let me give you some more money. Money meets the money.

MCDERMOTT: He can raise money like it's nothing, millions. And he's not getting that from average people. Is he the mayor of the well-to-do? Is he the mayor of the 1 percent? I honestly wonder, is there anybody in his social circle who sends their kids to Chicago public schools?

NARRATOR: Facing a massive budget deficit, the mayor's answer to funding public education is to solicit private corporations and businessmen.

EMANUEL: No running in the halls.

ERIC SCHMIDT, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, GOOGLE: Nice to see you, Mayor.

EMANUEL: This is the jewel of the system.

Right. If you have a mental image of what it would physically, intellectually and leadership-wise look like, this is exactly what you want everybody to come see. Wait until you see the swimming pool.

(LAUGHTER)

EMANUEL: OK? I just -- I don't want to say anything.

NARRATOR: The mayor gives a tour to Google chairman Eric Schmidt and IBM exec Stanley Litow. Emanuel enlisted top technology companies to partner with five high schools, including this one, Sarah Goode, partnered with IBM.

SCHMIDT: Nobody said no?

EMANUEL: Nobody said no.

I want everybody to see this, because I think this is the vision of what you should have throughout the country.

SCHMIDT: That's exactly right. You're exactly right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have you kids done specifically with Google?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raven?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We use our Google Doc program to write notes down and take notes during class.

SCHMIDT: I am extraordinarily happy you're a Google Docs user.

My colleague Jared and I wrote a whole book using Google Docs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would we use Google Docs over like Microsoft Word?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it's free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LEWIS: Publicly funded public education, like most public services, has to be tied to the business world now, because that is the political state we're in.

Those same corporations do not have to pay the taxes they used to have to pay that would actually fund schools.

NARRATOR: Back at Fenger High, principal Liz Dozier is forced to do the best she can with the money she has.

DOZIER: See you later. Be good.

Josh, how were you in class today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

DOZIER: Good.

Work is not between like the hours of 8:00 and 3:30. To me, it extends beyond that.

I will see you later. Bye.

(CROSSTALK)

DOZIER: No, it's not. I need you to just -- yes, I need you to stop smoking weed and cigarettes,and cigarettes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

NARRATOR: Liz's hard work with her students hasn't gone unnoticed.

Liz Dozier, D-O-Z-I-E-R.

NARRATOR: Liz takes Lee and a group of seniors to the (INAUDIBLE) (ph) challenge awards ceremony, where Fenger is being honored.

DOZIER: All right, guys.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DOZIER: Let's go.

It's just an absolutely humbling experience to be here at this time and to accept this award. When we came into Fenger in the fall of 2009, we made international media attention. One of our students was killed.

We had a 40 percent freshmen-on-track rate, which means that four out of every 10 children were likely to graduate from our school. We ended this past semester at 89.5 percent our of freshmen...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DOZIER: This is not really a black issue. It's not a white issue. It's not a Latino issue. It's not or a South or a West Side issue. But it's really issue of our children's lives and fighting for their lives and ultimately I really believe the fate of our city and our country.

So I say to my staff and my students who are sitting right over there, welcome to the age of possibilities, because we started from the bottom and now we're here.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DOZIER: Thank you.

NARRATOR: Fenger has come a long way, but all their success is bittersweet, considering the looming cutbacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it look like money-wise the next year?

DOZIER: We haven't heard anything from CPS. I haven't heard anything, like nothing. I had a meeting with the head of the new OSI. There's been no concrete anything.

So we're looking at like zero dollars and zero cents right now, which I'm scared. Like, I'm really -- I'm really -- I'm just worried.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The quest for the Cup continues tonight with an all-important game seven.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's now or never. Black Hawks, they have to bring home a win tonight in order to advance to the finals, or it's game over for the season.

NARRATOR: It's a tense game seven. With the game tied at one and just under two minutes left, the Hawks scores what appears to be a game winner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scores!

NARRATOR: Unbelievably, one referee cancels out the goal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why? Why would they make that call? It's so, so, so dumb. Oh!

NARRATOR: But in overtime:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He scores!

NARRATOR: Hawks fans take the celebration to the street, where even some cops join in.

But down in Englewood, there's a different kind of action.

SCHMITZ: State police have a dog we can bring over. We're on our way with that. Yes, 10-4. See if you can get into one of the backyards.

NARRATOR: Leo and his officers catch a shooting suspect. But they're still searching for the gun.

SCHMITZ: Hey, check the roofs too, guys. That's where they have been throwing them lately.

How you doing, hun? You're OK. Do you want to get in? We were chasing somebody.

NARRATOR: This is the kind of police work that never stops in Englewood.

SCHMITZ: It's like anything can happen any time. And nothing will shock you after a while.

We finally made it. I can get something to drink.

RYAN WILLIAMS, LOCAL RAPPER: Violence every day, like the Fourth of July.

MCCARTHY: How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you the mayor?

MCCARTHY: No, I'm not the mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you the governor?

MCCARTHY: No. I'm in charge of the police.

NARRATOR: Superintendent McCarthy likes to call Leo the Jackie Robinson of Englewood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Englewood, this guy right here, Commander Schmitz, is the guy that everybody has grown to love. He's in charge of the Seventh District, and he deserves a round of applause.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: For cops, building strong ties with neighbors is crucial to reducing violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't ask for a better boss than Deputy Chief Leo Schmitz.

WILLIAMS: Another boy got shot. A little girl got shot.

NARRATOR: For kids in Englewood and nearby Roseland, the constant threat of violence is all too real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your life in danger every time you step out your front door.

LEE MCCULLUM JR.: You walk down the street to go to the store, you end up getting shot or hurt or either killed. NARRATOR: Fenger High School senior Lee McCullum may be aiming for college next year, but when you live in Roseland, that's a long way off.

Lee's dad went to Fenger High School in the '80s with Eric Wilkins. Both are veterans of Roseland's brutal gang wars and have survived shoot-outs. Lee Sr. lost his leg.

LEE MCCULLUM JR.: I remember the first day he got shot. I was 9, going on 10. Like, our mother, she is screaming, like, get up, get up. Your daddy's shot. Your daddy's shot.

LEE A. MCCULLUM SR., FATHER OF LEE: I was driving my son to his friend's house yesterday. And they was shooting. I'm just dropping him off. As I'm easing on the brake, hear that boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. That could have been my last time dropping him off and everything.

NARRATOR: Principal Dozier planned a peace march to make a statement, but she postponed it over safety concerns. She consults big Lee and Eric on whether to reschedule it.

DOZIER: We were trying to do this walk. Did Lee tell you about it, like an actual walk out, like come outside with the whole school, go down that way, and kind of do a little march or whatever? And then you know they were shooting right over on this corner over here.

So we had canceled it for the time -- postponed it, really. So we're thinking about doing it in the next couple of weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we are going to do a march, we are going to have to break them cliques up. We can't let them walk together.

DOZIER: My main thing is just ensuring that everything is...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Safe.

DOZIER: Yes. It doesn't matter what time of the morning it is.

NARRATOR: Fenger students are used to worrying about their safety. But here's an assignment. Imagine if they didn't have to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you to picture what that would look like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In my perfect world, no weapons would be allowed. I would want to walk somewhere where I would not to be scared of getting killed. I want to feel safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In my perfect world, all my siblings would be alive and well. They will have a purpose in life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In my perfect would, instead of death and grieving, it's love and wellness. Instead of kids being thrown away, they're kept and loved.

NARRATOR: These daydreams are rudely interrupted when shots ring out just blocks from school.

DOZIER: There was a shooting a couple blocks from the school, but we got a call, a couple calls saying a lot of our kids are up there.

NARRATOR: Liz races to the scene, fearing one of her kids may have gotten shot.

DOZIER: We got a call from one of our security officers. She said she saw a bunch of kids this way and there was a shooting. So, I thought it was one of my kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get any info on him yet?

DOZIER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Let me find out what the deal is and then I will let you know.

DOZIER: OK. Cool. Thanks, Commander. I appreciate it.

NARRATOR: The police found the victim's body just blocks from Fenger High, on a street right in front of an elementary school.

DOZIER: What is going on? You don't know?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Blackhawks make easy work of the L.A. Kings, winning the western conference times in just five games.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chicago, baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Riding high on the victory, the city celebrates another pastime: the blues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I was born in Chicago, 1941.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An electric sound created by black musicians who migrated from the Deep South and turned their struggles into songs that spread around the world, spawning rock 'n' roll and hip-hop.

The mayor is a big music fan, and he hopes to use the blues to promote the city.

CHRIS STEWART, TRUSTEE, ROCK 'N' ROLL HALL OF FAME: I really want to establish a relationship with the city of Chicago and the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.

EMANUEL: I do not think there's a more American music form, and it's the most American, it's blues, and its home is in Chicago. And everything else emanates from that.

MARSHALL CHESS, MUSIC PRODUCER: There's never been a higher volume of creative output in this whole city, in any other art form, than Chess Records. Come on. Rock 'n' roll, blues, one after the other.

EMANUEL: How long have you been holding that in? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bar mitzvah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Well, my first friend when down when I was 17 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back in Roseland, police are still working the murder scene Principal Dozier worried.

DOZIER: They're my kids. I feel like, you know, worried, panicked, like, you know, who is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As things turned out, the victim was recent Fenger student Jessie Clark, a good friend of Lee McCullum.

LEE MCCULLUM, STUDENT, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: He was my friend. We went to school together. Any time Jessie got in trouble, I got in trouble, too. We both got on the right track and started to turn our life around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many friends you lost this year?

MCCULLUM: Three. Two last year.

LEE MCCULLUM SR., LEE'S FATHER: I just seen him that morning. I walked right here and everything. He said, "What's up?"

He said, "You cool."

He was a good child. Jessie didn't bother nobody.

NAKESHA DAVIS, JESSIE CLARK'S SISTER-IN-LAW: There's no value of human life anymore that you can walk up to someone and shoot them in broad daylight with children around.

MCCULLUM SR.: I'm pissed. I don't know. If I seen the person that did it, would I would run them over in a car? Yes, I would. That's how I feel. I wouldn't care.

TAVARES DAVIS, JESSIE CLARK'S BROTHER: You know what? Ten years ago, if this was the habit ten years ago, I think it would have been a couple more murders that same night.

MCCULLUM SR.: I'm just going to hold my composure. The little man didn't have to go like that, for real.

MCCULLUM: One day I -- one day hopefully I'll be able to live the life like the man on TV that's living a regular 9 to 5 job, come home to his wife and kids. Till then, it's just going to be the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Asean Johnson lived just across the street from where Jessie Clark was murdered.

ASEAN JOHNSON, STUDENT ACTIVIST: I got Michael Jordan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The young activist plays inside, because his mom worries the streets aren't safe.

SHONEICE REYNOLDS, ASEAN'S MOTHER: The Jessie Clark shooting was just a block away. I hear so many gunshots I can't distinguish which set of gunshots it was. That's why my boys do not go outside.

JOHNSON: We play basketball, like, in the living room. We imagine, like, something is like the hoop. Like either like that, or the light brown one is the hoop.

REYNOLDS: It's a lot of people I grew up with that has been killed. It's been a war for years. They can't go past 117th. They can't go to 118th from over here. You can't go across Halston. And once they come from across Halston, even if they go to that Walgreen's, they get killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two gangster disciple cliques only blocks apart, the Nines and the Ville (ph), and they've been battling for years like the Hatfields and McCoys.

ANTIONE "D-ICE" DOBINE, YOUTH SPORTS DIRECTOR: The beef started in 1996. My little nephew got jumped. We went back down there. We had a fight. It was right after this time where they had just took all the heads of the gangs off the streets. So it was nobody to enforce no street laws.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are Roseland O.G.s. That means Original Gangsta. The former gang rivals are now friends.

DOBINE: It started out I catch you, I beat you up. One person led to a gun. And then the next person led to a gun. And now you've got violence going from 1996 to 2013, and it ain't going to be over until everybody feel that everybody is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody knows who killed Jessie Clark or whether his murder was related to the beef between the Nines and the Ville (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jessie stayed on 116th. Somebody killed him right across the street behind (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Ain't nobody nobody.

DOBINE: Exactly. If we get caught on 115th, they say, "You're from 11-9, I'm shooting you," whether the guy knew you or not. And you don't even know what you're fighting for. You're just mad at somebody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Either way, around here what usually comes next is vengeance and gunfire. It's certainly not the climate for a peace march. Liz assembles a group of seniors, including Lee, to vote on whether to move forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I really want to have this, because I think it's important for us to take a stand for peace, but I also want to make sure that everybody is safe, right? So I want you to really give your honest opinion on what you think. This is very important to us. How many people in this room think we should proceed with the peace walk sometime next week? OK. All right.

DOZIER: The peace march is on. But only seniors will do the walking. For the next few days, they get ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peace. Learn it, live it, love it.

DOZIER: This is the school you can see right here, right? So he's going to have his police officers here, too. So they're going to also be following us along the route. We're using these blue dots and red dots, and we'll have police with us, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Principal Dozier wants to make sure she's prepared for everything, including the worst case scenario.

DOZIER: Something happens, we're actually going to cut the route short, and we're actually going to cut it off right here.

Any of you, if you see something, you've got a radio so I can move the march a different way. OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

DOZIER: I've lost kids before. If something happened to one of them and it was because, like, something that we did or didn't do or something, I would just die.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the finals, and Blackhawks' fans are amped. The Hawks lead three games to two. One more win, and the cup comes back to sweet home Chicago.

BILLY DEC, RESTAURATEUR: Last time we won the Stanley Cup lots of people showed up in front of Rocket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Rocket Bar and Grill, owner Billy Dec's got the pregame jitters. He's also waiting on an old friend.

DOZIER: How are you? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

DEC: So if the Blackhawks win tonight, we win the whole thing. Everybody will run out in the street and get crazy.

DOZIER: You should come out and see the school, though. I think you saw it year one, year two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Billy and Liz met in 2009, right after the Darrion (ph) Albert tragedy when Billy was Fenger's principal for a day.

DEC: What can I do to help?

DOZIER: You know what could help? You could help me think about how to rebrand the school and, I think, also establishing, like, some kind of, like, friends of Fenger, like a board or something.

DEC: Are there any famous or well-off alumni that you're aware of?

DOZIER: I know one, Juanita Jordan was an alum of Fenger.

DEC: Really?

DOZIER: Yes.

DEC: Really? I'm friends with her. Maybe we should do a little fundraiser. She's usually philanthropic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While Billy and Liz talk fund-raising, the fans grow tense. The game's almost over, and the Hawks are down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six attackers on the ice for the Blackhawks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With barely a minute to go and Boston about to send the series to game seven, the Hawks make hockey history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Blackhawks trying to tie this up.

DEC: No way! No way! No way!

Oh, my God!

DOZIER: That's a miracle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, Hawks! Let's go, Hawks!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, Hawks! Let's go, Hawks!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, Hawks! Let's go, Hawks!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tie up the game, and then 17 seconds later...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A chance, scores!

DEC: No way! No way!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... they win it all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chicago erupts. The party gets wild and rages into the night, until police have to step in to calm things down in Wrigleyville.

LEO SCHMITZ, DEPUTY CHIEF, CHELTAM (ph) DISTRICT: How many people are shot? You know? Was he just there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the sun rises in Englewood, Deputy Chief Schmitz has no time for a Hawks hangover.

SCHMITZ: Hey, guys, somebody just did a shooting in two. Car's in three, so if we can get some radios and get some guys out there.

So we know what's going to happen. Retaliation is going to go back and forth. It's like Ping-Pong right now. Murder, murder, murder, remember? I don't want any of that. You guys ready? Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over on the West Side, Mayor Emanuel stops by an anti-violence rally to show his support.

EMANUEL: We need to take this to all our neighborhoods throughout our city. It is strong police work, strong prevention so our kids have summer jobs and after school, which we've increased. A community that stands up and says, "We've had enough. These are our streets. These are not the streets of gang bangers."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In defiance of all the gang shootings around Fenger, seniors get ready for their silent peace march.

ROBERT SPICER, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: Everybody in this room has had a hand in seeing peace happen in this building. You've done your part to make sure that the young ones that are coming behind are going to have a safe place to be able to learn, grow, love and be.

Now, I want you to understand something. Your job today is to leave a legacy and to send out a message to this world that we at Fenger represent peace. We represent peace by any means necessary. No more are the days that we're going to be fighting in the streets. No more are the days that we're going to be acting like we don't know where we come from. No more are the days where we're going to walk around with our heads down. We're going to look up. So hold your heads up, young people, and walk with pride. Because today is the day that we send a message to the world that we are Titans and we are here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And with that, they hit the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody who knew somebody that we lost in the past due to violence. So this peace march to me is like giving recognition, giving back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I grew up in very violent areas to where I didn't have no peace. But all the killings and all the violence, we don't know where it originated from. But all I know is that we need to get rid of it.

DOZIER: Even if they say something, we're not going to say anything back, OK?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEC: Folks, get on the sidewalk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Stanley Cup is back in Chicago. And Billy Dec is ready to get the party started.

More than 2 million Hawks fans turn out to celebrate with the champs.

COREY CRAWFORD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those unbelievable 17 seconds made this championship one of the greatest in Chicago history.

EMANUEL: It's been a great season, from a record-breaking start in the season to the final 17 seconds that will always now go down in history as the miracle on ice. And it was an incredible game. I didn't know I could hold my breath for an entire three periods, but there it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking through the Hawks euphoria, more questions about school closings and budget cuts. The ultimate buzz kill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, the schools closed and the budget came out. What do you say to the parents who are told that things are going to get better but afraid things are about to get worse?

EMANUEL: We made changes in the main bureaucracy in central office and invested that money in full days of kindergarten and invested that in our children. We're going to continue to invest in our children, and we're not going to do anything to shortchange that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save our schools! Save our schools!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save our schools! Save our schools!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save our schools! Save our schools!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still, some of the mayor's critics refuse to give up and make a last ditch effort by occupying their kid's schools.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Members of these two families remain inside, refusing to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops gave them a choice, get out or get arrested. The two families cut the occupation short.

ROUSEMARY VEGA, MOTHER/ACTIVIST: ... be insane. We're trying to be a better education, and you're slashing our budget. They might have closed our doors, but they didn't shut us down. We're still going to fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No school closings! No school closings!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No school closings! No school closings!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No school closings! No school closings!

EMANUEL: So I'm sorry I couldn't be there, but tell me how it went.

DOZIER: It was peaceful. It was a silent march.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahm heard about the peace march and called to talk to Liz.

EMANUEL: Where Fenger was four years ago and what you've done today is what I firmly believe that, if you have a principal who's not scared about being accountable, you can bring great results to a school. I want everybody to know there's a new Fenger, because there's a new principal.

DOZIER: Thanks. That's what I'm trying to tell people, too. So help me -- help me spread the word. Thank you so much.

EMANUEL: I'm in your corner punching. So I'll be there. OK?

DOZIER: All righty. Bye-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm putting up a 2013 sign, because he's getting ready to go to prom, and I want the tell him how much I love him and congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Lee gets ready for prom, he's haunted by memories of friends that won't be there tonight.

MCCULLUM: I had second thoughts about not going to prom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want y'all together.

MCCULLUM SR.: Lee, Lee, Lee, hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lee's family is proud of how far he's come in four years.

MCCULLUM SR.: Man, I'm overwhelmed. All the stuff he done been through and his friends he done lost. I'm happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Liz Dozier and her staff, this class is special. They all started the Fenger turnaround together.

DOZIER: This was four years ago. You can tell the difference in the kids and how they're dressed and their behavior.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is it. Class of 2013.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you, Mr. Popularity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On prom night, it's a Fenger tradition to vote for prom king and queen. This year it's a tight race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was the closest race for prom king that Fenger has ever had. It came down to one vote. 2013 prom king, y'all give it up for Mr. Lee McCullum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These kids are living proof that, even in the roughest schools, there's plenty of talent and hope. They deserve to celebrate. Their next big test, surviving the summer.

DOZIER: Summer is obviously right around the corner, and yes, every year I feel like, you know, something happens to one of the kids. I just worry about them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next on CHICAGOLAND.

EMANUEL: The city of Chicago is the city of immigrants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something about this place that's magical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not just food. That's not just dinner. That's art.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My world is all about living in people's worst nightmares.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wonder if I could get information on one shooting and one stabbing.

DOZIER: I've had kids shot over the summer. I hate the summer. I can't wait for this to be over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violent Fourth of July, a dozen dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You certainly still enjoy the mayor's confidence.

RAHM: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this place or am I having a stroke?