>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

Black voices, I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

>> It is not only incarcerating individuals who are impacted whole families and communities to the South.

>> Chicago Zoo director of reentry and hear his goals for those returning home after incarceration.

I migration is freedom.

It's a black America.

Exploring black migrations, profound impact on the history.

Art and culture of America.

>> breathing.

Mommy high.

>> And into the world of an African here shot.

>> First off tonight, legislation should not be bought, but that's what was happening here.

That's a quote.

And the crux of the argument from the prosecutors making their closing statements today in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Attorney assistant U.S. attorney Lisa Schwartz spoke in front of a power point slide reading.

Just 2 words, power and profit, arguing those were the 2 words that drove Madigan and his co-defendant Mike mclane to break the law time and again, prosecutors are expected to wrap tomorrow with Madigan in McClain's defense teams presenting their arguments later this week.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois says it's closing 4 health centers, including one in the Englewood neighborhood because of a financial shortfall.

The Inglewood location is one of 4 face enclosure at the end of March.

The others are in Ottawa, Decatur and Bloomington in Central Illinois.

The group says none of these locations provide abortion care services to continue.

Meeting patient needs, though the group is expanding care at 5 other locations, including the Roseland neighborhood.

Planned Parenthood says it's seen a 47% increase in overall abortion care patients since Roe versus Wade was overturned in 2022.

The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools have taken the first step in a process that previously has been a precursor to a teacher strike.

Today is the first day of fact-finding.

It's a process adopted back in 2010 to bring the 2 sides closer to an agreement, but is also one of several steps that would have to be taken before teachers walk off the job.

It involves the 2 sides presenting their cases to a neutral fact finder who issues a report.

If both sides agree they have a contract.

But the last 3 times this process has been deployed one or both sides rejected the report.

>> At the most basic level with CTU is asking for.

It's for CPS, students and educators to have things that exist in suburban school districts a few miles away few miles away from Chicago.

Fully staff schools access the fine arts classes, world language, sports programming, nurses and social workers, your leadership.

>> In a statement, Chicago Public Schools says it welcomes this process but emphasizes the fact finder is required to consider whether the district can afford what CTU is asking for its contract and argues the district cannot afford the teachers proposals, buddy.

Chicago Bears fans are meeting their new head coach today.

Ben Johnson met with the media for the first time since accepting the position and he had a message for his new players.

>> Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

The bar has been set higher than it's ever been said before.

The only way for this team it for you as individual players.

To reach your potential.

Is to be pushed into challenge.

And that's exactly what I in my staff plan on doing.

Yes, some of the team's players were also on site during today's news conference, including quarterback Caleb Williams.

The first time head coach says he's looking forward to working with Williams, adding that he's a big part of why Johnson came to Chicago.

>> Johnson also says he's excited to stay in the NFC North.

Despite it being called the toughest division in football this year.

Up next, the city's new director of re-entry right after this.

>> Chicago tonight, what he's made possible in part by the support of these don't use.

>> Chicago has a safety gap.

Most of the city's violence is country concentrated within 10 blocks in 4 neighborhoods, all predominantly black or Latino communities.

One way the city plans to disrupt the violence is by structuring an anti-violence plan in Inglewood, Austin, Garfield, Park in Little Village and helping formerly incarcerated people more easily get back on their feet after 3 years dormant, the Office of Reentry has a new leader to do just that.

And he joins us now.

Joseph Map, the city of Chicago's director of re-entry, along with Gary and Gate would Chicago's deputy mayor of community safety.

And know you've got some more information to share with U.S. Deputy Mayor.

We're going to come to that soon.

>> Joseph Map are going to start with you.

Of course, office of Reentry has not had a leader since 2022, what are your top priorities?

>> Well, my top priority system, organ mask around collaboration.

So that means bringing the whole force of city government, the department assist agencies along with community-based organizations to create a re-entry plan that of France and values.

Those who are returning.

>> You have experience you served.

26 years in prison makes you the right fit for the job because you have that understanding.

What do you wish was available to help you when you are released?

>> So recognizing that this and a lot of talent just wish I had emotional support.

How come back to a city that looks strangely different.

I wish I had family reunification.

The tell me how my family has changed as well as the traditional I wish I had help with finding locating department didn't didn't exclude me because of my background.

Help with employment.

I imagine.

okay.

A lot a lot.

So that a lot of work for you to in this position.

>> Deputy mayor, the people's plan for Community safety.

One-year report just released this initiative focuses on 10 blocks and for Chicago neighborhoods.

As we mentioned, Englewood West Garfield Park, Austin and Little Village is it clear that, you know this, this focus over the last year has it resulted in an overall reduction in violent crime.

Yet what we have seen reductions in violent crime way.

I'll give you an example in the Englewood in the 7th district.

>> Under the leadership of command to courts in the wood itself has seen 30% reduction in homicides.

You know, here as a city.

If you look back from this last year 2024, obviously we saw percent nearly 8% reduction homicides.

But over a four-year span, a comparison nearly 20% reduction.

of our block groups in West Garfield Park.

saw 40% reduction in violence.

So we understand that.

Not only are we seeing a reduction in crime citywide, but having a more focused approach our investments.

We're seeing some of the results that were hoping Obviously we know this is not something that happens overnight, but we also understand that working directly with community and making sure we're resources to bear from the city of Chicago, our partners at the state the county.

We can really see the results that we need to see over the long haul.

>> app.

One of your missions, of course, to work on policies to develop as we discussed employment, fair housing practices for people returning from prison.

Now, according to this the report the city has conducted research identify the industries that are currently hiring into sustainable You all have begun establishing partnership with business organizations.

At the same time, we know the city has done quite a few studies on this issue.

Do we need a new approach and what would that look like?

>> So that approach often time we think about employment, readiness for individuals are entering the workforce.

I believe we also need employee a readiness to be prepared for this population that we're serving.

And I think if we work in tandem with community-based organizations that can accompany individuals through this process and businesses, we create a robust economy and have help heal our communities.

What does that look like?

Employer readiness is imagine it looks probably like a partnering with and offering training to some employers.

>> Who would like to offer opportunities to people who have been system impacted.

So >> one thing to dress did miscommunication.

Sone of the leadership may say, hey, we're background friendly, but the frontline staff and the third-party her and he just may not be familiar with this process and just to get everyone in the so we can have better opportunities for those who are pie.

>> At the end of 2021 over 16,000 people were on parole in Illinois and nearly 40% of the people really eastern Illinois prisons returned within 3 years.

What causes recidivism?

>> There's many factors that cause increased primarily when individuals are not given the opportunity to re acclimate back into the workforce and become taxpayer lifelong taxpayers instead of lifelong tax burdens.

If successfully give people employment given opportunity obtain house and and if we give mental support mental health support, people will have a better chance of being successfully reintegrated back into society.

>> Deputy mayor the city seeing a number of efforts in the past to improve safety, reduce violence.

Of course, it is an ongoing struggle in the city of Chicago.

What makes this initiative different?

I think what makes it different is we actually Laden community leader, right?

So we didn't block groups in silo.

We went to community members and we built the people's plan.

So go alongside quality of life plans and these particular neighborhoods working closely with our community communities in Inglewood, teamwork, Englewood.

And Austin, the West side, NAACP and Little Village be on the ball and in West Garfield Park, Youth guidance was doing a lot of work with them.

I offer project with so many other partners over on the West side.

So we wanted to make sure we had community lead this work and we also wanted to make sure every city single agency understanding the role they play it.

Safety and safety is not only up to the Chicago Police Department.

That is literally all of us working together.

So that's why it's different.

And it's all of us being invested in making our city safer.

>> What do you say to people who are hoping that there would be a bigger changes with this new approach?

Well, what I say to them is come on, come on and join us on this journey to help make those bigger changes, right?

Because you you're looking at things where you see a 40% reduction in homicides and one block and a 30% reduction in homicides.

>> And Inglewood, so we've seen those changes, which also important that we continue those investments and we continue working together.

I want people to get off the sidelines and come work hand-in-hand with us to bring violence down in our city.

>> According to city data of approximately 10,000 Chicagoans who returned home after serving time in jail or prison every year are more likely to be either victims of crimes themselves or to end up on housed.

How do you plan to reduce recidivism as well as you know, prevent people from returning to the community from being, you know, victims themselves or becoming an house.

>> So I think one thing to begin to think about how people contribute to the safety and the well-being of the community and talking about come into balance and to mention a large portion of that workforce, our system impacted individuals.

So we'd ride the reduction in violence.

That's one began.

And the second part is allowing people the opportunity and develop in the philosophy of acceptance when people are no longer speaking with task.

But look they have value and have the ability to add value.

We begin to treat people differently.

>> All you've also formed a re-entry steering committee.

You've started listening listening tour speaking directly with impacted individuals.

What have you heard from them?

>> So many individuals speak of the need and desire to have navigation.

Oftentimes people are incarcerated in left House state where most of responsibilities are cared for bad.

Not if we begin to think about support on reinforcing the value autonomy that individuals have, they will begin to step into that and believe in a self.

So if we can inspire hope in this, we turn the population.

>> Deputy mayor, what are the next steps for your anti-violence I next steps are expanding to new communities, right?

We have our community can be and is enough for areas.

We're going to continue working off 15 communities that we've laid out, but expanding in newtok into new communities really have a focus on different block.

Comes.

So this is some of the work will be doing this year.

Tomorrow.

We have our quarterly meeting right at Kennedy King College 3 o'clock tomorrow.

This is a this is a homecoming because this is actually we lost a plan in December of 2023.

So being able to release hard copies of the report and thank the folks who've been a part of this work Biden, more people, who may not have been as involved they would like.

You want.

He has the opportunity to be more involved.

You 2, 3, 4 and beyond.

>> Have to ask what we've got here.

Of course, a lot of folks are concerned that the Trump administration will be targeting targeting immigrants in Chicago with potential reads this week.

Does the city have plans?

Are we ready if that should happen in the city is always ready.

We often plan and work around what we're hearing Let me be clear.

We have not had any confirmation of that at all.

So we don't want to stoke fear.

But in the event that these happened not only are we ready, we're prepared.

We've been preparing for quite some time that will have to leave.

A deputy mayor gearing gate would and director re-entry Joseph Map, thanks to both for joining us.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

>> Up next, the significance of black migration.

Stay with us.

Between 1910, in 1970, around 6 million black people left the American south for brighter pastures in what's known as the great migration.

A new four-part PBS documentary series from Henry Louis Gates.

Junior tells not only that story but also modern-day stories of black migration.

Both back to the south and from Africa and the Caribbean.

Here's a look.

>> Movement is a really concrete way of measuring your freedom.

Realizing that I can make a choice to pick up and all over again.

Elsewhere.

If that's not the most transformative decision that you can make.

I don't know what is.

>> joining us now, our mighty saying Stack Rice, president and CEO of the Chicago defender Charities and via Zoom is filmmaker May let you say Sims who directed the series along with her colleague Julia Marchese.

Thanks to you both for joining us.

Thank you.

Very exciting.

nightly Fay Sims.

Let's start with you first.

What motivated you to tell this story?

>> And I mean that the series is essentially a brainchild of Doctor Henry Louis Gates.

But we as a team really wanted to make a series that illustrates.

>> Just how >> migration is the defining factor in the Black American story that's ongoing as well as America large and you know me personally, I a descendant of migrants to Chicago from the South, Arkansas, Mississippi, on my dad's side and from Haiti to the U.S. and those migrants and in Chicago as well.

>> 80 during that first wave of the great migration from 1910, to 1940, the Chicago Defender newspaper.

It dubbed the City the promised Land.

Yes.

What was it about the Chicago that attracted so many migrants to the city?

>> I would say definitely I the push of I would call the father the great migration.

We can claim that for Robert.

Thanks, Dhaka, but my great grand uncle.

He was the founder of the Chicago defender 19.

0, 5, And it was his headlines.

come up north and prosper.

There's more jobs than there are men to fill them.

He called it the promise land.

They posted jobs in the in the newspaper as well as places to live.

And so far there are opportunities there.

Thanks to the newspaper being distributed throughout the south from the Pullman porters.

>> And you are you're keeping his spirit alive today.

You brought us a copy of the newspaper that publishing today, the defender legacy.

And this one is is a special edition.

This is a special edition, especially for, you to celebrate this screening and the wonderful documentary that's coming out.

So.

>> But we were just wanted to let people know that.

I mean, this is a wonderful day for Chicago because Chicago can definitely claim it was a huge callous when it came to the great northern migration because of the Chicago defender and the urging of Robert thanks to cap it.

>> Nyla the first episode.

It also tells the story of an iconic photo from the migration and is that of the Arthur family?

But many don't actually know the story behind that photo.

Tell us a little bit about that.

>> Yeah, that's absolutely You know, I worked on several history documentary series and it's a very rare.

Thank you.

Get to learn the story behind the photographs and Dr moves case actually gets to sit down with some descendants of the Arthur family.

And it's kind of finding your roots and reverse.

He gets to hear their story from them.

And it's it's written tax allies because this a photograph that is history books.

It's been used and magazines is probably the most use photographs migration history and as Reagan tax allies for their story as we can alliance has a story of terror.

It's actually a heartbreaking story and really eye opening.

>> And don't think we're giving anything away by telling, you know, about the terror that family was fleeing because folks are still watch the So tell us about the terror that that family was fleeing.

That is not a parent in that photograph.

It's there.

>> Yeah, I don't want to give too much away.

But, you know, during this air of the great migration, especially it happened during both ways, but especially during the first wave you there were hundreds of Lincoln's happening.

Southern apartheid was hard enough terms of Jim Crow, black, black holes limited people's livelihoods.

But this family, you know, were sharecroppers and there was threat and actual violence.

And I hope viewers able to watch learn something from I think it's really telling of what people went through.

>> You also look at a careful about calling it reverse migration, but it is the migration of folks, you know, from the north back to the southern states.

Here is Henry Louis Gates Junior talking to former Georgia State representative Stacey Abrams.

>> When did you become aware of the phenomenon the reverse great migration.

You could feel it.

He lived in Atlanta.

You saw our population growing year-over-year decade over a decade and you realize something was happening.

>> Because there was another case of what was so-called reverse migration, which was white southern races, sending busloads of black people to the And that's another.

That's another story entirely all.

But what about the northern or western life began pushing blacks back towards the south, both in the 70's still It I'm come to you for that.

>> Well, it's interesting because we find that.

you know, it's interesting make then it was very Those are things that push this out the south to the north.

And now there's things that pushing out of the north back to the south it makes sense.

I've talked to friends about all the time and dream about going somewhere.

Well, one and just say easier life.

>> You know, but it's interesting that reverse migration.

>> there were struggles in the north as well, like the racism still existed, Maleah because you also look at, you know, new waves of black migration from Africa and the Caribbean.

What is pulling those folks to the states?

>> And I mean, the American dream is so powerful.

You believe just represents opportunity >> also, you know, I think we can't take for granted that Africans in Caribbean's were also reading newspapers the thinking about black life in America to I mean, I think the great migration, which was happening at the same time as early Caribbean migration and then and then in later years was creating these black metropolis isn't cities that created a modicum of freedom for any black person.

Part of the desk for us.

So in the African Caribbean episode.

We cover a wide history, there are larger numbers from both communities in more recent decades particularly African migration.

Surprisingly, there's that statistic that between 1990, in 2000, the numbers surpassed those of the enslaved that came through the Atlantic slave trade.

So, wow, you know, patients are actually helping too, you know, complicate and and make you know, the black American population a bit more diverse and more pan African.

>> All right.

where we'll have to leave it on because obviously series is very rich.

And so there's a lot for people to get into.

My thanks to you both elite basins it thanks to Christ.

Thank you so much having a month.

Yes, your and the first episode of great migrations of people on the move premiers on W T Tw next Tuesday January.

28.

>> At 08:00PM.

Up next, a Broadway play makes its Chicago debut.

Black hair and sisterhood are being celebrated in the Tony Award-winning Broadway play.

Judge Jazz, African hair braiding, the production's regional debut made its way to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater to rave reviews, taking place within the span of one day.

The play follows the lives of 5 hairstylists and judge as teenage daughter and shows the struggles of being West African immigrant women in New York City.

>> to be medio.

I was thinking Mike Rose actually what always felt with the play was that when people are coming in, they're going to experience a day in the life.

>> In the shop.

>> We were never going to leave the shop.

We're never going to, you know, go to another place or another location.

It was going to, you know, be a day 09:00AM shop opens and this is what everyone believe that they would be and 12 hours later at 09:00PM when the shop closes, everyone's life has been changed.

Those kinds community spaces that are also a space where people are providing service.

>> Are kind of like right with storytelling because there's just so many different people and and ways in which they all ended up in at the shop at the restaurant at the nail They're important because a community space is also inherently a safe space.

And in those spaces, there's also incredible amount of joy and humor.

It's also how we have survived all of years and how we're going to continue to survive.

Humor is actually a part of our DNA of survivor and >> I think that's why.

>> Both of those things still synonymous from the play and it's like.

>> And hair braiding shop and, you know, community whatever.

But it's all so funny because that is how we deal and handle everyday oppression.

She is.

Judge as African hair braiding is at Chicago, Shakespeare Theater until February 2nd.

>> And that's our show for this Wednesday night.

Stay connected with our reporters and what they're working on by following us on Instagram at W T Tw Chicago and join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

How the city is bracing for potential rates.

We're talk with Chicago's deputy mayor of immigrant rights.

>> Now for all of us here at Chicago tonight, why forces Brandis Friedman, thanks for watching and good night.

>> A closed captioning is made possible by law be a Clifford Should Congo personal injury and wrongful death?

It