Page 12 - Mark Chicago News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

A lot of people can. it ain't about what you can do. a lot of people don't want to. see what i'm saying? it even about being a bigger man as a human. you take one of my brothers or cousins, every day i'm going to wake up missing them. see what i'm saying? if i see one of your people, that's what makes me want to retaliate. >> they don't realize why we are where we are. when you're in the middle of it, it's like i can read books about the statistics behind this. when somebody on my ass, i'm not thinking about anything, you know, and i have to do what i have to do. >> you can't say i read a book...

Music is always the voice for the street. and for some, it's a way off of the streets. so my last stop is a legendary blues club in chicago where malik accomplished something that was once thought to be impossible. he got two gangs, old school do or die crew and new school artists like jay-z protege. if you're just tuning in, i'm dr. cornell west. do these guys all know each other? >> not really. >> they all know you? >> yeah. >> but don't know each other? >> not really. >> is that anything that can lead to an issue? >> yeah, definitely. >> okay. all right. even though they are all musicians a...

Of the most dangerous neighborhoods in chicago, it's time to do one of my favorite things, hanging out with people who make me feel stupid. i'm meeting with dr. javon johnson at the black-owned business sweet cafe. he is a poet, author and professor of race and gender studies. his most recent book is a collection of writings from kids on the south side of chicago telling their own stories. the doctor agreed to school me on the current situation. talk to me a little about the term chiraq. for most people it is just a spike lee movie. >> i don't think we can fully pinpoint exactly where it came ...

City feel like they have to express their masculinity in a lot of our media, in a lot of our role models, all about be a man. >> we have to allow for multiple types of masculinities to exist. partly in we're speaking about black folks, black masculinity. there is no stereotypical or one monolithic way of being a black man, right. you can be as black as steve erkel or as black as dmx. that's a range. >> that's a range, erkel to dmx. y'all gonna make me lose my mind in here. >> that's fantastic. nothing like talking black masculinity over carrot cake and tea. >> malik set up a meeting between ga...

The uncool vice principal. >> i live in california now and when i tell people i was coming out to chicago, everybody was like -- there's this weird thing. uh-oh. >> get shot. >> yeah, you're going to get shot. you have to join a gang and this nonsense. >> when i hear people talk about coming to chicago and they are afraid to even come to the city, what they don't recognize is that so much of the violence is centered in very specific areas. you know, because chicago is so segregated. we're on the north side with lincoln park. people might tell you be careful coming to chicago, but what the [ bl...