The Interrupters Page #7

with the leader.

They called him Bandit,

because he would end up

taking something from you.

My nickname...

Well, I was pretty good

at stealing cars.

I was... give me a screwdriver

and less than a minute,

and I'm gone with your car.

Well, this is the block

in Little Village

that I actually grew up in.

I have a lot of memories here.

Right hand to God, I had about

almost half of this parking lot

full of stolen cars at one time.

But one day, the city, I guess,

found all the stolen cars.

So there was about seven,

eight tow trucks,

just lined up,

taking these cars out.

Most of our parents,

immigrants from Mexico.

Worked two jobs.

We were out here in the street,

running around.

My dad was a hardworking person.

He fixed cars.

And I would see my dad's hands,

and they'd be full

of calluses, you know,

and you know, cuts all over

his arm, burn marks,

you know, from the blow torches.

From day one, I told myself,

"I am never going

to be fixing cars. "

It wasn't me.

I didn't feel it.

It lit up in me, when I saw some

things in the neighborhood.

And I'd see these guys hanging

out, a lot older than I was.

They had the nice cars,

they had the girls,

flashing their colors.

What it was they had a pride

of who they really were.

They had an identity and they

were proud of that identity.

Half of my life I was in prison.

That's why I do what I do now.

To me it's a personal thing.

How you've been feeling?

You've been moving around

a little more or not, or what?

Before I couldn't even walk.

This dressing, this is what

I got to clean.

You know I got to take a dump

right here in a bag...

How much of

an impact are we making?

If we stop one shooting tonight,

we did good.

Where the bullet

went through?

But how do we stop

maybe the same person

shooting somebody the next day?

Has anybody been here to visit?

A couple of my friends.

They've been cool, or

they've been like, "Oh man, f*** that"?

Am I really helping?

Some people I can't.

Even as much as I want to,

they don't want the help.

The needless and

brutal violence

that continues to take our

children from us is an outrage.

Youth violence is not

a Chicago problem.

It is something that affects

communities big and small,

and people of all races

and all colors.

It is an American problem.

I promise to work

as long as necessary

to rid our country

of this plague.

Secretary Duncan, I've heard

you say those things many times.

What's different now?

What's different that it takes

capturing Derrion Albert's death

on video to wake the country.

We were dealing with children

being shot every single day.

I never saw a crowd

like this, ever.

Now the professionals

working in this field,

they knew about

the hostilities

coming out of the

Altgeld Gardens projects

and the young men

around Fenger.

So there was no way

in the world

that should have really

occurred, to be real with you.

I talked to the mayor's

office today.

We're gonna bring together the

guys that are in the conflict.

And they've agreed

to meet with us,

and we're gonna process

with them.

We have a

five-hour agenda.

I think we can get all

the brothers we need.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

If they willing to come sit

down here and talk with us,

you know, people need

to talk to them,

Come to see what's on they mind,

the kids' mind.

Right.

What's up, Tay?

You just got kicked

out of Fenger, man.

You want to go

back to Fenger?

Yeah, you know I do.

So how you feel

about them people

come from Altgeld Gardens

out there?

I used to get into it with them

a lot though, but...

That's what

it is though, man.

Either fighting

or shooting.

That's how got to solve y'all

prob... these problems nowadays,

'cause if you don't do it,

they gonna try and do it to you.

If you don't go hard,

it's your life.

Me and my wife

was looking for a house.

I didn't want the kids

to grow up

and really experience the things

I've experienced all my life.

We way out here, man.

Way out yonder, man.

Instead of gun violence,

we probably have to worry

about rabbits and deer,

and I'm okay with that.

Man, my wife came

from the streets.

She used to be around

rough riders,

people who lived the same

lifestyle I lived.

I end up getting pregnant at

about 16, and did a 360, so...

I met my wife in 2002.

And she already had three kids.

It wasn't love at first sight.

Probably not even love

at second sight.

He's very nerdy.

Very, very nerdy person.

Man, my wife a mess.

But, like most wives.

No, no, but I love my wife.

That's short.

He at the 30.

Cobe as a dad, he's really good.

He's there for every

football game.

My kids really enjoy him,

especially my daughter.

That's... that's her everything,

her Cobe.

Cobe.

Ooh-hoo!

Jake.

What really

made me start thinking more

about doing the right thing,

I started thinking about my son.

I remember I was in jail,

and they brought me out

with handcuffs

till the judge called us.

My son, he ran up to me

and hugged and kissed me

and grabbed me

and started crying.

So instantly I got so emotional

and, like,

I think tears was coming,

you know what I'm saying.

And, like "Dad, Dad, I love you,

I love you. "

As I'm going back to the back,

my son just like

broke down in front of

everybody, just crying.

"I want my daddy,

I want my daddy. "

I started thinking more

about him.

Wanted to change my life because

I wanted to be there for him.

It was so much

that they had to do.

To get you released?

Yeah, to get me released.

Caprysha had to stay

in the jail for almost a month.

I was the first call

on her way home.

And that experience was just

such an eye-opener for her.

She said she didn't

want to do it again.

My mom had just

went to court.

They talking about taking

her last four kids.

She's been in

over 15 different homes.

She's raised herself

and her sisters and brothers

while her mom was out doing

whatever her mom was doing.

The money that I get,

I'll go buy my drugs and start

selling drugs out on the block,

just to make money

for my sisters and brothers,

for them to have

what they wanted.

I blame myself for my

sisters and them being in DCFS.

I blame myself

for a lot of stuff

that I know that

it wasn't my fault.

What's your goal?

To get my high

school diploma,

go to college

to be a pediatrician,

and, like,

take care of, like,

and then with like,

my free time,

take care of my...

go get my sisters and them.

And her saying

what her goals and dreams are,

who am I to say,

"You can't do that.

Look at your record. "

Look at Ameena's record!

Being a violence interrupter,

nothing surprises me.

But being a mother,

and seeing this 18-year-old

never riding on a carousel,

kind of blew my mind.

It's true that it's only

so much that I can do.

And that's just one Caprysha.

But it's hundreds of thousands

of Capryshas out there.

Pick out another color.

I like green.

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