City So Real

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Reporter (over tv): 600 people have been murdered.

Reporter 2 (over tv): With the death toll rising,

Chicago appears stuck with its reputation as

America's murder capital.

Reporter 3 (over radio): That burger king restaurant

Near where laquan mcdonald had been shot just minutes...

Reporter 4 (over radio): And the video undercut the

Police account that officer jason van dyke's

Life was in danger shooting a black teenager

16 times.

Woman: The violence is high.

You hear the gunshots every so often.

Man: What do I think about the city?

I actually love it and hate it.

One day, I'm gonna be running for alderman and

Work my way up.

Woman: I think that chicago is gonna improve over the years.

Man: I see a lot of neighborhoods are changing now.

It's great, but the things that you grew up with,

Some of the culture, we end up losing.

Reporter (over tv): It's the largest development in decades,

The north side's $6 billion lincoln yards project.

Man: Chicago is rebounding.

People are coming back into the city where.

Reporter (over tv): Chicago has lost a significant portion of its black population.

Reporter (over tv): It's the largest mass school closing ever in one u.S. City.

Woman: Good morning, good morning.

Woman (over pa): This proposal breaks illinois state law,

It breaks cps, and it breaks my heart.

Man: Everything's okay in chicago just I want

People got the job.

Man 2: The city's in shambles. We got to fix it.

Reporter (over tv): Only months before the mayoral election,

Community leaders are demanding incumbent

Rahm emanuel resign.

Woman: What we have is more akin to a dictatorship than a democracy.

Woman 2: And it's also because of closing the schools,

It's because of pensions.

Man: Taxes suck, city is flat broke all the time.

Man 2: I'm looking for a mayoral candidate that's gonna

Give some innovative ideas besides adding more police.

Woman: This election is one of the most important

In our lifetime.

Woman 2: Just hope we get somebody to get this mess straightened out.

Woman 3: There's too many candidates, you know.

You have to narrow it down.

Man: The woods are full of candidates.

Reporter (over tv): The crowded field will play out

Like a barroom brawl.

Man: That's chicago though, you know.

Man 2: Okay. Chicagoan.

Man 3: Welcome to chicago.

Tim: Chicago is often called

"the great american city," right?

New york is the greatest city in the world and

Chicago is the greatest city in america.

So being this big bustling, I didn't make that up.

I mean, you know, maybe that was part of...

Katie: Oh, I'm sure it's chicagoans that say that.

Tim: Yeah, it's the part of the carni banter, you know,

That comes out of the great midway and the world's fair.

We look and we see the tallest buildings in the world.

So tall, they reach into the clouds so we like bigger,

Bigger, bigger, that's chicago,

The city of big shoulders, right?

But at the same time,

The other side of chicago is the small corner tavern.

Katie: When we first bought the hideout,

There were factories, steel mills,

So a lot of the clientele was pretty cool.

But over the years,

The landscape here has changed substantially.

The steel mills started to close,

The businesses started to move out of the city.

And most recently, the city of chicago sold, um.

Tim: They sold all 18 acres here across the street.

A big company bought it, sterling bay,

And they've been buying all the property all around us.

So, the plans for what they're calling

Lincoln yards are going to have the stadium,

Live entertainment, bars,

Clubs along with condominiums and apartments,

Which means 70 story buildings.

Do we wanna be a global tourist city or do we wanna be

A local midwestern city of neighborhoods and that's why

It's important that in this upcoming election,

Who the leader of the city is has a direct effect on this thing.

Tim: We're gonna be here. Our plan is to stay.

Woman: I started in this bud billiken parade

When I was 10 years old.

I'm 71.

I'm still coming out here because I got grandkids in the

South shore drill team.

This has been a family thing.

Reporter (over tv): It's the largest african-american parade

In the country.

Celebrating all things great in the community.

Reporter 2 (over tv): This celebration dating back to 1929 has a kick off

To the back to school season.

Reporter 3 (over radio : Seven challengers to mayor rahm emanuel marched

In the parade,

Their first chance to practice retail politics

Ahead of an election that is more than six months away.

Man: We got a new sheriff in town y'all!

Man 2: New sheriff in town, baby!

New sheriff!

Wilson: We're gonna do service, y'all.

Crowd: Willie for mayor, willie for mayor,

Willie for mayor.

Child: Willie for mayor.

Woman (over bullhorn): Hey. Hey.

This is the man, y'all, this is the man.

Rahm emanuel has got to go. Rahm emanuel's got to go.

Crowd: Boo.

Lightfoot: Let's go now.

Woman: Yeah, I was just there with you.

God bless you and thank you for what you stand up for.

Lightfoot: Oh. Absolutely. Thank you.

Woman: Thank you so much. Lightfoot: How are you doing?

Woman: Fifteen.

Lightfoot: Come on, what's with the shirt, man?

Come on now, I'm just saying.

Woman: That's our role. I got garry mccarthy though,

Oh yeah, you know that.

Mccarthy: Have a great day.

Green: We're gonna do it. We're gonna do it, y'all.

Hey now.

Hey y'all, hey y'all, turn up, turn up.

What's up? All right, y'all.

Paul: Yeah. Woman: Hello, how are you?

Paul: All right. What high school did you graduate from?

Woman: Harlem. Paul: What year?

Woman: '94.

Woman: Oh, okay, okay.

Woman (over bullhorn): Sixteen shots and a cover up.

Man (over bullhorn): Justice for laquan.

Woman: Guilty, guilty, guilty.

Man (over bullhorn): Justice for laquan.

Woman: Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Man: He's gonna have to finish his drink.

Woman: This one is for me.

Man: Hey there, sweetie. All righty.

Woman: Hey, brother.

Sales-griffin: How are you? Man: Okay. Woman: I'm good.

Sales-griffin: Doing good? Woman: Yeah.

Sales-griffin: You look good. Woman: I wore the uniform.

Sales-griffin: You wore the uniform.

The idea of this shirt is basically says like,

"everybody should be mayor," right?

You're in charge, you're in charge.

The mayor works for you.

Man: When I found out you were running, I mean,

That's a good thing.

Sales-griffin: Yeah.

I mean, part of why I decided to do this was

Because I've seen so many of our family leaving.

Man: Yeah.

Sales-griffin: Going to the suburbs or going further away,

They don't wanna live in the city anymore because.

Man: Right.

So much violence right now.

I used to like to go walking and stuff but I don't

Feel safe like, you know.

Sales-griffin: Yeah, you can't go for a walk.

Woman: I'm 82.

As long as I've been here, nothing has really changed.

Sales-griffin: What do you wanna change though?

Woman: I wanna see the government work for the people.

The people, not the rich.

Photographer: Are you all ready?

Griffin: Yeah now we're ready.

If it's not in a green bottle, I don't want it.

It's a real beer.

Man: What? Heineken?

Griffin: Heineken, yeah, all that stuff.

Revolution, that's the good stuff.

Man: That is a good beer, man.

Man: It's even the police situation out here is ridiculous, like,

The police definitely harass us.

Sales-griffin: Cops shooting kids feeling that threat but at the same time,

You know, you got my dad over there,

People like that who, you know, they were the good cops.

Man: Right. Right.

Griffin: Miller high life, that's the cheapest beer out,

Miller high life.

I got the six-pack in the car.

Man: I know a lot of people are flocking down south to

Atlanta where rent is ridiculously cheap.

Sales-griffin: All my students,

So many of them wanna go to atlanta or new orleans.

I think they see black people having fun and being

Successful down there and they're like,

"that's where I wanna be."