Well what a time we had, This is Tom Slick from Cabrini Green ,From back in the day, AKA Lamonte' Johnson living in London Now. If you were growing up in CG 911 Club , St Josep stepper's party and The Jesse White team, God bless us all this world can be very heart less and misguiding, I had my Mother Emily Moon Johnson Artist& Poet and Jesse White to help me go forward with my Dreams to becoming a fashion designer and teaching young youth's in Paris and London my skills , I learn as a youth. To Paris from the projects in Chicago ill. It's not over even with all the bad issue in the world. Look out for Chicago Gypsy Ltd London this year, A real Artist who gives back to my community No matter where I live. from the hood and my Westside roots Love also. Peace out Chicago Ill
Glad to hear you are doing well. My mom past this year and when I see videos like this I think her because she was around the age of the first women in the video. God bless.
So elated to see that you and others have benefited from social programs like Jesse White. may that brother and his descendants be forever blessed for the good & noble deeds he has done!
In 83 my mom was here with a little me. Growing up in this, you didn’t realize how inhumane it was until you left. Some people were there until the mid 2000s so I always went back. Grateful to say I survived the greens!
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
Lived at 502 west Oak in Cabrini Greens red walls..There were good times but mostly bad...drugs..gangs...poverty and miseducation...and watching people I know and love be destroyed by the crack and coke epidemics...I'll never forget 502...it's forced me to be the best woman I can possibly be...when things get hard I look back and I'm truly humbled by the inhumane conditions through which I've survived...to my Cabrini/ Town and garden/ row house/orange door people...I'm sending love and light ❤❤
I learned about Cabrini Green from watching Candyman many years ago. I am glad this footage still exists to speak to history that might have remained hidden from those who were not local.
It was horrifying living in housing projects across the nation. I stayed in a very dangerous housing project in Atlanta back then. I didn’t realize it was inhumane until we moved to the suburbs
Im from Brooklyn NYC. '92. I was raised by old school southern men and woman. If they all were alive they'll be bout hundred now. Hearing these ladies fear reminds me of how scared my mom was for me. She raised me to be a good man. I was picked on alot growing up in the projects in NYC. I assume because she raised me with Southern morals I just seemed different to kids. Looking back i understand. She just wanted me to be strong live and grow peacefully. I know what its like cold water, project roaches everywhere no matter how much she cleaned. Taking me snd picking me up from school to insure my safety...i relate to chicago. I feel the people pf Chicago in spirit for some reason. God bless the good folk and Good lord heal the bad. Amen
Skinny dude with the red hat was speaking with an accent closer to the hood chicago accent you hear today. Probably because he was young. The older people spoke with a more classic american accent like how they used to speak in those old films from the 60's and 50's. Its interesting to see both the developments and decaying of speech here
All that government assistance and housing assistance black mayors black Secretary of State black president and still blame white and still can’t get it right 🤦🏽♂️
1983 Cabrini Greens. I was there 5 years old at the time. I still remember the smell of gasoline mixed with oil. The elevators sometimes had feces and urine in the corner. My mother decided to leave after finding out my dad's infidelities and getting robbed at knife point while holding my hand.
@@flexibledreamer7846 believe it or not I have many pleasant memories I wish I could live again. When you're a kid your world is nothing but candy, cartoons, and toys. All I remember is a room full of toys and fun.
A lot of people dont know , that the (EVANS FAMILY) from the TV Show - (GOOD TIMES) was depicted living in an APARTMENT inside the (CABRINI GREEN HOUSING PROJECTS) back in the 1970's CHICAGO.
Everybody was scared, we stayed out Cabrini, we knew better. I wish there was a documentary about what happened to these young men and how their lives panned out. I fear a lot of them lost their lives in Cabrini Green.
@mariahwhitneycelinejanetmadona Because there were nothing but very violent gangs. If you went through, you were sure to get shot, robbed, or at the least beat down. It was a very poor, angry, and overlooked neighborhood where many residents also suffered.
The one lady said CONCENTRATION CAMP 🚨 They put us in a cement COMPOUND, put drugs and guns in our neighborhoods and let them DESTROY EACH OTHER. What a #PROJECT😢
I guess the government should build mansions for everyone who needs a place to stay and let them stay there for free? Also, the main issues with the projects seem to come from the people there/community. There's nothing the government can do about that. Look a modern day st Louis, New Orleans, they have the same issues.
My aunt stayed in the Chicago projects. I actually had fun visiting her..other than the smell of piss and wild people. It was different to take the paper food stamps to the store. I thought it was monopoly money. It was very interesting coming from the suburbs in Atlanta to the war zone in Chicago
Did you ever venture out to the positivity in Chicago. Those areas are not what Chicago is I reside in upscale Chicago and trust and believe crime her is very, very limited. No gun shots or junkies everywhere. The city has libraries, museums, restaurants, high end restaurants&stores, etc. it’s a shame that the ghettos which is a small area in Chicago get the most publicity. This is a great place not just the hood, 🙄. Where I live is 90 percent upper class or wealthy ppl, we enjoy our lives, community, etc.
My dad stayed in Chicago for about a year in a half and it was about this year like this video was in 1983 and 1984 my dad went in Cabrini green in 83 when he was 16 and 17 years old and he was visiting a friend and he told me he saw some gang members shooting dice on the project staircase step and bumping music and they all surrounded him they told him what colors you rockin and he said I don’t gang bang man and my dads friend who lived in Cabrini green came down just in time and told the gang bangers he was with him and he was his friend
Love seeing old videos of major cities!!! Classic Housing I watched growing up!!! Kids have a slight chance of doing good coming from this!!! Not using excuses but most of it the truth. Makes you grow up fast and wish no one ever had to go thru this.
It’s a shame that this country sanctions using Black people for their experiments. Black people continue to support the party that’s doing absolutely nothing for us. Years later and nothing has changed.
This was a great documentary. It was refreshing to hear the young men talking about what they want to do over the next five years. Even in a bad situation, most of them had realistic goals. The one that got me was the young man who said he just hopes to still be living. Hope they were able to achieve the goals. Crazy how things have not changed in those areas. It's like that all over the country. It's shows that if you give people jobs, resources, quality education, etc. it will make a huge difference in the community. But it's not on the government's agenda to make things better for those areas.
This hurt's my stomach for my people.. My damn we come from some treacherous situations and living conditions. From the minute we "left" the field, we've had so many trials and tribulations, and we're still fighting.. I love Us, forever..
Who was hurting them? Who was tearing up the free complex? Who was causing the complex to be unsafe? The same people that lived there. Blame those people for hurting your people. They are to blame. Keep your stuff nice and safe. Keep it a safe environment.
@@sr-ty7gb poverty/lack of resources = crime jackass.. It's much deeper than you're stating, but you don't want to understand lol, so just keep it cool.. They named them "Projects" for a reason.
Watching this hurts. And to understand that 4 decades later, the needle hasn't moved very far is even more heart breaking. So many systems, constructs and ideas have to fail to get here. Just sad. We have long needed our very own Nehemiah...
Yet, they've found 58 million dollars to roll out the red carpet for the ILLEGAL Migrants tent shelters. The South side of Chicago is fighting back. They are giving resources to these people that black folks have been begging after for years! These people don't speak the language, vote, pay taxes, etc...they come here as a complete burden and make it not only the country's problem but more specifically poor black folks, because those are the communities these buses are dumping these people in. Keep in mind these same Hispanics come here telling their kids to stay away from black folks.
That's true, the government started promoting single motherhood especially in the 70s & got worse from there, they reward single mothers with more benefits than a married woman would receive, black community never had this problem in the 40s, 50s, 60s, look at the single mother stats, only risen in every community
If you had an adult male living in the home you would lose your housing. My mom had to hide my uncles that needed a place to stay in the closet or under the bed when them people came for random inspections to make sure no men were living in the home. I actually grew up thinking that was normal. It was social engineering at its most evil. Reason number 5011 why we need reparations now.
@@miskwainini Yes as a young boy I can vividly remember living in the Cabrini Green housing projects during the 1970s in buildings 923 N. Sedwick & 819 on Clevland St. in the rowhouses and the case worker would come twice a month to check in on the living situation of my family. This caseworker was so sneaky and lowdown that on many occasions she would come unannounced and this stinking heifer would do just what you stated prior looking in our closets, bathroom, and under the beds for a male figure. she would even go as far as deducting from my mother's monthly allotment if she found that we had extras like, a television, radio, or a new appliance. Yes, these folks and their Marxist, socialist, programs were definitely used to destroy Black America as we know it...
Its a sad situation I feel bad for kids who have to grow up in these situations. We gotta make smart decisions early dont have kids unless you ready to settle down with someone reliable and caring. We gotta bring discipline to our youth back. When the youth lose all respect for their elders its not a good thing.
@@NotLikeUs869right, there’s no excuse, especially in this day and age. The reason it seems like a never ending cycle is because people refuse to accept accountability.
1983 and 2023 still no difference amongst my brothers. Still out here killing each other and still can’t figure out why they hate each other so much. 😢
Well that the problem not everyone your brother some ppl out here to rape steal and murder all ages that why I don't support BLM because it a paid lie organization
@@MarcKlark as bad as it was back then it nothing compared to Chicago today......One dude used his own daughter as a shield while they was shooting at him for dissing the dead by pissing on graves
This warmed my heart and idk why….my mom lived in the projects for some time but I would visit her on the weekends and I always stayed in fights too all by myself…..I fought my way back all the way to her apartment once while a whole groups of kids and teenagers followed…..they stood outside until my mother got back home smfh DAMN was I there alone 🤔
I learned a lot about Jesse White watching this. As a Republican, it is rare that I will praise a Democrat politician, but before he became a politician he did more good work for these kids than all of the politicians combined. He genuinely cared. He actually walked the walk, while Jesse Jackson and AL Sharpton have talked the talk and done so mostly for their own sake. The kids don't need promises, they need someone with a plan to help them who is sincere, and that was Jesse White.
@tomgrunhard5400 We should put political differences aside. We're all Americans. We got to work together instead of seeing the other side as "an enemy out to destroy the country". The only group that helps is the actual enemies of the US. Democrat, republican whatever. American. Jesse White wanted to help the people because he was a human being who cared watching other human beings struggle to survive. Not cuz of his political party.
Definitely not a Republican or Democrat debate. If the Federal Government truly cared about equality and taking care of the youth, they’d be pumping enough funding into schools so that education and resources ensured success and opportunity for All American children despite any neighborhood disadvantages. Plenty of kids in this documentary and still today from environments like these want better in life and deserve opportunities.
@@KB8Killa NOT true At ALL! This country could afford to subsidize ALL public schools to be fully financially equipped to compete with private schools in Every community and not be pressed IF*** citizens prioritized Education. It’s been proven there’s more than enough in our tax structure to afford the best in education and healthcare if we wanted? But that money is being poured into other areas as well as waste, greed and corruption. It’s an out and out lie when they try to say there’s not enough money for better education
When they put them out of that prison chicago crime rate went up tremendously. It’s sad but true. I’m black. Lived down the street. People from the projects were just different.
@@NotLikeUs869it was the government program that caused this. Use that melanated magic to educate your self on the social engineering egregores they instilled on the black american family
@guesswhosgoing2jail2nite78 The welfare system gives more money to the single mothers! That's why the men leave and the fatherless epidemic was engineered!
Of course, because black men/boys think that's the only things that they're good at is dribble a ball or rap a damn lyric, they never say that they want to be a profession (doctor, lawyer, scientist) that meaningful....it's either being a rapper or an athlete--nothing more, nothing less.
I just don’t know why you have to tear up and vandalize things. That’s what always gets on my nerves. We’re poor and so we are here. Let’s try and keep the place together. But the city definitely had a responsibility to do better! Ridiculous!!
the craziest part is they talk like they’re forced to live there. when the reality is you could get a good paying trade job, save your money and get a decent spot
I'm sorry to hear that bro bro- I lost my mom in 1999 and its hard growing up without parents--we had to stay strong, I've overcome a lot of obstacles in my life--its not easy for BM in this world.
The real truth. But they still do not want to acknowledge the facts and speak on the history. Learn from the historical mistakes like redlining and discrimination amongst other unnecessary hardships we faced all because of our skin color. The solution is to not hide the history but teach it and learn from the past mistakes. But the green dollar greed makes everybody colorblind, especially yt people.
Interesting the guy in the red PLAYBOY hat didn’t seem to understand why guys went at him. If he wore that hat that’s probably why. Gotta be aware of stuff like that in a city like Chicago
When they leveled Cabrini Green, the area turned into condos. Gentrification completely. And they pushed the people out to a lot of parts of the Chicagoland Area.
Not just Chicagoland area, they moved them to the adjacent states. Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana. The river town I lived in, in Iowa had an influx in the 90's from Cabrini and Robert Taylor Homes. It wasn't just the good folks they displaced, it was the gang bangers too. The criminals have no reason to be walking the streets.
He knows dam well why He prolly meant*were down to fight but we rather keep community smooth to make our $$" lmfao you already know like other cat said we to close
@@djlukacs before I even looked at his hat I could tell he was just by demeanor and way he carries himself slash talks to the media(forget media pr training my man's laced up stronger then a Mexicans forest gump72 Nike Cortez ya Hur me?) Lol some bout the finballs mane,I saw the bunny I said mane I know my hood nih skills wasn't going off fo no reason lol
Money wasnt the issue. The type of people that lived there was the issue. Things were broke because they broke it. They tore it up and cannibalized. They sat around and blamed everyone, blamed the police, blamed the government, blamed the landlord....blamed everyone but themselves.
I live in the projects in Olean NY. Lots of poor uneducated people live here but there is very little crime and the apartments are in very good shape. I couldn't imagine living in big city projects with all the drugs and crime.
Im from NYC and know all about these types of conditions. No one should ever have to live like this! When I was young I just didnt really think about it. Just accepted it as a part of life. Thats just the way it is mind set. If I could go back in time I would have gotten involved somehow. Those people needed a Booker T Washington. Why didnt anyone rise to the challenge?
I grew up in Louisiana,it wasn't that bad my mom never did drugs worked her butt off to take care of us, watching some of these videos i feel sorry for them,its cold no heat the police mess with them gangs gotta worry about getting killed just walking down the street
@@tiffanyblanton476depends on how and where you grew up. It was nothing like that for me growing up in New Orleans. I lived on the Westbank of New Orleans tho. We didn't fuck around in are around the projects.
I wonder if a lot of the violence stemmed from cramming so many people into a small area. I have never lived in any projects but I have been to various ones including as a child when I visited and stayed over with relatives. A lot of the ones I have been to are townhouses or duplexes rather than high rises. There is green space between the buildings. I walk around by myself and no one has bothered me. I think some people think anytime it’s the projects then it means there is a crime problem there which isn’t always the case. Also the ones where people I knew lived had periodic inspections foe cleanliness. If your unit doesn’t pass inspection you can get kicked out.
