The Ambassadors of Cabrini

Documentary about the Jesse White Tumblers, a gymnastic group made up predominantly of kids from the Chicago Housing Authority's Cabrini Green.

0:00Copy video clip URL WTTW promo

0:20Copy video clip URL Introduction to members of Jesse White Tumbling Team.

0:50Copy video clip URL Title

1:00Copy video clip URL Shots of Cabrini Green. V/o with background on Tumbling Team and Cabrini.

1:50Copy video clip URL Resident leads crew around buildings.

2:10Copy video clip URL Resident talks about her fear living in that area, shots of dilapidated interiors.

2:40Copy video clip URL Team practice with coach Jessie White. White discusses why the team is a positive activity for the kids.

3:55Copy video clip URL Team talks about why team has been a positive experience for them.

4:30Copy video clip URL Team practice.

5:10Copy video clip URL Interview with various guys about how they began tumbling.

5:40Copy video clip URL Kids perform in hallways of Cabrini.

7:05Copy video clip URL Talks about how kids at Cabrini don’t have the same opportunities as richer children. “We never get a chance to do what all the, while we were at our young age, what most of the young little white kids do. They grow up, their mother can send them to school, or they can take up gymnastics, use all the apparatus or go to, you know, swimming. So they can take up ballet, they can have something to do, they have money to do that. We don’t have money to do that. That’s why, we can do the stuff that they do, but they can do it a little bit better because they have more training – better training, more practice, more equipment. You know – just a little bit more than what we have. If we had what they had, we’d be equal.”

8:10Copy video clip URL White talks.

8:30Copy video clip URL Kids talk.

8:45Copy video clip URL DePaul alumni hall. Team performs at half-time.

10:05Copy video clip URL Kids talk about the stress of performing and the way tumbling keeps members from trouble. Discuss gangs, shootings, robbing.

11:35Copy video clip URL White discusses gang problems.

11:50Copy video clip URL Kid talks about trouble performing in gang territory.

12:40Copy video clip URL White talks about dedication of team members.

12:55Copy video clip URL Kids talk about how important adults like White can be to kids.

13:20Copy video clip URL Tumblers perform outside in lawn.

14:05Copy video clip URL Kids talk about problems with leadership and kids who don’t have the opportunity to be on the team.

14:35Copy video clip URL White mentions the family situations of most of the team members’ single parents, welfare.

15:00Copy video clip URL Mother mentions terrible living conditions in Cabrini.

15:25Copy video clip URL Kids talk about terrible living conditions and how they affect people.

15:45Copy video clip URL Exterior shots of Cabrini.

16:30Copy video clip URL Woman discusses time when Mayor lived at Cabrini. She is afraid to let her kids outside alone. “I’m scared for my kids,” she says, “because I stay in the house, but my children have to go to school.”

17:00Copy video clip URL Kid talks about feeling trapped in his apartment.

17:10Copy video clip URL Woman discusses problems with kids being harassed.

17:35Copy video clip URL Kid discusses police harassment.

17:55Copy video clip URL Woman says nothing has changed.

18:30Copy video clip URL Title: Mayor Byrne’s Last Day at Cabrini; shots of police arresting people.

18:50Copy video clip URL Kid talks about being interrogated and beaten up by police for no reason by police from out of area.

19:30Copy video clip URL White talks about problem balancing gangs and police – both bad.

20:00Copy video clip URL Kid says blacks have to change, not just blame whites for their problems.

20:30Copy video clip URL Shots of kids outside Cabrini watching tumblers perform.

21:25Copy video clip URL Kid says blacks should unite instead of fighting with each other. Other kid thinks solution is more jobs available.

22:25Copy video clip URL White emphasizes importance of school and hope for future of kids. Shots of tumbling team.

23:05Copy video clip URL Kids discuss their hopes for their own futures and jobs.

24:45Copy video clip URL End credits.

26:55Copy video clip URL End of tape.