Cabrini Dreams

A short documentary made by high school students about living in Cabrini Green in Chicago, consisting of interviews with young residents of the complex.

00:28Copy video clip URL The host introduces footage of 1230 N. Larrabee, part of the White projects of Cabrini Green Homes. “A very nice neighborhood. The main thing of this neighborhood is success.”

00:47Copy video clip URL The host, a teen boy, points out the security improvements made to the mail room. 

01:10Copy video clip URL Another videomaker narrates exterior images of the buildings. Police cars are parked out front. “They say this is what’s happening but it’s bad. It’s real bad. You see somebody, everybody right here in the heart of Cabrini. This is where it’s said you could find some of everything and some of everybody. Everything is always going on here in Cabrini. Everything.” 

01:27Copy video clip URL Title card. One of the videomakers asks a resident, a young man: “What do you look forward to in life?” The man talks about wanting to drive his own racing car in the future. 

01:44Copy video clip URL Another young man talks about getting money so he can leave Cabrini. “I want to go to a quiet place. A place that I could get away from some of the things that be happening.”

02:05Copy video clip URL An interview with videomaker Walter Connolly: “I’ve been living here all my life, you know. I’ve been other places but this seems like the place I’m ending up at right now…. I think that I know how to handle myself. It’s just that you just live with each day. You can’t really say what you’re gonna do tomorrow because you never know if you’ll be living tomorrow, or something like that.” “So you try to get out of everyday as much as you can?” “I’m still in school. I plan on going to college. Gonna take up business management. Try to play a little football too. If I make it, you know, I’ll still remember this place because this is where my childhood was.” 

02:53Copy video clip URL Exteriors of the buildings, including shot  of police officers on the sidewalk. A conversation about “working it out the best that you can” while living at Cabrini. 

03:26Copy video clip URL End of tape.