Gunfire Survivors speak from The Forgotten Parts of Chicago
Recordings and Commentary by Ian Brennan
Editor's note:
When this set of recordings came to me, I was at a loss as to how to share it. It's not music, in any traditional sense (although there is some freestyle rapping), and a 'review' of such an artifact of reality seems superfluous to the content. Instead, I asked sound recordist Ian Brennan if I could simply use his own brief commentary and the recordings he made on the street in Chicago.
Twenty-five people afflicted by gun violence participated, many from the very block we’d setup on. Many neighbors were pulled-in spontaneously. Almost every one in the community had been impacted by violence somehow— both on the receiving and the inflicting end, and many both.
One woman had just come from a memorial service, another was on her way. That’s how far-reaching the violence. Almost no one went untouched.
By chance, we convened on the day that Trump ordered the deployment of the National Guard to the city. The recording took place on the front porch of the leader's ninety-four-year-old grandmother's house—right in the heart of the “‘hood,” beneath the Midway Airport’s landing path. A pair of stray pitfalls stalked the block. But the grandmother warned not of gunshots, but the mosquitoes in her yard.
We were in a section of town that one man defined as “the forgotten parts.” Just a short jaunt from the designer clothes shops and posh hotels of the city’s Magnificent Mile, the Southside spawned such legendary Blues artists as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Howlin’ Wolf. Jazz musicians like Lionel Hampton and even Benny Goodman, hailed from nearby.
The participants ranged in age from seventeen to sixty-seven, but the pattern held true. The person who’d asserted “you’ll really want to hear my story,” was the least compelling. The reluctant, the most moving.
One elder’s tough facade broke down as she shared how she’d lost both her sons. She tearfully apologized, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” But she had nothing to be sorry for. Society is the one that owes the apology— for the staggering statistical inequities of which no reasonable defense can be made.
Editor's note: The full set of recordings are available on Bandcamp. Any profits from this project will be donated to Cure Violence Global, who states that their mission is "advancing an evidence-based health approach to end violence globally."
When I asked him about the background sounds, producer Ian Brennan added, "No music is added. It’s all sounds from the source environment. I also ran loops/drones on a different track in the background as they spoke, and when they ended up being incidentally/somewhat magically/eerily synchronous, that is what was used for a few pieces with 'accompaniment' like some of the rap freestyles."
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