Southside Series by Steve Bogira, John H. Richardson, Tori Marlan, Natalie Y. Moore, Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve

More than two decades after Darrell Cannon was tortured into a false confession of murder, he was finally released from prison with hardly an apology. He wasn’t the only one with a story to tell. Award-winning author Natalie Y. Moore reveals the fight for justice and reparations engineered by Chicago’s Black People Against Police Torture movement... moreMore than two decades after Darrell Cannon was tortured into a false confession of murder, he was finally released from prison with hardly an apology. He wasn’t the only one with a story to tell. Award-winning author Natalie Y. Moore reveals the fight for justice and reparations engineered by Chicago’s Black People Against Police Torture movement. More than one hundred African Americans were brutalized by Chicago Police Department Commander Jon Burge’s sadistic, state-sanctioned “interrogation” ring that operated within the department for decades. The racist CPD cover-up had no chance against the appalling evidence leveled by survivors. In this landmark hearing, “sorry” wasn’t going to cut it.Natalie Y. Moore’s Payback is part of Southside, a collection of five true stories about racism and reform, crime and corruption, justice and injustice in Chicago—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Marshall Project. With original photography by Carlos Javier Ortiz and Joshua Lott. Each story can be read—or listened to—in a single sitting. less

When a middle-class kid from the suburbs was caught using Facebook to distribute firearms bought legally at Indiana gun shows to notorious gangsters across the border—was he a kingpin or a scapegoat?David Lewisbey received perhaps the harshest sentence ever in a gun-trafficking trial. A college student from the suburban outskirts of Chicago, he allegedly embodied the enterprising swagger of his favorite rap lyrics, moving weapons for stacks of cash. John H... moreWhen a middle-class kid from the suburbs was caught using Facebook to distribute firearms bought legally at Indiana gun shows to notorious gangsters across the border—was he a kingpin or a scapegoat?David Lewisbey received perhaps the harshest sentence ever in a gun-trafficking trial. A college student from the suburban outskirts of Chicago, he allegedly embodied the enterprising swagger of his favorite rap lyrics, moving weapons for stacks of cash. John H. Richardson tours Chicago’s gun-soaked South Side with Lewisbey’s clientele and meets with the “Big Man” himself to unpack the truth.John H. Richardson’s The Gun King is part of Southside, a collection of five true stories about racism and reform, crime and corruption, justice and injustice in Chicago—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Marshall Project. With original photography by Carlos Javier Ortiz and Joshua Lott. Each story can be read—or listened to—in a single sitting. less

It’s easy to get lost in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, the size of seventy-two football fields. For many released into the harsh elements beyond the walls, it can be impossible to find their way home.This haunting and powerful narrative reveals the intentionally disorienting tactics of the system and how the punishments meted out to prisoners, their families, and even innocent victims extend beyond the cages... moreIt’s easy to get lost in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, the size of seventy-two football fields. For many released into the harsh elements beyond the walls, it can be impossible to find their way home.This haunting and powerful narrative reveals the intentionally disorienting tactics of the system and how the punishments meted out to prisoners, their families, and even innocent victims extend beyond the cages. Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, the award-winning author of Crook Country, exposes the moral, spiritual, legal, and psychological wasteland—inside and out—of the nation’s largest jail.Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve’s The Waiting Room is part of Southside, a collection of five true stories about racism and reform, crime and corruption, justice and injustice in Chicago—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Marshall Project. With original photography by Carlos Javier Ortiz and Joshua Lott. Each story can be read—or listened to—in a single sitting. less

One prisoner’s ninety-year murder conviction becomes another prisoner’s crusade in this ongoing true account of an unlikely friendship forged behind bars and the enduring power of hope.For seventeen years and counting, Robert Chattler has made good on his promise to help exonerate his former cellmate, Lee Harris, who he believes was baited and duped by Chicago PD and buried by the false testimony of a bribed witness... moreOne prisoner’s ninety-year murder conviction becomes another prisoner’s crusade in this ongoing true account of an unlikely friendship forged behind bars and the enduring power of hope.For seventeen years and counting, Robert Chattler has made good on his promise to help exonerate his former cellmate, Lee Harris, who he believes was baited and duped by Chicago PD and buried by the false testimony of a bribed witness. In this emotional story of courage and trust, suspicion and sacrifice, the award-winning journalist Tori Marlan reveals the uncanny friendship powering an impassioned fight for justice.Tori Marlan’s Cellmates is part of Southside, a collection of five true stories about racism and reform, crime and corruption, justice and injustice in Chicago—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Marshall Project. With original photography by Carlos Javier Ortiz and Joshua Lott. Each story can be read—or listened to—in a single sitting. less

After the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by a white police officer, Chicagoans demanded change. Can a new state’s attorney, the first black woman to hold the position, bring real reform to a broken system?With a brick on her desk from the Cabrini-Green housing project where she spent her childhood, Kim Foxx must adapt her hard-won ideals to the realities of criminal justice in Chicago... moreAfter the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by a white police officer, Chicagoans demanded change. Can a new state’s attorney, the first black woman to hold the position, bring real reform to a broken system?With a brick on her desk from the Cabrini-Green housing project where she spent her childhood, Kim Foxx must adapt her hard-won ideals to the realities of criminal justice in Chicago. In this intimate narrative by award-winning author Steve Bogira, Foxx reveals: “My mother taught me how to be a hustler. Hustle in the sense of work hard, grind—find a way out of no way.”Steve Bogira’s The Hustle of Kim Foxx is part of Southside, a collection of five true stories about racism and reform, crime and corruption, justice and injustice in Chicago—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Marshall Project. Each story can be read—or listened to—in a single sitting. less