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From friends to rivals to friends again: Former gang members on why they joined Chicago gangs

Published February 10, 2023 at 1:20 PM EST
Members of the community march on Chicago's West Side to protest the 2015 shooting death of 7-year-old Amari Brown, the son of a gang leader with a lengthy arrest record. (Christian K. Lee/AP)
Members of the community march on Chicago's West Side to protest the 2015 shooting death of 7-year-old Amari Brown, the son of a gang leader with a lengthy arrest record. (Christian K. Lee/AP)

Nearly 700 people were killed in Chicago last year, most of them in shootings. Chicago has been trying to break the cycle of violence by turning to community-based violence intervention, including former gang members working to intervene in gang disputes.

For this season of the podcast “Motive,” WBEZ’s Patrick Smith shadowed anti-violence workers. Motive explores violence on the streets of Chicago and the former gang members working to stop it. Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Smith about their efforts.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.