Track 1

Introduction
In the early 1960s, members of the Conservative Vice Lords rose up and fought for their community.  Benny Lee provides an overview of this extraordinary history.

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Track 2

Back in the Heyday
In the mid-sixties, several Vice Lord leaders were struck by the problems facing the youth of Lawndale -- lack of services, few programs for young people, and poverty. One afternoon in a pool hall, they decided that no one could tackle these issues better than the Vice Lords themselves.

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Track 3

Superfly
Former Vice Lord Benny Lee now works as a community leader and activist. He remembers his time as a gang leader  and reflects on how the culture of the seventies changed the consciousness of the Conservative Vice Lords.

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Track 4

I'm Living Testimony
In the '90s, Derek Brown was part of the Insane Vice Lords, a violent street gang that sold drugs. He finally left the gang after several run-ins with the law, and was inspired by his own experiences and the history of the CVL to start a boxing gym for youth.

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Track 5

More than one thing
John Hagedorn, Professor of Criminology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, reads an essay on the multiple, conflicting identities of gang members.

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Track 6

Museums to the People
Ann Zelle came to the West Side from Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art to help start Art & Soul -- a creative hang-out for the neighborhood where youth from Lawndale could take art and writing workshops. In this essay, she discusses the role of established cultural institutions in helping to create social change.