Brandis Friedman

Jul 24, 2024 | news.wttw.com | Brandis Friedman

File photo from inside Stateville Correctional Center. (WTTW News)The nailed-shut windows and broken industrial fans mean there’s little ventilation inside Stateville Correctional Center. Old floor fans face toward the building’s higher levels in a failed attempt to circulate air on the top galleries as heat stays trapped inside.

Jun 25, 2024 | news.wttw.com | Brandis Friedman

Michael Broadway was among the first group of incarcerated men to receive a bachelor’s degree from a top 10 university when he was awarded a diploma in November 2023 along with 15 others from Northwestern University. Broadway, an author and stage 4 prostate cancer survivor, was given a special acknowledgement during the graduation ceremony at Stateville Correctional Center that day by renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, the commencement speaker, who held up a copy of his book.

May 15, 2024 | news.wttw.com | Brandis Friedman

Of the nearly 30,000 people serving sentences in Illinois’ prisons, there are some who proclaim their innocence. In the last 20 years, the state has released a spate of mostly men who were wrongfully convicted, some after it was determined they were tortured into giving confessions. In fact, Illinois was faced with so many claims of torture that it created the Torture Relief and Inquiry Commission, or TIRC, in 2009.

Mar 20, 2024 | news.wttw.com | Brandis Friedman

By now a handful of theatergoers have had the chance to see the latest production on Steppenwolf’s stage: “Purpose.” The play about a Black political Illinois family is brand new — so new that cast members didn’t even have a complete script when WTTW News sat down with them less than two weeks ago. But playwright, MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins said that’s how the best productions are made.

Feb 22, 2024 | news.wttw.com | Brandis Friedman

“It’s touching,” Williams said. “It’s about a woman pouring out her heart because she lost everything.”Williams said he lost everything after he was run over by a car. The crash left him with leg injuries that prevented him from working his construction job. “My money ran out, I wasn’t getting no check,” he said. “I was evicted.”Williams said he is still homeless, couch surfing with friends and family while maintaining a picture-perfect exterior.