WTTW's 'Firsthand' Follows Community Peacekeepers – An Interview with a Producer

WTTW's award-winning Firsthand began in 2019 to highlight the firsthand perspectives of people facing critical issues in Chicago. Over the years, we have covered gun violence, coronavirus, poverty, segregation, life after prison, homelessness, and the migrant experience.

Beginning on Monday, February 17 and throughout 2025 at wttw.com/firsthand and on the PBS app, Firsthand will shine a spotlight on peacekeepers – extraordinary individuals who are working to create peace in their Chicago neighborhoods. We spoke with documentary co-executive producer Dan Protess about why this is a timely topic and what we can learn from these everyday heroes who are taking it upon themselves to try to heal their communities.

This interview and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Why were peacekeepers selected as the focus area for this year’s Firsthand initiative?

Dan Protess: This is our seventh year of the project, and up until now, the titles of the series have always focused on social problems, like gun violence or segregation. Over the years we have also highlighted solutions to these problems through profiles of people doing heroic work. This year, the title centers on the heroes themselves. Right now, there is so much energy in our city around supporting community violence intervention programs, so it made sense to profile everyday heroes who are working to make their communities more peaceful places.

Can you explain what is meant by peacekeepers?           

Protess: We are profiling people who are actively intervening in violent conflicts, and also creating the conditions for peace in more subtle ways. So, for instance, one story is about Diane Latiker, who is caring for neighborhood teens in Roseland and West Pullman. She’s not jumping out in front of conflicts, but she’s helping to create a beloved community. We are also profiling a judge in the North Lawndale Restorative Justice Community Court, where they are attempting to address crimes such as gun possession in ways that are designed to heal the victims, the community, and the offenders themselves.

Street outreach workers have received so much attention over the last few years, including in our inaugural topic, Firsthand: Gun Violence. This year, we are trying to show the more preventative and restorative aspects of this work. Yes, they are often putting themselves in the middle of dangerous situations, but they are also a constant presence in their communities – showing up long before there is a conflict, and sticking around long after the police have left – working out peace agreements, leading peace circles, and simply being a positive presence.

How were the documentary subjects chosen?  

Protess: Our team has been working on Firsthand for seven years now, so we have developed a process. First, we do a deep dive into the research on the subject, to better understand the issues that we might want to spotlight in the documentaries. Then, we connect with experts who are working in the area to ask for introductions to people who we might want to profile in the series. We talk with about 50 possible documentary participants before we settle on five. When all is said and done, at a certain point we need to set aside all of the research and talking about issues, and focus on the individual human being and their story.

Is there one story this year that you find especially compelling?

Protess: It is hard to pick favorites, but Damien’s story is remarkable, in ways that are tragic but at the same time leave you feeling hopeful. There is a constant sense of motion as he rushes from one crisis to the next in Garfield Park. And then, in the midst of filming the story, one of Damien’s own outreach workers loses his son to community violence. It is quite clearly weighing on Damien personally, and at the same time, he needs to continue to do his job, which is to make sure that there’s no retaliation.

And Judge Spratt’s story is so fascinating. It offers a glimpse of a completely different kind of criminal justice system, in which it feels like the community is coming together to solve a problem. On the surface, her story could not be more different from Damien’s, but the throughline here is that these are community-based interventions, and they are focused on solving problems holistically, not just on punishing one person.

Why do you think it’s important to tell these stories now?

Protess: There has been energy over the last few years around creating alternatives to traditional methods of policing and adjudication. And these documentaries show that we do in fact have viable alternatives. Research and data shows that community violence intervention programs can sometimes make communities safer, and there is encouraging data on the efficacy of restorative justice courts. But these programs depend on political will and philanthropic support, both of which tend to come and go.

What do you hope viewers will take away from this series?           

Protess: I’m hoping they will see these peacekeepers as professionals whose work is guided by research, and who have received extensive training, and who, like a mail carrier or a city worker, are fixtures in their neighborhoods. With many other professions, we tend to assume all of this, perhaps because they are wearing uniforms, or because they have professional degrees, or they are working for government agencies. The term “peacekeeper” here is obviously imprecise and hasn’t been adopted as a formal job title, but it may be a helpful framework as we think about what kinds of people are essential to making our city work.