“You being from Chicago, I think you have an advantage over people from damn near any other place in the world. Our hustle is different. Our grind is different.” 

Sage words of wisdom from Scoop Jackson to “We Real Chicago” host Rome J., who came on the show to discuss all things sports in Chicago. 

The senior ESPN sports writer and Rome J. chatted about the current 2019-2020 NBA season and Jackson’s thoughts on the 2020-2021 season, especially the Chicago Bulls. 

“I’m from Chicago. You’re from Chi. If we leave Chi, are we proud to say the Bulls are representing us as a city?” Jackson asked Rome J. 

“Oh God, not right now!” Rome J. responded.  

“That’s my point….So it’s not about production, it’s about the place that you’re from — is that team representing your place, your hometown, well? That’s what I’m not a fan of,” said Jackson.

The pair also discussed the Chicago Public School (CPS) to NBA ‘pipeline’, and the fact that several CPS graduates from schools such as Simeon Career Academy are having great success in college and NBA. 

“There’s a lot of hardships put up against the kids that are coming out of CPS, because of the heaven and hell that CPS can be, but through sports, especially through basketball, there are some really special things that can come out of there,” Jackson told Rome J. 

Prior to his conversation with Jackson, Rome J. talked with ‘artrepreneur’ Alexie Young, founder of Art West, a new art gallery she recently opened on Chicago’s West Side.

“One of the things that has been a personal mission of Art West is rebranding the West Side experience through arts and culture,” Young told Rome J. 

Art West, a collective of artist and creative professionals, is trying to reinsert the West Side into the conversation about the Black arts and culture communities, which usually centers neighborhoods on the South Side such as Hyde Park and Bronzeville. 

Young sees this historical exclusion as being related to the higher concentration of more affluent Black people in these South Side communities, with more access to arts and entertainment. However, Art West is working to change all that. 

“I want people to know we have a lot to offer on the arts and culture amenities side,” she said.

To hear more about Art West, as well as Scoop’s take on the NBA, check out “We Real Chicago” on TRiiBE TV.

is a researcher for TRiiBE TV.