The song.
Ferguson, a Corliss High School junior, studies music and said he wanted to do something to express his indignation with the gang violence that surrounds him every day.
So the teenager said he started writing a song about gang killings and how to stop them.
"Because I'm sick of all this violence in our communities," Ferguson told the I-Team.
He began writing the song three months ago. "I'm trying to send out a message-let the youth know there are some teens that care. I hope this song really sends a message to the youth to stop all this killing because it's getting too out of hand. I'm fed up with it."
Our I-Team crew met Ferguson in the Roseland neighborhood while shooting a "One Night in Chicago" segment. The teenager happened to be volunteering that night with the Youth Peace Center of Roseland. He was part of a contingent from the anti-gang organization "Ceasefire" that went into violent neighborhoods, attempting to stop violence before it starts.
"Blaque [pronounced Blake] came up to me and introduced himself," said ABC7 investigative reporter Chuck Goudie. "I started asking him about where he went to school and what he was involved in. He told me that he was interested in music and had written a song about all the troubles that he sees," said Goudie.
"When I asked to see the lyrics-thinking it might be something for our news report - he told me that the lyrics were all in his head. So I asked him to sing some of it. When he started to sing, I knew we had to put it to tape," Goudie said.
Ferguson sang the song a cappella that night for our news camera and it was recorded in one take.
I-Team video editor Annie Esp mixed the recording with some scenes from ABC7's "One Night in Chicago" reports, producing an instant music video… with a message.
