About What's Left Behind?

What's Left Behind is a documentary highlighting the stories of moms and families of murdered loved ones in Chicago. The documentary examines the aftermath of Chicago violence in the lives of surviving family members. Family members discuss how the trauma and grief impacts their daily life and mental and emotional well-being. It also highlights the need for mental and emotional resources in neighborhoods with high levels of gun violence.

Meet the Team

Tori Beach

Videographer, Editor

In the fall of 2023, I was invited to join the What’s Left Behind documentary, a project that asked me to both help edit pre-existing footage and interviews, as well as capture additional stories. From the moment I became involved, I understood the weight of the responsibility I was taking on. This was not just another project—it was an opportunity to amplify the voices of families who have suffered unimaginable loss due to gun violence in Chicago. As an editor and videographer, my role was to shape these families' stories in a way that honored their loved ones, while also shedding light on the harsh reality of life after such a devastating tragedy. The goal of the film was clear: to inform and engage viewers about the enduring pain these families carry and the resilience they display in their everyday lives. The importance of this documentary cannot be overstated. It serves not only as a platform for those affected by gun violence but also as a tool for fostering empathy in those who may be distant from these experiences. By sharing the raw, unfiltered stories of loss, the film aims to ignite a sense of urgency in viewers, urging them to take action and work toward a future without gun violence.

Lisa Butler

Co-Director, Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Narrator, Researcher, Co-Principal Investigator of the Illinois Innovation Grant, "What's Left Behind?"’

In 2013, I was a research assistant on a University of Illinois at Urbana Research Board project called the South Chicago Black Mother’s Resiliency; I interviewed many Black women who had experienced losing loved ones to gun violence. It occurred to me that we never hear from the families of gun violence past the 30-second new story clip. I wanted to know what happened once the funeral was over. I needed to know who these young people were, what they liked to do, and what was important to them. I wanted to humanize them. I was also curious about how these murders impacted their loved one’s emotional, mental, and physical health. This documentary would allow the public to see the devastation caused by these senseless murders and hopefully inspire change.

Dr. Janice Collins

Creative Director, Supervising Editor, and Co-Writer

I began working with Dr. Mendenhall and the Team in February of 2024 as the Creative Director of her projects, including the Documentary “What’s Left Behind”. I am extremely honored and humbled to be a part of this special Production. Producer, Lisa Butler, the Visionary for this story, knew this was an Important and Impactful Story of "What's Left Behind" and how families and communities are surviving that needed to be told. As the Creative Director - in the writing for the story, I worked to capture the vision of the producers, added tenderness to the stories and visions of family members with beautiful poems written by Poet Laureate Dr. Mendenhall connecting the emotions, mixed in with original music from young artists, and designed heart rhythms in culmination edited by talented Tori Beach. I applaud Lisa Butler who listened to the stories over the past 8 years and knew the importance of sharing these stories. I applaud Dr. Ruby Mendenhall who saw to it that the project would be completed. It was a labor of love and humanity to play a role in bringing the vision, Lisa's dream, to the screen and for what I hope to be a portion of Healing for all involved, including the viewers. It was an amazing experience with an amazing Team.

Evan Delong

Web Developer, Social Media Marketer

I'm a social media marketing specialist and website developer with years of experience building, maintaining, and running online campaigns. I worked with Dr. Mendenhall and the "What's Left Behind"? team as the developer of this website. I am very grateful to be a part of this exceptional project. The design of the website is tuned to match the tone of the documentary as well as efficiently provide background information and promote events/sponsors.

Veronica Harrison

Documentary Publicist, VL Harrison Communications

Vee L. Harrison is an award-winning journalist from Chicago’s West Side. Her work appears in publications across the entire nation, covering and highlighting Black culture and Black narratives. Harrison is a local and international change agent, an influencer setting the stage for new voices in Black media and communications. During the course of her career as a journalist, she battled social structure through the lens of a Black woman raised in Austin, Chicago’s largest, poorest community on the city’s West Side in the 1990s.

Dr. Ruby Mendenhall

Co-Producer, Co-Director, Co-Writer, Poetry Writer, Narrator, Researcher, Principal Investigator of the Illinois Innovation Network Grant

In 2013, I was a Principal Investigator (PI) on a University of Illinois at Urbana Research Board project called the South Chicago Black Mothers’ Resiliency with Co-PIs Dr.s Gene Robinson, Brent Roberts and Sandra Rodriguez-Zas. We examined how living in neighborhoods with high levels of gun violence affected Black mothers’ mental and physical health. Specifically, we wanted to understand how stress gets "under the skin" and how you get stress out from "under the skin." We interviewed close to 100 Black low-income mothers on the South side of Chicago asking about their exposure to gun violence and how it affected their health and well-being. The mothers also provided blood samples for us to see how the stress that they were experiencing impacted their immune systems (genomics). We found that mothers who perceived their neighborhoods were unsafe due to gun violence and other issues experienced greater expression of genes regulated by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) which negatively impacts one's immune system, metabolism, inflammation and the cardiovascular system. Lisa Butler, a graduate student in Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, helped to interview the Black mothers. Several of the Black mothers in the study had lost their children to gun violence. After the information was collected from the women, Lisa said that she would like to do a documentary about Black women who lost children to gun violence. I loved her idea and offered to support her. My role in the documentary included participating in three of the interviews, co-directing, co-producing (secured funding from the Illinois Innovation Network), script writing, and creating/performing the poetry. As a result of the Black Mothers' project and funding from the MacArthur Foundation and others, we are currently creating Wellness Stores/Spaces in schools, museums and other locations. We are designing affordable housing that fosteri healing for those living in it. We are also working with policy makers on issues such as training high school and young adult Community Health Workers.

Technical Specifications

Runtime: 81 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1920 x 1080

Shooting Format: 1080p

Completion Date: May 2024

Key Cast: Mothers and families in Chicago who lost their adult children to gun violence and other forms of violence.