CBS2 Chicago News Anchor Jim Williams

Posted by Stephanie Welter on Jul 5, 2022 8:00:00 AM

 

Jim Williams, co-anchor of CBS2 Chicago's 4 p.m. newscast, as well as host and  producer of "Stories to Tell,” joins Stephanie Welter to share his Chicagoan story. 

Williams began his broadcast journalism career over 40 years ago with WGN-TV, and has been with CBS2 Chicago for the last twenty. During his professional career, Jim  was  Press Secretary for then Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, supervising media relations throughout city government. He was also a correspondent for ABC News, reporting across the country for "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" and "Good Morning America.” In addition, Jim currently serves on the board of the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls

Jim's won several journalism awards, including an Emmy for investigative reporting. In May of 2018, he was inducted into the National Television Academy of Arts & Sciences' Silver Circle for his lifetime of work in Chicago television. 

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Born and raised near 83rd street, just west of the Dan Ryan expressway, Jim shares with Stephanie his memory of the community he grew up in. 

“It was certainly a village when I grew up there. It was a community where most of the homes had two parents, the homes then and now are very well maintained by the people who own them.

The grass is pristine. The backyards are pristine.  It's a modest place. When we moved there in 1962, 60 years ago, it was a little slice of the American dream for African Americans who lived in Chicago. Many of whom had origins in the south. Many came up during the great migration of black folks to the north and settled in Chatham. We bought our first home for $20,000.”

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Yet despite his south side roots, Jim is a proud Cubs fan. An indicator of how the times have changed, he shares the reason for his connection with the Cubs from the other side of town. 

“My father was a Cubs fan. And how did we become Cubs fans? Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, when I was a child, lived on the south side of Chicago. I'm saying that to talk so much about baseball, but to illustrate what was going on in the culture and in the community.

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Even great stars like Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, all Hall of Famers playing on the north side at Addison and Clark, lived on the south side because north side communities just were not open to African Americans.”

Tune in to hear more of Stephanie and Jim’s conversation, as they discuss Chicago, its history and current events.