"We're here to work.  We're not trying not to work. We're not trying to get handouts.  We want to be the best we can be to America." - Leroy Smith, laid-off Chicago Transit Authority bus driver

"We cannot consider our economy recovered if we still have tens of millions of people out of work." - Susan Hurley, Chicago Jobs With Justice

For the past year, we've devoted countless posts to the unemployment crisis in Illinois and nationwide and, specifically, the fight for extended unemployment benefits.  It's an issue we plan to continue to focus on for the foreseeable future.

In that vein, here is a short documentary we commissioned earlier this year from Heather Stone Media.  Titled "Surviving The Recession," it elevates the voices of Chicago's unemployed and their advocates.  While the frustration of the subjects is obvious, what shines through is their will to survive in this terrible job climate and to fight for economic opportunity.  Watch it:

And keep an eye out in the next month for an expansion of our unemployment coverage.  While the campaign to extend federal jobless benefits has subsided for the moment, there is still a dire need for information, organization, and solidarity online and beyond.  Stay tuned ...