From USG Audio and the Invisible Institute, and Hosted by Formerly-Incarcerated Journalist Yohance Lacour, the Seven-Part Series Investigates the Race-Related Attack of Lenard Clark
You Didn’t See Nothin, a powerful new limited series podcast from USG Audio and the Invisible Institute, follows host Yohance Lacour as he revisits a 1997 hate crime on the South Side of Chicago that introduced him to the world of investigative journalism, examining how its ripple effects have shaped Lacour’s own life over the past quarter-century.
All seven episodes available for listening now. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Podcasts or anywhere podcasts are available.
In 1997, Lenard Clark was beaten into a coma by a gang of older white teens simply for being Black in a white neighborhood. The media quickly turned towards stories of reconciliation and racial healing, with cooperation by Black leaders and the attacker’s family. At the time of the attack, Lacour was in his early 20s, writing plays, selling weed, and living at his dad’s house on the South Side of Chicago. Unable to stand by as the media transformed the hate crime into a fairy tale of racial reconciliation, Lacour began working with a local neighborhood newspaper to investigate the vicious hate crime. You Didn’t See Nothin finds Lacour back in Chicago after a 10-year prison sentence, tracking down key players to examine how the story connects to the present moment, reflect on his role as a journalist and storyteller, and explore the exploit of power in Chicago.
Part-memoir and part investigation, the seven-part series uses archival audio and new interviews with those involved to bring a fresh perspective to the narrative and correct the historical record of this case nearly 25 years later.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, every story is worth a million more. Settings come with long histories that simultaneously predate and create their characters. And characters bring lifetimes of experiences that inform their actions. Even the moral of a story can be nuanced and layered in countless ways.” - Yohance Lacour
In the News
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To call You Didn't See Nothin a true crime show would be a disservice to this tale that's more of a memoir. The show follows host Yohance Lacour as he revisits a 1997 hate crime on the South Side of Chicago that led him to the world of investigative journalism. As the media transformed the story about a well-connected white kid in Chicago leading a beating of a Black boy into an idealized story of racial reconciliation, Lacour conducted his own reporting on the incident. He examines how those events impacted the trajectory of his own life. He's as much a part of the story as the crime itself, and his reflections and connection to the community he's investigating elevate the material beyond the typical podcast of the genre.
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Apple Podcasts has named You Didn’t See Nothin as one of it’s “podcasts we love” of 2023. Listen, rate and review on Apple Podcasts.
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You Didn’t See Nothin has been nominated in two categories for the Signal Podcasting Awards: Limited Series & Specials - Best Host and Limited Series & Specials - Documentary.
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You Didn’t See Nothin has been nominated in four categories for Black Podcasting Awards. You Didn’t See Nothin is a finalist in Best Sound Design, Best History Podcast, Best True Crime Podcast, and Best Limited Series Podcast. Winners will be announced via livestream on September 24th at 1:00pm CDT. Watch the livestream here.
Black Pod Awards emerged from a Twitterstorm before we all knew what a global pandemic meant in real-time. We exist to be part of the answer to what is beyond #OscarsSoWhite. We exist to share more recognition for Blacks behind the mic, editing software, and more. We exist because all the work that goes into podcasting earns AND deserves more acknowledgement from us by us.
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We’re thrilled to announce that You Didn’t See Nothin has been named the Best Serialized Story of the 2022-23 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition from Third Coast Audio Festival.
The Competition features over 1000 hours of submissions from around the world, stories chosen by a panel of 21 exceptional Judges — stories that push the boundaries of what audio is capable of, and reveal our world in sound.
Learn more about the competition and see the full list of finalists here.
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Fresh Air co-host and host of Truth Be Told spoke with Vulture about podcast recommendations for their 1.5x Speed Newsletter.
Mosley recommends You Didn’t See Nothin saying, “I heard about this show through word of mouth, from Sandhya Dirks, a journalist at NPR and a really good friend of mine. I just binged it. It’s so well done. It feels so real. It places me in Chicago, and I feel like I’m on a journey with him. Not only does it feel connected to the topic, but it does so in a way that speaks to audiences I’m familiar with. I’m originally from Detroit, so I’m always trying to think about ways to connect to the people I grew up with in the ways they’d wanna hear and receive it.”
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Yohance Lacour talks with Snap Judgment host Glynn Washington on the making of You Didn’t See Nothin, race in America, and the “meat of the matter.” Listen to the episode, featuring the interview and the first episode of You Didn’t See Nothin here.
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Yohance Lacour in conversation with Chicago Tribune on You Didn’t See Nothin, the importance of narrative and more. Read the full article.
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In 1997, a 13-year-old Black kid from the South Side named Lenard Clark was beaten into a coma by a gang of white boys as he rode his bike through the Bridgeport neighborhood. The hate crime made national news with figures like President Bill Clinton providing commentary. But his talking points, like many in the media in the weeks following Clark’s beating, were hastily focused on reconciliation and forgiveness. A new podcast “You Didn’t See Nothin” reexamines Clark’s story to explore how racial segregation, powerful connections, and media narratives shaped this tragedy. We talk with host Yohance Lacour who says this event and the aftermath also changed his life forever. "You Didn’t See Nothin” is produced by USG Audio and the Invisible Institute. You can binge all 7 episodes of “You Didn’t See Nothin” now wherever you get your podcasts. Listen on City Cast Chicago
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There’s a mythical quality to the premise of You Didn’t See Nothin. The injustice of a horrible crime leads a man to investigative journalism, but he becomes disenchanted and ultimately leaves the profession altogether due to the force of its constraints. Years later, he returns to that instigating story, looking to settle a spiritual score. The individual in question is Chicago writer and designer Yohance Lacour, and the story he revisits is a hate crime that took place in the late ’90s: a young Black boy, Lenard Clark, beaten into a coma by a gang of white teenagers for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You Didn’t See Nothin is a fluid amalgam of things — memoir, journalism, social history — but above all, it’s a spirited litigation of a systemic failure. It’s an outstanding listen. Lacour is a fantastic writer and an even better narrator. Read more
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On March 21, 1997, Lenard Clark and a friend rode their bikes from their homes in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood into a mostly-white section of Bridgeport to fill up their flat tires when Clark was brutally attacked by three young white men.
Clark was beaten unconscious, leaving him in a coma. He later recovered, but sustained severe brain damage.
Two of his attackers, Victor Jasas, 18, and Michael Kwidzinski, 21, plead guilty to aggravated battery and received probation. A third, Frank Caruso Jr., 19, was convicted of aggravated battery and a hate crime, receiving an eight-year sentence. Outrage in the aftermath of the attack reverberated across the city.
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Twenty-six years ago this week, a 13-year-old Bronzeville boy looking to put air in his bicycle tire became the victim of a vicious, racist attack that haunted his Chicago neighborhood for years.
“You Didn’t See Nothin” is a seven-part podcast that dives into the case of Lenard Clark. Produced by USG and the Invisible Institute, the podcast is narrated by journalist Yohance Lacour, who takes a look back at life as a young man during that tumultuous time.
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In 1997, 13-year-old Lenard Clark and a friend rode their bikes into the deeply White Bridgeport community. There, a group of young White men beat Lenard into a coma simply for being Black in a White neighborhood. News of the attack quickly spread across the country. But even as Lenard was still comatose in the hospital, city leaders began calling for racial reconciliation — a rapid turn that stuck with Yohance Lacour, who was then a fledgling journalist. Read more
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“Brace yourself, because this shit is bananas.” Yohance Lacour is a brilliant storyteller in this part investigation, part memoir as he revisits an incident in Chicago that left 13-year-old Lenard Clark beaten into a coma for being Black in a white community – a story that stuck with Lacour during his 10 years in prison.
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USG Audio, the podcast division of Universal Studio Group, is launching its latest audio series.
The company has teamed up with Yohance Lacour, a formerly incarcerated writer, on You Didn’t See Nothin, a seven-part series that investigates the 1997 race-related attack on Lenard Clark.
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For All Things Considered, NPR's Adrian Florido speaks with Yohance Lacour, host of the podcast You Didn't See Nothin. Listen here
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