Chicago historian Shermann Dilla Thomas set to premiere new YouTube show
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A former ComEd employee who is also known as a premier Chicago historian is launching a new career.
Shermann Dilla Thomas became famous on social media as the Chicago Urban Historian. In his enormously popular videos on TikTok and Instagram, Dilla celebrates the good in Chicago while documenting the city's history.
He also leads tours of Chicago's South and West sides, and has made numerous appearances on national and local television, including a CBS News Chicago story by Irika Sargent last year about his bus tour of Bronzeville.
Dilla was laid off from ComEd in September. But later this month, he plans to premiere his new show on YouTube, called "You Don't Know Chi."
Dilla's experience losing his job with ComEd shocked many people. It was documented in a column by Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times last week.
"Very, very much so a shock for me—particularly since the CEO of ComEd personally recruited me out of a secure union job to take the social media manager job. One of the first things I asked him when he suggested that I take the new position was, would I be laid off? Is this the type of job to be laid off?" Dilla said. "And out of his own mouth, he said to me that that wouldn't happen. So I definitely was shocked."
As documented in Steinberg's column, Dilla rose through the ranks after joining ComEd in 2011—eventually achieving the post of aera operator, a job represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that involves, Steinberg wrote, "literally keeping the lights on."
Dilla told Steinberg that ComEd Chief Executive Officer Gil Quinones asked him to move to a social media manager position—only to be laid in a massive cut of about 70 people.
But Dilla has bounced back with a new venture focusing on his Chicago history chops—with an emphasis on celebrating the city's many assets.
"It's all about all the awesomeness of Chicago," he said. "We're going to highlight the history, the culture, but most of all the people of our great city."
The YouTube show, set to premiere on Black Friday, represents Dilla's motto that appears on a T-shirt he often wears: "Everything dope about America comes from Chicago." This is far from just a platitude—there is a specific list of innovations and cornerstones of American life that originated in Chicago that Dilla is proud to list---and the skyscraper, commodities training, gospel music, to name just few.
A preview for the "You Don't Know Chi" shows Dilla making stops all around the city's neighborhoods—and stops to chat with people. Former Chicago Mayor and CBS News Chicago Political Analyst Lori Lightfoot appears in a preview for a tour of Logan Square.
While all agree Dilla is a natural-born communicator, he said there were some things that were intimidating about producing a YouTube show instead of short social media videos.
"Like the whole part of booking the guests and seeing if people would say yes. And then you guys know, you've got to get a whole lot of permission to film in certain places around here," he said, "but really exciting. When you go on YouTube, there isn't a lot of positivity about Chicago on that particular platform, so I'm looking forward to balancing that equation."
Many Chicagoans find it disappointing to see the city's name regularly besmirched as a hotbed of crime and political corruption. But Dilla said his showcasing the best of the city could serve as an antidote—and
"You're not from Chicago, you get your stories about Chicago from, you know, news outlets that aren't necessarily local to Chicago, or you know, we're some pundit's or politician's punchline. But you really don't know Chi," Dilla said of those who might be inclined to besmirch the city's name. "and so I'm making sure that I'm able to teach people about the amazing innovations and inventions, the food, the culture that comes from this space."
Dilla said he could not narrow down one topic that was high on his list to get started with in the new show, given how many new things he is learning.
"I just found on that in a Chicago suburb, we have one of the highest population of Mongolian Americans in the country, so I'm looking forward to stuff like that," he said.
Dilla is working on "You Don't Know Chi" with Digifé Productions. Again, the first episode drops Friday, Nov. 29.
