Members of Leo High School’s choir received life-changing news as they celebrated making it to the finals of “America’s Got Talent” with supporters, family and friends on Oct. 25 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park.
Cardinal Cupich, who stopped by as a “special guest,” took the stage and announced that the Archdiocese of Chicago is awarding students in the choir $100,000 in scholarships for college. That is matched by another $100,000 in scholarships from an anonymous donor.
“I’m so proud of you guys,” Cardinal Cupich told the students. “We’re grateful for what you’ve done for the city, for Catholic education, for Leo High School. We’re just inspired by the way you carried yourself on a national scene and international scene.”
Young men from the choir joined Cardinal Cupich on stage after the announcement for photos and he greeted each of them.
The Leo High School choir was well-known in the Chicago area, but it captured national attention when it performed in the first round of competition on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” on June 8.
The judges were effusive in their praise and the choir moved on to the second round of the competition. Through the support of people in the archdiocese, the city and the nation who voted for it in each round, the choir made it to the finals and came in fourth overall.
Thanks to its success on a national stage, doors continue to open for the choir. It stars in a new music video that airs on all networks before every Chicago Bulls game this season.
Leo High School Principal Shaka Rawls said he receives requests for the choir to perform every day.
“The requests are off the charts. I remind people that these are just students,” Rawls said.
The experience of going on “America’s Got Talent” was life-changing for the students, he said. Now, the trajectory of their futures will be changed with the college scholarships.
“College is attainable for these young men because of things like this and having people pour into them,” Rawls said. “It’s just exciting for them to be seen by the city of Chicago and to be seen by the archdiocese especially.”
The impact of their success on “America’s Got Talent” continues to be felt, he said.
“Being the only all-male African American school in the archdiocese makes us automatically an outlier,” Rawls said. “It’s hard being an African American Catholic. There’s a lot of times we don’t feel included. So I think that this is one of the opportunities for our [Catholic] community to see us as a part of the community.”
Being a young, Black male from the Auburn Gresham community evokes a certain stigma, Rawls said, but the choir’s success changed that.
“We’ve changed the narrative about what young African American male Catholics on the South Side of Chicago look like and what they can achieve,” he said. “I’ve been working for the last 10 years as principal of this school to put another image of young African American males out there, so we’re not seen as just athletes or just this or just that. But that we’re seen as part of a larger community. And we’re proud to be a part of that community.”
The national attention has boosted the school’s fundraising efforts, which received a blow with the loss of the Illinois Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program that ended at the end of 2023.
“People across the country have poured into us,” he said. “Our renown is international and national.”
The school hopes to take that renown to the Vatican in April.
“The boys really want to perform for Pope Leo, so we want to see that happen,” he said.
Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Parish, which is located near Leo High School, also stopped by to congratulate the young men.
“You not only showed what brotherhood looked like, you not only showed what excellence looked like, you changed the narrative of what Black families look like in America,” he said. “You changed the narrative of what young, Black men really look like.”
He told the choir members that they showed the country that they are full of talent and possibility.
“You made them look at you. You made them see you and you made them respect you,” Pfleger said. “You may have come in fourth place in [“America’s Got Talent”], but you came in first place making the country look at young, Black men a different way.”