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  [Power to the People raw: interviews with Deborah Johnson and Bobby Rush]

  Black, Chicago, Communities

  This video features camera original interviews with Deborah Johnson, December 4th Committee, and member, Black Panther Party in 1969, as well as then-Alderman Bobby Rush, who was also the former Deputy Minister of Defense of the Black Panther Party. The footage was shot for “Power to the People” [1989 | 26 minutes], which was made for the December 4th Committee at Kartemquin Films. Director, Peter Kuttner.“Power to the People” speaks to Black, Latino and White activists who worked with and […]

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  Halsted Street, USA

  Black, Chicago, Communities, Latinx

  Along the length of Chicago’s Halsted Street one can view a dozen nationalities and a thousand lifestyles. This riveting, kaleidoscopic “road movie” traces this unique thoroughfare nearly 400 miles, from its origin in the cornfields of southern Illinois up to Chicago’s far south side, then through several neighborhoods to its terminus in the heart of Lakeview. Narrated by Studs Terkel, Halsted Street, U.S.A. is a thought-provoking crash-course in American cultural geography.

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  Richard Stamz, Pervis Spann, and Carl Wright: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That Any More.

  Black, Blog

  Blues & More was a local Chicago talk show on cable channel 25 during the 1980s and 1990s. It combined host and entertainment entrepreneur Pervis Spann’s offbeat sense of humor with music videos from R & B and blues artists. In this 1994 episode of Blues & More, Spann talks with movie actor and performer Carl Wright and longtime Chicago radio personality Richard Stamz, about Stamz’s career across a changing entertainment industry. Carl Wright was 59 at the time of […]

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  The Roosevelt Experiment

  Black, Chicago, Harold Washington

  Why and how did an integrated college in a segregated city start in downtown Chicago just as World War II was ending? In 1984 an independent documentary filmmaker, Jeff Spitz, found old pictures and film footage about Roosevelt University including a magazine article that referred to the school as “The Roosevelt Experiment.”

  Tapping the memories of former students who crossed the color line, particularly Blacks and Jews, the film blends archival images and interviews into an exploration of race, racial quotas and democratic ideals. Former students recall being questioned during an anti-communist investigation that targeted their school.

  Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, a former student council president, shares poignant memories of getting into political
  arguments in the cafeteria. He called it an “insane but interesting place.”

  Shortly after the film’s release Spitz returned to City Hall to interview Mayor Washington about fairness, diversity and clashing visions of government. Mayor Washington’s additional commentary appears at the end of the video.

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  A Video Celebration of Black Chicago

  Black, Blog, Chicago, Communities

  This video showcases Media Burn’s videos documenting Black life in Chicago. It includes everything from neighborhood cultural festivals to jazz and blues legends to trailblazing politicians. Follow the links to watch the full programs from which these excerpts were taken. 0:09 Journalist Vernon Jarrett (1918-2004) describes the intersection of 47th and Martin Luther King Drive in Bronzeville as the “terminal point of the great dream that so many Black people [from the South] envisioned,” from Omnibus: Studs Terkel’s Chicago (1985, […]

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  Chicago Area Project (C.A.P.) Gathering in Woodstock, Illinois

  Black, Chicago, CLIR, Roots of Video

  This video is one of three and was recorded during a retreat in Woodstock, Illinois where the Chicago Area Project (C.A.P.), organised a weekend gathering to reflect on their past accomplishments and plan for the next year.

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  In Memory of Frank Sullivan (1930-2021)

  Black, Blog, Chicago, Chicago Politics, Communities, Politics, Tom Weinberg

  Frank Sullivan, press secretary for Mayor Richard J. Daley from 1971-1976, died June 18 at the age of 91.  Prior to working for Daley, he served as spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department during the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. Television viewers around the world then were shocked at live broadcasts of police beating anti-imperialist demonstrators. This was unprecedented violence and the origin of the now-famous protest cry, “The whole world is watching!” The independent Kerner Commission report determined that […]

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  America’s First Drag Queen President

  1992 Election, Bill Stamets, Black, Blog, Chicago, Chicago Politics, Communities, LGBTQIA, Politics

  “A presidential campaign is like a drag show.” Joan Jett Blakk In 1992, there was another candidate against Bush, and her name? Joan Jett Blakk. For Pride month, Media Burn is highlighting and celebrating the work of queer activists of the past. Blakk was the drag persona of performer Terence Smith, who was a performer and leader of Chicago Queer Nation in the 70s. In the 1990s, Blakk campaigned for various political positions, such as mayor of Chicago, President (as […]