Look Back To Move Forward from Chuck Fry on Vimeo.
Look Back to Move Forward is a collaborative project between the students and educators at CVCA, The Newberry Library, Lillstreet Art Center and artist Charity White. Charity received a fellowship from the Newberry Library and spent a year researching the 1919 race riots in Chicago. On July 27, 1919, a 17-year-old African American boy named Eugene Williams was swimming in Lake Michigan and inadvertently drifted into an unofficially segregated "whites only" section of the beach. For this, he was stoned by white beach-goers and drowned. No one was held accountable. The city erupted in riots - largely initiated by white gangs (aka "athletic clubs" - the first Mayor Daley was a member of one). The 35 killed and over 500 wounded were predominantly African Americans.
Using this history - strikingly reminiscent of racial conflicts alive today - Charity collaborated with CPS's Chicago Vocational Career Academy's teachers and students where she used to teach. Using the framework of the AfriCOBRA arts activism movement from the civil rights area, students used issues they care about deeply to create art and tell their stories.
Using this history - strikingly reminiscent of racial conflicts alive today - Charity collaborated with CPS's Chicago Vocational Career Academy's teachers and students where she used to teach. Using the framework of the AfriCOBRA arts activism movement from the civil rights area, students used issues they care about deeply to create art and tell their stories.
