We Are #blacklivesmatter Chicago Profiles

10/25/2016

07/19/2016

"Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom."

Check out Nate Parker's new film Birth of a Nation, which hits theaters October 7. Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezWiUTXB11A

07/10/2016

The group faces perhaps the biggest crisis in its short history, as it scrambles to distance itself from the Dallas gunman and tries to rebut a chorus of detractors.

07/10/2016

As clouds and pouring rain personified the gray and tense moments of the past week, protesters gathered on Chicago’s South Side and into oncoming traffic to peacefully protest and become voices of the Black Lives Matter movement following two heavily publicized police shootings.

07/08/2016

UPDATE: Dallas Police say 10 officers shot, 3 killed by two snipers shooting from 'elevated positions.' http://abc7.ws/29Urlyj

05/18/2016

“Blair died trying to save a young lady from being killed,” Hampton says. “We were not angry at his murderers— we were angry that poverty and lack [of support] allowed for the violence to occur."

Read her story here: https://blacklivesmatterchicagoprofiles.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/organizer/

05/16/2016

“I decided it’s not enough to just be a pastor who, you know, sings or preaches,” Pastor Chris Harris, Sr. says of his efforts to help Bronzeville, “but I also need to provide services to my underserved community.”

We're so excited to share Abby Lee Hood's profile on this Bronzeville visionary. Read it here: https://blacklivesmatterchicagoprofiles.wordpress.com/

Photography by Carissa Degen

05/11/2016

“It’s about the poem’s ability to live in spaces that I feel like are important to my work– even if they’re not places poems traditionally live,” Marshall says. “It’s not about necessarily being the most popular or the most well-read. Those things are cool, but it’s more about a penetrating kind of impact.”

Read more about Nate Marshall and his silver tongue art form: http://bit.ly/1WlH3Xc!

Photography by Carissa Degen

05/11/2016

Have you been enjoying our profile gallery?

If you've read through the website, no worries— our sister site, For Girls Power is the second gallery produced by Magazine Profile Writing and Editing students this semester and they're so excited to share all of their hard work with the world!

They're prepping to launch their site, so read over to their Facebook to get a sneak peek before they release their URL.

A profile gallery of four Chicagoans furthering young female empowerment in the city—all for girls power.

05/10/2016

“I want black communities to be unified—to come together and collectively say we are rising up and raising awareness for not just political issues, but community issues,” Lamon Q. Reccord says. “City issues, people issues, relationship issues—we are rising up about all these situations that are making our lives seem like they’re not worth it anymore to people.”

Jacob Wittich was able to unpackage the "kid who stared down the CPD." Read about Lamon's early and ever-evolving experiences as an activist on our profile gallery here: http://bit.ly/1QXkjom!

Photography by Kris Lathan

05/10/2016

We've launched! Read our profiles here: https://blacklivesmatterchicagoprofiles.wordpress.com/

05/09/2016

Pastor Chris Harris has much more than cool dance moves tucked under his belt.

“I decided it’s not enough to just be a pastor who, you know, sings or preaches,” Harris says of his efforts to help Bronzeville, “but I also need to provide services to my underserved community.”

Read more about Pastor Harris and his part in Black Lives Matter activism soon!

Photo by Carissa Degen.