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Reflecting on Media Burn’s Past and Future

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By Sara Chapman, executive director If you value the work that Media Burn does to save and create access to history and culture, please consider a year-end donation by clicking HERE.We are deeply grateful for the hundreds of people like you who contribute to help make this work possible. Friends, As we close out 2021, I wanted to thank you for being part of Media Burn’s journey. During my winter break from college in 2003, I first visited the storefront … Continue reading →
Newly uncovered 1940s footage of Harold Washington

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How I met Harold Washington By Jeff Spitz, independent filmmaker When I moved from LA to Chicago in 1983 my goal was to meet Mayor Harold Washington. I had to figure out how to get into City Hall so I could make a documentary film showing the mayor’s remarkable back story which few people knew. I learned that he was a student at Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt University) in the 1940s. I found a 16mm can of film in the … Continue reading →
In Memory of Roland Hemond (October 26, 1929 – December 12, 2021)

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He actually WAS one of the truly nice guys, in baseball or anywhere else. Continue reading →
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, … Continue reading →
In Memory of Scott Jacobs (March 27, 1950 – October 21, 2021)

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He was hooked on video journalism until Thursday, October 21, 2021. Continue reading →
Moments After: Carol Marin On the Scene of Ground Zero (September 11th, 2001)

Blog, Carol Marin

Twenty years ago this Saturday, viewers across the U.S. and around the globe watched in horror as the moments immediately following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks unfolded live on television. Continue reading →
In Memory of Ed Asner (November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021)

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Last week, American actor and political activist Ed Asner passed away. Continue reading →
In Memory of Nancy Cain

Blog, Nancy Cain

We miss you already, Nancy! Nancy Cain died on August 22 in her home in Desert Hot Springs, CA. She was a pioneering videomaker, photographer, author, feminist and role model for generations of artists. Nancy had an unwavering commitment to visionary alternative video for more than five decades, starting with the Videofreex in New York. She was a best friend of Media Burn for all of our 20 years and a major producer of our television series THE 90’s, and … Continue reading →