A Video Celebration of Black Chicago

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, Mike Dibb)

2:28 Blues musician Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958) performance footage used in Omnibus: Studs Terkel’s Chicago (year and producer unknown)

3:51 Historian Timuel Black (1918-2021) talks about Martin Luther King, Jr’s time in Chicago, shot for ’63 Boycott (Kartemquin Films, 2013)

9:08 South Shore Summertime Chicago Festival from Municipal Mirth (1979, Nick Despota)

12:15 Mayor Harold Washington (1922-1987), Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-), and comedian Aaron Freeman (1956-) from Chicago Politics: A Theatre Of Power (1987, Bill Stamets)

15:07 Gospel trio The Barrett Sisters at a rally to save Cook County Hospital (1979, Judy Hoffman)

18:15 Carol Moseley Braun (1947-) becomes first Black female senator from The 90’s Election Specials: The Primary (1992, Tom Weinberg and Joel Cohen)

23:18 Oscar Brown, Jr. (1926-2005) and family perform at Spices Jazz Bar in River North, shot for Chicago Slices episode 9311 (1993, Doug Sawyer)

26:25 Tour of LeClaire Courts (1950-2011), a CHA housing project self-managed by residents, from Ben Loves Chicago episode 9703 (1997, Ben Hollis)

27:58 Sen. Barack Obama (1961-) interviewed about The Audacity Of Hope (John Owens, 2006)

33:28 Bud Billiken Parade from Cities: Studs Terkel’s Chicago (1980, John Mcgreevy and Pat Ferns)

34:49 House-o-matic dance group in Englewood shot for Chicago Slices episode 9302 (1993, Jim Morrissette)

37:00 Englewood Summertime Chicago Festival from Municipal Mirth (1979, Nick Despota)

42:13 Sculptor Richard Hunt (1935-) interview (United States Department Of Health, Education and Welfare, date unknown)

44:26 One of the first Black NBA players, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (1922-1990) from Once A Star (1985, Thea Flaum and Tom Weinberg)

49:00 Blues pianist Blind John Davis (1913-1985) at Lilly’s in Lincoln Park from Omnibus: Studs Terkel’s Chicago (1985, Mike Dibb)

50:22 House music DJ Frankie Knuckles (1955-2014) and J.M. Silk (1962-) at The Power House in South Loop from House Music In Chicago (1986, Phil Ranstrom)

53:55 DJ’s Herb Kent (1928-2016) and Tom Joyner (1949-) at Edna’s soul food restaurant (1966-2010) in Garfield Park, shot for Radio Faces (1996, Tom Weinberg and Joel Cohen)

59:45 Barack Obama announces candidacy for President (John Owens, 2007)

1:05:52 Cabrini Green (1942-2011) Summertime Chicago Festival from Municipal Mirth (1979, Nick Despota) (2:39)