Black Teen Lives Matter

Black Teen Lives Matter honors the stories of Chicago’s young people and situates the voices of Black teens within legacies of activism and storytelling that long predate today’s civil rights organizing. This four-part video project—drawing on monologues and short plays written by Black teens who participated in our EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) programs in Chicago classrooms from 2017-2021.

Since the debut of Black Teen Lives Matter (2020-2021), we have received numerous requests from schools across Chicagoland to adapt these four videos for classroom learning. We have also heard from community partners about how this project affords audiences the opportunity to find themselves in someone else’s story, and connect the lived realities of our city’s Black teens with our diverse Chicagoland communities.

We developed a four-day program to engage students around the issues addressed in Black Teen Lives Matter and support teachers in facilitating challenging conversations. The curriculum kicks off with a screening of a selected video followed by a guided discussion with a Silk Road Rising teaching artist. We then provide the classroom teacher (or community organizer) with curated lesson plans built around the remaining three videos.

We believe that continuing to amplify the stories of our city’s Black teens will serve as a catalyst for inspiring young people throughout Chicagoland and the US to tell their stories with the knowledge that they are heard, valued, and respected.