Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 6:00-7:30pm, Online
Registration: Free
Professional Development Credit: Yes
Registration: Free
Professional Development Credit: Yes
Registration is now closed
Against the Current
A documentary film by Joshua Jackson and Asif Wilson
Chicago community organizer, Kyla, travels throughout the state of Illinois to learn about Black resistance across time and place, coming to understand that in communities across the world Black people have always found ways to resist oppressive currents.
Synopsis
In the documentary film Against the Current Kyla, a high school senior and community organizer in Chicago, journeys across the state of Illinois in search of ways that Black people have resisted oppression across time. She travels to Chicago, Robbins, New Philadelphia, and Cairo to speak with key figures that reveal important stories and sources of Black resistance in Illinois across time and place. The film illuminates Black resistance in Illinois and throughout the world in hopes of inspiring others to remember the past and reimagine their role(s) in shaping the future.
The film features in-depth interviews with organizers, historians/herstorians, community members, and family descendants from across Illinois. These stories are interwoven with archival research sources to present an engaging and relevant experience for viewers across the world, particularly students and educators in P-20 (primary through college/university) educational settings.
Against the Current aims to inform and inspire viewers to remember the ways people have advanced justice in their lives. Further, it aims to create space for viewers to imagine their role(s) in creating more just futures for themselves and others. The visually stimulating, and story-rich documentary film offers a glimpse of hope in times of hate, division, and polarization.
A documentary film by Joshua Jackson and Asif Wilson
Chicago community organizer, Kyla, travels throughout the state of Illinois to learn about Black resistance across time and place, coming to understand that in communities across the world Black people have always found ways to resist oppressive currents.
Synopsis
In the documentary film Against the Current Kyla, a high school senior and community organizer in Chicago, journeys across the state of Illinois in search of ways that Black people have resisted oppression across time. She travels to Chicago, Robbins, New Philadelphia, and Cairo to speak with key figures that reveal important stories and sources of Black resistance in Illinois across time and place. The film illuminates Black resistance in Illinois and throughout the world in hopes of inspiring others to remember the past and reimagine their role(s) in shaping the future.
The film features in-depth interviews with organizers, historians/herstorians, community members, and family descendants from across Illinois. These stories are interwoven with archival research sources to present an engaging and relevant experience for viewers across the world, particularly students and educators in P-20 (primary through college/university) educational settings.
Against the Current aims to inform and inspire viewers to remember the ways people have advanced justice in their lives. Further, it aims to create space for viewers to imagine their role(s) in creating more just futures for themselves and others. The visually stimulating, and story-rich documentary film offers a glimpse of hope in times of hate, division, and polarization.