The Chicago Plan - Free Film Screening

10 West 35th Street,Chicago IL 60616

15 October, 2022

Description

_____________________________ How and why did so many of Chicago’s Black communities fall into disrepair during the 1950s and 1960s, while surrounding White areas created middle class wealth that endures today?___________________________ Join the Chicago South Side Film Festival and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Office of Community Affairs for the premiere screening of The Chicago Plan. The 40-minute documentary film chronicles the early history of Chicago's Neighborhood Improvement Associations that prevented Blacks from moving into white communities due to a fear that their presence automatically devalued property. Black families who dared to move into white communities faced ostracism, vandalism, and house bombings. When the Great Migration heightened competition for housing, the color line was drawn and a race riot ensued. What started out a self-serving myth of endangered property values evolved into a self-fulling prophecy, owing to its adoption by the real estate industry. Panel DiscussionModerated by Alicia Bunton - Assistant Director of Community Affairs for the Illinois Institute of Technology. Panelists Lee Bey - Chicago Sun Times Architecture Critic, Writer, and Photographer. Author of "Southern Exposure" Don Hayner - Retired Chicago Sun Times Editor-In-Chief. Author of "Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black Banker"