The invitation to write about making BAM! Chicago’ s Black Arts Movement (2019), a documentary about Chicago and the Black Arts Movement (BAM) produced in collaboration with scholar Pavithra Narayanan, was a welcome experience. I must have changed the opening to this essay three or four times because there were so many special “moments” to choose from. The film project is part of a book I am editing titled Chicago and the Black Arts Movement. In some ways the film reinforces the book, but the book also captures the scope of Chicago’ s unique presence and contributions during BAM. The essays, like the film, pay close attention to key entrepreneurs, artists, writers, neighborhoods, organizations, and institutions that made Chicago’ s contributions to BAM relevant and vibrant. One way the film does this is by focusing on key figures such as Kelan Phil Cohran, Abena Joan Brown, Charles and Margaret Burroughs, John H. Johnson, Hoyt W. Fuller, Gwendolyn Brooks, and other significant mentors for BAM participants. It also zeroes in on the importance of moments like the Organization of Black American Culture’ s (OBAC) Lincoln Center program and the Wall of Respect, or organizations and institutions such as OBAC, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the Afro-Arts Theater, Negro Digest/Black World, Third World Press (TWP), the South Side Community Art Center, and the DuSable Museum. The documentary film explores a cityscape and people who openly embraced and were happy to express their selves (in all their “Blackness”) via drama, visual art, poetry, fiction, and music. And we hope the film captures the spirit of the visual artists, writers, musicians, organizations, and institutions that shaped Chicago’ s role in BAM as they sought a cultural revolution. We figured that the current American climate of violence, fear, anger, and self-hate could use a film about the power of art.
To read the full essay, purchase a copy of CR 62.4/63.1/2.
BAM Film Preview from Pavithra Narayanan on Vimeo.