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    Essential Work

    silhouettes of people with banners and bullhorns

    Emanuella Evans

    The Essential Work commentary series uses first-person and multimedia storytelling to explore acts of resilience and resistance by young Black people in Chicago who are fighting racial injustice amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Essential Work

    Video: ‘The allegory of the activist’

    By Injustice Watch Staff | March 24, 2021

    This short film is part of Injustice Watch’s Essential Work project, a first-person storytelling series by young Black Chicago activists.

    An activist Naira poses for a photo, holding her braids.
    Essential Work

    Essential Work: ‘Where did we agree to sign away our identities when we decided to fight for freedom?’

    By Naira | March 24, 2021

    Injustice Watch has relaunched its Essential Work project about young Black Chicago activists. In this essay, an organizer known as Naira reflects on the summer uprisings and pushes back on the dehumanization of Black radicals and protesters, from Assata Shakur to today’s Black youth.

    Essential Work

    Listen: Youth organizers discuss Black joy, West Side history and the future

    By Erisa Apantaku (South Side Weekly) and Adeshina Emmanuel | October 1, 2020

    “We are the revolution. It is in our bodies. It is in our bones. It is in our art. It is in the way that we speak.”

    Essential Work

    ‘To be a West Side organizer’

    By Destiny Harris | September 28, 2020

    “We understand,” community organizer Destiny Harris writes, “that we will never have access to the resources we need in abundance if we wait on the government.”

    Essential Work

    ‘My ancestors were freedom fighters, and they’re teaching me how to fight’

    By Kaleb Autman | September 22, 2020

    Let Us Breath organizer Kaleb Autman, 18, reflects on his awakening as a West Side activist and how he’s responding to the needs of his community.

    Essential Work

    Listen: Chicago youth leaders Miracle Boyd and China Smith reflect on activism, trauma, and growth

    By Erisa Apantaku (South Side Weekly) and Adeshina Emmanuel | July 20, 2020

    Two youth organizers with GoodKids MadCity share what activism has taught them, how it has affected them, and how they want to transform Chicago.

    Essential Work

    Essential Work: Young Black activists ‘in the middle of history’ confront Covid-19 and racism

    By China Smith and Miracle Boyd | July 15, 2020

    GoodKids MadCity youth organizers China Smith and Miracle Boyd reflect on their experiences amid the pandemic and the growing movement against racial injustice, part of our ‘Essential Work’ series.

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    Injustice Watch is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that conducts in-depth research exposing institutional failures that obstruct justice and equality.

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