An intimate portrayal of Black youth organizing on the west side of Chicago, Change the Name follows a group of 5th graders from Village Leadership Academy as they embark on a campaign to rename Stephen A. Douglas Park after freedom fighters Anna and Frederick Douglass. Over the course of the three-year grassroots campaign, the students tackle bureaucratic Chicago Park District systems, underestimations of their capacity to make change as well as a pandemic and a global racial uprising.
Summary info for schedule – will be hidden on film page
Change the Name
20-minutes
Student activists and educators from Village Leadership Academy campaign to change the name of a park from a slaveholder to abolitionists Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.
Screening day / time
- : Virtual Encore
- : Block 1 – 9:00am
Change the Name
Change the Name
Where to Watch
Festival screenings
Screening Day / Time
- : Virtual Encore
- : Block 1 – 9:00am
