“I’m sure you’ve heard the words to describe Englewood are ‘Black, dangerous, poor, gun violence,’” says Tonika Johnson in one of the opening lines of her short film, The Folded Map Project. Englewood is where Johnson was born and it’s where she still lives. Englewood is home.
Crossing one bridge can propel you into a new circle of people and culture. Intersections and cross streets are linchpins for communities. Bus stops, train stations, and bike routes connect us and divide us. What develops in Johnson’s film is a beautiful telling of what it means to live in a neighborhood with your family and peers. It all stemmed from her grandmother, who purchased a house in Englewood, where Johnson grew up with her mom and two uncles. “My childhood was beautiful,” says Johnson as the short film shows slides of images of her grandmother, herself, and even a neighbor who lived next door.
Johnson’s work is a long-term research project looking at the city she lives in and visually exemplifying the institutional racism and segregation among the 77 neighborhoods. In her film, Johnson mentions how she wants to get at the heart of what brings people to a neighborhood, or what forces them into one. She asks the tough but simple questions: What can be done to combat systemic racism? How do economics and discrimination affect your life? Chicago’s segregation shouldn’t affect how we interact as a city, but it does. Johnson is seeking out the answers and asking others to help brainstorm solutions to the deeply rooted racism that impacts Chicago’s grid of neighborhoods.
Wed 9/16, 4 PM, FoldedMapConversation.Eventbrite.com, free.
