City So Real: Chicago's Summer of Protest

Following the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak in the United States and the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, American cities experienced waves of civil unrest this summer. Here in Chicago, Lori Lightfoot had just become the city’s first Black female mayor when she was forced to face her constituents’ outrage at systemic racism and injustice rooted deep within the community. Chicagoans’ trust in city authority wavered as some protests sparked nights of violence and looting. Director Steve James chronicles the complexities of Chicago politics in the five-part documentary series City So Real, as he follows candidates and voters through the run-up to the 2019 mayoral election and caps it all with a 90-minute finale on the city’s attempt to grapple with racial inequality on several fronts. City So Real is a Kartemquin production and presented by National Geographic Documentary Films and Participant Media.

The event will feature a panel of distinguished guests to discuss the film and the ways in which the events of summer 2020 have changed Chicago politics.

• Steve James - film producer (Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, The Interrupters) and documentary director of City So Real

• Amara Enyia - public policy strategist and former Chicago mayoral candidate

• Tahman Bradley, WGN News anchor and political reporter (moderator)

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Effective Government and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact Christine Hurley.

A recording of this available via Facebook below.