Loose Machinery

Following Loose Machinery: A Symposium on the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, a screening of Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates, accompanied by a new live score by DJ Rae Chardonnay.

The earliest surviving feature film by an African-American director, Within Our Gates (1920, 79min) was made as a direct response to the Chicago Race Riots of 1919 and in the aftermath of D.W. Griffith’s famously racist The Birth of a Nation (1915). Presented on 35mm film, print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Screening will be followed by conversation with DJ Rae Chardonnay, Jacqueline Stewart, Professor, Cinema and Media Studies, and Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies, moderated by Eve Ewing.

The symposium and film screening were organized by Eve L. Ewing, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration & John Clegg, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences.

An interdisciplinary symposium exploring the history and legacy of the 1919 race riots. As the centennial year of the 1919 race riots draws to a close, there is still much to discuss as we strive to understand the causes and legacy of this brutal period in Chicago history. Join us for an interdisciplinary symposium featuring research, art, and theoretical perspectives on the Red Summer. Followed by screening of Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920), featuring live musical accompaniment by DJ Rae Chardonnay. 

Convened by Eve L. Ewing, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration & John Clegg, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences. Presented by the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture.

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited so please visit EventBrite to register and see full schedule.