Fred Hampton

CHICAGO – A little known part of Chicago history has been revived in a new documentary called “The First Rainbow Coalition.” Filmmaker Ray Santisteban tells a comprehensive story of the first people-powered activist group that rose from the coming together of races and city sectors to fight police brutality and poverty.

CHICAGO – What made the 1960s the petri dish for the counterculture had to do with many of that movement’s participants trying new things in the “underground.” When Sony released its first home video capability in 1968, many like-minded individuals – who wanted to use the technology to gather alternative news – set out to change the world. The result is a new documentary, “Here Comes the Videofreex.” The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago will offer a premiere screening and panel discussion on May 19th, 2016. For details, click here.

CHICAGO – If you want to experience the old cliché of “everything old is new again,” look no further than the excellent documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution.” The formation of the famous 1960s political group is rooted in the same issues that came out of Ferguson and Baltimore – the marginalization and harassment of African Americans by law enforcement authority. Yes, the group’s techniques were questionable, but so was the use of tax payer money – through the FBI – to destroy the organization.