This was a grassroots effort, it's not community organizing if we pulled one or two people and said work with us on this.  Community organizers are out there in the community, making relationships with the people who will be most effected.  

Chris Aldana, Asian Americans Advancing Justice 

Our Stories

Season 2

The new normal?

In 2021 people were looking for the new normal.  As debates raged over quarantining, masks or no masks, vax or no vax, community activists went on with the business of change - business as usual would no longer be tolerated.  Questions over how history is framed and understood, and the mental and physical health of our neighborhoods were being asked. The answers and actions are coming loud and clear from our communities.  

In 2021 people were looking for the new normal.  As debates raged over quarantining, masks or no masks, vax or no vax, community activists went on with the business of change - business as usual would no longer be tolerated.  Questions over how history is framed and understood, and the mental and physical health of our neighborhoods were being asked. The answers and actions are coming loud and clear from our communities.  

Season Two Episodes

Know History, Know Self

The Road to Reclaiming History

Growing a Greater Englewood

Cooking Up Opportunity

Our Voices

Victoria Benefield

Victoria Benefield

Victoria Benefield: Co-producer "Road to Reclaiming History." Victoria is a junior at Northwestern University studying journalism, history, and film and media studies. Her work has been featured in The Daily Northwestern and North by Northwestern. She is passionate about multimedia journalism that uses history to approach and analyze modern social justice issues. One of Victoria's hobbies is long-distance running, and she's planning to run her third half-marathon this fall.

Charles Tharpe

Charles Tharpe

Charles Tharpe: Co-producer "Cooking up Opportunity." Charles is finishing up his master’s degree in Journalism at Northwestern University and has worked in media management and plans to pursue a career in audience engagement. He owns 50 pairs sneakers and, and swears it's not a lot compared to other sneaker heads!

Dylan Cohen

Dylan Cohen

Dylan Cohen: Co-producer "Growing a Greater Englewood." Dylan is an experienced theatre professional with skills in production, marketing, programming, artistic direction, and social media. Currently, Dylan is working on a Master's Thesis Project that explores reconnection through immersive technology. While pursuing Digital Communication and Media Arts at DePaul, Dylan has developed a sophisticated liking of The Muppets.

Elizabeth Murice Alexander

Elizabeth Murice Alexander

Elizabeth Murice Alexander: Co-producer "Growing a Greater Englewood." Elizabeth is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the African American Digital and Experimental Humanities Initiative (AADHum) at the University of Maryland, College Park. They also serve as Social Media Manager at Public Narrative, lead creative at SixtyFifthSt Media, and are a member of the Immersive Realities Lab digital experimental workgroup.

Emily Soto

Emily Soto

Emily Soto: Co-producer "Road to Reclaiming History." Emily is a senior at DePaul University where she is studying Journalism with a minor in Media and Cinema studies. She also works as the Photo and Video Editor at 14 East, a job that has helped support her love of multimedia reporting. Interestingly, Emily began her college career studying Biology, but after realizing it wasn't for her, she found her passion for storytelling and never looked back.

Justin Myers

Justin Myers

Justin Myers: Co-producer "Cooking up Opportunity." Justin is a community-focused journalist who has previously helped produce content for NBC 5 News, WTTW and DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence. He comes from the cornfields of Central Illinois and has been reporting in the Windy City for five years, adjusting himself to the trials and tribulations of city life. As a teenager, he held the prestigious honor of being the top dairy cattle judger at his high school two years in a row.

Huy Do

Huy Do

Huy Do is a Vietnamese home cook, writer, researcher, and designer currently based in Chicago. He graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Communications, and is currently taking that degree Digital in DePaul University’s DCMA program. As a multimedia creative, Huy seeks to generate a body of work that strikes the intersection between food, queerness, identity, culture, and justice.

Emily Reilly

Emily Reilly

Emily Reilly is a senior at DePaul University majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in film. Her work has been previously featured in Windy City Times, Bold Voice Collaborative, and The DePaulia. She aims to tell stories that create positive change and make an impact in people’s lives with her work."

Our Community

The following grassroots organizations serving communities of color across Chicago land partnered with the ​Change Agents​ journalists, generating authenticity, insight and trusted connections for our stories.

Contact

If you have a story idea or know of activists organizations working to bring solutions to the needs of a Chicago-land community of color, please send us a message.

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