Join us for an evening of art, film, live performances, radical thought, and connection amongst Chicago's hard-working filmmakers, creatives, activists, and social entrepreneurs. This event will exhibit SoapBox’s past and recent projects as well as raise funds to continue our work and develop our infrastructure.
As a film production and social activism entity, we specialize in the multimedia curation and development of grassroots organizing efforts and creative projects geared towards structural social change. With recent notoriety from our festival award-winning micro-doc Calvin’s Story, podcast Bourbon ’n BrownTown, and on-going cross-platform project Chicago Drill and Activism, we coalesce the tools of the digital age and a revolutionary mindset to form a robust platform to change the dominant narrative for ourselves, our city, and our world.
However, in the wake of the closures of independent journalism outlets and public schools, defunding of social services, and the perpetuation of false narratives that are consistently harming the most marginalized, we are reminded of the importance of sustaining this work in our beloved city. Out of the Box is not just about us. Over the years, we have collaborated and fostered relationships with many individuals and organizations in the Chicago film, journalism, music, and activist scenes. The event will host several affiliates, who will share their work in their various forms and bring awareness to their campaigns. Our broader mission for this night is to fund and foster a community of discussion, education, excitement, and, most importantly, action. At the intersection of social justice, creativity, and technology, "Out of the Box" will channel a radical imagination in using creative narratives to speak truth to power—a framework that is more crucial than ever.
Featuring Preformences by: Kuumba Lynx, Jacob Victorine, Rio Mutasim & Michael the Jung, and Jasamine Harris aka TWEAK'G.
Partnering Organizations: Culture, For the People Artists Collective, TRAP House Chicago, American Friends Service Committee--Chicago, & #NoCopAcademy.