Pierce College’s Blatigenous Club screened the film “Chi-Raq” to a mixture of students in the Great Hall on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
The panel discussion had 23 students in attendance. The event offered free pizzas, bottled water and pastries.
James McKeever, chairman of the History, Humanities, Philosophy and Sociology Department, hosted the screening as part of a three-part series that concluded Thursday with ArtCon.
McKeever said he chose the film as a part of Black History Month to showcase a prominent black director and black actors in a setting that is rooted predominantly in black culture.
“I feel that a lot of students here haven’t seen Spike Lee movies,” McKeever said. “There was the issue of gun violence that was in the movie and how people kept making comments during the Black Lives Matter movement that black people aren’t criticizing other black people. This is a whole movie about black people criticizing ourselves.”
Outreach Librarian Lisa Valdez, who hosted the Black History Art Con on Thursday, said she thinks it is good to raise awareness about Black issues and create inclusion of African-Americans on campus.
“The movie highlights some issues that are being brought to the forefront of the things that are happening in Chicago as far as their crime rate or murder rate as of last year,” Valdez said. “However, these issues were very prevalent in the ‘80s in Los Angeles. The generation now is not familiar that things that we grew up with in the ‘80s are the same things that are happening in Chicago.”
Pierce freshman Michael Breslow said his takeaway from the film was the theme of taking responsibility for your actions and that making a decision can’t be attributed to others, despite it being in retaliation.
“I think that even though the film was fiction, it has a lot of aspects to it that can be brought and practiced in real life,” Breslow said. “Just be grateful for what you have and take responsibility.”
