Chicago native Kevin Shaw's stirring documentary recounts the struggle of the city's majority-Black National Teacher's Academy to stay open after a rash of elementary school closings in Black and Latino neighborhoods. In 2013, the city closed 49 schools, followed by a five-year moratorium. Shaw's film begins in 2017 and ends in 2018.
English professor Elisabeth Greer's kids attend NTA, a K-8 Level 1+ public school in the South Loop. When Greer, a central figure in the narrative, finds out about a plan to convert it into a high school geared towards wealthier students and to send the younger kids to a larger school, she turns community organizer, stating, "I don’t mind if I'm seen as an angry Black woman."
In the opening sequence, she leads a protest march to then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home. Later, she and other supporters will file a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education seeking an injunction.
Shaw (2010's The Street Stops Here) also interviews plan proponents, like realtor Tina Feldstein, president of the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance, who has been pushing for the new high school for years. She sees it as a way to keep people in the community. John Jacoby, a South Loop attorney, and PDNA member, also expresses support. Though these white parents don't see race as a factor in their support, they don't seem to appreciate how much a top-performing K-8 school can benefit a Black community. Though Shaw also reached out to CPS for comment, they didn't respond to his interview requests.
Isaac Castelaz, NTA's white principal, is the kind of administrator who encourages students in public--even when band members play a few bum notes at an assembly--and meets with some of them in private to guide them through learning challenges. He fears that promising students who just need a little extra attention will fall through the cracks at a larger, more impersonal facility. He also struggles to hang on to his job when CPS leadership accuses him of organizing.
NTA's highest-profile supporter, Grammy Award-winning musician Chance the Rapper (born Chancelor Bennett), grew up on the South Side and runs a non-profit that raises funds for CPS. As he notes, the city found the money to build a $95-million police academy, so he finds the defunding of area schools hypocritical. In the film, he speaks out against the conversion at a Chicago City Council meeting, but when he speaks to students at NTA, CPS cancels the event at the last minute.
Shaw, who shot and edited the film, rounds out his documentary with commentary from students, parents, and staffers with strong ties to the school, including Audrey Johnson, a former resident of the now-demolished Harold L. Ickes housing project.
He ends with the results of the lawsuit, though it would be a spoiler to reveal the judge's ruling. Win or lose, Kevin Shaw makes a strong case for caring principals like Isaac Castelaz, concerned parents like Elisabeth Greer, and the value of community action. Let the Little Light Shine aired on PBS stations as part of the documentary series POV.
Where does this title belong on library shelves?
Let the Little Light Shine belongs on documentary shelves in academic and public libraries with other titles about education, institutional racism, gentrification, and grassroots activism.
What kind of film series could use this title?
Series on education in the United States, particularly in urban municipalities, would benefit from films like Let the Little Light Shine and America to Me, producer Steve James's series on which Shaw served as cinematographer and segment producer.
What type of instructors will use this title?
Education students will find Let the Little Light Shine of great interest, particularly those in areas that have experienced school closures. Consider screening this title in a classroom setting if you serve as an instructor at a teacher's college.