Chicago used to have an exciting buzzing business district that became known as Black Metropolis, Bronzeville was an amazing place with an amazing history but it’s largely remained hidden in history.

BUT that has changed now thanks to Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate. As Black Youth Project explained:

“Bronzeville,” a ten episode mini-series executive produced by Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate, could easily be viewed as a loose retelling of the stories of thousands of Black families, my own included.

As the story was told to me, my great-grandfather suddenly left his home in Orville, Alabama one night after getting into a heated exchange with a sheriff and soon found himself in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. He later met my great-grandmother while she was selling numbers.

At the time, the Southside Chicago neighborhood was viewed as a beacon for Black prosperity and given the title of “Black Metropolis.”

The podcast series, which can be heard for free on iTunes, is a reflection of that mostly unspoken of time period and place. While the story is fictional in nature, its first episode is already proof enough that it can be used as a way to learn about and appreciate Black history.

The main character, Jimmy Tillman, fills in as the protagonist who’s experiencing the Bronzeville for the very first time in all of its glamour and mystery which allows the audience, most of which probably never saw Chicago in the 1940s, to gain some added perspective.

I started listening and I am hooked, the storytelling is riveting and in the process I am learning so much about a history I never knew! An amazing way to educate.

Learn more on The Black Youth Project. I highly recommend you start listening!