Editor’s note: The Reader-has teamed up with Renata Cherlise, the founder of Blvck Vrchives, “a curated visual journey through history,” to create multimedia narratives of black life in Chicago using the Sun-Times archive. This week’s feature explores the real Cooley High and the 1975 film of the same name.
Like Cooley High, the TV series Good Times shows black youth tackling inequality in schools, and shines a spotlight on racial disparities in Chicago. Good Times (also created by Eric Monte, along with Mike Evans) depicted the struggles the Evans family faced while living in Cabrini-Green in the 70s. The fictional Michael Evans, played by Ralph Carter, becomes well known for his political activism, including criticizing the quality of education at his fictional school, Wilson Elementary.
