MAPS 2020 Communal Film Viewing:
“Black Boys”

In lieu of a keynote this year, we are taking this moment as a community to watch this film together. 

Events of 2020 have shined the most pronounced light on racial injustice in recent memory. As adolescent practitioners, we hold a unique opportunity to cultivate discussions around inequality and provide a safe space for all our students to learn and grow within themselves and for their community. Indeed, we owe it to ourselves to continue - or begin - our own journey in our relationship with race.

MAPS 2020 has the incredible opportunity to raise awareness for the This is Our Chance virtual film festival. This free film festival occurs before, during, and after the MAPS conference, from October 6 through October 27.  Through a curated set of films, this festival shares powerful stories at the intersection of race, education and youth empowerment as we work together to support a new and better future.

It is the hope of the Festival hosts that educators, families, young people, and community leaders who watch the films, and in conversations together, recognize and feel the weight of the past, while creating space of new understanding, and ultimately be inspired to look anew at possibilities, and begin the work of creating a more just world.

On Saturday, October 17, 6:00 pm EST, MAPS will stream this film for free from the conference website. As the conclusion of the film, you are invited to join a discussion hosted by Miguel Gonzalez. 

Miguel Gonzalez is the Director of Embark Education, an embedded middle school in Denver. He is one of the curators of the This Is Our Chance film festival.