Fighting for Public Schools: Let the Little Light Shine at PATOIS Festival

Founded in 2004 by New Orleans artists and activists, PATOIS has premiered hundreds of powerful social justice-oriented films from around the world while highlighting brilliant local filmmakers and vital local grassroots organizations. PATOIS is dedicated to nurturing the New Orleans' human rights community, supporting the work of local organizers and organizations involved in these struggles, and providing a forum for artistic expression of local and international issues.In addition to the film festival every spring, PATOIS hosts a variety of community screenings, workshops and organizing events all year. Because Patois has always prioritized community accountability, we curate our programming in consultation with a range of New Orleans’ grassroots organizations and community members.

PATOIS: New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival

Screening &amp; Discussion with Education Activists from Chicago &amp; New Orleans.

The Broad Theater

PATOIS 2023

Join us for PATOIS 2023! Celebrating work for liberation by both local and international organizers on climate change, abolition, Palestine liberation, birth workers, saving public schools, queering the border, and more.

LET THE LITTLE LIGHT SHINE is about a high performing, top-ranked Black elementary school, The National Teachers Academy (NTA) which is threatened to be closed and transformed into a high school favoring the needs of the community’s wealthier residents. Parents, students, and educators mobilize to fight for the elementary school’s survival. The story follows everyday parents-turned organizers alongside NTA students and staff as they advocate to keep their elementary school, which is a safe haven for children and a community bedrock in Chicago’s fastest growing neighborhood - The South Loop.The film also posits the point-of-view of residents in favor of changing NTA into a high school that is sorely needed for its neighborhood. The theme of gentrification is rarely viewed through this lens of education, where “good-intentions” are critically seen as privileged desires, creating a disconnect dividing and reshaping communities across the country.Under-resourced schools across the United States have been closed due to underperformance, but LET THE LITTLE LIGHT SHINE tells a unique story of a high performing school potentially being shuttered for the benefit of a higher social strata. F﻿eaturing a Post-Screening Discussion with Elizabeth Greer, a Chicago schools activist featured in the film, moderated by New Orleans education activist Ashana Bigard.B﻿IOSElisabeth Greer (she/her) has a passion for public education. For several years, she was the chair of the Local School Council (LSC) at National Teachers Academy (NTA), where her daughter and son thrived in their school community. As chair of the LSC, she helped to lead the fight to save NTA by speaking at Board of Education meetings, marching in the streets in protest, and ultimately, in becoming a named plaintiff in Greer vs. Chicago Public School. When she's not suing the city, Elisabeth works as a Full Professor of English at Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. Elisabeth is originally from the far south side neighborhood of Roseland but now lives about 75 blocks closer to downtown on the near south side.

Ashana Bigard is a mother of three from New Orleans . She has spent most of her life doing facilitation, activism and organizing around education justice, poverty, and women’s reproductive rights. She is a writer of non-fiction, fiction, mysteries, comedies, and sci-fi/horror, as well as opinion pieces around education and juvenile justice. Ashana has been published in numerous magazines including The Progressive and The Atlantic. Ashana spent the last 20 years working in the nonprofit industrial complex as an advocate, organizer, campaign manager, multimedia director, and executive director. This has prepared her for writing science-fiction, mysteries, horror, and comedy because the nonprofit industrial complex has given her experience in all of the above.

Are you interested in helping make Patois 2023 a reality? Sign-up to volunteer with us during the festival at bit.ly/patoisteam or make a donation patoisfilmfest.org/support to subsidize tickets for someone else!

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Fighting for Public Schools: Let the Little Light Shine at PATOIS Festival

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Fighting for Public Schools: Let the Little Light Shine at PATOIS Festival

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