THE CHILDREN COULD FLY

By Tiffani Marie

There is a commonly held perception about why black children suffer; it is a myth about their inherent state of nothingness, their ability to embody more pain than others, which rarely has anything to do with the realities that black youth endure. The Children Could Fly disavows these myths, specifically by examining one of the major institutions responsible for justifying suffering: schools. This documentary sets out to disrupt normative beliefs that, particularly for Black children, increased schooling leads to social and economic uplift, critical thinking, and a sustainable sense of purpose. It aims to center critical dialogue and visuals rooted in empirical understandings of the inextricable link between the wellness of Black children and the abolition of schooling--its historical and ongoing investments in structural, institutional, and interpersonal forms of anti-Blackness. The film follows the lives of teachers & students within a unique school-based program that radically supported youth to rise above their circumstances and fly.