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CPS Teacher Turned Filmmaker To Cast Students in Web Series 'Culturevate'

 Mbiganyi Lashani created Culturevate, a new series that addresses the city's violence.
Mbiganyi Lashani created Culturevate, a new series that addresses the city's violence.
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Photo courtesy of Culturevate TV

ENGLEWOOD — A former teacher turned filmmaker — who became fed up with the violence impacting his students — is hoping his latest video project will help fight the problem.

Mbiganyi Lashani, 40, taught in Chicago Public Schools for six years where he saw up close the toll guns and crime have on the community: One year, two of his own students were involved in an incident that left one dead.

“One was the victim, one was the perpetrator,” he said. “I feel like that wouldn’t have happened if they had a voice of reason.”

That was enough, he said, to send him in search of a solution to the problem he said plagues underserved communities.

Mbiganyi Lashani

Lashani, who moved from Africa to Chicago in 1995, turned to filmmaking. Lashani has had a camera since he was a boy and has taken film courses at different places such as Chicago Filmmakers and Chicago Access Network Television. 

In 2012, he created the "Chi-Raq TV Show," which can be found on YouTube.

He now hopes to partner with a summer program so he can offer youths a chance to work on another online series he has created, called "Culturevate."

The production will be a six-part series that is scheduled to start production toward the end of May, he said. It will eventually be viewable at Culturevate.net. He believes the material will be “just as good as Fox’s 'Empire.'”

“It is packed with a life-resembling cast, a captivating plot and a message for us all. Even though it’s geared toward the younger generation, there is something each one of us can learn and become a part of this ongoing effort to curb gun violence.”

He said the name "is a combination of two words, culture and 'vate,'" a slang word for “horrible, hideous, or whack,” he said.

Together, the name "mimics the word cultivate,” Lashani said. “The idea was to mean to cultivate the culture.”

The Englewood resident, who is also finishing a graduate degree at Keller School of Management in June, said he was looking for the public’s help to raise funds for Culturevate. Through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Lashani has already raised $2,104, but he is looking for $10,000. His deadline is May 15.

Funds raised will go toward acquiring permits, rights and licenses, security, food, talent compensation and transportation.

The show focuses on young people in the city who have to struggle to survive, Lashani said. The main characters, who are portrayed by actors who live in the neighborhood, are impoverished and come from broken homes.

He said he wanted the show to capture the reality of many young people’s lives, but also show them how they could be successful and break the cycle.

“The problem of violence is our problem, we are creating it and we can resolve it ourselves,” he said.“There are other alternatives and ways we can deal with the issue.”

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