Educational Media Reviews Online

Aerial shots of Chicago's Henry Horner Housing Project, desolate and trash strewn, set the scene for Legacy, a powerful, emotionally wrenching documentary of a four-generation welfare family who take strength and inspiration from the death of their brightest star. Fourteen-year-old Terrell Collins, an honor student with a scholarship to a private high school, was murdered by a classmate after the two boys had earlier exchanged words. The Collins family, grandmother Dorothy, the lynchpin of the family, her two daughters Wanda, Terrell's mother and an addict who has been on the streets since age twelve and Alaissa, a high school drop out who has never had steady employment, were devastated by the death.

Nickole, Alaissa's daughter and the first of the family to graduate from high school and go to college, narrates this five-year study of the family. Legacy is the story of the Collins' remarkable achievement in the face of what seem to be overwhelming external and internal obstacles. Alaissa, who procrastinates and seems at times to sabotage her own success, finally manages to find and keep a meaningful job. Wanda, with the assistance of the Haymarket Treatment Center kicks her habit, although her family is so skeptical that no one comes to her graduation ceremony. Dorothy finally achieves her dream of moving out of the projects into a home of her own. Nickole graduates with a degree in early childhood education. Only Terrell's older brother, Jack, a witness to the murder, has fallen behind. Jack has dropped out of school and gotten into gang life, yet he comes to the realization that he alone will have to change to bring his life back into focus.

Director Tod Lending gives us an unflinching look at the lives of low-income urban families who confront the rigid bureaucracy of public assistance, cope with squalid living conditions and the lack of basic services, and suffer under the threat of constant violence. The Collins family story is a testament of the strength of the human spirit, the value of community and family support, and the ability of determined people to transform their lives. It is a fitting symbol that as the Collins family rises to new achievements, the notorious Henry Horner Homes are razed.

This superb documentary is appropriate for high school and above and is a highly recommended addition to collections in the areas of African American Studies, Women's Studies, Urban Studies, Sociology, and Social Work. It has won numerous awards: Sundance Documentary Competition Official Selection; Florida Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award; Edinburgh International Film Fest Official Selection; Illinois State Attorney's Office Victim Service Award; Houston World Fest Silver Medal.