During the Great Depression, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Federal Writers’ Project was established to provide work for unemployed writers.  Among its most profound achievements was the collection of more than 2,000 firsthand narratives from formerly enslaved people—voices that might otherwise have been lost to history. Today, these accounts remain preserved in the Library of Congress, offering an invaluable window into lived experiences of slavery and its aftermath.

Inspired by this legacy of storytelling and preservation, Youth Filmmakers Initiative is dedicated to continuing this essential work. We empower and train the next generation of youth filmmakers to seek out, document, and elevate overlooked Black history stories within their own communities.

By capturing these voices and experiences on film, we aim to preserve cultural memory, expand historical understanding, and ensure that these stories endure to educate and inspire future generations.