There is a street on the North Side of Chicago that has been re-named by the City of Chicago, Jackie Taylor Street in honor of Jackie Taylor and her phenomenal cultural contributions to the arts. Ms. Taylor is the founding executive director of the 30 year old Black Ensemble Theater. She founded the company in 1976 with a $1,200 loan and has built it into a 1.6 million-dollar cultural organization that has earned national recognition.Her plays have produced not only in Chicago, but all over the country including a 4 week sold-out run of her hit play,The Jackie Wilson Story (My Heart is Crying…Crying) in New York at the World Famous Apollo Theater.

In her lifetime, Jackie Taylor has written more than 100 plays, including, “Mahalia” (The Story of Mahalia Jackson), “Precious Lord Take My Hand” (The Thomas Dorsey Story) and “Great Women of Gospel”. Ms. Taylor believes that the theater should be used as an educator, demonstrator and incubator documenting the greatness of African American people and the vast contributions that they have made to the American culture. All of Ms. Taylor’s productions are based on the premise of producing excellence in the theater. Her productions are not only highly educational but uplifting and spiritual. She uses her plays to cross cultural barriers bringing people of all colors and kinds into the theater to celebrate the human spirit. For 30 years she has successfully used theater as a communicator and facilitator to help eradicate the basis of racism, which is ignorance.

Ms. Taylor has received numerous awards for her works including placing in the Top 10 list of “Chicago’s 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2004, one of “The People of the Year” by Screen Magazine in 2004. She was also honored as “2003 Phenomenal Women Award” by Expo for Today’s Black Women and “Chicagoan of the Year” for Women in Arts in 2004. She and her work have been featured in Jet, Variety, The New York Times and Essence magazine just to name a few. In October 2007, she will receive a special Jeff award for her contributions to theater.

Ms. Taylor is also an award winning actress. Some of her film credits include “Barber Shop II”, “Hoodlum”, “To Sir With Love II”, and “Cooley High.” In addition to her plays, Jackie has written thousands of poems, two books and a screen play. As producer of the Black Ensemble Theater she has also produced and directed more than fifty-five plays.

Jackie Taylor has taught in the Chicago Public Schools for more than 30 years. She has worked on special projects with the Illinois Art Council and Urban Gateways, where she served as Assistant Director of special projects, as they relate to mentoring in the academic environment. Ms. Taylor is the President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago and the past Vice President of the Chicago League of Theaters.