Award-winning filmmaker and producer Jai Harris has announced the release of “#UNERASABLE17: A Visual and Audio Experience,” a multi-volume documentary and music series focused on preserving the lives and stories of young Black people killed before reaching adulthood.
The project combines original music, documentary storytelling, and AI-generated visuals to create what Harris describes as a “living archive,” aimed at ensuring the subjects are remembered beyond headlines.
“In a time when Black history is being systematically erased from textbooks … #UNERASABLE17 stands as a living archive,” Harris said in a statement.
The series uses artificial intelligence to depict its subjects moving through scenes inspired by Black history, placing them among figures meant to reflect heritage, resilience, and legacy. Harris said the approach offers a symbolic experience of milestones many of the victims never reached.
Women’s Tribute Released Online
A companion film, “UNERASABLE: A Love Letter to Black Women,” debuted at the Dave Brown’s Indie Night Film Festival, hosted by Nicki Micheaux, with screenings in Los Angeles and Oakland during Women’s History Month.
The film is now available on YouTube in two editions. The expanded second edition, tied to the broader “#UNERASABLE17” project, includes a tribute to Ivyanna Mida Vann, whose death in February 2026 remains under investigation after authorities determined it was a homicide.
Harris said the tribute was inspired in part by Vann’s mother, Ryquan Ramirez, a close friend of the filmmaker.
Personal Loss Drives Project
The project also reflects Harris’ own family history. Her younger brother, Damien Marques Harris, was 17 when he was killed in 2007 after being caught in crossfire while walking a co-worker to a bus stop in Atlanta.
He was a high school senior and new father at the time, according to Harris, who said the approaching 20-year anniversary of his death in 2027 has renewed urgency around the work.
Harris and Ramirez are collaborating to raise awareness about gun violence and domestic violence affecting Black teenagers, emphasizing lives interrupted before milestones such as voting, higher education, and independent adulthood.
Ongoing Series Planned
The “#UNERASABLE17” series will expand through additional mini-documentaries, music releases, and visual tributes, each centered on an individual story.
Harris said the goal is to present each subject “as a full human being, not a headline,” while building a record that resists erasure.
“They are unerasable,” she said.
