Tonight I was at a private screening for one of the best documentaries I have seen in over a decade on gangs; and I see A LOT of documentaries. This film deals with the real elements of gang life and does it in a way that the audience can not only digest, but also begin to get an understanding of what is really happening in the urban warzones of America. The film has a historical element woven into it that allows you to understand the code of the street while provoking thought on what to do next. Understanding history is an important aspect to comprehending almost any culture, and to truly understand the context of a people. It is really easy to write off gang members and never see the human within the gang member. More importantly, it is even easier to racialize gangs thereby passing these events off as both immoral and wicked while demonizing an entire people group. The film is able to put the human element into the audience’s seat and make you realize that these are people living in these communities, and not the animals they are stereotyped to be.

I was struck by film because I lived this life. I was in the ’92 Los Angeles riots. I was 18 at the time they went down; a mere senior in high school. I saw first hand the explosion of frustration, anger, hate, historical oppression, and rage that poured out onto the streets of Los Angeles almost instantly upon hearing the “Not Guilty” verdict of the police officers that brutally beat Rodney King. Moreover, my life is one that mirrored many of these young people that were shown in the film. It causes me to ask, “How did I even make it out?” Especially given the odds are that 1 in 4 Black males will end up in prison at some point in their life. The film rang true to the fact that gang life is both cyclical and familial. If your aunt, uncle, cousins, mother, father, and sisters and brothers are all in the gang, the chances that you will be in a gang are almost 100%. Moreover, why would you even question joining if that is the social norm?

Stacy Peralta, the director of the film, does an amazing job of gaining entry into these communities. Afterwards, there was a Q & A and someone asked if he had encountered any trouble or obstacles trying to interview the gang members. He responded by saying, “Not one.” When asked why, Peralta responded by saying that he simply took his time, gave and showed respect, went in prior to bringing cameras, and allowed people to be themselves so that they could tell their story. Hmm, sounds missionally minded to me! Peralta gives the history of how the crips and the bloods began here in Los Angeles and openly admitted that this is just the tip of the ice berg, he said that there could be the Asian, Latino, poor White, and female version of this film and that there was just not enough time to tell the, “ whole story.” Peralta does an amazing job of just letting the people tell their narrative and give the audience a mere glimpse of what has been going on in a lot of our communicates, just out site, for over 50 years.

Many gangs in other cities take their cues from Los Angeles gangs. Peralta told us that as he has screened this film in other cities like Camden New Jersey, Memphis Tennessee, and Chicago Illinois that almost everyone said their gangs got their “messages” from Los Angeles gangs. Hence the importance of documenting the source of it all.

Now, for some of you it may be hard to even begin getting your head around some of these issues. If you have never been to the ‘hood it will be all too easy to write off these people as evil doers, the “wicked,” and animalistic. Moreover, the media has made it easy to look down our noses on these communities and simply turn the channel when we see another drive by. Still for others, the constant killing just does not make sense to them, so they look at gang-ridden communities as a “lost society.” That is why I urge you to go see this film or buy the DVD. It really helps put meaning to the madness that occurs in the ‘hood. Peralta added that out of all the hundreds of gang members he interviewed for this film, almost all of them did not want this type of lifestyle for neither themselves or for their family members, moreover, most of them wanted a different life but that many of them just never had anyone believe in them outside the ‘hood, thus, at the end of the day, when there are no other options, what does one do?

I have spent the better part of the last 15 years of my life attempting to bring a Gospel message to many young people that resemble the youngsters in this film. I have tried to contextualize Christ’s message, the best I know how, to a generation that seems “unredeemable.” It’s not easy. But what makes my job, and the jobs of thousands of other urban workers, is when you have church members that care more about how far the pants are hanging off a young mans butt than they do about that same young man’s overall state of life. When you’ve got church’s more concerned about having the American flag in the sanctuary than they do about the condition of the community the church is even in, we have a break down of the Gospel. When we have pastors telling their congregations they need a brand new Bentley automobile, because of course, God told them they needed it…we have a complete collapse of the Great Commission. This generation sees that and does not see the church as the “answer.” We’ve got a lot of work to do.

When young people in South Central Los Angeles are reporting more posttraumatic stress disorders than youth in the same age category from war torn Baghdad, we have a major problem. N.I.M.B.Y (The acronym for Not In My Back Yard) rules the roost for most of America. As long as it’s not happening in my community, it is all good. As long as I don’t have to see it, it’s not a problem. Again, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Take a look at this film and give it a chance. You can go to the main website right here.

The question I leave all of us with is, how then do we bring a Gospel to people in the hell that they’re in? More on this soon!