Made in America.
What it’s all about: Part III
[courtesy of Stacy Peralta and Baron Davis, by way of Henry Abbott]
Breaking the Cycle of Inner City Gang Violence
I had two goals for the film. First, I wanted to show people about why we have gangs in our inner cities, because unless you understand the history you can’t address the issue. And second, I wanted to show people what we can do to resolve this.
Until we stop looking at these kids as monsters we will never break the cycle of gang violence. People need to understand that in communities in which family units have broken apart and there are few, if any, economic opportunities, gangs become like surrogate families, identities.
Throwing people in jail is not going to solve this problem. As NFL great and youth advocate Jim Brown says in our film, “If more police or jails were the solution, the problem would have been fixed 30 years ago.” If we are going to address this issue in a meaningful way, we need a new approach.
That’s where Congressman Bobby Scott’s Youth PROMISE Act comes in. PROMISE stands for Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education — it’s exactly what we’re advocating in our film and we’re proud to get behind this effort.
The Act is based on prevention and intervention programs that work with local schools, community centers, faith-based organizations, and parents to prevent violence before it begins. The whole idea is to give these kids another way, another option, instead of joining gangs.
Tags: Baron Davis, Bobby Scott, Cash Warren, Henry Abbott, Stacy Peralta