On
October 3, we had an appointment with the director of the documentary
Shell Shocked: The New Orleans Youth Story. We wanted to watch the
documentary and discuss it with the director John Richie. The meeting
was scheduled in the APEX Youth Center, a community center where
predominantly African-American children and teenagers can spend their
afternoons and evenings. Since our meeting was scheduled for 6pm many
children were still present and watched parts of the documentary with
us. In fact, many children are part of the documentary as it deals with
the neighborhood of the Youth Center.
The documentary is based on
the fact that New Orleans has one of the highest crime rates in the
states and has the highest murder rate in the U.S. Because eighty
percent of the murder victims in New Orleans are black males, among them
many teenagers, the documentary intends to look at the current
situation of African American children and teenagers in neighborhoods
where the murder and crime rates are significantly high. Furthermore,
director John Richie wants to make politicians
and the population of New Orleans more aware of the problem of murder.
His intention is also to point to youth and community programs which
have tried to improve the situation for African American children and
teenagers.
Since the documentary is still in its making, we were
only able to see two parts of it. The first part dealt with the reason
of high murder rates. Richie talked with children and adults of the
community to find out why so many African Americans have been murdered.
One of the major reasons has been retaliation. If a member of a family
or a gang is shot, this family or gang wants retaliation for the murder
by trying to kill a member of the suspected family or gang. This is a
circle that continues as retaliation does not stop. The documentary is
striking as it points out that already young children are aware of the
mechanics of retaliation and see it as a common "practice." The
documentary also looks at the availability of guns. As in most parts of
the United States, it is very easy to get access to guns in New
Orleans. One boy interviewed in the documentary even points out that it
is easier to get a gun than to get textbooks for schools as they would
need to be ordered while one can get a gun in a shop very easily. The
documentary is striking as it indicates that many
children and teenagers are fully aware of the shootings and the murder
in their community. It implies that these children have taken the gang
violence and shooting in their community as for granted and seem to see
it as part of their everyday life.
Although the documentary was
already impressive and at the same time sad for us, the discussion that
followed was even more shocking to us. The Executive Director of the
APEX Community Center Lisa Fitzpatrick and her staff introduced us to
their youth center and answered a lot of our question concerning the
situation of African American teenagers in poorer neighborhoods. APEX
Youth Center provides children and teenagers with an opportunity to
spend their time after school away from the streets. The staff offers
tutoring, help with homework, or lessons in music, dance and art. There
is a variety of things the children can do after school. Most children
stay until 7pm, older children are even allowed to stay until 10pm.
The discussion with Lisa revealed how difficult the situation for the
children is. Many are raised by a single-parent, often even a
grandparent. Many fathers are either in jail or have been killed as a
result of a shooting.
The most shocking part for us was probably
when Lisa Fitzpatrick involved the children in the discussion as well.
She asked how many of the children present knew someone who was involved
in gun violence. Almost the majority of the children raised their hand
and some even confirmed that some of their family members have been shot
and killed. It is also frequent that the children need to hide and
protect themselves in order not to be shot on the street. This
discussion left a deep impression on us as most of us as Europeans have
never even seen a gun and have never been involved in any kind of gun
violence. The discussion showed the devastating situation of African
American children in poorer neighborhoods. It made us realize how much
violence young children are encountered with on a daily basis. However,
with the work of the APEX Center and its great and supportive staff
there is hope that the next generation will use more words and fewer
guns to resolve conflicts.
For more information on the documentary see http://www.crescentcityfilms.net/
Katharina
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