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AllEyezonTX · 01-16-2008, 08:38 AM

"Big-ups" to B.Diddy for this, if he can save one child.....

Quote:

Baron Davis, guard extraordinaire, has a vision beyond the arc.
He wants to be an agent for social change.

The Golden State Warrior seeks answers, and possible solutions, to gang violence. Davis, who was raised in South-Central Los Angeles, would like to be a difference-maker off the court. That is one reason why the star playmaker is in the process of enrolling in an on-line screenwriting class at San Francisco Art Academy.

Davis, 28, is a budding filmmaker and executive producer of Made in America, a 102-minute film that will debut Sunday at The Sundance Film Festival. It was one of only 41 documentaries selected from more than 1,500 submitted for consideration.

"I wanted to put my money into something that would help people," he said. "I think it's a great film; it can cause change, and that's what we're trying to accomplish."

The documentary, according to director Stacy Peralta, traces the emergence of the Crips and the Bloods, two notorious gangs, and is narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker. It includes footage of gang life and interviews with current and former gang members. The film offers insight as to possible ways to resolve the plight of those adversely affected.

"It's informational," said Davis, adding that the film could be a teaching template for high schools. "That was the one thing I was nervous about, going into the project — I didn't want it to be preachy. People who really don't know much about gangs can watch the documentary and get a true understanding of the culture and history behind it. To see the trials and tribulations, the positives and negatives, of the black community. It's the rise and fall."

Gang culture is a subject close to Davis' heart. When his grandfather Luke Nicholson died when Baron was 14, the player said he drifted toward gang life because "there was no (positive) male figure" to emulate.

"I grew up in a household where a lot of people in my family were in gangs and involved in drugs," he said. "As a child, I got to see, up close and personal, all the negative things. Instead of watching them on TV, they were right there in my household. But all I wanted to do was make my grandparents proud of me. I saw other kids that never listened. That's one thing I did. I used basketball as my (escape route)."

Davis received a scholarship to a private prep school, Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had classes with actress Kate Hudson, then attended UCLA for two years. He was the third overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1999. Davis is having an All-Star-caliber year on the court, averaging 22.0 points and 8.3 assists entering Tuesday's games.

Because he is from South Central, Davis still has many friends and acquaintances back home, where his grandmother Lela lives. That enabled the director to interview current and former gang members to express their views about the devastating social issue.

Davis said, "People want their voices to be heard. As far as gang violence goes, they want an end to it."

Peralta wonders what is taking so long.

"Imagine if white American teenagers were forming gangs, arming themselves with semiautomatic weapons and killing one another — what do you think the response of the United States government would be? Why is it, then, that 40 years later, black kids are still involved in this and there is no viable solution? Does that mean we rate them differently?"

His theory: "I don't believe our government would allow such a thing to ever take hold in white America, as it would cause too much of a blight on our country's image."

essbee · 01-16-2008, 04:12 PM

Uh oh, people are gonna come in here calling Diddy a racist..

Great to hear he's doin' this. The situation even in areas like Hawthorne is just horrible.

HB · 01-18-2008, 09:46 PM

The buzz around sundance this year has been really poor because of the Writer's strike, but I like what Biddy is doing. Hopefully people in the positions to help pay attention to his film

ElMarroAfamado · 01-19-2008, 12:50 AM

no one cares about people in the hood
until it affects white america the government wont ever do ****

bruindre · 01-19-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by essbee

Uh oh, people are gonna come in here calling Diddy a racist..

Great to hear he's doin' this. The situation even in areas like Hawthorne is just horrible.

And you know what's funny (well, not really)? Is how Baron poses a rhetorical question like that and, rather than address the question, people will most likely attack his motives for asking the question.

In 2008, are we still too scared to answer the hard questions?

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