A sense of fatalism in the streets...

Steve Hoggard
Hoggard Films - Writer/Director

Making contact with the warring gangs (East Coast Crips / Grape Street Crips) took a lot of trust earning and help from a gang insider who wants to remain anonymous for his own safety. He lives in an East Coast Crip neighborhood and fears for his life.

The war that begins and ends our film and the funerals of the two brothers killed in the war that begin and end our story are events that confronted us while out there.

This too, was simply an act of discovering what our film was once we were out there in the streets…

We gained the mother's trust of the Grape Street Crip whose death and funeral launched the war (and our film) and were still in contact with her when her second son was shot and killed two months later.

This is a young man we met during our interview with her about her first son’s murder – and why she allowed us to film the funeral of this younger / second son who was killed in March. He was killed by East Coast Crips for wearing a shirt that memorialized his older brother Brandon (again, the OG whose killing set off the gang war in the first place).

When we heard Kejuan had been killed, I’d want to say we were shocked. And we were. But we had also developed – I hate to say – a sense of fatalism. The fact is, this is how gang life goes in a place where gang members – on average – never make it to 21.

By this time, we had also discovered that Brandon and Kejuan’s mother was actually an associate of the Grape Street Crip gang itself. In our interview after her first son’s death, she was unwilling to say that gangs should be eliminated in South Central: this just days after burying her son… Upon learning of the mother’s own gang associations – we were again offered a stark reminder of how incredibly deep gang culture runs in some parts of LA.

Inside LA Gang War premieres Sunday July 20 at 9p
"The fact is, this is how gang life goes in a place where gang members –on average– never make it to 21"

Almost every person, teen, adult, mom, dad, son, sibling we met had been shot, had seen people shot – had lost friends and loved ones – had shot someone themselves.

During one pre-production trip, I was in a room with about 50 gang members turned or trying to turn gang intervention workers and each told me their story. After listening literally to each one – I calculated that the young men in that room had something like an 80% casualty rate – many of whom had been wounded on repeated occasions.

Since my last film was set in Afghanistan with a Special Forces team, I couldn’t help but compare the rate of injury – and was shocked to realize that the casualty rate for gang bangers FAR exceeded that for Green Berets who’d served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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12 Comments

i was at my cousin Branden's homegoing and i was deeply saddened by that and the fact that his kids cried for their daddy. people wake up!! these kids of these men are hurting.

when is the next time this show will be aired

I live in Compton and noticed that gangbanging is passed on to the young ones through family %90 of the time. Just look @ the lady on this Bio whos 2 kids were killed, she never mentioned once that she use to be a grape street crip!Parents like her are the worst because they blame everything on society except for there selves. I grew up in the Hub city and never once tried to join a gang and i was raised in single parent home. Sure i know alot of gangmembers but was never influenced to join because of my mother and also because of what i saw in the streets. Look i know that some of these kids have no hope from a young age,but the majority of them choose to be in gangs not forced or influenced. I love my city but idiots like the ATF and CV117 are what is wrong with the city of Compton and i hope that one day it will all stop.

this has to be one of the most powerful documentaries that I have ever seen.I recorded it so that I could show my kids.
It also saddens me to see my beautiful black brothers destroying themselves over such nonsense.The funeral scenes will make you really understand how deep this problem really is.

Yes, I agree with mike, that was a very powerful documentary and yet sad at the same time!

Although the entire documentary hurt many of our hearts; the pain was sharpen when we saw that beautiful little girl walks up to the casket crying over her father and later on in the documentary you hear the little boy say daddy wake up, daddy wake up! How sadden that was to see two beautiful kids hurt because they will not see their dad again in this old system of things. The look on their faces was/still is emotional for me. Regardless’ of the mother pass in this documentary this women lost both of her sons within two months of each other; the fact still reminds many of our Blacks and Latinos Women have lost their sons and daughters to gang violence!

Now the most positive part of this documentary was the young Black youth who is now in college, CONGRATULATION, CONGRATULATION, and CONGRATULATION! I AM VERY PROUD OF HIS PARENTS….

As a Hispanic male who grew up and still currently lives right around the corner from the Compton SEA School I’m just disgusted with the whole gang infestation. I want to feel bad for these kids joining these gangs but I don’t. As a youngster growing up in a single parent home with no father, as an adolescent you know right from wrong and have a choice on what direction you want to go in. These kids are not stupid, their smart enough get guns, drugs, etc. In elementary school I remember the guest speakers with information about joining gangs and knowing the consequences. These kids say they want a way out; they must back that up and act on it. Steve Hoggard did a great job in depicting the harsh reality of what we know and call the “Ghetto”.

The best documentary i've seen in a long time! Where can i buy it? Also, check out the documentry 'Father G and the Homeboys'. This video is a good counter to the grim reality of gang life in Los Angeles.

I was not surprised at all. I know how evil people can be even thoase who profess to be real men. A real man does not kill. And the young fella with the bandana on who did not blink one time while talking, he has death written all over his face. He propable have killed many a people. And when the question was asked, "How do you all practice shoting"? The answer was we practice on the m-----f------- walking down the street. That is so low. No respect for human life. In fact a human being with a conscience cannot just kill like that, they have to get high on drugs to do that or else they would not be able to do that. And that mother, she should be ashamed of herself, sitting up there like she is really all that and she has no clue she is cursed and she has cursed all her sons and assisted in destorying a whole generation 24 to be exact. She really need help she did not even look hurt or show any signs of sorrow for the loss of her son, like they did the brave thing. She showed not compassion, no sorry, no simpthy, and she has deep rooted curses. Each of her sons died a violent death and neither one propable made peace with Gode on their death bed, that is sad, because a real mother will say, son, that is not right to kill, it is not right to take another life. She should be directiong children from the gang instead on recruting them. Mothers, take a good look at this woman, and remember, her because is a prime example of twisted truth, and a sad case of a poor testimony as a mother to children. They propable wil not post my blog, but it is ok, I did not expect them to.

That lame hubcity525 dont know wut he'z talkin bout yeah he grew up in compton but probly in a alley sumwhere cuz he dont know thiz gang life we life only tha strong survive in deez street and another thing wutz fu*kin ATF you probly got punk by my homiez thatz why ur hatin..ha,ha,So dont speak up if u dont know wutz goez in thiz muthafu*kin street of COMPTON!!7

youngsterCV117ST

All of us need to check ourselves. Me, you, the city. the country and the nation.. All of us.. Gang life will continue cuzz it's big business. Prison industry is the largest growing industry in America. They will keep feeding our kids Gangster Rap and Video's, they will keep encouraging them to sag, they will keep down playing education and we will keep suffering.. Until those of us who created Gang Bangin resurfice, and take back the minds of our young people. Mothers will keep crying and babies will keep dying.. We created this Monster,we made it look fun and exciting. We left behind a false image. We allow the Media and entertainment industry,to create a false identity for our young people in the Ghetto's
The Bottem Line of it is: The mind is in Bondage
Souljah Girl
Mothers Of The Community
What It Do !!

mothersofthecommunity@yahoo.com

After teaching in the area, I can say that there are many talented
people, however the projects have a culture of their own. One
of the lady's Sons is attending a top college, because he is a
strong willed individual. The projects surround a High school,
and there is a better high school accross the Street. There are
problems with high school graduation. Some students could graduate early, however the push is to look ok, not to be real.
These High schools are separated by a railroad track, but both in Los Angese Unified School District, and there are few
if any Blacks in these schools in the neighboring city. Less
that 6% of the Blacks attend Schools in South Gate.

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