Perspectives on Gun Violence in African American Communities. The Movie, Fruitvale Station, the Trayvon Martin Case, the Book, Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me

Fruitvale Station Writer, Director, Ryan Coogler

The movie, Fruitvale Station, the Trayvon Martin case, and the book, Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me all have a common denominator: African-American audiences, communities and readers are compelled to grapple with the devastation and long-term affects of gun violence.

Fruitvale Station, the Film Depicting the Shooting of Oscar Grant III

 Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, the film, Fruitvale Station, is the story of 22 year old Oscar Grant (actor Michael B. Jordan), who was shot in the back by a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit System) police officer as he (Grant) laid unarmed, restrained, and face down on the platform of the Fruitvale Station, a public transit station located in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, California. 

  After a New Year's celebration, Grant, his fiancee (actress Melonie Diaz), and several of his friends are headed home. Grant is confronted by a former white prison foe with whom he has an unresolved conflict. A brief scuffle ensues between the two factions--Grant and his friends and the provocateur and his companions. Grant and his friends are pulled from the train by the police and detained. An angry verbal exchange between the young men and the police  leads to Grant's shooting.

Fruitvale BART Station, Oakland California where Oscar Grant 

was shot and killed. Photo courtesy of Kevin Y. yelp.com

A scene from the movie, Fruitvale Station in which the young men

 were detained by the policeafter being removed from the train.

 Photo by Ron Koeberer, property of Weinstein Company.

    A Scene from the movie, Fruitvale Station.

 Photo by Ron Koeberer, property of Weinstein Company

                                                                                                    Michael B. Jordan in a Scene from Fruitvale Station.

Photo Property of The Weinstein Company

     The film recounts the last day in the life of Oscar Grant III before he was killed on January 1, 2009. It is candid and unpretentious in its depiction of the young man and his struggles with fidelity, his relationship with immediate and extended family, providing for the financial needs of his own family, selling drugs, and incarceration. Grant loves Sophina, his fiancee and mother of his four year old daughter, but their relationship is tested when he is incarcerated, and after his release he is unfaithful and  loses his job. His incarceration also caused friction with his beloved mother, Wanda (actress by Octavia Spencer), who tells him she will not continue to visit him in prison.

                                                                                                

    Scene from Fruitvale Station featuring actors Michael B. Jordan and Ariana Neal.

     Scene from the movie, Fruitvale Station featuring actors Ariana Neal and 

Michael B. Jordan. Photo by Cait Adkins, property of Weinstein Company.

     With his love for his daughter, Tatiana (actress Ariana Neal) at the core of his desire to really get his life in order, it seems that Grant is finally doing just that. He and the family celebrate his mother's birthday which falls on New Year's Eve, and he and Sophina mend their relationship. Fruitvale Station is a sensitive portrayal of a young black man navigating his way through and around the pitfalls and obstacles which obscure life's paths. It is the story of a young man ascending into manhood.

Oscar Grant III and Trayvon Martin

      Unfortunately, Fruitvale Station is also a distressingly true and sad story about another young person being the victim of a shooting. While gun violence is a growing problem in communities across America without regard to ethnicity, this film prompts viewers to further examine the issue in Black communities. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting and the subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman, Martin's assailant, the film compels viewers to make correlations. Martin was unarmed, walking home from the store with a bag of Skittles and an Arizona tea; and he was wearing a hoodie, which according to Zimmerman, aroused suspicion. Zimmerman pursued Martin which eventually led to a confrontation that led to Martin's death at the hands of the neighborhood watchman. 

 

 Trayvon Martin wearing a hoodie which some believe cost him his life.

      In the film, Grant and his friends were unarmed, on their way home, pursued and removed from the train because of the altercation, and never questioned about what actually happened. After a verbal altercation, Grant is shot and killed by the police officer. Trayvon Martin's shooter was found not guilty. In the actual Oscar Grant case, charges against Grant's assailant were reduced from first degree murder to manslaughter and he served eleven months. The question that Black America raises in each case: what would the justice system have done had the shooters been Black? Both the Oscar Grant and Trayvon Martin cases generated outrage and protests in communities in the immediate vicinity of the cases as well as in other areas around the country.

Protest over the killing of unarmed victim, Oscar Grant, January 7, 2009 

at the Fruitvale BART Station, Oakland, California. Photo courtesy of Jose C. yelp.com.

 Protest over the killing of unarmed victim, Oscar Grant, January 7, 2009

 at the Fruitvale BART Station, Oakland, California. Photo courtesy of Jose C. yelp.com.

 Protest over the killing of unarmed victim, Oscar Grant, January 7, 2009

 at the Fruitvale BART Station, Oakland, California. Photo courtesy of yelp.com.

 Protest over the killing of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin.

Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me

 A Gun Violence Victim Tells His Story

     Elements of gun violence in the Black community which unquestioningly cannot be ignored are the increasing numbers of young people who are shot by peers in gang and drug related activities, or by unknown assailants. 

The book, Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me, by Jerry McGill (Random House, 2012) chronicles the life of a young man who is paralyzed after being shot in the back at thirteen years old as he walks home on New Year's Eve. The shooting occurs in what the narrator describes as the Lower East Side of Manhattan which has sense undergone gentrification. He never learns the shooter's identity or why he was shot. He undergoes extensive physical, occupational, and psychological therapy in which he has to relearn basic functions such as brushing his teeth, bathing, and writing, and how to function with limited mobility. For years he is bitter and searches for answers about why he was targeted.

     Slowly, McGill begins to embrace his new life and make strides; some in spite of his circumstances and others because of it. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature from Fordham University in the Bronx, and his master's in education from Pacific University in Oregon. He worked with the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped (NTWH); the 52nd Street Project, a Manhattan theatre company which serves impoverished youth and later became the production manager. At a high school in Queens, he taught theatre arts to a group of high school students with disabilities, and worked for a company which facilitates international travel for young people with disabilities. He is a writer and artist and has become a role model for others with disabilities. Some thirty years later, Jerry McGill shares his painful, yet inspirational autobiographical account of his experience as a shooting victim. McGill is available for select readings and lectures through the Random House Speakers Bureau, 212-572-2013 or rhspeaker@randomhouse.com.

     Dear Marcus: a Letter to the Man Who Shot Me was assigned reading for incoming freshman who participated in the 2013 CASA (Center for Academic Success and Achievement) program at Morgan State University. One of the requirements is participation in book club in which students collectively read a book and engage in discussion and activities.

     As book club facilitator for the past three summers, it has been my responsibility to develop a syllabus and implement the plans for fifteen cohorts of about eighteen students apiece. Each year, the readings have addressed specific issues affecting the African-American community. This year we focused on gun violence. In cohort discussions and written reflections, students discussed the book, shared their own experiences with gun violence, suggested possibilities for addressing the issue, developed artwork, poetry, collages, articles and other items for display which were showcased at the graduation at the end of the program. Below are some of the best submissions.

Information, Photos, Artwork Compiled by Students Against Gun Violence

Grandmothers Against Gun Violence website: http://www.grandmothersagainstgunviolence.org/






What Are the Solutions? 
 Self-inflicted violence in Black communities, primarily the urban centers of America, have reached an unprecedented high with daily reports of shootings. While some believe that the creation of jobs, better educational opportunities, mentoring programs, and positive activities are the answer, others believe that those types of efforts must be accompanied by a rebuilding the cultural integrity of an entire people and families, and restructuring communities. While jobs certainly are a crucial aspect of community and nation building, jobs alone do not create economic stability. Successful development and creation of businesses, manufacturing, distribution networks, and viable institutions that meet the needs of communities and individuals are the forerunners, foundations and sustaining mechanism for job creation.

     Education must equip young people to innovate, create and serve their communities, families and institutions, not simply develop a career and look for someone to employ them. Education has to simultaneously develop skills, leadership qualities, the ability to analyze, think critically and problem solve while instilling values, integrity, direction, respect for life, a sense of purpose, and the desire for self-determination.

     People who are the most fulfilled and successful have a great sense of their purpose in lives and feel they have control over their destinies. In the words of Kwame Toure, we must organize. Join an organization that works to fulfill the goals that you feel are most crucial, and if there is not one that meet your standards, start one. Addressing the issue of gun violence and other problems, building and sustaining our communities is each of our responsibility.

Django Unchained

    Film Sparks Discourse about History and Contemporary Social Issues

Photos by and property of Columbia Pictures

Still of Jamie Foxx (Django) from Django Unchained

    Quenton Tarantino's film, Django Unchained is not intended to provide a historical depiction of slavery in America, though certain elements are accurate and believable. It is primarily a fictional story created more for entertainment than historical content. It is an adventure, spaghetti western with much shooting and spewing of blood. It has even been labeled an updated version of the Blaxploitation films popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

     Django Unchained is the story of a male slave, Django (Jamie Foxx) who is freed by German bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) so that he (Django) can help Schultz find a band of murderous stage coach robbers who have high bounties on their heads. After they successfully apprehend the gang, Schultz offers Django the opportunity to become his bounty hunting partner, and in exchange, agrees to help Django find his enslaved wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from whom Django was separated when they were sold to different masters.
 

 Still of Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Shultz) and Jamie Foxx (Django) from Django Unchained

      After a prosperous winter of gunning down criminals and collecting bounties, Django and Shultz learn that Broomhilda is being held as a "comfort woman" at a plantation owed by the wealthy slaver, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The bounty hunters contrive an elaborate charade to rescue her.
 

 Still of Jamie Foxx (Django), Kerry Washington (Broomhilda), and 

Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Shultz) from Django Unchained

     The unlikely partners pretend they desire to purchase a warrior slave for the gladiator sport in which slaves fight to the death, and they heard Candie has the strongest and best fighters. In the midst of negotiations, Candie's loyal head house slave, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), unravels the scheme, informs his master, and the spilling of blood escalates until the Candie Plantation is destroyed.
 

 Still of Samuel L. Jackson (Stephen) and Kerry Washington (Broomhilda)

 from Django Unchained

 In terms of storytelling, plot, and character development, the film supports Tarantino's reputation as a master of his craft. The twists and turns in the storyline make it totally unpredictable. It is noticeable, though, that Broomhilda, as a central character, is not fully developed, and most of her story is filtered through Django's eyes. Kerry Washington is excellent in the role of the classical "damsel in distress" who needs to be rescued, but greater depth of character would allow viewers to be even more emotionally invested in her struggle for freedom and her desire to reunite with Django. Although Django is a hero who rescues his woman, some viewers feel he is not concerned enough with the salvation of others who are also enslaved.

Photo by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP – © 2012 - The Weinstein Company

Still of Jamie Foxx (Django) and Franco Nero (Bar Patron) from Django Unchained 

      Historically, the film captures the brutality suffered by African-Americans during enslavement. The horrific lash marks on the backs of slaves, the use of castration as punishment, the transporting of slaves in face, neck, wrists, and leg shackles, the use of gladiator slaves for viewing entertainment, and the destruction of black families were all evils of slavery. However, there were some aspects of the film that were quite implausible. Django, even as a free man, would not have been allowed to eat dinner at a table with wealthy white slave owners. Stephen would not have been permitted to stand over his master at the dinner table, interrupt conversation, and tell his master what to do. After capture, Django would likely have been tortured, dismembered, and killed in front of a gathering of slaves. He probably would not have been sent to another plantation or turned over to another slave owner.

                                                          Photo by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP – © 2012 - The Weinstein Company

 Still of Jamie Foxx (Django) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Calvin Candie)                                                    

     For a number of reasons, Django has fueled the ongoing and sometimes contentious dialogue on several social and political issues. For African-Americans, it again raises the questions of whether people of other ethnicities, particularly white Americans, can tell stories depicting the African-American experience. In the artistic worlds of film and literature, many have expressed the view that authenticity is lacking when stories are told by people other than the ethnic group (or gender) being portrayed.

      In addition to who tells the stories, African-Americans are concerned with how those stories are told. Some African-Americans are insulted when the enslaved are depicted mainly as brainless, submissive beings who loved their masters more than themselves. The argument is that substantial numbers of those in bondage constantly plotted to destroy the institution of slavery, and that theme must exist in any stories on the subject. Some feel the best film storytelling approaches are documentaries, or in some cases, docudramas which portray events accurately and realistically, and anything else is disrespectful to the ancestors who suffered and died during what some African-Americans call the Maafa (Kiswahili term meaning great tragedy, and refers to the decimation of African lives during the middle passage and slavery).

     Having been released shortly after the killing of twenty elementary school students and six school staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in the shadow of other mass shootings that have occurred over the past 14 years since the Columbine high school massacre, and daily shootings in US urban areas, Django Unchained has become more fuel for the debate about whether violence in the media promotes violence in society, and what should be done about the proliferation of guns in America. Whether remedies lie in decreasing youth exposure to violent games, television shows and movies, gun control laws that remove high powered assault weapons from the street, armed security in schools, mental health care and stricter screening of those who purchase weapons, at this juncture, Django Unchained is evidence that violence in film is still a selling point.


        Still of Jamie Foxx from Django Unchained          © 2012 - The Weinstein Company   
                                  
     From a historical, social, and artistic perspective, Django Unchained is a film worth seeing. It embellishes history and in no way captures the totality of the horrors of slavery in America, but it reminds viewers of America's sordid past. Socially, the film, with its unrelenting bloodshed, forces us to continue examining the contemporary controversies around guns and violence in the media and the impact on society. Artistically, to the satisfaction of African-Americans viewers, it depicts a black hero, in spite of his flaws, who is actually alive at the end of the movie, and reunites with his black woman. Django Unchained is one story told from a particular viewpoint, and should be seen by African-Africans so that we can knowledgeably, intelligently, and constructively analyze what others say about us in their interpretation of our experience. It also reminds us that we must contribute to the discourse as we continue to tell our stories from our perspective.