We hosted a panel discussion after our screening of Boyz N the Hood at SteelStacks, featuring Vernard James, Andrew McIntosh, and Ali Akarcesme. (Nandini Sikand was unavailable at the last minute.)

On February 5, we will be screening Breakin' at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas at SteelStacks. Tickets available at SteelStacks.org

Check out our live event schedule and more.

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Starting from my immediate left here.

2

Over here

we have Vernard James and Vernard is a

3

young local filmmaker

who graduated from DeSales University.

4

He had a couple works

that won the prestigious Duffy

5

Award for best overall overall film

two years in a row at DeSales.

6

And he loves to write, direct and edit

films and volunteer at his church.

7

So welcome, Vernard.

8

To his left we have Andrew McIntosh.

9

If you got here early

and you heard him spinning records.

10

He goes by DJ ARM 18 as well.

11

But, besides his skills on the turntable,

he is a professor of sociology

12

at Northampton Community College,

the Monroe campus.

13

His philosophy is “each one teach one”.

14

And, and he's also taught at Lehigh and,

15

he has done so much for the culture

around the Lehigh Valley.

16

Recently, earlier this year, he brought

Chuck D to the campus of Northampton

17

Community College, gave an amazing speech,

he brought the Cold Crush Brothers here.

18

And we did a showing Wild Style,

19

and I can go on and on, but,

welcome, Andrew McIntosh.

20

Thank you.

21

And to his left, we have Ali Akarcesme.

22

He is a professor at Kutztown University.

23

He has produced and directed socially

24

conscious TV documentaries, short

narrative films.

25

His film “Departures” led him to win

Best drama and Best director

26

in New York at the prestigious film

festival in New York,

27

and, we are thrilled to have him.

28

He's a professor of film

studies at Kutztown so

29

welcome, Ali.

30

And then,

31

we had met BooGie earlier,

but he was also a sociology

32

major back at Rider university,

which is where me Boogie and

33

and DynoWright had met

and we stayed great friends all this time.

34

So BooGie will be moderating the panel.

35

Thank you. JB.

36

So, we've heard the introductions

of our panelists.

37

We want to just kind of jump

right into it,

38

and we want to kind of

have a bit of a conversation.

39

So similar to a question out there,

one of the topics

40

that this film talks about

is systemic inequality.

41

So posed this how does the film portrays

systemic inequalities

42

affecting Black communities

in South Central Los Angeles?

43

What specific institutions,

including education,

44

policing, healthcare or higher education,

45

that has contributed

to these inequalities?

46

And I'm just kind of going to go from,

you know, from our right to left,

47

so we’ll start off with you, Vernard.

48

(I think it's on.) Okay,

49

for thanks for having me, but, yeah.

50

I mean,

51

LA is a character in this movie,

52

you know, like, it's

it's living and breathing and

53

and so every character's, like,

interacting with it.

54

This thing, you know, as a character

in of itself and everyone you see,

55

for better or worse, is a product of,

just, kind of the urban decay.

56

But, there's a lot to go on,

57

in South Central and, I mean,

58

systemic, you just see,

59

I think one of the really cool things

this show is,

60

okay, not cool, but like

61

one of the details is like, how

62

when they're taking the city, like,

all the characters

63

or all the people taking the test,

or like, minorities

64

or the administrators or white ones

in the room, that that was interesting.

65

And then obviously you

have a more like obvious,

66

example like the the

67

cop who hates his own kind so much.

68

It's just coming out of him

how much he was,

69

where he is

and what he does and everything about it.

70

And he's decided

to take all this power trip

71

job. So.

72

I really like what

73

you're saying about LA as a character.

74

I was thinking as we're watching it.

75

So the old school films, we've,

76

we've shown you guys and put on,

77

“Wild Style”, “Krush Groove”,

78

“Juice” , they were all in New York City

79

and they were in,

you know, Gotham, a metropolis.

80

And then we watched House Party,

81

you know,

which begins to have this suburban vibe.

82

And the striking thing about South Central

is that in a lot of ways, it's laid out

83

like the suburbs, but all the things

that you're speaking about

84

and I spoke about,

there's these elements of, systemic

85

racism present most clearly in

86

that moment where, Furious

87

talks

88

about gentrification and, and,

you know, why?

89

Why is it that, you know,

our hood is being depleted,

90

purposely, like, ruined

and then blown out and flipped,

91

you know, really striking

92

So we know that that's

that's very much plagued our,

93

our of many of our, our cities.

94

And in the last 20 years.

95

I think for me, it's,

96

the establishment

and the contrast of three main characters

97

from the writing perspective as Tre, Ricky

and the Doughboy,

98

in terms of the fate

of what really happened to them,

99

what they really pursuing, like,

you know, Ricky's situation

100

with the education, SAT, versus,

101

the only one that seems to be is

having the survival as the Tre character.

102

And there are different reasons

103

in terms of his family

atmosphere, having a single father,

104

I mean, having the father present

with them at all times, versus Doughboy.

105

So there's a lot going on in terms of

that, aside from what everybody else said

106

was especially

the African-American cop over there

107

and the internalized racism

that was part of it.

108

And the rest.

109

I think the first thing that really,

110

strike me, I guess, was,

these three different characters

111

and their establishment

in terms of the writing structure

112

and what they really

what really happened to them

113

and how they responded to these,

to these tragic events or incidents.

114

Thank you.

115

So in your responses,

we actually touched on a few

116

of the other topics that I have here.

117

So you're

just going to go right into those as well.

118

So we mentioned, family and masculinity.

119

So what roles do fathers play in

shaping the characters, especially Tre?

120

We have a touched on that a little bit

and how these Tre’s relationship

121

with his father, Furious Styles compares

with other young men’s

122

experiences in the community.

123

Okay.

124

I guess, it really Tre's interactions

with his father,

125

as was really interesting for me as a

parent myself, I guess the presence of him

126

being in there, despite the fact that,

you know, mother and father was divorced

127

and you actually compare that

with Doughboy and what's really happening

128

with Ricky, where, you know,

the single mother is in the picture, but,

129

you know, the father figure is not there.

130

So I guess that really plays a major role

in terms of helping Tre to say,

131

let me out.

132

Let me out in that car.

133

So, you know, like,

that's a really big moment in the film

134

that helps him,

I guess, be more fortunate in terms of,

135

having him better opportunities

to navigate compared to the other two

136

in that regard, although they also focus

on the idea of education in that film.

137

So the presence of Father

138

Figure is, as a, as a male role model,

139

helps him, you know,

140

go through, navigate through this,

141

struggle, and survival. I,

142

I have read that Singleton wrote

143

that Furious Styles character of like,

based on his relationship with his father

144

was very, influential in his life.

145

And I have to admit that,

146

it was, you know, this is the first time

I've seen it since it came out in ‘91.

147

And he was driving me crazy when I was,

148

whenever I was at that time, 17, 16, 17.

149

I didn't notice it at all,

but it was driving me

150

crazy that the mothers were portrayed

so negatively.

151

Right.

152

Doughboy, Chris's mother,

you know, is picking favorites.

153

The other mother we see is a crackhead

154

until the moment at the at the cafe.

155

And Angela Bassett’s

character gets to sort of set

156

Furious straight and say, you know,

157

you're not doing anything

that you shouldn’t be doing

158

and that mothers

have always been doing it.

159

And so I was, I was I was almost like

relieved that Singleton remembered.

160

Like, okay, we we get some sort of pushing

back and forth, but no doubt,

161

it seemed like a really burning

162

important piece of this movie was to place

163

fathers, in a role of responsibility.

164

How important that is.

165

Yeah,

166

I think it's interesting the

I could be wrong,

167

but I believe the only other father

you see is Ricky.

168

Obviously with his infant.

169

And there's obviously

just something about the contrast

170

between time periods and, his son,

171

his relationship

with his young father, who, you know, is

172

really just trying to pick up the pieces

and figure out what he's going to do.

173

He knows that he's going to do something,

but he just doesn't know exactly what.

174

And then, of course, he's on

who is caught in the crossfire.

175

So there really is nothing to do with, so

176

yeah, I think yeah, it I

this is the first time

177

I've seen this in a while,

as I was being more. But,

178

sorry, but, Yeah.

179

Yeah.

180

I mean, the intentionality of John

Singleton

181

just with the characterizations is, is.

182

So it's right there.

183

It's beautiful.

184

Yeah. One thing that I noticed was the,

185

how Ricky's

character was taken out in the film.

186

It left his son without a father.

187

So it's like the continuation of a cycle.

188

You kind of.

189

I think that was intentional

as well, for him to put that in there.

190

So, you know, it was the father's race.

191

You know, the son is going to probably

go down the same path, unfortunately.

192

Which kind of brings us to our

our next topic.

193

How does Singleton portray,

explore of the roots and impacts

194

of gang violence on both individuals

and the community as a whole?

195

Yeah, I mean that for the movie.

196

It just speaks for itself.

197

It was so

198

iconic in its portrayals of gang violence,

and obviously led to a string of films

199

throughout the 90s

by Singleton and other, directors that,

200

highlighted a lot of that senseless,

201

senseless, almost systemic violence that,

202

just place the streets and it's brutal.

203

It's random.

204

And I think that's the scariest part,

is that it's a random,

205

you know, those dudes really had.

206

No, I think they're supposed to be Bloods,

and it's kind of,

207

like they're against, Ice Cube

208

who's,

you know, but like, maybe Crip affiliated.

209

But regardless, there is nothing that said

anything at all.

210

Like, it was just random.

211

And yet it applied

to everything that happened.

212

And yeah, Ricky was wearing a blue jacket

when he got bumped into.

213

Yeah. Yeah.

214

So so I think you're right like they have

that the red car, the Bulls Also, yeah.

215

And the cop did say like you look like

216

Crenshaw Mafia.

217

Yeah. Yeah. So also more questionable.

Yeah.

218

So that checks out.

219

So I mean, clothing.

220

Yeah.

221

It's it's bothersome

how matter of fact it is.

222

And a testament to,

223

you know, I think sometimes good

art makes you very uncomfortable.

224

How you know, I found myself, you know,

Ice Cube in particular, but just all these

225

friends, like, as matter of fact, is there

violence is the,

226

you know, it's

the outright misogyny, etc., so casual.

227

And yet there's something

kind of endearing between all of them.

228

Like, you know,

you get this sense that they, they're,

229

they're brotherhood,

bound by that violence.

230

And as you say,

this becomes very influential

231

in a lot of films

that roll out in the 90s.

232

But I think

233

that's the first time you've seen,

234

you know, the last, like last time

in my memory, my, my, my understanding

235

that, you see, kind of like

Black characters involved in this kind of,

236

gangster ism, whatever.

237

For lack of a better word

is in blaxploitation flicks in the 70s.

238

And those can be very cartoonish.

239

I mean, they serve a certain purpose,

but this was just

240

these were kids, like.

241

I mean, they're in high school,

and I think that that is that's the part

242

that, I was really a very unsettled,

unsettling for me.

243

Really. Where should I start?

244

Is it's the I think the scene

with the billboard, right, where,

245

Laurence Fishburne’s character is talking

about the gentrified Asian

246

also deals with this

in terms of what's happening in the corner

247

of the neighborhoods with liquor stores

and, having access to guns.

248

And all of those things

are definitely there.

249

That's a very, very important scene,

I think. d d.

250

And we could color different things by analyzing that particular scene over there.

251

It's interesting that the film starts

252

with the stop sign, and you guys notice

that it's starts with the stop sign.

253

There's like a big focus,

254

like it's almost like the filmmaker John

Singleton is showing that in our eyes.

255

And I noticed that

when I was watching this time.

256

There are other moments in the film

where they focus on the stop sign.

257

I don't know,

258

you could read it in different ways, but

it's like about the lack of opportunities.

259

What is it?

You gotta be an athlete or a rapper.

260

You're really successful.

261

And think about what Ricky was going

through with safety and education,

262

looking at the

the ads of the army, the military.

263

There a lot of things.

264

This this film is really

deep, guys. It's really deep.

265

Yeah. So

266

once again, we're kind of touching on

some of the other topics that I have.

267

So let's just kind of,

let's talk about gentrification

268

since that's the one that keeps coming up.

269

This,

this for many was probably the first time

270

that the term was used in a film,

and it was introduced by Laurence.

271

Fishburne's character Furious Styles.

272

How how does that resonate with you?

273

And how do you see this

around your communities?

274

And do you have some examples?

275

I mean, for my for myself,

276

my my cell phone is always going off

with someone trying to buy my house.

277

I live in Newark, New Jersey

278

in the middle of the hood

for those of you who want to know,

279

but my phone is always going off

with someone trying to buy my house so

280

I know exactly what he was talking about

with that.

281

You know, we we buy houses for cash.

282

Yeah.

283

I mean, I'm from Allentown,

born and raised.

284

And it's funny,

like, the first time I saw this,

285

I must have been a high school,

286

and I didn't really know

what gentrification was like.

287

I'd heard the word,

but I didn't really have an understanding.

288

And now, as soon as I even hear that word,

I think it's Seventh Street,

289

you know, to, in the way that they've

290

entirely gentrified,

291

you know, that area with the PPL Center

and the new apartments and everything.

292

And I like I remember

my friends were joking about it like,

293

you know, there was a time not

too long ago where you could not walk down

294

the streets like past a certain hour,

and now it's like,

295

live and hopping and everything's going on

296

and it's right in front of us,

you know, it's not just downtown, but

297

all over the valley is, aspects of it.

298

It's it's accessible

to only those who have the means.

299

Right.

300

We didn't solve any of those problems

that made Seventh Street dangerous.

301

Right.

302

But it sure looks nice.

303

My issue, like,

304

the thing about gentrification

and redlining,

305

as someone who teaches Intro to sociology

and a class on American history and race,

306

my humble opinion

307

is the the great gains

that were made by the civil

308

rights movement and the passage

309

Very much has made,

the America that we, we have experienced

310

over the last 50 plus years

that the gains that we've had,

311

the, the way in which, you know,

312

I look at the panel, right, like there's

just a variety of, of different people

313

coming together was in large part

because of those efforts.

314

It also can be true that redlining and,

315

gentrification practices,

systematically and purposely,

316

if you will, invested

in particular Black communities.

317

So the gains that we may have made

318

socially

and culturally were not made materially.

319

And, that is generational.

320

And I think that's a big part

of this movie that he's tackling that

321

certainly went over my head when I was 16.

322

And I was like,

just fascinated with Cube and, you know,

323

the hip hop soundtrack, was

Singleton is is really explaining how

324

this, this, you know, South Central,

Compton,

325

these communities

may look like suburban America,

326

but they have been purposely

left out of the, the,

327

the sort of underwriting, underwriting

and the support,

328

with resources from a federal state,

329

you know,

authorities and, and, and civic planners

330

and it perpetuates itself,

331

in, in a variety of, of pathologies

that you see where you end

332

up, that Ali was saying just a moment ago,

like the kids growing up

333

feel like they have so few options, right,

that,

334

that, that are available to them.

335

I think one of the things

336

that really resonates even today,

337

More than 30 years, right?

338

That still makes this film resonant and

universal is the topic of gentrification.

339

I think that's like one of the,

340

you know, top ones that are out there.

341

The idea of this,

342

outsider, wealthier force

coming in and preying upon,

343

Black communities

or other minorities, right?

344

They actually do

show the Latino community.

345

And then mention a little bit about the

Asian community here as well in the film.

346

The interesting thing for me about

this is about it's it's foreshadowing.

347

You know, how sometimes they say

this movie predicts the future?

348

Oh, it tells what really happens. Okay.

349

This earthquake happened

three years before.

350

It happened in this exact same place

after that, whatever that is.

351

Right.

352

So it's really amazing

353

to actually have this film foreshadowed,

especially with that scene with, Furious

354

Styles telling,

which is about, you know, gentrification.

355

The billboard scene is what I call it

is, still resonates with me today.

356

It's really interesting.

357

And I think

358

the typical thing with this, it's

just reminded me of Harlem,

359

reminded me of, I don't know, Brooklyn

or even Oakland in the West Coast.

360

Absolutely. You go to Brooklyn.

361

And I remember riding through Brooklyn.

362

It was some neighborhoods

I used to call a neighborhood Duck Down,

363

because it really felt like

you had to duck down right now.

364

Yeah, East New York now.

365

It's looks completely different.

366

But yeah, we

367

we definitely touched on this,

this last topic,

368

which was education.

369

And we saw some of that

with the SAT and etc..

370

So how is education depicted

371

as a means

for escaping the community struggles?

372

How realistic is this portrayal given

373

the characters’ situations?

374

I personally

375

believe that the characters

who really survive from this had something

376

to do with education, like Tre's

character, Ricky was so close to it.

377

He took a SAT

378

and we see the score he just got

and what really unfortunately happened.

379

And Furious Styles,

I'm not sure about his education

380

level in the film that was portrayed, but

they kept saying how much he's reading.

381

So that's part of. Yeah.

382

They kept saying like,

he reads a lot. He reads a lot.

383

Your dad is deep, your dad, is he,

is he a preacher or something?

384

Right. They were talking about

all of those things.

385

I kind of see that again.

386

Back to the idea.

387

I just I look at it from a filmmaker

perspective as well.

388

I guess the character establishment,

the character

389

traits of these,

you know, iconic ones in this film.

390

And those two have a lot

to do with education.

391

That's that's

the first thing that comes to my mind.

392

So, yeah, this is a tough one for me.

393

I hope

I don’t sound like I have some sort of,

394

like, problem with self-loathing

as a professor myself.

395

But, you know,

I tell my students, don't ever let

396

their schooling

get in the way of their education.

397

I am at this,

398

and I'm, I'm by myself

and particularly at a moment where,

399

and I try to keep focus on the movie,

you watch this movie and,

400

education becomes this,

like magic wand in which only.

401

Tre is the only character

that is able to access it.

402

And ideally, he lives happily ever after.

403

And I think that kind of,

404

that kind of, sort of societal norm

born from this, like neoliberalism, like,

405

if everybody could just educate, then

we can just let the market do its thing.

406

And you work hard and and you succeed.

407

And I don't know about the rest of you,

but it's just

408

I'm at a particular moment

where I'm like, yes, Tre

409

succeeds.

410

And that's the

411

story that my college is going to slap up

on the front of their catalog.

412

What about Doughboy?

413

What about Chris?

414

Like, I feel that we have left

415

whole swaths of our population behind,

416

by this, overemphasis on higher

417

ed in our society over the last, five,

418

you know,

three to 3 or 4 decades in particular

419

that leaves so many people alienated

420

and creates this level of stratification

between

421

the educated and the uneducated.

422

That is, that drives

a lot of the polarity,

423

polarity that I think,

we're seeing in our society.

424

So that's not to say

I don't believe in what the work we,

425

I do as a professor is, is important,

but I think we need

426

more dynamic approaches

to addressing social inequality.

427

Other than I didn't go to college,

go to college.

428

And so I was kind of struck

by that, watching a movie,

429

Yeah.

430

Yeah, that's a word.

431

I wanted to find a way to work this

in somehow.

432

And, but, John Singleton,

433

wrote wrote the screenplay for, Boyz n

the Hood

434

as his senior thesis, project

when he was going to USC.

435

Of course, he got an A-plus on it And

436

and then got funding, you know, like, it's

437

so I mean, you can even see

438

this is John, you know, an educated

439

Black man who was straight out of Compton.

440

That was,

441

not intentional but,

442

he was in the streets and,

and I think this was

443

that was his way of saying,

you know, like education where he has you.

444

But I think you're absolutely right.

445

I mean, there's there's a side of it

where it's like,

446

what about those who, you know,

447

like like me?

448

I was never a great student.

449

I'm blessed.

450

I made it, you know, through college

and everything like that.

451

But, like, I can certainly see

that's not what, you know, defines me.

452

So art was kind of where I had my college.

453

You can always teach art.

454

And, I mean, you look at this movie,

I would say this stand out.

455

Well,

I mean, there's multiple standouts but

456

it's artists,

you know, it's Cuba Gooding Jr,

457

a young, even a great Ice Cube

who had never acted a day

458

in his life, who is now doing

all kinds of crazy things.

459

And so,

you see, even within this project, words

460

pushing forward

this message, you can see how art,

461

being used within it, artists,

462

you know, just doing their thing,

how it is become this creative thing.

463

So I think it was interesting.

464

I just would like to add one thing,

but I think times are different.

465

Things are really different in terms of

I just the film resonates with them.

466

But the situation with Doughboy

or even Ricky or the others,

467

I think has also a lot to do,

in my opinion, with the masculinity

468

and then the absence of,

I guess, role models

469

like male role

models around these subjects, which would,

470

give them less avenues to go for whatever

you want to call that success.

471

And for those times,

I guess going to college

472

or reading or being out

there would be one of those avenues where

473

these other characters didn't

have that chance to actually go through.

474

So I personally think that it has a lot

to do with their surroundings,

475

their family structures,

and the idea of masculinity.

476

Okay.

477

Yeah.

478

So I mean, for Ricky's character

who almost made it out, I mean,

479

his option is sports, that was his outlet,

you know, that happens a lot.

480

And in these situations,

even in the inner cities as well.

481

So I don't necessarily

have any more questions.

482

I just want to see if anyone has

any final thoughts on the film

483

that you'd like to share,

with the audience.

484

I'll, I'll throw in a bit

485

that I find a great contrast between early

hip hop films from New York.

486

Like “Wild Style”, “Krush Groove”

and even “Juice” to a degree

487

is that in those movies, hip hop is this,

488

like, alternative to violence?

489

It's alternative to poverty.

490

It's a it's a it's like this, you know,

491

build your skills, become - Juice -

you know, you become this great deejay.

492

There's this opportunity for you.

493

And and in some ways, you know,

I don't want to paint

494

too rosy of a picture of it,

but in some ways, a lot of like,

495

the Bronx movement around the hip

hop picks up gangbanging

496

and put it into this culture,

create opportunity for us.

497

The West Coast is awesome.

498

You know, like it's very

it has a very different,

499

way to orient itself to hip hop

500

and you can see some of that

in “Breakin’”

501

I think

when, when you guys show that in February,

502

it tends to always have seen,

this is a way to make money.

503

And blow up.

504

And then what you see in this movie

for the first time that I, that I know,

505

I think it's a much better

representation of colors is that hip

506

hop and sort of gangbanging are like,

inseparable.

507

It's the soundtrack. Like, you know what?

508

What struck me was the hip hop was like

hip hop beats and like, classic songs.

509

“Jam on It” or “More Bounce to the Ounce”.

510

Cube’s records, Too Short’s records,

they're all playing in the background

511

when this is going on.

512

So it's like it's a part of this larger

sort of meditation

513

that Singleton's having on, on, on,

the mindset and that it seems.

514

So it's, it's just a different take.

515

And I think it's very

516

it's striking

that regard as a hip hop movie.

517

I mean, for me, I'm

going to go a little technical with this,

518

but if there's one thing that makes this

film really different than the others,

519

in my opinion, with hip hop movement,

it's the use of sound in the film.

520

It's almost like two

characters are talking.

521

There's always the hip

hop music in the background.

522

What did you say?

523

Something about it?

What's going on? Right.

524

And what this 4K experience is,

it was a little different experience

525

for me here as well,

especially with the sound like gunshots.

526

And a couple of things really shook me up.

527

Helicopter ride helicopters sound.

528

That's a really wise use of filmmaking

from that perspective, of that

529

dark clouds that are being all over

these neighborhoods at all times.

530

Right.

531

It's really interesting.

532

So, so I think

it's a really influential film.

533

I think what you said about the hip

hop influence is really there,

534

but not only because of that,

but all the other topics that,

535

you know, the questions were centered

around today with the idea of gang

536

violence, gentrification, education.

537

I think this film is really influential,

even still today.

538

It resonates.

539

It resonates with with me,

and I'm hoping with everybody

540

Yeah, another

541

thing I noticed was right

as Ricky is about to be shot,

542

you hear a child

laughing in the background.

543

Yeah, it's just a crazy contrast. But,

544

yeah,

I mean, I just echo what you're saying.

545

I mean, I think about, just myself

and the impact, you know,

546

some like this had when I was young

and just trying to figure out,

547

like,

you know, who I was and was going to be.

548

And I had all these different things

surrounding me, you know, like,

549

Allentown isn’t Compton,

550

but like, there's there's still crime,

there's still things that happen.

551

And, you know, I had another front row

seat to some of that, you know, a film

552

like this, that really obviously,

553

you know, has become a cultural landmark.

554

And I think it's really cool

555

just to zero in on, like,

Compton and South Central L.A.

556

and everything. Like

557

the influential artists who

558

have come out of there

who are doing such amazing work today.

559

I'm a huge Kendrick Lamar fan, I’m

a Kendrick Lamar stan, you could say.

560

And thinking

that he came from those streets

561

thinking that he came from like Bloods

and all that kind of stuff.

562

He's about to do the Super Bowl and,

563

and he's and he's using his resources

and everything to give back.

564

Like, it's

not just like fame and everything,

565

but like conscious and talking about like,

566

just like taking care of your mental

health and all these different things.

567

It's like, you know, John Singleton,

like his, his work.

568

I really believe just like paved the way

for young Black men, even in that time and

569

space, were surrounded by this stuff to,

you know, still be able to cut through it.

570

And they use music, but, you know, there's

so much other stuff, that they had.

571

So, I mean,

572

it's a

573

shame that he died so young, but truly,

truly, truly, you know,

574

just one of the great pieces of cinema

that I think was

575

He actually really had

he had more in the tank,

576

unfortunately,

we never get to see what he had in store.

577

But, on behalf of the Hip Hop

578

Movie Club, I'd like to thank you

three gentlemen for sharing your time

579

with us and talking about our film

and being a part of this event.

580

And to the audience, if you can have a

round of applause for our three panelists.

581

Thank you all.

582

So much for coming out.

583

Have a good night.