I have to admit I'm really not a fan of verite-style documentaries.
Those are the ones that simply have a camera follow around, hoping to capture something. They have their moments, but can't compare to the crisp power of the great documentaries of PBS' "American Masters," "Frontline" or "American Experience."
So I have misgivings about the fact that Tuesday's "Frontline" has a verite documentary, "The Interrupters." Still, it's a fairly interesting film about a very interesting subect. Here's the story I sent to papers:
By MIKE HUGHES
For Ameena Matthews, this was just
another intervention, Chicago-style.
“The mother (said), 'My son is
loading up the gun and he's going to go up there and shoot these guys
that beat up my other son,'” she said. “We got into the head of
this little, young guy and his mom.'”
He didn't shoot anyone. Today, Matthews
said, he's a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Matthews – featured in a PBS
“Frontline” film Tuesday – is used to this. “Everybody has
different attributes,” she said, “and mine is communication. Some
… may say that I communicate too long.”
She is, indeed, given to a blur of
words. Then again, she knows the subject.
These days, Matthews is a “senior
violence interrupter” for a Chicago program called CeaseFire.
“You have to have the ability to
intercept whispers,” said Tio Hardiman, the CeaseFire director.
“You have to come from that lifestyle, to a degree …. This work
is not for the faint of heart.”
And yes, Matthews comes from the
lifestyle. That's partly by:
– Family. Her father, originally name
Jeff Fort, co-founded the Blackstone Rangers, merging 21 Chicago
gangs. He received praise and federal grants; he also has several
convictions (including conspiring with Libya for domestic terrorism)
and is in isolation in a federal prison.
– History. She grew up mainly with
her grandmother, she says in the PBS film, but spent six years with
her troubled mother, “being abused physically, emotionally,
sexually from age 9 to 15.” After retreating to her grandmother,
she said, she “got caught up in” the crime life.
All of that is part of a strong resume
for interrupters. “They're in the streets every day,” filmmaker
Steve James said, “actually dealing with it on a day-to-day basis,
person-to-person basis.”
James captured a cheerier side of
Chicago life with his Oscar-nominated “Hoop Dreams.” This time,
he linked with award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz (“There Are No
Children Here,” “The Other Side of the River”) to trace the
“interrupter” program.
“We were there right at the height of
the foreclosure crisis,” Kotlowitz said. “We saw blocks literally
change as we were filming. It's clear that jobs – lack of jobs –
had an enormous impact.”
That's crucial for some people,
Hardison said, but not for others. “People need to work and they
can begin to get on with their lives …. But some of the people that
I've worked with, their job is violence.”
Hardison knows the turf. His
step-father committed suicide in front of him, he says; at 14, he
became a small-time street hustler. He went on to a master's degree
in inner city studies. Now CeaseFire has 26 sites; last year, he
said, it did “constructive shadowing” with 1,100 people.
One key, Kotlowitz said, is quick
intervention. “There is a lot of anger out there, but the anger
isn't a permanent state of mind.”
He and James saw a first-hand example
with one angry man. “He's got a pistol in his waistband and he's
ready to go off,” he said. “And it didn't take very much for Cobe
to pull him off.”
That's Cobe Williams, who spent 12
years in prison. The film focuses on Williams, Eddie Bocanagra and
Matthews. It also focuses on Hardison, who still gets involved with
individuals.
“About a year ago, a guy told me he
would put me to sleep if I kept getting in his business,” Hardison
said. “I was trying to save the life of an 18-year-old kid. To make
a long story short, I'm here today; the kid's life was saved.”
– “Frontline: The Interrupters”
– 9-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS (check local
listings)