EURweb |
JOHN AMOS TO TAKE RIVAL GANGS ON MIDDLE PASSAGE: Actor hopes experience will give bangers a new perspective.
Scroll down for CNN's report on gang related deaths in Chicago; Since January, 28 students have been killed.
*Actor John Amos is producing and directing a new documentary that will chronicle his next project – a field trip for rival gang bangers that places them in the shackles of their ancestors on the Amistad.
Columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith are reporting that the “Men in Trees” star hopes the experience, titled the Amistad America Project, will allow gangsters to view their destructive lifestyle through the prism of their global history.
"Amistad America is launching its vessel this month (June 21) to sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia to England in conjunction with Great Britain's 200-year commemoration of the abolition of slavery," Amos tells the columnists. "Once it reaches England, Captain Pinkney -- the first African-American to solo circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat -- will take command and sail the boat to slave ports on the West Coast of Africa, Barbados and various other ports.
"Can you imagine the impact it would have on, say, four young men from conflicting gangs, like two Bloods and two Crips, who have been involved in a negative lifestyle, to take them on the Amistad to let them realize the history they're involved with and the historical opportunity that's been given to them? Let them get exposed to what their ancestors went through so they can have a better appreciation and realize the obligation they have to try and live a good life and fulfill their potential as human beings. Amistad America is totally receptive to it, and I've already spoken to a couple of other organizations. It's a terribly exciting project."
Speaking of gangs, in Chicago, since the first of the year, 28 students have been murdered by gangs in Chicago. Watch CNN's Anderson Cooper's special report:
Introducing mobileEURweb.com!
Those long boring commutes to school or
work can now be a thing of the past. Introducing
mobileEURweb.com to make your daily shuffle more
fun get hip to Urban Info on The G mobileEURweb.com!
Try it NOW on your cellphone: mobileEURweb.com
