About the Documentary

A cluster of neighborhoods in the heart of Southern California is home to two of America’s most infamous gangs: the Crips and the Bloods. Over the course of their 40-year feud, more than 15,000 people have been murdered in an ongoing cycle of violence that continues unabated. Neighborhoods are staked out, and rigid boundaries are drawn; crossing a street or taking a wrong turn can mean death. Nearly a quarter of the region’s young men who survive the violence will end up in jail or prison.

Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Crips and Bloods: Made in America combines in-depth interviews with current and former gang members, educators, historians, family members, and experts with historical and present-day footage to graphically portray the rivalry between African American gangs in South Los Angeles.

In the film, current gang members describe gang life and the status, protection, and other benefits membership gives them, painting a bleak picture of the physical, social, and personal devastation that is the hallmark of South Los Angeles. Academics and other experts, including California State Senator Tom Hayden and author Gerald Horne, suggest ways of solving underlying problems, rather than just attacking gang-related street violence. Meanwhile, the most promising solutions may come from the people in the neighborhood itself, where former gang members and other concerned individuals have taken on the task of working with young people and providing a positive alternative to gang membership.

Crips and Bloods not only documents the emergence of the Bloods and the Crips and their growth beyond the borders of South Central, but also offers insight as to how this continuing tragedy might be resolved.

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