robotdoves.blogspot.com

rage

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:52:00 +0000

"Real warriors do not think in terms of challenge, nor are their minds occupied with the battlefield or with past or future consequences. The warrior is completely one with bravery, one with that particular moment. He or she is fully concentrated in the moment because he knows the art of war. You are entirely skilled in your tactics; you do not refer to past events or develop your strength through thinking about future consequences and victory. You are fully aware at that moment, which automatically brings success in the challenge."

- Chogyam Trungpa (from here)

Too often do we let our experiences of the past or our expectations of the future impact our decisions in the present. yes, it is helpful to understand our past, and the role it has played in the flowing creation of who we are. Learn from mistakes, move past regrets, etc. But sometimes, diessecting our past, to understand every occurence, the why's of everything, can hold us back.

and that is what I have found most appreciative, so far, of Cornel West's autobiography Living and Loving Outloud.

West speaks about an intense rage he had growing within him as a child, and the bad decisions that came from it. He reveals how the rage has impacted him in many different ways, how the rage has drove him to be where he is today. But he never once discusses possible theories about why his rage is there, where his rage comes from, he doesn't even acknowledge the curiosity that I am sure he was struck by, about where this rage manifested itself from.

the perfect love song

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:43:00 +0000

the perfect love song. which isn't about a moment with him, or her. it's about the moment of revelation, of learning/understanding your own mess of complexities, and loving the confusion, and frustration that comes with trying to untangle ourselves. I'm really diggin' Macklemore's new direction, incorporating live instruments and straying away from what would be known as traditional hip hop with an emcee and DJ.

I look forward to the day, where Love is no longer a romanticized fabrication of this culture, of which I, also, fall victim to. But instead, Love becomes a bigger thing, about self, learning to love self and shining that self love to something bigger, something larger. as Cornel West says "Justice is what the language of love looks like in public." But how can we learn to love publicly if we can't love ourselves. We all got the blues.

female artists are taking over.

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:58:00 +0000

I'm sorry, but is it just me, or does it seem like females have been taking over music. especially with Alicia's recent release of the Element of Freedom, with Janelle's release of her first album, the Ark Android, coming soon (hopefully, although i saw a release date of Dec 2010, and i really don't want to wait a whole year..) , and with Erykah's comback with the return of the Ankh.. I can't think of a single male artist that lives to the creative and imaginative artistry of these three ladies (and these are the only ladies that I can think of at the moment, I'm sure there are more than just these three that are doing big things..)

Janelle Monae, The Ark Android

finallyyyy suite 2 & 3 will be coming out in one, entire album entitled "The Ark Android," a self realisation album. Cindi, the android from the first suite, realizes her gift and calling to lead the androids to freedom. Janelle parallels this to ways that we can all learn what our "own superpowers" are and use these powers to transform our own communities. amazing. This is what music should be about. I just reeealllly hope the release date is sooner than december 2010, maybe the source of where I saw this december 2010 release date made a typo and they really meant January 2010... Actually when I first saw the release date of December 2010 for some reason I thought it was December 2009, and i got reeeallly excited but after doing google searches for about 30 min. and coming up with nothing, i looked at the date again and realized that I really saw December 2010. heart breaking.

Alicia Keys, the Element of Freedom

Honestly, when Alicia Keys came out with her first single before the album dropped, Doesn't Mean A Thing, I wasn't really feelin it. Doesn't Mean a thing had a pop-ish, main stream sound to it that I just wasn't really drawn to. however... after listening through her album I realized that Doesn't Mean a Thing was only the tip of an iceberg of what her album had to offer. She uses the universal theme of love to convey a message of freedom and self-love, she begins with the quote "And the Day come that the risk it took to remain tightly closed in a bud, was more painful than the risk it took to bloom, this is the Element of Freedom." Some favorites Love is Blind, Empire State of Mind II, Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart (the beat and instrumentals are amazing in this one) and of course her collaboration with Beyonce in Put it in a Love Song.

Erykah Badu: Amerykah

the sequel to Erykah Badu's 2006 New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War could be coming in 2010. New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh. below Erykah Badu shares a little bit about the concept (source)

Erykah Badu Levitates from Creative Control on Vimeo.

anddd look who's back! =)

Corinne Bailey Rae "I'd Do It All Again"

Corinne Bailey Rae MySpace Music Videos

2010 will be a good year. happy holidays <3

the noisettes

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Precious Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:45:00 +0000

After watching the trailer for Precious, the new Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry film based on the novel "Push" by Saphire, I decided to check out the book. Here's the trailer

The book, was not what I was expecting. I mean, I'm not even sure why I created such dinstinct expectations, but I was expecting for this book to be written in a style similar to how memoirs are written. But actually, this book was written completely from the perspective of Precious (who is the main character in the book). You meet Precious when she's 16, but memories keep revisiting her consistently bringing her back to ages 6, 7, 8, all the way to 12. At first this kind of caught me off guard, because everything is written in her perspective, just think about the way we think, and having that being translated into a novel. But then I realized it's impact, that because of how it's written you enter Precious' mind and share the journey with her. At one moment she's ranting angrily about her mother then memories of being raped by her father emerge themselves (major trigger warning btw I had trouble sleeping last night.) The way it's supposed to immitate the works of a mind just allows you to completely immerse yourself into her world. The book is called "Push," because throughout the whole book you can feel the different factors in her life that push Precious to keep on living, to keep on going.

I bought the book just last night and just finished it (quick read) so I'm still trying to digest it. It'll be interesting to see how it gets translated into a feature film.

quick note

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:49:00 +0000

So in my previous entry about Ft. Hood, I feel like I Maybe jumped to conclusions myself before doing enough research. and I don't think I made it clear enough that what happened in Ft. Hood was a big tragedy and my heart does go out to all the families that lost a soldier in that tragedy as well as those who have survived it.

However, I think sometimes, when a tragedy of this size happens, we (like myself) can have a tendency to jump into exploring the why's of it, how could something like this happen? That's when you explore the intentions, thinking and rationale that has led the perpetrator to commit such heinous acts. Which is why I felt the previous post that had the comments made from DJ, the Exec. Director of the NAPAMHA which focused on mental health factors and environmental factors that are incredibly important consider, especially if we need to implement preventive measures to avoid another tragedy like this.

Ft. Hood

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:28:00 +0000

The tragedy of Ft.Hood at this point remains fresh in news coverage. I am concerned about possible repercussions that might come up later, specifically directed towards certain communities. Below is an email I received from the director of the program I'm interning at, she forwarded an email from the executive director of the National Asian Pacific Islander Mental Health Association which makes important comments about what to keep in mind when thinking about Maj. Hasan's experience within the military, such as his mental health (which is a conversationg that is for the most part disregarded in the media) and the importance of not jumping to any conclusions:

The shooting last week at Ft. Hood raises again the very painful reminder of what happens when mental health problems are not properly addressed. There are other issues that will also be raised including the apparent harrassment Maj. Hasan experienced as a Muslim and the failure of those within the system to understand the magnitude of his conflict in engaging in a war of Muslims on Muslims. If this proves to be true, this would not be the first time that prejudices in the miliary have taken a serious toll. We offer our support to Secretary Shinseki who will hopefully find ways to address mental health issues and the impact of racism and other forms of oppression in the military.

As mental health advocates, clinicians and those interested in improving the mental health of our communities, NAAPIMHA continues to be concerned with how mental health issues are dealt with. The shooting at Ft. Hood will also inevitably draw comparisons with the tragedy at Virginia Tech, how we look at both Maj Hasan and Seung Hui Cho and the impact this has on our communities. A particular challenge is making sure this is not seen as "something Muslims do" just as it was critical for the Korean and Asian American community to not own the responsibiltiy of what happened at Virginia Tech, nor was it something that happens when you "let foreigners in". That having been said, we also cannot ignore the important role that culture, race, language, religious beliefs, immigration status, etc. play in defining who we are, how we think, how we behave and how the world interacts with us. Sometimes we do not have the choice to not own the problem because others are quick to generalize and lay the responsibility and "blame" on our shoulders. When these issues are not understood and themselves become the source of conflict, they become important variables that must be addressed.

Tragedies like these also add to the stigma surrounding mental health - people with mental health problems are seen as dangerous, making it even more difficult for people to seek services. In the case of Maj. Hasan, he was trained as a psychiatrist and from what little information that is available, was apparently a good clinician. This only complicates the picture and asks that this situation be handled with sensitivity and respect. Where do those who counsel others receive counsel themselves? The VA, like so many other systems, is known for its lack of sufficient mental health providers to handle the heavy caseload. This is a common problem found throughout the service delivery system but becomes even more critical because of the intense nature of dealing with PTSD and other war related traumas. This is also not unlike the situation we see within our community based organizations where refugee mental health workers must work over time because no one else is there to relieve them.

My guess is Ft. Hood will remain in the public eye for some time to come as did Virginia Tech. Hopefully it will not have the media frenzy that plagued the campus and made students and community members wary to talk to anybody. It is interesting to note that the killings at the immigration center in upstate Binghamton, NY in April was in the news for only a brief few days even though 14 people were killed. One conclusion that may be drawn from this is that the loss of immigrants is not as important as college students or soldiers. We as a country have also become immune to the daily killings of one person at a time and only pay attention when there is a mass killing. That in many ways is the real tragedy. The experts agree that it is not possible to predict who will become a mass killer but we do know that prevention does work. Hopefully we will find ways to prevent violence in the future.

We will continue to work with others in the mental health field in the next few days, weeks and months ahead. There are lessons learned from previous tragedies and we welcome your thoughts, your concerns and recommendations.

dj

DJ Ida, PhD
Executive Director
National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
1215 19th St. Suite A
Denver, CO 80202
303-298-7910
720-939-6494 cell

Precious

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry Presents...

opens in Bellevue, WA November 20th 2009 at Lincoln

what I'm listening to now

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:00 +0000

I love fall. It's my absolute favorite time of the year.

So it's definitely been awhile. I definitely hope to be posting more often. There's been some high's and low's, maybe more low's than highs. But I guess it's all about perspective.

here's some music i've been rotating on my play list, not really new stuff though.

"Whale Song" for Modest Mouse from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo.

500 days of summer

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:08:00 +0000

I really enjoyed 500 days of summer. It was definitely a fun, feel good movie. My father brought up a good point about this movie, that it reveals the story of one young boys fairy tale fantasy of romance. In this movie, traditional gender roles are reversed, the women is the care free, detached independent player in the "relationship," and the man is the one who falls for ideals about soul mates and sappy true love. Comparing this movie to other mainstream ones, you don't see these kinds of gender roles play out. So it's kind of cool, to see a mainstream movie where the male lead is putting his emotions out there like that.

rey ortega

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:19:00 +0000

- Grow- by Rey Ortega

finals have ended for summer school finally, while it didn't really end with a bang, except maybe the bang of my electricity going out at 12:10 AM while I was taking my online final...but nonetheless I am DONE! and will never be taking 16 credits during the summer ever again, unless I absolutely have to.

But now, I can definitely start tackling the long to do list that has been sitting at my desk for about a month and a half. Starting with paying my internet bill that was due today, but I forgot the answer to my security question to get into my online account... but anyway.

Rey Ortega.

Ortega had a featured artist profile in the August 09 edition of a magazine called Juxtapoz (http://www.juxtapoz.com/)

Below is what was featured with his profile and below is an excerpt from his profile.

"Even though I draw weird monsters and such, I feel like my works are deeply personal, even embarrasingly so. " - Rey Ortega

You can almost sense the level of vulnerability through such an imaginative character. I have a strong curiosity as it is, so I think his work really taps into my imagination as I begin to wonder about these characters and monsters he creates. the characters always seems to be captured at an intriguing level of embarassment, confusion and vulnerability. I suppose I can relate to those kinds of emotions pretty strongly.

http://reyortega.wordpress.com/

http://www.rey-o.com/

noreply@blogger.com (Etheline) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:56:00 +0000

-Etheline

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:41:00 +0000

stumbled on this from here

Tim Burton's : Alice in Wonderland (Teaser) from Vanspauwen Glenn on Vimeo.

I don't know how I feel about this dress almost falling off of alice tho, but nonethess it's something to look forward to!

Twice

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Little Dragon - Twice

sleepyhead

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:07:00 +0000

At work, when we close I usually slip in a CD of my own. When this song came on my co-worker froze in place, and said "I think I've heard this song before." after a few moments of silence he says "oooooh. when I was at neighbors[a night club] this song came on and about 6 guys in white underwear and big panda heads came out and danced a choreographed dance to this song. I felt like i was high."

man I wish I was there, that sounds tooo awesome.

an ode to the solo life

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:02:00 +0000

Yeah I know, the cover of this book isn't the most appealing. A good friend convinced me to read it, but when she came by my work to drop the book off I almost changed my mind. But I think the author is just trying to reach out to a certain audience. But anyway, I'm usually not into "self help" books. When I'm feeling down or a bit uninspired I look for poetry, or biographies to lose myself in. But never straight up, quotes of inspiration. I always felt like those kinds of books are so fake, manipulative and hallmark-ish I guess. But I guess I judged before I even tried. This book, Kiss Me, I'm Single, an ode to the solo life by Amanda Ford, is amazing. The Author Amanda ford explores singlehood as a form of empowerment. She says that often times women get lost in their relationships, lose a sense of themselves and then the relationship fails, which leads to women blaming themselves, lowering self esteem and self confidence. What I like most about this book is that it doesn't go into theories of the why's of everything. It simply addresses the now, and what you can do for the now to live a more fulfilling life.

I've definitely have had my sour luck with men. I think it might be the environment that I've been meeting them, the club. Yes I know, I've been telling myself for over year that the club is NOT the place to meet a potential hubby, i mean not to say I'm out looking for one at this age. But still, everytime, when some drunk dude who probably won't remember what I look like, or who I am in the morning, is asking for my number, I tell myself why not, he could be interesting and maybe I'll learn a thing or two from him. And it's not that all men at clubs are sleeze balls, the two most sleeziest men I have ever met I did not meet at a club in seattle, one was a mutual friend, the other I met in a club in vegas. It's just, when you meet a guy in a club, and date them, it just seems like both ends are taking the dating relationship less seriously. And the circumstance underwhich you guys met is usually somewhat superficial, he was looking good in that plaid shirt so you scooped him out, or he thought you were looking good or whatever. Anyway, needless to stay I haven't had a serious BF since my ex highschool sweet heart, and that was a loooong time ago.

Anyway enough about my boring and non-existent love life. I really appreciated this book cause for the longest time I thought there was something seriously wrong with me, I have probably dated over 6 guys within the past year, and who knows how many within the year before that. They NEVER worked out. at the point of deciding to just be friends or whatever I'd be all bummed out, feeling rejected. But after a couple days I'd say, "man thank god, what was I thinking." It's the same old cycle. and I think I figured out my problem, I appreciate people, for who they are, but there's a difference from appreciating an individual and the beauty that carries with them, (we all have individual beauty) with simply having an honest and strong connection with someone, having good chemistry.

A good quote

"Love has nothing to do with another person. Love is a state of being. It is the way in which you interact with life. Make this your mantra 'Love has nothing to do with another person, but is the condition of my own heart.' "

and my heart has been cut and stomped on, for reasons unrelated to love. So I know what I need to do for the time being and stop losing myself in false idealizations of the potential soulmate.

can you tell me how to get to Sesame Streeet

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Pretty cool Jazz rendition of the Sesame Street theme song led by big band trumpeter Maynard Gerguson, I had no idea that Sesame street has been around this long, definitely one of my favorite TV shows growing up.

constant surprises

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:11:00 +0000

I like the idea of understanding the events that happen in our lives as constant surprises.

www.little-dragon.se

hellzbellz

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:09:00 +0000

(Taken From http://hellz-bellz.com/)

I've never really been into fashion. But lately I've been appreciating fashion as a form of self expression. I've been following the Hellz Bellz blog lately. Hellz Bellz is an independent urban apparel brand (I don't know if that's the right label) for women. Their brand "reflects a woman deeper than the hyper-feminine stereotype. Hellz calls to all women to confront conformity, tear down boundaries and rewrite the rules." (Taken from their website) When reading about their capsule summer collection, this is what I cam across:

A concise yet bold collection, this limited 6 piece line extends Hellz’ ongoing graphic themes incorporating the idea of empowered defiant women that exude nothing but vicious confidence. Hellz Creative Director, Lanie Alabanza-Barcena expounds, “Inspiration for the graphics were drawn from familiar faces of fashion icons and iconic fashion brands who celebrate them.

fashion can mean much more than those shoes do not go with that top, but it can provide an outlet for self expression, creatively bending cultural boundaries and social norms.

for the love of boxing

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:08:00 +0000

The blog, for the love of boxing, was shared with me by a good friend. (Thanks Nick). Emily is a female amateur competative boxer, who stumbled upon the sport of boxing, but quickly began to experience the spiritual and philosophical journey's that came with boxing. I think it's a given, that boxing is a very male dominated sport, not to mention the ways a women boxer is living in contradiction to female standards of beauty and femininity, which is why I find her blog to be really interesting, particularly this entry where she discusses a little bit about her, "adventures," I guess, of being a female amateur competative boxer. She dives deeper in exploring her place as a female boxer by looking at the ways that she responds to other female boxer. Here's an interesting excerpt:

"I hear myself speak truth to wanting more women to take up boxing – to go for it, to give of themselves and take a risk, even professing I’d like to make a vocation of it. The outrage that it struggles to receive recognition as a real sport. I’m proud of to be amongst the advocates, making history just by doing what we do. And yet the judgments, the skeptical assessments of whether the desire to box is authentic seep out of me. I remember acting very protective toward anyone who didn’t take on training like their life depended on it – as if my own life depended on it. Part of me hates being a woman who will never just be a wall of lean muscle, a vessel without a cycle, an apparatus of pure function devoid of vulnerability. The so-called tough-girl charade exposes who I really am, it represents parts of me I am desperate to dissociate from. Honestly, I’ve often felt more threatened than heartened by the courage of other women trying something new."

Influenced by a good friend who boxes, I've actually thought about boxing myself. For self defense (boxing seems more appealing than a self defense class cause it seems that through boxing you strengthen your muscles in addition to learning how to throw a bad ass punch) but more importantly, for an outlet for pent up emotions and anger.

So a friend and I will be taking our first class this Sunday! :)....

<3Olives

update.

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Hello,

Sorry there has been a lack of postings for a week or two. Summer craziness has picked itself up a little bit these past couple of weeks, leaving me a bit distracted and unfocused.

However, this summer we are hoping to add more authors :) enhancing the richness of the blog. Hopefully Etheline will grace us with her reappearance soon too.... she is deeply missed.

Things will pick up soon, a blog is in the works, especially after finding out a good friend of mine is actually interning at TITS. ... hehe.

Hope the summer is serving everyone well!

Also, if anyone knows of someone who has survived sexual violence in any form, share this blog with them. One of the most beautiful thing someone who lives a life of tragedy can experience is an understanding of the cause of their sorrow. With sexual violence, because we live in a world that silences and isolates survivors, a survivors understanding of their own experience is usually painful and lonely. Sometimes healing can be done through hearing the stories of other survivors. In http://loveejane.blogspot.com/ a survivor documents her journey with poems, and short passages. The reason I post that here is cause while I know this blog doesn't get much traffic, it still gets a little traffic, and you never really know.

Many of those that I love are survivors, and the scariest thing about this culture we live in is that it prevents survivors to bond together through their experiences, instead, while living in close proximity with one another they are isolated and separated by walls of shame, pain, guilt, and self-doubt. Therapy alone doesn't heal, it takes communites to dedicate themselves to social change, and we do need to reach a place where we care about the experiences of those around us, survivors or not.

and this spoken word poem below is by far my favorite I've ever seen performed, and I've seen her perform this one three times.

<3 olives.

M.I.A.

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:08:00 +0000

via: http://www.myspace.com/afua81

janelle monae

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:51:00 +0000

I must say I feel honored to be a part of the generation that Janelle Monae is from, well kind of I think she might be a little older. But I guess it's a commonality that I'd like to think we have....

sincerely jane

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:57:00 +0000

I am counting down the days until Seattle's Music festival, Bumpershoot! Janelle Monae will be taking the stage on Monday!!! :)

Anyway, I always appreciate it when an artist shares the story behind the creation and meaning of their art, bringing it to life.

Below is an excerpt from an interview on NPR with Janelle Monae about the making of Sincerely Jane. (youtube of the song below)

it was a letter written to me from my mother, I had left Kansas, I grew up in one of the poorest county's in Kansas, at an early age I was exposed to those around me who had gone to really dark places in their lives because of drugs. One of the lines that I written "are we really living or just walking dead?" and that's just a question that i've asked myself and challenged people in my life to ask themselves too.

We wanted to make the french horn cry, because the letter was so touchy. when people actually listened to it, we wanted them to hear those french horns crying, the strings pleaing, and with my voice, I wanted to touch the corners of their heart

myspace.com/janellemonae for more.

Crips and Bloods, made in America

noreply@blogger.com (Olives) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Last night, the "Break the Silence" folks, went to a documentary screening of Crips and Bloods, Made in America at the Langston Hughes performing arts center. This documentary received a lot of national attention. It's narrarated by Forest Whitaker and one of the producers of the film is Baron Davis, a former(?) NBA star who grew up in LA.

This was an incredibly informing and beautifully moving documentary. It begins with exploring the ways that the legacy of slavery in this country kind of provided a historical context for the role racism plays in gang violence. Then it provides a long timeline of gangs in LA, the rise and fall of gang violence and different factors that contributed to the rise and fall (civil rights movement, neighborhood ordinances that contributed to racial segregation that kept people of color in ghettos, lack of resources for extra curricular activities for the youth in these communitites, etc.) It definitely explored police brutality, and how when a group of people are continually being treated like they are worthless by those that are supposed to protect your community, a message becomes instilled in your mind about your own worth, and you then become "an instrument of your own oppression." (There was a really awesome quote someone they interviewed had said about that, but I can't remember it, just the last part which i quoted)

Overall I really appreciated the documentary, and I feel like as a community member, we are fed by the media images and perceptions of what gang violence is. Often simplifying this issue as something isolated, something that's happening now, disconnected from the past, sensationalizing the issue that the youth are "out of control and violent." etc. The more who see this documentary the better.

However, there is definitely an entire conversation missing from this documentary, an issue that the documentary completely over looked, which was kind of a disappointment. The documentary was definitely from a male perspective, with out acknowledging the different ways that gang violence might impact women and young girls in these communities. While I understand that gang violence for males and females is an entirely different experience, and so to focus on the male perspective in some way can make sense, but this should at least be acknowledged , and it wasn't, which made it seem like when discussing gang violence it would be expected for there to be a focus on the male perspective, making the female perspective invisible, forgotten and ultimately unimportant.

Through the documentary they interview current/former crips and bloods (who are all men except for a 5 sec comment by a young women who was a former gang member), asking all sorts of questions about their experiences. One question asks about their home life and there is definitely a pattern of a single mother home, and feelings of being un loved by her. One interviewee mentioned watching his father "beat the shit" out of his mother... then it moves onto the experiences of the mothers who lost their sons, not really exploring the violence that might be prevalent in their lives. Or the violence in the lives of the young girls who live in these communities, and how the male gang members perpetuate violence onto the young females in their communitites through sexualized violence like domestic violence or rape. And how many of these young single mothers are survivors of this kind of violence and how might it affect the home environment where they raise their sons, only continuing a cycle of violence.

Anyway, I think youtube's site is down, but when it's up and working again I'll post a trailer of the film or something.