Week Thirteen Blog Post

The Interrupters is a film that is truly eye opening to the war that is taking place on our own home front. Living in the state of Utah I think it is fair to say that we are rarely exposed to the kind of violence that the people of urban Chicago experience every day. While I was watching the film I was horrified by the conditions of the urban neighborhoods that young Chicago families were living in. The neighborhoods really did resemble war zones. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through life not knowing if you were going to make it into your twenties let alone your thirties. I was really touched by the turn around of the individual members from cease fire, specifically Ameena Matthews. Ameena was very gifted at being able to talk with the youth and to teach them how to let go of hate and to embrace life. I specifically admired the effort that Ameena put into helping the troubled young girl Capreshia.

Ameena introduced Capreshia to special rituals that are typically reserved for a mother and daughter, such as taking her to the salon for a manicure and on another occasion a hair cut. Due to the fact that Capreshia didn't really have a mother that was present in her life or a father for that matter, Capreshia channeled her emotions through violence. I think this is why so many of the youth in the film were so violent, because they had situations in their lives that they couldn't control but by channeling their emotions through violence it gave them a sense of control that they were lacking. Ameena was always there to encourage Capreshia to be better and to learn how to work through her issues without resulting to violence. It was heart breaking towards the end of the film when Capreshia walked away from Ameena after Ameena had confronted her for lying about when the first day of school started. Ameena worked so hard to help Capreshia turn her life around, but in the end she recognized that Capreshia had to want it just as much as Ameena did, if anything was really going to change.

It was a really powerful moment for me when Ameena tearfully left one final encouraging message on Capreshia's phone and told the camera crew that she would no longer let Capreshia manipulate her. One of the great things about Ameena, is that she has been where these young kids have been before, and she knows exactly what they are doing. When Ameena confronted Capreshia she didn't hold back anything, she called Capreshia out on everything that she was doing, and wouldn't allow her to come up with any excuses for her behavior. I think the brutal honesty that Ameena uses allows her to reach the youth on a deeper level and inspire them to want to change. All of the Cease Fire members had incredible stories of change and redemption that on a certain level restored some of my faith in humanity. The members of Cease Fire are making a difference among the youth in their community. It isn't easy to stop a war but I think the members of Cease Fire are gradually convincing the youth to walk away from the battle one by one, and hopefully someday the violence will come to an end.