african american youth

Presents personal observations on the early days of hip-hop music and culture as it developed from New York City in the 1970s, and includes photographs, as well as vintage photos and posters.

A study of gangs and graffiti in Los Angeles, presenting a cross-cultural, political approach to the topic of gangs in L.A.; featuring ethnographies of Chicano and African American gangs, primarily as seen through their graffiti; offering a brief review of hip-hop graffiti; and discussing cross-ethnic gang relationships.

A study of African-Americans born between 1965 and 1984, discussing the problems of racism, unemployment, educational disparity, police brutality, and others that plague the first generation to have grown up in a legally desegregated United States, and arguing that hip hop is the unifying force that could bring about a new phase of African-American empowerment.

Mamie Till-Mobley discusses the effect on her life of the murder of her son, Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African-American boy who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman, and tells how she was able to go on after his death to become a teacher and an activist in the civil rights struggle.

Presents excerpts from interviews with fifteen African-American girls between the ages of eleven and twenty, touching on such themes as racism, education, gang violence, and the importance of role models.

Washington Post reporter Nathan McCall recounts the story of his journey from troubled youth to professional journalist, providing insight into what it's like to be a young black man in America.

After his mother's death, Second must make decisions about the friends and family in his life.

Sixteen-year-old Courtland Murphy is torn between her feelings for her new boyfriend, basketball star Allen Benson, and her vow to remain a virgin, when Benson pressures her into proving her love.

Fifteen-year-old Indigo Summer turns to her neighbor Marcus Carter for advice after she is dumped by her football hero boyfriend, and it is not long before she realizes what a great guy Marcus really is.