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CHECK IT is a feature–length documentary about a gay African American gang struggling to survive in one of Washington D.C.’s most violent neighborhoods. It is an intimate portrait of 5 childhood friends as they claw their way out of gang life through an unlikely avenue–fashion.
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At first glance, The Check It, our documentary subjects, seem to be unlikely gang–bangers. Some of the boys wear lipstick and mascara, some stilettos. They carry Louis Vuitton bags, but they also carry knives, brass knuckles and mace. As vulnerable gay and transgender youth, they’ve been shot, stabbed and raped.
Once victims, they’ve now turned the tables, and they're fighting back. Started in 2005 by a group of bulled 9th graders, today these 14-22 year old gang members all have long rap sheets riddled with various street crimes and many have done time in jail.
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Led by an ex-convict named “Mo," The Check It members are NOW creating their own clothing label, putting on fashion shows and working stints as runway models. But breaking the cycle of poverty and violence they’ve grown up in is a daunting task. So when The Check It are not taking small steps forward on the catwalk, they too often take massive steps backwards. CHECK IT captures the struggles and setbacks, but also the progress and triumphs of these kids.
Life for The Check It can be brutal, but it’s also full of hope and an indomitable resiliency. At its heart, the film explores the undying friendship that exists between these kids–an unbreakable bond that is tested every day as they fight to stand up for who they are in a community relentlessly trying to beat them down.
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We live in an age where gay bashing worldwide is increasingly met with zero tolerance, but in these kid’s neighborhoods and others like it, it happens with mind-numbing regularity and no media coverage. The Check It is one small gang in one city, but they reflect a national issue. Being gay in poor, violent African American neighborhoods carries a dangerous stigma. For The Check It and those like them, standing up for who they are is more than an issue of gay pride–it’s risking their lives.
Many members of the African American community have largely condemned homosexuality, forcing many deeper into the closet, which has helped create a public health emergency with alarming statistics:
Black gay men under 30 now have HIV rates on par with sub-Saharan Africa and are infected 75% higher than their white counterparts. Specifically, Washington, D.C. has the highest rate of HIV in the country, making it the epicenter of the AIDS crisis in the United States. And the statistics tied directly to America's inner city LGBT youth–like the kids in The Check It–are just that much more troubling:
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The subject matter of our film has profound social and global relevance, but ultimately The Check It's story–and this film–is a universal one about hope and redemption against all odds.
Anytime a group faces discrimination, it needs to be exposed and addressed. In telling The Check It’s story, we hope to show the amazing things that can happen when kids such as these are given the opportunity to be who they really are–proudly, honestly, freely. We hope to encourage a similarly open-minded conversation about HIV, anti-gay discrimination, and poverty both nationally and in the local communities they most deeply affect.
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The
Check It was founded and most of its members grew up in the infamous north east neighborhood of Trinidad in Washington DC. Trinidad was legendary for chronic
gun violence, which resulted in the police department taking the drastic step to set up checkpoints for
drivers coming into the neighborhood to determine if they had a “legitimate
purpose” for entering.
Trinidad was–and in some areas, still is–an open air
drug market. The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 90s left severe scarring
throughout the area. During those volatile years, the drug kingpin Rayful Edmond III operated
nearby and Trinidad became a battleground for gangs warring over drug turf.
Trinidad, and the Washington D.C area in general, serves as an extreme but poignant example of our nation's inequality. D.C. has a child poverty rate nearly 10 percent above the national average - with 1 in 3 District children living under the poverty line. Ward 8 in D.C.–where many of The Check It live–has the highest unemployment rate in the country at more than 25 percent (2012). Meanwhile, just miles away, the median family income is $250,000 a year.
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We’ve spent the past 3 years capturing The Check It's story, but we cannot deliver the final film without your help. Your contributions will allow us to make sure it can get out into the world and touch as many lives as possible.
While a portion of the funds we raise will go towards completing the film–which is currently in the late stages of editing–another portion–10%–will go directly to the kids themselves–helping to buy sewing machines and fabric for their up and coming fashion line.
With the help of the Indiegogo community, we can tell The Check It's story in full and–most importantly in the process–we can take direct steps to insure that the baton of opportunity is handed directly to the leaders of the gang–providing them with concrete means of entrepreneurial ownership in a young company that they will be building from the ground up.
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The Lena Blanket by Mickalene Thomas
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Dana Flor is a documentary director and producer based in Washington D.C. She co-directed and produced The Nine Lives of Marion Barry with partner Toby Oppenheimer. Dana also wrote and directed the Emmy award-winning documentary Latinos in Beisbol and the Emmy-nominated documentary Cesar Chavez for NBC. She works on a wide-range of stories for Reuters Television, CNN, National Geographic, and others – covering breaking news throughout Latin America and around the world. Along with Toby Oppenheimer, she is currently shooting a feature-length film about Randall Terry, the Koran-burning, anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-Tea Party founder of Operation Rescue.
Toby Oppenheimer is a documentary director, producer, and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, NY. Along with Flor, he co-directed/produced and shot The Nine Lives of Marion Barry for HBO. He also directed two documentaries in 2011 for MSNBC Films, co-produced Devil’s Playground – the Emmy-nominated film about Amish teenagers that premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival – and has tackled a wide range of subjects for PBS, CNN, BBC, A&E, Pivot, The History Channel, VH1, The Sundance Channel, Bravo and many others.
Macro Pictures was formed by Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer. They are the directors of the feature length documentary The Nine Lives of Marion Barry that aired on HBO. This is their second feature film.
Olive Productions is a New York based production company formed by Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci and Wren Arthur. OLIVE is diverse in its tastes and seeks to produce narrative and documentary films and television projects. OLIVE has numerous projects in development with a myriad of talented filmmakers. Drawing on its founders’ extensive experience, the company’s mandate is to tell stories with great characters, humor, compassion and truth above all.
RadicalMedia is a global studio founded in 1993 by Jon Kamen and Frank Scherma with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Sydney, and Shanghai and affiliated agencies in Paris. The company has produced award-winning and critically acclaimed projects in a variety of media, including feature films, television, branded content, commercials, live events, music videos and interactive media.
