Thursday, February 08, 2007

HBO Documentary: Bastards of the Party

Raised in the Athens Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Cle "Bone" Sloan was four years old when his father died, and 12 when he became a member of the Bloods. Now an inactive member of the notorious gang, Sloan looks back at the history of black gangs in his city and makes a powerful call for change in modern gang culture with his insightful documentary, BASTARDS OF THE PARTY.

Acclaimed feature film director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") produces along with Sloan, who also directs.

Haunted by his involvement in the Bloods' pervasive culture of violence, Sloan wanted to explore where it all began. In researching the subject, he discovered that the roots of black gangs were nurtured within a distinct political landscape. BASTARDS OF THE PARTY traces the development of black gangs in Los Angeles from the late 1940s, through the charged atmosphere of the '60s and '70s, to the breakdown of community in the '80s and '90s, and the brief truce between the Crips and Bloods that followed the Rodney King riots in 1992. Among the gangs that figure in the story are the Spook- hunters, Farmers, Slauscons, Businessmen and Gladiators. Read entire article here

The documentary features interviews with past and current gang members from the Bloods and Crips; LA historian Mike Davis, whose book "City of Quartz" sparked Sloan's own project; former FBI agent Wes Swearingen; and Geronimo Pratt, the former Black Panther Party minister of defense, among others.

Supa says: Watch this shit, yo!

7 comments:

African girl, American world said...

ok why was I thinking of you the whole time I was watching this and the other one (can't remember title) on HBO On Demand??

Supa said...

Hey Mwabs! This docvumentary was awesome.

And for the record - Cle is foine. :)

Supa said...

and apparently, I can't type....

"documentary!"

1969 said...

I was just about to come over here and cuss you out for not blogging. LOL

I will have to check this one out.

P said...

I'm glad you told me about this. . .

I saw this on my HBO on demand as was contemplating watching it, not because I didn't want to see if, but I didn't know if I was mentally prepared to watch this. . .

A definite must. Thank you.

That Girl Tam said...

I watched this last night with XL and not only was it informative (about our past), it made us reflect on the shit during our OWN time comin up on them mean streets...I grew up not too far from Athens Park.

I believe my next post will be something based on those times...thanks for tellin us about it!!

Anonymous said...

All i can say is, too many of our brothers lives have been wasted for nothing. Cle did a great job with the documentary, but now that the story is out there WHAT NEXT, he has the power and attention to actually become the next Bunchy Carter it is like the gangs now have a leader. I hope something postive comes out of this. Mr. Sloan can make it or break it.

Mrs.D. Gray