FINALS – A Plea to Address Gun Violence in the Schools.
By Enyaj Pitchford
Mya Baker, or Mya B, is a film maker and activist against gun violence. She’s created a short (film) called “FINALS.” “ FINALS” is a brand as well, and it encompasses apparel, independent films, and will later be morphed into a non profit; all to get the word out on gun violence. This short film delves into a school shooting. It takes place on the last day of school. It’s about a bully student that goes unnoticed and on the last day of school he brings a gun” Mya B explains . Racism is touched upon, as the shooter is a white boy but when a black student sees him and reports that he saw the shooter take a the gun from his duffel bag to test it in the bathroom, he is not believed. He runs to the principals office to let him know but the principal but no actions are taken While the principal is not believing the story, the gun shots are heard. So “race is part of it but it mainly deals with school policies.”. Maya B has been a teacher since 1998. She has seen bullies get bullied and nothing gets resolved. And while that’s not the only cause of school shootings, she think there needs to be more awareness on where the psychological imbalances are stemming from. Maya B goes on to say “ I feel like the signs are there, they just go unnoticed. So the film tries to really address policies as to how bullies are treated.” She also addresses the effectiveness and the psychological trauma instilled by routine school shooting drills, which are currently taking place in our local schools. How effective are these drills, for as she says “ the students who do these school shootings are taking part in the drill, so how effective can that be?” The film is designed to get people talking and policies changed. As well as eyes opened; are we really incorporating school shootings like a part of the curriculum now; as common as a fire drill? Isn’t this more the makings of a paranoid , ineffective police state? Maya recounts a recent encounter with a 7 year old girl who came up to her booth in Silverlake. She asked her what the booth was about. Mya explained that she “wanted people to use shooting to be creative instead of hurting people.” The little girl exclaimed “Why, who is hurting people” So she gave her an example and said, “Well, you know, they are doing these shooting drills in school to prevent school shootings so you would know how to deal with the presence of a shooter on school grounds. The little girl responded “they do that at my school and I hate it; it’s very scary!” It reminded me of a time I went to Crenshaw by bus for incense supplies and the bus stop had a sign for the school bus and the bus to jail. Imagine that happening in Santa Monica or our less brown communities! Kids sitting by the bus stop, a lot of them hungry, and this is the site they see. It’s pure indoctrination!
Mya goes on to say,” So in the movie , you see this boy has a relationship with his mom. You see him at his home. The boy’s father is gone His mom is newly divorced with a new husband. So he’s on a whirl wind of dealing with that and his bullying and his own molotov cocktail of demons. But you don’t actually see his face until the end of the film when he looks himself in the mirror. And the movies ends with a little boy watching it on the news”. Sounds like a powerful choice of direction to me! It’s like he finally feels seen after the deed is done. Everyone will know his name now and have a hard time forgetting it. The new concern is if the boy, who is watching, finds himself in similar circumstances, is he going to copy what he sees? Is this the new normal? Bam! So in the movie he has a duffel bag he’s brining to school on that fateful day. The mom doesn’t see it. No one noticed the duffel bag as he entered the school. She sited an article she read recently about the police force selling their guns and they are in turn bought by criminals. I reminded her that the Mexican Cartel would not exist without the easy access to hand guns ,and machine guns, that they easily acquire in the US. I remember after 911, there was a video showing an Al Qaeda leader urging all his followers to go to the US to get their arms because there were great assault weapons for sale and easily gotten.
Mya B. had been a substitute teacher but in 2010 she got her Masters degree in Education in New York City and started teaching high school film, drama classes and special education. But when she came to Los Angeles, none of her education from New York transferred, so she went back to substitute teaching in South Central. She says it was the first time she had experienced those shooting drills. In New York City they use metal detectors instead. But that means everyday in school just like in jail, and the airports: belts off, shoes off, tap down. And then you sit on a cold seat behind barbed wired windows. What a pleasant place for higher learning!
Mya B has managed to use kickstarter to raise the money to shoot the film. It cost about 16,000$ to shoot but now she’s in the post production process and on kickstarter, again, to raise the money to edit and complete the film. “We need to pay the actors and the editor.” She only has the next two weeks to raise the funds, so anyone who resonates with the issues of gun violence and improving the school environment, particularly for young children, you can find the links to give what you can to help this worthy project come into fruition.
She’s reaching out to organizations, blogs, influencers, this time because she bugged the ‘heck” (she didn’t say heck) out of her friends and family to get the shooting done. They funded the first part. Now she has a trailer and is using the trailer get people’s attention.
Mya goes on to say that “all communities, but especially the black communities, have suffered from gun violence. We don’t even realize how desensitized we are from seeing them occur so often”. I personally remember how appalling the Columbine incident was and how everyone was shocked. Since that time, we can’t even remember half of the incidents reported because they’ve become as common as passing the milk for the cereal and coffee each morning. It’s become a school institution! Obviously, the status quo prefers that we all get used to it and roll over and out of the way of the stray bullets.
Mya told me a story of why gun violence has been a critical issue to focus on. When she was a little girl , a neighbor was baby sitting her and her brother. Her brother found a gun in his knapsack and started playing with it. The sitter started playing a round of Russian roulette. When her mom heard of the incident , she never encountered that young man again. But less that a month later, he killed his own sister that way, and neither he nor the mom ever recovered from the violence.
We talked about the role of parents and parenting in the raising of a killer. I am reminded of the comedian Sebastian Maniscalco who said , and I’m paraphrasing, “how do you not know your kid has a room full of ak 47’s? How are you shocked by this? Don’t you ever go to their room? I mean my mother was always in my room . Under the bed, checking behind things, looking out for things I would hide or clues to what I was doing. This was normal in my neighborhood. My mother knew everything I was hiding, and a lot of it would disappear and never be mentioned.” When I asked her about how the parents didn’t know she said “ a lot of these parents buy these kids the guns, even AK 47s. Why would you buy your kid an AK47 for Christmas and put it under the tree? I can only think they must all be really scared and prepared for Santa coming down that chimney at night!
Good luck Mya and thank you for you determination in this great cause. Below you’ll find the link to support the project; any amount is helpful.
(watch that trailer! It’s powerful!)
Finals Film: Unveiling the Heart of Darkness -post funds kck.st
Myabrooklyn@aol.com
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/afraidofdark/finals-film-post-unveiling-the-heart-of-darkness
