An indictment that can't help but reverberate in the ears of all African American youth, whether it applies to them or not.
The students at Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School know all too well how most folks perceive them. But they hope to present a kind of multidisciplined perspective with their original production of PHLash: A Mob Story, which runs Thursday through Saturday in the school auditorium.
The docu-play powerfully examines the city's flash-mob attacks. Student actors play city officials, law enforcement, and victims, using dialogue gleaned from more than 40 interviews they conducted themselves. (And, yes, Nutter did allow them to use video footage of his speech.)
Director and class adviser Greg DeCandia says it's important to affirm that black teens can and do "use their numbers for good." The hard work and dedication they put into every aspect of the production validates that, he says.
But more important, PHLash gives voice to the students' experience. And through playing other characters, they've come away learning a little more about themselves.
Which, when you think about it, is the best possible kind of lesson.
Often typecast
All of the PHLash cast members are black and male. Nine of the 12 are being raised by single moms.
Suffice it to say they're used to being typecast.
"Me and my friend were walking from school," relates cast member Myles Hinsey, 15, "and the crossing guard said we were going to start a flash mob just because we were jaywalking. I felt upset because what she said was ignorant on so many levels."
What that crossing guard didn't realize is that Hinsey would never start a flash mob, especially since he had been the victim of one.
