Failed Attempt to Transform Urban Boys: “The Boys of Baraka”

The film, The Boys of Baraka, was produced and directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The script was written by Faith Rogow. The documentary starts with a miscommunication between a lady teacher and the students urging them to listen to the announcements. The statues of the class have been depicted as disorderly with some students violently dragging each other. Richard, 13 Years old student, narrates about his neighborhood regarding drugs and wishes that his baby brother does not grow up in that environment. Leeoritia, a parent, considered the difference of children's joining Baraka school and remaining in Baltimore as making one child a killer and the other one a king.

To reduce the crime rate and enhance future education attrition, Baltimore City spearheaded a program, Baraka (a Kiswahili word meaning Blessing) to transform the lives of African-American boys by providing them a nurturing environment. The loss of sense of hope in the black community was the driving force to seek a better environment which could promote social and academic determinations. The program aimed to promote residential study abroad targeting the change of behavior. The documentary reflects exceptional qualities and potential of the featured Baraka schooling program in bettering the lives of young boys from Baltimore City.

The black community had recorded the highest rate of academic suspension in the elementary and secondary school in the year 2003. Specifically, the Baltimore school had 76% of boys dropping out of school warranting measures to remedy the situation. The movie deliberates on the challenges that were imminent for the urban boys and hindered effective learning. First, the film argues that most parents in the community were imprisoned affecting parental responsibilities which are vital in promoting learning. Secondly, most parents in the Baltimore communities were single female-headed families intensifying crime rate for boys. Third, the movie cites various incidences of relatives’ engagement in drug and substance abuse. For example, Lisa, Devon’s mother narrates how she used to smoke Marijuana which had affected her young boy due to lack of a role model.

The Baraka school was a program aimed at providing an alternative learning context which would not be compared with the impoverished environment which had no hope of improving education or reducing crime for the young and future generations. The Baraka school targeted to...