I watched EMPz 4 Life yesterday and I have to say that honestly as a documentary it was a bit poor in production quality. What I was impressed with is that a production company headed by a white-male took it upon themselves to take a stand against racism and make some stunning statements about masculinity, the police state, and our public school system.

The movie itself was way too long, and I think that as a film maker Allan King could have made some better decisions on where to cut. The actual story-line of the documentary was stunning. The ending with the burnt-out social worker lamenting about how no matter how educated and on the ball the black community is, the police can always come and take away everything that they've built.

The great part about the film for me was the balance between blaming the system and taking personal accountability. We can lay blame on the system, but the struggle doesn't end there. you have to take personal action, whether it's in your own life or within your community.

The way that this manifests in my own life is in my career as a woman artist. Of course throughout my path in life, I have been confronted with statements such as, "you're not an artist." My own partner told me this when I invited him to my art show last May. Traditionally women have been excluded and discriminated against in the art world. Instead of agreeing with the sentiment that women can't be artists, this drives me to make more art and to self-define myself.

I think that in the film, the black young men were being given the message from the system that they were nothing more than gang members. For them to take control of their education, pick the schools they want to be at, study extra hard, being proud of their excellence, and recording their process for the public, is a revolutionary act. Showing black young men excelling, yet at the same time trapped, is a marvelous example of how the black community in Toronto finds it's marginalization.

No matter how much you transcend stereotypes, someone is always going to assume that you are a gangster. Even before the movie started I had an interesting intervention with a group of white women in the audience:


"What does EMPz stand for?"
"I heard that it was based on a piece of graffiti"
"Does that mean it's a gang thing? Is it about gangs?"
"Yah, I guess EMPz must be a gang"
(me) "Actually, EMPz is just their neighbourhood. You know, like refering to lack of mobility between classes because you're stuck in your 'hood for life"
"So it's the neighbourhood gang?"
(me)"No, it's just refering to their neighbourhood"
"Oh"