A truly eye-opening documentary. Like many others, I'm sure, I've always tended to immediately think "bad guys" whenever the terms "Crips," "Bloods," or "gangs" in general comes up. While it does not try to convince us that these L.A. gangs are actually a force of good or anything like that, this film changed my perspective in many ways. No matter how much your background differs for theirs, CBMA makes it difficult not to empathize with the gangs and, to a significant extent, understand their goals and reasons for being. It includes some really provocative examination of the particularly horrible brand of de facto segregation that existed in L.A. throughout the 1900s, something that still lingers on today. Arresting footage of the Watts Riots of 1965 as well as the riots that followed the Rodney King verdict in 1992. Intelligent but easy to follow interviews with a number of current gang members, former members who now work in intervention, and several professors of sociology and related subjects. While the focus is on L.A., it's all very relevant to anywhere else in this country.
