A Day on the 183rd: South Bronx

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Today's installment in the video vault of "Docmaker on the Go" was shot during the making of a music video for Hip Hop Artist: J Gutta of "From the Ground Up" records. This was a great day to be hanging out on the infamous 183rd and Creston Avenue corner. The streets were alive with the sounds of the summer. Kids were running around playing, parents were out having a good time. The street is real and so are the people that live it, but also the street can show you a side of life that sometimes is missing through out America. That part that is missing is community.
I hope that this little snippet can start to show that sense of community. From the man selling meat pies to the kids on the courts playing ball, there is a strong sense of bonding. J Gutta brings us to the heart of what is knows as the birth place of Hip Hop once again, the South Bronx.
I guess what this vlog has become to this point seems to be somewhat of an homage to Hip Hop culture. It is actually far from that. It is an homage to Americana. The past few weeks I have seemed focused on a certain community and culture but this is really just the beginning of what this vlog is to become. It will expand and encompass all people and communities and show that all are an equal part of the make up of this society. Each has it's own unique flavor but all are equally important to the community as a whole.
Recently I've been reading and watching various other vlogs/blogs out there and have seen other people dealing with various social issues in both the written and the edited word. Carl Weaver is doing great work in sometimes the most difficult of environments. He is up against a wall with the beaurocracy of our system trying to find a way to help at risk kids with there G.E.D.s. I have a huge amount of respect for his efforts. In a way, what he ends up showing the kids inadvertantly is that the system at times, more often than one would hope, is designed to hold them back as opposed to help them. It puts such absurd restictions and qualifications out there for someone to be assisted that it usually is virtually impossible for them to secure assitance. It's actually sad how our system is structured at times.
I know that this was a bit of a ramble and rant but hopefully this video will show a different side of the coin, a happier moment on the corner of 183rd and Creston Avenue. A side that sometimes isn't shown on television from the "hood".