A Most Beautiful Thing

NBC TODAY show did a short special about this documentary this morning. The genesis of how this story came about and interviews with all involved took place and I was riveted to watching this piece.

Hats off to Kate Snow for the piece she put together. It's about High School kids 20 years ago involved in gangs in West side of Chicago who are the nations first black high school rowing team.

Fast forward to 2019 and them and the police of Chicago get together and train and race together.

It'll be out today Sep 4 on NBC's streaming app PEACOCK.

NOTE: I have no vested interest to write and publish this review except that this documentary looks powerful.

As a 45 year old white male from Indianapolis who's visited Chicago countless times, I was in utter disbelief of the cycle of violence these men and their community has endured. While watching this documentary, everything that I've seen from Ferguson to George Floyd to the BLM movement suddenly made sense. Can I relate? Absolutely not, but I was finally able to 'understand' the pure injustice faced in the daily lives of African Americans in America. It was shocking to see the life and death decisions forced upon young African Americans, particularly males, in Chicago and for all intents and purposes, across the nation. I am far from sheltered or naive and have done my best to educate myself on social injustice domestically and globally, but for some reason, this documentary shattered my perceptions. For those people still debating the validity of racism in America, it's time for a wake up call and this film will do the trick. The statistics alone are astonishing, but the strength and determination of these men and their families is almost unfathomable. Add the fact that the film itself is exceptionally well done from a production and direction perspective. This documentary should be a mandatory watch for everyone in America especially in 2020. Thank you to these young men brave enough to accomplish what they have and live to tell their story.

I don't even know what to say. I cried a lot. Wish these men the best.

Rowing serves as the backdrop of this film is about creating hope in Chicago's West Side. Struggles, hope, mistakes, redemption, setbacks, courage, kindness ... these are the materials that form this documentary. I think it's fair to say it presents without preaching. As a former HS and college rower with kids just now entering HS rowing, there were plenty of ways for me to connect to the rowers in the film. It was great to also hear their unique struggles coming from Chicago's West Side, and how that shaped their rowing experience. This film is not what I think of as #woke. The athletes and those around them are shown looking inward -- at the difficult hand they were dealt, but also at their own mistakes and opportunities, and always also looking at what they can do to offer hope to the community. Things that I value: rowing, the church, academics, peace, courage, hard work, family dedication, forgiveness and sacrifice -- all of these things are honored at various points in the story. And it is a beautiful story, I'm grateful to all those who were a part of it.

Across the pond in the UK: while I feel most black and white people are still integrating and are further down the line than our comrades across the pond. I found this to be a delight to watch, I hope yall continue to work with each other to become a fabulous nation of people who don't give up the fight to unite and be one people. Work like this will make yall happy and peaceful ...keep going and keep the faith x