Stand Up & Shout: Songs from a Philly High School

"I really believe in the importance of music and education and the importance of arts and education," says Legend. "Often, those programs are the first things to get cut when people make prioritization decisions about where money can go in the school district. So we wanted this film to be a real statement about the value of these types of programs in schools. Just seeing the kids collaborate with each other, work on a project together, and get so excited to tell their own stories was exciting. We think programs (like this one) are really a valuable part of their education. Programs like these shouldn't be cut or deprioritized just because it's not basic reading, writing, and arithmetic."

In all media coverage, between news, television and cinema, we've been inundated with nothing but how we are separate as a culture. We have the opportunity to bring each other together but these mediums just continue to exclude each other by only showcasing one side of people's experience. They brought a district instead of a community. And they used kids to do it. The kids in the entire community are the future of America but that wasn't the point of the narrative. Man, I wish that we could have used this as a definitive movement to bring everyone together of all diverse factions but there was a glaring purposeful lack of a certain type of people.

This is a brilliant, beautiful, tearjerking piece of work. It focuses on the people who live in adverse conditions and in terrible conditions that can easily destroy generations of families. Yet there are many who rise above.

We all know people like the 'gmggvg' character that posted nonsensical, divisive rhetoric in their "review". People like this are 100% part of the problem. They cannot see beyond their bias and conditioning. Shame shame shame. Ignore people like that, life is full of negativity and they cannot be helped.

God bless these kids and everyone who was part of producing this. What a wonderful, beautiful piece of work.

So many songs gave me goosebumps. They made me smile, cry, and want to SING. Very impressed with the teachers leading the students towards their creativity and giving them confidence by showing them through wonderful lyrical and musical expertise. Each individual writing songs made this documentary a unique experience and I loved watching them bloom into wonderful songwriters. Watching each student grow more comfortable throughout the film and the way they cheered each other on and supported each other's journey was a truly beautiful and unifying experience to watch unfold. I was hooked right from the start.

If you watch the whole movie; there's a group very diverse group with Asian, Mexican Jamaican and African American. How more diverse should it be for you? So refreshing to watch teachers who actually are passionate about teaching. Watch the entire documentary and you will understand it. Otherwise if you don't watch the entire documentary, you will miss the whole point. There are schools that are fortunate to not have budgets cut off from the arts and up-to-date curriculum. The fact that these teachers were willing to come in and give them an opportunity that they had to voluntarily put forth is amazing. Not a lot of privileged people are willing to put their time into the urban areas and young minds to show them the way to alternative opportunities. These teachers deserve our support. And Until you are voluntarily contributing; stop bashing what you don't understand from personal experiences and stop being a sideline critic. What if you help others with your time; instead of wasting it complaining?