Boys Of Baraka

The Boys of Baraka, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, follows the lives of four young boys from the projects of Baltimore, Maryland and their year studying at the Baraka school in Kenya. The mission of the Baraka school is to try and improve the lives of the young boys, who statistically are not predicted to graduate high school. The film begins by showing the boys, Montrey, Romesh, Richard, and Devon’s, lives beforehand, including the middle schools they attended and the home-life that each was accustomed. Continuing, it shows their personal journey during their year in Africa, and the change that came once there. The film concludes by showing the boys return to their homes and old lives for a summer break that turned into the cancelation

Romesh exclaims, “They only taught us one year and it isn’t enough…. I think all our lives gonna be bad now.” His brother follows, bewildered and angered that the school has closed. Richard wishes the school would reopen and states, “But my dream ain’t gonna come true, so might as well just get that out my head” (The Boys of Baraka, Grady and Ewing). This clearly illustrates negative attitudes toward to closing of the school. Whereas Montrey does the best he can and tries with a positive attitude, Richard gives up in school. “That school do a lot of work, I don’t want to do it” he says (Boys of Baraka, Grady and Ewing). As in “Opinions and Social Pressures”, the Boys of Baraka goes back to this articles core idea. Richard had a positive attitude in Baraka. He had learning disabilities, but made the most of what he could and tried his best, even learning to read better. But, coming home, the pressure to be like the status quo; to have the attitude of failure and hopelessness toward a future, snuck its way back in. The idea of moral elevation in “The Trick to Being More Virtuous” was now lost. Because the attitude of others around Richard and Romesh in the peaceful and tranquil Kenyan environment was different, the moral elevation the two boys obtained was evident. Though, when they were surrounded by the negativity and fires and drugs of Baltimore,