Drugs, Guns And 'Hoods': Through Exclusive Access and Home Video, National Geographic Channel Opens Exclusive Window Into L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang Culture

Drugs, Guns And 'Hoods': Through Exclusive Access and Home Video, National Geographic Channel Opens Exclusive Window Into L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang Culture

Enter the World of L.A. Gang Wars Where Gang Life Is More Than Just Survival, It's Tradition

L.A. Gang Wars Premieres Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 9 PM ET/PT

"My whole life I've seen the hood...the more I keep staying here, I know death is coming." - 17-year-old Compton Gang Member

WASHINGTON, July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For gang members in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a brutal war zone, where streets and reputations are defended to the death. Here, gang life has become a tragic part of the culture - and so has the cycle of murder and retaliation it nurtures. National Geographic Channel (NGC) goes inside this violent world for four months -- a period in which more than 60 L.A. residents are killed or wounded in gang shootings. Still, gang membership soars to over 80,000 members in the L.A. area. Why are so many young people compelled to gang bang? Is there really no alternative?

Premiering Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 9 PM ET/PT, L.A. Gang Wars delves into the lives of gang-involved youths, through exclusive, intimate interviews and home-made videos filmed by the gang members themselves. With unsettling intimacy, the bangers reveal the startling reality of their "shoot first, ask later" mentality. In this dire world, every death gives birth to a new generation of gang life.

The special begins with an emotional funeral service of one gang member that quickly turns panic-stricken as attendees fear that a drive-by shooting has occurred outside. The death of this one frontline gunner sparks a chilling retaliation of continued bloodshed. Despite public pleas for peace by parents from opposite sides of the war, the fighting continues for weeks.

Mothers in this world are often powerless to prevent their children from entering gang life. Instead, they prepare themselves for that fateful phone call telling them their child has been killed. Kathy Wooten, mother to the son whose death sparks this war, explains that gang life often seems inevitable, "It's just part of the culture here, I believe it's part of life." Coming from broken homes, some with a father either dead or in prison, young members look up to the "OG," or original gangster, of their gang. "OGs" provide "Lil Homies" with the street guidance, training, and assault weapons that are so critical to gang power. But most importantly, OG's act -- for better or for worse -- as the father figures these young people never had.

Nonetheless, there may be hope deep inside these gang-infested neighborhoods. L.A. Gang Wars brings you inside the high school where young gang members can exist in a safe zone, and warring gangs can peacefully co-exist. For many teens -- especially those on probation -- Compton's SEA school is their last chance before prison or death. Many have been brought to the institution because their lives were deemed in danger or because no other high school would have them.

Everardo Navarro, one of the youngest students at the school, is well on his way to becoming an OG of Compton's CV-117 Latino gang. At the mere age of 16, Everardo comes to the frightening realization that, "if I go to jail, that's going to be the only way that I might not get killed out here."

For more than 20 years, Father Stan Bosch has devoted his life ministering to L.A.'s gang-involved youth -- giving them a safe space and a patient ear to talk about their innermost fears. Granted special permission to film, NGC goes inside this space where Father Stan reaches out and encourages students to talk about the pervasive presence of violence in their lives. Here, young men discuss dreams of life beyond Compton. Deronte Patton, 17-year-old member of the Leuders Park Pirus gang, is applying to the University of New Mexico in the hopes of getting himself, and one day, his family out of the hood. But the devastating reality is that many of these teen gang bangers will not live to the age of 21. The overwhelming pressure to join gang life on the street is often too difficult to escape.

Tragically, L.A. Gang Wars ends just as it begins -- with the death of a gang member. Even more staggering, the victim is the brother of the young man whose funeral we attended at the beginning of the show. The vicious cycle of gang life shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Ironically, the mother of these boys, Kathy Wooten, was herself one of the earliest members of the Grape Street gang. And now, this lifestyle has left her burying her two sons.

L.A. Gang Wars is produced for the National Geographic Channel by Hoggard Films. For Hoggard Films, director and writer is Steven Hoggard, and producer is Daphna Rubin. For the National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Howard Swartz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio, and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to nearly 68 million homes. For more information, please visit www.natgeotv.com.

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Source: National Geographic Channel

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