After eight years in the making, “A School Grows in Watts” documentary premiered on Sunday, June 30, at the Dances with Films Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. The film is a South Central story that is unapologetically Black and Brown with a focus on community building through education via The Watts Learning Center.
Founders Eugene and Sandra Fisher, producers Baron Davis, O’shea Luja, Brandon Salaam-Bailey, and director Ryan Porush, dedicated nearly a decade to highlighting the perseverance and meaningful work and documenting the often-forgotten history of the Watts community.
Special guest and revered member of the U.S. House of Representatives Maxine Waters announced the film’s premiere at the festival. Her strong introduction reminded the audience of the disparities in education for young Black students and the importance of the learning center’s presence and lasting impact. Now with over 800 students and alumni, The Watts Learning Center is an innovative charter elementary school fighting for a reimagined future through a community-based approach to education with the help of educators, residents, non-profit organizations, community leaders, and families.
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From 1905-1950, Watts was the cultural mecca for music, art, history, and tradition. The 2.1 square mile area has birthed many famous figures like Ed Sanders, Kevin Young, Florence Griffith Joyner aka Flo-Jo, Tyrese Gibson, and many more.
Watts was its own city from 1907-1926 and was annexed with Los Angeles because local government feared a fully functioning Black city, resulting in Watts becoming disenfranchised by redlining, the crack epidemic, lack of resources, and the rise of gang culture.
Watts Learning Center founder Eugene Fisher was hired to conduct a research study to uncover the disparities in public education in California. His studies revealed that Watts had the lowest academic performance with no resolution in sight.
In 1992, the California Legislature passed the Charter Schools Act making it easier to find a solution to this statistic with no restraints or restrictions to providing adequate education. As former educators and lobbyists, Fisher and his wife Sandra saw the opportunity to revive Watts with honor through proper education and resources. Turning a concept into reality.
In 1997, the learning center opened its doors with two students, one administrator, and one principal. Fisher believes in developing academic excellence in more ways than one. Creating a pathway that would provide additional services like childcare, safety, and food, while building and maintaining trust in the community. These would be key factors in the success of the charter school with a focus and commitment to its students. The results of the community-led educational space helped address the needs of children and their parents and were directly reflected in the documentary.
Director Ryan Porush explained, “I love being a documentarian, trust is a necessary part of my job. I was profiling the Watts Learning Center and then at some point my vision grew to the community, and that dictated the course of the journey where I’m not only coming into the school space, but now the community space. Having the knowledge and the context of the history of Watts and taking ques from O’shea as my producing partner on the film as I continued to learn. We explore and debunk some of those misconceptions about South Central with the hopes that we can also do that for charter schools, they are not just binary concepts. The film was built with those themes in mind.”
The film follows the stories of young children and how their parents’ maneuver living in Watts while attending the learning center. Each story is dynamically beautiful in their own way; Marlon is a high achieving student who lives with his grandmother as his mother is in prison; Alma is a single mother of two working to move out of their one-bedroom apartment while still showing up for daughters as they navigate their classes. Each story magnifies the highlights and the challenges in the ever-changing neighborhood.
Fisher believes the power of purpose is within when facing adversity, “when we use our hearts and our minds, and use them effectively for good cause, we can solve our problems. If there is nothing wrong with the children, then there must be something wrong with the system. With adequate resources and commitment and a mission to succeed and recognize that a community needs a community. When we work together everything we want can be accomplished and not to depend on anyone else to do it. The realization is we can chart our own destiny and develop solutions to the problem; we plan, and we implement the plan to see results. When you care you do something.”
Producer O’shea Luja aka Mr. Food4Thought, is a Watts historian, educator, and poet who remained in the city to continue the conversation surrounding the city’s greatness. Luja developed an anthology/ manuscript of discussions about art and culture to archive the duality Watts provides and now protects. When asked about his hopes for the documentary, he shared “I really hope that many of the misconceptions associated with Watts will be dispelled. We are a diverse community that loves each other. Community, by definition, is those of like minds, we are of like minds. One of my teachers, the legendary Watts Prophet Father Amde, once said ‘there is nothing more beautiful than a functioning ebony community’ and that’s exactly what Watts is.”
“My hopes for the young people in the documentary will go on and do great things and then we will continue to have more stories and morph these narratives so the world can truly see what we’ve known all along. This documentary shows we’re competing despite all odds, we’re standing even with no legs, and we’re going to continue to share these stories even when our voices leave us.”
“A School Grows in Watts” is genuine, profound, and inspiring.
Partnering with local organizations and community leaders, the documentary team will be hosting several community screenings in South Central. For more information on screenings and tickets, visit http://www.aschoolgrowsinwatts.com.
