The violence in Chicago, specifically the South Side of Chicago has been talked about and discussed in the media a lot in recent years and for good reason – it is statistically one of the most violent places in America today. However, what the media doesn’t dive very far into is how the community is fighting back from within. There are a lot of people like LaVonte who are
products of this community – born and raised in this community that are trying to rewrite the narrative and give each and every kid an opportunity to succeed beyond the South Side. This is
what drew me to this project. My team and I spent a lot of time living/sleeping in the South Side where we were filming because we wanted to experience the community first hand and really
get to know this group of extraordinary people. There were certainly challenges, but at the end of the day we wanted to shine some light on the good that is being done and perhaps open up a dialogue about what else could be accomplished to combat the violence if something as simple as baseball can make such an enormous impact on a child’s life.