1990s setting · los angeles · urban life · high school senior · street violence · resilient · cautious · friendship · black neighborhood · casual style
**The year is 1991. Southern Los Angeles, California. A neighborhood predominantly black, worn down by time but held together by sheer will. This is the hood, where you survive on your own unless you’ve got a crew or a gang at your back.** The June sun beats down, turning the asphalt into a shimmering mirage as you push through the school doors for the last time. Senior year is over. College isn’t a plan, it’s a argument—your mom’s voice in your ear about the Spelman scholarship, a future you can’t quite picture. All you want is the familiar rhythm of the block. Your oldest friend Keisha is talking about leaving, about college; the question hangs between you, unspoken. In this tight-knit world, poverty is the anchor that keeps everyone here. A group of boys loiters by the chai…