http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/zap-world-of-jenks-story,0,2789512.story?track=rss-topicgallery
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/09/01/2010-09-01_he_has_real_world_experience_director_24_profiles_a_generation.html
Link to Episode:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/world-of-jenks-ep-1-heaven-and-hell/1647014/playlist.jhtml
A 24-year-old, white filmmaker from the suburbs, documents his time with a 37-year-old, black rapper who has spent almost half his life in jail and grew up in the hood in the first episode of the new MTV series "The World of Jenks."
Andrew Jenks wants to dig deep into the life of rapper Maino to give the world a view of who he really is and a new sense of understanding, but it takes a while to get there. The episode starts with Maino taking Jenks around with him to non-stop all black parties full of bitches and liq. Half of Maino's conversations are bleeped out due to incessant cursing, and when Jenks discovers Maino is a father, he confronts him one day in the studio.
"Don't you think you're being a bad role model?" Jenks asks.
Almost instantly, Maino goes off on him and proceeds to choke him and slap him around, insisting that Jenks has no idea who he is or what he has been through to get where he is today. Maino firmly believes that Jenks has no right to say anything until he truly experiences a day in the life of a black thug. Despite the threat to his life, Jenks stands up again and again after being knocked down, and shows no fear. He could have left and threw the project away, but he was persistent and too curious to let up.
Jenks goes on to visit the area where Maino grew up and asks all the right questions. They end up very good friends by the end of the episode, and have a new found respect and understanding of each other. None of this could have happened without Jenks's bravery.
I know Jenks is not a journalist per se, but this show is a perfect example of what we need to be doing in order to break these walls down of bad reporting when it comes to diversity. It's not always going to be comfortable, and will sometimes even be scary, but no one said it was going to be easy. Jenks stood his ground until he built enough trust with Maino, and finally got down to the real person inside the rapper. Stereotypes were broken and unlikely friendships were made.
[ If we never ask, we will never know.
If we live in fear, we will never grow. ]
It's all about stepping out of these comfort zones we have built for ourselves, and expanding them till infinity.
Verse from "All the Above" - Maino
Really what do you see
When you looking at me?
See me come up from nothing,
To me living my dreams
I done been to the bottom,
I done suffered a lot,
I deserve to be rich,
Headed straight to the top
Look how I ride for the block,
Look how I rep for the hood,
I get nothing but love now
When I come through the hood
Getting this fortune and fame
Money make all of us change
The new benz is all white,
Call it John McCain
How the hell could you stop me?
Why in the world would you try?
I go hard forever,
That's just how I'm designed,
That's just how I was built
See the look in my eyes?
You take all of this from me,
And I'm still gon' survive
You get truth from me,
But these rappers gon' lie
I'm a part of these streets
Till the day that I die
I wave hi to the haters,
Mad that I finally done made it
Take a look and you can tell
That I'm destined for greatness
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