The Last Week of High School in Gary, Indiana | Balls Deep

holy is that Corvette and it got pipes on come on time here he with the camera crew like I told y'all mother ain't walking in with your organ by my damn self I'm sorry come on we don't find something to do tonight okay yeah we walk out there we walking out there together bro you ain't my date but we walking out that again okay thank you you you 18 year old black [Applause] [Music] graduating high school is the quintessential American coming-of-age ritual it's the one we all go through in a matter where we are in the country no matter what background we come from less your weird homeschool kid it's more kids go to college and adolescents gets extended from 18 often to the 20s for a lot of people so right a passage that many communities I feel take for granted however in a community like Gary where not everyone graduates high school and not everyone makes it to 18 alive it's still a big deal it's still when you become a man or one it's been a decade and a half since I graduated high school I have no clue what kids get up to these days are you worried at all about like teachers smelling weed often met a kid named Keith who goes to a school here called new tack do we smile or not smile they had their prom pretty late so I went with him it was pretty fun time they're like very regular prom is sort of like a lot of like grand ambitions of getting laid and getting like completely wasted kind of pared down to sort of just go into the thing dancing a lot hanging out pretty much the same places you would normally on like a high school weekend but in extremely fancier clothing Keith's also got a friend named Tristan who goes to the fancy art school across town I got restricted from parties by our girlfriends how long does this restriction last is it indefinite or life for as long as she's there that restrictions there even Tristan are both graduating at the same time they're gonna be sort of our guides to the underworld the last week of high school [Music] once they call hello yeah phones blowin out yeah a way you way need to come pick me up cut on my block think I'm on feet any day you go right now a boy faith lost uh yeah good friends huh oh yeah yeah we are we get are you doing out there oh I just came from a job interview I got a job today oh yeah we're at uh Charlie you said you're broke yeah I start I start today at Gary has kind of like a track system with their high schools instead of having like everybody in the same building there's like a separate school for like the Arts and gifted kids and then New Tech is like the trade school that's where it Keith and his friends go there's my thing you checked our car I needed to get my tapping counters are gradually cool since they little scavenger hunt yeah mr. Boddy the man I'm looking for you need to go then signature mr. Smith you need some signatures I need your John Hancock Oh what I blue cars no no wow [Music] do anybody have a pin for this man please well my hazard it's an electric chair backed up for the back here no no no no no no it's already time right I had you you remember so Keith Michael Monta Oh God I think most of their signatures they need to pick up their cap and gown that's like the order of business today Oh ain't got no balance they might affect what anything my stuff didn't eat any a thing oh no you got a car my people it's like whatever muscle is in the school is just relaxed all the kids were just not floating around attendance is pretty much a formality at this point so tomorrow the last day I don't wanna go get all my stuff I'm on lockers whoo my junk food and show mr. sharp bro which ones here is that the dodge my bumper crazy or yeah we spent a lot of hours and he'll boys don't be there's gonna be a good memory so this is Keith's car that he screwed up the radiator blue and warped these cylinders which probably made sense a junker but he's still been working on he has to get out of here on the last day of school because obviously would just sit around the rest of the summer if he didn't it's kind of interesting I think and um auto shop didn't like kind of like suburban world it's sort of just like a last-ditch attempt to reform you know basically juvenile delinquents for the bottom of the class but here in Gary it feels like um not only like everybody's really excited about being an auto shop but it's like a extremely valid skill let's put Keith lamonta on the track to to get jobs out of uh out of the city long even in that program what other this my home yeah when I started off in here we were doing engines and stuff but now we ain't really going on why not Oh cuz last year during the summer they had a big misunderstanding and they auctioned off everything we had in it like we had cars here we had old being they're kind of like the school's hold them off yeah uh-huh [Applause] [Music] Gary Indiana is in pretty rough shape I was once a thriving steel town in the middle of the last century and birthplace at the Jackson 5 hit hard by the forces that affected the Rust Belt the industrialization took the jobs away white flight took the tax base out into the exurbs and what was left is what you see behind me a D urbanized rotting Hulk for the kids graduating this year from Gary's high schools is what the town has always looked like kind of goes without saying it's a pretty harsh place to come of age Luther g-man this broad way back in the day they'll show you picture this used to be lined with cars all these businesses open thriving folks walking up the street like it in New York you're not even crowded and yeah that's how I used to be man and I'll look at it I'm like damn I wish I could have lived you gave me back when it was like that is it always been like this for you is it for me for me you know y'all been hitting all these potholes and gear yeah roads are a little rough now little that's the school we used to go to it's abandoned now a field is nothing mode in a long time that's how the schools is around as a banyan and all that is that cuz there's like less kids like what's is it just money or is it because people know what it is a property tax you know they give money off property tearing all these houses are abandoned or becoming a banner and then of people that do have houses they not paying their taxes you know they're getting foreclosed and all of that that causes our schools to have no money here's my guy that's how our creators green career oh cool it's written actual Gary right now right this is actual Gary and it's kind of a bad part of town yeah yeah what's that blessing a bottle Oh how do you did that just just habit of covert I'm talking a couple times yeah alright come on we got an hour Anton don't trip when Gary uh had a first black mayor Gordon Hatcher that's when all the white people started really moving out of Gary and then all the talent started changing a name from Gary like here you three way bigger than this yeah yeah it's Jerry the hood firing there's Miller which is the beach part and then they got Lake Station which used to be called easy Jerry that's the lake space in Indiana and I yeah y'all came till one of the greatest cities in America colleges no no this is one of the hater cities Carrie let me tell ya you gotta get the powder uh-huh Gary been filled with a lot of good people and it still is got superstars coming out of gear you know so they're getting ready right now you know y'all really here I'm right now could they going to college and going all this I'm telling people here a lot of good stuff coming out of gear because not all you know drinking and smoking and doing all this you know now y'all might catch that immersed in with my god Tristen that man he like taking like five AP classes senior class president yeah all that you know y'all don't get a different glimpse when y'all catch her mister hey everybody be quiet as my momma it's my mama hello [Music] keep my Tristan back in middle school where they had class together while Tristan's dad still lives right down the road from new tech holy Tristan drives every morning to another school word Emerson which has a program for gifted kids morning this year yep dude it's nice how are you looking good thank you this for the last week school is this your usual dress down I eyed canted just a little up okay that's weird if I was out of uniform I'd probably be wearing like like a metal t-shirt or something Tristan's not only class president and on a full load of college level courses he's also lead sax in the school band not unlike Lisa Simpson are you feeling about everything is it weird or no no no straight to college and do the same thing even go to high school so where you Don Morehouse summers rolling out before you yeah what are your plans you're gonna work and enjoy and try to enjoy miss I can't until you work you know so we're not Pistons a girlfriend what's her name China China okay get in China ride mm-hmm make up you say had a nobody hey I'm Thomas China great to meet you he had a little thing on your face [Music] thanks to Tristan's flashy choices I guess I'm out of a ride now since he only had space for his girlfriend I don't know if that was kind of by design but fortunately I've been to high school before I know how things work and I have my own car so price is inverted let's get to school so weird ever since in Miller which is kind of like the nice part of Gary it's up by Lake there's a beach here it's got a little Main Street with brew pubs and cafes and an indie art gallery and it's a fitting place for like the nice art school or the fancy kids or to go beat us cool what you guys on time yeah we're fine you know our class wouldn't mind anyway what you got first government government cool you Same Same Same oh we have same class you've all the same classes what are kids here think about like new tech kids I really couldn't tell you didn't know what they think about everything cause they're like a reputation you guys like this the smart ones we do but I don't want to say it on camera what is it uh it's uh I can tell you but if he if it's too much you cut it out they they think we're like ease oh okay yeah yeah they say well what's not you saying softer school softer school okay I go that's a softer way of put that's cool part of where Emerson's reputation comes from its performing arts program it's kind of like a Gary version of the high school from fam this is me that is you yeah this is 1980 like your hair yeah it's great so you tell me who's uh who's dancing in there right now uh you've got Laurel Brummett Joslin broke men and Whitley Moses okay and we have one other senior but she's not dancing so I understand that she's gonna go into the Coast Guard oh yeah Wow that's God not it's just part from dance you do have to have strong legs on those boats though yeah I'm a Marine is that right yeah the other three girls are they're sticking with it oh yeah Laurel and jaslyne are definitely going for being professional dancers but I try to tell people is if you're going into dance to be famous or get rich then you probably need to do something else if you're going into dance because you love the art form then you are okay you're in the right place and you're probably going to be successful everybody that has been in our program that said that they wanted to be professionals and we're willing to take the advice that we gave them they're dancing yeah they're making a living these kids come from places where competition is everything yeah you know and the issue comes in is like what kind of foundation do they have coming from home because Gary is not an easy place to live and if you soft or timid you know it'll eat you up it's like training with weights on mm-hmm yes no no no no it's like if you were walking walk walk yeah yes you'd be surprised what they could do yeah yeah [Music] what oh my god okay I want skip rocks that's what I'm gonna do that's a good one about not this rock some square on nope nope cut the wind on that one probably the most wholesome time I've spent on a beach in decades these are good kids Dean where you guys plans for summer you guys gonna hang around it's work work for me and then and then you got college and are you going to Morehouse to or Purdue Calumet here oh cool so it's dawning on me that these are like straightforward good kids what you would call nerds but there's levels of nerve they're not like kind of sweaty like unkempt nerds of our youth who couldn't hold down a girlfriend Justin looks like he's in John Hughes movie with this sports car in China there oh they're kind of like nerd aristocracy okay you can't handle the film China you can you guys you nervous about like a last summer together is it yeah yeah no no no it's yeah I may brush it off a lot but yeah I'm I'm really nervous a little bit trying to drag this summer out as long as I can oh oh it's like it's like a it is like a it's a solid month I see a little yeah you start crying what is this although some common City Beach so this is the second the last day of school at New Tech and all the different trades are out in the parking lot culinary students are cooking automotive kids are reading bicycles beauty school kids just came out in their gowns I don't know if that means some haircuts are on the way but it is a party it is a little weird though that they wouldn't relocate to like a park or somewhere I'm kind of like a neutral ground where you might not get as much trouble for things like smoking and drinking as the parking lot of your school but gives you kids Keith and his buddies have been running errands for people picking up booze was everybody's coming up to them hand them bills they know they're the ones who have connections definitely the cool kids see what they get up to tonight and tomorrow [Applause] I miss my chance with the mo no now I'm just completely in the open I think I made it to I'm not even a senior Hey [Music] he's still got a couple days of school but you were still at Subway and they've called him in for a ship which things in the middle of his school day right now or leads into it you you I'm in front of my crew come pick me up yes careful it's my house slam I like that disrespectful you go pullout smile in you know be heard you're focusing but uh-huh yeah you got what I need do you just start at this no you've been into Subway for a while yeah I've been up for like a little over year I just got my one year upgrade they gave me a 2.1 cent raise which which raised me from eight dollars eight dollars and twenty eight in Iowa and I got employee of the month got my forty dollar gift card I went to work that day feeling like a man one time I made like ten dollars in tears one night kid let's make it yeah yeah that's gonna make yo night man go home with ten extra dollars for somebody who turns up as much as teeth and who in fact smokes meat on his way to his job he's actually got a really strong work ethic gets up irons his shirt every morning like winds employed a month I'm not sure how sustainable working at Subway is those good summer job but curious where he goes after this good good work with this man uh-huh oh thanks nice challenge are we getting a lot of compliments really now it's time to go to school house was to go to work front work to school I thought it supposed to be from school to work now that's the other thing about going to the military so alright yeah I'm trying to go to the Marine Corps aren't you worried though like if you join the Marines you go somewhere like Afghanistan or Iraq I wouldn't mind dying in war because you know people don't understand this this is a great country for real like people say yeah you know America ain't you know they doing all this under undercover you know they're doing all this stuff that you can't see I guarantee you you go spend about like three days over there overseas anywhere like you know since then Bob way I wanted him third world countries you're gonna wish it was back here in America with America and all this yeah you know I feel like this country worked down for yeah yeah cuz this country didn't gave a lot to me and you you know [Music] despite the fact that school's out and also it's the weekend all the Emerson kids still have stuff to do for graduation Tristan who's in the Emerson band has to play something he's having a little like we can practice with all the other band guys in his mom's house hey are you doing ma'am what's up are you guys Oh snacks there's nothing no there's a method to my junkie madness in a when it's moved and disturbed you cannot find anything anymore this is why you never clean never ever clean anything yeah she got you guys this is an announcement for my graduation or this Jesus huh oh pretty cool oh wow properly invited these yours Tristan yeah yeah those are from the dinner dance and on a roll in band most likely to be President that's a pretty good bacala it superlative best smile that smile Mel yeah oh yeah you got started my high score is he was gonna get those no I don't know I'm just wait till I get out of college get them a rolling ring yeah yeah yeah I never got one for my school go yeah I kind of guess I should have one two three [Music] we're back to beach understandably since it isn't proximity this is a place for most people come to hang whatever they count this is incredible it's just like beautiful why isn't everybody hanging out here right now you guys have this to yourselves yeah it's a spot it is like perfect view and everything are you going to school Purdue Cal and then later I'll go to Point Park University in Pennsylvania so yeah just spread out do they have a good dance program so yeah those are the goodies mm-hmm we're trying to Donnie make any life you know you go point-point up and dance do this you do that thing yeah dance is definitely like one of my biggest passions cuz I just love dancing I can't see myself not dancing did you like camera son you're gonna mess up I'm definitely gonna miss Emerson especially because it's a performing arts school and like we have the dance and stuff and I've grown up with these people ever since I was in like sixth grade yeah so I'm gonna miss it so much but then again I'm kind of glad I'm leaving to go go what why boom boom boom boom I'm on about move one and Dave somehow added 13 more moves if you turn your heel out yeah these like standard moves that you guys all know or are you just making them up on please make it up on the spot that's insane Oh like a snap is gonna keep going the whole time yeah Marlon routes like Keith's he's been up for a little bit I think he's gonna shower right now gonna wait his first days in school let out where he hasn't that I had to go to subway pull a shift so he gets up to this newfound freedom it's interesting like the way I grew up and I feel like in most like white suburbs like hitting 18 technically marks your entry into adulthood but it's like adulthood you know like there's a wink to it you know you're not really an adult you're like you're in your infancy of adulthood you aren't really taking on responsibilities and there's a very healthy cushion of your parents money and being able to stay in their house and like that that kind of gets you if not through college at least through the next few years Keith and his buddies um treat the end of high school I was like in the actual rite of passage it kind of once was like they're they're psyched to be men there's like to not only how about jobs but they help each other get jobs must have something to do with growing up in kind of such a resource to private area usually been kind of bringing down mom who lately like being on bandeau block yeah yeah cuz I don't want to be looking at Bandos when I'm trying to think about my future that's true he's enough yeah that's what I've been thinking about it I don't know about thumb but I've been really thinking about my future cuz there's a lot of eyes watching me I'll bet how do you mean a lot eyes watching out back oh just expectations yeah yeah you know everybody watching me you know everybody that know I graduated it's gonna look and be looking for my next step what was my next step you know and there's a lot of people that ignore us and they're see me graduate that's interested in you feel like a responsibility to them you know they taste a I take a village to raise a child and all that all these folks they didn't help raising the up and so I got to make them proud like I was telling folks in school I'm gonna come back I'm gonna make you proud how you doing hey miss Hogan oh yeah yup graduation next yes Tuesday not a 9:00 applied don't blink I got an interview at Monday at 12 o'clock okay do you have to do something different yeah pictures at 12 o'clock yeah I know I mom I'm gonna be it I got a resume and where are the shoes that you're gonna wear oh good yeah nice shoes right I see oh and bring her packing now because we're taking our picture I'm gonna shine estate up for this thumb one of our guests are you going to go to school right you gave up on the marine right now [Music] that's funny you talk to me what happened people keep telling me not to go anyway my bro you get to go to school for free you get to see the world for free you get free clothing you get free room and board I mean but I cannot just got a lot of choices and I'm just trying to play I can go to Ivy Tech for that automotive be longer I be taking a lot of choices and not having looked at the pros and cons of each of them you're just out there you can't wait on things because waiting for somebody to tell you this is what you need I'll get you left even Tristan used to be on sort of the same academic track Keith actually went to word Emerson for a little while but he got kicked out for an infraction he describes as some but which other kids described as Keith smoking weed in the hallway I own have me on a carpet pass you just thought of Cairo certifications no certificates but I've been doing this longer than you how did they put those little bars across now that's called a battery hold-down you know hunters you know they hold the battery now if you if you is just for that purpose you wouldn't need it why not you can just set the battery in there like to pop this little net thing you see if you got a battery hold-down and then every barking you want to bet the money you would invest money at that big blue ball has a battery hold-down you might not be this daddy I don't watch rope it's some holding that battery down I'll tell you what I can't see it so we'll call it gemalto where else then Elena you guys closed up not too big yeah yes someone told y'all man is already yeah you already know my minute the time I'll even in August I'm sure what you gonna do that today oh go to school or something I'm gonna do something hello options and said I just got a pic one and I just don't want to make the wrong move anyways hey I'm gonna tell you you're gonna love Atlanta nice out there yeah [Music] history of high schools in Gary kind of mirrors the city itself from the early 1900's up into the 50s Gary had one of the most robust and kind of progressive public school systems in the country but then with the economic downturn and white flight people took their kids away and now the Gary school board has shuddered as many schools as they have running driving around you see way more event in schools than you see active ones including the one behind me it's the Horace Mann School there's named for the father of public education in America which is a tad ironic this is the highway we're gonna go right to the dance video see wait this is you guys old school how long ago did you guys leave this we left my seventh grade year this is mr. Brell room I've never been in here and seen this or anything used to be the nicest mirrors right there yeah we can go you can go up there you can go up there we had dancing up so this was the performing arts school then yeah place had a lot of resources and than it is it's not a piano yes Soho piano what do you guys think this is I was just thinking that just walk path because I look at that bomb or a limb but no it's not haunted right this one um this one person like was on foot palm or something and uh something about her day or something so she went upstate said thankful hung herself and like the Rope is still there and yeah my sister said they ran up there and touched the Rope one time like they were dared to touch the Rope it's actually there it wasn't just like a legend we go see them it's place looks like it was amazing before it turned into the scariest place I've been in Midwest you know there's a sense in which carries actually kind of like an ideal place to be a teenager I mean like spots like this so that gold but I was in high school is placed you don't hang out and do drugs or make out with people and it's haunted there's like bonus creepy but you can never find those places out in the suburbs I guess the little difference is when you know there's one or two of those spots in town that are fun to explore when the entire town is the abandoned building where people do drugs and are afraid of ghosts oh Christ are they dancing again never stops you're gonna have to think about and draw out a life plan man that's exactly what people keep telling me and I'm just trying to do that but it's like everything is kind of equal you know hmm join Maurice okay you can take a semester take a semester of college up here right now all right get something under your belt okay but let the Marine Corps pay for it right let the Marine Corps do the training and education at the same time for you all right so you have to guess lots of Judo well you know it's not what if I go through the Marine Corps and then then I don't go to college I dropped America I ain't got none it really all depends on you and your drive man because you could say that about the Marine Corps too you could say hey I'm gonna go to college I definitely want to be a Marine but I'm gonna go to college first you know what I'm saying and then completely backing out of the idea and being around you know and you had told me you wanted to do this for like the longest time yeah i watch them go from you know having all these plans in a high school you know having as many options as you do you know - I didn't choose anything and I'm still sitting in mom's basement doing nothing you know how you making the same is I'm not gonna do anything in life but I am that's the crazy part I don't want it to seem like that what I wanted to see mark is it's not as easy as what you're thinking there's a lot to think about it's always a lot to think about me yeah you know but like I said before when we first sat down think about it for too long gone all right I know you got my number yeah so hey you filled up okay cool man he's real nice yeah yeah I don't had a couple of recruiters you know whenever you can you understand how you've gone through this uh yeah he might 31 all right bro I mean sir I said what kind of ball should I get I got tiny little wrists and I'm not that's first task I'm really bad at bowling I am - that's one okay cool watch me Oh guilty right that's spare yeah yeah yeah both team getting one day ball use them just the kids balls that's right [Music] [Applause] Tristan's not great at bowling but it is sweet of him to come out to his little cousins birthday party like this noticed about Tristan's where you know most teens have a very distinct way of behaving around with a group of friends and their family Justin seems back the same around his mom as he does wrong it's 40% arrest team his girlfriend China it's kind of you know reserved and maybe a little uncertain of himself the only time we've seen him really behave differently is we've been hanging out is when we ran into him with Keith earlier he immediately became like a lot more relaxed loose seeming kind of like classically cool I don't know if that's something that like he feels more comfortable around Keith Keith brings it out now or if he's trying to like keep up with Keith who is extremely cool and confident let me see who's he it let it go let it go let go okay what it's too heavy it's too heavy [Music] what Keith's been doing is working a closing shift at the subway again which feels like his third shift in as many days last night of school so Graham realized their school when I'm at work tonight what clothes you know I know a lot of stuff don't change a lot of people I was just seeing every day I might never see you yeah I already prepared my mind for that you know there's all the men okay I'm ready go it's all set up I just got to pick some you know and that's that's what's really open you bet all these choices yeah I'm just waiting to the right one come to me feed me to the Lord send me a right the right message of something but I got too many choices that if I picked the wrong one if but no mean song one two three [Music] [Music] [Music] either mode trustee boys good just really the last day of school you good day after this you know see nobody no more yep [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] how you feel on the left side now yeah there's a left-hand path [Applause] [Music] I feel my man just graduated check it out it is a cool graduate step into your future with the Prairie your heart in a song in your soul step until your future with faith in the Lord and the abilities he [Music] [Music] we're walking up on the bonfire now roll out in here with Tristan and Chyna think Keith's supposed to come later he was rounding up girls getting kind of psyched that actually Harbor much nostalgia for high school but this is definitely one of the few like American coming-of-age rituals that's uh infectious [Music] there's that uh-huh oh my god so just as the party was getting going to I guess Beach cops they didn't look like real cops just came out with flashlights and busted everybody up oh well that party was nuts I am completely shot this morning imagine the kids are doing a lot better than me I counted their young livers also because they've got their entire summer ahead of them and their futures past that which are remarkably bright considering where they're coming from everybody made the paper today it's here's Emerson there's Paxton DeSean Tristan Hershel joslyn's dance performances in the write up and then down here his new tech the Keith and his crew first to graduate I'm making me a little bit choked up losing my boys 100 years ago WB Dubois work culture and liberty these we need in order to foster the traits and talents of young black men not in opposition to other races but in larger conformity with the greater ideals of America but the Gary kids did it if you photoshopped out all the Bandos and vacant lots this would just look like the last week of school anywhere it's really impressive I always thought high school graduation was such a corny hand-me-down tradition but these kids attacked it with such sincerity and riyo kind of make it their own I guess it's a case of when all you have her hand-me-downs you take really good care of them and make them count but what would I know about that other than threatened you you

Channel: VICE

Views: 1,196,019

Rating: 4.8923907 out of 5

Keywords: vice_videos:premiere, vice_videos:en_us, vice_videos:en_ca, high school, coming of age, graduation, seniors, senior class, gary, vice, journalism, documentary, videos, culture, interview, film, movies, underground, vice videos, lifestyle, independent, vice guide, exclusive, vice mag, vice magazine, vice.com, world, documentaries, short films, docs, yt:cc=on, APCLPWCL124153118, commencement, high school graduation, virtual graduation 2020, virtual prom, commencement 2020

Id: Plqd8APvln0

Length: 43min 57sec (2637 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 05 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Can someone please photoshop brazzers underneath this thumbnail

[u/etherandhoney]

This episode originally aired on VICELAND in 2016.

[u/forbles]

I’ve never wanted to face punch someone so bad in my life