(Spoilers)Light It Up

[Ivy]

Summary: The film starts off in an inner city-neighborhood in Queens, New York, the events are narrated by Zacharias 'Ziggy' Malone, who introduces his former classmates/friends at Lincoln High School: Lester DeWitt, who lost his father, Hard-working Latin/African-American student Stephanie Williams, who is ignoring Lester due to the fact that she does not want to go steady with him. Other characters include gangster/thug Rodney who gets into fights with other students, rebellious classmate Lynn who is already a couple of months pregnant, and Rivers, a close friend of Lester and Ziggy. The film later introduces Police officer Dante Jackson as he tries to arrest Lester after a misunderstanding, and Ken Knowles, a kind, warm-hearted teacher whose class covers significant 20th century events. When the classroom's windows are broken by rocks, Mr. Knowles takes them to the principal's office, where Principal Allen Armstrong tells Knowles to take them "anywhere". Since there is no space any where in the school, Knowles and the kids go to a local diner, where a robbery takes place. Knowles confronts the robber, who was a former student that dropped out of school. Principal Armstrong is infuriated by what Knowles has done, and puts him on administrative leave. Lester, Stephanie and Ziggy are at the main office as Knowles leaves the school. Stephanie is disgusted that Principal Armstrong has ignored that he told Knowles to "take the class anywhere", Stephanie and Lester are suspended from school and Principal Armstrong calls in Officer Jackson to remove all of them. Ziggy decides to leave but Officer Jackson restrains him. This event is witnessed by other students at the school and soon everything turns into a small riot. Lester tries to resist Officer Jackson and loses, but Ziggy picks up Officer Jackson's dropped gun and says "he [Ziggy] cannot go home." The reason for this, is because Ziggy has been physically by his father for many years. Officer Jackson tries to restrain Ziggy but gets accidentally shot in the leg as he grabs for his gun. Principal Armstrong tells school security to call an ambulance and the NYPD in order to arrest Ziggy. Lester then grabs the gun and orders everyone to evacuate the school. This finally forces the NYPD detectives to come in, led by Detective Audrey McDonald as a negotiator. Still waiting after a couple of hours, the group continues to hold Officer Dante Jackson against his will. Lester tells Dante about his how his father was gunned down during a wrongful arrest. In the next few scenes, Rivers, Lynn, Rodney, Ziggy, Stephanie, and Lester are all becoming infamous across New York City, as they are exposed and identified on such networks such as BET, NBC, NY1 and CBS. Debate continues as the events taking place, and the classmates suffer the loss of Ziggy, who is killed on the school's roof trying to save Lester's life from a gunshot aimed at the back of his head. However, the narrator tells about what happened to the kids: Lester has gone off to a city college, Stephanie went to New York University[citation needed], Lynn had her baby boy (named after Ziggy) and is never heard from again, Rodney starts becoming a Muslim, Rivers is drafted to the Military, Officer Jackson testified what happened at the school, and Mr. Knowles still teaches history.

Review: This is a heart-touching movie, that can bring a lot of inspiration, especially to those who have to face "Highschool" situations like the ones presented in this movie. I mean, you got the abused kid, the pregnant teen, a punk ass rent a cop, ain't that pretty much every highschool in America today, not to mention the medal detectors and conartists? And it can really open your eyes, because teens sit there and bitch about changing things in the school, but all they do is sit on their asses. I'm not saying pull a gun and hold someone important hostage to get what you want, but make a stand, it's amazing what and how far a person can go and make the difference!!!