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GREENSBORO — She comes across as a focused, if not quiet, teenager, a young woman who shies away from the spotlight. Maybe that's why Maria Williams likes working behind the camera, not in front of it.

The focus of her efforts this summer? Gang violence and the solutions other teens offer to the problems of violence and drugs in northeast Greensboro.

"I like making videos," said Williams, a rising junior at Northeast Guilford High School who lives with her older sister. "I'm not an actress or anything. So I got the idea of interviewing teens."

Williams produced a 16-minute video last month for her participation in the Youth Leadership Program , a city-sponsored paid internship for teens with an interest in government service. She handed City Council members copies of the film at their meeting last week.

The budding filmmaker spent a few minutes at the lectern to share her work.

"As I interviewed teens in northeast Greensboro, they reiterated to me the lack of community activities and shopping centers in their neighborhoods," she said. "And since we are planning a new library facility, we should consider revamping the entire area to look representative.

"I think this would decrease gang violence in this area."

On a warm July afternoon, Williams, 16, hopped a bus to Phillips Avenue, where she and fellow program participant Manbi Nyepon filmed people at the McGirt-Horton Branch Library and a nearby Family Dollar.

Williams then returned home and went to work at her computer.
The result is a video montage of footage from the youth program, music videos promoting gang violence, interviews with Greensboro youths talking about gangs and television news clips that warn of a growing gang problem across the country.

"I'm not interested in it, but some people do it just because other people are doing it," said one girl, identified on the film only as Janelle. "And they don't really know what they're getting into."

A consensus emerges among everyone interviewed: Phillips Avenue near the Claremont Courts public housing complex needs structured activities for young adults who might otherwise be lured into gangs. And it wouldn't hurt to build more stores in the area rather than have residents trek across town for basic needs.

"To take a timely subject like gangs in Greensboro and give us a perspective, for elected leaders, it's quite a tribute to the next generation," Mayor Keith Holliday said days later.

The video concludes by encouraging teens to learn about gangs and stand up to them.

"I'm fascinated by the fact that she's doing this with no training whatsoever," said Yamile Walker , administrator for the city Human Relations Department , which runs the Youth Leadership Program.

Twenty high school participants were given the task this summer of making a skit for city officials, civic leaders and parents in which the teens re-enacted an average day shaped by gangs in local schools.

Though Williams took part in the skit, playing the role of a gang member's friend, she initially wanted to shoot the documentary as a substitute for going before an audience.

Walker said she was surprised that almost all the students had as much exposure to gangs as they described in group discussions.

"What disappointed me was their response," Walker said. "I asked, 'What can you do?' and they responded, 'What can we do? This is normal. This is everyday.'

"If you tell them to find the solution, they'll find it," she said when the students started to talk about addressing gang activity. "That's what Youth Leadership is all about."

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend
@news-record.com