Jorja Leap

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Project Fatherhood

In 2010, former gang leader turned community activist Big Mike Cummings asked UCLA gang expert Jorja Leap to co-lead a group of men struggling to be better fathers in Watts, South Los Angeles. These men, black and brown, from late adolescence to middle-age, most formerly incarcerated, work to build their identities as fathers, connect with their children, and heal their community. "Project Fatherhood "follows the lives of the men, who meet each week as they struggle with the pain of their own losses, the chronic pressures of poverty and unemployment, and the unquenchable desire to do better and provide more for the next generation. Through immersion into the lived experiences of those working to overcome their circumstances, Leap provides not only dramatic stories of fathers trying to do the right thing but a larger sociological portrait of how institutional injustices become manifest in the lives of ordinary people. The group's development over time demonstrates real-life movement toward solutions as the men find support in each other and in their shared goal of healing their families and keeping their children out of the "cradle-to-prison pipeline."