'Shoebox' is a short story about a young man that goes by the name of James, who we will see take that chance and in the end make a choice. This decision leads him to a confrontation with his adversary and the possibility of altering the course of his life. We first meet James well into his adolescent years of life and follow him as he experiences moment after moment of violence and abuse. We are witness to the evolution of James becoming a product of his environment. He reaches the point where enough is enough. James takes life into his own hands and makes the decision to confront the opposition head on. Fighting fire with fire, we find James staring down his enemy with a barrel of a gun. As the BANG of the gun echoes, we abruptly shift to show the two possible paths that his decision could lead him down. As we are introduced to the dual realities of James' decision, we reveal that each reality can see what could have been.

Along this journey I’ve noticed that my creative inspirations ultimately come from my personal experiences. Of course, with some stories, amplification plays a hand to push home the message, but all in all I am a product of my environment and decisions. I think we all know a James. He represents the person who has suffered constant abuse from various angles in life and is expected to just deal with it.

Young men of color have been forced to carry the terror of abuse, not only from our environment but from the history of terror embedded in our DNA. Being born black and male is being born with the burden to survive rather than to live. It is where our skin makes us targets and our projected power makes us threats. We are the ones who are forced to make decisions when our rational is being suffocated and challenged by an entity that has had the upper hand since day one. 'Shoebox' is not only a visual representation of this, but it is also a call out to think. Think before you speak and to think before you react. We are bred to believe being reactionary is the law of the land and by being confined to this mind state, countless lives of our brothers have been lost and deemed victims of circumstance.

What’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. We must find a way to turn these conversations into action so that the generations to come may cease to inherit the curses passed down through our forefathers. This film embodies the statement that one wrong move or decision can alter our lives as well as the lives of our families and friends forever. We must move accordingly.