BBC - Radio 4 - Woman's Hour -Gun culture

Last week four members of the Birmingham Burger Bar Boys were jailed for the shooting and killing of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare

Next week the film Bullet Boy is out on general release, a drama played out in the black community on a Hackney estate and hinging on the power of the gun.

But who or what is to blame for the growth of gang culture? Does a film like this give us a deeper understanding of what is happening to young black British men or further ingrain negative stereotypes? And what about the situation of young black women, sidelined by such focus on their male peers?

Catherine Johnson, co-writer of Bullet Boy, and Kwame Kwei-Armah, currently on tour with his play Elmina's Kitchen, join Ritula Shah to discuss.

Bullet Boyis released in the UK on08 April 2005, certificate 15
Elmina's Kitchen is on at Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, 30 March-09 April 2005

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