“The future is in whose hands?” Gentlemen of Vision cofounder Marlon Wharton asked his step team as they rehearsed for an upcoming competition. “Ours!” they proclaimed.
In seven years, Wharton has used stepping – a form of performance made popular by African-American college fraternities and sororities – to change lives of young men in North County.
The guidance counselor from Riverview Gardens High School is as much a life coach as a step coach as he leads and shapes the young minds of Gentlemen of Vision (GOV), most of whom are students at Riverview Gardens. He has used stepping to fuel success in his students and feed his passion for helping these young black men. They win national championships through GOV and win in life as individuals by the tools and nuggets of wisdom he imparts along the way.
The organization is molded after his own experiences as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
He demands team members’ time, discipline, good grades, and a clear plan for the future after graduation. He also asks them to think beyond the competition and remember that they have choices – and failure is not one of them. Since the organization’s inception in 2009, members boast a 100 percent high-school graduation rate.
GOV’s story was so compelling that they became the subject of a New Nine Network documentary by Frank Popper – which premieres on Monday, September 12.
“Y’all like winning, right? What about being successful in life? What about school – y’all like being on honor roll, right?” Wharton asked in a promotional clip for the documentary entitled “Gentlemen of Vision.”
The doc will play throughout the fall on Nine PBS and across the community. As part of the release of the film, the community is hosting watch parties, sharing step moves on social media using #ShowMeStep, and learning more about GOV through the Nine Network’s short, digital segments on social media.
The film depicts the tremendous journey of members of the Gentlemen of Vision (GOV) competitive step team during the 2015-2016 season.
The documentary follows the team as they strive to win their national competitions, graduate from high school, and position themselves to achieve success in life. The film celebrates their resilience, their brotherhood, and the enduring bond with their coach and champion.
The St. Louis International Film Festival, which runs November 3-13, will host multiple screenings of a director’s cut of the film. This version will also be entered into national film festival competitions.
The story of the Gentlemen of Vision emerged from the Nine Network’s work on the American Graduate initiative. The Nine Network leads this national and local initiative to help young people succeed in school and in life, with the goal of increasing the graduation rate nationwide to 90 percent by the year 2020.
“Gentlemen of Vision” premieres on the PBS Nine Network at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 12. For more information about the film, visit http://americangraduate.ninenet.org/gov/.
For more information about Gentlemen of Vision as an organization, visit http://www.gentlemenofvision.org/.
