[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

This documentary follows the lives of two [and more] Sudanese refugees who came to the US to get an education in hopes of returning to Sudan to make some sort of difference for their communities. Instead, they, like tens of thousands of African [and most other] immigrants, discover that the American experience is as disastrous as any other. These youth came from a war zone, and yet they clearly saw how fucked up the streets can be here in America, living in Houston and Kansas City. They saw the violence, and were not blind or ignorant to it like the rest of middle America who they were blending with. They had to struggle to get the same bullshit we Americans do, a car, rent, food, entertainment.. [drink sex cigarettes ford cortinas household pets bombs war famine and death and an apathetic public that couldnt care less!!!]

These youth experienced all the pitfalls of American life, they had bullshit jobs [Peter worked at wallmart, where the manager said, "You're African, you can handle the heat" when he complained about being singled out and delegated for parking lot duty. He went to a high school in texas, having to make friends in a strange place, and high school can be a strange experience for a good number of "normal" american kids, let alone a Sudanese refugee coming from a war zone to move into a redneck conservative christian town [oh yeah, they were resettled by a christian organization, which is good, however a large number of the people were condescending, which is bad].....
they were most confused regarding Americans themselves. their testimony, "white people are affraid that you are going to beat them up, and black people, even if you don't know them, will just start a fight with you for nothing!" They had to go the the DMV, one cat got in an accident and got three tickets, had to go to court risking county jail. In this documentary you get to see them experience all aspects of daily life and routine in America, however, keep in mind, that these youth had NEVER seen this kind of life before, and had quite a different vision in their hearts when in Sudan about what America would be. Personally, I think all of us Americans harbor this same dream, and it clouds our actual vision to the reality around us, and makes us blind to make the necessary changes that are wrong with our civilization. As long as Africans, like the Ethiopian community that I have embraced and has accepted me here in Los Angeles, continue to believe in the myth and facade of the American dream, then they will continue to come here, contributing to "brain drain" and more importantly, the classic American experience of tribulation and heartache. The point, is that the civil war in Sudan is not what finally broke these youth, it was the reality of life in the United States in the twenty first century.

these youth came to the quick and sudden realization of dissillusionment with the American dream, one which I myself discovered as an epiphany around their same age [they were between 17-19], and they knew with conviction and had to accept "that there is no heaven on earth."

I think that the perspective of these African refugees and their experience is enlightening to how much bullshit we accept in our lives, like shitty jobs, expensive rent, car drama, the menacing noose of the legal system, and most importantly, the social flaws which continue to divide us all..