O.C. activist’s documentary features ground-level view of protests sparked by death of George Floyd

After Ferin Kidd saw the footage of the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police, he flew to the city to document a civil movement that would spread throughout the country.

The footage he gathered of the protests is featured in a documentary he recently finished, “Bang 4 Change.”

The roughly 45-minute documentary follows Kidd and a fellow activist named Ashley through the streets of Minneapolis as protesters march against police brutality. The film provides a ground-level glimpse of the historic protests.

“Like many people, when I saw the footage I was hurt, angry, and though I didn’t know what I could do, I knew I needed to do something,” Kidd said in the film. “So I grabbed my camera, packed a bag and booked a one-way flight to Minneapolis.”

Kidd filmed, narrated, directed and edited the film. He raised about $3,500 for his documentary with a GoFundMe campaign.

The narrative of the documentary took form when he met Ashley during a protest. Ashley, a Black woman, was challenging white protesters for destroying property. Her actions resonated with Kidd.

“I was able to find a woman on the protest line who was advocating a lot of the things that I believe in as far as how people were protesting,” Kidd said in a phone interview. “She was holding people accountable, particularly the allies for a lot of the destructive behavior that they were engaging in, letting them know that if you guys are all here for us, for Black people, that you need to support positively and protest positively.

“Because at the end of the day, the destructive behavior isn’t going to be blamed on the people who were largely doing it, which were white kids, it’s going to be blamed on Black men.”

As the national movement to end police brutality has progressed since Floyd’s death, Kidd has emerged as a prominent activist and charismatic community leader, providing a unifying voice for the Black community through his organization Black OC.

Kidd organized a large protest in Santa Ana at Sasscer Park, also known as Black Panther Park, in the days after Floyd’s death.

Kidd’s activism was formed while serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery. He spent his time in prison educating himself on civil rights and learning spiritual strength and grounding through practicing Islam.

“Going into prison, I knew I for sure couldn’t return to a life of crime and that I needed to figure something out,” Kidd said. “I went in there, and I treated prison like it was a school. Some of the older brothers I talked to in the county jail getting ready to go into prison, they said they call the penitentiary a university. They said that ‘you should come out of this situation stronger in mind, body and soul.’”

Ferin Kidd started the activist group Black OC and created the official flag of Black OC called the Unity Flag.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Kidd is hoping to screen his film in an outdoor, rooftop location in Santa Ana this month.

He said he’s also aiming to organize a social-justice workshop to go along with the documentary.

“We are going to be the generation that gets to see the changes that we all want to see,” Kidd said into the camera toward the end of the film. “We are going to see a better nation that’s based in unity and support of its community, not based in division and destruction and harassment of communities of color. I guarantee that.

“Nobody can do everything, everybody can do something. Make sure you all are doing your best. And over here, we bang for change.”

For more information, visit bang4change.org/.

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