As a young boy, Michael “OG LAW” Ta’Bon’s mother lost her vision. Michael cared for his mother as best he could.
As a teenager, he met his father, Malik. He taught Michael about drugs, and together they fueled their habits through crime.
As a young man, Michael was arrested for armed robbery and spent 15 years in prison.
As a prisoner, Michael discovered God, and sought to change his life, and the lives of others.
As a formerly incarcerated person, Michael struggled for work, and found purpose in being a husband, father, and activist. His activism became an increasingly important part of who he was. Michael took ownership of his past and used it to keep others out of prison.
Michael’s wife, Gwen Jackson, a successful singer and actress who has performed with Sheryl Crow, Harry Belafonte and Cirque Du Soleil, was supportive of his efforts.
But seven years since his release from prison, the cost of Michael’s passion is evident. There is tension in the home over where Michael should be, and what he should be doing. His father, his sister, his wife, his stepson, and many others constantly remind him that his focus is in the wrong place. That his passion for keeping children out of prison, while admirable, is costing him his place as a father and husband.
Michael is largely alone in his single-mindedness, understanding the tension in his own family, but not able to accept seeing those around him making the same mistakes that he made as a child. And as the world around him turns to the issues he’s spoken about for years, Michael’s determination and focus is only sharpened. This tension is amplified by the invisible wounds Michael has suffered over the course of his life. The memories of his experience in prison weigh on him heavily.
His history, his family, his faith, his community, and the realities of the world around him, are all working with and against one another, in Michael’s eyes, for the betterment or destruction of his goal to change the world. A deeply complicated confluence of motivations and realities blur his understanding what is possible, and what is right under the ever watchful eyes of his family, and his God.
Fight Hate with Love is a deeply personal look into those cavernous realities.
Gwen, Sir Rahn and Wisdom - 1 Year Later
A year after filming, Director Andrew Michael Ellis returns to Philadelphia to have a conversation with Gwen and Sir Rahn about their lives since we last met them at the end of Fight Hate With Love.
Credits
Special Thanks
Featuring (in order of appearance): Michael “OG LAW” Ta'Bon, Gwen Jackson, Sir Rahn Jackson, Malik Tabon, Demarious McPhaul, Mama Styles, Willie Ray Jackson, Brother Wallie
With Support From: MountainFilm and the Schultz Family Foundation
Special Thanks: Jon Kasbe, Nicole Ross
Kickstarter supporters: Ina Howard-Parker, John Temple, Phoebe Potter, Bruce Thorson, Andi Alexander, Bjarke Myrthu, Rachelle Nones, Carole Cloud, Randy Ching. Albert Horner, Harriet Dedman, Melissa Burmester, Mike Peters, Paik-Kee Low, Christine Benjamin, Kate Patterson, Wayne Morrow, Chia-Yu Chang, David Jasse, Alan Hagman, Julie Winokur, Jim Seida, Nicolae Ciorogan, Nina Berman, Geoff McGhee, S Katz, Donovan Robotham, John Walton, Bill Johnson, Adam Newport-Berra, Dominic Carlina, Timothy o’Shea, Tyler Stableford, John Gauntt, Stacey Woelfel, Lacy Austin, Aidan Sullivan, Barbara Griffin, Ryan Patch, Barry Mayo, Stewart Butterfield, Ami Vitale, Felicia Anastasia, James Dooley, Al Tielemans, Michael Zhao, Mark Dolan, Pari Farmani, Allan Thompson, Scott Winchell, Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, Richard Koci Hernandez, Hank Willis Thomas, Steve Rice, Amanda Lucier, Diane van der Marel, Rob Finch, Don MacKinnon, Joe Mahoney, Daniel Gawlowski, Lana Slezic, David Ricart, Amy Rymer, Danny Mendoza, Casey Toth, Mike Ritter, Romany Redman, Diane S Dyson, Mike Watson, Riley Hooper, Liz Cook, Tieg Zaharia, Chase Pashkowich, Craig Strong, Solsmed, Paul Coates, Marc Wilkins, Alexandra Marvar, Michael Moran, Trevor Meier, Tucker Walsh, Anita and Edu, Kamal Sinclair, Adam Westbrook, Ann Sophie Lindstrom, Mike McVicar, Curran Kelley, David Mikkelsen Troensegaard, Diego James Robles, Tim Donlan, Chrison Thompson, Michal Rosenn, Abdullah Al-Khatib, A Alkhatib, Howard Schultz, Alex Mallis, Sandi, Ed Kashi, Ellen Tolmie, Pancho Shoffeitt, Eline Jongsma, Gina Martin, Meredith Barnes, Liesl Copland, Andrew Currie, Toni Greaves, David Paul Bayles, Josh Marianelli, Maria Rebecchi, Eric Usner, Michael Davis, Amanda Burr, Oddgeir Oystese, Lauren Feeney, Blue Chalk Media, Kris Nolte, Leah Olson, Michele McDonald, Chris Page, Lorraine Cote, Kelly Creedon, Aashti Zaidi Hai, Cindy Gao, Adam, Jim McCarthy, Tricia Smith, Frauke Huber and Uwe H. Martin, Bob Miller, Charlie Mahoney, Cameron Zohoori, Jess Kimball, Alexandria Bombach, Bayete Ross Smith, Mark Peterson, Ray Whitehouse, Alexander Klosterkemper, Joshua Davis, Lewis P Wilkinson, Zachary Stauffer
Music: “Walk on the Trap Road” by Serkan Akman, “I Know You Love to Fall” by Jerome Alexander, “You are a Memory” by Jerome Alexander, “Winds in the Forest of Transylvania” by Igor Babaev, “Horror Mama” by Christian LaFlamme, “Before the Universe” by Jonathan Seale, “Death” by Jonathan Seale, “Levitation” by Andras Ternyik, “Fight Hate” by Michael “OG LAW” Ta’Bon, “Aura” by Simon Webster
Additional music by: Russell Durham, Simon Erdmann
Additional music licensed from: Pump Audio by Getty
Stock Footage: Pond5
Recognition
Pictures of the Year International
Year: 2016
Place: First
Category: Multimedia Photographer of the Year
NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 2016
Place: Third
Category: Multimedia Portfolio