ABOUT
The Ghosts of Edison is the fictional account of an inner-city black teenager as he fights for self and country during a year that defined American modern history.
Set in 1968, the screenplay follows main character, Martin Johnson, a smart, streetwise, high school senior's coming of age in the "jungle" of North Philadelphia and in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
CONTEXT
In the late 1960’s Philadelphia was rapidly loosing its reputation as the “Workshop of the World”. Factory jobs were growing scarce while the inner city continued to grow more crowded with steady streams of Blacks migrating from the South.
There was a rising level of consciousness and new militancy among many black Philadelphians which led to increased protesting. Police brutality was a major complaint among blacks, and there was a growing sense of frustration at non-violence.
Philadelphia also experienced the growth of violent street gangs of every description, large and small, white and black. The city would soon lead the nation in gang-related deaths, leading the predominantly white media to often refer to black areas as “The Jungle.”
Philadelphia's Police Commissioner, Frank Rizzo, countered the rise of Black Power with a siege mentality, militarizing the police force to deal with the urban unrest.
Amid all this, faced with the escalating demands for American soldiers in Vietnam the Federal Government, recruited heavily in urban areas like Philadelphia, leading blacks to be drafted at rates extremely disproportional those of whites.
Recruiters were a constant presence in urban high schools. Many young men saw the military as one of the few opportunities to escape the streets and make something of themselves. Others, caught up in the criminal justice system were often given choices by judges - prison or the military.
One high school located in a gang-infested North Philadelphia neighborhood lost more students in the Vietnam War than any other school in America. 64 young men of Thomas Edison High School gave their lives. A solid bronze plaque with their names is currently mounted on a wall of school’s new building’s main entrance.
Ostensibly these young men were no more or less special than any other youth in America, however the circumstances surrounding their enlistment, deployment and tours of duty were anything but typical.
Many believed, if they’d already survived the volatile conditions in N. Philadelphia, Vietnam couldn't be that much worse.
Way too many were wrong.
The Ghosts of Edison embodies the spirit of these incredible human beings.