Typical crowds that surround Darius, asking for autographs and/or taking photos. Click to enlarge.
photo by GPS
Camera flashes and autograph requests were in abundance at GPS on Monday, March 9, when the Middle School hosted Darius Weems and the crew of the award-winning documentary Darius Goes West.
In the documentary, 15-year-old Athens, Ga., native Darius Weems - who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy - and 11 of his best friends set off across America with the ultimate goal of getting his wheelchair customized on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. The result is a summer-long adventure in which Darius, who had never before left the state of Georgia, experiences the Grand Canyon, the French Quarter of New Orleans, Las Vegas, the Pacific Ocean and numerous other sites in the U.S.
At GPS to talk about their goal of raising $17 million for Duchenne research and their all-male “road trip,” crew member Logan Smalley and others recalled their favorite parts of the cross-country adventure. Darius himself said the “craziest moment” was when fans chased him in his motorized wheelchair down the streets of New Orleans. “They didn’t know how fast the wheelchair could go,” he laughed.
The film, described as “part revolution, part revelation” on the documentary’s website www.dariusgoeswest.com, has inspired a nationwide grassroots movement to raise money for, and awareness of, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most severe form of muscular dystrophy and the number one genetic killer of children in the world. Along the way it has also “motivated a new generation of children and young adults to promote diversity and equality, and ‘pay it forward’ to help others.”
The GPS Middle School raised $1,000 earlier in the month by asking students to make a donation to DMD in order to wear “regular” clothes and not the customary uniform. They presented not only the check to Darius at Monday’s event but also presented him with a commitment from over 60 students to help sell DVD’s and make others aware of the disease and need for additional research funding.
GPS was the first stop on the group’s new road trip. Their goal is to sell one million DVD’s and raise $17 million for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research. Since the filming began in 2005, the crew has been as far north as Canada and even taken Darius on a cruise, compliments of the Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2007, the documentary of Darius’ trip west won 28 film festival awards; since then it has been screened at schools across the country, including an appearance at the University of the South on Monday evening.
As the Darius Goes West website states, the film “proves to people of all ages how life, even when imperfect, is always worth the ride.”
Three seventh graders who made the check presentation to Darius and crew members. Click to enlarge.
photo by GPS