"Your daddy's shoes ain't under my momma's bed so don't you be calling me your brother"

I still remember those words and it must've been 10 years since i watched this little sleeper.
Benji is about 13. He has a hot ass mom called Sweets (hehe- Cicely Tyson ). He's black. He lives in South Central L.A, and he's one hell of a poet. But the alure of heroin is too much to ignore. Besides "you're just a jive turkey if you ain't down with the good shit". His family tries to help him kick it, namely Butler, the man who gives Sweets a piece of African History they never told you about in school, and one of Benji's friend...but to no avail.
An offset into an emotional rollercoaster begins as we watch Benji's struggle with dope; will he kick the habit and immerge into a great Afrikan American poet that his teacher Nigera believes him to be? And will he accept the fact that his mom is not called Sweets for nothing? Interesting if nothing else...