Gangs

Colors, Letters and Numbers

Summary: Its about the current gang problem in the United States and the Northeast (NYC, in particular)

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Colors, Letters and Numbers. The three things that have been with us from infancy, to adolescence until now. No one ever thought that the symbols that were on our building blocks would symbolize what they do today. The movie Colors glorified bloods (red) and crips (blue) to some extent. It made a lot of teens and younger kids want to be apart of a gang because it seems cool, or maybe they just had nothing else better to do. The whole gang theme seems to be catching on through out all aspects of life. There are even reports of a homosexual gang that wears the rainbow as their calling card. There will never be a slow down in gang violence once there are members of the hip-hop community that glorify the gang lifestyle. Rappers such as Snoop Dogg who is a highly decorated crip, and Cam' Ron who is a member of the bloods, and often makes references to the "GMDC" (George Mochen Detention Center), which is a section of rikers island that is used to deal with inmates with violent problems., and is also where "The United Blood Nation" was founded.

This is a time where wearing the wrong color in the wrong area could do more than raise a few eyebrows. A time when there have been cases of deaf-mute individuals being attacked or even murdered because their sign language was mistaken for gang signs. We have to realize that gangs are no longer just a LAPD or NYPD problem. This has moved up onto a global scale. Bloods and Crips now have chapters in London and Paris. And as far south as Belize. People may perceive these gang members and thugs and may consider them ignorant. But by their imperial tendencies and recruiting methods, they may be more than just thugs. They are entrepreneurs. The only logical way I see, is to stop the next generation from getting all tied up in this. The teens that are my age that are in a gang may already be too far gone. We need our own brand of Genocide to combat these gangs and secure our future.

Before I could dive into the gang sub culture I had to ask the obvious question. What is a gang? A gang is a group of people who want to be seen as different from others and want others to perceive them as a distinct group. This group is organized, has leadership, and is committing criminal acts in the community. Gangs have been in existence for as long as there have been inhabitants of this world. Even the word "Thug" dates back to India in 1200 Ad as a word they used to describe a gang of criminals. In the United States we grew up with a different kind of thug, like pirates and gangsters, therefore, gangs, undoubtedly, are not a new concept. For decades, these gangsters weren't thought of as "all that bad." In fact they may have been loved by the community, or the public as a whole. I feel this is a major part of the reason why teens join gangs. The Media glorification of Al Capone and Lucky Luciano made men like Elliot Ness seem like one of the "bad guys." Being apart of something bigger than them maybe also what attracts teens to gangs. Just the thought of being a part of something bigger than them makes some teens salivate. Teens who come from houses where there might be an adult with a drug problem or something of that nature are more prone to join a gang than someone who lives with both parents in a somewhat normal home. The family aspect of the gang is almost like a magnet, especially in areas that have low income housing or housing projects better know as "PJ's." Majority of the gang members that I know come from a family where the only head in the house is a matriarch, either mother or grandmother sometimes, even an aunt. The OG or the Superior in the gang maybe the closest thing that kid has to a father figure. Sure you may say there are other figures in the community that the kid can look up to, like a Minister, Lawyer or even a Policeman. But none of these men had a Lexus 400 at 22. There is no competition. The offers and the promises that the gangs bring to the bargaining table at recruitment from a teens perspective outweighs anything that a High School Diploma or GED could ever provide. Some kids are even swayed by the history and tradition that a certain gang may have. Kids get tied up in rivalries that go back before they were born, and most times they may not know why the rivalry started in the first place.

Gangs have always put fear in the heart of their adversaries. Gangs like the Five Points gang from the bowery section of Manhattan which controlled early 20th century New York, set the standard of using intimidation to subdue their enemies. Some gangs started to emulate someone else, while some started out of fear or necessity. In 1969, a Los Angeles teen named Raymond Washington, 15, organized a group of other neighborhood teens and started a gang called the Baby Avenues. The Baby Avenues wanted to copy a gang of older guys who had been involved in gang activity since 1964 and provided minor crimes for the Black Panthers of Los Angeles. This gang was called the Avenue Boys since they claimed their turf on Central Avenue in East Los Angeles. Raymond Washington, along with Stanley "Tookie" Williams and several other gang members from the Baby Avenues Gang were fascinated with the hype of the Black Panthers and they wanted to develop the Baby Avenues gang into a larger force. The Baby Avenues Gang began using the name Avenues Cribs since members lived on the avenue (Central Avenue). Crib members would wear blue bandannas around their necks or heads. The color blue became their representative color. The use of the word