Case Study: West Garfield Community

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.

Whether in the Black community, or any community, we know that there are some factors that correlate with a lower rate of violence. Two of the leading ones are: economic stability and strong social networks. Communities in which people have their basic needs met correlate with a lower incidence of violence. Both of these will be difficult to achieve until racism is addressed (see reason number

Throughout my years living in Oakland I have seen violence and distress within my community. What most people hear about Oakland is never really anything positive; it’s mostly always negative. Oakland is known to have a history of gang violence, drug abuse, high school dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and social injustice. Within my research I find myself asking this question, ‘Why is there so much violence in Oakland? And what is the major contributor of this hardship that my community faces? Throughout my research I have learned that social injustice is a major contributor to Oakland violence, followed by the News media shown on television that also helps Oakland have a bad reputation. Most of the violence created in Oakland also comes from

City Heights East is divided by many different ethnicities. There is 54.3% Hispanic, 20.9% Asian, 15% Black, 7.3% White, 2.2% mixed, and 0.3% other. With this data we can see that there is is range of different ethnicities and not one fully overrides other. This is a diverse community with some great cultures throughout. With this comes crime. With a total of about 30 assaults in the past year, there needs to be a sense of community rather than a sense of territory. Within this sections it will review the cost of living, the employment rates, the school’s, and the community organization. These are all important when looking at a specific crime and how to improve it within the community.

The greatest problem that the society faces in the inner city black community is the interpersonal violence and aggression created by the troubled youth in their society. By simply living in this kind of violent, innocent people are affected by crimes such as burglaries, carnapping and drug related incident and shootings.

The correlation between gangs and drugs has always been an issue for the United States government. Major cities often overlooked the problem of youth gang violence, thinking it was only a 1960’s trend. Sixty years later, gangs and drugs continue to be a problem, but in an increasing number within urban, suburban and rural areas in the United States. People may characterize this problem with words such as violence, increase drug activity, and delinquencies, but not many seem to see the bigger picture. Lack of interaction, collaboration, and strategies from law enforcement, youth centers, businesses, churches, and political icons are increasing gang violence and drug related offenses in major cities. In such cities as Chicago, minority groups are the most vulnerable to joining a gang, which then leads to an involvement with drugs; they are faced with barriers – lack of family support, poverty, segregation, unemployment, etc. An incident that happened in Chicago history is the closing of the Cabrini-Green Project, where people involved with gangs had to find a new home, scattering gang-members throughout the city, and eventually leading to their spread and growth.

With the many conversations about the African-American communities and their issues with gang violence, government assistance, and the lack of jobs in their communities it is clear to say that the American Dream or even a moderate lifestyle was not created for all African Americans and Minorities and since we found a way to be noticed, heard, and felt like they’re rightfully a part of something America wants to now label it “war or Drugs” and “gang Violence” thus creating Gang Injunctions in those predominantly of color communities. Now I am not stating that the violence is not present, innocent lives are not being taken, nor are drugs consuming our communities, but what I am saying is that they act as if there is no other approach that could help clean up the streets, provide piece and harmony among all communities, and solve issues for the betterment of the community. Instead they are removing them from their communities, threatening them from going to their neighborhood, and as a consequence they get jail time, an institution that already houses half if not more than half of our black men. The gang injunction initiative is set up to tear apart the minority communities through driving up the prices and making them move, especially if they have a family member who is under the injunction’s rules. Its ironic how they put them in such enclosed space, while they make suburban home for the economically fit causing them to commute and now they are systematically removing them

Chicago has the highest gang population in the United States (www.huffingtonpost.com) and the highest amount of gun related murders to boot. As an effect of these crimes, many of the targets are not the rich and the powerful but instead are the weak and the poor. Those that cannot defend themselves to a great extent, they are seen as easy targets that will soon give up if it has taken too long to find the culprits. Since the underclass is the primary target for crime from the underclass it is like they are just undermining themselves in order to gain some type or upper hand on the next man that holds no real bearing. Even when taking “good moral” individuals some have turned to crime because they see no other way to make means for themselves or their loved ones. Some of these people have been laid off and have no other source of income, their back is against a wall and they want out. They want so badly to have money again so that they survive and not live on the streets like they see others, so they commit crimes for others that will pay. It is because of this desperation that violent crimes still thrive and until people realize this then violent crime will still keep the underclass suppressed. (www.clombia.edu)

For my final paper I am going to talk about a program that in my eyes is a great way for our youth to receive different views and healthy choices when it comes to avoiding and confronting gangs or gang members. Gang Resistance Education and Training, abbreviated G.R.E.A.T., and provides a school-based, police officer instructed program that includes classroom instruction and various learning activities. The mission of the program is to provide a range of activities to our kids to keep them away from gangs or related activity as well as educate them on competency, usefulness, and personal empowerment which will prevent them from

The topic that I would like to talk about is gang violence in the United States. There is a lot of violence that has been going around and it continues to go around. According to the CDC 80 percent of gun related deaths are gang related.One of the main cities with gang problems is Chicago. In 2016 there was 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents, and 4,331 shooting victims.This was an all time high. This is a major problem and something needs to be done about it, and fast. A lot of people are losing their lives for no reason at all. There needs to be more police patrolling the streets and making sure people are safe.Most of these gang related shootings happen in low poverty areas and no one is really doing anything to fix this problem.The governor

While there is more going on than just a higher crime rate in Black communities, it is important to study the violence committed and suffered by ghettoized Blacks.

Poverty is regarded by many as one of the key orchestrators of violence and particularly among African-Americans. Together with racism, these factors are cited

West Grand Neighborhood Organization and it’s partnership with ATPA has been reciprocal in nature, benefiting both ATPA and our neighborhood. We want to ensure the program continues to be successful not only for our neighbors but also the state of Michigan.

For many years, produce such as fruits and vegetables have been neglected due to the lack of supermarkets surrounding the community along the Walbrook Junction. On Tuesday, June 9th, thanks to Governor Larry Hogan, Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, Steven McAdams and his team at the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives, the BIGGYS community center were able to host a community garden with raised garden beds that will bring fruits, vegetables, and flowers which will run east to the Martin Luther King, Jr Recreation Center.

If we look at Chicago itself, there are tons of gaps within the city and its communities. That is where we have to start. We have to address the problem, which is gang violence and crime. Our youth are at risk because of gang recruiting and so many have been recruited because they do not think life have anything else better to offer them. Some think that the streets love them and give them more attention than their