Chicago Young Lords

Situated oftentimes between violence and death, being recruited in this criminal lifestyle is a risk that these young adults take everyday. However, for these members, gangs offer a second family, a reliable family, many of them come from broken homes or are seeking the stability found in a family unit.. This is one of the main reasons why the youth are drawn to gangs. Take it from Juan Carlos Lopez known as “Spanky” from “G-Dog and the Homeboys” by, Celeste Fremon. His life is no different from the people who decide to join a gang. He was a runaway teen at the age of

There are many rituals for the gang. Strict rules and practices have kept them out of the limelight and public eye for almost five decades. New recruits, or prospects, are hazed without mercy. Members of the gang will do or take whatever they want from them, whenever they want. They might show up to their house and take their possessions or “take their woman and sell them or beat them if they want,” says Wadds. When a new member is initiated, it is considered the first day of his life. Members are

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) focuses on conditions and causes of gang violence in Los Angeles, California, as well as the history and background of the main gangs that reside there. The information in the film is compiled from interviews of past and present members of the Crips and Bloods, which are the two main gangs that contribute to the violence in the area. The interviewees explain how the gangs work and the conditions under which these people live daily. There can be parallels drawn from the film to Elijah Anderson’s article titled “The Code of the Streets”, published in 1994, that discusses violence in terms of gang and criminal activity.

This book was different than other literature that had been produced, because Duran was able to get closer and inspect the deeper characteristics of gang life and gang members themselves. This is something that other researchers in the field are typically not able to accomplish. He took on the perspective of investigating what role racial oppression had with the development of gangs. His perspective and his ex-gang membership background allowed him to be more trusted by all the gang members that he interviewed for this research.

For the children of the projects, the pressure to join a gang never waivers. Quick cash and protection are hard forces to resist in a world of poverty and violence. However, the children's role in these gangs is inferior to

The Young Lords started off as a gang in Chicago, until they transformed into a community based outreach program. All of the people that were in charge where teens and young adults. The young lords did what they thought was best on their part as well as for their community. Yes, on the path of doing the right thing they did break some rules and made noise to get their message across to the public. The group originally wanted to become their own claim and cry for independence. When in reality the group just wanted to pull away from the United States, but could not. In their 13 point program they wanted self-determination for their people (Puerto Ricans). They oppose on the Amerikkkan military, meaning that they do not want their young men to be involved in any war that the United States may go into. They did not just want self-determination for their own, but for other Latino groups and they asked for the liberation of the third world people and countries. They also asked to have a proper education and with that they wanted their education to have their own culture and the Spanish language. The young lords stood for their people and other people of color. They knew that unity with themselves and others was important in order for them to make any

Gangs have been a point of concern for states and societies around the world for centuries. Youth gangs are not exempt from that same categorization and have operated for the same amount of time worldwide. Over the last century however, a proliferation of youth gangs has been witnessed, especially among Hispanic youths immigrating into the United States. Researchers and scholars have offered multiple theories as to why youths, and Hispanics youths in particular integrate themselves into gang organizations. Three schools of thought arise when conducting gang integration research. Rational Economics Theory1 proposes that youths, and all individuals, join gangs for financial and material benefit. Cultural Deviance Theory considers youth gang

The New York City Young Lords Organization later known as the Young Lords Party was founded by a group of Puerto Rican student from New York. They were inspired by the Black Panther Party and a group of Young Lords in Chicago, Illinois. They

The Puerto Ricans in New York were being submerged in racist repression and a severe economic exploitation. There Puerto Ricans faced filthy and dangerous tenement housing and a school system that denigrated their language and culture and offered little opportunity for higher education. The Latino population could not get ahead because of the daily repression to which they are subjected. In the streets they faced an occupying army, the New York City Police Department, which was openly racist and used violence liberally. “Puerto Ricans were good enough to die in the jungle of Vietnam, but were treated like the Viet Cong on the streets of New York,” according to to “palante brief history of the Young Lords”what the young lord tried to do oster seeing all the events that were helping to denigrated the latino community they began to clean the streets. Gave

Gangsters Without Borders by T.W. Ward is an ethnography about the El Salvadorian gang Mara Salvatrucha. Wards spent years earning the trust of these youth in order to complete his research. Starting out Ward had three broad goals in mind to develop a clear view of gang members and gang life. The second objective of Wards, “To observe how gang members changed over time as they matured into adulthood,” peaked my interest in this ethnography.

At any rate, it is very clear that some youths engage in more gang activity than others; some might be called "the wannabes" who move out of the influence of the gang on the basis of whether or not a program of interest intercepts drawing them completely away from the gang. Within the "wannabes" there are many little brothers and sisters, sometimes referred to as "pee wees." However, on separate and certain occasions they are sent home by their older siblings when something was about to happen for which only older members were being mobilized. Moreover, I am going to go into explicit detail on two Hispanic gangs The Mexican Mafia, the Nuestra Familia, and the Latin Kings.

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.

During a time of mobilization on group took to the streets to create change, but the most spectacular change that they did was their transformation from a street gang to a grassroots organization. They went from creating problems in the street for their community to aiding their community to make changes to their neighborhood streets. The Young Lords achieved some of their goals, but not all. Therefore, they were partially successful, they mobilized their community and form a strong bond with it. The Young Lords started as a gang in the streets of Chicago that later learned how to organize and take action. The Young Lords strategies and tactics focused on educational awareness, and direct action for the change they wanted. The Young Lords wanted everyone in the community to be involved, so they integrated youth into the movement. The youth involved wanted change, and they would create a movement to make that change. The Young Lords strategies and tactics were successful in their community.

“The Republic of East L.A. Stories” captures the heartbreaking experiences Mexican-American’s were forced to endure. Escaping poverty, alcohol abuse, drug use, and gang violence was an everyday struggle for many families during this time. African American and Latino gangs were initially created as a response to white racism. They were restricted as to what areas they could live in and where constantly harassed. As their populations increased, so did white gangs, in order to take control of their “territory”. African Americans and Latinos had no choice but to protect their families by fighting back. As time went on, the violence only continued. The Civil Rights Movement led many gang members to join organizations like the Black Panther Party, but the government quickly responded by breaking them up and soon enough, street gangs quickly returned. The violence escalated, alcohol,