The Republic Of East L. A Stories Book Review

Josie Mendez-Negrete’s novel, Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, is a very disturbing tale about brutal domestic abuse and incest.  Negrete’s novel is an autobiography regarding experiences of incest in a working-class Mexican American family.  It is Josie Mendez-Negrete’s story of how she, her siblings, and her mother survived years of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.  “Las Hijas de Juan" is told chronologically, from the time Mendez-Negrete was a child until she was a young adult trying, along with the rest of her family, to come to terms with her father 's brutal legacy. It is a upsetting story of abuse and shame compounded by cultural and linguistic isolation and a system of patriarchy that devalues the

Bridge 1 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.

Chapter one talks about gang’s early history, prison gangs did not start in prison, they had to be street gangs; Mexican Street gangs have been in California since the 1900. Mexican street gangs from the south side of Los Angeles had over 50,000 members 600 from different gangs. The founder of the Duell Vocational Institution (DVI) from Tracy, California was a man named Luis “Huero Buff” Flores. The original members of these street gangs we not in fact Mexican nationals but Citizens of the US. A majority of them spoke English and Calo and very few, close to none spoke Spanish. What shocked the author was that the members of the gang were at some point in time were rivals on the street. Flores created the gang but did not run it, the book says he made it so no one man controls the gang but instead everyone voted, and the majority won. He wanted all members to have equality.

In Always Running, Luis J. Rodriguez recalls his time growing up in Los Angeles during the 60s and 70s. Rodriguez writes of the hardships that his family had first encountered while trying to assimilate into American society and how he would often, while growing up, be criminalized by his teachers,

Gregory Nava’s 1983 film, El Norte, is by far one of the most honest and eye opening depictions of the experience many undocumented immigrants and refugees have when trying to come to the United States. By challenging the ethnocentric tendencies of the North American film industry and the general negative stereotypes of Latinos in film, Nava is one of the first writers/directors to break away from the typical representations of Latinos and give such true representation and discussion of many issues surrounding Latinos, immigration, and American society and values. The film focuses on two young Mayan brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa, from their flight from their village in rural Guatemala to their life of hardship and isolation in Los Angeles,

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 the Bloods: Made in America tells the dramatic story of the perpetual gang violence that runs the streets of Los Angeles, California. Gaining an inside look at how and why this violence is continued, the video focuses on the individuals that are affected by the gangs. Families are torn apart due to endless murders, children are taught to hate and act violently towards their neighbors, and people lose their soul to the gangs that they call their families. Of course every person must make a choice to engage in this sort of life, but sometimes these people are put into situations where there are no other options. In order to further think about what has caused and maintained the violence in the LA area, we can look towards Agnew’s General Strain Theory and the Labeling Theory.

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.

Gangs have existed in America since the early eighteenth century, they first rose a outsider institutions that provided membership and sense of self to individuals who were not seen as part of the community. Traditionally, gang membership correlates to familial membership; parental and family membership in a

Enrique’s conditions living in poverty as a young child through older adolescence had many negative effects on his family and his own emotional state. His family’s economic situation is what primarily led to Enrique’s mother leaving home to make money in the U.S. and help her family. Having to grow up and be raised by other family members instead of his own biological parents, played a significant part in his development as his dysfunctional and oppressive environment caused detrimental issues with trust in others and lack of love from his parents. Evans, Gonnella, Marcynyszyn, Gentile

Youth gang violence has turned into an unmistakable issue in the public eye reaching across national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural, racial, and class distinctions. Not only is the problem widely dispersed geographically, but its incidence is also extensive, making it a common, acknowledged, and a mainstream behavior for many teens. Gang activity is extremely common in lower income neighborhoods and ethnic ghettos where underprivileged children are regularly recruited. Youth gang violence has always been an issue in the United States since the 1950’s but many crime analysts tended to overlook the problem of youth gang violence in major cities due to historical events such as the Korean War, U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation was illegal in the Brown v. Board of Education decision, and the Civil Rights Movement. The first nationwide study undertaken of the nature and extent of gang violence was reported by Walter B. Miller. Miller whose study concentrated primarily on the increase of gang violence and four major motives such as respect, guarding local communities, control, and gain the of monetary goods.

Situated predominantly in urban areas, gangs are becoming a major problem in today's society. The youth and adults are turning into gang members often times to leave behind the current situation they are living now. Many people who aren't familiar or affiliated with gang members are known to be curious

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.

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

Los Angeles and Chicago are two American cities that have a long history with gang violence. In the 1940’s the city of Los Angeles was experiencing a significant boom in the African American and Latino populations. During this time, there was also a massive influx of Caucasians into the Los