Vendetta
"Oscar the grouch"
As I have in other threads mentioned prior to me joining the navy I was heavily involved with the Piru Bloods in the city of Compton California. Without immesely going in great detail, I have to say that some of my most horrible experiences in my life came from gangs. I share this with you guys because to some, who lived recently growing up, or haven't been exposed to that element I want to give you guys a brief understanding on the decades old feud. When I grew up I was poor. Mother worked many jobs supporting me and my brother, and dad was hardly around. So in living in Compton in late 70's 80's gang influence was at an all time high.
Enterprise park which is on the Westside of Compton right across from Centennial High school, or as we bloods used to call it "the ten" I was exposed early to gang life. Growing up I used to have fist fights a lot and because I was getting involved with the bloods, I couldn't "punk out" in any fights or I would get beat up. I did everything to prove myself to be "hard." I took my first sip of hard liquor at 9 years-old and smoked my first blunt, not joint, at 11 years-old.
Eventually after some two years of initiation I got "put on" or jumped in the gang. Remember at this time the most dominant black gang at the time were the Crips. Crips outnumbered the bloods 3 to 1. Basically, bloods came about through the growin number of crips and because crips were so big, they began bullying other smaller black gangs in joining. It got to a point where crips were bullying so much that smaller black gangs joined and called themselves bloods. We used the color red from Centennial high school (the place where bloods started).
In my days gang banging I did everything from skipping school, shooting dice, selling drugs, and shooting at people. I was once asked have I ever killed anybody. Nobody will admit to a crime of that magnitude but I will say I shot at a lot of people. As a young kid I had a lot of rage and had more fist fights than Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao COMBINED. I was jailed numerous times and shot and stabbed numerous times. The reward? Nothing! I pretty much buried my friend, have seen friends who I've known since I was a kid locked up forever and others disabled both mentally and physically.
Religion during those times never helped me. Only times I went to church was when my mother made me, and when I had to go to a homeboy's funeral. I am surprised with as much as I did I was able to get in the navy (since you really can't have a criminal record-but all my records were expunged), but very thankful I did, because it did save my life.
What bothers me nowadays is that on youtube I see little white kids manic videos about throwing up gang signs (there is a video about white girls and gang signs) as if it is a joke. Sure if that is speech to say "gangs are stupid" so be it, but mocking gangs is no helpful deterrent to the ongoing problem. Gang violence is the main reason I believe troops should stay out of Iraq and Afghanistan but that is another issue. A question remains do I still have some gang elements in me? Sure. I think with me despite having advanced degrees in psychology and learning about anger and coping skills, I still have that element of anger within me. For example, I am super mild tempered, but if I am pushed to fight I will try and kill the person. Is that bad? Yes. I find that as a residue of my past.
Moral of the story is gangs are real, gangs kill people, and gangs are no joke. But the hopeful thing about this is people can get out of them and change their life. To give you guys an idea of the kind of gang I was around here is a picture:
Enterprise park which is on the Westside of Compton right across from Centennial High school, or as we bloods used to call it "the ten" I was exposed early to gang life. Growing up I used to have fist fights a lot and because I was getting involved with the bloods, I couldn't "punk out" in any fights or I would get beat up. I did everything to prove myself to be "hard." I took my first sip of hard liquor at 9 years-old and smoked my first blunt, not joint, at 11 years-old.
Eventually after some two years of initiation I got "put on" or jumped in the gang. Remember at this time the most dominant black gang at the time were the Crips. Crips outnumbered the bloods 3 to 1. Basically, bloods came about through the growin number of crips and because crips were so big, they began bullying other smaller black gangs in joining. It got to a point where crips were bullying so much that smaller black gangs joined and called themselves bloods. We used the color red from Centennial high school (the place where bloods started).
In my days gang banging I did everything from skipping school, shooting dice, selling drugs, and shooting at people. I was once asked have I ever killed anybody. Nobody will admit to a crime of that magnitude but I will say I shot at a lot of people. As a young kid I had a lot of rage and had more fist fights than Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao COMBINED. I was jailed numerous times and shot and stabbed numerous times. The reward? Nothing! I pretty much buried my friend, have seen friends who I've known since I was a kid locked up forever and others disabled both mentally and physically.
Religion during those times never helped me. Only times I went to church was when my mother made me, and when I had to go to a homeboy's funeral. I am surprised with as much as I did I was able to get in the navy (since you really can't have a criminal record-but all my records were expunged), but very thankful I did, because it did save my life.
What bothers me nowadays is that on youtube I see little white kids manic videos about throwing up gang signs (there is a video about white girls and gang signs) as if it is a joke. Sure if that is speech to say "gangs are stupid" so be it, but mocking gangs is no helpful deterrent to the ongoing problem. Gang violence is the main reason I believe troops should stay out of Iraq and Afghanistan but that is another issue. A question remains do I still have some gang elements in me? Sure. I think with me despite having advanced degrees in psychology and learning about anger and coping skills, I still have that element of anger within me. For example, I am super mild tempered, but if I am pushed to fight I will try and kill the person. Is that bad? Yes. I find that as a residue of my past.
Moral of the story is gangs are real, gangs kill people, and gangs are no joke. But the hopeful thing about this is people can get out of them and change their life. To give you guys an idea of the kind of gang I was around here is a picture: