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My experience being in a gang

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:

fruittownelmleuders.jpg
 

Rakhel

Well-Known Member
Compton explains a lot, my friend. If you hadn't said Compton, I would have guessed The Rock or New Orleans. New Yorker gangs aren't mean enough.
 

ninerbuff

godless wonder
What I find sad is that in the Bay Area there are many Asian gangs who are ruthless and in most cases the parents of many members are still together, working hard, and caring for their home and kids. These kids have opportunity where some who are poor and only have one parent (who may never be home because of work) don't. And they squander it. And many of these kids can't fight worth ****, but put a gun in their hands and they think they can take on anyone.
What's even worse is that they rob their own kind because they know that many Asians don't like to bank and keep cash and gold at home.
I feel like I need to get out more and speak to some of them that their opportunity may not come again and that they can end up causing more issues for their own generations to follow.
 

Twig pentagram

High Priest
I was affilated with the Vicelords, but bangin aint real big in Detroit. It's more about what hood you from. I'm from Joy Road and Livernois Ave. Or more commonly known as Joy Rd. L.A, and in my hood it don't really matter if you're Blood, Crip, G.D, or Vicelord. The only thing that matters is where you from and even more so what type of person you are.

I have good friends that are G.D's and I have good friends that are Bloods. I don't really know any Crips though, it's not alot of them in Detroit.
 
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Rakhel

Well-Known Member
The difference between Little Rock Gangs and New York gangs is a little strange. Not that they aren't nice in The Rock, but they seem nicer up here in The Big Apple. Yosi has already been asked to join the Latin Kings. No initiation needed.(Maybe it has to do with how you carry yourself :shrug:)

My daughter was more privy to what was going on in the gangs than I was. She was aware of when trouble was going to hit and knew when not to go to school. When New Orleans tried to take over she replied, "I ain't going to school just to come home in a box." The take-over never happened. Little Rock wouldn't allow it. She has since been diagnosed with PTSD because of what she went through. She tried going to school here and couldn't.

What is funny about us being from Little Rock, when the street kids tried messing with us, all we had to do was say we were from "The Rock", and they turned around and ran. When we asked the cops in Manhattan about curfews for Halloween(Little Rock has a 10pm curfew that night), they looked confused. They started to assume we were from Minnesota and tried warning us about the gangs. When we told them where we were from and we knew all about gang initiations, their reply was, "Oh then we don't have to tell you anything you don't already know."
 
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SageTree

Spiritual Friend
Premium Member
Thanks for sharing your story, Vendetta. :)
Glad you're here to tell and to influence others with it.
Cheers
SageTree
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I might'a been in your neck of the woods....I worked on the F-18 in Hawthorne in '77.
A friend there was from Compton....whose humor, alas, I cannot share with you here.
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
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:

fruittownelmleuders.jpg

Every kid seems to want to be gangster
 

Vendetta

"Oscar the grouch"
Compton explains a lot, my friend. If you hadn't said Compton, I would have guessed The Rock or New Orleans. New Yorker gangs aren't mean enough.

Yeah. I mentioned it before....I think. Compton was bad in 80's and 90's. Some 5,000 people were killed in tend years. I believe that to be a close to accurate statistic. The rodney king riots called the streets down but afterward bloods and crips went at it.
 

Vendetta

"Oscar the grouch"
What I find sad is that in the Bay Area there are many Asian gangs who are ruthless and in most cases the parents of many members are still together, working hard, and caring for their home and kids. These kids have opportunity where some who are poor and only have one parent (who may never be home because of work) don't. And they squander it. And many of these kids can't fight worth ****, but put a gun in their hands and they think they can take on anyone.
What's even worse is that they rob their own kind because they know that many Asians don't like to bank and keep cash and gold at home.
I feel like I need to get out more and speak to some of them that their opportunity may not come again and that they can end up causing more issues for their own generations to follow.

The prominent stereotype among people is that all Asiana are smart and nerdy......Apparently they haven't met Triads, Asian Boyz (I was locked up with one-Asian Boys are Crips) etc. Asians kill with the best of them too.
 

Vendetta

"Oscar the grouch"
I was affilated with the Vicelords, but bangin aint real big in Detroit. It's more about what hood you from. I'm from Joy Road and Livernois Ave. Or more commonly known as Joy Rd. L.A, and in my hood it don't really matter if you're Blood, Crip, G.D, or Vicelord. The only thing that matters is where you from and even more so what type of person you are.

I have good friends that are G.D's and I have good friends that are Bloods. I don't really know no Crips though, it's not alot of them in Detroit.

Yeah I am only familiar with vicelords cause of the Omar Epps movie......I know Vicelords say "Ta-Dow" or something like that. Only Chicago gang that I am familiar with is Black P Stones. Out here they are bloods, in Chi-Town they're a black gang.
 

Vendetta

"Oscar the grouch"
The difference between Little Rock Gangs and New York gangs is a little strange. Not that they aren't nice in The Rock, but they seem nicer up here in The Big Apple. Yosi has already been asked to join the Latin Kings. No initiation needed.(Maybe it has to do with how you carry yourself :shrug:)

My daughter was more privy to what was going on in the gangs than I was. She was aware of when trouble was going to hit and knew when not to go to school. When New Orleans tried to take over she replied, "I ain't going to school just to come home in a box." The take-over never happened. Little Rock wouldn't allow it. She has since been diagnosed with PTSD because of what she went through. She tried going to school here and couldn't.

What is funny about us being from Little Rock, when the street kids tried messing with us, all we had to do was say we were from "The Rock", and they turned around and ran. When we asked the cops in Manhattan about curfews for Halloween(Little Rock has a 10pm curfew that night), they looked confused. They started to assume we were from Minnesota and tried warning us about the gangs. When we told them where we were from and we knew all about gang initiations, their reply was, "Oh then we don't have to tell you anything you don't already know."

Yeah Rakhel becareful saying that will draw rivals. I am sure you are far from that but just becareful. That would be like me in Snoop Dogg's hood (rollin 20 crip) and some kids messing with me and I tell them I am from Westside Piru 142nd Deuce line (the area I am from), I would scare people, but risk my house looking like swiss cheese
 

Rakhel

Well-Known Member
Yeah Rakhel becareful saying that will draw rivals. I am sure you are far from that but just becareful. That would be like me in Snoop Dogg's hood (rollin 20 crip) and some kids messing with me and I tell them I am from Westside Piru 142nd Deuce line (the area I am from), I would scare people, but risk my house looking like swiss cheese
It has only been brought up once and that was necessary at the time. Since then, when asked where we are from, we tell them, then the curiosity springs forth from them. "What brought you here?" "what part were you from" "That explains how you acclimated so well." "So that's why you ain't so scared." "Isn't that where Clinton is from?" "There are Jews in Arkansas?"(My favorite.)
If we were in Brownsville, you can bet we wouldn't be so bold. Not that we would walk around like scared little kittens-that's usually what gets people mugged around here, but neither would we be flying the Arkansas flag.
 

Twig pentagram

High Priest
Yeah I am only familiar with vicelords cause of the Omar Epps movie......I know Vicelords say "Ta-Dow" or something like that. Only Chicago gang that I am familiar with is Black P Stones. Out here they are bloods, in Chi-Town they're a black gang.
The Vicelords and Gangsta Disciples started in Chicago but somehow they stretched out to many cities just like the Bloods and Crips. My actual set was West Side Peoples and we was affilated with Vicelords through Five Star literature. It's a long story and if you don't understand the politics you probably wouldn't get it.
 
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