On Thursday, January 30th me and my group interviewed a man named Ronald “Cook” Barrett. Cook works in a gang prevention program to ensure teens born into poverty do not engage in this gang lifestyle. He has worked in this field for over 30 years and he is a certified gang specialist who has also…
Me and my group watched a documentary on Tuesday about gang violence in New York and how a group called the Guardian Angels found a way to combat it. I learned about a group called the Guardian Angels. The Guardian Angels were a group that patrolled the streets in NYC. These Guardian Angels were led…
The MCNY was not super beneficial to our group. However, it made us aware of a group called “Young Lords” who were a group similar to the Black Panthers. The Young Lords who began a gang but transformed into a Puerto Rican activist group. However, the MCNY did teach me more about how to be…
On Wednesday, January 8th my group interviewed Professor Alex Vitale. Professor Vitale works at Brooklyn College and coordinates the Policing and Social Justice Project. We learned that Mr. Vitale’s project works with community-based organizations that address violence problems in high-crime communities. He has spent 30 years in this field. We talked about how he works with gang-involved people to mediate gang disputes. Alex would travel around the country to speak with people in that area about what they do to mitigate Gang Violence.
He told us that there are several meanings to gangs. He said gangs could range from friend groups that go everywhere together vs. 4-5 people that sell drugs and firearms or do illegal operations. Professor Vitale told us that people join gangs for several reasons. They join because of employment, protection, and entertainment. That mutual protection is very valuable to some people so that is a big reason young adults join gangs. He also mentioned that Gangs stay relevant because of these ideas.
We asked Professor Vitale more in-depth questions. One of the questions we asked him was about gang violence’s supply of drugs and firearms. He simply tells us that Gang turf is usually in places where guns and drugs are very easily accessible. That is why Gangs have these supplies. He also tells us that even though Texas is an easier place to get guns than New York, guns are still available easily in any high-violence area. Typically leaving gangs is easier than portrayed in the media. Some people just grow out of gang life. But it’s hard for gang members to leave gangs because they struggle to get a job and they cannot financially support themselves. However, on the West Coast, people struggle to leave gangs because they are “betraying the gangs”.
At the end of the interview, he told us we could get involved by contacting some youth organization that he would send us. He also tells us that Gangs are portrayed way differently than in movies and overall he taught us a lot of facts.
