The Gangs of New Eces (Nueces). This page is just a tribute to all my beloved brothers and friends back in Austin. When I was there for four years, I lived almost three years in Nueces Street, right next to the Downtown Mosque. These three years I can say are one of the most meaningful times of my life. I got to meet a lot of great scholars of Islam, and the best of friends there are. I learned a lot from these people. Each one of them makes me a better person since I always get something that is good about them to admire and follow.
One of the most great things about us is we are from different parts of the world. Our mother tongue is different, our background is different, so as our foods, our views on certain things, our colors etc. It is only one thing that bonds us; that is the kalimah “There is no God but Allah, And Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”. Only this powerful sentence that keeping us together as brothers and friends. But our bonds are very strong and tight because of it. Most of us are around 18 to 30 years old. Our family is far away from us. We have only each other when problems arise, especially after September 11.
Anyway, we did a lot of activities together. With the guidance from Sheikh Khalid Syed (Sudan), Sheikh Muhammad (Egypt) and Sheikh Abdul Rahman Saafan (Egypt), our Islamic knowledge was increasing each day. That’s something that I really miss nowadays.
Basically, the Gangs of New Eces is consisting of two gangs: the East Side and West Side. Nothin’ serious folks! We just made up these gangs to make things cooler. There are no shootin’ or conflicts whatsoever. Just pure comedy. Even the name East and West are not logical at all. Nueces St is located in the West of UT campus. It should be North side and South side, but since East side and West side sound cooler, we picked it up. The East side resides in the northern part of MLK Boulevard, while the West side is south of it. Anyway, below is the tribute to all my brothers, friends and neighbors in Nueces Street.
The West Side Gang
The East Side Gang
Neutral