The gangs of Los Angeles and all hispanic gangs in California have generally been misrepresented. The barrios of EAST LOS were not intended for main stream marketing, and therefor will never truely be represented by the main stream media. It is obvious that portraying the barrio as it really is of no interest to society at large and therefor not profitable.
I, on the other hand, was raised in the barrio and have great respect for alot of the barrio culture. I will not in any way profit from telling the true story of the barrio, but may in fact be a threat to those who would like to paint the barrio like a godforsaken land, whose inhabitants are poor stupid foreigners who have no love for society. For privacy reasons I will not get into too many details about myself.
I was born in the republic of Guatemala in Central America. I, and my brother, was brought to the US when I was three years old by my mother, my father had already been living here for six months. We lived in Pasadena, Califonia for the first six months and in various parts of the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys from then on. I grew up in a culture wich was very harsh towards foreigners and always felt like I was second class. It was common for teachers to advise mothers to only speak in English so as to learn quicker. I am glad that my mother never took that advise and never let us forget our culture.
As an adolecent I was ashamed of my culture and of the present conditions under wich we lived. On top of that I was constantly getting picked on by Mexican kids who didn't like Central Americans in general. Then there was pressure from black kids who considered Hispanics a bunch of dirty wetbacks.
Meantime my brother, who was two years older than me, had joined and was very active in a gang or barrio. I saw that the gang really didnt help anybody and that it was a dead end, yet other kids my age had great admiration towards gangs and it was very glamorous. One day I decided I wanted to experience all the cool things my brother had told me about so I went with him to the neighborhood. The homeboys I met werent the ones I knew in junior high but an older more mature group. They were very good freinds and vowed that they would never let a homeboy down, and I myself felt that I was ready to prove my pride for LA RAZA. I was always interested in the history of my barrio and all the barrrios I heard of. The history of gangs in general fascinated me. My barrio was an old barrio and claimed its start in 1942. I followed my course through the gang for two years.
I never crossed the line and never got arrested. I lived through many things and never once got caught for a crime. The majority of the knowledge I posses on gangs is not my own however, I acquired it from my homeboys, other cholos, and even from enemys. I will be honest and say I never felt hate for an enemy and never felt the need to cause harm to any member of the raza. It is well known that alot of rivalries are caused by something stupid anyways. The thing that sucked me into gangs was the honor. My homeboys had alot of honor and many rules by wich to live by. These things are practically non-existent nowadays.
My homeboys were also extreme and impulsive. It was a normal thing to pull somebody right out of a car in the middle of an intersection during hevy traffic and beat them down in broad day light or right under a street lamp. The main thing in modern barrios is violence, dominance, and money.
For sensitivity and respect I will not focus on any prison organization. I will not take sides in rivalries between the NORTE, the SUR, or any other rivalries. It is my belief that the only way to represent the raza is through education, KNOWLEDGE ES PODER ESE. The day to day hustling on the corner slanging rocks, GTAs, jacking stereos, and strong arm robberies are mediocre. This world is run by money and you will never get that feria if you spend your time destroying the raza. All gangs do is bring down the people that are in them and their families.
By making this I am not trying to glorify gangs as a means of fame or respect. I am trying to inspire gangsters to learn and respect their barrios and other barrios and to let them see that we are all the same RAZA. Most gangsters on the street today dont know the first thing about their gangs history or their own razas history. Latin America is a beutiful place and our people are beutiful people. This gang thing is a disgrace to our whole race.
I myself learned many lessons in the gang that you can not learn anywhere else and that will help you greatly in this cold world. I also know for a fact that their is alot of talent and skills and potential in the barrios. Some of the most charismatic people I have ever met were in a barrio. Some of the best people in the entire armed forces are from barrios and there is no doubt that their skills as soldiers and at leadership were learned on these streets of the hard barrios. I know that if people that were members of gangs decided to stop banging and go to college the raza will be a strong force. I believe it is never to late to change or to get out, and I am glad I finally realized that.
I miraculously graduated from high school and went to a trade school. Presently I enjoy financial freedom and am able to provide for my family with dignity. I am also able to say that am a great contributor to this country and will greatly help this country in the future. This makes me and my whole family very proud and many of my homeboys who are now locked up for at least 15 years are also very proud. Now I only wish that the rest of the vatos would wisen up and realize that you have to work in this life if you want to survive. Slanging is guaranteed to get you locked up and then you aint gonna be no good to your barrio or yourself or anybody.
So please read the pages in my sight and enjoy. If you would like to contribute storys of your barrio it would be very much appreciated, and I will not censor anything on them. Only send me stories of your barrios history, not on all the enemys youve killed or all the girls you got pregneant. And girls dont send me stories about the ballers youve played. I want to inspire others to tell productive stories of their barrio, not insulting other barrios. Insulting other barrios only proves that your barrio fears them or is obssesed with them.example:"FUCK SCRAPAS 187UM. FUCK NORPUTOS PURO SUR." This glorifies your enemies and does nothing for your barrio. Only if it is a relatively objectionable story about why you dont get along with another gang will I print it. If your worried about the juras reading this, believe me they know more than any of us what gangs do.SO ENJOY AND VIVA LA RAZA.
