From the UK a insightful story about having a gang member in your family:
guardian.co.uk My son, the gang member
guardian.co.uk – UK
Suzella Palmer and her son Zane: both trying to understand the roots of gang crime and violence. Photograph: Graham Turner Unlike most parents, …
See all stories on this topic
THE ‘NO SNITCH’ SOLUTION? DON’T CALL ME BROTHER! BY MIKE RAMEY
Tip From The Old School: Should Your Child Be Arrested, DO NOT ONLY
Rely Upon A Public Defender. FIND The Money And PAY For A Private
Attorney With Experience In Juvenile Justice Issues. DO NOT Play Your
Child’s Rights ‘Cheap’!
Many of those who work in,
or have worked in law enforcement, the courts, or the prisons ALWAYS
get a good laugh when the subject of the infamous ‘No Snitch’ code
comes up. It does not exist…except in someone’s imagination.
Since I have worked as a probation officer in a juvenile court with
male and female teen offenders from truants to armed robbers, let me
share some truths.
*Point One: The ‘No Snitch’ Code is a L.I.E.
*Point Two: He/She who gets to the police, and/or the prosecutor/district attorney FIRST, OFTEN gets the BEST DEAL!
*Point
Three: If I needed information on a particular case which involved a
threat to a juvenile, or the general public welfare, I found more than
enough ‘birds’ who were willing to sing their little heads OFF!
Sure.
I had received more than my share of threats–from teens and their
parents–especially when it came to ‘putting a teen away’ for some time
in a state facility. However, when the lawyers, my clients, their
family members and the judge were all seated before the bench in either
a violation, commitment or services hearing, no one could ‘plead’
ignorance. The rules were spelled out well in advance.
There IS no honor…among thieves.
THE NO SNITCH CODE IS NOT NEW–ONLY REPACKAGED:
The
current version of the ‘No Snitch’ code has two very successful ‘street
and Internet bootlegs’ floating around. Newspaper articles, and
television talking heads have been treating this as if it is something
‘new’.
The DLS? It’s as old as the gangsters of the prohibition era.
Remember how they were ‘turned out’? Eventually, the public got tired
of the Capone Mob, Murder Inc., and the Commission. Over the course of
time, corrupt cops, elected officials and appointed lackeys were swept
out of office simply because a few brave souls INSIDE of these
organizations ‘spilled their guts’ to law enforcement. They ‘got tired’
of the carnage, the dirty deals, and the poisoned politics that made
sure the criminal got off free while the victim was six feet under, and
their families were destroyed.
Fear was overcome and justice won out.
You see, fear is only an effective weapon when folk are truly scared.
Eventually, those who are fearful–over the course of time–get a
bellyful and decide that it was better to stand on their feet rather
than crawl on their knees.
The ‘color’ of the man or
woman who is making you fearful is truly a nasty slice of life when it
is of your OWN race. To counter this, a saying: “When one gets sick and
tired of being sick and tired, then–and ONLY then–will action be
taken to correct the problem.” With fear successfully tossed over the
side, the old gangsters were eventually outgunned by the truth, and the
constitutional amendment that started prohibition was also repealed.
Fast forward some 50 years.
A
new wave of gangsters in the form of Modern Street Gangs are in the
terror business. This time, they use the media, a pushed materialism
agenda, and the manipulation of the truth of the criminal justice
system to encourage teens and pre-teens to ‘roll the dice’ on a life of
crime. These new ‘fearmongers’ dress well and talk slick in order to
line their own pockets. They also use the subtle art of intimidation
against their OWN race in order to impress someone higher up in the
crime or entertainment business.
They don’t impress nor intimidate yours truly.
Why?
Right
is right, and wrong is wrong. The truth WILL hunt down a LIE and blow
it out the sky, whether those involved are living in a shack, or a
mansion.
PARENTS–WAR NEEDED TO BE DECLARED ON THUGS:
A
few years ago, I was standing in a parking lot after midnight trying to
console the mother of a teen that I knew. He and a questionable friend
were out riding around in the family car. One teen got locked up for
mouthing off to the cops, and the other was set free. Guess who got to
tell ‘his’ story to the mother? Right. ‘Mr. Questionable’. Not only was
he set free, but he tried to turn the jail experience into something
‘needed’ for the mother of the teen that was locked up to understand.
“Oh…well he stood up to the cops. You just have to let him go on his
way, ‘cause he needs room to grow…”. And so on, and so forth. It didn’t
strike me until later that ‘Mr. Questionable’ was walking around free
to give the explanation while the other teen was in a jailed location.
Why mother permitted her son to hang around with ‘Mr. Questionable’ is
beyond me, but her son learned a valuable lesson that night. Whether or
not that would be a life lesson learned is anyone’s guess. Their truly
is NO honor among thieves.
I have read several dozen
arrest reports over the years describing how one or two teens who had
no business involved in a discussion between the police and a
friend–or a family member–and figured that they had to ‘jump bad’
with the police. The ‘funny’ of the police report was that the person
whom they were questioning was eventually let go; but the person who
decided that they wanted to be a street corner lawyer was locked up.
A GREAT COUNTERPOINT:
In wrapping
up our time together this month, permit me to remind parents and
teens–again–that the ‘No Snitch’ Code is a LIE that needs to be
EXPOSED regardless of how many DVD’s are made, marketed, and released!
It CAN NOT be stated any better, or simpler.
Manipulation
by intimidation only leads to DESTRUCTION! Everyone loses when crime is
allowed to continue unchecked, and criminals are allowed to prosper at
the expense of our race, or the general public.
I
have a solution for those who ‘support’ the ‘No Snitch’ Code. It is
based in biblical record, and simple truth. In fact, a few might
consider this a cruel tactic but it might wake up many of the thuggs
and accomplices in the gang scene. But, let me set this up.
A
few years ago, there was a song that was released entitled: “Don’t Call
Me Brother!” The summation of the song: Those in our community who
ACTIVELY abuse, neglect, hurt, or maim a member of their own race have
NO right to attempt to relate themselves to that race, or claim that
racial identification. Now, I can ‘see’ a few folk reading this column
who remember the song, and are nodding in their minds as to that
solution. The biblical solution to those who like to build their resume
on the backs of their race is to ‘shun’ such people who delight in
doing wrong–even IF they are active in the local church. In spite of
their being told about the right way multiple times, these TRAITORS
refuse to listen. Thus, they need to be ‘turned over’ to the streets
they love so well until they ‘wise up’ and want to come back and be
upright people.
The ‘No Snitch’ crowd still live in
some of our homes, eat our food, and are having their ways and bills
paid by our generosity in some cases. Perhaps, IF their actions had
consequences, they would become upright citizens like the rest of the
community.
It’s time the ‘No Snitch’ crowd discover the pain of being ostracized.
Just tell them: “Don’t Call Me Brother”…and MEAN it! Then…call the police!
And…if any of you ‘No Snitchers’ want to ‘whine‘ about my words? You have my email address. See the rest of you next month!
MIKE RAMEY is a Street Gang Specialist, consultant, trainer and Lead
Instructor of THE GANG LINE, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. This
column appears on fine websites around the world. If you have
questions, comments, or would like to have him speak at your school,
church or facility; OR train your group, ministry or agency on how to
spot/stop gang activity, email RameysGangLine@yahoo.com ©2008 Mike Ramey/Barnstorm Communications International
This from the Seattle Times demonstrates that relationships and adult mentoring can go a long way in turning someone’s life around
Ex-member of Crips gang in Seattle credits an adult mentor with …
Seattle Times – United States
A 34-year-old former gang members credits a city of Seattle initiative that provided adult mentors, jobs and recreation for helping him break away from …
Yo, where we left off, Jesus an’ His posse, had (finally) decided to get a move on, to visit His fam, Martha an’ Mary, whose brother Lazarus had just died. When He arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus’ crib wuz at, His homie had already died, and had been dead four days. Four—count ‘em—days! By this time, Lazarus was waaaaaay pas bein’CPR revived, or bein’ shocked back into existence by those flat-iron-attached-to-a-jumper-cable-things, whatever they called. Yo, Jesus’ bwoy wuz stone-cold dead. Rigor mortis had long set in, an’ Lazarus’ corpse wuz prolly already startin’ to decay. “Ashes to ashes” an’ “dust to dust,” word up.
Also, word of Lazarus’ death had gotten around his hood an beyond, and soon a whole mess of peeps came on tha scene frum nearby Jerusalem to comfort and mourn wit Martha and Mary, or as tha Bible puts it: “…to console them in their loss of their brother.” Now, we don’t know a whole heck of a lot about Lazarus. But, because a madd crowd of peeps had now descended upon his crib to express their sympathy, I s’pec Lazarus prolly had some sort of leadership role in his hood, prolly like headin’ up the Bethany Chamber of Commerce or the Bethany-Jerusalem Synagogue League for Community Development, etc.
So, when word came dat Jesus had come to represent, Martha immediately went out to meet him. But, her sister Mary still sat in the house. Yo, itz ill temptin’ to read between tha lines here. We can get a peep at the character of Martha and Mary from another Gospel, written by a 1st C physican named Luke. In that narrative, Jesus iz chillin’ at Martha an’ Mary’s, cuz Martha had opened her home to him. Bein’ hospitable an’ entertaining guests wuz apparently real important to Martha, cuz she wuz madd bumpin’ food, drink, an’ all tha preparations to the point of distraction. Her sister Mary, however, played to a totally flipped script. While Martha wuz hoofin’ about doin’ her thang, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to tha Truth He wuz spittin’. There’z more to that story, an’ we’ll prolly take dat up in some future column. But, we know enuf to more or less conclude dat Martha wuz action or task-oriented an’ Mary wuz more relationship-oriented. Mary wuz a “people-person,” and prolly hung on Jesus’ erry word.
So, regardin’ Mary not goin’ out wit Martha to meet Jesus, I’m feelin’ dat in addition to the crowd at their crib, in addition to her own overwhelming grief, a deeper reason may be her feelin’ ill disappointment and betrayed trust. It prolly hit Mary hard an’deeply hurt her dat Jesus–her Jesus—didn’t come when she an’ Martha sent Him word dat Lazarus wuz sick and dying; Her Jesus wasn’t “there for her” when she ill needed Him to be. He didn’t do what she wanted, when she wanted–and needed–a miracle. And, as a result, her brother died. She lost her only brother. Mary seems pretty human, doesn’t she. A lot like…us…
I won’t front ya, fam. When bug stuff happens to me an’ thangs don’t turn out tha way I ill want them to, or the way I pray God will make them turn out (or mebbe even insist that God makes them turn out) I find mahself getting’ just weeeee bit vexed an’ peevish wit God. There are days when pages in mah journal are filled wit one long “Why Lord?!” I find mahself bringin’ beef to tha One who made me in His image, saved my sorry soul from eternal death, an’blessed me with the emotions–even tha capacity to bring beef at all. Yeah, I’m human, fam, human like Mary, human like Martha, an’ human like…Jesus…
What amazes me is that, despite my frequent (never ending?) complaining, God still unconditionally loves me. So far, no lighting bolt has ever come down an’ smoked me for bein’ “honest to God.” He “eats” my being peeved and vexed wit Him, wit infinitely more Grace than I will ever bump toward Him or others this side of Eternity. Yo, He’s “bigger” than that. He’s bigger than I am, fam. His shoulders are ill big enough for me to cry on. He is even Bigger than mah wackest drama, my worst fear, my most horrific nightmare…
So, when Martha meets up with Jesus, understandably, the first words out of her mouth have a little beef to ‘em: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Woah. What must have Jesus felt like when Martha spit those rivets? Yo, Jesus is God the Son, fam, but He is also the God-Man. Jesus is fully human. Martha’s words must have cut like a stiletto. He had come face-to-face wit the soul-crushing pain, the heartbreak, and the personal disaster, that his decision to hang “two more days” had caused to those he loved and that loved Him. Even though He knew what wuz up, I believe Jesus felt every ache of Martha’s pain. Jesus felt it completely and to a depth and intensity that would smoke any one of us. Jesus, ill hurt for Martha, fam. Out of a heart of infinite and unconditional compassion, Jesus did not shy away from sharing and embracing Martha’s searing inner pain. He reached out, stepped right to it, an’ met it head on.
Episode IV next week. I’m out. Peace
ONE
sun
John 3:30
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“Unidos”. Image kindly provided by Airbrushas.
Remembering: BVBY KKVPER, JR aka Largo v.S.F., Lawrence A.K.A
Squirrel, Kindred, ashley, jayshawn, lil bro bobby, Jayde, ROBERT,
MARINA, Caxtons .
Aiight, last episode left off with Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the
Christ–God in tha flesh–droppin’ Righteous spillage soundin’ like pew
talk, to poor Martha, a typical 1st Century A. D. Jewish lady, whose
brother Lazarus was desperately sick:
“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Now, we chose to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt on the
sincerity of this statement, because, well, it’s Jesus, after all,
whose speakin’. And, that’s a safe bet, because Jesus’ track record in
healing, even the desperately ill, was rock solid: fever victims,
paralytics, people blind and deaf, even lepers—who are still outcasts
in many countries today. So, if any kat could restore Lazarus to health
it was Jesus. So, the “…will not end in death…” part of his spillage to
Martha seems all good in its context.
Furthermore, the Bible narrative states that Jesus had a tyght relationship with this family:
“Lord, the one you love is sick.”
“Jesus loved Martha and her sister (Mary) and Lazarus.
Jesus’ love included genuine, tender affection for these people. But,
as events will show, His love went much further. It was a deep,
abiding, fully committed, unconditional concern to their total welfare
and well-being. Jesus’ love is no “I’ll love you and get ya back, if U
love me an’ get my back.” kinda love. Nah, the love that God loves with
is more like: “I feel you, I deeply care for you, and I will be there
for you, and ill get your back, and will get you through–regardless of
who you are, where you are at, and whether you respond to Me the same
way, or not.”
No doubt, considering the madd drama that life on this earth seems to
dish out–on a “regular and consistent basis”–lol it’s madd hard, at
times (many times?) to believe that God loves us or anyone at all,
especially in the manner that I just spit about. I accept and respect
that. And yeah, sometimes I feel it myself, when I read or hear about
some real wackness that peeps I love and ill care about are managing
and going through. For example: in addition to the real drama that many
of our G-Spot fam are postin’ on the boards about, this week I learned
that a close homie of mine, B-Wise–a Gospel rapper wit tha Sons of God
crew–is still suffering from severe back pain from an auto accident
last month. “B” has had MRI’s done, physical therapy, chiropractic
therapy–you name it, and still has no relief or full recovery. And,
peep this: he was driving to perform and to hold it down for Jesus wit
his bwoy Eric-E at a major Christian concert in NYC–when his car was
smacked by another vehicle! Yo, and just this morning, I learned that
another brother is undergoing his fifth serious back surgery since
Sept, and no one knows just how that’s going to turn out. So, it “never
ends.” Mah heart aches for these fam. It aches for mah blessed G-spot
fam who deal wit worse drama than that, almost on a daily basis, it
seems. An’ it becomes sooo easy for me to axe God, “Yo, Jesus!
What–is–UP–wit–that?!!”
But, despite “Reality’s” wackness, the other “unbelievable” Reality is
that Jesus’ heart aches and breaks for these fam. They are His fam,
too. He loves them just like He loves Mary, Martha, Lazarus…and me.
The face that God turns toward me when I look to Him with a ‘What’s up
wit…,” is the face He turned toward Martha and Martha when He heard
that his homie, Lazarus—who he loved—was sick. Jesus is the same Jesus,
yesterday, today and…forever.
Let’s go on.
So, Jesus gets wit his click of twelve disciples and spits to ‘em that it’s time to ryde an’ put in a little work:
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
Now what’s kinda funny is that Jesus’ homies “back in the day”– hit Him wit a “Whatz up wit…” jus like we do:
“Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
Yo, tha more things change the more they stay the same. Lol
But, Jesus’ was speaking metaphorically about tha real drama that
was goin’ down, the Realest drama of life…death. And, so He levels wit
His bwoys, an’ no frontin’ puts it:
“So, then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, (woah) and for
your sake I am glad (?!) I was not there, so that you may believe. But,
let us go to him.’”
Mang! When Jesus keeps it real, He keeps it Real. But, check it:
the disciples had no clue ‘bout what Jesus was up to. Can you imagine
how His statement: “I am glad I was not there…” must have sounded to
them? Glad that Lazarus was dead, and that He wasn’t there to heal
him?! “What is up wit…” lol Yo, I believe that the disciples were
trippin’, prolly so much, that they didn’t cop the rest of what Jesus
said: “…so that you may believe.”
Now, I don’t wanna get into all the ins and outs and ramifications of
Jesus’ verb “believe” in this jawn. That science has got to wait ‘til a
later episode. (Yeah, I’m stringin’ y’all along, I admit it. lol)
But, I gonna conclude wit a peep at what Jesus says after the word
“believe:” “But, let us go to him.” Yo, Lazarus was dead. Lazarus was
an inanimate cadaver, a corpse. But, Jesus uses the more human pronoun
“him.” Is He jus bein’ sentimental? Is this jus’ more “Jesus speak?” I
wonder…
Episode III next week. I’m out. Peace
ONE
sun
John 3:30
Well i’m from northern califas. Ever since i was little i was always pressured to join gangs. I had family that were surenos and others that were nortenos. Well they’d always dress me up in either red or blue. They’d say “don’t wear red, wear blue” or the opposite. well i liked surenos better than nortenos so i started kickin it with them and wearin all blue. i’d never be wearing red. at 11 years old i was already raggin da blue, gettin into fights just because someone called me a “scrap” and would be kickin it with da gang. Although i was never jumped in. I never really wanted to be.
I saw a LOT of homeboys and homegirls die in the hands of a revenge or enemy. I was always thinking “am i next?” although i’m not afraid to die. A couple of months ago, i moved to Southern califas. There i got jumped in. I was stupid. Especially because two weeks later i moved back to my home. I never told anybody i was jumped in. Although mah familia and friends knew down south. (when i say familia i mean my cuzins cause mah tias and tios would trip and would tell mah jefa) Finally a month ago, i told mah best homegirl that i was jumped in. She told me i was stupid. i know i was. (mah best homegirl don’t claim anything)
People might think being in a gang is da shit but believe me its not. Its stupid. Take it from me. A full surena. I’m tryin to do whatever i can to get away from all that. its not gonna be easy but i know i’ll be able to. Everyone thinks that if they are with a gang member, they are going to be protected. But who is going to protect them from the gang member? not all of them are all sweet and nice. I’ve had a few who’ve tried to rape me, some of them have tried to drug my drink, and some have actually put their hands on me. But whatevers ya know? That was what i always thought. But seriously. You may be thinking i’m older because of some of da shit i’ve been through. This is only a small portion of it. But i’m only 16 years old.
Preciosa
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Yo, Lazarus was dead. Dead as doornail. “Graveyard dead.” as my uncle, a Virginia mountain man, would spit it. And, God did nothing to stop it.
Everyone knew Lazarus was sick. All his friends and family did. Yo, his sisters, Mary and Martha, even sent word to God Himself (more specifically God-with-skin-on–Jesus of Nazareth, who is called Christ) that their brother was sick. Real sick. That’s right in the Bible, in the book of John, Chapter 11:
“The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick.”
Check it: “good friend.” Yo, I bet when Jesus got that message he hoofed to Lazarus’ crib faster than a New York minute! Not exactly. Peep dis:
“…he stayed where he was for two more days.”
Two more days? Lazarus is (desperately) sick, and Jesus–THE Jesus–the “Great Physician” plays slacker an’ hangs wit His dozen homeboys for two more days! What iz UP with that?! That is cold, fam.
Yo, and doesn’t that seem just like God sometimes (a lot of times…)? I mean, when we’re dealin’with drama–REAL drama–like the drama that fills our message boards daily—doesn’t it seem and feel like God is nowhere to be found? I mean NO WHERE. And, what’s worse, that He doesn’t give a rip? It’s as if He’s off on some celestial cruise, with ten billion “better” things to do than to care about peeps–yeah, even us who are created in His image–are ill goin’ through. And, if no one cares, they sure ain’t gonna lift a finger to help out, let alone give up the time of day.
So, understand then, that Mary and Martha’s (and Lazarus’) drama was real. It was as real to them as real as any drama we are facing and dealing with, right now. And, what’s more painful is that Lazarus’death didn’t have to happen. If Jesus had left when he got the message and came to his sick bed, he could have healed Lazarus, str8 up, like He had thousands of others (even lepers) before.. But, He didn’t. Something “preventable” wasn’t…prevented. Jesus lounged. Lazarus died. Woah
But, before we step to with God, and bring Him a herd of beef, let’s back up two days to when Jesus first got that word about Lazarus. Let’s get a little deeper into this 1st Century drama, which, even though it took place nearly two thousand years ago, is remarkably relevant today.
When Jesus got Mary and Martha’s message, He said something that to our 21st Century ears sounds like typical church-speak:
“This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified by it.”
Sickness for the “glory of God?” What is goin’ON? Yo, is poor Lazarus bein’ played like set of dominoes?! Mang! That is bug, fam.
And, it would be bug. It would be exploitative. Yeah, it would be even scandalous–if the speaker of those words were any other kat besides…Jesus.
So, now we come to one of the tyghtest, but often hardest, spiritual principles of Life to grab and hold on to: if Jesus says that something is, or uses something–anything–for the glory of God, no matter how wack it seems, and is, it’s His flag that He gonna flip the script, so that the end result will not only be good, not only be better than anyone expected, but it just might be beyond their wildest dreams…
Episode II next week. I’m out. Peace.
ONE
sundoulos John 3:30
As part of what we’re doing we’re going to focus on some gang ministries and those involved with them. Here’s our first: Dr Levon Davis
A little over 14 years ago, Dr. Levon Davis was surrounded by a very different set of circumstances. He was sitting in a prison cell at the California Youth Authority in Los Angeles, California. He had been given a life sentence and was waiting for extradition papers from Florida as he was confronted with drug trafficking charges and the death penalty. Dr. Davis had participated in a double homicide during a drug deal gone bad, and had arranged what was to be his most electrifying and heart stopping date with an electric chair.
“You don’t wake up and just say I’m going to kill somebody. Events have happened in your life, that has brought you into this mentality,” says Davis. “It takes a few friends dying to lose feeling. A couple times of that, and you have no feelings about taking another person’s life. You don’t feel sorry, and you have no remorse,” explained Davis. “Money became my god, and the sale of drugs became my life. This type of lifestyle led to all types of crime, sin, and every possible ungodly thing that you could think of. People think that drug dealing is a glamorous life, but they don’t see the background of it; the stress; the callousness; it has no value.”
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