Gangs aren’t going away anytime soon

1. Gangs aren’t going away anytime soon no matter what we do so what do we do?

2. By 2020 half of all the world’s people will live in poverty

3. Mega-Cities

4. The Retreat of the State Lagos today is a city of more than 10 mullion.

5. urbanization + poverty + youth + slums + discrimination = gangs.

6. Most Gangs are Wild Peer Groups

7. Maras in San Salvador

8. What happens to child soldiers when the civil war ends?

9. Good community research finds many more adolescent girls in gangs than is admitted by law enforcemen. There is almost no research on adult roles for women in gangs.

10. Gangs are not only lower class, but most often have a strong ethnic, racial, or religious identity

11. Ulster Defense Force- Protestant militia or drug gang?

12. US, Iraqi Officials cite ‘gangs’ not Mahdi Army, as enemy “the distinction between the Mahdi Army and “special groups” isn’t always so clear.” James Warden, Stars & Stripes, April 14, 2008

13. Bakassi Boys: from a gang, to vigilantes, to state militia

14. Ethnic Militias and Gangs

15. Kano, Nigeria • Ayan daba (are) urban gangs who, through hunting and warrior • traditions, have historical links to anti-colonial Islamic religious • politics. These youths, highly skilled in the uses of weaponry • and magic, have ambiguous roles in Muslim communities, where • they have been employed by religious leaders to strong-arm • public opinion. Ayan daba are considered “revolutionaries” who • have Muslim ideologies and traditions…(they sometimes) dress • lavishly in a Muslim-style riga (dress), smoking a joint • reminiscent of Cheech (‘n Chong) slap a alamajiri (area youth) • to the ground for forgetting to say his prayers…

16. Kano, continued (They also) have adopted a style of dress they associate with “West Side niggers”, or Los Angeles–based rappers. In their sun glasses, chains, and baggy jeans, ayan daba show a broad interest in youth cultures around the world… ayan daba serve as the vanguard for local political and religious leaders, earning the major part of their income from politically motivated thuggery.

17. Gangs are one expression of Nihilism Cornell West nihilism is “the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness.”

18. Street Culture Wars Engaging the Culture of Nihilism

19. “Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is it ain't no hope for tha future…” We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup And even though you're fed up Huh, ya got to keep your head up Tupac: Keep ya head up

20. Build on History and Cultural Identity

21. The Heritage of the 1960s CVL Video of Ivory Dillard on today’s Legacy of the 1960s Vice Lords

22. Gangs are met with violence.

23. Should DDR apply to gangs?

24. Dimensions of My Work 1. Challenge Media Frames. Research not Stereotypes 2. Support programs that reach youth through learning their history and culture and opposing mysogyny and violence, while taking the side of non-violent rebellion. Emphasize technology. 3. Support the translation of youth’s resistance identities into social movements

25. Come on come on. I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself is life worth living should I blast myself? I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black. my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch. Cops give a damn about a negro. pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares. one less hungry mouth on the welfare“ …. That's just the way it is. Things'll never be the same. That's just the way it isaww yeah” Tupac: changes

26. For More: Visit http://gangresearch.net Read: A World of Gangs Thank You.