Street roots., May 27, 2016, Page 5, Image 5

Street Roots • May 27-June 2, 2016
UNIFY, from page 4
brother, who had looked up to him and eagerly
followed in his footsteps, was murdered in a
gang shooting.
That’s the dynamic he’s trying to combat,
he said. The kids most at risk are the ones
who are looking up to older siblings and
cousins who are involved with gangs.
Now, rather than serving as that negative
role model, he wants to be a positive influence
in their lives.
“It’s a crisis going on out here,” said Gary
Wiggins, another member of Unify Portland.
“And I say ‘crisis’ with an emphasis on it.”
Wiggins was a Blood by the time he was 12
years old and later spent a decade in prison as
a result of the lifestyle.
Now he’s drawing on his experiences to
connect with and teach kids who might be on
the same path.
“When you come from it, when you can
identify, you can reach out and touch them
better,” he said.
That’s what sets Unify Portland apart. It
isn’t affiliated with the Police Bureau or a
branch of government. Its members are all
volunteers.
And they have an unorthodox approach:
actively engaging with youths wherever they
go. That means that if they run into a group of
kids or young adults at the supermarket, at
the park, or wherever it might be, they reach
out. And they keep reaching out until a
relationship is established. It might be as
simple as complimenting a new pair of shoes
or challenging a group of teenagers to a game
of basketball or even a race - any way that
they find to engage.
“I have kids, I didn’t get them the first time,
the second time, the third time, but by the
time I was seeing them that fourth time, they
was coming to me, because I never gave up,”
said Demarcus Preston, a former Blood better
known as “Chicken.”
“You can’t be fake about this,” he said. “It
takes all your time; it’s something you have to
dedicate to. When my phone rings at 2 or 3 in
the morning, it’s either my kids or somebody
that needs my help. I’m going to answer that
call.”
It was that involvement that Demetrius, 33,
credits with keeping him from getting killed or
News
going to prison.
Demetrius was heavily involved in gangs. In
the span of a single year, he lost three friends
to gang violence.
As part of a large extended family, he’d also
lost five cousins who belonged to different
gangs across the city.
By the time Williams walked into his life,
Demetrius was in his 30s and packing a gun
everywhere he went. Even a short trip to the
corner store didn’t feel safe without being
armed, he said.
He didn’t see a way out of the lifestyle.
Williams was his neighbor in the same
building, and one day when they ran into each
other, Williams reached o u t
While Demetrius admits he was initially
standoffish toward Williams, he said they
started talking and quickly found common
ground and became friends.
He said Williams helped him realize that the
gang lifestyle was a choice and that there were
other options.
“He’s always talking positively, so from the
first day that I met him, he’s always been
telling me, ‘You need to switch your life up.
You’ve got more potential,’” Demetrius said.
Williams told Demetrius about his friends
who were former gang members. He said he
knew people who had made mistakes in the
past that still haunt their consciences.
“That really hit me,” Demetrius said.
It wasn’t too long before another deadly
gang shooting hit close to home, and
Demetrius decided he was done.
Williams sat with him through meetings
with his probation officer, advocating for his
ability to leave tow n. A fter h irin g an attorney,
he was allowed to move out of state. He said
he hasn’t touched a gun since he le ft He said
if he had stayed, he wouldn’t have been able to
escape the violence.
Now he’s focused on school, and for the
first time he’s thinking about his future.
(Demetrius asked that Street Roots not use
his real name or disclose his location.)
Members of Unify Portland said Portland
needs a program with enough funding and
expediency to relocate gang members when
they want to get o u t In many cases, it can be
a matter of life and death.
But leaving town isn’t always necessary.
They often explain to younger gang members
Page 5
Community kiekball game
to promote gang prevention
nify Portland’s prevention and awareness team, or PAT,
works to foster posilrn thinking and productive activities
befoie kids stait glamorizing
gang'..
Through PAT, Unify Portland
What: Unify Portlands
will host ns first community
Im m u n ity kiekball
fjckbcill game at noon June 5 at
Kenton Park in North Portland.
game.
The game is open to neryunc,
When: Noon to 5 p.m.
oigaiuzcrs said.
Sunday. June 5.
Anyone interested in joining
Where: Kenton Park.
Unity' Puitland’t. efforts or
8417 N Brandon Ave.
helping with the kiekball game is
encouraged to get in touch
Who: Everyone In the
through its Facebook page. www.
Portland community Is
Bcebook.com/unifypoi tlaud. or
invited.
its website, pdxumted.wix.com/
■nifypoi tland. said Nathaniel
■
IF YOU GO
j j Volunteers are needed, and Unify Portland is looking for a
donor io help with the cost of hats and shirts.
that they don’t have to get killed or beat up to
get out of the gang lifestyle. Sometimes it’s
just a matter of maturity and changes in their
behavior.
Unify Portland’s core has grown to seven
members, with allies all over the city and a
mission that Williams said is “spreading like
wildfire.” It runs on a budget equivalent to
“w h atev er w e hav e in o u r pockets,” W illiam s
said.
One of their main focuses is on prevention
- reaching out to kids before they get involved
with gangs. That includes showing kids that
they can aspire to careers outside of athletics
and entertainment by introducing them to
successful people of color in professional
settings.
He said he’s not just interested in unifying
the black community, but wants to bring all of
Portland’s communities together.
“It’s not us; it’s the mission. That name
‘Unify Portland.’ We want to bring back that
essence of community. And it’s happening.”
emily@streetroots. org