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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2002)
(Ehe JJortlanÒ (DbserUer____________________ Page A8 September 11,2002 From Gangs to Grace continued from Front Nicky wanted her party to be perfect. There were streamers, cakes, chicken and punch, blit N icky had a sinking feeling inside. Something was telling her the night would not go o ff as planned. As the evening wore on, rival gang members did start "talking.” Soon after, a fight broke out be tween Nicky's friend “Red Dog,” a Blood; and a member o f the Crips gang The Crip was asked to leave, but as he walked out the door he muttered, “This a in ’t over.” Moments later, a Jeep drove up and Red Dog strolled outside. Nicky told him not to go. Judgment impaired and temper flaring, he ig nored her. He approached the car and crack, crack, crack, gunshots blasted from a passenger seat shooter. Red Dog took o ff running and Nicky quickly lost sight ofhim as he disappeared between houses. By the way he sprinted away, she assumed he evaded the gunfire. Regardless, the sight made her sick to her stomach. When she got back inside, she realized no one had heard the gun shots over the thundering noise o f the music and dancing. All she said was, “party’s over.” Red Dog’s “homies” found him later that night and dragged him back to his house. They gave him to his father and asked if he would be okay. Red Dog’s father felt his pulse. “My boy is dead,” he sadly said. Upon hearing o f her close friend’s death, Nicky was con fused, saddened, and enraged. She didn ’ t know what to do with the emotions racing through her. At that time in her life she seldom did. Instead o f speaking to her aunt, her grandma, a counselor, anyone, she held in all her emo tions inside. Nicky then decided what she wanted most o f all was revenge. N icky wanted to become a Blood. That night marked the begin ning o f her gang life. A stretch of violence, incarceration, and unbe lievable pain that would last al most 10 years. Always in trouble with the law, and always looking for trouble, Nicky took her anger out on any one that got in her way. Life was not pretty, but there she was with her "hom ies" w ho she called friends, “slinging” dope on street comers, and steeped in a war that never, ever seemed to have any winners. The emotional scarring ran deep and thick. She saw 24 ofher friends die by the bullet. She has family incarcerated. She has been shot twice and jailed three times. That last jail sentence landed her in solitary confinement for two weeks. For the first time in a long time, Nicky was totally alone. She turned inward. The pain was be coming to much to bear. At last, the violence had to stop. There had to beachange. Butthis time it w asn’t about changing something else or someone else. N icky had to change herself. Luckily for her when she de cided to get out o f the gang life, she had the support o f family members and friends that had really been there all along, though she chose to ignore them. She had her grandma, “ Ma”, who through everything, never turned her back on Nicky. She had her Aunt Jovita who she could call any time, “just for someone to talk to.” Her grandma and “Jojeya” as she called her aunt, never judged her and were always supportive. It w asn’t easy at first, but Nicky knew she could escape the lifestyle that had claimed the lives o f so many friends. Her head was fullofdreams. She was thinking positive. She felt more pow erful than ever. Now she wanted to help people like herself. She wanted to reach out to kids in gangs and their parents. She wanted to reach out to those kids just thinking about getting into gangs. She wanted to tell them, show them, what it was really like, on the inside. Shortly after her release from prison, Nicky quickly outlined an idea for a book, a work book that would tell her story and offer posi tiv e a lte rn a tiv e s to the gang Lee Woodrow Jackson » I “Ask Nicky: A Young Person's Workbook for Building Dreams, " was written by Nicole “Nicky Taylor o f Portland, a woman who escaped a life in a gang. " Its not hard to get out. You just got to separate yourself and stay positive, that’s all. -N icole “Nicky” Taylor, author of book about destructive gang life. lifestyle. Two years later, she would com plete and publish “Ask Nicky, A Young Persons Guide to Building Dreams.” Offered in both Student and Teacher/Parent editions, the book now sells at Powells Book stores, Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com. forabout$15. N icky’s personal insight into the destructive life o f a gang mem ber makes her perfect for the job. Van Crashes While Eluding Police Police have arrested a suspect in a domestic assault who is accused o f fleeing the scene o f an injury accident at Northeast 102nd A venue and Gilsan. Police said the Sept. 4 arrest fol lowed a reported assault o f a female a few blocks away. As officers approached the sus- » pect, later identified as 34-year-old Lee W oodrow Jackson, he’s accused o f backing the van toward the officers and striking a police car. The van then fled the area at a high rate o f speed. Police said they later discovered that Jackson’s vehicle had collided with a Honda occupied by three adults. When You've Got Family Behind You, You're Never AloneJ I Her stories offer insight and ques tions after each chapter that force readers to think about the choices she made and the choices they must make growing up around gangs, drugs, and violence. Nicky's advice is concrete and undisguised. Her prose is personal, honest and open. The stories are often tragic, but always eye open ing. Nicky has since done presenta tions at a handful o f local schools, and spent months working as a valued employee at the Juvenile Detention Hall where her book is used as a learning and study tool. Nicky says the kids at schools are responsive to her message, “they listen, especially from someone who has been there and done that.” N ic k y sa y s a lo t o f “gangbangers” want out, but think they can’t do it. “Its not hard to get out,” she said, “you just got to separate yourself and stay positive, that’s all.” N icky hopes her book will reach those at risk kids and their parents, “ If we can get the parents we can get the kids.” She would love to see the book in Portland’s classrooms. In fact, she would love to see it picked up by schools everywhere. “1 don’t think there is another book like it out there,” she said. Her mother, Enola is very proud. She wants to organize a discus sion panel with other parents to . discus issues raised in N icky’s book. “A lot o f parents don’t know what to do,” she said, “its time for peace, they’re dying so young.” Nicky now has her sights set on a new goal. She wants to make a movie about her life in Portland s gangs. She has already written the screenplay called “no more tears.” “Its gonna touch everybody’s heart,” she said. Her intention is to reach even more youth than she already has. “I think I’m here for a reason.” N icky wi 11 be available for a book signing on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 12 and 13 at Reflections, just o ff Martin Luther King Jr. Boule vard at Killingsworth, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. both days. Parents are encouraged to attend. She has also shared her inspirational story with radio station talk shows and has been featured on TV news. Witnesses Dispute Shooting Accounts continued excess force,” he said. 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