lune 15, 2011
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Page 17
Hell in the City r ' "W , A V ^ iF
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m ents
ents’ thin resources spread thin-
thin­
ner.
c o n t i n u e d f r o m fro n t
Involved in all levels o f street
crim e; drug sales, robbery, rape,
assaults, theft, burglary, vandalism ,
graffiti and hom icide, police id en ­
tify gangsters by self-adm ission and
associations, clothing colors; red,
blue, orange, etc., tattoos, hand-
signs, and crim es com m itted.
Unlike past generations o f gang­
sters, today’s acts o f violence are
less about protection o f tu rf and
w earing opposing colors.
These days, young kids release
bullets instead o f punches, shoot in
broad daylight, and end lives to end
fights that m ay start as m inor dis­
agreem ents or m isunderstandings
betw een friends.
"B ack then, it was about turf and
drugs. Right now it’s about a gun
w ar,” said form er W oodlaw n Park
gang m em ber and outspoken com ­
m unity advocate, N icky Taylor.
Unlike gangs in largercities where
territory is a m ain concern, Portland
area gangsters show them selves to
be fluid and m ore transient in nature.
They m ove all over the city, in private
cars, on public transit and with friends,
expanding their battlefield to parks,
m alls, churches, residencies and fu­
nerals from St. Johns in north Port­
land to 162nd and D ivision in south­
east Portland.
M obility o f gangs m ake it difficult
for police to track, and with a greater
geography to cover, gang enforce­
G ang-related shootings are often
tricky to solve and few arrests are
m ade due to the pervasive culture o f
silence surrounding the gang com ­
munity.
"There are individuals who know
w ho the perpetrators are,” said A fri­
can-A m erican com m unity activist
Rev. Roy Tate o f Christ M emorial
C hurch, "They need to step forward
and point them out.”
G a n g s a ch ie v e n e ig h b o rh o o d
tak eo v er w hen they instill fear into
people not talking to the police,
effectiv ely keeping w itnesses, fam ­
ily m em bers, and friends o f victim s
and suspects silent, and cases u n ­
solved.
“As long as people rem ain silent,
this is going to continue to go on,”
said Tate.
Police can make it difficult for gangs
to operate by patrolling hot spots
and locking up crim inals, but the real
battle in breaking the cycle o f vio­
lence is up to the com m unity, on the
hom e front.
“W e c a n ’t arrest our way out o f
this problem ,” said Sim pson o f the
Portland Police.
As sum m er approaches, co m m u ­
nity m em bers fear the violence will
escalate, “T he sun is going to com e
out and bullets are going to start
fly in g ,” said T aylor. “T hese kids
don ’ t have anything to do, so they ’ re
driving around looking for trouble.”
Peaceful Future
c o n tin u e d
fr o m fr o n t
spent six m onths in ja il, and has
attended 40 funerals in her lifetim e
and throughout h er involvem en t
w ith gangs.
T oday, T ay lo r has turned her life
around. She w rote a book, “ A sk
N ic k y . . . A Y oung P e rso n ’s W o rk ­
book for B uilding D ream s,” to help
young people learn the truth about
gang life and offer alternatives.
Like m any parents o f the com m u ­
nity, tired o f burying friends and
fam ily as a result o f gang violence,
T ay lo r w ants to call a truce am ong
all sides and colors and tell kids to
put the guns dow n.
C o n cern ed for the safety and
future o f a young generation su s­
ceptible to gang recruitm ent and
violence, T a y lo r asks parents and
the co m m unity to bring their c h il­
dren to a rally for peace on Saturday,
June 18.
T he “F am ily T ruce G B A (G uilty
by A ssociation)” event w ill take
place from 2 p.m . to 5 p.m . at Irving
Park where com m unity members will
gath er and h ear speakers.
“It’s going to take the entire c o m ­
m unity to break this cycle o f v io ­
lence,” said com m unity activist Rev.
Roy Tate o f Christ M em orial Church.
R oy says too m any m em bers o f
the y o u n g er generation involved in
gangs ha ve no fear o f death or don ’ t
feel like they have anything to live
for.
“T hey d o n ’t think about living
for the future, getting a jo b , saving
forretirem entorraising families, Tate
said, "T h ey are ju s t thinking about
today - they d o n ’t care about to ­
m orrow .”
G row ing up under the influence
o f gangs, T ay lo r says, she and o th ­
ers d id n ’t have anybody that could
tell them th e y ’ve ‘been there done
th a t,’ and persuade them from turn­
ing aw ay from gangs and tow ards a
m ore positive atm osphere.
“If we w ant to see change, the
y o u n g er generations need help in
realizing that th eir lives are valu­
ab le,” said Tate. N ow is the op p o r­
tunity for ev ery b o d y to speak up
and show y o u r presence that vio­
lence is not the key.
C om m unity leaders involved in
o rganizing the F am ily T ruce rally
are invited to attend a m eeting on
W ednesday, June 15 at 11 a.m . at
R eflections C offee House, 446 N. E.
K illingsw orth St., to form ulate plans
fo r the gathering and decide future
plans fo r action.
For questions o r m ore inform a­
tio n e - m a il N ic k y T a y lo r at
tay lom icolew 2 @ gm ail .com.
L m T /
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