Last week the Chicago Crime Commission (CCC) came out with a new version of the “Gang Book” and in this book they break down most of the street organizations (gangs) in the city of Chicago and list who they think are leaders within each gang. To my surprise there are people in there that I know very well but what confused me to no end is why they are in the book. One of the guys has NEVER been to prison meaning that he has never been convicted of a crime so why is he in there? Someone else in the book hasn’t been to prison in over 17 years and has kept the same job for the last 5 years until he was fired last night for being in the “gang” book.
Does this sound right to you? Are you asking yourself if the guy that never went to prison was just simply never caught? How about the guy that hasn’t been in prison in over 17 years are you thinking that maybe he is slick and isn’t doing enough to get caught?
All of these are valid questions because you do not know these men that are all in their 40’s, so they are obvious questions. The problem would be if you answered yes to the last two questions or at least flirted with the possibility that the answers are most likely a yes. I say that because we have been conditioned to assume that once someone has been identified as a “gang” member then all that is negative they have done. There are many members of these street organizations that have never been to prison and most likely will never do so because they are not involved in any illegal activity what so ever…did you just ask yourself “then why would someone be a “gang” member?” it’s OK I know some of you did and that’s part of the conditioning that has gone on. We all have heard about cults and how they brain wash people into believing that the next time Saturn turns in a certain way a beam of light will take them there just as long as they drink the Kool-Aid! Well you might be the victim of a Kool-Aid party if you think that every “gang” member is a criminal or one waiting to happen.
I wrote before on this Blog about “gangs” in the 1820’s in NYC and I talked about why they came about and how similar it is to the “gangs” we see now. Most if not all of the older “gangs” in Chicago have their history embedded with the civil rights movement some participated in the movement and others were the indirect result of those movements. It was always about fighting for the community and defending the people from oppressive forces. There are many people still alive today that can speak on it a lot better than I about how non-Whites were treated back then and it wasn’t that long ago so let’s not champion anything yet…
Currently the Chicago Crime Commission has as part of their team Mr. Jody Weis former Superintendent of Police here in Chicago as well as a former FBI agent. Mr. Weis exited the position before former Mayor Richard Daley left office to look for other employment. One of the things that Mr. Weis did before he left was to meet with “gang leaders” on the West Side and basically warn them what would happen if they didn’t stop the violence. As far as I know no really leaders were involved it was mostly guys with some sort of rank and on parole so they kind of needed to be there as it was put to me by someone that was at the meeting. Mr. Weis left and the rank and file cheered his departure because Mr. Weis was disliked by the rank and file mostly because he didn’t come from the ranks and for having a Chicago Police officer indicted on a civil rights matter. The officer in question was caught on a hospital surveillance camera beating a man shackled to a wheelchair, the rank and file of the Chicago Police department felt that Mr. Weis should have looked the other way. Do you feel unease by that? I hope you do because it says a lot about the culture within the Chicago Police department. I know some Police officers and they usually tell me that they are tired and complain about how they are treated and I always smile with curiosity inside my head because I hear the very same thing from my Brothers out on the street! What have we created in our society were the perceived criminal and the law enforcement are going through the exact same thing?!
Back to Mr. Weis…so now that he is with CCC he pushes out this updated version of a who’s who in each “gang” with false information and so far has cost the employment of an individual that at best is a relic of the past. What is it that Mr. Weis is trying to do here by placing pictures and names of individuals that are NOT a threat in this book? Is he spiking the Kool-Aid to give it a stronger kick? Was the information given to exchange for non-prosecution for an informant that is working with the FBI or other federal agencies? If the latter is true then the real harm here is that the informant is most likely causing MORE harm than good in the communities they are affecting. We have heard and seen many times before how someone basically gets away with actual violent crimes and never gets pinched only to find out that they were working as an informant the whole time, so what happens to his victims? Nothing they get a lesson learned in how at times law enforcement acts with the same logic as the criminals they say they are chasing.
I want to be clear that I am not damning all law enforcement as I would not damn all “gang” members simply because these two groups have been pitted against each other over the decades and the only one that can really save lives here and clear the mess is the educated society. We can NOT ask “gang” members to stop the violence when young men are being served a healthy dose of violence within their communities and know that law enforcement is aware of it but is unwilling to do anything about it as is at times the community.
How do we find Peace in all of that? It is difficult but it is achievable.
Please visit my website www.walkingtopeace.com read about my project that will take this conversation across the country in 2012. I also ask for your kind donation to this project there’s a donation button on the top right side of this Blog as well a link on www.walkingtopeace.com
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
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