Community leadership is:

1. Investigation – Knowing what the burning issues are, or the “community cry”, as I like to call it. This can be determined by surveys, focus groups and town hall meetings where the public is engaged to address local concerns that are directly affecting their quality of life.
2. Involvement – Community leadership need not be a “top down” structure. In fact, it is usually more effective when it is led by grassroots, or “bottom-up” leadership that comes from the unelected, un-bureaucratic strings that slow the process for taking action.
3. Investment – While it is true that something can be done about issues with little or no money, a lot more can be accomplished when those entities who control the community purse strings invest in the development of committees, strategic plans, and employees to implement the plans developed. This includes investors from both the public and private sectors of the community. The more private money the better, as, again, it usually does not come with all the strings that hinder and limit needed action.
4. Influence – Once the issues have been identified, plans have been discussed openly with any and all concerned and investors have been secured to hire employees to implement the plan, a campaign is needed to raise awareness, recruit volunteers and educate the constituents about the purpose, goals and objectives of the action plan to sustain it until the goals are achieved.

Using the above principles, my intention here is to raise awareness and focus the attention of community leadership on the local youth street gangs. The first principle of “Investigation” has been accomplished by many communities and does not need further elaboration here, except to say that those who decide to be involved with the gang issues should remain students, keeping up with all the changing data regarding gangs. As one writer put it, “if there is any constant in today’s gangs…it is their changing forms…”

Youth violence and street gangs continue to be a concern for many communities across the country. According to the National Gang Threat Assessment 2009, law enforcement now estimates there to be one million gang members in America! This is a substantial increase from the estimate of 760,000 in 2006. No one seems to be quite sure if the reason for the increase is because of an actual increase of youth joining gangs, more communities paying more attention to, or finally acknowledging their gang problem, or simply a faulty methodology for collecting accurate gang membership data. My guess is that it is some combination of all of the above.

For many communities, this “old problem” for others, is a new problem for them and they are searching for answers. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of answers to be found and it is more about learning what not to do, than what to do, that has been tried unsuccessfully by other communities. Most community’s first order of business has been to involve law enforcement. That is understandable given the crime associated with gangs. However, new gang communities should also learn that over time, law enforcement is not a solution to the gang problem, but only a normal and necessary reaction to the gang problem. In other words, if a crime is committed by any person or group of people, we expect law enforcement to react and do their work accordingly. But the problem does not end there, nor should it be expected to any more than chopping off weeds at the surface should be expected to end the problem of the weeds growing back. Nevertheless, many communities continue to go down this well trodden road of heavy suppression tactics to solve the gang problem.  While suppression can provide a temporary “quick fix”, that gives our “front lawn” a neat and orderly appearance for awhile, in due season, the weeds grow right back.

The Roots of the Issue

Gangs exist for a reason. Youth are drawn to this destructive lifestyle for a reason. We may not like, agree with, or accept their reasoning, but gangs continue to exist and grow regardless, and that alone should cause us to step back and think more deeply about this gang phenomenon that continues to allude a solution. This is why I use the metaphor of “weeds”, because, like gangs, we have never been able to solve the weed problem and have come to simply accept it as a fact of life, rather than a problem that can be solved. Yes, we can solve it better in some places than others. We can replace real grass with astro-turf and rid ourselves of having to deal with the problem. But that solution is artificial and comes at the expense of giving up enjoying the nature of the real deal. In any case, in the end, weeds exist, will continue to exist and in some places thrive, due to environments beyond our ability to control. Unfortunately, the same can be said about gangs. As the professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois, Chicago, author, and gang expert John Hagedorn says: “today’s gangs are not going away soon, no matter what we do.”

As I have studied, watched and been actively involved with the gang issue over the years, I suggest, that communities should view gangs, like weeds, as a fact of life, and not as a problem they can get rid of. I know that sounds pessimistic or maybe even cynical, but that is not my intention. My intention is to be realistic. Realistic about how feasible it is for communities to expect to put an end to the gang problem, when they can’t even solve its root causes:

1. Poverty – Statistics show that wherever there is poverty, there will be a high probability of gang spawning. The U.S. government declared a “war on poverty” decades ago, but we are not any closer to solving the problem of poverty. According to the United Nations, nearly one billion people live in slums, 12 million in the U.S. alone. And by 2020, the UN predicts that half of the world’s urban population will live in poverty.
2. Drugs – UN studies show that illegal drugs are a $400 billion global business equaling 8% of the global economy. And Professor Hagedorn tells us that, “In Chicago, like elsewhere in the United States, cocaine transformed gangs into economic enterprises”. Accordingly, drugs are a major motivator and a strong tool of recruitment for youth to join gangs and make quick cash.
3. Racism – Aside from the “normal” race issues our country has battled before and after the civil rights movement, racism has become a factor amongst the gang sub-culture, according to recent revelations from interviews and court documents with Mexican Mafia gang members and associates. Prison gangs are divided by race. Prison gangs continue to have influence over many local street gangs. According to the record, many seemingly “senseless” murders have been part of a Mexican Mafia ethnic cleansing initiative begun in the 1990’s.
4. Broken Families – The 50% divorce rate of married couples in America has been known for many years. In addition, we have also exposed many of the family secrets of abuse and neglect children suffer at the hands of their parents/guardians behind closed doors. Today, we are dealing with the attempt to re-define the nuclear family and the institution of marriage, which will certainly carry its own consequences (unintended or not). The bottom line is the effect all these things combined will have on the future health and happiness of our children and their children. By their own admission, an unhealthy home life is one of, if not the main reason, why youth join gangs in the first place.

Given the above root causes for creating gangs (and other negative lifestyles); I suggest being realistic is an important factor in determining community strategy. Approaching a problem to get rid of is a different mentality than approaching a fact of life. We all hope that the scourges of poverty, drug addiction, racism and dysfunctional families would disappear. Nevertheless, we have all had to learn to live with these things, and in many cases have been victims touched personally by one, two or all of the above.

Choosing Your Battlefield

By being realistic I do not mean to suggest giving in or giving up just because these facts of life are in our midst. Even Jesus said, “the poor you will always have with you”, but He did not mean to imply that we should do nothing about it, but simply to recognize it as something to acknowledge and deal with correctly, fairly, justly, reasonably. Thus, each community must do the same regarding gangs. It means that we shift our focus from the problems gangs create, to the problems that create gangs. We know what to do about the problems gangs create. That is the job of law enforcement. It is the root causes outlined above that communities often choose to neglect or acknowledge as battlefields that need more of our time, energy and resources.

I have no doubt your community has many fine leaders (perhaps you are one) and community organizations already in the trenches dealing with all of the root issues I mentioned and more. And if by chance you are not already involved, I pray this article has stirred something deep within you to cause you to consider joining the battle for the safety of your neighborhood or community with your family, friends and colleagues. Because the fact is, we are responsible for the quality of life in our community more so than the police or any other government agency.

My cousin recently wrote to me and said: “I’d like to ask, as an individual, what can I do?  In my small city 4 miles square, there are so many gangs.”

The answer to that question is which battlefield is most important to you? Which issue is closest to your heart? Which problem strikes a chord within and ignites your passion to get involved? Once you decide that, you can either take part in a community focus group or forum (Investigation).  Volunteer at a local nonprofit as a mentor or other place of service (Involvement). You might want to become an annual donor to one of the faith-based or nonprofits working in your particular areas of concern (investment). Finally, you might consider using your speaking or writing talents to attend city council meetings, or write a letter to the newspaper expressing your views and solutions. Believe me the words of voters do carry power with politicians! (Influence)

Now if you’re still not sure about what you can do, let me suggest the following: Community leadership starts in the home. This is why the role of parents and the influence we have on our children is so crucial to perpetuate and preserve any amount of safety we can expect in our neighborhoods. This is what I have chosen as my battlefield and I invite you to join me, along with many other “Parents on a Mission” (POM), as I call them, who are dedicated to their own personal growth in learning the required skills to raise happy, healthy children as the best gang prevention strategy any community can invest in. If you are not a parent, or a parent of small children, then you are the perfect candidate for enrolling in the POM leadership training. If you kids are already teens or older, this leadership training will still help you, as well as, help you to help others.

Join the leadership Movement for Gang Prevention

Finally, as with any community problem, leadership is the key. And, as mentioned earlier, leadership can come from anywhere and anyone in the community willing to invest their ideas, talent, and/or time and resources to ongoing efforts already in place. Or perhaps be part of initiating a new movement of creative solutions. However you decide to get involved, I can assure you that your leadership will make a difference and help improve your community and prevent more children from joining gangs than if you choose not to get involved at all.

If you are interested in learning more about “Parents on a Mission”, and joining me in our leadership movement for gang prevention, please visit: www.pomparents.com

Richard

The First Family is not in the White House, it’s in your House

 

As American citizens we have been raised with the concept that the “First Family” refers to the family of the President of the United States, which resides in Washington D.C. in what we refer to as the “White House”.  This is an important honor we give the presiding President and his family as we recognize their leadership, position of authority and convey respect for their family.  Thus, when I say, “the First Family is not in the White House, it’s in your house”, it is in no way intended to disrespect or take anything away from the honor of the office of our President.  Rather, it is an attempt on my part to use this well known metaphor to catch the attention of parents and drive home a message about the importance of their role in raising their kids as the best means of preventing them from joining gangs.

 

To illustrate the importance of the role of parents, I am reminded of a conversation I had one day as I was attending the birthday party of one of my church members’ children.  The Grandfather of the child was there and as we were sitting together, we had the following exchange:

 

“Richard, I want to ask you a question.  A lot of kids in this community listen to you and with all the problems we are having with gangs and violence and these kinds of kids, why don’t you get them all together and talk to them?”  I replied, “Well that would certainly be helpful and I have and will continue to do that.  But, I don’t think that is really the best way to handle this situation”.  He looked at me somewhat puzzled and said, “What do you mean?”  I replied, “Well, since you are a gardener by profession; let me put it to you in a way that I know you will understand.  If you walked by your neighbors garden and saw that the flowers were all wilted, dry and dying, who would you rather talk to, the flowers or the gardener?”  With that a smile broke out on his face and in Spanish he told me that I was right and had a made a good point that he really had not considered before.  I explained to him that our children were like the flowers in our garden and the parents were like the gardeners, and if we really wanted to make the best and most effective prevention impact, it would be the work done with “gardeners”, more than just the “flowers”.  Thus, the first hand experience I have gained throughout my 25 plus years of working with gang members and at-risk Latino youth & families has lead me to the conclusion that parent-child relationships are the key to prevention.  This may seem too simple and obvious, but as I continue to examine and study these problems and talk with those involved in gangs or considered “at-risk” for joining a gang, it usually comes right down to the parent-child relationship, or lack thereof, that is at the root of these problems.   

 

I realize this point of view puts a lot of pressure on parents and lays much of the carcass of blame at their feet, and although I do not believe the parents are always to blame for every child who goes astray, I do think that if we parents are willing to take part of the credit for the success of our children, we ought to be just as willing to accept part of the blame when our children fail.  This does not mean that the parent is a bad person, negligent, or abusive.  But what I have found is many parents have simply never really learned many of the things I discuss and teach in my book and gang prevention curriculum, Parents on a Mission.  Those who have learned these things and practice them, in most cases, have healthy relationships with their kids who are leading productive lives. 

 

All of us have the same needs to be accepted as we are, loved for who we are, and given attention, dignity, respect, and self-worth.  We all have a need for the emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual parts of our lives being nurtured and built up to their inherent potential.  I suggest it is this fundamental understanding that is often overlooked when looking for solutions for children and teens that are joining neighborhood street gangs.  Contrary to popular belief, kids want to respect their parents and live in a healthy, happy relationship with them.  But almost all of the gang members I have talked with did not have it and were really broken hearted about it.  It became the hole in their hearts that they have tried to fill with gangs, drugs, alcohol, sex and other negative stuff that just does not fill that hole, no matter how hard and long they have tried to fill it with these other things.  I would even go so far as to say that even “good” kids who are successful in sports, academics, or other socially acceptable things, yet don’t have a healthy, happy relationship with their parents, also have that same hole or emptiness of heart, and nothing, not even “success”, can fill it like the unconditional love and acceptance of a parent.  

Thus, as we continue to search for answers to a number of issues regarding youth that are being heavily influenced by gangs, I suggest that one of the most important messages we can support is encouraging parent leadership in the home. 

 

A number of years ago I was asked by a community group that was organizing a coalition to stop gang violence in South Santa Barbara County, to come and speak at a community forum on the causes of acts of violence by youth.  As we all know, the gang lifestyle, among other things, includes acts of violence.  In fact, the initiation for gang membership is an act of violence called getting “jumped in”, which is a short period of time (usually lasting a minute or two, or more in some cases) where a number of members of the gang beat up on the new member as a way of showing their toughness and desire to be a part of the gang.  That in itself is bad enough, but as we know, the violence does not stop there.  Thus, as I prepared for my talk, I began to think deeply and draw upon all the knowledge and insight I had gained from listening to so many gang members tell me their story and their reasons for doing the things they were doing..  What I eventually came up with to share that day, has become a foundational theme I speak on every chance I get in my desire to help families and communities address the root issues of gangs and youth violence.  The following is the thought I shared that day:  

 

“Acts of violence are caused by an angry heart and an angry heart is produced by unresolved injustices (real or perceived) that young people experienced as victims usually in their own homes.”

 

These “unresolved injustices” can range from sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse suffered from any number of family members in the privacy of the home.  My goal in writing to parents (and those who work with parents) is to inspire us to take a moment to look inside our own hearts and be honest about any injustices we may have been a part of, and then provide instruction on how to turn our hearts towards our children, and find the strength to deal with these unresolved issues that our children may have been carrying in their hearts for years.  I know this is not easy and can be very uncomfortable, but if we can find the courage or professional help to take this loving action, I know it will make a great difference in preventing kids from joining gangs, and/or successfully intervening to cause our kids already in a gang to quit and leave the gang more than any other single factor!  I know this to be true because I have done it with my own kids and so many other youth have told me it is true, over and over again in Juvenile Hall cells, prison cells, letters, school class rooms, counseling sessions, and various other public and private settings.   Thus, the single best thing any community can invest in to prevent kids from joining gangs is building up and empowering the parents in the community.

For more information: www.pomparents.com

 

Let there be no mistake about the problem and prevalence of gangs in our communities as serious business.  We acknowledge and appreciate the work law enforcement does on the criminal side of gang activity in local neighborhoods as many families have suffered tragic death after tragic senseless death.

Having said that, as we consider different and new approaches in dealing with this isuue, I suggest communities first recognize that individual gang members per say, are not the so called “enemy.” Quoting from the study Ganging Up on Communities, putting Gang Crime in Context (www.justicepolicy.org  – July 2005) “Fostering a national culture of fear concerning gangs only diverts our attention from the real problem and real solutions.” (pg. 10)

Every gang member is a human being first with the same human needs that we all have. I believe it is this fundamental approach that has allowed the success I have had in helping turn many of these young hearts away from the gang lifestyle. This is not to say we should ignore the wrong things they do, especially acts of violence and crime. However, there is a reason for violent behavior and when those reasons are effectively addressed and understood; human hearts change and the results are revolutionary. Thus, as we deal with the problem of violence and gangs we must be careful and re-think our strategies, priorities and methods of approach. 

No school, principal, teacher, policeman, or community member should view gang members as “the enemy.” This kind of perception causes a posture of offensiveness, defensiveness and pre-judgment that is keenly felt by a gang member at home, on the street or in a classroom. After all, contrary to popular opinion, not every gang member commits acts of violence or causes problems in the community. Troublemakers and those who act violently come from many different sectors and social classes of society and come in every size, shape, gender and race and I believe that our society is tired, very tired, of seeing a double standard of justice. Our generation has grown up watching too many seemingly social “V.I.P.’s”, who are guilty of one crime or another, but get off with the proverbial “hand slap.” Many are tired of the “excuses” and want to see justice. However, justice must be equally applied and that is not always easy to do when one side is seen as the “good guy” and the other as “the enemy.” It is easier to justify illegal, inappropriate, and antagonistic behavior when it is perceived as being done by “the good guys”. For example, consider the comment of one student gang member; “One teacher grabbed my by the hair and yelled at me…I pushed her and she fell on the floor and injured one of her fingers.  I was suspended for six months.”

In the above case, the teacher received no reprimand, the student dropped out of school. The point is not to blame the school or teacher for the decision of this gang member. That is his/her responsibility. But, the double standard of applying the rules, one set for students, and another set for teachers, police and other authority figures, is unfortunately all too common. I believe that part of the reason for this is our perception of “good guy” and “enemy”, and somehow this perception can sometimes distort equal justice and allow inappropriate behavior in order to “get the enemy”. Thus, in providing part of the solution to this problem of violence and gangs, one thing that should not be done is to make these young people our enemies. Our efforts should be focused on the real enemies which, in my opinion, are the things that tear at the root and destroy the foundation of our nation which is fast becoming and endangered species, and that is the American family.

With Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums at his side, Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled plans last month for a new, $48 million statewide anti-gang initiative. The proposed California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Program (CalGRIP) calls for a coordinated law enforcement strategy and harsher penalties for gang-affiliated offenders, along with funding for gang intervention and prevention programs.

The governor’s office says the initiative is unprecedented in its “comprehensive approach to the gang problem statewide.” “The state must coordinate the fight against gangs because when you crack down in one area, it pops up somewhere else,” the governor told his Oakland audience. And Mayor Dellums, whose city experienced an unsettling surge in violent crime last year, praised the governor for taking “this first and important step forward,” despite the “extraordinarily restricted budgets” within which the state is operating.

This public show of bipartisan support was a promising sign that some version of the CalGRIP approach may eventually come to fruition. That’s a good thing—as long as it remains truly “comprehensive,” and doesn’t lapse into the familiar pattern of bankrolling costly, ill-conceived gang suppression efforts while paying little more than lip service to prevention and intervention.

As legislators debate the merits of the governor’s plan, they would do well to heed the words of Connie Rice, whose recently-released Advancement Project report on Los Angeles gang policy capped an exhaustive study commissioned by the LA City Council.

“After a quarter century of a multi-billion-dollar war on gangs, there are six times as many gangs and at least double the number of gang members in the region,” Rice wrote.

“Law enforcement officials now agree that they cannot arrest their way out of the violence crisis and that their crime suppression efforts must be linked to competent prevention, intervention, and community-stabilizing investment strategies.”

 

The Advancement Project report argues persuasively for a fundamental shift in priorities, away from counterproductive suppression tactics and toward something more akin to a domestic Marshall Plan, which would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into far-ranging prevention and intervention efforts.

But with the state now facing an estimated $4 billion dollar budget shortfall, recommendations along those lines are bound to fall on deaf ears in Sacramento, regardless of how sensible they may be in principle. And so, most of the debate over CalGRIP has centered on questions of cost-effectiveness, with legislators wrangling over how much of the initiative’s $48 million price tag should go to fighting the increasingly expensive war on gangs (including money for newfangled weaponry like GPS tracking devices strapped to the ankles of paroled gang leaders) and how much should go to support prevention and intervention programs.

A trickier question involves the cost-effectiveness of those very programs. Which ones work and which ones don’t? For years, the bulk of public funding for gang prevention and intervention has been directed to big municipal projects that have delivered little in the way of lasting change—more summer jobs but no follow-up training for long-term employment, more money for parks and pools but no provision for maintaining services.

At the same time, dozens of dedicated grassroots groups around the state are tackling these tough challenges and producing positive results, despite meager funding and scant attention from either politicians or the media. Many of them work with volunteer staff, on shoestring budgets, in neighborhood churches and community centers.

Here are a few examples:

· In Van Nuys, special education teacher Melody Rossi’s Cloud and Fire Ministries does after-school tutoring for at-risk kids, manages a “one-stop connection” job referral and placement center, and works with the county probation and education departments to bring anger management classes into youth detention camps.

· At Palomar Community College in San Marcos, more than 500 students enrolled in Frank M. Puchi’s Future Teacher Diversity Corps have gone on to successful careers as classroom teachers—and at least 50 of them are former gang members.

· In Santa Barbara, an ex-gang leader named Matt Sanchez brings rival gang members together through camping trips and mentoring. Lauded by the California Wellness Foundation as “an intervention and prevention model,” his Hoods in the Woods program has been teaching at-risk kids how to resolve conflicts peacefully for more than 16 years.

· In Los Angeles, a job developer named Donny Gomez is training young men for the U.S. Forest Service’s firefighting strike teams. His Aztecs Rising group has already helped more than 250 former gang members become skilled firefighters and find employment with fire departments around the U.S.

Governor Schwarzenegger argues forcefully that the state must take a more innovative approach to law enforcement if we are to halt the viral spread of gang violence from one community to another. For his CalGRIP initiative to be both truly comprehensive and truly cost-effective, the state should take a more innovative approach to funding gang prevention and intervention—one that invests more heavily in resourceful, community-based efforts like these and doesn’t simply go on funneling scarce dollars into big government projects and failed social programs of the past.

Richard R. Ramos
Find out more: www.pomparents.com