Mona Ruiz was raised in the middle class neighborhoods of central Santa Ana in a household of two parents, and seven siblings. Although Ruiz had family members affiliated with gangs, her father despised gang members. Both of them would have talks about how proud he’d be if she furthered her education and became a police officer. He had said to her and her sisters, “gangs promise only shame and danger for a young girl.” (Ruiz 27).
The narcos need for members influence them to go to kids as young as 6 to traffic drugs, serve as lookouts, and perform other illicit actions. The author of this article seemed biased
Also, from my observation of the author’s interaction with the gang members, he acted in a way, that was out of respect, and in no way condemning of the gang members or their culture. He befriended them and truly showed great interest in their personal lives. He also knew that he couldn’t’ approach these gang members in a hostile manner, as he learned this from a gang member, who stated that “You can’t just walk into the neighborhood and act like a tough guy, you get beat up.” Moreover, I also observed that the author seemed mild mannered, and certainly did not come across as this know it all, arrogant researcher. I can only imagine how scary this entire experience may have been for him, but nonetheless, he allowed himself to “hang around” the gang members as they drove him around their dangerous neighborhood.
They have formed something they call a rebellion, as they block the highways and create resistance in a larger context. The documentary, Viva Mexico! produced by Nicolas Defosse, takes us through the lens of the resistance being endured by the indigenous Zapatistas. Unlike the Zapotec people, the Zapatistas have a greater advantage, their spokesman Subcomandante Marcos is shown visiting different towns and people in hopes of creating a better understanding of the people. Subcomandante Marcos’s goal is to understand the resistance being put forth by the people in hopes of bettering Mexico as a whole. The people in the film explain it as risks that are taken in hope of possibly advancing politically and
From the drug cartel and gangs, to the Mexican-American police officers like Officer Zavala and Officer Orozco, who is a policewoman that was once friends with female Curbside gang member, Lala. I loved that film was very much in touch with the Chicano culture, particularly in the scene where they were celebrating the quinceanera of Zavala’s younger sister. The film showed very descriptive features that also represent the Chicano culture, such as the scene where the man in the pickup truck picks up a pot of soup, from the mother of a Curbside gang member. Loud Mexican music is playing from the truck as the man is being apprehended. They soon discover that the pot of soup, or what looked like menudo, was used to hide large amounts of drug money.
Norma Mendoza-Denton spent time in the mid-1990s with Latina girls who were gang members of the Nurteñas and the Sureñas, and wrote the ethnography Homegirls about her observations. The girls interviewed all attended the same school, Sor Juana High School, in Southern California, not far from Los Angeles. The Latina girls she observed were immigrants from Mexico, mostly not by choice. They separated themselves into their gangs by whether they felt more connected to their traditional Mexican heritage or to their American side. Norma conducted participant observations and interviewed both the girls and other gang members they introduced her to.
MS-13 began recruiting and their numbers began increasing with young immigrants wanting to belong. Joining the gang provided these deprived, inner-city teenagers a form of identity, a powerful one with a dangerous gang. According to, Schram, & Tibbetts, (2014) based on the characteristics of social structure in the neighborhood three different types of gangs are formed; conflict gang, criminal gang and retreatist gangs. According to, Logan, &Sullivan, (2010), the youth immigrants were exposed to violence and it is the only thing they know, therefore making them vulnerable to joining MS-13 gangs. MS-13, a gang, which formerly formed for the sole purpose of self-protection, has now escalated into what social structure characteristic would describe as criminal and conflict gang.
In the early 1860’s, New Yorks Five points was a violent, and lawless district, home to waves of poverty stricken immigrants like the Irish escaping the famine. Through our study of minority groups, Gangs of New York sets the stage for many sociological/historical topics and events worthy of further investigation. 1-Immigration: In the film Gangs of New York immigration of the Irish was a major part of the problem with Americanism in Five Points. In the early 1860’s the Irish began settling in the Five Points around the same time the draft for the civil war began.
A murder ignites rival gang members into a bloody gang war. BRIEF SYNOPSIS: When a gang fight breaks out between the Karnstreet gang and the Fury brothers, RILEY (23) from Karnstreet stabs CODY (18) to death. Scared, Riley flees and tells his girlfriend, FAITH (21), what happened. When the Guarda arrive, Riley takes off. He hides at the safe house.
In the famous movie “Gangs of new York”, directed by Martin Scorsese, is a movie about multiple struggles and rivalries taking place in a New York city town, called the Five Points. This movie presents a story between a boy seeking revenge against the antagonist- Bill the butcher- and a portrayal of the various gangs living in the Five Points. Gangs of New York is historically accurate in the way it interprets the New York city riots, the characterization of the gangs in The Five Points, and the hardships of the Irish immigrants.
The 19th modern Olympiad was held in Mexico City in 1968. The Mexico City Olympics would become tinted with international politics and controversy. In particular, the participation of South Africa would create havoc among the International Olympics Committee (OIC) and its partners. The racial segregation between blacks and whites or the Apartheid system became a note of concern for the IOC. The presence of the Apartheid system would create dissonance about South African participation, the participation of other nations and have financial implications on the Olympics held in Mexico City.
Throughout the 17th-century gangs have been causing havoc in people's life and destroying the society. The National Institute of Justice (2011) has defined a gang as "A group of collective members which create an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens. " Many of these gangs are well organized, using different forms of violence to control neighbourhoods and to conduct their illegal activities. The National Gang Threat Assessment (2011) reports that “Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions.” Street Gangs have caused incidences of violence that is confined in the inner city of many countries.
