Our Mother’S Tears:: A Book About Gangs

OUR MOTHER’S TEARS:

A Book About Gangs

Manuel Jaramillo

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© Copyright 2012 Manuel Jaramillo.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-6101-2 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-6100-5 (e)

Trafford rev. 11-12-2012

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CONTENTS

Introduction

A Mother’s Grief

A Book About Gangs

Chapter One

The History Of Gangs

Let’s Talk About Gangs

History Of The Italian Mafia

Street Gangs

Chapter Two

The Impact Of Gangs

Gang Violence

Chapter Three

The Gang Culture

Why Do People Join Gangs?

Chapter Four

Types And Structure Of Gangs

Chapter Five

The Warning Signs

Chapter Six

Prison Gangs

Aryan-Brotherhood

Black-Guerilla-Family

Huey P. Newton Murder

Fresno Bulldogs

Texas-Syndicate

Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh

Mexican-Mafia

Neta-Association

Nortenos (Xiv)

The Nortenos Gang—History And Culture

Nuestra-Familia

Nuestra Raza

Nuestra Familia’s Jr. Branch

Sur-13(Surenos)

History

Symbols And Culture

Control Units

Chapter Seven

Other Street Gangs

Chapter Eight

My Qualifications

Chapter Nine

Why Do People Leave Gangs?

Chapter Ten

How Gangs Promote Themselves

Chapter Eleven

How Do We Save Our Children?

Acceptance-Is It Worth It???

Chapter Twelve

Let’s Talk About Drugs

What Is The Relation Between Drugs And Gangs?

Chapter Thirteen

Conclusion

How To Discourage Your Children From Joining Gangs

Lagrimas de Nuestra Madres

Our Mothers’ Tears

A mother’s grief . . .

Is beyond belief.

She just sits and cries . . .

As you live with lies.

©©©

But what can a mother do . . .

To take away the blues?

As she watches you fade away . . .

Losing a part of you every single day.

©©©

Will you wipe away her tears?

And put to rest her fears?

Or will you do what she feels you will?

Pick up a gun and kill!

©©©

She cuddled you at birth . . .

Loved you for all you’re worth.

And now you’re tearing her apart . . .

As you slowly break her heart!

©©©

A mother’s love can never be replaced . . .

And the memory of you can never be erased.

Her life goes on in agony and pain . . .

For without you, it’ll never be the same!

INTRODUCTION

A Mother’s Grief

I’m sure that all of us love our mothers. That pretty much goes without saying. However, most of us take them for granted. We unintentionally do not appreciate our mothers or what we put them through when we take the twists and turns of our lives. We forget that their hearts can be broken by our actions, and we don’t understand the ramifications of our actions relative to them. Mothers are our nurturers and the ones who raise us more intimately, so their attachment to us is even that much more significant than we may assume it is. Mothers love us, mothers cry over us, and mothers worry over us. It's just what they do, and when we do things that put us in harm's way, become drunks or drug addicts, put ourselves in jail or prison, we don't realize just how those things affect them. This is especially true when we get involved in gangs and develop associations with those who are involved with gangs.

I know that I am personally responsible for the majority of heartache and sadness that my mother experienced in her life. I was her baby (don’t they all have one?) and I was probably her biggest cause for concern of the four of us she raised. I was always the one who got into trouble at home and with law enforcement. I was the one who rebelled at home and stood up to the man who helped raise me. I was the one who started smoking early and testing out the local drugs. I was the one who skipped school just to go get into trouble. And ultimately, I was the one who was taken away at an early age and out into a reformatory for incorrigible youths.

On top of all of that, she had to experience the fear and trepidation of my being in the midst of one of the most violent prison riots in American history (the riot in the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe, N.M.) when I was still pretty much a young teen. She worried for three days without knowing whether or not I had survived, as the devastation that occurred in the first three days of that riot did not allow for an accounting of inmates in a factual manner. She actually found my name on a list printed in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper of inmates (including myself) who had made it out to the prison yard and given their identity to prison officials, for the sake of notifying loved ones.

She was terrified when I was stabbed in the Administrative Segregation Yard of a Northern California prison by members of a rival prison gang. It brought back memories of her worries over Santa Fe. I choose not to relate the details of this assault as it might identify who I am to those who may be looking for retribution. And when I was branded as one of the worst prison inmates in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, it caused her much worry, as I was validated as a prison gang member of the Nuestra Raza/Nuestra Familia prison gang and sent to the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison in where I remained in total isolation for several years. I would once again find myself at the S.H.U. in later years. This time I was sent to the Corcoran State Prison Security Housing Unit where I was once again isolated for the next three years.

For several decades, I have caused my mother undue hardship, care, and concern. She has helped me out financially and kept in touch with me throughout the years (20 plus years), in hopes of getting me to see the folly of my ways. Well, mother, I finally have. I disassociated myself from my gang ties and have left that life to become a normal productive human being. I am free from the oppression of the gang culture and the bonds that kept me down and in and out of prison for most of my life.

And so, I write this book both for myself as a healing process, and for those who are continually at risk, or in the midst of their own dilemma. I strongly urge you to free yourselves of that burden for it has no rewards . . . only penalties. Please read my book and enlighten yourselves to the brutal truth about gangs and gang membership. Take a serious reality check my young brothers before you lose. And to those of who have loved ones on the peripheral edges of the gang culture, take heed and glean what you can from this book so that it may help you help them. Save somebody’s life!

For this reason, I dedicate this book to the mothers who have lost children to gang violence and continue to suffer. And I offer a prayer to our Lord in Heaven that your sons, your brothers, your fathers, and uncles too, will open their eyes to the error of life that they are living in and get out before they pay the ultimate price, life in the S.H.U. going nowhere fast; on death row going to that final room; or dead at the hands of another gang member. Furthermore, that each of your mothers’ prayers will be answered in relation to their lost sons, that they may soon find their way. God loves us all, and all we need to do to gain his full love is to accept him in our hearts and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and do his will.

I write this book under an assumed name so as not to endanger myself and my family from retribution by those still actively participating in La Nuestra Raza/Nuestra Familia Prison Gang. I know the inner workings of the organization and how they operate and am always wary of possible repercussions for my actions (dropping out and debriefing) and for writing this truth be told book, for I know that to expose their agenda as I have, as well as the agendas of California’s other formidable prison gangs would bring about serious retribution upon myself and my family, should my true identity be discovered.

Every other book I have seen written on this topic has been a self-serving glorification of gang life, and all the lethal intricacies involved in that life are left hidden from the reader’s eye. They want you to think that being a gang member is something special and glorious, when, in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I speak the gut truth about the realities of gang life. Gangsters live by the sword and they also die by the sword if they continue in their ways. Help me to help you by reading this book thoroughly.

Mama doesn’t sleep well at night . . .

For your actions give her fright.

Every time she hears the phone ring . . .

She dreads the news that it may bring.

©©©

Of her wayward son’s cruel demise.

Knowing one day soon, he’ll pay the price.

She prays to God for intervention . . .

And sometimes wishes for his detention.

©©©

At least that way he’ll stay alive . . .

She knows no other way that he’ll survive.

The tears keep running from her eyes . . .

As she sees right through all of his lies.

©©©

Wishing her little boy would just come on home . . .

Back to mama where he belongs.

He’s living life way too fast . . .

At this pace he will not last.

©©©

One day soon he will be gone . . .

Without a chance to say so long.

What is mama supposed to do?

For her life is over without you!

©©©

She runs around, her nerves well frayed . . .

Waiting to hear that her son got played.

Is this what she deserves?

Her wayward son’s wretched curse.

A Book About Gangs

Manuel Jaramillo

CHAPTER ONE

The history of gangs

Gangs:

A set of implements or devices arranged to operate together; a group of persons working together; especially a group of criminals or young delinquents. To attack in a gang; to form into or move or act as a gang.

A gang is a group of people, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. Its contemporary meaning typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen. In the United Kingdom, the word is still often used in this sense, but it later underwent a lessening of its meaning. The word gang often carries a negative connotation; however, within a gang which defines its self in opposition to mainstream norms, members may adopt the phrase as a statement of identity or defiance.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) defines gangs as any ongoing formal or informal organization, association, or group of three or more persons, which has a common name or identifying sign or symbol whose members and/or associates, individually or collectively, engage or have engaged, on behalf of that organization, association, or group, in two or more acts, which include planning, organizing, threatening, financing, soliciting, or committing unlawful acts . . . . (CCR Title 15, SS3000).

They further define prison gangs as any gang, which originated and has its roots within the department or any other prison system (CCR Title 15, SS3000).

Let’s talk about gangs

Let’s face it . . . gangs have been around forever. I would imagine that ever since the dawn of civilization men have come together in groups in an effort to accomplish or overcome. It is the principle of synergy (two can accomplish more than the sum of one times two) and man has used it throughout his history.

Youth gang involvement is not a new phenomenon in the United States. Gangs have been known to exist in our country since the 18th-century. Philadelphia was trying to devise a way to deal with roaming youth disrupting the city in 1791. According to the National School Safety Center, officials in New York City acknowledged having gang problems as early as 1825. The gang problem is not likely to go away soon or to be eliminated easily.

But never before the present time have so many gangs emerged in such sheer numbers and diverse factions and with such high levels of violence and criminality. Criminal gangs are present in all levels of society. It’s the way of the world. They range from the small, young, and informal gangs of local neighborhoods, with very little structure and sophistication, to the much larger criminally intent and highly structured gangs of inner cities, and even worse the very militant structured and violent prison gangs that abound in the prison systems and influence street gangs throughout the country. The top end of this underworld society is the criminal cartels such as the Italian Mafia, The Westies, Jamaican Posses, and others. These are huge multi-national underworld organizations with vast amounts of cash and capabilities.

History of the Italian Mafia

The Italian Mafia goes way back to the twelfth century when the first recorded acts of organized crime were reported as occurring. The Sicilian Vespers revolution against the French was the beginning of the Sicilian Mafia. Although they were not known by than title mafia as of yet, they were well organized and vicious. The mafia concept did not initially include central organization. Instead they were several small groups that governed themselves. They were more of a loose knit society.

The Mafia exercised influence over an area by employing scare tactics. They used many different terrorist methods to bully the people into voting them to public office, where they could utilize the influence of that office for the benefit of their group. As they grew, their access to many positions of influence grew as well as their ability to purchase weapons, influence laws, and bribe officials. Made up of a network of thugs the mafia dominated the Sicilian society by the early nineteenth century.

They developed a strict code of conduct which forbade them from having or attempting any sort of contact or cooperation with the police. This conduct was enforced under the threat of death. They were sworn to secrecy at the time of admission into the group. As they transformed themselves throughout the years, they began to be known as La Cosa Nostra (our thing). They became so powerful that Italian authorities’ attempts to put a stop to or curtail their activities have been futile. This was mainly due to political corruption and the assassination of judges.

Many of those who escaped attempted prosecutions fled to the United States and established the American Mafia. Notable figures like Joseph Bonanno and Lucky Luciano emerged as the top underworld figures of the American Mafia’s early power struggles.

Street gangs

Street gangs in the United States have had a long and complicated history dating back to the 1800s. Today, the most publicized street gangs in America are African-American and Hispanic, but I believe that is because of the rap industry and how they push the thug life in their music and dress. However, the reality is that gangs cross all racial, socio-economic, and geographic boundaries. And another reality is that Latinos make up the greater part of gangs in the United States and are often the most militaristic, violent, and highly structured. It is clear by compiled and convincing evidence that most gangs prey on rivals within the same racial backgrounds . . . black on black, brown on brown, etc.

The first street gangs in the United States began around the early 1800s in New York City, and Chicago had gangs as early as the 1920s. These early gangs were known for their criminal activities, which consisted mostly of thievery and property crimes as drugs were not yet illegal and had no black market value. Once drugs were made illegal by laws such as the 1912 International Opium Convention and the 1919 Volstead Act, gangs began to earn money through the trafficking of these substances. Gang involvement in drug trafficking increased during the 1970s and 1980s, and very few gangs have minimal involvement in the trade.

A wide variety of gangs has existed for centuries here in America as well as abroad. Many poor orphans in Victorian London survived their environment by grouping together in gangs and doing what was necessary to survive. They were the outcast of English society and left to fend for their selves. These kids felt secure in numbers and survived by depending on one another for mutual support and protection. They stole food and picked pockets as a way of survival. Most did not have criminal intentions. Their only goal was to survive in the harsh environment that was thrust upon them.

At the end of the day all gangs pretty much have the same goals, intents and purposes, and hunger for power and money. The only difference is that the bigger they are the bigger their appetites are. They are motivated by racial hatred, greed, and criminality, and they achieve their goals through intimidation, acts of unspeakable violence, and drug activity. They rule with an iron fist within their ranks, because it is not uncommon for those in power to be overthrown by their power hungry underlings. It’s a dog eat dog world and they play it well.

Realistically, no one grows up planning to become a gang member, criminal, or murderer. It isn’t on a child’s to do list, nor does it exist anywhere within the realm of a child’s imagination. But the sad fact is that it happens, and it happens quite a lot. The pull of the gangster lifestyle is becoming an all too powerful influence with our youth and contributes to their delinquency in high numbers. They pick it up from their older siblings or the older guys in the neighborhood by watching them act all thugged out and getting a sense of false respect for their actions. Those guys in turn are influenced by the more experienced guys coming in and out of prison and having association with the prison gangs. It’s an on-going cycle that needs to be stopped dead in its tracks.

National Gang Intelligence Center

Gang Definitions

Street gangs are criminal organizations formed on the street operating throughout the United States.

Prison gangs are criminal organizations that originated within the penal system and operate within correctional facilities throughout the United States, although released members may be operating on the street. Prison gangs are also self-perpetuating criminal entities that can continue their criminal operations outside the confines of the penal system.

Outlaw Motorcycle (OMGs) are organizations whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises. Although some law enforcement agencies regard only One Percenters as OMGs, the NGIC, for the purpose of this assessment, covers all OMG criminal organizations, including OMG support and puppet clubs.

One Percenter the ATF defines One Percenters as any group of motorcyclists who have voluntarily made a commitment to band together to abide by their organization’s rules enforced by violence and who engage in activities that bring them and their club into repeated and serious conflict with society and the law. The group must be an ongoing organization, association of three (3) or more persons which have a common interest and/or activity characterized by the commission of or involvement in a pattern of criminal or delinquent conduct. AT F estimates there are approximately 300 One Percenter OMGs in the United States.

Neighborhood/Local Neighborhood or Local street gangs are confined to specific neighborhoods and jurisdictions and often imitate larger, more powerful national gangs. The primary purpose for many neighborhood gangs