LaKendra

When I hear people talk about gangs I automatically think of some clique that likes to cause chaos. I know it's wrong to think that but, I have family and friends that classify themselves in gangs. And they are not bad people at least not in my eyes. But they do some stupid stuff. My cousins used to tag up fences, walls, and street signs and other things. And now they have grown out of that, I guess, but now we have other teenagers in our area and they are doing the same thing but tagging garages too. I honestly don't know why people have to tag up things; I just see it as gangs letting other gangs know what gang is in the area. It's stupid to me! They should think to themselves, "How they would feel if someone tagged up their stuff?" Removing spray paint off your garage or fence takes time and money. I would be extremely pissed off if someone tagged up on my stuff!


Another thing is how people classify themselves. Now a day's everyone is in some type of gang either a blood or a crip. I used to get asked a lot what kind of gang do you claim or what gang are you representing. Ugh, that irritated me so much and I would respond to them, "No the only gang I claim is my own and I represent myself!" Don't get me wrong I do hang out with people that are in gangs, but I won't ever join a gang.

When you think of gangs what do you think about, honestly? Well people generally think of criminal activity, violence, weapon, and drug trafficking. Who wants their reputation to be like that and being stereotyped, instead of being their own individual? Being in a real gang you are putting your own life at risk, but not only that you are putting your family and the ones you love at risk also. I have heard if they can't get to you they will mess with the ones you love the most.

People join gangs to belong to a group, to receive protection, to earn money, to be more popular, family tradition, or to end boredom and seek more excitement. None of these are good reasons to join a gang, but people do it any ways. Members are usually from the ages eight to twenty two or older. It's good to know that when people don't have family they can go to a friend to seek protection but at the same time you shouldn't do anything that you will regret in the future because most gang members are in jail, prison, or dead because of what they have done. And the way they make their money is not good. They will end up slanging drugs or robbing places to get money.

On the other hand everyone is not a gang member but they stick up for what they believe is right and sticks up for themselves. I once read a quote by Tupac Shakur that said "Let me say for the record I am not a gangster and never have been. I'm not a thief who grabs your purse; I'm not the guy who jacks your car. I'm not down with the people who steal and hurts others. I'm just a brother who just fights back." I think this just says a lot because everybody in some way fights back for what they believe is right. That's good but you should not try to please others by changing your identity trying to become what you think is good. And most of the things that gangs do aren't that good for you or your record. So please protect the ones you love and yourself and don't join a gang. As you can see I am not for gangs at all, I really don't care for gangs, and I don't like people classifying themselves as gang members. You should classify yourself as something better and stronger so you can avoid the drama that gangs tend to bring.