I'm going to step off a cliff here about bangers. A great deal of the
grief associated with gangs in Minneapolis (murder, attempted murder)
has to do with criminal families. From great granny down to the latest
bairn, cousins by the dozens, shirt tail relatives all participate in
the gangs to one degree or another. The worst of it, according to
members of one criminal family who have gone "straight" has to do with
the matriarchs of the family. They rule the roost, set the tone,
continue to promote it by failing even to attempt to change it. They
also have a good living on the proceeds.
Just this past week there were two stories in the Strib, one about a
Ferguson who was convicted after three trials and will probably do some
30 years after time off for good behavior. The other was that the police
have caught up with a cousin of the above mentioned nogoodnik who is
wanted for a murder at 37th and 4th? Maybe 5th?
Remember Reggie Ferguson, arguably the smartest of the bunch, the
natural leader? After two trials, Reggie did 4 years in prison then came
out and, probably using the money he garnered in the gangs (I don't know
this, but it seems most likely) started a little store on Lake St.
called Tycoon Records. Two summers ago the store was fire bombed because
the gang bangers wanted Reggie back in the gangs, or so Reggie says, and
it is the most likely explanation.
Reggie's brother Abdul was murdered in a drive-by shooting at the age of
15. He bled out in the gutter at 32nd and Clinton as we watched. I think
Alonzo, mentioned above, is Abdul's twin. Someone tried to murder
another one in a shoot out at the gas station at 46th and Nicollet last
year. (The cops found 38 bullets shot around the gas station. The whole
station was covered in those little tents cops put over evidence at a
crime scene.)
One cousin, a Turnipseed, is doing time (federal time, I think) for
murder. He had previously been shot and lost a leg as a result. The
family/gang did not seek revenge for his shooting, so he lied on the
stand at trial, naming other family members as responsible for a murder
in order to pay them back for not seeking revenge.
You see how this plays out?
Two years ago, a branch of the family lived about 5 houses south of me.
One child was about 10. Pretty child, dimples, a round, brown face with
a big smile. At 10 he could not read the word "sofa" among all the other
words he could not read. At 12 he was allowed to drive the family car
and drove it right into the brick fence post on my property, then drove
away. I knew he'd done it and confronted him about it. He ran home. The
family, of course, did not discipline the child; instead, they moved the
car out of the neighborhood. However, on the few occasions when they did
discipline him, it was to beat the tar out of him--well that helped! He
was put in a special school because he refused to go to school. The new
school had the bus stop right in front of the house. He still refused to
get on the bus.
He vandalized houses when folks would not hire him to do chores. He
jammed my doorbell, when I finally got one, and burned out the motor. He
stole the light bulbs out of the porch lights until all the neighbors
got smart and put high wattage bulbs in the fixtures (too hot to take).
This child, and his brothers and sisters, were so starved for positive
attention from adults that they were pitiful. At age 4, the sister had
language that would stand your hair on end. She would chalk the sidewalk
until I finally told her she couldn't chalk in front of my house until
she learned to spell. (i.e. bich for bitch) There is something awful
about those high, piping child voices ripping off a few MFs.
Families who are not criminal families wind up with their kids swept
into the vortex of the gangs by a life long association with various
gang family members--went to school together, etc. The excitement of
gangs is attractive to young kids who see the cool guns, the cool
clothes, the not going to school unless you feel like it (or have
product to deliver to classmates).
I do not have any solutions worth squat, but the "problem" is much,
much, much deeper than described on this list.
WizardMarks, Central
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