A pile of stories were hastily reported and written yesterday about Guillermo Cespedes and his elevation to the position of LA’s new gang czar. Viewed as a collective whole they start to give us a fuller picture of Mr. Cespedes than we had a day ago.
For instance, LA Times and MyFox gave us some information about Cespedes’ rich and varied biography. Cespedes is an accomplished music conductor and composer. He taught the history of Africans in Latin America at Cal State Dominguez Hills. He helped design innovative programs for families and individuals in need. He is credited by the mayor as being the primary architect of the much lauded Summer Night Lights
Rich Orlov’s story for the Daily News was mostly giddily laudatory—or more accurately it simply repeated the giddily laudatory things that the mayor said about Mr. Cespedes—which is okay, I guess. (If my students used solely that strategy, I’d nag them to do more reporting—but whatever.) Nonetheless it provides additional information, so should be part of your Cespedes reading list.
For my money, however, the most interesting—and probably the quirkiest— of yesterday’s stories was Frank Stoltz’s interview with Cespedes, which you can find here.
In the interview, Cespedes had some interesting things to say about how he thinks some of the racial animus between certain gangs and groups in the city might be healed—even if his phraseology was a bit stilted and academic.
But on the topic of the city’s gang programs-–he was somewhat more opaque. For instance, he said things like this:
“I have a very simplistic view of what we’re doing in these neighborhoods, which is basically we are trying to humanize the person with a badge and we’re trying to humanize the person with the tattoo. If we can accomplish that, I think violence goes down.
Really? We mostly need conflict resolution between the gangsters and the cops?
Certainly, not treating people—gangsters, police, or anybody else for that matter— as “other” is essential.
However, that’s an attitude, an ethical, humanistic world view—-not a program.
Thus we are hoping that soon Mr. Cespedes will bring us up to date about what our millions of tax dollars poured ino the mayor’s GRYD strategy has bought us in terms of functional, effective programs.
Being a history buff and doing extensive research in Latin American Studies and International Relations at the university level – and even studying aboard in various countries and universities – I understand where Cespedes is coming from when he talks about the history of races and cultures being interwoven between latinos and blacks.
The problem is that the turning wheel of continued racial hate and segregation among Californian gangs and more specifically gangs in South Western States – has itself fueled to multi-generational teachings and brain washing of verbal garbage to just simply judge people on their skin color.
In so many countries – skin color is not an issue. But for some reason America – specifically for California residents, skin color is placed on the top of a list of judgement calls and stereotypes.
Trying to teach gang members to realize this – is like pounding away at a rock with a plastic hammer.
They may get it but they refuse to accept it and totally renounce it – look at what just happened at Chino’s Mens Prison….
Inadvertently, Gang Injunctions stops this type of congregation based on color/culture from threatening a community made up of a certain minority group.
That’s the reason why gangs and gang member are classified as terrorist – they base everything on race.
poplockerone, only certain Latino gangs in LA are enemies with blacks, not all of them. You watch the local evening news too much. They exaggerate shit.
Your comment that gang injunctions stop anything proves you know very little about the streets. Gang injunctions stop wannabes, maybe. Hard core members just operate more low key. Often times they just move out of the area and start up cliques elsewhere. And, that’s fine by the forces behind injunctions. The whole purpose of them is to sweep the gang scene to another neighborhood, in most cases to make way for development. People who talk about gang injunctions as they’re designed to stop gang violence in any way, or help gang members get out of the life, whatever, sound like sheltered suburbanites.
And, the terrorist label being used more often now to describe gang members is nothing more than post 9/11 policing. Has nothing to do with any actions gang members are committing.
Okay Mr. Guru.
Name the criteria prior to making a gang injunction arrest?
I thought Rev Carr got his promotion because of Summer Nights program? A week ago, Villaraigosa
and the press were giving Carr all the publicity
for the programs’ success when he became Chief of Staff, now we learn this guy is responsible.
And why do we keep handing out accolades and “czar” appointments for something that the City and the Dept of Recreation and Parks should have been doing as a part of their daily business anyway — providing engaging programming for youth in gang-prone areas, rather than letting the gangbangers run the parks?
They need to get corporations involved in funding the programs? What happened to the millions of dollars they’ve collected in Quimby funds from developers all over town?
Why can’t some of those funds be redirected to pay for youth programming?
What about the millions they’ve collected from the Feds for gang prevention? Where has all that gone? Carr and this new “czar” didn’t do anything that community members haven’t been trying to do all along, and the city threw up obstacles and said it didn’t have the money.
Daily News and LA Times – do your jobs, ask some hard questions of these schemers and quit being stenographers.
Sr. Hampton does not know shit about Los Angeles area cholos. Let’s take a brief tour of the certain latino gangs which have killed blacks.
Monrovia and Duarte gangs MVN and Duarte Eastide, which had several shooting and killings of blacks.
http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/2008/013108crossracial.html
I wonder if Cheryl Green (14yrs old) parents know about racism in latino gangs such as 204th street in the Harbor Gateway area.
Do the few blacks in Hawaiian Gardens think, the news exaggerate shit?
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/22/local/me-gang-sweep22
Does anyone remeber the Avenues gang killing of blacks just because of their skin color? Do the names Jamiel Shaw and Pedero Espinoza mean ring a bell.
The list of racial killings is long and most don’t even make the news.
Oh, no, you’re obviously the guru, Mr. “Latin American Studies major”. You said that gang injunctions work, that blacks and Latinos don’t get along in “the southwest”, and that the terrorist label is because gangs are targeting based on race. Wrong, wrong, and wrong, scholar.
Criteria for gang injunctions? It varies in each instance. What’s your point asking the question?
What?!! Is Celeste becoming realistic and practical rather than remaini simply idealistic? But, but…humanizing gangsters “feels good.”
Celeste has never humanized an active gangster, Woody. Nice try, again. I’ve honestly never seen a commenter as full of shit as you, on any blog, ever. You might be one of the biggest liars in America. I’m not kidding. You’re certainly on the leader board. You average about 10 per day in here alone. I haven’t even read your stupid blog yet, which I’m sure is a fucking anthology of lies.