Have you seen this news report from Jennifer Meyer of the Muscatine Journal?
There is more to read at the link, including the names of three additional individuals that folks at the Muscatine Police Department would like to find.
When I was in college, I wrote a paper about street gangs that included information given to me by a "stone red" (roughly, a second-in-command) within the Latin Kings (aka Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation in New York). Although the group was formed primarily by Puerto Rican immigrants in Chicago during the late 1950s, it has since expanded its membership to include many other ethic groups. The vast majority of the gang's membership at the time I did the interviews was still Latino, although that could have changed.
Like most street gangs, the Latin Kings formed in response to a situation interpreted as (or possibly a situation of) repression, discrimination and poverty. It began as a club of sorts, where the members pledged to look out for one another. The group developed a five-pointed crown as their symbol, the five points representing respect, honesty, unity, knowledge and love. The crown was colored with what were to become the gang's street colors -- primarily black and gold, sometimes with highlights of red.
As the gang grew -- I believe it is the largest Latin gang in the nation -- the noble beginnings gave way to desperate criminal activity. There are likely many in the gang today who don't know and/or truly understand the five points of the crown and what they represent.
Much later, when the various gangs in Chicago and elsewhere began to pool into one of two groups -- the "Folks" or the "People" -- the Latin Kings seemed to be the only group to understand that such alliances were not always in their best interest. In the 1980s they made the choice to remove themselves from the alliance of the People Nation, at great cost to their members, but the gang ultimately was rewarded in the form of much larger membership. Maybe that was because it was seen as more independent and worthy of respect or more caring of its membership than to use them as fodder in another group's stupidity. In any event, graffiti attributed to the Latin Kings continues to use a five-pointed star, a mark of affiliation with the People Nation.
What you've got in the Latin Kings is a group that formed for primarily noble purposes, a reaction to a situation viewed as intolerable, that deteriorated -- perhaps by design, perhaps by circumstance -- into criminal activity. (Did you know that the Latin Kings set up and operated a health clinic with the help of the Latin American Defense Organization in their Chicago neighborhood?) While there are still aspects of the group that swish back to the street gang mentality most of us have seen pictured in movies and books -- in my opinion the beating in Muscatine is a good example of this, perhaps so good as to be fake -- there is also a segment that is trying to institutionalize or legitimize.
For instance, a group using the Latin Kings name in Spain has registered as a legal, nonprofit and cultural organization. (Similar to what was attempted by the Conservative Vice Lords in Chicago in the late 1960s and somewhat achieved by the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles in 1992.) By applying for and receiving the legal definition, the Latin Kings organization in Spain can -- and probably already has -- received government funds.
There was also a call in 1994 by the New York leadership of ALKQN for the members to stop criminal activity and become more of a political force. A film called Black and Gold was made about what happened to the members there when they tried to switch their focus.
Sorry for the history lesson, but I've been fascinated by gangs -- actually I've been fascinated with what prompts a population to form a gang -- since I was in high school and met a very loose-lipped member of the Klu Klux Klan. (And, yes, I do consider the KKK to be a gang and not some glorified "secret society.")
What shocked me about this news report and, in retrospect, it should not have shocked me at all is that the ALKQN is in Muscatine. Muscatine! We're not talking about a highly industrialized area. We're not talking about a large city where you can divide up the blocks, appointing one to this group and another to that group. We're talking about a small Iowa town where children ride for blocks on their bicycles and moms push baby strollers to the grocery store. We're talking about a complete sociological re-write of what Muscatine is and what it will become.
When I wrote the paper, my premise related to why the various organizations didn't move into smaller communities. It seemed to me that they were getting pushed around by politicians as they amped up economic development efforts in Chicago. There was a special police task force called the Red Squad that was set up to infiltrate and devastate the street gangs. It was a very hostile environment in which the organizations were set to operate.
Those who were a part of these street gangs told me that they wanted to raise the people of their community up. That they wanted to put an end to the violence and that they wanted to make things better. If that was true, I argued, why not take certain members of your community to a smaller town and start fresh? It seemed to come down to pride and not wanting to be "run out" of their homes and their neighborhoods. They were street or "turf" gangs, intended to protect not only their people but their specific geographic area from others. For them the parcels of property, the schools, and the retail businesses were just as important as the people -- an inextricable fabric of their lives.
If the Latin Kings have come to Muscatine, I hope the city is prepared to break out of the failed mentality that has plagued law enforcement and government when it comes to such organizations. There is an opportunity here, a possibility of working with a strong force of individuals who want the betterment of a place and people. Granted, there must be an immediate stop to any criminal activity, but there must also be a strong line of communication opened and maintained. It is no small task, but I know there is common ground to be found without either group compromising its principles or its pride.
One of eight alleged members of the Latin Kings street gang accused of an September 2008 assault in a Muscatine alley has pleaded guilty.
Robert Murillo Jr., 18, entered the plea Dec. 30, 2008, on charges of willful injury, criminal gang participation and assault causing injury. The willful injury charge was reduced from a Class C to a Class D felony in an agreement he reached with prosecutors.
Murillo and seven other men are accused of assaulting a man Sept. 21 in an alley next to Circle K gas station, 800 Cypress St. According to court documents, the men stated during the assault that the area was "King hood."
There is more to read at the link, including the names of three additional individuals that folks at the Muscatine Police Department would like to find.
When I was in college, I wrote a paper about street gangs that included information given to me by a "stone red" (roughly, a second-in-command) within the Latin Kings (aka Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation in New York). Although the group was formed primarily by Puerto Rican immigrants in Chicago during the late 1950s, it has since expanded its membership to include many other ethic groups. The vast majority of the gang's membership at the time I did the interviews was still Latino, although that could have changed.
Like most street gangs, the Latin Kings formed in response to a situation interpreted as (or possibly a situation of) repression, discrimination and poverty. It began as a club of sorts, where the members pledged to look out for one another. The group developed a five-pointed crown as their symbol, the five points representing respect, honesty, unity, knowledge and love. The crown was colored with what were to become the gang's street colors -- primarily black and gold, sometimes with highlights of red.
As the gang grew -- I believe it is the largest Latin gang in the nation -- the noble beginnings gave way to desperate criminal activity. There are likely many in the gang today who don't know and/or truly understand the five points of the crown and what they represent.
Much later, when the various gangs in Chicago and elsewhere began to pool into one of two groups -- the "Folks" or the "People" -- the Latin Kings seemed to be the only group to understand that such alliances were not always in their best interest. In the 1980s they made the choice to remove themselves from the alliance of the People Nation, at great cost to their members, but the gang ultimately was rewarded in the form of much larger membership. Maybe that was because it was seen as more independent and worthy of respect or more caring of its membership than to use them as fodder in another group's stupidity. In any event, graffiti attributed to the Latin Kings continues to use a five-pointed star, a mark of affiliation with the People Nation.
What you've got in the Latin Kings is a group that formed for primarily noble purposes, a reaction to a situation viewed as intolerable, that deteriorated -- perhaps by design, perhaps by circumstance -- into criminal activity. (Did you know that the Latin Kings set up and operated a health clinic with the help of the Latin American Defense Organization in their Chicago neighborhood?) While there are still aspects of the group that swish back to the street gang mentality most of us have seen pictured in movies and books -- in my opinion the beating in Muscatine is a good example of this, perhaps so good as to be fake -- there is also a segment that is trying to institutionalize or legitimize.
For instance, a group using the Latin Kings name in Spain has registered as a legal, nonprofit and cultural organization. (Similar to what was attempted by the Conservative Vice Lords in Chicago in the late 1960s and somewhat achieved by the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles in 1992.) By applying for and receiving the legal definition, the Latin Kings organization in Spain can -- and probably already has -- received government funds.
There was also a call in 1994 by the New York leadership of ALKQN for the members to stop criminal activity and become more of a political force. A film called Black and Gold was made about what happened to the members there when they tried to switch their focus.
Sorry for the history lesson, but I've been fascinated by gangs -- actually I've been fascinated with what prompts a population to form a gang -- since I was in high school and met a very loose-lipped member of the Klu Klux Klan. (And, yes, I do consider the KKK to be a gang and not some glorified "secret society.")
What shocked me about this news report and, in retrospect, it should not have shocked me at all is that the ALKQN is in Muscatine. Muscatine! We're not talking about a highly industrialized area. We're not talking about a large city where you can divide up the blocks, appointing one to this group and another to that group. We're talking about a small Iowa town where children ride for blocks on their bicycles and moms push baby strollers to the grocery store. We're talking about a complete sociological re-write of what Muscatine is and what it will become.
When I wrote the paper, my premise related to why the various organizations didn't move into smaller communities. It seemed to me that they were getting pushed around by politicians as they amped up economic development efforts in Chicago. There was a special police task force called the Red Squad that was set up to infiltrate and devastate the street gangs. It was a very hostile environment in which the organizations were set to operate.
Those who were a part of these street gangs told me that they wanted to raise the people of their community up. That they wanted to put an end to the violence and that they wanted to make things better. If that was true, I argued, why not take certain members of your community to a smaller town and start fresh? It seemed to come down to pride and not wanting to be "run out" of their homes and their neighborhoods. They were street or "turf" gangs, intended to protect not only their people but their specific geographic area from others. For them the parcels of property, the schools, and the retail businesses were just as important as the people -- an inextricable fabric of their lives.
If the Latin Kings have come to Muscatine, I hope the city is prepared to break out of the failed mentality that has plagued law enforcement and government when it comes to such organizations. There is an opportunity here, a possibility of working with a strong force of individuals who want the betterment of a place and people. Granted, there must be an immediate stop to any criminal activity, but there must also be a strong line of communication opened and maintained. It is no small task, but I know there is common ground to be found without either group compromising its principles or its pride.
Leave a comment