Can Rival Gangs Coexist Peacefully? | Middle Ground

that's one two one two hey guys this is John welcome back to middle ground we just wanted to remind you that we have a podcast and the podcast is called radical empathy it's all about having empathy for perspectives that are far outside your own and kind of challenging yourself to see or at least consider other people's views we would like to thank a few people for helping us put together this episode of middle ground Lawrence Cartwright boogaloo who's in the video as well as Malik Spellman helped us cast this episode we want to keep exploring communities and perspectives and cultures that you don't normally see in mainstream media and we want to bring those authentic discussions to you so let us know in the comments what you want us to explore enjoy the episode I still think I'm again almost guaranteed that i'ma die from free violence are you okay with that Willis have you accepted that as a man yes I wanted my message to impact gang culture you know I'm one of you wherever I end up you're gonna you're gonna know that you can end up - you're - I was affiliated with the blood gang for my entire life my heart my soul my family our blood I'm affinity captain in the park Pyro's diantha's pardon Miller gangster blood probably black p stone jungle I'm affiliated with the rolling 16 gangbanging foot most of my life no high school diploma but I feel like I know it all though when you young you know that excitement of it the Brotherhood you kind of like fall victim to it but I feel like it also prepares you for the real world and get you ready for like a lot of like obstacles that you might run across everybody just labels a gaming R as just a terrorist threat you know just not real human beings but that's not the fact [Music] Hey yo what's going on my name's Eddie Mack I'm from at this part I do rap in comedy and I'm said jack-of-all-trades ready my name is a nasty I'm from captain spook town freshly paroled from prison a certified welder my name's wobbler I'm from the jungles from becoming artists in Los Angeles California my name is Kip Townsend and I come up to West Adams area and I'm a job developer and also do human development as well yeah I'm Boogaloo Westside Nellas I wanted to ceo's Rosecrans entertainment Monday and why I saw a cab another part I'm up-and-coming artist came from you I'll do a little bit everything just try to play my part and then 84 old 60s and I'm a street activist let's talk about this stuff a lot of people like in gangs you know we grew up together that's like brothers I can go spend a night at my homies house you feel like mama feed me you further saying that together we didn't came up with ways that we could uh feed the children we didn't the backpack giveaway he's been dead all type of [ __ ] but the media they always put out the negative about us but they never like put out the positive [ __ ] that we didn't do it I feel like the media got like an old-school perception on what gang banging is or what gang banging is about a modern-day gang banging has evolved from what it's being back then so now it's okay for Bloods and Crips to go to school together that's where back in the days you couldn't find a [ __ ] at Centennial you probably couldn't find a blur at crash or like y'all said so nowadays we can't coexist they don't never really show the unity of it or like they they always show the separation the segregation they don't really fathom the strength and the power we got inside community and I really don't think they really care about that they put us in this one statistic box you know and they leave us right there that's what I wrote this book it's really up to us to say okay at least the nation at least the next generation you're gonna come with something you're gonna come with positivity we live in but we really not sorry that we too in competition with each other everybody hard no no you know so I see everything on social media and everything I'm really locked in with all I mean I posted something positive about me giving backpacks away and stuff out the parking all that with the homies and stuff it didn't it kinda like what a thousand views mm I get like $5.00 viewers not posting some crazy though you get me when you do a positive you cloud chasing are you doing negative it's all good cuz that's what we used to that's the bread and butter I guess that's what we already do so what's happening right now is you bout to leave a legacy right but it's not gonna be a financial legacy see if there was something he was doing positive and all in 5,000 views you got they gonna do endo down about to 300 if he was empowering the community and shedding light and like you saying waking people up then all that's gonna go away but as long as you've got the negative influence yeah well you gonna leave that legacy but ain't nobody gonna be able to eat afterwards the first time ever seen somebody close to me pastor I was I was young older cousin fighting for my mama house another and another black man is this typical success again man and it's like visualizing that as a young as a young boy is like that's probably one of the reasons why I am Who I am today is traumatizing and it instantly adapts you to your community to your environment to where you went because it's like if you don't get in like this you're gonna get down like this I was 19 years old man and I have seen a lot of people get shot but I was sitting there talking to this dude it was actually kid Kevin Sykes from 60s we sitting there talking for about an hour I'm waiting to go skating and as soon as he crossed the street the van pulled up they have been waiting the whole time and they gunned him and that's really [ __ ] me up man to see that could easily just came up and gun does both it wasn't about creeper blood it was just about that anger and rage like man want to hurt somebody and man it left something avoiding me that was like spiritual like man what is God doing but also that rage was like man I want to hurt somebody and and I took him with me from the age of 19 and I just felt suicidal like I signed up every day to go out and be dead I didn't care I'm gonna hurt somebody they gonna hurt me to this day I still think I'm Garen almost guaranteed that i'ma die from street violence are you okay with that Willis have you accepted that as a man yes I said you because it's like all the negativity I didn't dist out see I want to kind of get because this is what's causing me to to change because I made that same pact that same vile for my game I'm gonna die for my game I do life for this [ __ ] yeah but recent [ __ ] I showed me that nah I got another purpose I could do something else I don't have to die it's a game banging let me let me ask you something real quick though you got a child a baby a girl I got four beautiful blessings yeah whoa beautiful bless so here's the thing would you die for them of course but that's not what they want yes they they need you to live for me and you ready to go out everyday and die for them and then the same people need you to be alive and well I didn't lost singing homies I lost some [ __ ] me I lost some good homes I'm over with this gang banging [ __ ] if something happened to y'all y'all will see that I'm so serious about this [ __ ] but I'm on a whole nother note home respect me from and I don't one of those job if [ __ ] don't wake up and let me save each other so it don't have to be no more losses we don't lose straight up I do I already do that's gonna be hard right I'm actually did it that's why I feel like it could be peace because I've actually set in a circle and had a conversation with my enemies we cleared the air and then killed out a little difference now it's not peace between all my enemies but it's peace with the main enemy yeah with us and we not even gonna call it peace we will call it understanding because that's what it was understanding was y'all stay on your side we stay on our side don't disrespect that line then we good and keep our like Internet goofy [ __ ] you know listen I'll keep that [ __ ] out of the circle and we good and it's been working so far we had a little bumps and bruises this this question was complex to me because I'm thinking like are we talking about individually or gang-wise I'll be talking about in today's world aren't I are we working towards the future to get better because I believe that in the future sooner or later we are gonna be able to function right now with things that's been going on and the politics it's more to see with the 8th race and the six holes that was an eye-opener for LA because it was like if that's what modern day gang banging is working towards right now it'd just take time people nowadays like it's a revenge cycle it's people that's gonna kill you that don't gangbang they a family or friend or somebody John my brother you feel me sometimes the peas don't even be like on us cuz we're not big nobody bigger than the court you know so it's like alright how is that how is that one person right there just gonna say it's peace today and then everything else is just peaches and cream I look at it like peace today is our just for the simple cause of matter like it hasn't been a long period of time without a death or without a retaliation or without another man woman from from from from from a rival rival gang getting murdered show that show wanna come to my hood and bust on me at knocking me down let me show you the same thing and then once we get that understood then you can go about to let me go by my my minutes but it's a thing called leaders and followers if some leaders that's gonna be speaking piece you're gonna have some leaders like no they didn't they're too much it's this history this is what it is it's like as much as you want peace I just live life for my individual peace I believe at the very bottom of joining the game it's ultimately a choice the power of influence is is crazy and it will blind you to make you think that it's not a lot of people is family-orientated are born into it but at the end of the day I have the choice to say yes this is what I want to do no they're saying what I want to do no matter what age I am or not I feel like it's for sure a choice it's not like how it used to be we're like you said you feel me you you you got some type of ties to this game nowadays it's like oh I love make a little turn hey you you hang with a [ __ ] for a cool amount of time build a relationship with them if you really a [ __ ] and you feel me you really got stripes in rep like you do from your air you can easily take them over there and make it happen it's a choice to certain people certain people just got it go with the flow this it's not so much of a choice it's like it's like a way of life where I come from in my family because we always gangbang I grew up to to seeing blue rags I grill just saying my brother's gonna fight the enemies at parks I grew up to saying dope sacks I grew up with my daddy whippin dope and kitchens and all that so it's like that's not a choice it's just that to it you go dad this [ __ ] chose me I signed up and they accept it you feel me this [ __ ] like the military listen I play I mean you know my daddy from company you know from the kid this [ __ ] had me in his red Cadillac slapping through Compton rollin up eating any dope my mama side of the family my cousin from Palmer block [ __ ] then I got other cousins from neighborhood Piru down the street and then I moved to the 60s at eight years old then my older cousins they started gangbanging you from you so it was just a way of life for me that's what my family was about it wasn't no choice I'm luckily I had big homies to where they they didn't want me to gangbang you feelin I said they always told me played football I had homies that didn't want me to vaneeta you for me that was like 80 go play basketball go play football I even had a [ __ ] that peanut he used to come to me and say it's done game baby and I used to think this [ __ ] thought I was soft yeah but the whole time my [ __ ] was being a real man and didn't wanted me to do this [ __ ] you feel me I want to be Bruce Lee man Bruce Lee yeah I want to come home and kick everybody man but the Crips was at the movie theater so we had to fight the crisp and I'm nine years old and I'm like man I want to go to the movies so it wasn't a choice it was like man am I at the age of 13 I'm like you know what I'm gonna stop being a victim i'ma fight back police because they the biggest gang in America they basically got alright to knock us down ya know with no justice after that yeah and on the side of them cop course it says to protect the serve but they ain't doing it they taking us so it's like of course I'm a fear you because you don't want that supposed to protect this so I'm looking at you in the sense of okay you posed to be safety but no you really coming at me to a gun now you feel me but I but I'm looking at this may not know how he coming it isn't it's not a facade how you gonna come so I prepared for how you gonna come you feel me so when a cop come at you why all the time if I'm posed to be protected assert why I gotta put my hands up all the time just keep the simple man I'm afraid the police because this safer this is my enemy shooting me and I survived I can go revenge and honor that you further say the police to me I survive and he can smoke me and can get away with it my homies they go and go rally up and go smoke them because I know where to go they just sent him to Santa Barbara somewhere he throwing up saying he had a whole other department no no I don't know not at all the reason why I wouldn't want my sons or my daughter to be in a gang is because of the way the perception that society has on a gang it's not about the way the community views a gang because all that is the address but if my child is from a gang then I don't fear the communities around it I fear the police I fear that if if my son breaking a house well he should go to jail for a year or two but if he ain't a gang he gonna get a 12-year enhancement I don't want my daughter to be in the game because reality there's only two roads to the city either death or jail it's only food I slipped through the cracks it's like I just want my kids again me because I know how hard game banging limits you definitely you know it keeps you stagnated you know you can't you can't you can't go out there and be adventurous and see the world and like for my son my son he can grow up in and love a woman and her brothers could be from from a gang that now you can't even you can't even love for you really want to love because you know just don't don't limit yourself I don't want my kids to limit themselves this generation and gang banging is a gift and a curse because it's kind of beautiful because we come from a generation that we figuring it out we breaking it out we got a lot of black entrepreneurs we got sports players we got rappers we got people that got their own clothing lines and this is all people that came from a gang so it's like we're not all bad just cuz we came from a game but as far as my kids getting involved with that you don't have to gangbang and do all this stuff because you could go way further doing it if we're outdoors getting tired but also gang culture influences every Tupac got influenced by gang cultures and cost them is life so it's like it's like gang culture influences everybody but for my kids my niece is my nephews and everybody under me I do not want that for because it took so much of my life I mean personally I don't have any kids but this topic right here I got a little twist to it it's the definition of the word because see it's being black the definition of a gang is oh they heard looks they thirst but if you from a white gang oh that's a collective community they just they're just some regular people that do the same thing at the same time everyday so you know what I just might want my kids to be in a gang a damn good one but like our LAPD or our Sheriff some [ __ ] for us you feel me so yeah I will yeah I want my kid to be in a gang a positive one number I feel like that coming is probably very kind of like valid in the sense cuz everybody would question and like what type of gang members will want to speak openly about games on TV but that's what separates the leaders from the followers of the game so it's all it's all a mindset it's really a mindset I'm talking about getting over beef in which other enemies and everything it starts with our mind said first hopefully I can shine enough light so other everybody see what else everybody else see what I'm doing and be like all right he came from that he did this and he doing this and now look at him yeah he's still back in this hood which I really commend nipsey for everything he did because he showed us that at the end of the day Nipsey Hussle got so big and he died from gang bang and politics he died being a 60 crib that the world couldn't even believe it so they said it was a conspiracy but I have the heart of it he lived his life as a real gangbanger and did what he was supposed to do and when he died he died for standing up for what's right that every gangbanger should have felt the same way and it showed behind the love that he got that and I feel like I was a gangbanger that's how you would want your legacy to be when you when you die it's like I'm bigger than gangbanging for the people that judges gangbanging and all that it's like this like I'm you and you me I could easily live your life if I was pretty I placed me right there I'm living my best life that I was given I wasn't given a golden spoon I wasn't given a silver phone oh I got this little styrofoam plate and it's plastic spoon and I'm a bill and I'm gonna go with it so before you get judgmental and say I'm a gangbanger then they doing it come see it's all about what she making I never thought that I would be seen here with y'all I never thought I'd be saying with no blood I never thought I'd be seen with no conklin Crips I never thought I'd be seeing with nowhere the sixties and I didn't want to sit when over the game when I was a youngster I didn't want to do nothing but go hurt people I didn't want to do number gangbang and make the hill proud but now that's not the question my fight is for these people for them my fighters for every l8 game that's my fight I'm from every LA game now so if anybody got a problem with that I got a problem with it pushing this piece [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Jubilee

Views: 9,005,361

Rating: 4.9459615 out of 5

Keywords: jubilee, jubilee media, jubilee project, live deeper, blind devotion, love language, middle ground, spectrum, la gangs, bloods vs crips, los angeles gangs, la history, los angeles history, nipsey hussle, can rival gangs coexist, can gangs coexist, can rival gangs coexist peacefully

Id: gwZuUxeBYV8

Length: 20min 36sec (1236 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 18 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Baphomet1999]

If Pirus and Crips all got along ...