- Do snitches get stitches? - Do snitches get stitches? (laughs) There is a code in the streets, in some cases, snitches do get stitches. (upbeat music) - Hi. - Hi, what's your name? - I'm Cortez. What's your name? - Hi, my name is Celine. - Hi, my name is Forest. - How you doing Forest? - Hey Dad. - Hey, what's up Brianna? So do you know why we're here, do you know what we're
going to talk about today? - That, you were in a gang but you're not active. - That is correct. Are you guys familiar with any gangs? - Yeah, kind of. Sometimes, I watch like
Boys n the Hood and stuff like that with my dad, so. - Oh okay, Boys n the
Hood, that's a good movie. What is your idea of a gang member or being in a gang? - They would probably like, look like person with baggy jeans or a cap, like maybe a golden chain. (laughs) - Okay, fair enough. What about you? - Just thinking of people like, little like cruel? - Violence, I guess and drugs involved and usually getting in
trouble, I guess, a lot. - All I know is that
shoes hang up from the electrical wires. - (laughs) - [Celine] That's all I know. About gangs. - So what did you do in a gang? - I didn't do too much, you know, out of the ordinary, it
was just like, you know I still went to school for the most part, I would show up to school. - Did your teacher know
that you were in a gang? - Pretty sure they did. (laughs) But after I got kicked out of the school, I kind of just fell off. - Oh. - Fell off with that. - How come you got kicked out? - Because I was bad. - Oh. Okay. (laughs) - Why did you join a gang? - I thought like a lot of
times, as a kid in my family growing up, I wasn't accepted and so,
you know, this was easy. I loved the lifestyle, I
was infatuated with the, with the entire culture. I had a lot of homeboys
from the neighborhood that were in gangs like,
that doesn't necessarily deem us as like bad people
or anything like that, you know that right? - [Interviewer] Do you think
people in gangs are bad people? - I don't think they're bad people but they might do bad stuff. - So what kind of activities
I guess, did you guys do as a gang on a daily basis? - You know, link up, smoke some weed, shoot some dice, play basketball, drink. - I hope you didn't get
drunk when you drunk alcohol. - Well, alcohol does that
to you, like it takes you out of your normal self and your - Makes you dizzy? - Makes you a little dizzy, you know. - Sometimes you collapse,
sometimes you run across the street like a horror movie. - Right. - Did your parents know that
you were in a gang as well? - Yeah, my mom was not
like accepting of it, and she gave me all the
values that I needed to have to be successful but it
still comes down to choice and I just chose to live
a lifestyle that you know, I wasn't really raised to
live but, you know, I did it. - I have a question. - Yeah. - Have you ever went to jail? - Yes, unfortunately I
have went to jail before. - What for? - It was driving without
a license, I got caught with drugs. - Have you ever carried a gun? - Yes, I actually have
carried a gun before. - How old were you when
you first held a gun? - I was probably about sixteen. - Did you ever have to shoot anybody? Or at anybody? - I, um. I played a part in a lot of activities in the streets. - And, how did that make
you feel, pointing a gun at somebody else? - I never said I pointed
a gun at somebody else. - Oh. (laughs) I thought he was saying,
I thought you were kinda getting there. - Hey man, you're a great interviewer. - [Interviewer] Yeah, you are. - You almost got me right there. (laughs) - [Interviewer] For real. - So, did you have to do
like any horrible things or things you didn't want to do? - [Cortez] I never did anything
that I didn't want to do. I have done some horrible things that I'm not proud of doing. - Why did you do something
bad? You should think in your mind, should I do
this or should I not? But you chose the wrong choice. - You're right. - You did it. - You're right. You're absolutely right. - Have you learned from your mistakes? - I'm continuing to
learn from my mistakes. - Did you ever have any like
friend gang members, did they have ever died? - Yes. - [Cortez] Yup, unfortunately I lost a couple from my actual block. - Do you think of that gun
violence, or any type of violence is necessary? - At this stage in my
life, no. I think that you can always effectively communicate with one another to resolve anything, I don't think, I don't think nothing should result in violence. - If they say something
mean to you, say stop but if they don't, turn away, breathe and then say how you feel and then ignore them
if they just keep saying it. - Wow, why didn't I think
of that, back in the day? - When did you start
realizing that what you were doing was wrong? - 21, turning 22. Started to
think about some of the things that I was doing. I made a
decision to live different and to do something different. I got kids to take care
of. So I started being more about them and less
about the neighborhood. It's funny, I actually
work with youth now. I'm the recreational
specialist for Late Night. So, I'm the supervisor over
all the Late Night programs in all community centers
that I used to go to and get kicked out of when I was
a kid and so it was dope to actually be back in the
hood and giving back and being over the program
that we was always at when we was young. Do you think that people
that are, are in gangs or was in gangs, do you think
that they could like change and do good in the world? - Well yeah, I mean you did it. So if you can do it,
anybody else can do it. (upbeat electronic music) - Yeah, I guess you're right. That makes sense. - Thank you for your time
and letting me ask questions. - For sure Forest. - It was nice meeting you. All right man, see you guys.
You guys stay out of trouble. - Bye bye! - Bye bye. - Remember what I told you. - I got you. (laughs) - Peace. (laughs)
