The film, Nuestra Familia, Our Family was a very compelling, inside look at gang activities and showed us a clear example of the "hierarchy" that was charted out for us in Tuesday's lesson. This film was a longitudinal approach to the Nuestra Familia gang of Solinas, California who rival with the Los Angeles gang, the Mexican Mafia.
I was taken back to learn that this was a gang started a couple generations ago by prison members. And those few members actually run the gangs if they were a military element, giving orders and handing down punishment if the orders aren't carried through. Generations are in and out of prison and one particular father and son's lives and gang involvement were depicted in this film. The father, Armando actually instilled the gang "family" lifestyle in to his son, little Armando's upbringing. This is something big Armando wishes he had never done as he faces his responsibility in the large part he played in his son's life sentence.
Pelican Bay was a facility created to house the most violent inmates and in turn became the headquarters for the NF. Here, leaders received information from the outside world and gave direction through the mail by using codes. The gang was literally ran as a military organization from its incarcerated leadership. From prison they established a web of gang activity and ran large drug operations. As parolees were released they trained young gang members to take their place.
Law Enforcement needed a way to disable the gang by dismembering the heirarchy. But the difficult question was,"How do you punish men that are already in prison?" The conclusion from law enforcement was to separate all of them from the Pelican Bay Penitentiary headquarters.The FBI then stepped in and helped local law enforcement. They recruited on of the NF's leaders, Danny Hernandez as an informant. Though the motives behind Danny's cooperation and the lack of restraint measures on the part of the FBI were questionable, this operation know as Operation "Black Widow" was successful in attaining the convictions of 75 NF members. For his cooperation Danny Hernandez was released and paid $52, 000.
It was mentioned that the media plays a large part in the lucrative impression being given to our youth of becoming a gang member. Gold chains and hot cars, not having to hold a 9 to 5 job, but always enjoying wealth. That impression, coupled with the need to belong to a ";family" and have acceptance and love is what draws young kids to join.
I would like to see more research that looks more in-depth at the reason why the members feel so indebted to what they refer to as "the cause" that they are willing to sacrifice their lives, families and imprisonment to their gang family.
Works Cited:
Film: Nuestra Familia, Our Family.2006 http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/play/UDVTGU
Excellent post! This post provided some excellent examples and questions about the generational aspect of gang membership and the way gangs become a social institution even within places like prison. I really enjoyed this post. One minor point was the lack of parenthetical citations as well as end references. Otherwise, very well done!
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