Part IV

Written on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 1:36pm

Sitting Update..

The Vice Lords were formed in the mid to late 1950s by a group of boys from the Lawndale area who had gotten into trouble and were enjoying a lovely involuntary stay at the St Charles Reformatory for Boys. (surrounded by barbed wire, located alongside Route 38, my mother used to threaten to send me here when I was a young misbehaving child..) Upon their release, the boys unified North and South Lawndale into the Vice Lords and claimed the corner of 16th Street and Lawndale as their own.  Armed with the desperation of surviving in Lawndale’s extremely poor conditions (which have not improved much as recent statistics place the median income at approx $18,000 a year..) the Vice Lords became notorious for their violence. By 1964, 8 of the VL’s 26 groups decided to break away from the violence and attached “Conservative” to their names. (Ironic because one current gang saying is “If U ain’t Conservative, U don’t deserve to live..)

With the rise of Bobby Gore and David Dawley in the 60s, the Conservative Vice Lords turned their attention away from violence and towards promoting education and the betterment of the Lawndale area, even going as far as to secure federal grants for GED programs and safe havens.  However, in 1969, Bobby Gore was convicted of murder, federal funding dried up and CVL began its decent back into organized crime and violence. (Bobby Gore is still trying to clear his name and has continuously preached against gang violence..)

Today, the Vice Lords have turned up throughout Chicago, it’s suburbs and has spread like a virus to many other states. The Up-Town Lords claim the territory between east and west Montrose and Wilson, north and south Clarendon and Broadway, and have the corner of Hazel and Windsor specifically listed as their own (Guess where I live..) As the  Lords have been going strong for over 60 years, membership has become multigenerational with children blindly following in their parents footsteps.  Children of any age are recruited and used to carry drugs, weapons etc.. Kids join for any number of reasons; a sense of belonging, money, drugs, protection..(Though, due to the high number of kids hobbling around with bullets in their legs, I am not overly convinced of that last reason)  As a result, education has become secondary, thus closing a door on a means of escape. 

Uptown and it’s new alderman James Cappleman have responded to the recent spike in shootings with a healthy round of CAPS meetings, one even, with the focus of educating the community on gangs.  However, as these meeting directly coincide with my teaching schedule, I unfortunately cannot attend. In order to feel as though I am involved, despite the lack of meetings in my life, I am continuing my project of saying hello EVERY day.  Each day, as I sit on my front step, I become familiar with the characters involved in daily Uptown life.  I see the same pretty young girls, and comfortably say hi. I continue to be amused by the reaction of the black boys who always seem to be surprised that I would deem them worthy of a hi. I see daily a middle aged white woman walking her dog, which looks to be a cross between a boxer and a pitbull. I watch her and her dog as she takes a long drag of her cigarette only to  emit a round of chest shattering lung splitting coughs. I look on as a couple men glance nervously around themselves before pulling something out of their pockets. Upon spotting me, they nod to each other and quickly take their deal to the other end of the street.  I have seen my neighbor across the way with his two youngest kids playing outside and after witnessing the sheer energy of the kids, I am forced to agree with his previous statement encouraging me to have just one or two kids..rather than the four he has.. After happily watching him, I see an older black woman walk by with a stroller and a little girl of about four years and cute little braids ending in cheerful hair ties.  I see this woman every day and despite saying Hi to her every day, she continues to ignore me, turning instead to berating the little girl. “what the f*ck you doin’,” she’ll say, “Get your *ss over here before I beat it!” As I look at this little girl and her fearful tears, I realize that I am looking into the face of the next generation gang member.  

Yesterday on my walk home from Jewel, I was shocked to hear someone say Hi to me. Standing just below my home, chatting with a younger man, was a lovely north african auntie holding tightly to her head scarf due to the day’s wind. She effortlessly pulled me  into a conversation, asking where I live and whether I have children yet.  (What is with everyone wanting to know why I don’t have kids!!) She told me in halting english that she lives one block over on Sunnyside and that her kids were not yet in the country, with the exception of her son who was currently standing next to us. She took my hand into both of hers and warmly said “It’s nice to meet you,” before going on her way. Perhaps I am not the only one with the idea of saying hi!