The active existence or presence of street gangs can potentiality threaten the pubalic safety of the different communities in rural, suburban, and urban jurisdiction. In this assignment, the focus was on the Crip Gangs under the guardianship of Raymond Washington. Washington was a 16-year-old student pursuing his education goals at Fremont High School (Street Gangs, 2019). Following the eradication of the power base of the Black Panther in the riotous 1960s, Washington sought to use the opportunity to oversee the start of the Crip gang in the early 1970s. During that period, other than the Black Panther, other social, as well as political groups, were ineffective in terms of aiding social change in the context of Los Angeles. Moreover, Washington was not old enough to engage in the activities of the Panther movement in the 1960s (Street Gangs, 2019). In spite of this, he had the chance to absorb most of the rhetoric associated with the community control of the neighbourhoods to fashion the quasi-political institution following the militant style of the Panther’s movement. Through is through sporting the common black leather jackets of the historical period to go with the desired walking canes in terms of style. The group also sought to emulate the appearance of the Black Panther. Washington did name the organization he formed as Baby Avenues to show his admiration for the older gang that was active in the 1960s in the form of Avenues (National Public Radio, 2005). During this time, there was another individual establishing his position across town as Stanley Williams. Black Panther movement was on its way to a conclusion. In this aspect, most of the young black men in the context of Los Angeles used the opportunity as a platform to search for respect and identity. Stanley Williams (Tookie) focused on forming the West Side Crips in the early 1970s as more people focused on identifying with diverse neighbourhoods in attempts to hold onto something in search of respect, and the identity mentioned above (National Public Radio, 2005). The gang had substantial effects in the context of Los Angeles. More and more groups did start to emerge across the city because of the approach by the society members to identify with their neighborhoods; thus, the infiltration of the gang into other parts of the town. Since the beginning of its functioning across Southern California, the LA-based gang has had more than 30,000 members as a reflection of the growth and rapid development as people of the neighborhoods looking for something to hold on to in pursuit of respect and identity. Other than Bloods, the Crips gang is the well-known gang associated with activities such as burglaries, robberies, drive-by shootings, assaults, murders, and trafficking of drugs across California, as well as the United States (Metcalf, 2009). The group came into existence under the influence of Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams in the early 1970s following the ineffectiveness of the Black Panther as an identity to the neighbourhood. Other prominent members in the growth and expansion of the gang include L.C. Butler, Raymond Cook, and Greg ‘Batman’ Davis, James ‘Lil James ’Compton, Mad Dog David, Black Johnny, Elvis Dexter, and Bennie ‘Bull Dog’ Simpson among others (Street Gangs, 2019). On the Western side, the prominent members did include Erskine ‘Mad Dog’ Jones, Thomas Ellis, Donald Archie, James Cunningham, Monkey Man, Melvin Hardy, and Warlock (Street Gangs, 2019). Other than being one gang, there have been many gangs associating themselves with the Crips in other cities under the influence of regional cultural indicators or factors, which might have nothing to do with Los Angeles. The gang has had the chance to spread to other cities and places such as Compton, Gardena, Florence, Palmdale, Altadena, Pasadena, and Torrance, among other locations (Street Gangs, 2019).
References
Metcalf, J. (2009). From Rage to Rap and Prison to Print: Social, Cultural and Commercial Contexts in the Emergence of Gang Memoirs. European journal of American studies , 4 (4-2).
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National Public Radio (2005), “Tookie Williams and the History of the Crips,” Special Series: the Execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5042586
Street Gangs (2019), “ Crip Gangs in Los Angeles County: from Long Beach to Pomona ,” Retrieved from https://www.streetgangs.com/crips
