Liberation

My group's area of study was gangs. Many people have a different definition or understanding of gangs but let me tell you mine. To me gangs are a group of people who can use colors or territories to affiliate themselves to a different gang or group. These different groups of people don't get along and even if they wanted too they can't get along. For example here in Oakland gangs often use the colors black,red,or blue to affiliate themselves to a different gang or territory to represent where they are from.

Here there are many teens and even adults who are being oppressed by these different gangs. Many of them are trying their best to liberate themselves from this. One of the people that I know who are trying to liberate themselves from gangs is my cousin who got jumped in a gang and who is trying to get out. What my cousin is doing to liberate himself is that he is going to school and stays away from the streets more. He also stopped hanging out with the people he use to hang out with that are in a gang. I think what my cousin is doing somehow is helping him liberate himself since he is doing a good thing of staying away from them since he won't be risking his life by haniging out with the gang.

The groups that are being oppressed by this are the gangsters in gangs. I feel like they are oppressing themselves by joing a gang. I don't think they are doing something to liberate themselves since they jump in a gang and don't do anything to get away from them. Their families are also being oppressed by this since the decision the "gangsters" are making have nothing to do with liberation and their freedom. This oppresses their family because they might feel like it's their fault their child is messing up. By liberating yourself from this oppression can really help you.

I can connect to this because I used t live in a place where there was alot of gang violence. There I saw people getting shot due to gangs , arguments , and fights between them. I also experienced death due to gangs. While living there it made me feel oppressed and I even thought of joing a gang. To liberate myself from this I told my parents what was going on and we immediatley moved away from there. Thanks to my parents support and my determination to stay away from gangs I got through it and now I'm proud to say I'm gang free.