Youth involved in gangs in Los Angeles, Central America and Colombia
Roberto Pêgo
Donna De Cesare's photographs do what very few have done. She tells the story of youth involved in gangs without stereotyping them, allowing the images and the accompanying text to speak for themselves. Her work reveals the joy, grief, violence, tenderness, camaraderie, fragility and resilience of youth, whether they are gang members or not.
Los Angeles, CA, 2002
Immigrants Rights groups protest post 9/11 legislation which would lead to continued infringement on immigrant rights including deportation of Cambodian youths. Alex Sanchez, a former MS gang member, now a prominent peace activist with the organization Homies Unidos, joins a protest march in solidarity with Cambodian immigrants – the latest group threatened by proposed changes to US immigration law.
Reinsertion Program. Colombia, 2002
Camilo, a 16 year old former FARC guerrilla, lost fingers on both hands in when he was shot by an army patrol. Since being captured he lives in a home run by an NGO that helps former children combatants adapt to civilian life.
Silhoe, Cali, Colombia, 2001
Eduardo is an activist with Centro Cultural la Red a group of young people who do do violence prevention work and community organizing. The group runs an after school program and organizes job training and cultural events. The group's slogan is “Ante Todo La Vida”.
San Salvador, El Salvador, 1994
On the anniversary of her brother's gang related murder in Los Angeles, CA, Sonia Diaz wears a tee shirt remembering Ulisses. The Diaz family business in El Salvador is making coffins. A youth working at the workshop raises the lid of the coffin he had been sanding. He belongs to the same gang here in El Salvador that Ulisses belonged to in the United States. He makes a sign of respect for the memory of his dead homeboy Ulisses Diaz.
San Salvador, El Salvador, 1995
Young people with Los Angeles gang affiliations who have been deported find each other on the streets of El Salvador. The gang becomes their family and way to survive.
San Salvador, El Salvador, 1994
A death squad known as La Sombra Negra, has been killing youths with gang tattoos. One homeboy from the MS gang was murdered on this street corner.
San Salvador, El Salvador, 1994
None of these youths have ever been to the United States but they are being intitiated into a gang that originates in Los Angeles.
Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2001
Police arrest youths for having tattoos. As in El Salvador deported gang members from the US have spread the lifestyle of two Los Angeles gangs – Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street – to Guatemalan youths not only in the cities but also in the countryside.
Sacatepequez, Guatemala, 2001
Gangs are not just an urban phenomena. Gang meetings occur even in rural hamlets like this one. Gun violence is a growing problem everywhere. Kids feel they need guns for protection from rival gangs and death squads.
Talisman, Guatemala 2001
On the Guatemalan side of the Mexican border, deported gang members from the United States gather to make the trip back to Los Angeles. While they are waiting they influence the local children.
Medellin, Colombia, 2001
This woman's fifteen year old son worked washing buses, before he "disappeared". When paramilitaries began warring with a local gang for control of the "vacuna" – extortion money-exracted from the bus owners – many people were killed. She later discovered that her son was a victim in this war for control over the bus "vacuna”.
Colombia, 2001
A 13 year old former FARC guerrilla combatant at the group home where he and other children try to find the childhood they lost. This boy told me he misses his mom terribly, but he can't go back to where she lives because it isn't safe for him. The guerrillas would come and take him back to their camp.
Venutura Juvenile Correctional Facility. Los Angeles, CA, 1994
13 year old Jessica was arrested when she went with a drug dealer to rob a bank. Jessica was high on crack and didn't know what was happening. On visiting day at the prison she hugs her mother Carmen and son Carlos when it is time for them to leave.
Read More:
A certain amount of courage
(Exclusive interview with Donna De Cesare at COAV).
|
