Wednesday, January 29, 1997
Unity One hopes to bring peace to the streets by educating the
next generation By Karen Duryea
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The media have turned them into monsters, leading news
broadcasts with stories of gang members involved with crime, death
and drugs.
Stereotypes of gang members are so prevalent that an
African-American man with a black leather jacket, hat and briefcase
cannot be near a crime scene without being accused of the crime
itself.
This is the testimony of Bo Taylor, an inactive member of the
Crip gang and co-founder and president of Unity One, a group of
ex-gang members who are putting their efforts back into the
community.
Taylor and other members of the community outreach group spoke
to approximately 60 UCLA students and faculty members on Tuesday,
describing what life is really like on the streets and what they
can do as future social workers in the Los Angeles area.
"We couldn’t even bring all of Unity One here  the police
would be everywhere," joked Taylor, eliciting a rise of laughter
from the audience.
Unity One members visit all facets of the Los Angeles community,
from scholastic to political to religious institutions.
"It’s basically my life. Whenever I get a phone call, no matter
what time it is, I’m out there," said Hilly Flowers, 32, a former
gang member and board member of Unity One.
Unity One believes the answer to current gang problems lies in
peoples’ efforts to educate the next generation of kids before they
grow to believe gang-banging is the only way they can find an
identity.
Taylor realized the necessity of such an organization three
years ago, when a second trip to the hospital after his partying
and drinking lifestyle on the streets left him with a 70 percent
chance of death.
Following the operation that saved his life, Taylor recalls
making amends with God. While unconscious, he asked God about his
purpose in life. When his kids walked in the room, Taylor realized
that he had to focus on the younger generation.
Unity One now performs outreach by negotiating peace truces
between rival neighborhoods, contacting gang leaders and providing
alternative forms of programs, either educational or entertainment,
for potential or current gang members ranging in age from 9 to
30.
"We make bonds with politicians, church organizations … and
celebrities, but the main focus is the kids," Taylor said.
Taylor wants to stop the cycle of street life, where gang
members commit suicide to avoid the three strikes law and attend
funerals week after week. Taylor says he went to so many over so
few years that he was left numb.
"You don’t even dress up anymore  you just go," he
said.
Taylor speculated on what would happen if gang members
transferred the power and influence they have into more positive
avenues, which is what he and his organization have begun to
do.
"If they could just stop killing each other, think what they
could do," he said.
This is where the aid of a new battalion of social workers from
UCLA fits in. Unity One is aimed at informing students at the
school of public policy and research, whose fields of study deal
directly with gangs and the social problems related to them, said
Suhail Mulla, a first-year graduate student in social welfare.
Mulla coordinated the presentation, entitled "Bringing Peace to
the Streets," and in addition to informing students of the effort
to increase dialogue between gangs Tuesday, also marked the
kick-off of a new student group on campus.
Students Offering Peace will be formalized later this year and
will open more doors for Unity One and their relationship with the
department of
social welfare, said Mohammed Khan, president of the student
support group Muslim Network, and advisor to Unity One.
Khan, who has worked with Unity One for about a year, hoped
yesterday’s presentation would "bridge the gap from theory to
reality" to UCLA students, and said that the public policy
department may bring them on as regular speakers.
Professor Joseph Nunn, vice chair of the Department of Social
Welfare and director of field education, helped also to sponsor the
presentation, along with the UCLA Department of Social Welfare
Black Caucus.
Nunn agreed that hearing about life on the streets from the
perspective of actual gang members is the only way for social work
students to really understand who they come in contact with.
Many social work students currently work in city community
situations with gang members  some devote as many as 25 hours
a week  and the presentation was one way for students to
learn realistically, Nunn said.
Speakers urged the audience to get involved and get as close to
gangs as they can in order to eliminate stereotypes that the media
portrays.
"We’re people just like everyone else … we love, we hurt …"
Flowers said.
Photos by SHAWN LAKSMI
Mustafa Fletcher speaks at the "Bringing Peace to the
Streets"
presentation at UCLA on Tuesday.
Charles Semrow, a UCLA staff member, listens to ex-gang members
speak at the "Bringing Peace to the Streets" conference.
Abdula Hakim speaks to audience members at "Bringing Peace to
the Streets" presentation on Tuesday.