The Power of Parents

IN THE EARLY’70s, Claretian Brother Modesto Leon saw a lot of sorrow around him in East Los Angeles. “We were burying young men all the time in the church,” he recalls, “young men who had been killed in gang violence.” At the funerals, Brother Modesto often saw the same mothers. “Some of them expressed an interest in getting together to support each other. So we began meeting in the basement of Our Lady of Soledad Church.”

Initially, Concerned Parents, the name the group took for itself, existed primarily to provide support to the families of the slain young people. “We would take up collections to help families pay funeral expenses and make food for them during the hard times,” recalls Virginia Lopez, an early member who lost two sons to gang violence. As the group evolved, the parents decided that providing comfort to one another, while important, was not enough. There must be something parents could do, they thought, to help bring an end to gang violence in the barrios.

That was nearly 15 years ago, and today Concerned Parents is recognized by law-enforcement officials throughout the county as a moving force behind a major drop in gang killings in East Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Lynn Poos, who is based in East Los Angeles, believes that “concerned parents have played a vital role in the reduction of gang violence in East L.A.” Although Poos says other elements of the community have also been vital in efforts to curb problems with street gangs, he thinks that parents needed to become involved before change could occur. “This is a very family-oriented community. They may not be in the highest socioeconomic group, but you have a lot of family unity. If you can get families working together, it helps a lot.”

(In 1978, according to Poos, 24 people died in East L.A. gang violence in the unincorporated area in his jurisdiction. The number dropped steadily to seven in 1987; there have been no killings there so far this year.)

“We had a group where mothers of rival gang members were coming together. These mothers had never been able to know each other with all the barriers,” recalls Concerned Parents area captain Helen Sanchez. Once they had made contacts, the mothers started exploiting them. If one mother thought her son was involved in a conflict with another gang, she would warn mothers of those gang members. “We would go to the schools and tell them if we thought something was coming down,” Lopez says.

In addition, the mothers say, the group has given them the courage to act when they see troubling situations. When gang members concentrate in her neighborhood, Sanchez says, she now takes action. “They sometimes call me the warden. If I see a gang of boys getting together, I call the cops.”

Many law-enforcement officials believe that groups such as Concerned Parents are a necessity if the tide of gang violence in other parts of the city is to be stopped. “It’s the only way society is going to solve the problem,” says Jim Galipeau, a Los Angeles County probation officer. “Adults, primarily parents, have got to take back their neighborhoods from these punks.”

Brother Modesto also believes that Concerned Parents can have an effect elsewhere. Last year, a chapter of the group was started in Pomona under the stewardship of Sister Leticia Gomez and with the strong support of the Pomona Police Department. Now, the group is starting a chapter in South-Central Los Angeles.

Members know that organizing in South-Central will present some different problems than organizing in East Los Angeles. “The gang problem there is more centered on money because of the drug business,” Brother Modesto says. “You’re talking about livelihood, not just neighborhoods and honor. How do you say, ‘Let’s have peace’ when their concerns are all about money?” Nevertheless, Brother Modesto says, he is hopeful. “The parents there are hurting just as much as they are anywhere else, and they’re the key.”

Even a group such as Concerned Parents can’t make it easy for mothers with sons in a gang. But it can provide them with courage and support to take what is sometimes very difficult action.

“Now if my son is doing something he shouldn’t,” Sanchez says, “I call his probation officer. I tell him, ‘You’re my son and I love you, but I would rather see you in jail than out on the streets. At least you’re safe then.’ ”

Parents interested in more information about Concerned Parents may call the following numbers: East Los Angeles: (213) 267-0321; Pomona: (714) 628-7233; South-Central Los Angeles: (213) 299-1414.