Residents Show Spirit in Drive to Save Home Area

The Crips live on one side of Green Meadows Rec Center, the Bloods on the other. Many a gang battle has been fought on its green turf. Many a neighborhood child has been afraid to go there and play.

But not Saturday. On Saturday, Green Meadows was neutral ground--thanks to the Brotherhood Crusade and a movement it has launched to make the park safe. At least for a little while.

An estimated 350 people--from block club members to community activists, gang members to police officers--gathered in the park for a rally and picnic that kicked off an unprecedented campaign to “take back” from the grip of gangs, drugs and violence a single neighborhood in South-Central Los Angeles.

‘This Is About Family’

“This is not a problem we can concede to the LAPD,” said Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade which launched the community-based effort that was dubbed Taking Our Community Back.

“This is about family. This is about African-Americans coming together to empower African-Americans.”

The plan calls for hundreds of volunteers from throughout the community next Saturday to form patrol teams and clean-up crews that will target a 110-block neighborhood in South-Central Los Angeles. They will attempt to keep the area clean and crime-free for 30 to 45 days. Counseling and classes on topics ranging from hygiene to black history will also be offered to neighborhood residents.

Black Men Heed Call

A call by organizers for black men to come forward and participate in the movement was heeded Saturday by representatives of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nation of Islam, community gang groups and hundreds of black churches.

Mayor Tom Bradley, state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), and former Hawthorne police officer Don Jackson were among the dozens of politicians, entertainers and community activists to stand with Bakewell as he announced the community-driven campaign.

But there was no grandstanding, no hogging of the spotlight by a single organization or individual.

“We are all doing this together,” said the Rev. Frank Higgins, president of the Baptist Minister’s Conference. “We (black people) have historically gone through crises as a people imposed on us by other races. Today the crisis is self-induced. Fratricide is self-induced. And we have to say ‘stop.’ ”

And to show their unity, volunteers and supporters of the movement marched together through the streets that they had come to reclaim, carrying placards with such words as “Crips + Bloods Means Peace,” and singing snatches of the decades-old protest songs that had fueled the civil rights movement.

And as they marched--down the litter-lined sidewalk of 89th Street, past the graffiti-scarred homes on Wall Street--three Crips decided to join them.

‘I’m Gonna March’

“I’ve been a Crip all my life,” said Brian Woods, 16, who goes by the name “Babyman.” But “I’m gonna march.”

“It’s stupid killing each other up every day,” said the teen-ager, who has seen two of his “homeboys” die in his arms. “But I can’t stop it by myself.”

And maybe, he conceded, this campaign will not be able to stop it either. “But it can try. That’s all we can do is try.”

Back at the park, activities aimed at making a difference in the community were already in motion. Representatives of Continental Cable sat at a table and offered jobs to neighborhood youths. Flyers and pamphlets told of health counseling and support groups that will be available at the park and throughout the community as part of the massive campaign. And speakers talked about colors--not the red and blue of the warring gangs--but the ones they said counted.

“The only color is brown,” actress Marla Gibbs told the crowd gathered in the park. “When you look in the mirror, you see how you look. How are you going to take somebody out that looks like you?”

Heated Debate

Later, about a dozen young men who said they were members of gangs got into a heated debate with non-gang members who angrily complained about the fear gangs create in their neighborhoods. So many people became involved in the discussion, it was moved inside a recreation center at the park. But once the people were inside, non-gang members and all “spectators” were told they had to leave so the gang members could have a “panel discussion.”

Bakewell announced at a pre-rally press conference that he wanted to exchange the gang colors of red and blue, for those of red, black and green--the symbolic tones of black nationalism.

“We think (those are) the colors our community should be most concerned with,” Bakewell said. “This is a new gang being formed, united by our Africaness.”

There was music and food, chanting and laughter.

‘Are We Prepared’

In the midst of the festivities, Bakewell grabbed the microphone and asked the crowd, “Are we prepared to drive drugs out?” “Yeah,” they yelled.

“We have got to make it safe for our women and children, right?”

“Yeah,” they yelled one more time.

Brian Woods, dressed in blue, stood back and reflected on the goals of a neighborhood movement.

“It’s a good thing,” he said. “I hope they win.”

RELATED PHOTO: Part I, Page 1.