‘We’re Tired of Children Living in Fear’

KENNETH RILEY is president and one of the founders of L.A. chapter of MAD DADS, a nonprofit organization based in Crenshaw with branches throughout parts of L.A. The organization, which stands for Men Against Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, aims to restore gang-ravaged neighborhoods through mentoring sessions and weekly street patrols. Riley, a former gang member, spoke to LUCILLE RENWICK about getting the program started and the importance of African American men taking a stand for their neighborhoods.

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What interested me about MAD DADS was that these were real fathers and men who were standing up for their community. I thought that children were basically seeing negative men in the community and it was time to show them some positive men. I didn’t believe that there were enough men showing concern for young people, trying to help raise boys to become men.

The MAD DADS national office is in Omaha and L.A. is the first chapter in California. There are 47 chapters nationwide in 14 different states.

Community safety is one of the things that we focus on. We’re tired of our mothers and children living in fear. We have children who are scared to go to school. We have parents who are afraid to come out to water their grass. My own father used to water the grass right before it got dark, a long time ago. Now, he doesn’t feel he can do that and be safe because of all the gun violence and stuff that’s going on.

You have some elderly people who, even though the store is right around the corner, they’ll drive instead of walk there because they don’t want to be caught outside. You have children who say they have to change their route to school because they know certain people hang out on a particular corner.

In the neighborhood where we’ve been doing our street patrol we’ve been out to talk to the gang members, letting them know not to mess with these children while they’re going to school. Basically we asked for their help and their support in letting our kids do something positive with their lives. A lot of the gang members have stopped hanging out on certain corners. A lot have even been trying to help things work out in their neighborhoods. They’ve talked to their homeboys and homegirls and let them know that we’re not going to have these people living in fear.

Our ultimate goal is to get every community back to feeling like they can come outside their homes and do what they normally would do. But to do that we have to start finding some ways of getting these folks who are involved with gangs an opportunity to do something positive with their lives. A lot of them feel there’s nothing out there. I think we need more opportunities for them.

Everybody asks me why I never tried to get rid of the tattoo on my hand, “Big Smokey,” but it symbolizes what I was a part of. I just got involved in the gangs because at that time, in 1972, that’s what everybody was involved in. It was just about comradery back then. All of us lived in the same neighborhood and we just protected our neighborhood. If we had a problem with an individual, we would fight with our bare hands. It wasn’t about going home and getting a gun.

I started selling dope after I got out of jail because some friends hipped me to the game. And I had a son at the time and knew I had to provide for him and my girl and my family. But what helped me get out was when my other son, who was 8 years old, when his teacher asked him what his parents did he said: “My mother is a beautician and I don’t know what my father does, but he always has a briefcase full of money.” And I started asking myself if I wanted my son to know I did this for a living. I was able to change my life and meet other people who were doing other positive things with their lives.

We’ve been doing street patrols for the last three to four months to try and deal with this, too. A group of men, and sometimes women, go out there and walk up and down an area. We section off about 10 blocks each way. And on Friday and Saturday nights we’re out there from 9 o’clock until 1 o’clock in the morning.

The reaction we got in the beginning was “Yeah, right, whatever.” Some individuals in the community would look at me like “What makes you our savior? How are you going to tell us what to do when you used to do the same things?” But I let them know that I changed my life around and now I don’t live in fear. I don’t have to worry about going to jail. I know that I’m doing what is right by the grace of God. Now the reaction is good because we’ve been consistent.

[Our work] is not just about getting them out of the gangs, it’s about getting them out of that gang thinking. We’ve helped maybe about 10 young men in our local group. We also have divisions in Inglewood, Compton and one at Emmanuel AME Church at 52nd and Compton Avenue where they work in the Pueblo del Rio projects. We’re also working on trying to get one started in the San Fernando Valley area, El Monte and Lynwood.

There are a lot of young boys we see who don’t have a relationship with their fathers. Men have been absent for so long, you know. We just have to do our part now. We have to stop letting everything just fall on women.

I learned how to be a better father to my own children through my work with MAD DADS. I didn’t spend a lot of time with my [eight] children, but now I find myself wanting to spend more time with them and talk to them more.