Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 36

MS-13 are Trump's ostensible reason for his deportation tsunami; and now a politician thinks it's wise to ask cholos to draw closer?

For decades, Latino activists have strained to inspire gang members to join el movimiento; not as stormtroopers but as wayward youngsters and veteranos who can leave la vida loca behind if only they become enlightened. El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, a manifesto published in 1969 at the height of the Chicano movement, envisioned a world where “there will no longer be acts of juvenile delinquency, but revolutionary acts.” Its sister document, El Plan de Santa Barbara, warned activists that they “must be able to relate to all segments of the Barrio, from the middle class assimilationists to the vatos locos.”

From Homeboy Industries to colleges that allow prison inmates to earn a degree, people still believe in the power of forgiveness and strive to reincorporate gang members into society as productive people. They're relatives and friends and community members, the thinking goes, not irredeemable monsters.

“It’s everyone else who’s not about the gang life that’s out there protesting and speaking up,” the vice mayor said, her voice heavy with the Eastside accent. “We’re out there, like, fighting for our turf, protecting our turf, protecting our