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Gang members speak out

"Let's be real. Yes, some of us sell drugs. Yes, some of us fight, either for ourselves or for our boys. We have each others' backs. We have to because no one else does.

"Look in the papers, maybe three jobs out of the entire employment section are for Bermudians and spouses of Bermudians only, and they are bottom jobs. Housekeeping, janitors, bus drivers, truck loaders, those are the jobs our Government holds for us. They let foreigners come in and take everything.

"Our boys are dying slowly. For most of them hard-core academics are not appealing, and they drop out of school. So when you're like me — a 16-year-old black Bermudian male, with no education, no trade or skills and no money — you figure out you can make $1,000 a day selling drugs.

"What do you think is going to happen? What do you think these boys are going to do? It's called common sense and politicians are so busy making laws to bind us that they forget to use it."

That was from a 27-year-old man from the Ord Road gang, who entered into drug dealing at the age of 16.

He like others who spoke with The Royal Gazette believe the gang activity is a result of younger generations being left in the cold due to an education system that has left them qualified only for poorly paid jobs.

One young man, a 22-year-old member of the 'Middle East Crew', said Government needs more input from people who live in the area and to interact with people who are part of the groups it is calling gangs. Speaking of the Government, he said: "We come from them and we are what they made us. They make decisions for us without our knowledge or input. Government, parishes, businesses all hold meetings when rules change so everyone is informed.

"Why don't they do that with us?

"Are we so bad, so despised that no one can come and talk to us like people? They have given us the title of 'gang', they named us troublemakers, and claimed us drug dealers. They make us seem immoral in the community and therefore we are all looked at in that light."

In response to gang-related shootings, Premier Ewart Brown announced in the House of Assembly that new legislation will be considered making membership of a gang a criminal offence.

Government has looked at anti 'Bikie Gang' legislation in Australia where Police can use tactics which intentionally disrupt the rhythm of gangs.

In his speech, Dr. Brown quoted Police figures showing the existence of 17 gangs in Bermuda, four of which are made up of juveniles. About 350 people are involved in gangs, ranging in age from 12 to 35, he told the House.

But two members of the 'M.O.B./Westside' gang who spoke to The Royal Gazette said anti-gang legislation was wrong.

A 19-year-old said: "There's just no coming up. Everything we do is a problem, it's bad, it's wrong. Now we're going to get locked up for chilling with friends from the neighbourhood? What else do they want us to do?"

His 22-year-old cousin spoke up and added: "Government spends billions of dollars every year building new hotels and buildings, buying more buses and ferries, and planning expensive tourism ventures.

"They are never concerned with the happiness and satisfaction of their own people especially the youth. Besides a bar, movies and bowling, which all get extremely boring after the first 50 times, what else is there for us to do? Nothing! So we sit off out the road and chill, now that's illegal too?"

A 20-year-old from the 'Southside/Rangers' gang, said: "What is a gang? A group of people with similar ideas, motives, or interests right? Wouldn't that make the Government a gang? Wouldn't that make the Premier its leader? We are not a gang — that word has negativity attached to it. "Because we all sit together, because they [Police] think we are all troublemakers, that's why we have that title. We don't go looking for trouble, we call ourselves 'Southside' because that's where we're from. There is no initiation right or matching tattoos or anything like that.

"We all grew up together; we ate each others' lunches in primary school, chased girls together in middle school, and skipped classes together in high school. I used to get licks from my boy's daddy, that's how close we are. We share a neighbourhood, so in that sense we are a gang, but what's so wrong about that?"

A 17-year-old, who is a part of the 'M Town' gang, said: "How do they expect us not to roll in gangs? Guys are doing drive-bys, people are getting shot and killed and they [the Police] don't catch nobody."

He claimed: "Any boy aged 15 to 25 with baggy jeans and a T-shirt is [seen as] a gangster, a drug dealer."

He added: "The funny thing is that, every major drug dealer on this Island's operation would crumble if it weren't for the dirty cop, politician, customs officer, or businessman that turns the other cheek with an open palm."

A 40-year-old man who lives in Middle Town said he has seen the cycle repeat itself again and again over the years. He alleged Government was doing little to nurture the young men, adding: "Government's biggest problem is not with the youth, not with gangs, but with themselves.

"I have lived back-of-town my whole life. I watched these boys grow up, and I sit off outside with them now. They are good boys. Granted they get in trouble but it's like the old saying goes 'an idle mind is the Devil's workshop'.

"Back in my day, every boy knew a trade, plumbing, carpentry, electrics, motor mechanics. You knew something; you had a skill to live off. We have no more trade schools, and these boys know nothing, and no one wants to be bothered to teach them. They have become the Country's social outcasts and the Premier has the nerve to point fingers at the parents."

* What do you think, will the proposed legislation to make being a member of a gang illegal work? Is it the right direction to take? Email roklynch@royalgazette.bm.