The Mafia - Personal Narrative
Mafia. That word, what does it mean? It reminds me of Black Death,
cold murder, of pitiless, heartless people who don't understand the
meaning of life. Life is another one of those tricky words just like
Mafia, yet the words are inevitably associated with each other,
although they are different in context.
The story which I am going to tell you will give you a view on those
heartbreaking words that are indescribeable.
My name is Robert Pitino. I am thirteen years old and I once lived
on the south coast of Italy, right next to Sicily. The city which I
lived in was highly populated with Sicilians who escaped Sicily as
refuges because of the war there amongst different Mafia Clans. So the
market place on a Saturday was always jam packed with Sicilian
refugees. My cousins and relatives lived quite far from me so I wasn't
bored on the weekends. I couldn't visit them on the weekdays, so
weekends were always packed with a happy exchange of news and gossip.
My family includes one brother. He is called Pacassio Gambino and is
twenty-one years old; he is mostly with my papa, who owns a private
business exporting guns. The Warehouse where the guns are stored was
turned from an old factory, which initially made coffee. This was why
the old warehouse smelled rich like antique furniture. The business
was handed down to my papa by my great papa. My brother originally
started six form collage, but immediately he stopped when my father
needed help with the business. He is always willing to help all the
time and never asks for help himself. I also have a younger sister who
is called Rina she is three years old. She is too young to go school,
therefore she spends the day with my mama. My mama is called Rita and
she is forty years old, a house wife who always stays at home. My
papa, Pablo Gambino, is thirty - nine years old and although he owns a
gun business, I think he is quite naïve at times.
starts she is ten years old, she lives in the Polish town of Buczacz with her four brothers,
"Where I came from, in order to be down you had to be 'in'" (Shakur, 226). This quote, taken from Sanyika Shakur's (aka Monster Kody Scott) Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member relates the mind set of those growing up the concrete jungle of South Central L.A. This powerful account of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable odds brings the reader into the daily battles for survival. His story starts at the beginning of his gang life (being initiated at age 11), moves through his teen years (mostly spent in various correctional facilities) and ends up with his transformation in a member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement.
The Gangster Disciples is a violent gang which began in the Chicago, Illinois area. In the 1970's, the leaders of two different Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, aligned their respective groups andcreated the Gangster Disciples. Once united, the Gangster Disciples recruited heavily in Chicago, within Illinois jails and prisons, and throughout the United States. The Gangster Disciples are active in criminal activity in approximately 24 states. The Gangster Disciples employ a highly structured organization. Members are organized into geographic groups; each called a "count" or a “deck." Members in good standing are considered to be ”on-count" or ”plugged in." A meeting of a particular count may be referred to
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...lid “Prohibition: What If?”) The lasting repercussions of organized crime still endure in America today. Although, alcohol is very much legal once again, organized crime now lies in the hands of drug lords who smuggle various types of illicit drugs into the United States every day.
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Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh is an ethnographic study of a Black King Gang in the Robert Taylor community. Venkatesh accidentally stumbles upon the gang lead by J.T. and decided to study him and the gang. J.T. is familiar with sociology because he a taken a sociology class so he allows Venkatesh to shadow and document the gang which includes the way J.T. uses violence to maintain his power. Venkatesh also worked with Ms. Bailey, the community leader. She helps him learn how she solves problems, the impact of her power and affiliation with the gang, and how to extort money out of the community members. In his journey Venkatesh learns from the violence and illegal activity he witnesses that “in the projects it’s more important that
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