Yesterday's 5Oth Anniversary Celebration of the Gang Truce that Shaped the Rise of Hip Hop
I am still trying to process the emotions I experienced during remarkable event at the Hoe Avenue Boys and Girls Club I attended yesterday commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Gang Truce that helped set the stage for the rise of hip hop.
Image a gathering of 150-250 people, many of them men and women in their late 50's to their late 60's, some wearing the gang jackets they sported in the 1970's, some representing the new organization they created to reach today's Bronx youth, the "Peace Makers." These remarkable people, some of them looking almost as formidable as they were during the years they ruled Bronx streets, were thrilled to see one another, and thrilled to be at the event. There was a lot of hugging, a lot of photos taken, a lot of impromptu dancing when music came on that people were familiar with. There were also quite a few children and grandchildren in the crowd, along with some young people enrolled in current Boys and Girls Club programs, as the organizers of the event wanted to transmit their legacy of peace making and social activism to a new generation
The joyous interaction of the people in the crowd, none of whom I had ever met before ( other than my student researcher Karina Love work worked on the planning committee for the event and Dr Payne of the Bronx County Historical Society) moved me greatly
But so did the power and authority of the speakers at the event, which included several former gang leaders, as well as a minister and officials of the Boys and Girls Club, and well known Bronx rapper Darney "K-Born Rivers". Never have I been at an event where so many people could command a crowd in a large gymnasium without the benefit of a microphone. No group of professors I have ever met could have moved a crowd this size, in this venue, pacing up and down the aisles without a microphone, But this group of men and women, some of whom had been incarcerated, some of whom had been homeless, all of whom had grown up in poverty and hardship, not only commanded everyone's attention, but got constant shouts of recognition from their audience.
Two speakers left a lasting impression on me. The first was the opening speaker of the event, a 6'4" 250 pound man who called himself, "Bam Bam" still wearing the jacket identifying him as a Warlord of the Black Spades. For 25 minutes, he brought to life the world the people who created the truce lived in, the danger, the camaraderie, the remnants of community spirit, but above all the debilitating impact of the poverty they all suffered with. Nothing moved the audience more than his stories of the free cheese they all got as members of families on welfare, cheese that they could still taste because it was transformed by the families who received it into so many dishes that kept hunger at bay. This extraordinary man, the size of an ex- NFL lineman, had the audience laughing and crying as he recalled the challenges they faced and urged them to transmit their life lessons to a new generation of Bronx young people, who although they have access to more services, still need help containing the violence that surrounds them.
The second speaker who left a lasting impression was one of the final speakers at the event, Queen Eva, a counselor, therapist and life coach who was a proud member of the Black Spades during her formative years. Eva began her speech with a harrowing story of being sexually abused in the church she attended with her family. I the face of the inner turmoil she felt, the only place she felt safe was the headquarters of the Black Spades in her neighborhood, There, she met people who fed her, gave her a place to sleep, asked no questions, and never sexually abused her. In return, she became a loyal member of the gang, participating in robberies, hiding guns from police., things she says she is not proud of, but which allowed she and her friends to survive in an unforgiving atmosphere, She also told some harrowing stories of the racism that pervaded the Bronx in the early 70's, the most notable example of which took place at the Boys and Girls Club in Arthur Avenue, where a fight between a 10 year old black kid and a 10 year old white kid in a basketball game led to grown men with baseball bats standing outside the club to chase the black kids back to their own neighborhoods.
Stories like these showed why young people in the Bronx, in its most difficult years, had to find ways of saving themselves, first by joining gangs, then by creating a gang truce to stop them from killing one another, and then only a few years later, creating new musical form and a multilayered arts movement, which they called hip hop, that would sweep the world
Being among people responsible for these history making events was an honor and a privilege I will cherish for a very long time.
People all over the country, and around the world, have a great deal to learn from the history of the Bronx
Peace and blessings to you and the family! Tell Millie I said thank you for reading my book, and I'm glad she enjoyed it.
God Bless you always!
Willie Estrada
President
Latin Empire Productions, LLC
Author: The Dancing Gangsters
Cell: 347-579-8034
Office: 718-993-0658
http://www.thedancinggangsters.com/
I Am The PeaceMakers
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