Malibu audience members get personal take on gang life.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
At Saturday’s most recent reincarnation of “Locked up in Malibu,” the improvisational group comprised of teenagers from the California Youth Authority’s Camp Vernon Kilpatrick, audience members at Malibu United Methodist Church became more than outside viewers.
Before the improv fun, audience members sat down with the youth in small groups to discuss what it means to be a gang member.
“The idea for this came from President Obama’s call to reach out to others if we want to affect change in our country,” Linda Gibbs, organizer for the Malibu chapter of Obama for Change, an outcrop of Obama’s grassroots campaign movement, said. “We’re going to begin change by listening. That’s why we’re here today.”
Director of Camp Kilpatrick Craig Levy reminded everyone that the young men in nearby probation camps are Malibu residents. Indeed, the group jokingly points out that they, too, live in “an exclusive, gated community here in Malibu.”
“Your kids dress like these boys and talk like these boys, and have the same concerns,” Levy said. “We need to listen to them so that we can provide them with what they need to transition out of camp and go home.”
In one discussion group, Camp Kilpatrick residents Joseph, 17, and Demaja, 13, sat with several middle-aged women who were wearing pearls and knit ponchos to talk about gang communities that seem thousands of miles away.
Joseph’s head is shaved and his arms are heavily tattooed. Demaja has curly hair and a sweet smile. Both boys were polite and forthcoming in the discussion. Both grew up in gang neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, though Demaja said he was not a gang member.
“You grow up with kids from the neighborhood and one of your friends joins a gang, you all do,” Joseph said. “It starts in middle school and you love them so you join a gang. When push comes to shove, they’ll be there for you.”
Both boys acknowledged that they tell their younger brothers and sisters to stay away from gangs, just as they were told. Demaja said he avoids dealing with gangs by simply staying in his house.
Joseph said, “You know what you’re getting into” when joining a gang. So adapted to gang life, Joseph jumps when levers pop or oven doors bang shut in the camp kitchen where he works. “I’ll have to keep my eye out the rest of my life,” he said.
Both boys said that many teenagers want to avoid gang life, but have no choice.
“Where will I go?” Joseph asked. “I can’t get out,” adding, “You don’t want your son to join a gang, don’t live in that neighborhood.”
Despite their bleak circumstances, both boys said they want to go to college; Joseph wants to study culinary arts.
A sense of hope outside of probation pervaded the groups from the camps. Michael, from Camp Miller, is 18 years old, already has one son and is expecting another with his girlfriend soon. He said he will return to his job at a grocery store when he transitions out and plans to teach his sons to avoid gang life.
“My brother is doing 42 years in prison,” Michael said. “He’ll be 66 when he gets out, if he makes it. He’s got a hit out on him.”
According to CAL/GANG, a statewide database maintained by the California Department of Justice, there are some 39,000 gang members in L.A. County. In 2005, gang-related killings accounted for nearly 60 percent of county homicides. In 2008, more than $105 million was spent on gang intervention efforts to combat a scourge that costs the county an estimated $2 billion annually.
Levy was recently appointed chair of a countywide Gang Violence Reduction Task Force and will be leaving directorship of the camps, regretfully, he said.
“The bottom line with any of these kids is they must feel they have support,” Levy said. “That’s why they join gangs; they’re looking for someone who’s got their back.”
One problem lies in adolescents leaving probation and transitioning back to the same neighborhoods, with the same social challenges. Levy said the camps works on programs to enhance family connections with camp residents through daily contacts with Internet chatting forums and sporting events where families are invited to attend.
It is a daunting effort.
Levy said, “Sometimes, the camp probation officers are the first positive adult role model these kids have known.”
Accordingly, programs like “Locked Up in Malibu” (brainchild of Malibu local Suzie Duff) are a venue to learn responsible life skills, while having fun. In Saturday’s performance, the group roped in volunteers from the audience to participate in hilarious riffs on 30-second stories from their lives and “Freeze Tag,” where performers step up in an instant to take an improvised story in a new direction. Director Levy even joined in.
All the boys agreed that the “one-on-one” format of speaking with the audience members was refreshing.
“I’m glad I came to do this today,” Michael said. “Before, I didn’t think anyone would care.”