Gangs Not The Answer
I joined a prison gang back in 1978
thinking that we were going to be
like the Mafia from Italy. At the
time when I was recruited, I was
given six months to think about it;
whether I wanted to join or not.
Once I joined, I became the leader of
the gang on the prison unit where I
was serving my time.
From the very start of the gang's
existence, there was always
bickering, constant dissatisfaction
among gang members. Nobody
wanted to take orders. We were, in
general, just a bunch of
undisciplined hard-heads wanting
the gang to make us something
special. By 1980, there were
twenty-six gang members on that
unit, and by 1982, twenty-four gang
members had either gotten out or
gotten transferred to another unit.
I went home in December, 1982,
and the remaining gang members of
the original twenty-six were killed
four months after I got out of prison
by two new gang members. By
July, 1983, there were only ten left
alive of the original twenty -six. That
is when I was arrested for six
murder charges and dozens of
armed robberies.
I was free for only seven months
and I was also leader of the gang in
the free-world for that short time.
I was born in a small town and was
raised in the country. So actually,
I'm a country boy. The other gang
member that hung around with me
in the free-world was also a country
boy and neither of us used drugs.
We were living in Houston and
whenever we would run into other
members of our gang, they would
usually try to hide from us.
After I was arrested and sentenced
to death, especially after I arrived
here on the main row, nobody in the
gang would help me.
Why not? Well, I'll tell you why.
When I was free, I ran into several
members of our gang, none of the
original twenty-six, but,
nevertheless, members just the
same, and they were all broke and
hooked on either heroin or coke or
both. Only the country boy was not
hooked. So how could I expect
anybody from the gang to help me
when they couldn't help
themselves?
Over the years a lot of things have
changed about the gang, but one
thing remains constant, and that's
the kind of people the gang lures.
Who are those that join the gangs
and what kind of qualifications do
you need to join the gang? All you
need are three basic qualities. First
of all, you got to be plenty stupid for
wanting to join, and secondly,
ignorant. The gang calls it having
heart, or having courage to commit
violent acts. What kind of violent
acts? You name it, anything from
setting another inmate on fire, to
drowning someone by forcing his
head in the toilet and all kinds of
violent acts between drowning
someone and setting someone on
fire. The last quality you need to
join the gang is gullibility, because
you might have to take a senseless
order from a gang leader to commit
a brutal, senseless, violent act upon
someone you don't even know.
So if you want to join a gang, check
yourself first to see if you have the
right qualifications to join. First,
make sure you are plenty stupid,
and, secondly, make sure you are
ignorant to the bone, and, finally,
make sure you are so gullible that
you cannot say no when they give
you a senseless order to carry out.
If you have those three
qualifications, you will make a
perfect gang member.
What are you looking for? Do you
want the gang to make you
something special? How can the
gang make you something special
when the gang itself is a stigma?
The gang has lost its prestige.
People used to look up to the gang
and gang members used to be
respected. It used to be an honor to
be a gang member. But like I said,
things have changed, not because I
say so, but because things have
really changed. There is no more
honor in the gang. If you are a gang
member in the free-world, your life
is swinging on thin thread, and
believe me, it's swinging and
eventually the thread will break.
How people in the free-world
perceive the gang? As beetles, the
kind of insects that roll feces, but
gang beetles roll terror, paranoia,
and dishonor into decent
neighborhoods. People in general
perceive the gang as the lowest
scum of the world.
If you are not a gang member, what
is my advice to you? Don't join.
Why not? Because if you join, you
will eventually end up in prison or
dead or both, just like me. I am in
prison, and very soon, I will be dead,
too.
Are you looking for recognition?
Are you young and naive? If so, my
heart goes out to you. Do you want
to be somebody special? Then show
the people what you can do. Can
you build a house? Can you f1X a
car when it breaks down? What
skills do you possess? If you have
no skills, it's okay, but learn to do
something. Learn a trade. Get
some skills and you will be
somebody special. Have some
honesty and honor about yourself
and people will automatically look
up to you. Will you help the old
lady cross the street and will you
carry her grocery bags home
whenever you see her trudging
down the sidewalk cumbersomely?
Let her rest assured that you will not mug her and
fill her heart with fear and terror. Can your mind
be as steady and strong when temptation lurks
by? Sure you can! And if you wrote to me and
said, "Rainbow, I am going to be the Whole Wide Oak
Tree in my neighborhood", I will die with heart exonerated.
But let's forget my heart. What do you want to be?
Do you want to join a gang and be perceived as a beetle that
rolls faces, or do you want to be the Wide Oak Tree in your
neighborhood?
by Raymond Martinez, #768. Ex-gang member
My name is Raymond De Leon
Martinez. I am a Texas Death Row
inmate, and here on Death Row
everybody calls me Rainbow. I am
also an ex-gang member and this is
what I want to write about.