August 8, 2011

American Tinderbox

The growth of violent, criminal flash mobs.

Jamal Foster's story is an example… Foster says he and his friends often travel to North Avenue and Oak Street Beach (Chicago)—two popular lakefront locations along the Gold Coast—to intimidate people and steal whatever they can. "We can get some good stuff down there," the 17-year-old says. "You can't get no iPods or nothing like that on the West Side. So we go to where you can and when we mob up, even the cops can't stop us."

From the movie, Warriors, 1979:

[At the big conclave/street gang meeting, Cyrus, the boss of the street gang appears]
Cyrus: [yelling] Can you count, suckers? I say, the future is ours... if you can count!
[a couple of soldiers cheer for Cyrus]
Cyrus: Now, look what we have here before us. We got the Saracens sitting next to the Jones Street Boys. We've got the Moonrunners right by the Van Cortlandt Rangers. Nobody is wasting nobody. That... is a miracle. And miracles is the way things ought to be.
[Few more soldiers cheering for Cyrus]
Cyrus: You're standing right now with nine delegates from 100 gangs. And there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore members. Forty-thousand, counting affiliates, and twenty-thousand more, not organized, but ready to fight: 60,000 soldiers! Now, there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town. Can you dig it?
Gang Members: Yeah.
Cyrus: Can you dig it?
Gang Members: Yeah!
Cyrus (voice lowers to a growl): Can you dig it?
Gang Members: YEAH!
[shouting and Cheering]

No comments: