Ex-Gangbanging Ex-Con Calls SF Weekly Naïve, In Denial

He Escaped

It takes one to know one: Wow. I just read the article "Escape from San Francisco" [Oct. 3]. The first word to come to mind is "naive." The second is "denial."

I am a 32-year-old ex-gangbanger from Los Angeles. I am also a freshman at the City College of San Francisco who has turned my life around with the desire and hope to be a positive influence to my son. I've lived that life, so when I speak, it is not just words comin' out the side of my neck.

That being said, let's jump right in. "Young and On the Block Mafia"? Oh, but that's just a harmless nickname for a group of innocent teens that just make demos and smoke on blunts. C'mon. If you are gonna spit something then spit it real. Don't sugar-coat it. Mistaken identity? So why was the kid with the auto-rifle goin' after Devron's homie? You don't say in your article, but I am guessing his Young and On the Block Mafia member wasn't a target because of a youth fund-raiser dispute.

Here's the problem with some parents' logic. "Sure, my teenagers smoke blunts before school, after school, wear clothes that are a gansta's uniform and hang around a tight-knit click affectionately endeared as a mafia, but gold grills are where I draw the line!"

Look, I myself am tatted up with gang symbols from my upper body to 3 sides of my neck. But my son knows I don't play that shit with him. I parent with example and commitment and put everything I have into not having him go down the same road I did. That means as a parent I don't compromise on what rules he follows. Don't come at me with this shit that "my kid ain't bangin' and is innocent cause' he doesn't have a gold grill." Save that weak shit for your soccer mom readers that don't know any better. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...

Joshua Dodson

San Francisco