Pastor Shep Crawford of the Experience Christian Ministries to Host a Symposium withΒ Well-Known Rival Gang Members toΒ Promote the Possibility of a Renewal of the 1992 Gang Truce
OGβs Parie βBlueβ Dedeaux of the Avalon Gangster Crips, Terry Jones of the Avalon Gangster Crips, Leon Gillette of the Pueblo Bishop Bloods, Charles Rachel of the Broadway Gangster Crips and Mike of the Blood Stone Gangsters will be on the Panel
βWhen Blue came to me about about this, I was all for it right away! I am a father of 6, and I am concerned about my kids, church and community as well. I don’t want to wait for the next tragedy for us to come together only to forget in a week or two. We need to be proactive and take a more preventative measures and this sounded like a good time and place to start,β says Pastor Shep.
During the discussion, the group will speak peacefully and candidly on the history of the local gangs and why they exist to begin with, but more importantly the goal is to raise awareness to the βWatts Gang Truceβ that took place in 1992, what it meant. Β The hope is to reignite interest in the βGang Truceβ which had many positive outcomes. The gentlemen will share with listeners how the Truce changed their lives and how a resurgence of it could help today. Blue, has worked hard over the years and has used is influence to help restore the neighborhoods and communities where gang presence has altered the landscape.
βThe Truce changed my life. We all found a reason to come together for the good and it wasnβt just a one-day thing. Β For several years we actually participated in recreational activities together and to this day we still do through our kids who play ball on the same fields, but nobody talks about the good the Truce didβ, says Blue.
Twenty-six years ago the Watts Gang Truce formed as a result of the βnot guiltyβ verdicts that were handed down to the police involved in the brutal Rodney King beating which sparked huge riots and looting just one day after the Truce. Β Shortly thereafter when the streets became too hard for the City of Los Angeles to maintain, they had to seek the help of Avalon Gang member βBlueβ and his influence to assist with gang intervention. See 2009 article:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-southla-southpark26-2009nov26-story.htmlΒ
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About the Watts Gang Truce:
TheΒ Watts truceΒ was a 1992Β peace agreementΒ among rivalΒ street gangsΒ inΒ Los Angeles,Β California, declared in the neighborhood ofΒ Watts. The truce was declared in the days just before theΒ 1992 Los Angeles riots, and although not universally adhered to, was a major component of the decline of street violence in the city during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
In late April 1992, sets from Crips and Bloods in theΒ WattsΒ neighborhood in southern Los Angeles convened to negotiate peace. TheΒ Grape Street CripsΒ from theΒ Jordan Downs Projects, theΒ P Jay Watts CripsΒ from the Imperial Courts housing projects, and theΒ Bounty Hunter BloodsΒ from theΒ Nickerson Gardens housing projectsΒ met in the Imperial Courts ProjectΒ gym.[1]Β FootballΒ legend and activistΒ Jim Brown, andΒ hip-hopΒ artists of theΒ West Coast Rap All-Stars, helped the rivals to negotiate their truce, and the factions would go on to draft a formal peace treaty modeled on a ceasefireΒ 1949 Armistice AgreementsΒ reached betweenΒ IsraelΒ andΒ Egypt. Within days of the truce, despite the relative lawlessness caused by theΒ 1992 Los Angeles riots, most of theΒ African-AmericanΒ andΒ LatinoΒ gangs in the city declared themselves at peace and there were no major flare-ups in violence. The Watts truce is generally credited with contributing to the trend in declining street violence rates in Los Angeles.