Can Anyone Stop the East Side-Chad Brown 25 Year Gang Rivalry?
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Can the decades long feud between warring neighborhood factions in Providence -- Mt. Hope and Chad Brown in particular -- ever be put to rest?
In the days following the recent shooting at Chad Brown, community leaders have been addressing the violence in the city -- and decades old rivalries between neighborhoods.
"That's what's ingrained in Providence, there's these family feuds where it's OK to grab a block, and shoot up anyone not on your block," said Providence City Councilman Luis Aponte. "How's it going to stop? Someone standing up and saying enough is enough -- at some point you have to address this at where you can be most effective."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"We've got finite resources, and where do we place those resources. If you're committed to combating violence, who do you save? We'll never have enough resources to put a cop on every corner, unless there's a shift in community perspective," said Aponte. "It needs to be, 'If you do it, I'll tell on you.'"
Providence CIty Councilman Kevin Jackson, who represents the Mt. Hope District on the East Side, said any attempt to address the long standing neighborhood rivalries "has to first start with the families."
"To even go back -- I don't think they even know how it even started," said Jackson. "You need to try and make them a strong force, those people that have been affected most. This needs to be happening 365 days a year, and not just be reactionary to events. We need our feet on the ground, and the call's after that. Where is this 365 days a year? When are the leaders going to get together? We're afraid to admit our past mistakes."
Chris Wall, who is running for State Senate in District 3, was one of dozens of community leaders, elected officials and candidates, and concerned residents who turned out at the Providence NAACP-led rally on Monday at the Garrahy Judicial Complex.
"This has been going on for years, it's the Hatfields and the McCoys," said Wall. "Even though crime and shooting statistics are down from what they once were, the perception is certainly that violence is up."
Call to Action
On Monday, the NAACP Providence Branch along with community groups and leaders issued a "call to action" against violence in the city, where speakers touched upon the ongoing turf battles as part of the issue.
"History just repeated itself at Chad Brown and now we're here again. I don't know if you know what's going on, the rivalries taking place, the back and forth back across town and shooting each other," said James Monteiro, Executive Director of the Billy Taylor House. "Tomorrow, if something doesn't happen if we don't intervene, it's going to happen again. and we'll be right back here again."
"We need a hand up, not a hand out -- I'll be the last one who accepts a hand out," said Monteiro. "I'm a father, I have two jobs, my wife works to pay the bills. I pay taxes on the East Side -- my tax bracket is the Blackstone Boulevard tax bracket. There are supposed to be services in the community to help my child. It takes a village to raise a child. My daughter's not going to learn anything sitting in the house. She needs environments that are safe to nurture her and help her grow. We spend too much money on the back end of the situation, especially with the Google money."
Jim Vincent with the NAACP, as part of his call to action on Monday, recommended that Mayor Taveras convene a call to action with public and private leadership to develop short and long term plans to address the root causes of violence, and Governor Lincoln Chafee to direct targeted workforce development funds in neighborhoods of high unemployment, and request the Attorney General to dedicate 15% of the Google settlement funding to support youth development and ex-offender training and employment programming.
Vincent, speaking with GoLocal prior to the event, said, "This doesn't happen in vacuum -- people don't become a gang banger in a vacuum. Anyone with a 9 to 5 job, or has an education, isn't a gang banger."
"The unemployment rate here is over 40% for youth of color ages 18 to 24," said Vincent, reiterating a statistic he has pointed to repeatedly. "That's almost 1 in 2 of our young people not having a job. You have folks that need opportunities, and and need hope -- and not so much for them, but for the younger ones, so that they see them and make the right decisions."
Vincent continued, "No business will come into the city where gang banging is going on. This isn't a neighborhood problem. When kids can't be trained, and are illiterate -- it affects all Rhode Islanders. It's not someone else's problem. People won't come here unless there's a trained, motivated work force."
Former Providence resident Bella Noka, who was at the rally, said that while she was no longer living in the city, she "couldn't sleep at night."
"I'm from Providence, I have all my family in Providence. And I'm fearful to let them walk outside on the streets right now. I'm tired of us asking, recommending. It's time to start doing. Because people are speaking up," said Noka. "I want back to the nitty gritty and in the trenches, getting things done. We need people walking the walk."
Looking at Larger Picture
"I've served with 3 mayors, where they have programs where they think they can help, but they're reactionary to where the violence has happened," said Jackson. "It's not glamorous to do preventative programs -- no one has the crystal ball but resources need to be spread out to other groups, and not do things that are just reactionary."
Providence resident Joseph P. Buchanan said he believed that the issue of the "feuds" could ultimately be addressed.
"These drive-bys are infesting our community. There's no such thing as snitching with people driving by, shooting people like this," said Buchanan. "There's always been feuds, but it could be rectified if people sat down and talk. I think we can get to the root of this."
Related Slideshow: Providence City Council: Who Will Be the Next President?
Several members of the current Providence City Council have declared their intentions to seek the Council Presidency, with Michael Solomon's departure.
Below is the current city council.
Related Articles
- Hodgson Stands with NAACP on Reducing Violence
- Chad Brown-East Side Gang Rivalries Fueling Providence Shootings
- Former Anti-Gang Worker Remembered
- More Violence Erupts Outside PEDP-Connected Nightclub
- The Economist Dubs Providence “NE Armpit” and Cianci “Gangster”
- RI State Report: Block v. Raimondo, RI Goes Green + Gun Violence
- RI Candidates Speak Out on Nonviolence at Institute Forum
- Violence on the Rise at Central Falls Schools
- RI’s Congressional Delegation to Call for Action to Prevent Gun Violence
- NEW: Cicilline Appointed to Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
- NEW: Cicilline, Langevin Looking to Send Gun Violence Message at State of the Union Address
