This is a helpful move because the nature of the contemporary gothic romance--that is, novels which appeal to (women) readers who think of themselves as modern--means that these novels themselves must wrestle, through their use of generic gothic as well as romance elements, with a set of dominant imaginaries that often waver between Mexican Americans as timeless peasants or as
gangbangers. The image of Mexican Americans as eternally poor, whether peasant or ghetto gang member, also calls up problematic visions of dirt and disgust.
That such lack of productive activity is also associated with wrongdoing and ill-gotten gains on the part of the
gangbangers only serves to further the vilification of Hmong in general as illegitimate in their economic roles in U.S.
No wonder these young
gangbanger femmes were organizing and reclaiming the streets.
I now see myself as a role model, not a
gangbanger."
So, the challenge this community faces is whether anyone, in a significant way, can influence young people who are not yet committed
gangbangers to shun such a path.
"If a mom is in the room and they're doing gang stuff, she's just another
gangbanger. She's just a little older."
It's implied that maybe Sean and Laurenz used to be involved in less legal pursuits themselves in days gone by, which would explain why they have such strong friendships with people like Big Sexy, an overweight
gangbanger with a penchant for very big, very noisy weapons.
They bring their hip hop moves to bear on ballroom (mashing up Gershwin's They Can't Take That Away From Me with Eric B & Rakim's I Like That), he teaches them self-respect and good manners while cutaways play out the individual stories of featured teens Rock and LaRhette (Yaya DaCosta, excellent), mutually antagonistic since the
gangbanger slayings of their respective brothers, therefore clearly destined for romance.
Director Billy Corben veers from the first film's panoramic view to a narrower focus on small-time
gangbanger Charles Cosby, who has quite a story to tell--and does it extremely well.
Vitug is particularly good at ringing funny variations on what might easily have been a one-note
gangbanger part.
Cassavetes' script carefully engineers the fateful moment of intersection between the
gangbanger tensions and the Mazurskys' domestic angst.
Officer Armando Sancho (Collins) narrates, in classic Los Angeles cop fiction style, the story of his transformation from
gangbanger to cop.
Many of us tried to separate ourselves -- from Mexican immigrants, from family members who live in poorer neighborhoods or have less education, from what President Donald Trump calls "bad hombres" and former President Barack Obama called "
gangbangers," from members of our tribe with darker skin, harder lives and bleaker prospects.
1 feel like there's more
gangbangers out there like me who gotta hide who they are because it's not the norm.
We are in the midst of what is surely Bogota's most fa sc inating new city tour, a walk around Barrio Egipto- a neighborhood that foreigners are warned not to go anywhere near-with
gangbangers who have given up a life of crime in favor of this cultural tourism initiative started by Universidad Externado de Colombia in cooperation with Impulse Travel (impulsetravel.co).