From Gang Violence Toward A Culture of Peace

This month a groundbreaking documentary called " 18 with a Bullet " will premiere on the PBS's Wide Angle . What this documentary shows is a real-life snapshot of the life of young people living in El Salvador, particularly the young boys who are being recruited into street gangs. In a wealthy country like the United States, such "at risk" youth tend to be steered into intervention programs funded by the government and designed to lead the youth into a better future. In El Salvador, however, few such government programs exist and this has created a situation wherein young boys are forced to make a life and death decision: to be or not to be a member of a street gang.

Fully understanding each of the threads that created this complex tapestry of violence is a challenge. These are the basics. In 1980 a civil war broke out in El Salvador. Seeking refuge from the violence, thousands of Salvadorans (people from El Salvador) fled their country without legal documents and ended up in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California. Many of these neighborhoods were already dealing with street gangs like the18th Street Gang and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Seeking ways to survive in a climate of violence, many Salvadoran youths joined one of these gangs. Then, beginning in the early 1990s, major changes began within these L.A.-based gangs as the U.S. government began deporting gang members back to El Salvador.

"18 with a Bullet" portrays how these two street gangs reassembled in El Salvador and how these gangs gain hundreds of new recruits every year. Most of these new recruits are boys anywhere from 8 to 18 years of age and come from broken families without much money. Not surprisingly, their lives are also marked by extreme violence. According to one estimate , in a country of roughly 6.6 million people, nearly 40,000 people are members of a gang and there are an average of 10 murders every day, many of the victims are teens.

In response to this emerging culture of violence, in 1996 a group of concerned Salvadorans created Homies Unidos "a non-profit gang violence prevention and intervention organization with projects in San Salvador, El Salvador and Los Angeles, California." Pressing to create a culture of peace out of a culture of gang violence, Homies Unidos is engaged in monitoring and reporting human rights abuses in Central America, creating alternative education opportunities for youth, offering workshops in community-based organizing, and even removal of gang-related tattoos. Participants in Homies Unidos is also engaged in building transnational alliances between community-based organizations throughout North and Central America, lobbying for political change, and creating or assisting to create documentaries for both television and radio.

In addition to supporting organizations like Homies Unidos , we can also engage in the creation of a culture of peace by educating ourselves and then getting engaged in both local and international peacebuilding efforts. Organizations like Global Exchange and the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America have numerous ways to get involved in changing the world. Through such organizations we can play a role in moving the world from a culture of violence toward a culture of peace.

In Chicago the documentary "18 with a Bullet" will be shown on Thursday, January 4 at 7:00pm on WYCC-TV20.

Catholic Connection:

In a world with a superabundance of information, but which paradoxically finds it so difficult to communicate and where living conditions are scandalously unequal, it is important to spare no effort to ensure that everyone feels responsible for the growth and happiness of all. Our future is at stake. An unemployed young person, a handicapped person who is marginalized, elderly people who are uncared for, countries which are captives of hunger and poverty: these situations all too often make people despair and fall prey to the temptation either of closing in on themselves or of resorting to violence.
--Pope John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps , 2003

Reflection Questions

What are your immediate thoughts after watching the film "18 with a Bullet?"

Does your faith impel you into action for social change? Why? Why not?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!