A Review Of The Movie 'Crips and Bloods: Made in America': A War That Has Cost 15,000 Lives

Dmac (left), a former gang member, shares his experiences with director Stacy Peralta (second from right) and his crew in the documentary "Crips and Bloods: Made in America." (Bryan Wiley / Verso Entertainment)

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

"The mechanics of oppressing people is to pervert them to the extent that they become the instruments of their own oppression."

- Kumasi, a former gang member, in Stacy Peralta's "Crips and Bloods: Made in America."

The war between two of Los Angeles' most notorious gangs has been raging for four decades and has taken 15,000 lives - a continuing battle in a single American city that surpasses conflicts in Kosovo, Mogadishu and Northern Ireland.

Read more ....

My Comment: 4 decades of killing. 15,000 killed. Scores wounded. Hundreds of thousands in jail. Hundreds of thousands of families devastated.

And this urban war is still going on.

The List: The World’s Most Dangerous Gangs

From Foreign Policy:

Their darkest dealings often go unreported and unnoticed. But from Nairobi to São Paulo, many urban gangs are becoming more sophisticated, more brutal, and more powerful than ever.

Read the list ....

Update: Another list that is more comprehensive is at Raj Mangalam's blog.

My Comment: I agree with the Kings of War blog's comments on this subject .... they are the following:

Wars all over the place, typhoons, earthquakes… Just in case your dystopia isn’t dystopic enough have a look at the list from Foreign Policy at the link above of the world’s most dangerous gangs. ‘Dangerous’ is a subjective term, however. What seems to have made the list are the gangs which are biggest–which is alarming enough. But size is not all; moreover the distinction between criminal gang and insurgent is rather gray and mutable. For a fuller treatment of a fasciniating subject see the SSI monographs of Dr Max Manwaring (available at the link).