Gangs of Downers Grove

This morning I was drinking my iced espresso waiting for my train when I saw something scribbled on the side of the train station. What I saw was a 5 pointed crown, with an upside down pitchfork and the letters L.K. At first I thought this was a tribute to Rev. Dr. Marting Luther King Jr. because the pitchfork kind of looked like an "M", but I remebered something from my grade school D.A.R.E. class and a red flag went up. This was none other than a symbol for the infamous N.Y./Chicago based gang known as the Latin Kings. Just then I realized how "hard" Me and the neighborhood I grew up in actually are, I immediately switched my PSP from Cake to Ghostface Killa and got on the train. Downers Grove is about as hard as life can get in the burbs, half of my friends were either dead or in jail before my sophomore year in high school, but it was the only life I have ever known. Gang life was a constant temptation in the school yard of St. Joseph Catholic School, i'm talking; 4-square and kickball verbal arguments that never got physical, pixie sticks and jolt cola goin' down around the corner, serious shit. In the midst of all that choas you had the opportunity for protection and brotherhood with gang life, for people like me gang life offered all the things I never had. In the end, I lost a lot those friends to the Gangs of Downers Grove, but their spirit lives on in my 4-square/kickball/jolt cola inspired tattoo on the small of my back.

disclaimer: this article was in no way intended to offend any members of the actual Latin King gang. It is simply a reflection of my life experiences and what went on in my backyard growing up, thank you.