Gangster image leads to violent lifestyle

By Matthew McLaughlin

It was before high school when Kathia Blaise, 15, from Winter Hill, saw a change in her male friends. The athletic and popular football crowd began trading their jerseys in for blue and red bandanas and practice was replaced with hanging on stoops and playgrounds. Although she didn’t like the new change, she didn’t believe her friends were actual gang members. But fantasy mixed with reality on March 26 when a 15-year-old friend was shot in the rib on Sewall Street.

“He was just a boy in the wrong place, chilling with his friends who thought they were Bloods,” Blaise, a Haitian-American, said of her friend, who eventually recovered.

Gang related violence in Somerville is often the result of a glorified lifestyle, according to several city youth. Eventually the illusion of being in a gang becomes a hard reality that leads to violence.

When Glen Cardilino grew up in his Lexington Park neighborhood, nothing was cooler and more normal than fighting. A deep pride in “reppin the Ville,” fueled by gang-centric rap and a cycle of violence promoted by older kids led him down a troubled road.

‚ÄúWhen I was growing up listening to music, I was thinking ‘yeah, I want to be a thug, I want to be feared by other people,’‚Äù he admits. ‚ÄúThat is what we grew up in.. That is no excuse, but we were surrounded by it.‚Äù

Cardilino said he and his friends never considered themselves in a gang. They never got caught up in the popularity of Crips and Bloods, street gangs from Los Angeles that youth from across the country try to emulate. They were just a group of kids getting into fights with other groups. ‚ÄúBut I guess that is what a gang is,‚Äù he said. The lifestyle led to a feud with a gang called Cambridge Port 44 that spilled over during Somerville’s pre-fourth of July celebrations.

‚ÄúThey agreed to shoot the ones, but the whole time we knew they were going to pull out knives,‚Äù Cardilino said. The rival gang did just that and stabbed Cardilino’s friend, puncturing his lung. David A. Martinez, 18, eventually turned himself in and was charged with the stabbing. Cardilino also claims Martinez’ father restrained his friend while his son stabbed him.

Several youth cited the desire of approval from older generations as a major cause of the gang lifestyle.

‚ÄúThey just want to fit in and get respect from the older guys,‚Äù Blaise said. ‚ÄúA lot of these kids want to play like they’re big men, but they’re going to get hurt. They’re good kids, they just need guidance.‚Äù

But with every unchecked incident, retaliation and escalation can be expected. Tony Perez, 16, originally from El Salvador, was stabbed at Foss Park on May 28 by kids claiming to be Bloods.

‚ÄúMy friend didn’t say anything to them. They just came up and said ‘are you in MS- (13)?‚Äù Perez said he and his friend said no and walked away. The group of nearly 10 teens assaulted his friend and stabbed Perez.

‚ÄúI didn’t feel anything. I was too busy helping my friend,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúBlood got into my lungs and I couldn’t breathe.‚Äù

Although Perez said he is not involved in gangs, his brother, Jairo Ulises Miguel, did get caught up in gang activities. Miguel, 19, is wanted for a shooting on Cross and Pearl streets that police sources believe was related to his brother’s stabbing. According to court documents, the victim, a 16-year-old male, was a Blood.

Perez said the hard lessons of gang violence convinced him the gang life is not for him.

‚ÄúIt makes me want even more to stay out of gangs,‚Äù he said, adding that he discourages friends from joining gangs.  ‚ÄúOne day you might run into a real gangster who will hurt you.‚Äù

Despite different ethnic backgrounds, Blaise, Cardilino and Perez said teens are attracted to gangs because of a desire to belong and be protected and respected. The irony is that their desired protection and respect leads to an early death or prison, Blaise said.  She said she hopes the Somerville youth are taught a better way before things escalate.

‚ÄúThey start off small, but keep getting bigger and bigger,‚Äù she said. ‚ÄúThe only thing I care about is I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.‚Äù