Graduation Day LA: A gang youth's struggle to graduate from high school

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For many, high school graduation can be exciting and stressful. But for Angel Garcia, a 19-year-old senior at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, the future is uncertain. He tries to go to school and graduate like many others, but being involved with gangs has put him behind in the classroom.

Garcia was supposed to graduate last year, but he dropped out of his previous school when he was in jail for five months. After he got out of jail, Garcia transferred to Roosevelt High School.

“I was supposed to be in the class of 2012, they all graduated. I was left behind,” Garcia said.

A lot of young gang members in Boyle Heights, one of the most forgotten areas in Los Angeles County, drop out of school, according to Garcia. But he said he doesn’t want to because he promised his mom and uncle that he would graduate from high school.

Garcia has been involved with gangs since he was 16 years old. He has always admired the power that gang members hold in their neighborhoods. Living in poverty and strained family circumstances made him yearn for that power.

Garcia's parents have to work very hard to provide for the family of six and care for an autistic brother. He was left unattended most of the time, which made it easy for Garcia to join the gang, he said. He found the support he didn’t have at home: respect and listening.

“The gang is like a family, because whatever you don’t have at home, your gang has,” Garcia said. “In the gang, you got homies looking after you…They’ll tell you stuff that really does help you.”

About three years ago, Garcia met Josof Sanchez, the executive director of Operation Street Kidz, a non-profit organization that helps gang youth in Los Angeles excel. Sanchez’s understanding of poverty, family tension and gang life has given him credence with Garcia, and Sanchez meets with the young man several times a week.

“Once the kids feel let down by their parents, maybe seeing them arguing or fighting all the time,” Sanchez said. “Their hearts are broken…They will listen to their friends,the core of gang members.”

Garcia’s mother, Maria, blamed herself for leaving him alone. She said her son used to read a lot and so she worked in order to afford to buy him books. But gradually, she found her son growing more and more distant.

“I decided to give him his space,” Maria said. “But I guess at that time, I was just leaving him, and that’s when I start losing him.”

And as Garcia grew more distant from his mother, he grew closer to the gang. Sanchez said that gang members speak their own language.

“Hey homes, my homies. What does that mean? My house, you and me live together in our hearts, and I will die for you,” Sanchez said.

At home, colorful flowers and balloons made the house warm and cozy. They had just celebrated Maria’s birthday the other day. In contrast, the estrangement between Garcia and his father strikes a chill down the back of someone who hasn’t been to the house before.

Garcia harbors anger toward his father, who called the police on Angel and his friends and watched while the police beat up his son. Maria said the incident happened after Garcia defied his parents by bringing friends over to the house after they told him not to.

Sanchez, with his strong hope for Garcia, hopes that graduating from high school would mean a milestone of gratitude for this young man.

“He is really looking into that,” Sanchez said, “At the same time, he is looking towards what is going to happen after graduation. Who would take him out there with his record at the moment?”

Sanchez has invested almost three years in Garcia. He believes the young man is gifted and Angel's mother agrees.

In the dining room, Maria brought out a stack of writing awards that Garcia had received. She was very proud of the work he has done, and kept a record of his every achievement.  The smile on her face soon turned into tears when she looked at those awards. She said his talent was wasted by the school, because school teachers gave up on her son.

Recently Angel got picked up and jailed again. He’s out now, but hasn’t been to school for several weeks. Missing school, hassled by the police, in and out of jail: He is tired of this lifestyle, but he says he can’t leave the gang. If he were to even suggest the idea, he might face deadly consequences.

“I can’t change my path. You aren’t going to last if you live in the neighborhoods unless you move," he said. "At the end of the day, to walk away from everything, it’s kind of hard."

Garcia is now under police investigation for gang involvement and gun possession. If convicted, he could face serious prison time, which is putting his dreams of graduation on jeopardy.

“How are you going to start fresh if this is all you know? If this is what you grew up with doing since a little kid, how are you going to walk away from being a knucklehead all you life, doing what you do? Unless I move to some other neighborhoods, but even then I am not going to feel happy,” Garcia said.